Issue Position: Banking

Issue Position

Our Great Recession of 2008 didn't come out of thin air. The first link below is an article that describes the growth of the banking sector into a group of oligarchs who were able to control the government. They were able to write laws that enriched themselves, thanks to bribing Congressmen, while putting us on a path of collapse. Of course, thanks to their influence in Congress, they got bailed out and never suffered like the rest of us. As economist Michael Hudson has repeated written, these bankers are parasites that are killing their hosts.

I am for bringing back Glass-Steagall, the Depression Era law that separated commercial, investment and insurance banks. It was the commercial banks, the ones that take our deposits and provide private and business loans, that were insured by the federal government. When Clinton removed the law, allowing commercial and investment banks to merge again, investment banks could gamble our deposits. All losses would be guaranteed by the federal government (us taxpayers) and there would be no risk.

Speaking of risk, there is also the problem of what is known as "shadow banking," described in a link below. Whereas loans and stocks are regulated, there is an area of banking outside of the law. Bankers have gained so much money and influence they were able to persuade Congress not to regulate the "derivative" and "credit default swap" market, as well as "hedge funds." There is now at least 600 trillion dollars outstanding in this market, as outlined in an article below. How in the world can any losses be covered, when the US GDP is just 13 trillion dollars annually? They can't, which is why so many economists are positive the coming second crash will be worse than 2008.

The big banks need to be broken up, of that there is no doubt. Local commercial banking needs to be encouraged, with local banks needing to go back to retaining the mortgage notes, rather than allowing Wall Street to securitize these, selling them multiple times over as was shown as well as cheating states out of billions in recording fees. Secondly, as I have stated elsewhere, we need to start a federal and state banks that fund infrastructure and state projects. We need to stop sending our revenues to Wall Street and keep them in state.

The unregulated US hedge fund industry, run by the sickest people, has wreaked havoc and misery throughout the world. The worst example of many is Paul Singer, whose greed is directly responsible for overthrowing the government of Argentina as well as impoverishing Puerto Rico. His "vulture fund" buys a small slice bonds from foreign governments in the process of restructuring or receiving a loan write-off. Singer then refuses to accept the legally binding restructure agreement, fighting in friendly US courts, insisting on full payment.This is why he's a billionaire. He and another "vulture" went so far as insisting a Puerto Rico hospital turn off their electricity in order to pay them first. Mr. Singer, of course, sees himself as a philanthropist. I would like to see an investigative journalist find out just how many people have died as a direct cause of Paul Singer's greed. I am not advocating this, but it really is a shock that no grieving parent has beaten Mr. Singer to a pulp yet.

What I am advocating can be found, though, in the last section of "Issues." Shunning, to my knowledge, is not practiced in Judaism or Islam, just as there is no equivalent to ex-communication in either religion; one simply goes to another mosque or synagogue if unwanted. Both religions, however, are much more condemnatory of greedy individuals, finding them "outside of God" and "worthy of destruction." The city of Sodom was destroyed due to the greed of its citizens.

My position is clear regarding shadow banking: put all forms of this system under strict regulations, or put them out of business.

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