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We the People paid for all the losses (and far more) from the big banks having gambled with government guaranteed funds and plunged us into a recession from which we may never fully recover. Of course, we are wanting to ensure that such a thing will never happen again, so naturally our legislators, those in the People’s House whom we elected to represent us, are out front leading the battle to protect against funding the banks’ gambling addiction, right? Any governmental protection for those banks from their gambling losses would be a legislative poison pill to our representatives because they represent you, right?
Wrong and wrong. The House of Representatives passed a budget bill that ensures that you foot the bill the next time Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, gambles and loses.
And don’t think that it’s just those corrupt, bought-by-big-business Republicans ensuring a banking free pass. 57 Democrats voted for that idiotic budget, too. That’s how deep Big Money reptilian fangs are embedded into the neck of your country.
The four biggest banks handle 90% of all derivative action, so this damnable banking amendment to the budget is not designed to protect the thousands of mom and pop banks in America. This amendment is solely for the benefit of those four hideously large special boys who are too big to fail and which we ensured with wimpy Dodd-Frank legislation will continue to be too big to fail.
Too many of our legislators are focused on their own short term self-interest and that is inextricably tied to the interests of Big Money. Unless you’re a member of that club, a majority of our legislators don’t hear a word you’re saying. And that should be a poison pill for you.
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Ed. note: There is much in America that needs fixing and we are on a path to continually fail to make things better. It is my goal to make a difference – perhaps to be a catalyst for things to get better. That is the reason for these posts. To accomplish the goal requires reaching many thousands of people and a robust dialogue. Please help by offering your comments, as well as by passing this along and encouraging others to subscribe and do the same. Thanks. JA
Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.
4 Responses to Poison Pills
dominick December 15, 2014
When corporations decided that members of legislatures and the executive branch in 99% of all levels of government should represent them by only two political parties, these are the results. Their financial investments in these officials have been sound, guaranteeing that their political mercenaries consistently represent their interests and offer protection – and the mafia should be jealous over how much this protection costs! In recent years these corporate investments has assured them that their executives retain immunity from serving jail time for committing crimes ranging from fraud, poisoning the environment, and manslaughter for known product defects. When they are sometimes caught operating outside of the bounds of their tax law loopholes and weak regulations – no problem! Their shareholders end up paying fines, which have become just part of doing business as usual.
Until the average and clueless American voter realizes this unhealthy relationship between for-profit businesses and their entrenched political parties, expect more of the same. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across any other viable political party or any political organization claiming to get money out of politics that is not actually supporting the influence of money in politics! The only exceptions are organizations presenting the factual evidence of how we are being ripped off every day – they need money to sue for information under the “Freedom of Information Act”. Can anyone tell me why most people think we have an open democracy with a law like this that tells us we have limited rights to see how our tax dollars are spent?
Frank Levy December 14, 2014
Does the phrase “term limits” sound like a good idea? The Founders intended legislators to be citizen legislators, individuals whom might serve one or two terms and then return to their homes and lives. As that has not happened it seems like term limits might be the only way to get big money out of OUR government.
Jim Altschuler December 14, 2014
Too big to fail? Who was it that coined that phrase? What’s the criteria for being considered “too big to fail”? Is it because the failure of those banks and insurance companies that are considered “too big to fail” would devastate the economy if they did fail?
What is the alternative? They get away with whatever horrific mistakes they make and, oh my God, We The People pay for their mistakes! So whether those “too big to fail” institutions have legislation to protect them from their own screw-ups or not, We The People pay for their mistakes!
There should be some way for those institutions to be held accountable and to pay for their own mistakes instead of inflicting the expenses and/or losses caused by their mistakes being dumped on and charged to The People.
There should be a way for The People to recover at least a sizable portion of the losses created by those “too big to fail” companies, some liability rule or law that would allow those mistakes to be recoverable. A means by which those companies can be forced, where necessary, to pay for their own mistakes instead of making The People pay for their errors.
Joni Lindgren December 14, 2014
Obama is showing his true colors….he is not the president we needed at this period of time. He has consistently “given away the keys to the corporate future.” Between extending the Bush tax cuts and appointing anti-democratic people to key positions and working with multinational corporations to get the TPP passed and now a budget that takes 30% from the pensions of construction workers and truckers while giving the banking industry the power to gamble away people’s savings and retirement accounts with more bail-outs in the 2015 Budget that was just passed, we are at our all-time biggest risk!! If I had my savings in a bank, I would pull every penny out before that happens because Thom Hartmann says we are due for a crash in 2016. Wall Street is going to run up the stock market and then pull the plug and plummet the Market….so investors can buy low and make big bucks! Greed has no limits. Read his book entitled, The Crash of 2016 by Thom Hartmann.
ALSO….Google and read: Popular Resistance Newsletter
Their mantra is…Respect our Rights or we’ll shut it down!!! Remember the recent mass protest in Seattle? They shut down a main road in Seattle!! It’s the only way to get our politicians and main stream America to wake up because certainly we don’t have the help of the media to tell this horrible story about the banking industry run amok, what the corporations are doing to our environment, how the corporations get so much of our tax dollar through tax incentives, tax loopholes, tax inversions and hoarding obscene profits in off-shore accounts while we taxpayers pick up their tab! 1/4 of the biggest corporations (including Wall Street and the NFL) don’t pay a penny in taxes! I wish I could get away with that, don’t you?
Time to take to the streets, Jack!!