The Rule of Law no longer applies in America

[Ian62]

http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-rule-of-law-no-longer-applies-in.html

Large Corporations, especially the large banks, are protected from any meaningful sanctions no matter what laws they break.
Corporate profits which are at record levels, are protected - against the interests of the overwhelming majority of Americans. The process of transferring wealth from the many to the few is accelerating.
Meanwhile civil rights are being eroded at an alarming and accelerating pace.

The MAIN driver of economic growth is a strong Rule of Law
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/07/the-main-determinant-of-gdp-growth-strength-of-the-rule-of-law.html

It’s an astonishing yet scarcely acknowledged fact that on no fewer than 15 out of 15, the United States now fares markedly worse than Hong Kong. In the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom Index, too, the U.S. ranks 21st in the world in terms of freedom from corruption, a considerable distance behind Hong Kong and Singapore. [Transparency International puts the U.S. at 24th.]
Perhaps the most compelling evidence of all comes from the World Bank’s Indicators on World Governance, which suggest that, since 1996, the United States has suffered a decline in the quality of its governance in three different dimensions: government effectiveness, regulatory quality and the control of corruption.
Compared with Germany or Hong Kong, the U.S. is manifestly slipping behind.
The government has made it official policy not to prosecute fraud.
People have lost trust in the system, because government corruption is as widespread as Wall Street corruption … and many of those in power in D.C. have the same sociopathic traits as those they supposedly regulate on Wall Street.
Quite remarkably, instead of being prosecuted for criminal activity the large banks are to be given even more government largesse.


The Federal Reserve announced another taxpayer guaranteed bail out at the rate of $40bn per month via QE3.
This bailout has no time or monetary limit. According to Ben Bernanke it will continue until official unemployment is below 6.5%. This will NEVER happen unless there is a complete reversal of current government policy.
QE3 buys up impaired mortgage loans from the large banks at a far greater price than their worth.

Civil rights
Meanwhile the rights of the people are being eroded at a frightening and accelerating pace.
Obama can indefinitely detain any American without trial or access to a lawyer, he can confiscate their bank accounts at his whim.
He can declare Martial Law and take control of communications - mobile phones and the internet whenever he might choose to do so.
Armed military are now authorised to perform "law enforcement" on the streets of American cities.
Obama has ordered 1,200 million hollow point bullets to be delivered to the DHS over the next 5 years.
The government is spying on EVERY American citizen.

Also from the above article :-


And as Professor Ferguson notes, draconian national security laws are one of the main things undermining the rule of law:
We must pose the familiar question about how far our civil liberties have been eroded by the national security state – a process that in fact dates back almost a hundred years to the outbreak of the First World War and the passage of the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act. Recent debates about the protracted detention of terrorist suspects are in no way new. Somehow it’s always a choice between habeas corpus and hundreds of corpses.



In fact, government has blown terrorism fears way out of proportion for political purposes, and “national security” powers have been used in many ways to exempt big Wall Street players from the rule of law rather than to do anything to protect us.
Is it any wonder that we’re still in an economic crisis?


Large Banks are no longer subject to the Rule of Law

HSBC was recently convicted of massive drugs and terrorist money laundering, involving billions of dollars over several years.
The laundering was so blatant that the Mexican authorities had been reporting it for years.
The drugs cartels were making their own custom designed boxes to just fit into the bank tellers hatches. The boxes were stuffed full of cash.
The Mexican authorities reported that $7 billion was transferred by HSBC from Mexico to America.

No HSBC executives will be going to jail - they were not even prosecuted.
Shareholders received a nominal fine of 5 weeks of revenue or 20% of last years profits.
This in a country where a minor drugs offence can get you 20 or even 60 years hard jail time. (If you are poor.)

