The shit is truly hitting the fan, as the outrage, anger and frustration of Americans on the left, on the right and in-between have reached a critical mass of rage concerning the financial meltdown, the lost of over 15.7 million jobs, homes and retirement funds, and the continued and flagrant favoritism that Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke has shown towards Wall Street while Main Street has been kicked under the bus and into the gutter.
The 'ugly' truth of just how many 'back room' deals have gone on to use taxpayer dollars to save AIG, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and other companies who are now paying insane bonuses and making record profits, at the expense of hard working Americans is now coming to light, and it ain't pretty folks.
I find it somewhat incredulous that these 'brilliant economists' and Wall Street players actually thought that they could and would 'get away' with essentially ruining our entire economy, by placing insanely 'risky' bets on credit default swaps, then after they 'tanked' the 'government' used our money to bail them out of their little mistake of 'Enroning the Planet.' Well, they are not going to get away with it.
The Audit the Fed movement has now taken over a life of it's own. Note the recent comments of Naomi Klein:
Naomi Klein, who signed the "Audit the Fed" letter, criticized the Watt amendment for allowing "governing in the dark".
"We used to call them zombie banks, they're actually vampire banks," she said. "Because what they're saying is, well there's the bloodsucking thing, but then there's also, turn the lights on, we'll wither, we'll turn to dust."
Grim discussed the challenge the Paul/Grayson bill may face from Watt amendment supporters. "The Ron Paul/Alan Grayson bill has enough support to pass," he said. "So instead of trying to kill it, which they can't do anymore, they come in with what they call a 'compromise,' a serious with a capital 'S' amendment, but if you look at the fine print of it, it actually just extends the secrecy of the Federal Reserve."
Grim elaborated that part of the Paul/Grayson bill's strength lies in its bipartisan support: "You also have unanimous Republican support for this in the committee, so you have this left/right convergence, kind of a grassroots movement, that is trying to challenge the establishment."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Both the Federal Reserve and the Treasurer were both complicit in the financial meltdown. Both were charged as regulators towards reining in the Banks and Wall Street during the financial meltdown, and both of them failed miserably. And instead of admitting their failures, they have done just the opposite, and have 'dug their heels' in and continue to support the very entities that continue unabated in their 'controlled fraud' on Wall Street, the SEC, the NYSE and the Vampire Banks.
The 'broke it' now its time to 'fix it' and stop the damn looting and cover-ups. The 'truth' is coming out all over the web, despite their best efforts to try to hide the toxic debt and the over 1 quadrillion dollars worth of credit derivative of 'unwound' worthless pieces of paper they bet on, without any regard on how their behavior would literally 'destroy' our country, the public rage has now reached a massive scale.
With the passing of the Grayson/Paul Amendment on the Thursday, this moves the 'grassroots' movement (including FireDogLake) into overdrive.
Well, the Watt Amendment failed and was backed by 15 Democrats (as Barney Frank, who has always supported the Audit the Fed movement did a 180 and changed his mind at the last moment.) The following people also signed the letter from FireDogLake supporting the Grayson/Paulson Amendment and specifically not supporting the Watt Amendment:
Jane Hamsher, founder and publisher of Firedoglake.com, who organized the effort. "It would actually make the Federal Reserve even more secretive, by erecting further barriers to transparency."
The letter was signed by SEIU President Andy Stern, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, James K. Galbraith (Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Chair at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin), author Naomi Klein, blogger Yves Smith of Naked Capitlaism, William Black (Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri–Kansas City), blogger Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge, Robert Johnson (former Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee), Randall Wray (Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability at the University of Missouri–Kansas City), Thomas Ferguson, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Dean Baker, co-founder and co-director of the Center For Economic And Policy Research.
http://workinprogress.firedoglake.co...
Senator Dodd also has his own misgivings about the upcoming reconfirmation hearing that is coming up on Bernanke:
Just six weeks after he told Reuters it was essentially a done deal, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd punted when asked about the likelihood of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's confirmation for a second term.
Asked by a citizen journalist if it was a foregone conclusion that Bernanke's nomination for a second term would be confirmed by the Senate, Dodd replied: "Not necessarily, not necessarily. We'll see how members react."
The intervening six weeks have seen a growing public anger about skyrocketing unemployment, and a growing recognition that government bailouts since last fall have helped Wall Street -- rather than Main Street. There will be a thorough and comprehensive confirmation hearing. I still have serious concerns about the Federal Reserve's failure to protect consumers and I strongly believe these responsibilities should go to an independent consumer financial protection agency. I expect many serious questions will be raised about the role of the Federal Reserve moving forward and what authorities it should and should not have.
