Banksters and Political Gangsters

A look into the financial crisis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuyrBRUsu9A
from JoeUser Forums

 



  

An excellent film.  :D

youtube.com/watch?v=BuyrBRUsu9A

See also Michael Moore's new film Capitalsim: A Love Story Trailer and the Freedom Radio Review points out the errors.

and HBO's Too Big to Fail (the making of) which is an entertaining white washed look at the collapse.

And ya I am behind the times, I don't watch TV so I get info by word of mouth or internet. 

 

 

 

"... whenever the Legislators endeavour to take away, and destroy the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power, they put themselves into a state of War with the People, who are thereupon absolved from any farther Obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence. ... [Power then] devolves to the People, who have a Right to resume their original Liberty, and, by the Establishment of a new Legislative (such as they shall think fit) provide for their own Safety and Security, which is the end for which they are in Society."

 

 


John Locke
 

 

 

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

“The system of banking [is] a blot left in all our Constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction... I sincerely believe that banking institutions are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity... is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the Government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs.”

“... To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition. The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by this bill [chartering the first Bank of the United States], have not, been delegated to the United States by the Constitution.”

   
Thomas Jefferson

 

 
 

 

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war.”

“The money power preys on the nation in times of peace, and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes.”

 

 

President Abraham Lincoln

 

“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world - no longer a Government of free opinion no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.... Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.”

 

 

President Woodrow Wilson

 

 

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. 
The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them,
but leave them the power to create deposits, 
and with the flick of the pen they will
create enough deposits to buy it back again.
However, take it away from them, and
all the great fortunes like mine
will disappear and they ought to disappear, for
this would be a happier and better world to live in.
But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers
and pay the cost of your own slavery,
let them continue to create deposits."

Sir Josiah Stamp
 President of the Bank of England

 

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

 

"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business."

 

Henry Ford

 

“Some even believe we (the Rockefeller family) are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as ‘internationalists’ and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it.”

 

David Rockefeller

 

"The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining super capitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control.... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent."

 

Congressman Larry P. McDonald

 

 

   

 

See Also:

 

107,773 views 100 replies
Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

You know, I'm usually against obviously biased propaganda like this, but I have to say it wasn't half-bad.

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Elemental Forums Top

Aye, but just as Argentina did a few decades ago...  Spain will bounce back.  And banksters will be there to make loans, again,

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

Argentina's Inflation

High inflation has been a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades.[77] In December 2010, inflation was believed to be running at more than 25% annually, despite official statistics indicating less than half that figure,[81] the highest level since the 2002 devaluation.[77] Food-price increases began to outstrip wage increases in 2010, leading Argentines to buy less food.[77] President Kirchner insists inflation is not a problem.[77]

Consumer prices for 2011 are expected to rise by 20 to 30%, leading the national mint to buy banknotes of its highest denomination (100 pesos) from Brazil at the end of 2010 to keep up with demand. The central bank is expected to pump at least 1 billion pesos into the economy in 2011.[82]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Argentina#Issues

 

 

Update on the US budget cap.


Reply #5 from Elemental Forums Top

myfist0

An interesting description. If Argentine was not specifically mentioned, one might think it refers to the United States ;-)

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

its interesting that the right of center parties in almost every 'democracy' are chanting the same mantra right now.  lower govt expenses (social programs, NOT military)  and reduce the public debt; and continue to reduce any remaining taxes on the uber-corporations and the uber-rich.  After all, if the public defaults, the uber-plutocracy wont get its billions of dollars in interest.  Chattel, surf and peasants we are.

 

begin rant >  Only rreal solution for regular people:  return tax levels on uber-rich to where they were in the 1960's and let the govt put people back to work.  End publicly funded uber-rich corp-welfare.  > end rant

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

Words don't begin to describe it.  This is absolutely, totally ridiculous - how could this even be happening?  If you made something up it would be difficult to make it worse-sounding than this.  This says more for the breakdown in many things, including common decency, in the US than anything else I've seen.  I wonder if that guy taking the lady to court about the garden needs a definition of what "common decency" actually, really means??  As he seems to know what "common" means, nice trees and flowers.  What a joke, how absolutely pathetic.

Best regards,
Steven.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

Ah, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.. unfortunately, regular people have to earn a living.. so don't have as much time as agri-corps have, with their full time, paid 'lobbyists, and members of congress, and members of watch-dog groups that are also members of monsato, and other Agra corps......  as long as banksters ahd uber-corp, uber-rich have control of economy... and can trick right wing Christians into voting with them, democracy will continue to fade...

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

This video gave me goosebumps  :thumbsup: .

