"I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute...it will have a negative impact on the national economy" - Eric Holder, Attorney General, United States of America, 3/6/2013 LINKThink about what Holder just said there for a moment. He just said that the banks can get away with whatever they want because if the law is enforced upon them, it might hurt the economy.
This is truly mind-blowing. Basically, the Attorney General of the United States has said that the big banks are completely above the law. There's nothing left for us to do. Eric Holder has officially turned this country over to the big Wall Street banks.
This means that Obama and Eric Holder have COMPLETELY FAILED to do the job they are elected to do. Which is to uphold the Constitution and Rule of Law.
The United States is OFFICIALLY a Banana Republic governed by The Rule of Banks.
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And Holder said yesterday that Obama can drone kill an American on US soil without due process. So where will the modern day Lexington and Concord be? Cause ACW2 is a coming sure as a freight train rolling down off a mountain and ain't nothin' stoppin' it.
ReplyDeleteLanny Breuer, the DOJ's head of criminal enforcement, said precisely the same thing on Frontline's "Untouchables" episode, which provoked such outrage that he "resigned" the next day. Unless Holder resigns, that episode was a charade. Place your bets.
ReplyDeleteHolder further testified today that "the greatest deterrent effect is to prosecute the individuals in the corporations" and that "the people in our criminal division--I think have been as aggressive as they could be" in that regard. Sen. Grassley failed to ask the obvious follow-up question, namely, then why, given HSBC's express admission to committing crimes, didn't you prosecute any of that bank's executives or even former executives?
This brings us to the real charade at work here, namely, the fraudulent theater comprising the liars who inhabit each and every position throughout all of Congress and the executive branch, which includes Senator Grassley and his faux opposition to the TBTF banks.
The wholesale looting that is sanctioned and indeed enjoyed by the entirety of the U.S. government will end with all the subtlety of Madoff's hedge funds. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how serious violence isn't dead ahead, one way or another.
Stick a fork in us - we're done. This country may well see a second American Revolution or even a second Civil War now that our leadership has abandoned this country to the financial wolves. :-(
ReplyDelete---
Sam....
Civil War with serious violence as there will be so many different groups pitted against each other as well as power struggles within those groups.
ReplyDeleteThat's why the manipulation in the silver market will NEVER be prosecuted. I always wonder why Ted Butler has so much faith in this system and hopes that one day the CFTC will bring justice to the silver market. It will NEVER happen in his life time!
ReplyDeleteThe Government Has It Bass-Ackwards: Failing To Prosecute Criminal Fraud by the Big Banks Is Killing – NOT Saving – the Economy
ReplyDeleteU.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said today:
I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions [banks] becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy
As we’ve repeatedly noted, this is wholly untrue.
If the big banks were important to the economy, would so many prominent economists, financial experts and bankers be calling for them to be broken up?
If the big banks generated prosperity for the economy, would they have to be virtually 100% subsidized to keep them afloat?
If the big banks were helpful for an economic recovery, would they be prolonging our economic instability?
In fact, failing to prosecute criminal fraud has been destabilizing the economy since at least 2007 … and will cause huge crashes in the future.
After all, the main driver of economic growth is a strong rule of law.
The government that permits this to happen is complicit in a vast crime.
Galbraith also says:
There will have to be full-scale investigation and cleaning up of the residue of that, before you can have, I think, a return of confidence in the financial sector. And that’s a process which needs to get underway.
Galbraith recently said that “at the root of the crisis we find the largest financial swindle in world history”, where “counterfeit” mortgages were “laundered” by the banks.
As he has repeatedly noted, the economy will not recover until the perpetrators of the frauds which caused our current economic crisis are held accountable, so that trust can be restored. See this, this and this.
No wonder Galbraith has said economists should move into the background, and “criminologists to the forefront.”
The bottom line is that the government has it exactly backwards. By failing to prosecute criminal fraud, the government is destabilizing the economy … and ensuring future crashes.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/03/the-government-has-it-bass-ackwards-failing-to-prosecute-criminal-fraud-by-the-big-banks-is-killing-the-economy.html
Curious if spinoffs to right listing balance sheets might be in the future... after trillions of dollars didn't 'git er done' now we hear an official acknowledgement of TBTF on record. Hmmm?
ReplyDeleteFormer Head Of Plunge Protection Team Lands At DE Shaw
ReplyDeleteBrian Sack, he who held the fattest finger on the Fed's green buy button until Simon Potter and his young protege Kevin Henry stepped into those prodigious shoes, has landed a role at mega quant fund D.E.Shaw. As Reuters reports, the former head of the Fed's Market Group will be the co-Director of Global Economics. The fund, with its reputation for mathematical modeling and computer-driven trading over short-term horizons will, we are sure, benefit from Sack's empirical ability to stomp on the throat of the VIX and tinker with VWAPs, though we hope he lasts longer than Larry Summers did. Of course, this almost guarantees that former-D.E.Shaw alum Jeff Bezos' Amazon.com share price will continue to surge as its fundamental performance plunges. The Plunge Protection Team, it appears, is in strong demand, though we hope someone explains that maybe D.E.Shaw does have a MtM policy (and not unlimited balance sheet).