Money laundering by the Large Banks is endemic - there have been several recent cases.
There has been no real action taken by the government to crack down upon it.
There have only been smacks on the wrist penalties imposed.
No bank execs are at risk of being sent to jail.
If you do not punish bad behavior with adequate penalties you will get more of it.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/money-laundering-by-large-banks-is.html

Too big to jail banks, the US government and the drugs trade
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/too-big-to-jail-banks-us-government-and.html

The LIE that prosecuting bank fraud will destabilize the economy is what is REALLY destroying the economy.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/the-pretense-that-prosecuting-bank-fraud-will-destablize-the-economy-is-itself-what-is-actually-destablizing-the-economy.html

Joseph Stiglitz "If we do not prosecute bank fraud, the economy will not recover".
Joseph Stiglitz – former head economist at the World Bank and a nobel-prize winner – said yesterday that the very structure of the Federal Reserve system is so fraught with conflicts that it is “corrupt” and undermines democracy.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/03/nobel-prize-winning-economist-federal-reserve-system-is-corrupt-and-undermines-democracy.html

It is not a "Fiscal Cliff" it is a descent into lawlessness
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/12/its-not-a-fiscal-cliff-its-the-descent-into-lawless-anarchy.html


Lawless Looting and Redistribution of Wealth

The central banks’ central bank – the Bank for International Settlements- warned in 2008 that bailouts of the big banks would create sovereign debt crises … which could bankrupt nations.
That is exactly what has happened.
The big banks went bust, and so did the debtors. But the government chose to save the big banks instead of the little guy, thus allowing the banks to continue to try to wring every penny of debt out of debtors.
Treasury Secretary Paulson shoved bailouts down Congress’ throat by threatening martial law if the bailouts weren’t passed. And the bailouts are now perpetual.
Moreover:
The bailout money is just going to line the pockets of the wealthy, instead of helping to stabilize the economy or even the companies receiving the bailouts:
Bailout money is being used to subsidize companies run by horrible business men, allowing the bankers to receive fat bonuses, to redecorate their offices, and to buygold toilets and prostitutes
A lot of the bailout money is going to the failing companies’ shareholders
Indeed, a leading progressive economist says that the true purpose of the bank rescue plans is “a massive redistribution of wealth to the bank shareholders and their top executives”
The Treasury Department encouraged banks to use the bailout money to buy their competitors, and pushed through an amendment to the tax laws which rewards mergers in the banking industry (this has caused a lot of companies to bite off more than they can chew, destabilizing the acquiring companies)
And as the New York Times notes, “Tens of billions of [bailout] dollars have merely passed through A.I.G. to its derivatives trading partners”.
***
In other words, through a little game-playing by the Fed, taxpayer money is going straight into the pockets of investors in AIG’s credit default swaps and is not even really stabilizing AIG.


Several mainstream commentators, including the New York Times, have recently stated that the large banks are now above the Rule of Law.

The LIBOR rate fixing scandal has been called the greatest fraud in history.
But no senior bankers are going to jail for it.
In truth it is not.
Although the LIBOR scandal is absolutely massive and affects just about everybody on the planet in setting the interest rates for loans, there is an even larger fraud being perpetrated on the public by the banks.


In fact the large banks business model has now become one of pure criminality.
They have ceased to provide a service to the public by making loans to companies or the public that are deserving of productive investment.
Instead they are intent on fleecing the taxpayers and the public at every opportunity, they are supportive of criminal enterprises and they are intent on speculating in and rigging just about every market.

In order to pursue this business model, they have bought the support of the United States government and rendered the Rule of Law redundant. This is the greatest fraud perpetrated by the large banks.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/06/big-banks-conspire-to-game-the-main-interest-rate-indicator-and-to-fleece-cities-and-counties.html


Civil Rights and the protection of the people through the Rule of Law is now a thing of the past in America

Obama's civil rights abuses.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/obamas-civil-rights-violations.html

These curtailments of civil rights are NOT anti terrorism measures.
They are RIOT CONTROL measures and measures to quell domestic dissent.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022064803

Obama is preparing for mass civil unrest due to mass unemployment and extreme economic deprivation.
This economic hardship will be triggered from Europe's major recession, which it is just entering.

