A SENATORIAL HISSY FIT OVER THE BAILOUT by Jim Hightower

[Ichingcarpenter]

From the South and West they came, fearless U.S. senators on a mission: Stop the bailout! At long last, here were some politicians with the stuff it takes to go after the audacious and avaricious Wall Street bankers who pocketed billions while wrecking our economy, right? No, no, not that bailout. That’s the one for America’s economic elites, the one that has already put us taxpayers on the line for $8 trillion. The senators I’m talking about were all for that one.

It’s the relatively paltry, $25 billion loan request made by Detroit automakers that caused this gaggle of Republican senators to throw a hissy fit. Why? Because these companies hire skilled union workers who make good middle-class wages, and such senators as Mitch McConnell, Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl, and Bob Corker hate unions. So, they demanded that the automakers fire thousands of workers and slash union wages as a price of getting a federal loan.

Contrast their vindictive tight-fistedness toward Motor City with the way they treated Citigroup, the huge financial conglomerate that was a major cause of our nation's current economic woes. The senators made no demands on this Wall Street fiefdom, simply handing over $25 billion of our money. Yes, this grant to one bank was as large as the total loan being sought by all three of America's auto companies.

But, wait – Citigroup also got another $20 billion from the Federal Reserve, plus a $249 billion government guarantee to cover losses on the bad investments it made. No congressional hearing was held, no vote taken, no scolding about high paychecks. Indeed, while the senators wail about $29-an-hour wages for auto workers, they said nothing about Citigroup’s CEO, who’ll get $216 million in pay this year – That's $108,000 an hour. >>>>>snip


http://www.jimhightower.com/node/6683

[PearliePoo2]

1. Jim Hightower telling it like it is

Citigroup and their brethren are greedy, thieving conglomerate bastards.
I loves me some Hightower.

[tbyg52]

2. Mr. Hightower tells it like it is. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Folks can listen to him at the link say his editorial too

I see you're a fan too

[tbyg52]

8. I'm nobody! Who are you?

Emily Dickinson. My favorite poem in the world, except for this:

(Scroll down a little - Beach Pea)

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050530/discovery

Edited to add name of poem.

[UrbScotty]

3. Go, Jim, Go!

:patriot:

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. Meanwhile Security Fraud Prosecutions is Down 87% Since 2000

This year, the S.E.C. has brought the fewest number of securities fraud prosecutions since 1991. That’s according to the data that the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research group at Syracuse University, has amassed.

Soft on White Collar Crime, by the Numbers:

• 2008 had 133 prosecutions for securities fraud (thru Dec 1) versus 437 cases in 2000, a 70% drop. Form the peak of 513 in 2002, prosecutions are down by 74%;

• S.E.C. investigations that led to Justice Depart prosecutions for securities fraud dropped from 69 in 2000 to just 9 in 2007, a decline of 87%.

• Non criminal prosecutions (i.e., fines) for white collar crimes increased – from 503 in 2000 to 636 in 2008 – a 26.4% increase.

• “Deferred prosecution agreements” — essentially an agreement not to prosecute, so long as the accused stays out of further trouble;

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/security-fraud-prosecutions-down-87-since-2000/

[truedelphi]

5. Some DU-er here has posted that

That about ten months ago, Wall Street wanted legislation that would stipulate that only the SEC would go after any wrong doings on Wall Street.

Yes, that understaffed, barely working unit would be in charge of policing its own.

We are now seeing, through the examination of Madoff's dealings, how well the SEC was at working through examinations of corruption.

The inter-breeding that occurs on Wall Street, wherein one day you are on the trading floor, and then down the road you are on the SEC and then you are on a Board of Directors, it makes the worst of the polygamous societies in the Arizona desert look like open societies!

[bluesmail]

6. And then there's the percentage of Saudi owned Citibank Citigroup Citi Citi

Thanks to NAFTA/WTO it created ta da ta da Global Banking Fantasy Financial ta da it is made into law. ***Esoteric, by Dick and George.

[Citizen Seattle]

9. n/t This story made me wonder what the hourly rate of a Dyncorp or Blackwater contractor might be