Nor is there even a suggestion that the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (originally passed to facilitate Mafia prosecutions, and almost immediately turned into an all-purpose instrument for repressing the progressive side of politics), might be usefully applied to what are, without any doubt whatsoever, thoroughly corrupt banking organizations.
In short, a long apologetic that lacked even the appearance of investigative journalism.
* * *
For most of our lives (as Thom Hartmann recently pointed out), we've been taught that hard work pays off. Problem is, most of the super-rich didn't make their money by working hard -- at least not at any job that actually makes an actual contribution to society. According to a new analysis by Paul Buchheit of UsAgainstGreed.org, those at the top now make most of their money by betting, in one form or another, against the American people,. For example, this growing sector of our wealthy elite makes a fortune on such things as speculating on rising food prices, which means that they profit by making it harder for people around the world to afford to eat.
They also have a history of betting against mortgages (specifically, mortgage-backed securities or 'packaged' mortgages). Why did they do this? It was so that they could make big profits when many Americans could no longer afford to stay in their homes -- a situation that they very perceptively saw coming. Then, once these unfortunate Americans were forced out of their homes, private equity firms swooped in, bought up the foreclosures, and rented these houses back to many of the very same people that had been swindled out of their homes.
The super-rich rake in ever more, by gambling on Wall Street, screwing over Main Street, and paying off the politicians that make it all possible. The only hard work these billionaires face is walking the fine line between their so-called 'investing,' and the easily identified (and therefore prosecutable) activities like the more common forms of bribery, fraud, and front-running the stock market.
Our nation used to genuinely value hard work, and that work was rewarded with a better life and brighter future -- for everyone who put forth the necessary effort. But for the last three decades, the super-rich have ever more completely rigged the system, while at the same time managing to convince the gullible majority that they're just not working hard enough -- in spite of the fact that our productivity has risen markedly over those same three decades. Therefore the time has come for us to stand up, speak out, and fix this broken system, which bribed politicians have saddled us with -- and do it while we still have the chance. Working hard and playing by the rules is no longer enough; we also need to fight to achieve a political-economic system that "pays off" for more folks than just those in the top 1%.
With respect to all this, Paul Krugman and Bill Moyers point to revolutionary developments in our society, of which most people are still unawares, but which are outlined in the revolutionary new book mentioned at the outset of this article. As already stated, this book has mainly to do with: a) this upwardly directed wealth redistribution, b) the corresponding rise of dynasties and oligarchy, and c) our disappearing democracy. Author Thomas Piketty is telling us, quite convincingly for those who will listen, that we are on a fast road not just to an ever more unequal society, but to an oligarchy on steroids, i.e. a society that will be ever more undemocratic and ever more dominated, in every way, by inherited (and increasingly dynastic) wealth.
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