The "Fiscal Cliff"

Neither party has any intention of resolving the fiscal cliff in any sensible way, even though it is very easy to see how to do that by reducing government waste by over $1 trillion annually.
No cuts to social security (in the near term) or the raising of income taxes are required.

BOTH parties are intent on raiding the remaining wealth of the middle classes.
They are intent on continuing the current policies of transferring wealth from the many to the very few.

BOTH parties are intent on protecting Corporate profits at the expense of the overwhelming majority of Americans.

How to save over $1 trillion ANNUALLY from government waste and Corporate largesse.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html

The adoption of these policies would start to reverse the transfer of wealth from the many to the few and help economic recovery.
NEITHER party is interested in them.
Barack Obama, John Boehner and the media have created a sham argument over $80bn a year in tax increases for the wealthy and savings of $12bn a year in social security.
Meanwhile even if the Bush income tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 are extended, EVERYBODY is about to get a 2% tax increase from the ending of the payroll tax cut.
This will have a devastating effect on the fragile economy which is about to get hit by a tsunami of economic woes from Europe.


America Today - the facts and figures behind America's economic decline.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/unemployment.html


Conclusions

The solutions to America's strategic decline and economic woes are simple.

The balance between record Corporate profits and 40 year lows in real median wages and incomes needs to be addressed.
The increasing concentration of wealth amongst the top 1%, and particularly the top 0.1%, needs to be reversed.

The Rule of Law in America needs to be reinstated.
Adherence to natural law should not be able to be circumvented by those with money and the protections of natural law should be reinstated for those who do not have money.

[socialindependocrat]

1. That's it in a rather large nutshell. Print this out and carry it around and read it to stupid peopl

If the middle class had money to spend we would be coming out if this recession faster.

[hobbit709]

2. "The law, in all its majesty, forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges"

[MindPilot]

3. Laws--much like taxes--are for the little people. n/t

[Ian62]

4. N.B. My comments about social security

People are living longer and thus the number of years for which people are claiming social security is increasing quite rapidly.

At some point the official retirement age is going to have to be gradually increased to reflect this demographic change.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SjsvCUHVaCk/UI-iDEX8etI/AAAAAAAAAS4/XtLnNAsngKY/s1600/worker+to+retiree+support+ratio.jpg

The chart above shows that as of 2008, there were 4.7 working-age Americans for each retirement-age American, a figure projected to fall to 2.6 by 2050. Compare that to Japan, where the number was 2.8 in 2008, and will fall to about 1.2 by 2050.
Note also that China, for all the demographic issues arising from its one-child policy, is on about the same footing as the United States — an old-age support ratio of 7.9 to 1 in 2008 (actually, much better than that in the United States) and 2.4 in 2050.

This problem affects the entire developed world (and China).

[The Straight Story]

5. Cut defense spending and use that money as needed

Invest some of it and the yield goes into SS.

End wars and fund our people - and yes, they are living longer but that does not mean they are able to work longer.

[Ian62]

7. Yes - drastically cutting military spending and using that money to protect

social security payments is at least a partial solution.

People are ALREADY starting to work longer than they did say 12 years ago.

Fewer people are retiring early because they CAN NO LONGER AFFORD to retire early.
More people are working past 65 because their pensions are insufficient to meet their needs.

[byeya]

6. Not true! Here's a clip from Sept 2012, NY Times

"For generations of Americans, it was a given that children would live longer than their parents. But there is now mounting evidence that this enduring trend has reversed itself for the country’s least-educated whites, an increasingly troubled group whose life expectancy has fallen by four years since 1990."

Your premist is wrong, working people are not living longer.

[mythology]

8. That doesn't mean the premise is wrong

It means that we are physically experiencing the growing wealth disparity. But that doesn't mean that substantially more people aren't living longer and longer while on Social Security and that isn't an issue financially. The problem is that you risk damaging Social Security if you say people who had such a job can retire at 65 and people who had other jobs can't retire until 70. We still need to get rid of the underlying life expectancy issues, but our society doesn't particularly deal well with that.