Dodd also acknowledged some of his own shortcomings as a member then chairman of the banking committee, in the context of Bernanke's recent performance: "He's been better on some of these issues, which I wish I'd paid attention to years before."
Well, Senator Dodd 'you didn't pay attention' and that was your responsibility and look where it has led us as a nation. Congress is just as complicit in this national disaster as is Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Wall Street, the Banks, and all of the so-called-regulators (including Timothy Geithener) look the 'other way' and who just let these 'raving out of control' crooks and liars bring us to economic disaster unlike any in our history as a nation.
The tide is turning quickly. The very 'notion' that the Federal Reserve is 'independent' has been throughly discredited by their own actions and inactions to properly 'regulate' the nation's money supply and interest rates.
Here is what is going to happen on December 3, 2009 - mark your calendars accordingly.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee said on Friday it will hold a hearing on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's renomination to a second term on December 3, putting the central bank chief under scrutiny at a time when the Fed is facing intense criticism in Congress. The hearing promises to be lively. Lawmakers have accused the Fed of being asleep at the wheel as risky lending practices laid the groundwork for the financial bust, which in turn fed the most painful recession since the 1930s. They are also angered at the role the central bank has played in bailing out large financial institutions.
Public resentment against the Fed and the Treasury Department runs high as some banks that received taxpayer funds have returned to profitability even as many Americans still lose jobs and homes. Some lawmakers are pushing legislation to sharply rein in the Fed's powers and to subject it to a higher degree of congressional scrutiny.
An amendment approved by a House of Representatives panel on Thursday would open Fed interest rate decisions to congressional review. Fed officials say the step would sap investor confidence in the central bank's ability to take the potentially unpopular step of raising interest rates to put the brakes on growth to prevent inflation.
Senior Senators of both political parties have faulted the Fed's actions leading up to and during the crisis. Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd called the Fed's regulatory performance "an abysmal failure."
http://www.reuters.com/...
The Fed officials 'claim' that any 'transparency' on their part would somehow 'sap investor confidence' to potentially raise interest rates to prevent inflation' sounds to me like a threat. The FED also seems to ignore the simple fact that the 'investor confidence' no longer exists for most Americans (except for their pals on Wall Street) who all have their little club of 'insider trading, front running, endless controlled fraud scheme' down to a small little protected group of companies who the SEC protects and the NYSE ignores for their flagrant stealing of millions of dollars daily on the market.
Everyone knows damn well it's all rigged. Everyone knows who the hell caused the 'great heist of 2008' and where all that tax dollar money went to. Just ask Elizabeth Warren, Neil Barofsky or William K. Black. All of them are saying the exact same thing:
"You got screwed America, and you still are getting screwed, and good luck getting any of that TARP money back, because no one will tell us where the hell it is, including our own government.'
Barofsky, not one to mince words made it very clear about 'the deal Geithner' brokered for his pals on Wall Street:
A brutal report issued Monday by a government watchdog holds Timothy Geithner -- then the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and now the nation's Treasury Secretary -- responsible for overpayments that put billions of extra tax dollars in the coffers of major Wall Street firms, most notably Goldman Sachs.
"There is no question that the effect of FRBNY's decisions -- indeed, the very design of the federal assistance to AIG -- was that tens of billions of dollars of Government money was funneled inexorably and directly to AIG's counterparties," the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said.
Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Wachovia got full value for their derivatives contracts with AIG, and taxpayers got the bill. In total, $27.1 billion of public money was transferred to companies that did business with AIG.
And of course, the Ben Bernnake biggest mistake was his continual lying and covering up of 'bailing his pals out'......as Barofsky states:
The now familiar argument from Government officials about the dire consequences of basic transparency, as advocated by the Federal Reserve...once again simply does not withstand scrutiny. Federal Reserve officials initially refused to disclose the identities of the counterparties or the details of the payments, warning that disclosure of the names would undermine AIG's stability, the privacy and business interests of the counterparties, and the stability of the markets.
After public and Congressional pressure, AIG disclosed the identities. Notwithstanding the Federal Reserve's warnings, the sky did not fall; there is no indication that AIG's disclosure undermined the stability of AIG or the market or damaged legitimate interests of the counterparties. The lesson that should be learned -- one that has been made apparent time after time in the Government's response to the financial crisis -- is that the default position, whenever Government funds are deployed in a crisis to support markets or institutions, should be that the public is entitled to know what is being done with Government funds.
