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Really? How ELSE did so many of them end up with the exorbitant credit card debt about which they're complaining?
Most of the debt complaints I've heard from my time in NY and Boston were about student loan debt, not credit card debt. Have you read a single list of demands from any of the occupy movements, or are you just going to repeat this same argument over and over, ventriloquizing the protesters?
Do firefighters push legislation in Wall Street in a way that allows them to bilk the American people, leading to global crises? Do firefighters continually push for the deregulation of firefighting so that they can basically do whatever they want? These are public sector employees and they mostly fight for pensions, disability, and safety concern. Do you see the difference here, or are you just being purposefully dense?
So banks aren't good at all? You don't think banks who loan to small businesses ALL THE TIMEhave merit? Where do you keep your money btw, under your mattress? You don't invest in stocks? How about pensions / 401K's...
You seem to have a misconstrued view of what banks and the financial sector actually do. How they actually make their money-- it isn't all derivative trading you know ... Please educate yourself on corporations before railing against them.
And BTW-- the financial crisis was caused by Timothy Geithner (Obama's current treasury secretary) and Alan Greenspan making laws that allow these things to happen... It is up to the government to regulate these things-- and Obama has been an epic failure in this retrospect. If these OWS people wanted to be taken seriously, they need to go protest in front of the White House.
So banks aren't good at all? You don't think banks who loan to small businesses ALL THE TIMEhave merit? Where do you keep your money btw, under your mattress? You don't invest in stocks? How about pensions...
You seem to have a misconstrued view of what banks and the financial sector actually do. How they actually make their money-- it isn't all derivative trading you know ... Please educate yourself on corporations before railing against them.
And BTW-- the financial crisis was caused by Timothy Geithner (Obama's current treasury secretary) and Alan Greenspan making laws that allow these things to happen...
Did I say that banks are all bad? Nope. I'm talking about bad financial practices and the collusion that allows them to occur, not the existence of banks in general. You've changed the argument and are making an incredibly stupid argument.
Why are you telling me about Timothy Geithner and Alan Greenspan? Totally irrelevant, beyond being completely incorrect. This was not a crisis made solely by Washington.
Would these ‘rich-getting-richer’ billionaires be that rich if we didn’t rush out to buy all their products?
yes, they would.
we stopped buying mortgages in 2007-2008, and it shut down their business. The government stepped in and gave them trillions of dollars to support the price of risk assets. Government keeps these financiers rich whether we buy their products or not.
Same with the auto industry, too. We stopped buying cars, the automakers started to fail... we know how that went. Cash for clunkers, and auto bailouts.
- Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now!
- Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.
In other words, they're demanding they be given a bunch of FREE stuff, and stuff they refuse to pay for with no consequences for their failure to pay.
Why are you telling me about Timothy Geithner and Alan Greenspan? Totally irrelevant, beyond being completely incorrect. This was not a crisis made solely by Washington.
This was a crisis caused by those two nimwits deregulating everything. It had nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with those morons.
It also had to do with subprime mortgages (to a lesser extent) these measures were passed by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Open your eyes and look at the real reason the financial crisis occured...
1. De-regulation passed by Greenspan and Geithner
2. Subprime mortgage deregulation passed by the democrats in congress so people who can't afford homes could get those homes
This is why OWS is stupid... they don't even understand why the crisis occurred in the first place. They need to protest in front of the white house to be taken seriously. Or possibly The Federal Reserve in NY or DC.
we stopped buying mortgages in 2007-2008, and it shut down their business.
Actually, it was the failure of the poor credit risks they were forced to lend to to pay their mortgage payments that shut them down.
Quote:
The government stepped in and gave them trillions of dollars to support the price of risk assets. Government keeps them rich whether they make good decisions or bad decisions.
That's what happens when government forces certain behavior (in this case, lending to poor credit risks). They then are liable for bailing out the inevitable disaster caused by the unintended negative consequences.
CONGRESS PASS HR 1489 ("RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT" H.R. 1489: Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011 (GovTrack.us) ). THIS REINSTATES MANY PROVISIONS OF THE GLASS-STEAGALL ACT.
USE CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY AND OVERSIGHT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FEDERAL AGENCIES FULLY INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS
CONGRESS ENACT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY BY REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION which essentially said corporations can spend as much as they want on elections. The result is that corporations can pretty much buy elections. Corporations should be highly limited in ability to contribute to political campaigns no matter what the election and no matter what the form of media. This legislation should also RE-ESTABLISH THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES IN THE U.S. SO THAT POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME FOR FREE AT REASONABLE INTERVALS IN DAILY PROGRAMMING DURING CAMPAIGN SEASON.