I think we need to lift the cap on Social Security income, but also make a small increase in the percentage, say maybe one half percent, to allow for greater financial stability for the program.

[Ian62]

9. Current life expectancy

America is now about 51st on the list

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html

US life expectancy is expected to rise by about 4 years by 2050.
(According to a Senate report.)

Table 4. Projected Life Expectancies, SSA, in Selected Years
(in years)
At Birth At Age 65
Year Male Female Male Female
2005 74.8 79.6 16.2 19.0
2025 77.0 81.2 17.5 20.0
2050 79.4 83.2 18.9 21.4
2075 81.3 84.9 20.2 22.7

http://aging.senate.gov/crs/aging1.pdf

Increasing levels of poverty, such as we are currently witnessing, will reduce life expectancy. I doubt if this senate report took any account of that.

You may well be right about the life expectancy of the poor.

[byeya]

10. A big boost in life expentacy came with the conquering(so far anyway) of childnood diseases.

However, with increasing rates of poverty and near poverty, the average age of death, according to the Times article(and others I've read) is decreasing.
In order for the Senate report to be correct, the trend towards earlier death must first be reversed.

Poverty exerts a negative influence on lifespan in several ways. One is poor nutrition in childhood which manifests itself in greater incidence of illness during the adult years and earlier mortality. Poor kids now - up to 25% in most studies - will be dying
earlier 50 years from now.

A plus for longevity is the widespread cessation of smoking which will also take years to play out.

[ananda]

11. It does conveniently apply to minorities, the poor, Occupy, and the Dems.

..

[byeya]

16. Yes it surely does

[aandegoons]

12. The gilded age version 2.0

Every 100 years or so we repeat the cycle of including more and more people in the "outside the law" group. When we get to the point where politics, religion, and corporations are well outside the law together than we hit the magical oh crap level.

This is where we are. And this is where we were a little over 100 years ago.

[Whovian]

13. K&R

[glinda]

14. K & R n/t

[Dustlawyer]

15. The only cure for all of this corruption is

COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM. Unfortunately, the only way to get it is for Americans from both parties need to set aside their differences, and vote for new candidates that do not take any money from corporations. We would have to rise up and say "enough is enough!" We are not there yet, but at the rate they are going, it could be sooner than you think. They will not relinquish power easily, thus the new laws to lock up protestors in camps. Forget about D's and R's! They are another way to distract us and keep us from doing what we must! They are all bought off! Spread the word, COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!

[smccarter]

21. Absolutely.

Re-instate the Tillman act:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillman_Act_of_1907

"An Act to prohibit corporations from making money contributions in connection with political elections. Be it enacted, that it shall be unlawful for any national bank, or any corporation organized by authority of any laws of Congress, to make a money contribution in connection with any election to any political office. It shall also be unlawful for any corporation whatever to make a money contribution in connection with any election at which Presidential and Vice-Presidential electors or a Representative in Congress is to be voted for or any election by any State legislature of a United States Senator. Every corporation which shall make any contribution in violation of the foregoing provisions shall be subject to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and every officer or director of any corporation who shall consent to any contribution by the corporation in violation of the foregoing provisions shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not exceeding one thousand and not less than two hundred and fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court."

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/11/news/companies/supreme_court_citizens_united.fortune/

"the ruling has enormous impact on campaign finance law, where it frees corporations (and presumably unions) to use their vast financial resources to influence elections. At the same time the decision upholds certain disclosure requirements for corporations, which the majority of justices hope might act as a brake on abuse. "

http://www.sikharchives.com/?p=2027

"The Italian dictator Benito Mussolini defined fascism as the merger of the State and the Corporation."

[Dustlawyer]

37. Join with me to demand for Complete Campaign Finance Reform whenever you see a post

that would benefitted from having representative government instead of the bought off bullshit that passes for legislation these days! Thanks, and spread the word!