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-07/former-head-plunge-protection-team-lands-de-shaw
...it's all related
I can believe it.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the reply below from Anonymous on March 4, 2013, I would simply state the following: despite HUGE demand for silver eagles in January and February of this year, silver FELL from over 32 to 28.75 as I type. So exactly how are U.S. mint sales a useful indicator? I am certainly not happy at the moment if I bought silver on the basis that information. If anything, retail sales are normally considered a contrary indicator.
ReplyDelete“The ability of the US Mint to meet the demand for silver is an indicator of the physical supply of bullion as is the premium for the coins over physical bullion price. In days gone by coins sold at the same level per oz or at a discount.”
Holder (should have the first name Dick) is even a more worthless bastard than his boss. That these cowardly pieces of shit even call themselves Americans- is an insult to every hard working American out here.
ReplyDeleteThe sooner these pieces of shit are gone the better off we will all be.
Maybe it's time to refresh the tree of liberty.
Dave I don't see how this differs one iota from the concept of "too big to fail". I flipped out in 2008 when these words were uttered by the moron in cheif, primarily because they went public with it. We all knew the bailouts were in play and ongoing for years (LTCM, ENRON, yadda yadda) but to "take it to the streets" meant they knew they couldn't cover up the massive bailouts that were coming (through QE). More cases in point: MF Global and Sentinel - butt blisters from the police state billy-bonker.
ReplyDeleteBut for me, "too big to jail" was ALWAYS implicit in "too big to fail". Every passing day since October of 2007 is indisputable proof of "the Mozillo factor" i.e. "justice for sale".
Now ... when Holder says, "Yes we can kill American citizens on US soil with no trial, no verdict, no due process and essentially no cause - using a remote control unmanned weapon." Well then our eyes should pop out of our heads at that one. But this whole situaton we're seeing now is just a gradual desentization of the outrageous.
Pretty soon, the fuckin sheople with have lawn chairs set up on their Jersey shores munching popcorn bought with food stamp credits, texting each other on their free smaht-phones all the grisly details of the latest Hunger Games. Hope yer names not drawn in the central Lotto (ouch).
That's what's coming ... hope your butt is lubed up for it my friend. Or as I've always said in my loan docs "the APR is the anal penetration rate."
I am amazed that you have an honest Attorney General and do not appreciate the fact. lol
ReplyDeleteIgnatz
LOL
DeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteI just had an epiphany. The fact that gold mining stocks are down implies that the price of gold needs to go up, no? That is, if $1600/oz were a profitable enough price, the miners would be doing fine. But apparently, judging by their poor price action, it is not. These falling stock prices WOULD be of great concern if we were dealing with housing prices/housing manufacturers, as we know housing to be in over supply. And thus, if the house prices were steady, but the stocks prices of the builders were falling, we'd think that it was time for the builders to take a dive too.
However, word has it that the demand for gold is stronger than for 5 bedroom DR Horton McMansions in the suburbs of Vegas.
Thus, ultimately, when the central banks can no longer able to sell gold, this particular game will hit a wall. Buyers are then going to be forced to turn to the miners for supply. And if the market feels that $1600 is too low a price for the miners to make money, well than the market will have to fix that. It is only a matter of time.
Thanks for a great blog,
Doug
Cyclical bad price correction. This one got way overdone, although %-wise not as bad a 2008. This will rebound very quickly. Bet we see knew bull mkt highs across the board w/in 18-24 months
DeleteQE for the People: Grillo's Populist Plan for Italy
ReplyDeleteComedian Beppe Grillo was surprised himself when his Five Star Movement got 8.7 million votes in the Italian general election of Feb. 24-25. His movement is now the biggest single party in the chamber of deputies, says The Guardian, which makes him "a kingmaker in a hung parliament."
Grillo's is the party of "no." In a candidacy based on satire, he organized an annual "V‑Day Celebration," the "V" standing for vaffanculo ("f--k off"). He rejects the status quo -- all the existing parties and their monopoly control of politics, jobs, and financing -- and seeks a referendum on all international treaties, including NATO membership, free trade agreements and the euro.
"If we get into parliament," says Grillo, "we would bring the old system down, not because we would enjoy doing so but because the system is rotten." Critics fear, and supporters hope, that if his party succeeds, it could break the euro system.
Besides rejecting all the existing parties and treaties, Grillo's program includes the following:
unilateral default on the public debt;
nationalization of the banks; and
a guaranteed "citizenship" income of 1000 euros a month.