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top

I'm a little less worried than myfist0, but three huge mistakes have been made in my lifetime, which had the effect of centralizing power, leading to the 'too-big-to-fail' conundrum:

  1. Interstate banking.
  2. Gramm-Leach-Bliley.
  3. The Community Reinvestment Act.

None were necessary.  Completely unforced errors.  Absent just those three things, we'd be living in a very different country right now.

Reply #14 from Elemental Forums Top

Hey myfist... i see you found a cartoon that goes with my parable about the frogs in the hot water.   Cool  i'm no artist... but a have many ideas for really excellent political cartoons.  good job!

Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting ElanaAhova, reply 14
Hey myfist... i see you found a cartoon that goes with my parable about the frogs in the hot water.   Cool  i'm no artist... but a have many ideas for really excellent political cartoons.  good job!

I would love to hear those ideas  :thumbsup:

 

Quoting Daiwa, reply 13
I'm a little less worried than myfist0, but three huge mistakes have been made in my lifetime, which had the effect of centralizing power:

Interstate banking.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley.
The Community Reinvestment Act.


None were necessary.  Completely unforced errors.  Absent just those three things, we'd be living in a very different country right now.

I am not worried, I have long ago lost all benefits and savings but can easily go live in the bush. More like a kid just before Christmas waiting for my dream of a world revolt against this BS system.

Thanks for showing those topics, I listed them in the OP with some links. I am no economist but could you elaborate on why you think The Community Reinvestment Act was part of this.

 

When the king was told what had taken place he exclaimed: "Why, this is a revolt!" "No, sire," was the reply, "it is a revolution."

Viva la Revolución!

 


Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top

MYFIST0,

Thanks for the excellent article complete with the frogs in a slow boil!  It, as well as the comments, does a good job confirming we have a h-u-g-e problem in the USA and world today.

Quoting Daiwa, reply 13
I'm a little less worried than myfist0, but three huge mistakes have been made in my lifetime, which had the effect of centralizing power,

I'm worried, but will be terrified if, after his arrogance, flaunting of the rule of law, and property rights, Obama gets re-elected.

Centralizing government power is behind the financial crisis. It made itself the BANK, the money supply. As long as it arrogantly acts as though it knows more about economics than business does, there will be no recovery.  

What's the root cause of the huge problem? It's what the Popes call the modern acceptance of "greed" of power and money and of earthly goods.

Pius XII, in Le Pelerinage de Lourdes, laid down the characteristic problems of modern greed. "Modern materialism, rages in a love of money which creates even greater havoc as modern enterprises expand...it shows itself in lack of interest in one's brother, in selfishness which crushes him, in justice which deprives him of his rights, --in a word, in that concept of life which regulates everything exclusively in terms of material prosperity and earthly satisfactions" (n. 47).

Of this Dr.Arthur M. Hippler wrote, "It is important not to think of these condemnations as peculiar to a "capitalist" or "consumer" society. Pius XI reminded Catholics that socialism affirmed that "human association has been instituted for the sake of material advantage alone. (Quadrageesimo Anno, n. 119.). Indeed, (now Blessed) Pope John Paul II's strong criticism of liberal capitalism is based on the fact that "it agrees with Marxism, in the sense that it totally reduces man to the sphere of economics and the satisfaction of material needs" (Centesimus Annus, n. 19).

Both the liberal capitalist and the socialist systems are expressions of greed, albeit in different ways. Greed is an ugly word, but then again it is an ugly thing.

It is not money that is the root of all evil, but rather the love of money. Our society whether liberal capitalist or socialist, promotes this love to the detriment of those spiritual goods for which we are truly made."

Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting ElanaAhova, reply 6
its interesting that the right of center parties in almost every 'democracy' are chanting the same mantra right now. lower govt expenses (social programs, NOT military)

What's wrong with lower government expenses? If not checked bigtime and soon, we are looking at endess expansion. We need reform versus change (as in Obama's transformation).

If one is in debt, maxed out to the limit, credit cards, the whole works...what is the solution to recovery? More spending?  Increasing the debt limit?

Reality is we ALL have to live on a budget within our means and we are in this economic crisis because we have allowed ourselves and government to live contrary to this structure of reality. 

The economy is no longer grounded in the bedrock of work and productivity, but rather is based on something for nothing.

..................................

We need a balanced budget amendment something I think we'll be hearing more about from the Republicans.

Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting myfist0, reply 15
I am no economist but could you elaborate on why you think The Community Reinvestment Act was part of this.

 

 

Who caused “the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression?”


Powerline links to a video that answers this question with admirable clarity. I’ll link to the video below. First, here are a few data points from the video and other sources:

The Root Cause

* According to Senator Chris Dodd (D. CT) the “root cause” of the problem is “the housing foreclosure crisis.”

