Another "Whitewash" for Wall Street

[Donnachaidh]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/mike-whitney/34019/another-whitewash-for-wall-street

Maybe "whitewash" is too harsh of a term to apply to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's (FCIC) report, but it certainly doesn't break any new ground. Nor does it achieve its real purpose, which is to figure out what triggered the financial meltdown and (hopefully) restore confidence in the system. It fails on both counts, and it's not hard to see why. The investigative panel was clearly instructed to point out the dangers of insufficient regulation rather than focus on the massive incidents of fraud that were perpetrated by the bankers and other financial kingpins. It's a clever way of blaming the system instead of the people who were responsible.

Here's an excerpt from the report that's been widely circulated in the media. It exposes the FCIC's real agenda and shows that the commission is little more than a cover up.

From the FCIC Report: "We conclude this financial crisis was avoidable. The crisis was the result of human action and inaction, not of Mother Nature or computer models gone haywire. The captains of finance and the public stewards of our financial system ignored warnings and failed to question, understand, and manage evolving risks within a system essential to the well-being of the American public. Theirs was a big miss, not a stumble. While the business cycle cannot be repealed, a crisis of this magnitude need not have occurred. To paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault lies not in the stars, but in us."

While this seems like an admission that crimes were committed, it's really just the opposite. The authors are saying "We're all to blame", which is pure baloney. The "captains of finance" didn't simply "ignore warnings" or "fail to question, understand, and manage evolving risks". They deliberately stole a great deal of money from a great many people. Period. That's a crime and they need to be held accountable. Unfortunately, the Commission uses the report to obfuscate the facts and confuse the public about what really needs to be done.

More at the link --