Obama Prosecuting Fewer Financial Crimes Than Under Reagan or Either Bush

[Marcus]

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/...residency.html

"Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton Each Prosecuted Financial Crime More Aggressively than Obama

Top economists and financial experts agree that our economy will never recover unless Wall Street fraud is prosecuted. See this and this.

But the government has more or less made it official policy not to prosecute fraud, and instead to do everything necessary to cover up for Wall Street.


This is particularly interesting given that in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, public sentiment towards banks and other financial firms have been generally negative and prone to suspicion.

Alexander Eichler at the Huffington Post points out:

The falling number of fraud prosecutions is striking given what many claim is a strong pattern of financial-sector misconduct in recent years, culminating in a housing crisis characterized by alleged rampant mortgage fraud and improper foreclosure, as well as the weakening of the national and global economy.

Barry Ritholtz notes:


In such a target rich environment,. how on earth is it possible that Bank Fraud prosecutions are dropping? It is an outrage!

***

I bitched about this when George W. Bush was President, and I will continue until we get someone in the White House who understands what the RULE OF LAW actually means . . ."

[jackpine savage]

In Washington it means screw the guys that don't like me but cover for the ones that do.

[Marcus]

"In 2008, Moses Caballeros was a 21-year-old activist in New York City who couldn’t wait to cast his first presidential vote for Barack Obama. He canvassed around Harlem, he proselytized to his friends, he attended rallies and meetings downtown. Coming from a family of hardcore Puerto Rican and Brazilian-American Democrats that voted for Charlie Rangel every election cycle, he “really couldn’t give a **** about a Republican.” He was happy that Obama planned to get our troops out of Iraq. He liked the sound of making government more transparent.

“I really loved the idea of finally becoming part of the political process,” he says. “Like it mattered what I thought about government issues.” The fact that Obama was biracial topped it off. For his Harlem neighbors and family members, having a president of color “was monumental,” Moses says. “It felt important for us to back him. I thought he would support us.”

Fast-forward to 2012. The best way Caballeros can describe the way he feels is “heartbroken.” Betrayed and lied to. “I haven’t felt this pain about any other politician,” he says. He began to lose his faith in Obama when the president waffled on the wars, after he reaffirmed the PATRIOT Act, and especially when he signed the National Defense Authorization Act back in December. “He conformed to what the puppets on Capitol Hill wanted him to be,” Caballeros says, with disgust. “He didn’t care about his constituents.”
..."

http://www.good.is/post/rise-of-the-...with-ron-paul/

[fitz]

Robosigning Is Now History - US Announces $26 Billion Foreclosure Settlement
Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/09/2012 10:02 -0500

As reported yesterday, the cost of terminal abrogation of contractual rights in the US is, drumroll, $26 billion. Bloomberg notes:

$26 BILLION FORECLOSURE SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED IN WASHINGTON
FORECLOSURE ACCORD RESOLVES 16-MONTH ROBO-SIGNING INVESTIGATION
FORECLOSURE ACCORD IS SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY FEDERAL JUDGE
FORECLOSURE DEAL PRESERVES U.S., STATE RIGHTS TO OTHER CLAIMS
FORECLOSURE ACCORD COULD CLIMB TO $40 BLN IF 14 SERVICERS JOIN

And a whole lot of corner offices for America's Attorneys General. As for what the market thinks of this "severe" settlement: BAC +1.2%, WFC +0.6%, JPM +0.4%, C -0.1%. For those who don't understand what just happened, US banks just funded Obama's re-election campaign to the tune of $26-$40 billion.

From the NYT:

After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses.



Despite the billions earmarked in the accord, the aid will help a relatively small portion of the millions of borrowers who are delinquent and facing foreclosure. The success could depend in part on how effectively the program is carried out because earlier efforts by Washington aimed at troubled borrowers helped far fewer than had been expected.



Still, the agreement is the broadest effort yet to help borrowers owing more than their houses are worth, with roughly one million expected to have their mortgage debt reduced by lenders or able to refinance their homes at lower rates. Another 750,000 people who lost their homes to foreclosure from September 2008 to the end of 2011 will receive checks for about $2,000. The aid is to be distributed over three years.

In other words, got foreclosed on for being unable to make payments? YOU GET $2,000! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you buy an election using taxpayer money.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by fitz

Another 750,000 people who lost their homes to foreclosure from September 2008 to the end of 2011 will receive checks for about $2,000. The aid is to be distributed over three years.

That is just despicable. WTH is 2k going to do? IMO, it's a slap on the wrist to cover up the massive fraud committed by the banks.