Not 100% accurate, perhaps–it’s really a credit crisis–but close enough for government work, especially from someone who has just happens to chair the Senate Banking Committee and who, completely coincidentally, has been such a conspicuous beneficiary of preferential mortgages and who, also coincidentally, leads the list of those who have received campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Guess who comes in 2nd and 3rd?)

* But what caused the housing crisis to which Senator Dodd alludes? The housing “bubble.”

* And what caused the housing bubble? “Sub-prime,” i.e., risky, mortgages; that is, mortgages made to people who, in the normal course of things would have to pay a premium in order to obtain a mortgage (if they could obtain one at all) because

a) they had bad or non-existent credit

b) their income was insufficient or

c) both.

Packaging the American Dream

A home of your own. It’s part of the American dream. Work hard, save up for a down payment, pay your bills on time and, presto, you, too, can buy a home.

For decades the government has done things to help Americans to realize the dream, e.g., graciously allowing citizens to keep some of their own money to help pay for the interest on a mortgage (the official term for this is a “tax deduction,” but I prefer my locution since it emphasizes the fact that it is YOUR MONEY we are talking about).

But what about people who do not work hard (if they work at all)? What about people who have not saved up for a down payment? What about people who do not pay their bills on time (if they pay them at all)? Why shouldn’t they get to live the American dream?

That was the question that led to

 ”The Community Reinvestment Act” (see here for more).

* The original Community Reinvestment Act was signed into law in 1977 by Jimmy Carter. Its purpose, in a nutshell, was to require banks to provide credit to “under-served populations,” i.e., those with poor credit.

The buzz word was “affordable mortgages,” e.g., mortgages with low teaser-rates, which required the borrower to put no money down, which required the borrower to pay only the interest for a set number of years, etc.

* In 1995, Bill Clinton’s administration made various changes to the CRA, increasing “access to mortgage credit for inner city and distressed rural communities,” i.e., it provided for the securitization, i.e. public underwriting, of what everyone now calls “sub-prime mortgages.”

Bottom line? It forced banks to issue $1 trillion in sub-prime mortgages.

$1 trillion, i.e., a thousand billion dollars in sub-prime,i.e., risky, mortgages, in order to push this latest example of social engineering.

But wait: how did it force banks to do this? Easy. Introduce a federal requirement that banks make the loans or face penalties. As Howard Husock, writing in City Journal way back in 2000 observed: “Bank examiners would use federal home-loan data, broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race, to rate banks on performance. There would be no more A’s for effort. Only results—specific loans, specific levels of service—would count.” Way back in 1994, for example, Barack Obama sued Citibank on behalf of a client who charged that the bank “systematically denied mortgages to African-American applicants and others from minority neighborhoods.”

* In 1997, Bear Stearns–O firm of blessed memory–was the first to get onto the sub-prime gravy train.

* Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac–were there near the beginning, too.

Anatomy of a bubble

Step 1. The intoxication: “My house is worth millions!” From 1995 - 2005, the number of sub-prime mortgages skyrocket. So did the house prices.

Step 2. The hangover: “Oh my God, my house isn’t selling. What went wrong?”

Why didn’t someone try to stop it?

Someone did: “The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago,” The New York Times, September 11, 2003.

But someone intervened to stymie the Bush administration. Who? The New York Times reports:

Supporters of the companies said efforts to regulate the lenders tightly under those agencies might diminish their ability to finance loans for lower-income families. . . . “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Why didn’t someone else ring the alarm?

Someone else did. In 2005, John McCain  co-sponsored the “Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act,” which among other things provided for more oversight of Freddie & Fannie. The bill didn’t pass. Guess who blocked it?

The bill was reintroduced in 2007. But again, no luck. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had friends in the Senate:

* Chris Dodd, a recipient of “sweetheart” loans from a Freddie and Fannie backed company.

* The junior senator from Illinois, i.e., Barack  Obama, who turned to Jim Johnson, former head (1991-1998) of Fannie Mae, to help advise him on whom to pick for the vice-presidential slot on his ticket. From 1985 to 1990, incidentally, Johnson was managing director of Lehman Brothers. Remember them?

* You might also want to check out one of Barack Obama’s other advisors: Franklin Raines, former CEO of Freddie Mac: see here , for example, or here , or here.

Towards the end of the video, we read this salutary observation: “Everyone deserves a home, not a house of cards.”

Who gave us the house of cards? Watch the whole thing here   (original link was  here). And then pass it along to everyone you know.

...................................................

There were some outstanding videos that supported this but they seem to have been removed.