[NoMoreWarNow]

23. that's a great start

but how to start even changing this?

[Dustlawyer]

38. I have asked the others who commented on my call for Complete Campaign Finance Reform

to spread the word here and anywhere else you go on the internets. Anytime you see where CCFR would have helped us, say so. Ask others to do the same. We can raise awareness if we keep at it! The more people calling for it, calling their Representatives, signing petitions etc., the more likely it will be to happen. We can make a difference! What do you say?

[Ian62]

31. Yep. The money needs to be taken out of politics

With the amount of money currently involved it is difficult to see how the system could not be corrupt.

[Dustlawyer]

36. Join with me then! Every time you see an issue where you believe Complete Campaign Finance

Reform would have helped, say so. I am trying to get as many as I can to start making this an issue they have to deal with. If enough of us start spreading this call to action and do not stop, we can make it happen. I am not naive enough to think it will be easy, but it can be done. We can make a difference here instead of just bitching about the latest screw job we have to suffer! Thanks, spread the word!

[riderinthestorm]

17. Big K&R. Thanks for an excellent OP. nt

[formercia]

18. "since 1996, the United States has suffered a decline in the quality of its governance"

We knew that, thanks to Big Dawg flipping on us.

[byeya]

19. Excellent OP - Poster did a lot of hard work - Many Thanks

[ReRe]

20. Yip, it's the wild, wild west all over again...

K&R

.... and the gilded age again, to boot! They're above the law and we're below the law. Two Americas. Two standards. There's them and there's us. They set it all up so they would win the class war they was waging and here we are. And their retort is if we "don't like it, leave!" or "Get a job!" Salt in the wound.

[lunasun]

30. +1

[NoMoreWarNow]

22. great post-- let's do something about it

and also about the insanity of the war on terror and the national security state:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/26/drones-yemen-fbi-occupy-terrorism

[mathematic]

24. The best part is when you say Hong Kong has less corruption and then excoriate HSBC.

The H stands for Hong Kong. And that, folks, is a handy way to think about the OP.

It's a superficial amalgamation of out of context opinions and facts. Dots are dug up and then loosely connected. The audience participates by saying a satisfying "I get it!" but nobody learned anything from this post. It's a story told by a storyteller. It's a standard anti-Fed, anti-government screed that anybody can hear standing on a random corner of the internet.

Be honest: how many of you people that "learned" something from this post (or rec'd it) are aware that it uses mostly rightwing economists and commentators as sources?

[Ian62]

27. Yep. HSBC stands for Hong kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation

It first made it's money out of the Opium trade so not much has changed.
http://deanhenderson.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/the-worlds-dirtiest-bank-hsbc/

The article says that the US banking system is more corrupt than Hong Kong's.
What does that tell you?

And apparently Joseph Stiglitz is now a right wing economist.

[indepat]

25. The rule of law will never be re-instituted with

a corporate/fascist government being an eager, willing, enabling, facilitating partner in the fleecing of America.

edited to change verb form verb

[Berlum]

26. Republicans, Inc. Lying About This 3x Faster than Bullshit

Republicans are endangering life for their own spawn, but they just don't give a shit

[Comrade Grumpy]

28. Yet Democrats control the White House and the Senate. Go figger.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

29. Some of us thought that the rule of law would be reinstated with the 2008 elections.

Can anyone legitimately say that we were not fooled?

Can anyone legitimately say that we should not be angry for being fooled?

With a system which allows war criminals and banksters to walk around free, rich, and happy, what are the odd that the rule of law will ever be restored?

[rhett o rick]

33. I am angry. I was naive i guess. I thought a Democratic president would make things right. nm

[RainDog]

32. k&r n/t

[just1voice]

34. It'll keep getting worse too until a few war criminals are tried for treason

I've been making the point for years now. If Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell and/or Gonzales were actually tried for all the crimes they committed that would send a signal to the rest of our criminal country that law has returned.

Until then, it's "post reality" America.

[Mojorabbit]

35. Great post. nt