It is a platform that could actually work. Austerity has been tested for a decade in the Eurozone and has failed, while the proposals in Grillo's plan have been tested in other countries and have succeeded.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-brown/qe-for-the-people-grillos_b_2829729.html
Elizabeth Warren: What Level of Criminality Will It Take to Shut Down a Bank, (Mr. President)?
ReplyDeleteBut since Eric Holder is Obama's personal representative, almost certainly acting in consultation on financial matters with the Treasury Secretary, the offensive corruption in the financial sector is the result of the President's policies. And at this point he has no one else to blame.
And so Senator Warren might as well ask: "Mr. President, to what level of criminality must a Bank, and its management, rise before you would be willing to indict and prosecute it? And why are you so zealous in prosecuting whistleblowers and reformers, but so tolerant of even extreme examples of white collar financial crime?"
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2013/03/elizabeth-warren-what-level-of.html
To all the mouth-breathing cohorts of Dave's cult here calling for revolution or Civil War, relax. I have an answer for you. Holder was saying what he said to Congress to underscore the point that the big banks need to be broken up, NOT to excuse them for illegalities. Stop with the Obama and Holder bashing, Dave, and buy a clue. You are a worthless gold bug Armageddonist as always. The rest of you mouth-breathers can go take a hike.
ReplyDeleteRight. That's why financial/Wall Street crime prosecution has declined something like 30% from the Bush admin to the Obamma admin.
DeleteYou're the one who needs to wake up. Holder makes John Ashcroft look like a small-time candy store thief. Do some research on Holder's background and resume before you open up your trap and look like a meth-addled idiot.
You calling for Civil War and/or revolution, Dave? Certainly, some of your followers are. Doesn't that bother you, Dave? To have Timothy McVeigh types on your blog doesn't speak well of you, sir.
DeleteThere's a word for that: Treason.
I'm waiting for a credible movement to get started and I'm jumping in with both feet. You can go ahead and be a pathetic, mindless middles class turd and let the Government steal the rest of everything they haven't stolen yet and then follow their orders when they impose totalitarianism. We're halfway there because 90% of the people in this country are blind zombies - like you.
DeleteThank goodness Patrick Henry didn't have YOUR view on the world.
One other thing, and Bill O'Reilly started this trend, throwing "sir" in debate comments for the sake of emphasis is completely retarded.
DeleteI do not care what you think Holder meant-- fact is a certain bank was laundering drug profits and basically admitted it, paid a fine, never admitted guilt, and nobody went to jail. Meanwhile a kid caught selling a joint in many states is headed for jail time. The big banks have been TOTALLY excused from any prosecution. I'm not even an American and I see that. Who was prosecuted due to the frauds in the subprime? Who was prosecuted due to the MF Global fiasco? etc. Fortunately in my country the banks have very tight leashes and were never allowed to run amok like they have in the USA and the EU and the UK so there was no need to prosecute after the frauds that came to light in '08-'09. That said, the only country in the world that was F***ed over by the bankers and has prosecuted bankers was Iceland. Kind of shameful that the USA can bully other countries but does not actually have half the balls of the government of Iceland. BTW Madoff HAD to be prosecuted-- he ripped off the 1%.
DeleteAs for the treason statement-- sometimes a citizen who truly loves his or her country has to choose "treason" because their country is so tainted or ruined and actually their "treasonous" actions show they actually care about their country and its future-- unlike your present President who sold his soul to big business and banks to become president and help them raid the cookie jar of everybody in America's savings, efforts, and futures.Enjoy the shearing (and possibly the gas chamber or equivalent) when it comes you dumb sheeple. Or maybe you will get lucky and in your case there will be no trial and a drone will take you out with enough fire power you don't feel pain for long.
Justin from Canada
Chinese Parliament Holds 83 Billionaires
ReplyDeleteThe legislature of the world's last major communist country is almost certainly the wealthiest in the world, according to a popular rich list that names 83 dollar billionaires among the delegates to China's parliament this year.
Meanwhile, in America there is not a single billionaire in the House of Representatives or the Senate while the wealthiest member, Texas Republican Michael McCaul, is estimated to be worth a paltry $500 million.
Among the delegates gathered in Beijing this week to attend the National People's Congress, the China-based Hurun Global Rich List identified 31 people with more than $1 billion in personal assets.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100535130
so American politicians have something to aspire to?
Dave, I saw the cowardly comments from "anonymous" above.
ReplyDeleteWhen did you start allowing cowardly little pussies to comment? Fucking pussies running around calling people names. I'm sure your dad is proud.
It's not a real forum if you don't let everyone (except obvious idiots) have their say. Why does the above comment offend you so much (whether you mean the one directly above or mine above that)?
DeleteJustin from Canada