Greed was the principal vice working in the Community Reinvestment Act.

 

 

 

 

Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting lulapilgrim, reply 18
Greed was the principal vice working in the Community Reinvestment Act.

I'm not sure I agree with that characterization.  The 'vice' of risk avoidance, quite understandable in the circumstances, was the only rational choice, one mortgage lenders were strongly incentivized and encouraged to make.  That's not my definition of greed, but it fits my definition of common sense.  They were behaving exactly the way Chris Dodd wanted them to behave.  Any one of us would have done the exact same thing.  That Angelo Mozillo got rich in the process was not the problem, but an inevitable result of misguided policy.  Perhaps it was an intended result but Chris Dodd ain't sayin' so we'll likely never know.

Perfect example of the clueless (Congressmen, in this case) wading in to something without consideration of the likely unintended consequences.  Or perhaps diving into a muddy lake head first without knowing how deep it is or what lurks under the surface.

Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting Daiwa, reply 19
The 'vice' of risk avoidance, quite understandable in the circumstances, was the only rational choice, one mortgage lenders were strongly incentivized and encouraged to make. That's not my definition of greed, but it fits my definition of common sense.

Daiwa,

They guaranteed the most reckless loans. It was a sham, a fraud all around. Congress taught the country that home ownership was a "right". If we ever want recovery, we can't have excessive government that debases home ownership. It breeds corruption.

Risky mortgages to people who couldn't pay and knew they couldn't pay. They weren't qualified for home ownership from the get go, but they got one anyway even though they didn't grasp that they had to deliver on the terms of the mortgage contract.

Quoting Daiwa, reply 19
They were behaving exactly the way Chris Dodd wanted them to behave. Any one of us would have done the exact same thing. That Angelo Mozillo got rich in the process was not the problem, but an inevitable result of misguided policy. Perhaps it was an intended result but Chris Dodd ain't sayin' so we'll likely never know.[/quote

Like ducks anyone of us would have done it! 

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="19" id="2965193"]That Angelo Mozillo got rich in the process was not the problem, but an inevitable result of misguided policy. Perhaps it was an intended result but Chris Dodd ain't sayin' so we'll likely never know.

Did you miss the part that Chris Dodd was the recipient of “sweetheart” loans from a Freddie and Fannie backed company?

Shady irresponsible lending practices....any one of us would have done it? Buying a $300,000 property when you could really only afford and qualify for a $150,000 one. Like ducks anyone of us would have done it! 

The frenzy of bad loans contaminated the financial markets. Wall Street investment firms in turn peddled bad securities backed mortgage debt. Anyone of us would have done it?

Quoting Daiwa, reply 19
Perfect example of the clueless (Congressmen, in this case) wading in to something without consideration of the likely unintended consequences. Or perhaps diving into a muddy lake head first without knowing how deep it is or what lurks under the surface.

You'll never convince me these Congressmen were clueless.

Please watch the You tube video called Burning down the house. What caused our Economic Crisis.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_918789

 

or if that doesn't work, go to the last paragraph of my #18 where is says "Watch the whole thing here.there are 2 versions one that the audio has been shut down.

 

Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top

Quoting myfist0, reply 21
Reply #21

Becasue I think it's important to hear both sides, I sat in front of my TV and watched this whole thing yesterday.

While I have zero confidence in Obama, I still have confidence in the American people, in the political system and in a few of our Congressmen who are involved in the process.

Reply #23 from Elemental Forums Top

This was pretty interesting, a 10 billion dollar valued company (market cap, ie shares * share value on market) lost 75% of its market value in ONE SECOND because automated trading computers had their algorithm wrong.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/todays-flash-crash-75-loss-10-billion-market-cap-company-one-second

 

Reply #25 from Sins Forums Top

McConnell offers backup plan in debt-limit talks

...and reassure Social Security recipients and families of military veterans that default is not an option," McConnell said before the White House meeting.

The Social Security comment was not accidental; Obama, in an interview with CBS News, said he could not guarantee that Social Security checks would be mailed if Treasury loses borrowing authority after Aug. 2.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-07-13-mcconnell-debt-limit-plan_n.htm

This is such bullshit, threatening old peoples pensions if they dont go along with the bankster takeover of the world.

Fuck you Obama  :thumbsdown: , your nothin' but a gangsta for the banksta's.

 

another titbit about Inside Job's look into the economists ethics.

Economists display little interest in ethics code

(Reuters) - The world's largest association of economists is considering ethics guidelines after outrage about undisclosed conflicts of interest, but only a handful of its 18,000 members have bothered to offer any input.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/usa-economics-ethics-idUSN1E7670FS20110708