CONGRESS PASS THE BUFFETT RULE ON FAIR TAXATION SO THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE & CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOP HOLES AND ENACT A PROHIBITION ON HIDING FUNDS OFF SHORE.
CONGRESS COMPLETELY REVAMP THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
CONGRESS PASS SPECIFIC AND EFFECTIVE LAWS LIMITING THE INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS AND ELIMINATING THE PRACTICE OF LOBBYISTS WRITING LEGISLATION THAT ENDS UP ON THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS.
CONGRESS PASSING "Revolving Door Legislation" LEGISLATION ELIMINATING THE ABILITY OF FORMER GOVERNMENT REGULATORS GOING TO WORK FOR CORPORATIONS THAT THEY ONCE REGULATED.
ELIMINATE "PERSONHOOD" LEGAL STATUS FOR CORPORATIONS.
Here's Chicago:
Quote:
1.PASS HR 1489 REINSTATING GLASS-STEAGALL. – A depression era safeguard that separated the commercial lending and investment banking portions of banks. Its repeal in 1999 is considered the major cause of the global financial meltdown of 2008-2009.
2. REPEAL BUSH TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY
3. FULLY INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS who clearly broke the law and helped cause the 2008 financial crisis.
4.OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED v. US. – A 2010 Supreme Court Decision which ruled that money is speech. Corporations, as legal persons, are now allowed to contribute unlimited amounts of money to campaigns in the exercise of free “speech.”
5. PASS THE BUFFET RULE ON FAIR TAXATION, CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES, PROHIBIT HIDING FUNDS OFFSHORE.
6. GIVE THE SEC STRICTER REGULATORY POWER, STRENGTHEN THE CONSUMER PROTECTION BUREAU, AND PROVIDE ASSISTANCE FOR OWNERS OF FORECLOSED MORTGAGES WHO WERE VICTIMS OF PREDATORY LENDING.
7.TAKE STEPS TO LIMIT THE INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS AND ELIMINATE THE PRACTICE OF LOBBYISTS WRITING LEGISLATION.
8. ELIMINATE RIGHT OF FORMER GOVERNMENT REGULATORS TO WORK FOR CORPORATIONS OR INDUSTRIES THEY ONCE REGULATED.
9. ELIMINATE CORPORATE PERSONHOOD.
10. INSIST THE FEC STAND UP FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN REGULATING PRIVATE USE OF PUBLIC AIRWAVES to help ensure that political candidates ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME for free at reasonable intervals during campaign season.
11. REFORM CAMPAIGN FINANCE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE FAIR ELECTIONS NOW ACT (S.750, H.R. 1404).
12. FORGIVE STUDENT DEBT – The same institutions that gave almost $2T in bailouts and then extended $16T of loans at little to no interest for banks can surely afford to forgive the $946B of student debt currently held. Not only does this favor the 99% over the 1%, it has the practical effect of more citizens spending money on actual goods, not paying down interest.
This was a crisis caused by those two nimwits deregulating everything. It had nothing to do with Wall Street and everything to do with those morons.
It also had to do with subprime mortgages (to a lesser extent) these measures were passed by the likes of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Open your eyes and look at the real reason the financial crisis occured...
1. De-regulation passed by Greenspan and Geithner
2. Subprime mortgage deregulation passed by the democrats in congress so people who can't afford homes could get those homes
This is why OWS is stupid... they don't even understand why the crisis occurred in the first place. They need to protest in front of the white house to be taken seriously. Or possibly The Federal Reserve in NY or DC.
It's cute how you do your best to exculpate Wall Street, but it's a two-fold problem, whether you recognize it or not. They weren't forced into these shady practices, they pushed for deregulation, got it, and promptly hung themselves.
Actually, it was the failure of the poor credit risks they were forced to lend to to pay their mortgage payments that shut them down.
That's what happens when government forces certain behavior (in this case, lending to poor credit risks). They then are liable for bailing out the inevitable disaster caused by the unintended negative consequences.
The only forced lending program is the CRA, and it didn't cause the crisis.
The bad loans were not forced, Wall Street chose to make them. These were self-inflicted banking losses.
It is bizarre how you, and a few others, continue to propogate this blatant lie that is pushed by the AEI, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh.
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... Please educate yourself on corporations before railing against them. 
