Bloomberg: "Also we always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks...."

[mod mom]

Bloomberg: Occupy Wall Street Is Targeting People 'Struggling To Make Ends Meet'
Jillian Rayfield | October 3, 2011, 12:41PM

New York City's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks the Occupy Wall Street protesters shouldn't be fighting Wall Street, because most of those people are "struggling to make ends meet."

-snip

Bloomberg continued. "We need the banks, if the banks don't go out and make loans we will not come out of our economic problems, we will not have jobs."

He added: "Also we always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks. They were part of this, but so were Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and Congress and you and me and everybody."

Here's the audio:

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/bloomberg_occupy_wall_street_is_targeting_people_s.php?ref=fpb

WTF?

[joeybee12]

1. He's a tool...knr

[roguevalley]

28. yeah, bloomer. I had a lot to do with this. tool.

[shraby]

2. Spoken like a true billionaire.

[spin]

6. + 1,000,000,000 (n/t)

[bdamomma]

10. .................

:thumbsup: most definitely

[gkhouston]

3. Banks are people? What an interesting point of view. n/t

[meegbear]

7. The Supreme Court said corporations are people ...

so there yah go.

[Worship Money]

4. Right...

You and me have pretty much the same responsibility for the economic collapse as the banks.

I mean, come on. We have blood on our hands from job hunting, and working every day, and paying our goddamn bills on time without anyone loaning us money or bailing us out.

For shame.

[Dawson Leery]

5. The TBTF "banks" have been hoarding money for the past three years.

[spin]

11. And coming up with new ways to screw their customers ...

like charging $5 a month if you use your debit card.

It's good to be TOO BIG TO FAIL in the United States.

[FarCenter]

13. The government told them to raise reserves, i.e. to hoard money

[L0oniX]

8. Yea ...being against the banks is like being against Al Capone...

...what about all the jobs they create? Don"t hurt the banks and Capone cause people need jobs.

[tsuki]

9. Mayor Il Douche is a cheap date. He should have gotten more than

4.6 million for selling himself and the NYPD to JPM.

[snappyturtle]

12. I tend to first start blame with Congress which made it possible for the

banks to dream up and use the nasty derivative cocktails they served to us to the benefit of................themselves. Yeah, Bloomberg, I blame the banks. The little people, such as those protesting Wall Street, and the rest of rest are victims. The banks are hanging on to the money the taxpayers gave them and THEY are perceived as "struggling" to make ends meet? I'd like to slap some sense into the mayor!

[OHdem10]

14. Bloomberg has the talking points down pat. (The Republicans

have gotten to him).

[Prophet 451]

15. In other words...

"it's not my fault, it's THEIR fault and YOUR fault and FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T RAISE MY TAXES!".

[NYC Liberal]

16. IF the banks acted responsibly and were regulated correctly,

then yes, they would not be a problem (or much less of one).

Sorry Mike, but that is NOT the case and the banks ARE the problem!

[TheWraith]

17. But, you have people on DU insisting that Bloomberg isn't a Repub and a propagandist.

And all of the anti-Obama, anti-Democrat material published through Bloomberg news is Word of God.

[Javaman]

18. more of bloomies, "look over here, not over there!" BS. nt

[JustAnotherGen]

19. Shame on him

[indepat]

20. Somehow my wife and I fail to realize any part we played in the financial and

economic meltdown. Either his honor is a moron, which he likely ain't, or a RW shill dissembling through his teeth. :patriot:

[abelenkpe]

21. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

were waaaaaay late to the game and led there by the business friendly attitude that prevailed in the 90's and early 2000's where our society pushed the notion that government should be run like a business, that businessmen and women should be elected and appointed to government positions, to oversea and regulate, etc. They did not cause the crash. They were led away from their true purpose (to help more families afford housing) by the wall street greed. It was the Big banks that over-leveraged themselves and packaged and sold faulty loans who caused the crash. Then those same banks took taxpayer bailouts, laid off tens of thousands of employees and then turned around and raised interest and fees on existing customers effectively picking the pockets of the bottom 99 percent not once but twice. That is why they receive scorn. The blame rests with the banks. They should be nationalized, broken up and operated like the postal service. Their CEO's investigated, not showered with bonuses and obscene salaries.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. and people wonder why i despise him. nt

[unblock]

23. he's wrong in casting too wide a net; but he's right that blaming JUST the banks is wrong

congress erred in steadily removed or muted regulation that historically kept lending institutions from doing the wrong thing.

the fed erred in creating a big bubble and permitting over-leveraging.

smaller banks and mortgage originators erred in creating mortages without proper underwriting; in many cases, with outright fraud, knowing the bigger banks or fannie/freddie would take the loans without question.

many borrowers erred in getting themselves in too deep, some knowingly going along with mortgage fraud in order to do so.

and so on.

but note that the blame is reasonably limited to many of those (and certainly not ALL of those) who had a role in the mortgage market. it's really hard to blame "you and me and everybody", even, say, renters who don't work in the industry. what exactly did THEY do wrong?

but i'll agree with what i think was his intended point, which was that the banks are certainly not the ONLY entities who screwed up here.



that said, they don't seem to be falling over themselves to get us out of this mess....

[Politicalboi]

24. So the other night

On the Daily Show Samantha Bee talked about since corporations are people, then people are corporations right? Isn't there anyway we the poor can make something out of this? Some loophole that entitles us to corporate money? Why can't Citizens United work for us in a big way?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

25. "Banks are people my friend... woof woof!"

[lsewpershad]

26. Can't balme the rich

like Bloomie because they became rich all by themselves.

[CrispyQ]

27. They love to share the blame.

"Also we always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks. They were part of this, but so were ... you and me and everybody."


The sacrifice? Not so much.

[RandomKoolzip]

29. "You and me and everybody?!" FUCK YOU, Bloomberg.

*I* did everything the powers that be told me to do. *I* went back to school and educated myself and got a better paying job. *I* didn't take out a mortgage even though I could have, back when people with bad or no credit were being offered home loans. *I* kept my expenses low and balanced my fucking checkbook, you piece of shit. *I* didn't bankrupt this goddamned country. *I* never screwed anyone over.

So you can just strike that "you" right out of that fucking statement, asshole.

[BR_Parkway]

30. I don't blame the banks (they aren't people who can make decisions)

I blame the bankers.