While SIGTARP acknowledges that there might be circumstances in which the public's right to know what its Government is doing should be circumscribed, those instances should be very few and very far between.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
The argument that the Federal Reserve is 'Independent' is a lie and it always has been a lie. The argument that 'we the people' should not be allowed to see, understand, process and be a part of that organization who controls the nation's money supply and interest rates is another lie.
These 'lies' have been kept in place simply for one reason: To keep the power base of the nation's Robber Barons hidden from view. There is no other reason behind allowing a 'Fourth Branch of the Government' the Federal Reserve who answers to no one, not even the President of the United States to maintain this kind 'total power which kind of sits out there – not in the executive branch, not in the legislative branch, not in the judicial branch. Sort of its own little element in the separation-of-powers constellation.
If anyone can find the words: Federal Reserve in our Constitution, I for one would sure as hell like to see it.
While the Fed is subject to some congressional oversight, its decisions don't have to be ratified by the president or Congress. Fed officials are not paid with money appropriated by Congress.
Well, who the hell pays them?
- The Fed generates profits for its shareholders.
The interest on bonds acquired with its newly-issued Federal Reserve Notes pays the Fed’s operating expenses plus a guaranteed 6% return to its banker shareholders. A mere 6% a year may not be considered a profit in the world of Wall Street high finance, but most businesses that manage to cover all their expenses and give their shareholders a guaranteed 6% return are considered "for profit" corporations.
In addition to this guaranteed 6%, the banks will now be getting interest from the taxpayers on their "reserves." The basic reserve requirement set by the Federal Reserve is 10%. The website of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York explains that as money is redeposited and relent throughout the banking system, this 10% held in "reserve" can be fanned into ten times that sum in loans; that is, $10,000 in reserves becomes $100,000 in loans. Federal Reserve Statistical Release H.8 puts the total "loans and leases in bank credit" as of September 24, 2008 at $7,049 billion. Ten percent of that is $700 billion. That means we the taxpayers will be paying interest to the banks on at least $700 billion annually – this so that the banks can retain the reserves to accumulate interest on ten times that sum in loans.
The banks earn these returns from the taxpayers for the privilege of having the banks’ interests protected by an all-powerful independent private central bank, even when those interests may be opposed to the taxpayers’ -- for example, when the banks use their special status as private money creators to fund speculative derivative schemes that threaten to collapse the U.S. economy. Among other special benefits, banks and other financial institutions (but not other corporations) can borrow at the low Fed funds rate of about 2%. They can then turn around and put this money into 30-year Treasury bonds at 4.5%, earning an immediate 2.5% from the taxpayers, just by virtue of their position as favored banks. A long list of banks (but not other corporations) is also now protected from the short selling that can crash the price of other stocks.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/...
Not a bad deal for the Federal Reserve and 'if' they had done even a half way decent job of keeping their 'ravenous gambling addicted' rabid hell dogs on their leashes, and 'if' they had even fucking 'pretended' to give a rat's ass about protecting our economy and Americans from what can only be described as the worst disaster of criminal negligence in the history of the world, then the FED wouldn't be up to it's ass in alligators right now.
As for Lloyd Blankfien's recent so called apology for Goldman Sachs - this one: ,Blankfein, 55, said at a conference in New York hosted by the Directorship magazine. "We apologize." "We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,"
You know the thing is Lloyd, the problem with an apology is that once it's made, you've admitted your guilt.
Every American without a job, a home or a retirement fund knows your guilty you worthless asshole, and guess what?
We are coming to get you. That's right. You and Bernanke and all of the rest of you who 'hide behind the Gold Wall' and lie and cheat and steal with absolutely no shamelessness or patriotic sense of duty to your own country.
The 'jig' is up, and 'sorry' just doesn't get it done.
'Tear down that Wall President Obama' because it is time. It is the right thing to do, and no body in this nation is being fooled anymore by what has taken place in our country as Main Street is drowning and treading water, because 'the guilty' the very people who destroyed our nation are about to be 'held accountable' on December 3, 2009 at the hearing for Ben Bernanke being re-confirmed as the 'secret wheeler and dealer' who let the house burn down on his watch.
This 'grass roots movement' is from every single spectrum of our society, and it has reached an all time critical level. As Congressman Grayson said:
Even a dog knows when it's being kicked.