Paul B. Farrell: Four time bombs that will blow up Wall Street

[marmar]

Four time bombs that will blow up Wall Street
Commentary: Too late to jail bank CEOs; only revolution will succeed

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch


SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Put Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein in jail for six months, and all this will stop, all over Wall Street and America, a former congressional aide tells Matt Taibbi in his latest Rolling Stone attack, “Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail? Financial crooks brought down the world’s economy — but the feds are doing are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them.”

Taibbi’s right, everyone knows Wall Street’s run by a bunch of dictators who are doing more damage to democracy and capitalism than North Africa’s dictators. But jail the CEOs of Goldman, Citi, B. of A. or my old firm Morgan Stanley? Too late.

Only a revolution will stop Wall Street’s self-destructive capitalism. And watching the people revolt against dictators like Mubarak and Gadhafi reminds us of the spirit that sparked America’s revolution in 1776. But today we need a 1930s-style revolution.

During the S&L crisis two decades ago America had a backbone, indicted 3,800 executives and bankers. Today’s leaders have no backbone. Besides jail time won’t reform the darkness consuming Wall Street’s soul. We’re all asleep, in denial about the moral crisis facing America. Yes, we need a new revolution. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/four-time-bombs-that-will-blow-up-wall-street-2011-03-01

[PA Democrat]

1. Very depressing because the author is brutally honest.

[closeupready]

2. Two reasons I can't take this seriously:

>>3. Pentagon’s perpetual war machine vs America’s budget time bomb

The mathematics of our $75 trillion Social Security and Medicare deficits often seem insurmountable, <<

This number is flat-out false.

>>Bottom line: Forget jailing Wall Street’s dictators. It’s naïve and too late. We missed that opportunity. But a revolution will do the trick, give us a second chance to jail the crooks.<<

He argues that revolting is the more practical answer to fixing America than pursuing charges against bankers.

:eyes: This sounds more Charlie Sheen than Marketwatch.

[Major Hogwash]

3. We don't have enough money to bail out those assholes again!!!

Our piggy bank is already busted!

[rdking647]

4. a traders perspective

I spent 20 years in the commodity pits,both in chicago and new york. think Im well qualified to speak to the motivations and morals of the investment community.

Most of the large wall street firms are run by traders. The trader mentality is "money... now".. nothing else matters. your only as good as your last trade.. just look at how wall street treats companies that miss their earnings estimates for a quarter. It doesnt matter the reason,the stock gets pummeled. rather than plan for the future its all about now..
all a trader cares about is maximizing immediate profits. he doesnt care about the consequences of his action or who it hurts. That is just plain wrong.

heres some of my solutions to reining in the banks

1. foreclosures. If a bank tries to foreclose on someone and doesnt have a clear paper trail then the mortgage should be declared invalid. trying to foreclose without proof of ownership is fraud.
2. 1 bank should be charged with a felony for their actions. a felony conviction for the corporation as opposed to the individual results in the end of the corporations when you are on wall street. forclosing on a house that the bank doesnt have a mortgage on is theft. prosucte them.
3. any bank that needs a "bailout" will be subjects to clawbacks. The upper management of the company as well as the traders in teh division that caused the losses will have to pay back ALL salary and bonus for teh last 5 years. If it causes them to go bankrupt to bad. thats the risk you take

thats a start

[lonestarnot]

6. Lots of pugs in foreclosure now I guess.

:7

[appal_jack]

9. +1 to this response. k&r to the OP. n/t

[xchrom]

5. recommend

[Doctor_J]

7. I am afraid I agree

My posts are often deleted, and this one probably will be too, but this is now stage IV cancer, and only radical treatment has any hope of succeeding. That said, if the revolution were to start with the removal of 20-30 hate radio stations/hosts per week for a couple of months, the cancer would go into remission. At present the peasants and leftists/Dems live in fear, while the rich, their minions (teabaggers, hate radio personalities, right wing politicians, and cable "news" liars) do not. As long as that imbalance exists, there will be no improvement.

[warren pease]

10. Great quote re co-opting the middle class...

"The upper class has done a great job of pitting the middle class against itself." Mark Horton, retired firefighter and treasurer of the Ohio Association of Professional Firefighters.

Divide and conquer. That's the job description of radio hate mongers, wingnut pols and screaming cable "personalities." And that's why nobody from Wall St. will ever see the inside of a prison cell. Too many co-opted wingnuts in the general population to build up momentum to indict, try and jail their heroes.


wp

[slay]

8. K&R

:kick: