It' been what something like six years since the banks took their fall from grace and were handsomely rewarded with buckets of "our" cash and yet not one frog walk to a federal pen for any one of them. Steal a loaf of bread can get you at least a couple of years for a repeat offender and in some states it's life. Steal the whole store chain and get a life of ease and a hefty bonus.
And what better way to make that job easier than to own the rule makers. Can almost hear it now. "Do what we say or next election cycle you'll be out on your can". And it doesn't matter which party you vote for they have them all tied up like a kidnapped victim. Be the party of the people and watch the other side booby trap your plans. Fil is such a Buster ain't he? And don't give me that bipartisan BS either. Break that one down you get "bi" meaning 2, "part" being the body and "I san" or I take away.
This week an agreement was reached or at least part of it about disclosure of those numbered Swiss banks accounts that everybody has talked about since we were kids. The act called FATCA is set to go into effect in 2014. After looking through the finer points of this, one might conclude that nothing will change. And you'd be right. It requires Swiss banks to disclose accounts but not necessarily to the IRS directly. They may choose to do so but that's not a requirement of the Act. They only have to disclose information to their government. It will be up to the IRS to seek the information from the Swiss government. You can just about smell that fishy smell in Geneva can't you? So once again the banksters have gained hold of the government. Maybe this bill should have been called by a better name like FATCAT.
If we think this will change anything it probably won't. They may catch one or two of these tax cheaters but only the ones too slow to get their money out and off to a safe place in the Caymans before the amnesty program hit. And judging by how much our congress is tied up in knots I can only wonder what hold they have on the IRS. Keep your eyes peeled. That could be the next breaking story.
9 comments:
Last year we said things couldn't go on like this. Well, they didn't... They got worse.
Will Rogers...
Lay off your blog for six weeks, come back and the news ain't any better. Damn.
The patient is terminal.
There are no doubt some Democrats who are in the banksters' pocket, but many are not. I don't think you'll find any Republicans in Congress with any interest in greater oversight or stricter regulation. Democrats got the first banking and financial industry reforms with any teeth at all through for the first time in decades, with every last Republican in Congress fighting tooth and nail against them
You can frame this situation as one party being as bad as the other if you want to, but it doesn't ring true. Ideally, there would be large contingents in both parties hawkish about financial industry oversight and regulation. Second best would be for all Democrats to be that way. Third best is what we have now.
If people are going to then bash people like Sens. Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse and Sherrod Brown as being no better than the most sold-out Republicans on this, what incentive do Durbin et al have to keep fighting what is often an uphill battle?
If you know of or see evidence of Dems being sold out to the banksters and pulling the wrong way, by all means call them out by name. I'll join in condemning them. But please, don't claim equivalence where there is none. It's bad enough the mainstream media do that constantly as a perverse rendition of "fairness." Let's not discourage the good guys by lumping them in with the worst.
BTW, Switzerland being a sovereign nation, we can't dictate their banking regulation. We have to ask, pretty please, would they cooperate. I'm surprised they've agreed to as much cooperation as they have; it's a big break with their past devotion to absolute secrecy.
Indeed, the only one with any real balls is Elizabeth Warren, hopefully she can rally the boys to greater effort.
Harry, Warren's firebrand qualities and determination are terrific. They fill a void and bring well-deserved cheers from those of us yearning for nitty-gritty reforms. But telling it like it is and making regulators squirm when testifying before Congress won't make reforms happen. Warren will have to earn her stripes by coming up with some nitty gritty legislation that can get passed, and work hard to make sure it does get passed. That's how she can get others less determined and dedicated than she is to rally behind her. I hope she will do this and succeed.
Yep Will was a smart guy.
Fodder the more things change the more they stay the same. I'm optimistically pessimistic if that makes any sense.
Oh come on SW we know they're all lead around like bulls with rings through their noses.
As for Warren you know the opposition is tres busy trying to dig up the dirt on her. One hair out of place and they'll pounce.
Will also said, " I never meet a man I didn't like ".
Will didn't hang around long enough obviously.
If Warren can't get them inspired and organized I don't know who can. I know I'm impressed; she gives me huge renoB.
Too bad Rep. B Frank is bugging out just now but he certainly deserves the time and leisure after fighting the good fight.
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