Jim Hightower: Bust 'Em Up: Who Needs Wall Street Giants?

[marmar]

Published on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by Common Dreams
Bust 'Em Up: Who Needs Wall Street Giants?

by Jim Hightower


JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and the handful of other behemoths of Wall Street that dominate American banking — who needs them?

After enduring years of insatiable greed by the slick-fingered hucksters who run these gambling houses; after watching in dismay as their ineptness and avarice drained more than $19 trillion from America's household wealth since 2007 and plunged our real economy into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression; after witnessing their shameful demands for trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts to save their banks and their jobs; and now after seeing them return immediately to business as usual, including paying multimillion-dollar bonuses to themselves — we have to ask: Huh!?!

Oh, no-no, cry the banking titans, don't even think of looking behind the curtain! Trust us, say these Wall Street alchemists, for we are essential to juicing the economy with our complex abracadabra investment schemes.

In fact, however, those schemes just move money around, spiraling real investment capital from the grassroots up to superrich global profiteers who create nothing but more wealth for themselves. Shell games at carnival sideshows are more honest than big-bank trading houses, for the hustles of such hucksters as JPMorgan, Goldman, B of A, etc. are based on financial illusions, off-the-books accounting, illegally leveraged borrowing, ridiculous tax subsidies and hide-the-pea secrecy. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/30

[Hubert Flottz]

1. I agree...

They are a threat to America. A threat to democracy and liberty.

[xchrom]

2. bust 'em up. nt

[raouldukelives]

3. It's not sustainable that's for sure.

Something is going to give at some point. I just hope some of my favorite things in this world like redwood trees, salmon, bees and hummingbirds don't have to suffer too much at the inevitable end. May they depart from this world peacefully and may those who will never get a chance to know them forgive us for choosing safer retirement strategies over beautiful forests and furry critters.

[KG]

4. Hightower DURec

[FraDon]

5. commonsense Jim ~ on point again

k & r

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

7. Who do we have to elect to bust them up?

[gratuitous]

8. Elizabeth Warren looks like a good place to start

We're going to have to go with our incumbent in 2012, which has its good and bad points. But hopefully the lessons learned in the first term will translate to more positive action in the second term, and the days of giving away the store before negotiations even begin are over.

And if Elizabeth Warren is holding Ted Kennedy's old seat in the Senate come 2013, there could be some very salutary effects for the country, and very deleterious effects for the robber barons.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. You're right. She's a good person to start with. Maybe we can elect her as President in 2016.

[ananda]

9. Yeah buddy.

And lock em up, da crooks.

[Chan790]

11. "Too big to fail" should be too big to not be broken up. n/t

[Lasher]

12. I thought that was the plan.

First stabilize the chaos of the Great Recession with government money, then break them up. Did I dream that or was that the plan about 3 years ago?

[libodem]

13. duh

That's what I told you all along. (just goofing)