Of all the ignominious actions of the Obama administration

[Samnospam]

Take a moment off from disguising goat piss with the moron.

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/10/wall_streets_immunity/singleton/

Of all the ignominious actions of the Obama administration, the steadfast, systematic shielding of Wall Street from criminal liability is probably the most corrupt in the traditional sense of that word.........

Why would top DOJ officials — with bulging bank accounts from prior Wall Street service and, with their elevated status as top DOJ officials, future plans for even more bulging bank accounts upon returning — possibly alienate the very industry that will enrich them by prosecuting its top-level criminals? The full-scale immunity bestowed on Wall Street provides the answer.

Then there’s the reliance on Wall Street money for President Obama’s re-election effort. Newsweek notes the multiple investigations that documented numerous criminal acts leading to the financial crisis, including some explicitly incriminating top Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs. Anticipating possible indictments, “Goldman executives, including the firm’s chief executive officer, Lloyd Blankfein, started hiring defense lawyers.” Moreover, Black “says the conduct could well have violated federal fraud statutes–’securities fraud for false disclosures, wire and mail fraud for making false representations about the quality of the loans and derivatives they were selling, bank fraud for false representations to the regulators.’” Beyond the Wall-Street-subservient officials, why have those led to no prosecutions?

Meanwhile, Obama’s political operation continued to ask Wall Street for campaign money. A curious pattern developed. A Newsweek examination of campaign finance records shows that, in the weeks before and after last year’s scathing Senate report, several Goldman executives and their families made large donations to Obama’s Victory Fund and related entities, some of them maxing out at the highest individual donation allowed, $35,800, even though 2011 was an electoral off-year. Some of these executives were giving to Obama for the first time..........................

It notes that while Obama, through last fall, “had collected more donations from Wall Street than any of the Republican candidates” (even “employees of Bain Capital donated more than twice as much to Obama as they did to Romney, who founded the firm”), Wall Street money is now beginning to flock to Romney. That’s almost certainly because Wall Street dislikes some of Obama’s populist rhetoric (financial industry executives are very sensitive and coddled and dislike any hint of criticism, no matter how symbolic and insincere) and because Romney is one of them (they certainly can’t go wrong with Romney either). But it also is clear that they are attempting to leverage Obama’s need for their support into even further concessions: ones that, if the past is any indication, will be eagerly forthcoming.

This is a vital part of the Obama legacy. The prior decade witnessed the most egregious crimes imaginable by the nation’s most powerful actors: torture and warrantless eavesdropping from political officials (with the aid of corporate giants), and massive fraud from financial elites. None has been held accountable; the opposite is true: the Obama administration has steadfastly protected all of them. Echoing the prime theme of my last book — that America’s elites are virtually immune from the rule of law.............................

But that’s exactly the principle that has undergone such a relentless assault under this administration. That general development is odious in its own right. That the specific shielding of Wall Street is driven by such corrupt ends makes it even worse. But the worst part of it all is that Obama is going to spend the next six months deceitfully parading around as some sort of populist hero standing up for ordinary Americans and the safety net against big business, and hordes of people who know how false that is will echo it as loudly and repeatedly as they can, tricking many people who don’t know better into believing it.

[bruce MN]

There is no question about all of that Sam.  It's what is keeping enthusiasm down among folks on the left of center whose political belies run deeper than knee jerk, feel-good stands on cultural issues.  Which have been the issues that have dominated political reporting and water cooler discussions since the GOP primaries were going on.

Too many people think we can keep up and running without dealing with these matters.  Those among them who tend to consider themsleves as Democrats see no complicity in all fo it begin due to Clinton, the DLC...aka "The Rubinites".  Bush-Cheney made it worse.  Were standing watch when the fit hit the shan so they think we just need to give the good guy Democrat more time and some burst of confidence and everybody coming back to their senses will have everybody above water again.   THeObama administration is too tied to the Clinton playbook and the game has changed anyway. 

The people who tend to view themselves as Republicans think we can fix it all with bertter management drawn from the business class.  When it is the very worst of that demographic who created this disater, under both GOP and Democratic administrations.

But for the better part, people just don't know much about it.  And the devices that got us here were/are so complex, so "under the radar" and even so logical sounding at first viewing that they can't.  Fit right into "the ownership society" thing.  Freed up commerce. All of this stuff in Greece? "How can that have anything to do with waht's going on here?"  Sad but true.

For the financial services models that grew out of post 1980 deregulation, most notably the repeal of Glass-Stegal,  there has been a general license to steal.  Now the inside players having amassed and concentrated  the spoils, that license converts over to one allowing them to enslave via debt.  That can't hold  up.  But the problem will be that once enough people realize that they are in such a state of bondage just how they may react.  If they'd understood better...maybe just a little.. they might be able to come to some sort of democratically  arrived at solution to go forward.  I dont see there being the slightest  chance of that happening.  Best thing to hope for is to still be standing if and when the Pheonix rises.

All of the political arguments out there seem to presume that whatever bubble it is that we are floating on at any given time will keep things up and running pretty much as they are and have been for most people and itnstitutions and it's only for politics to smooth out the little bumps and creases.  Obama and teh Democrats will be better at exploiting that this fall than Romney and the GOP will likely be.  But I doubt that in the course of that any real, meaningful messages will get through.

[Red Steele]

Readers Digest Condensed version of Bruce's Post:

"I agree that the Obama administration is bad but a republican administration would be worse cause they would be republican."

Republicans are , at their best, businesslike, and that is bad.

Sam, keep finding the gems and posting them. Romney is such a vulture capitalist at heart that his own old firm gave twice as money to Obama.Go Figure.

[schnurrbart]

You don't want to take too much time off, it will get warm and there's nothing worse than warm goat's urine.  BTW, don't worry about this "moron" because he's head and shoulders above you every day of the week.

[Samnospam]

It's a disease infecting both sides, the idea that both sides are bad but one is worse. I have to look at the results since our two political partys where shaped. It's been a gradual growth of governmental power, socialism, and and loss of individual freedom. We've gotten this from both partys. Some people can play the my party is a bit better than yours game if they get what they want regardless of who is elected. I don't think that is a liberty those of us who care about freedom can afford any longer.

[Samnospam]

Did you even make it a week this time, since swearing you wouldn't respond to my posts? What a pathetic lack of self control.

[kraft-t]

Do you want some cheese with that whine? You have never had it so good. Making tons of money and paying low or no taxes on it. I swear you would complain if hung by a new rope. Although your mrs probably wishes you were hung.

You haven't lost any freedom so quit chirping like you have.

[schnurrbart]

You write such pathetically poor crap in your posts that I have to respond. And you called me a "moron" in another post so I felt justified in responding.

[schnurrbart]

BUT he has to wear a seat belt and can't smoke in his favorite restaurant--McDonalds!!! He is terribly maligned and has lsot his freedom. A nice Beaufort would be nice with that whine.

[Democratforlife]

How does crackers and donkey piss taste together? Do you take your donkey piss on the rocks or warm?