Just another Wall Street republican in liberal clothing

[billy.pilgrim]

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017 ... mps-crises

Sure, he acted like a liberal on the little things while wall street plundered the important things like the economy.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017 ... mps-crises


Now he only works for himself
A billion for his library and $400,000.00 for thank you wall street speeches.

[Vrede too]

All respect and praise to Ralph Nader, but IF Obama is raising funds for his presidential library and IF "The Obama Presidential Center will be a living, working center — an ongoing project where we will shape, together, what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century," then it MIGHT "work to strengthen civic groups and help substantially to create new organizations to address urgent needs (such as averting wars)" as Nader wants.

If Obama can get the money for this from fat cats, I'm okay with it. It's not like he's in a position to NOT prosecute them anymore.

As for Nader's gripe that Obama isn't being political enough and not doing enough to resist Dolt .45, I think Obama has been more political in the first year out than any other POTUS that I can remember. Otoh, I wouldn't argue with the point that things are so dire that he should scrap tradition and be even more political.

[billy.pilgrim]

So why didn't he prosecute while president?

[Vrede too]

So why didn't he prosecute while president?

Sure, he acted like a liberal on the little things while wall street plundered the important things like the economy.

So true.

[rstrong]

So why didn't he prosecute while president?

There was no doubt a deal already in place before Obama took office to not prosecute. A deal probably put into place when the torture started.

Consider Orlando Bosch, responsible for bombings from South America to Florida to Canada and even a car bomb in Washington DC. His "greatest hit" was bombing an airliner out of the sky, killing 73 people. Jeb! arranged his safe haven in the US for Orlando Bosch with his dad in return for campaign support from his friends.

Of course he wasn't prosecuted or deported once Bush I left office. He lived happily ever after through the Clinton, Bush II and Obama administrations, finally dying in 2011. Even Bush II's post-9/11 "make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them" didn't apply to him.

Obama should have prosecuted the torturers, everyone from Bush II / Cheney on down. And Bosch. But apparently deals with devils get honored by later administrations.

[Vrede too]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street. Not prosecuting torturers and terrorists were different travesties.

[billy.pilgrim]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street. Not prosecuting torturers and terrorists were different travesties.

just more Obama failings - toss in his making the 10 year tax cuts for the rich permeant, eric holder's love of wall street and Obama's bs Obamacare and I pronounce him closet republicon

don't ya love the way he didn't make a real protest of the name Obamacare - even a dumbass like me knew that he was dooming this right-wing poor ass excuse for health care in the minds of some 50 or 60 million racists.

[O Really]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street.

Real question: who would you have charged, and what would you have charged them with?

[billy.pilgrim]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street.

Real question: who would you have charged, and what would you have charged them with?

all involved in torture and other war crimes

all who knowing pushed lies to the American people and to Congress to justify their war

[rstrong]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street. Not prosecuting torturers and terrorists were different travesties.

Oh. Um... /SMOKEBOMB

[Vrede too]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street.

Real question: who would you have charged, and what would you have charged them with?

Bankers, bundlers, speculators - massive securities fraud. The settlements and fines are de facto proof that criminal activity occurred. It's not just vengeance for me, there's little deterrence when they know that the worst that will happen is that other people lose money.

[O Really]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street.

Real question: who would you have charged, and what would you have charged them with?

Bankers, bundlers, speculators - massive securities fraud. The settlements and fines are de facto proof that criminal activity occurred. It's not just vengeance for me, there's little deterrence when they know that the worst that will happen is that other people lose money.

Too vague, too generalized. Can't charge a group with mass sleazyness. Are you saying everyone in the jobs of bankers, bundlers, speculators has committed a crime? Which crime(s)? Lots of fines are issued for things that aren't criminal. Lots of settlements are made with specific statements NOT admitting to wrongdoing.

[Vrede too]

Too vague, too generalized.

That's why we have investigators.

Can't charge a group with mass sleazyness. Are you saying everyone in the jobs of bankers, bundlers, speculators has committed a crime?

Of course not.

Which crime(s)? Lots of fines are issued for things that aren't criminal.

You really believe that there wasn't criminal fraud when the settlements and fines were in the billions?

Lots of settlements are made with specific statements NOT admitting to wrongdoing.

Not acceptable.

[billy.pilgrim]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street.

Real question: who would you have charged, and what would you have charged them with?

Bankers, bundlers, speculators - massive securities fraud. The settlements and fines are de facto proof that criminal activity occurred. It's not just vengeance for me, there's little deterrence when they know that the worst that will happen is that other people lose money.

Too vague, too generalized. Can't charge a group with mass sleazyness. Are you saying everyone in the jobs of bankers, bundlers, speculators has committed a crime? Which crime(s)? Lots of fines are issued for things that aren't criminal. Lots of settlements are made with specific statements NOT admitting to wrongdoing.

really?

fraudulent ratings of bundled mortgages and fraudulent ratings of the big banks that used them as chips in their private poker game - lookie mom no hands and no way to lose

robo signing documents

failure to record and pay state taxes when mortgages change hands

an investigation would likely have shown crimes other than fraud, if nothing else, an investigation could have paved the way for real banking reform - possibly progress all the way back to 1930s

there's so much a progressive president could have done - seems to me that Obama pretty much worked for the other side except during 2016 when he seemed to concentrate on issues that worked to get out the repug base.

I loved to listen to him talk, but he was such a waste to progress - more trump anyone?

[Vrede too]

We're discussing the lack of prosecution of Wall Street. Not prosecuting torturers and terrorists were different travesties.

Oh. Um... /SMOKEBOMB

Hey, where did rstrong disappear to?

[O Really]

I'm not saying there wasn't criminal activity by some people. But to prosecute, you've got to find a particular evildoer(s) and find something specific they did that was illegal, and then you have to prove they really did it. My guess is that's probably not easy, particularly when a lot of the mess was caused by them doing stuff that was (unfortunately) legal-ish.

[Vrede too]

Even a handful of examples in surefire cases would have been better than what we got, especially when unarmed blacks get killed for doing nothing wrong. Our priorities suck.

[O Really]

Not to argue against "our priorities suck," but it's a false equivalency to compare black people getting shot, without benefit (or curse) or charges or conviction, to failure to prosecute a crime most people don't understand. Now if we could identify those responsible for the "Wall Street" crimes and get them shot, then we'd be getting somewhere.

[Vrede too]

See, talk things out and we can agree.

[O Really]

Why only one top banker went to jail in the financial crisis...
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/maga ... risis.html

35 Bankers were sent to prison for financial crisis crimes...
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/28/news/co ... index.html

Why so few prosecutions...
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/17/hundre ... nk-crisis/