Take Action! Millions to Lose Unemployment Insurance
While President Obama is in Washington talking about putting a freeze on government spending, soon millions of American families will be out in the cold. In one month, one million Americans are slated to lose their unemployment insurance. Millions more will follow.
Read more about Take Action! Millions to Lose Unemployment Insurance
Read more about Time is Running Out for Big Ben
Read more about Obama to Wall Street: "You want a fight? I am ready."
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Obama's signature financial reform, a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), was in trouble in the Senate.
Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) was considering dropping the idea of creating an independent, stand-alone consumer protection body, empowered to crack down on banking abuses, in order to get a regulatory revamp passed this year with bipartisan support. Dodd is apparently considering shrinking the CFPA into a division of an already-existing federal agency (no doubt one with a proven track-record of failing consumers.)
Dodd is faced with a dilemma. Although he introduced a rather strong financial services reform bill in Congress last year -- one which creates an independent CFPA, curtails the powers of the Federal Reserve and tackles many Wall Street abuses -- it appears that big bank lobbyists who have spent millions fighting reform are now chipping away at his bill.
Read more about Senator Dodd’s Dilemma: Who to Take to the Ball?
You remember Bernie. His kids turned him in. It appears that the FBI considers this the high-water mark of criminal detective work.
Read more about Too Big to Fail, Not Too Big for Jail
Sleepless Nights on Wall Street, Nightmares on Main Street
The top bankers that were called to testify before the independent Financial Inquiry Crisis Commission in Washington today touched on the drama of the September 2008 financial crisis. They complained of nervous anxiety and sleepless nights. They didn't apologize for a thing, but they did -- to a man -- express their deep appreciation to the American taxpayer for saving their hides.
So how are the big banks treating those taxpayers these days? Almost every banker touted his firm's voluntary housing loan modification efforts to help families facing foreclosure. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, for instance, cited 570,000 new trial loan modifications and 112,000 permanent modifications.
Read more about Sleepless Nights on Wall Street, Nightmares on Main Street
The independent Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission got underway this morning in Washington. The commission was authorized by Congress to get to the bottom of the causes of the financial crisis and produce an independent report, much like the 9-11 commission.
The commission sent a strong message by first putting under oath the titans of Wall Street. They didn't pick the subprime mortgage lenders or Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They didn't pick the credit rating agencies. They didn't even pick the big housing or investment firms that failed. Instead, they chose the largest firms that survived the crisis and now are profiting off of it due to the extraordinary interventions of the U.S. government.
Read more about Murder on the Orient Express?
Obama Joins the "Repo the Dough" Coalition
Today the Washington rumor mill sprang into overdrive as word trickled out that the Obama administration was thinking of applying some sort of fee to banks in order to take back bailout dollars and fund deficit reduction. Here at BanksterUSA we are thrilled that the Obama team has joined our "Repo the Dough" campaign and urge it to apply a financial transaction tax to destructive stock market speculation. A one time tax on bank bonuses simply will not suffice.
Read more about Obama Joins the "Repo the Dough" Coalition
To avoid pitchforks and public outrage, most banks are tamping down on the cash payouts and beefing up long-term stock options. One bank is taking an even more novel approach. Dare we call it greedwashing?
Read more about Greedwashing on Wall Street
Human Rights Public Relations Marketing International Iraq Democracy U.S. Government Politics Environment Health Wisconsin Corporations Activism ALEC Exposed Secrecy Right Wing Lobbying U.S. Congress Climate Change Ethics Journalism Propaganda War / Peace Media Economy