Politicians are just the gofers of the Banksters: NOTHING more

from opednews.com

Politicians are just the gofers of the Banksters: NOTHING more ...
by W. Finnerty Wed Feb 27, 2013 08:42
"There is little point in appealing to politicians, for they are owned and controlled by them (the Banksters that is). Politicians are the devil's handmaidens, the despicable bought-and-paid-for gofers of those who are really in charge." 

The above excerpt is from an e-mail sent yesterday to (among others) President of the Republic of Ireland Dr Michael D. Higgins, who is the Principal Guardian of Bunreacht na hEireann: the Constitution of the Republic of Ireland, and as such the SUPREME LAW of the Republic of Ireland.

The Government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) of the Republic of Ireland needs to be gently but firmly, peacefully and lawfully, brought back under the full control of "the people" of the Republic of Ireland?

There is no other sensible or workable legal alternative?

Fortunately, Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann very clearly and straightforwardly provides"the people" of the Republic of Ireland with the legal authority to take back full control.

Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann reads as follows (in full):

"All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good."

Failure by "the people" of the Republic of Ireland to put our Article 6.1 "to work" means "THE BANKSTERS TAKE ALL"?

We, "the people" of the Republic of Ireland are not alone in considering such action to prevent the Banksters from "taking all". Note, for example, the following public statement issued recently by the British Constitution Group:

"An historic Prerogative Writ of Mandamus has been served on the Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP."

For more information relating to the initiative outlined in the paragraph just above -- on behalf of "the people" of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland -- please click on the following link:
http://tinyurl.com/b87h8w8

The full text of yesterday's e-mail to President Michael D. Higgins -- titled "I believe I am dealing with exceptionally dangerous people" -- which was also copied (using the same e-mail) to East County Galway Government Minister Ciaran Cannon TD, to all three of his East Galway TD colleagues, and to Republic of Ireland Chief Police Commissioner Martin Callinan, can be viewed at:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/CelticParty/26February2013/Email.htm

Also worth mentioning here perhaps is that the opening paragraph of yesterday's e-mail to President Michael D. Higgins (referred to above) reads as follows:

"The growing criminal activities of the Banksters represents a global scandal (and threat) of gigantic proportions, almost certainly (in my opinion) the biggest and most dangerous humanity as a whole has ever experienced up to now; and, the whole 'mountain' of global corruption, crime, cover-ups, and impunity directly connected with the 'Bankster Leaders', and their government accomplices, now desperately needs to be thoroughly investigated, and robustly challenged: as an exceptionally serious international, global problem."

Related Link:
Banksters, Corruption, Crime, Cover-ups, Impunity, Human Rights Ireland ...
http://tinyurl.com/aa3ahfq

=====================================

The above text has is based on a comment dated February 27th 2013 at the following Indymedia (Ireland) location:
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/103257#comment294704

===================================== 

EPILOGUE
"Sirs, We are writing to you not as our political leaders but as our elected servants in government who are duty bound by oath of office to uphold the Law of the Land as inserted into Magna Carta 1215 and to protect our ancient sovereignty from foreign intrusion ..."

"Please also understand that this is not a polite request - this is a lawful demand to bring to an immediate end Her Majesty's Government's involvement with the unlawful debt-creating banking system that is currently endangering the future well-being, happiness and sovereignty of the British nation."
Veronica Chapman (and several other UK people): http://tinyurl.com/by8v6p9

As related via the www link immediately above, the excerpts just above (in this section) are from the "Prerogative Writ of Mandamus" posted to Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon. George Osborne MP on February 11th 2013.

=====================================

Human Rights Ireland: http://www.humanrightsireland.com

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William Finnerty is back living in the Republic of Ireland at the present time, which is where he was born and where he grew up. His father was Irish (County Galway), and his mother American (New York City). He has worked mostly in the (more...)
 

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

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CFPB Headquarters, Consumer Advisory Board Meeting

American Banksters: Just Another Criminal Gang

from The LRC Blog

February 23, 2013

American Banksters: Just Another Criminal Gang

Posted by Thomas DiLorenzo on February 23, 2013 09:03 AM

I'll be teaching an online Mises Academy course on American Banksters, emphasizing Murray Rothbard's power elite analysis of the corrupt relationship between money and the state, beginning on March 14.  It's a five-week course (on Thursday evenings) and will be an  intensive study of the Rothbardian economic/historical/foreign policy analysis of banksterism and its implications for both American society and the world.

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Banks Use Punishment to Ditch Troubled Loans: Mortgages

from Business Week 

By Kathleen M. Howley on February 21, 2013

 

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Companies Mentioned

• BAC

  BANK OF AMERICA CORP
  • $11.34 USD
  • -0.08
  • -0.73%

• JPM

  JPMORGAN CHASE & CO
  • $48.62 USD
  • 0.38
  • 0.77%

• WFC

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  • $35.63 USD
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• C

  CITIGROUP INC
  • $42.58 USD
  • 0.23
  • 0.54%

• MS

  MORGAN STANLEY
  • $23.36 USD
  • 0.53
  • 2.27%

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Banks that agreed to help troubled borrowers as part of a settlement with regulators over foreclosure misdeeds are spending most of the promised aid on sales that displace homeowners and forgiveness that erases home equity loans from their books.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), and three other banks in last year’s $25 billion foreclosure-abuse settlement spent $19.5 billion through the end of 2012 approving so-called short sales that let homeowners sell for less than they owe on their mortgages, Joseph Smith, the settlement’s monitor, said today. By comparison, the banks spent $6 billion reducing borrowers’ principal to help them stay in their homes, an increase from $2.6 billion at the end of the third quarter.

While the banks are stepping up efforts to help borrowers stay in their homes, they are still spending most of the settlement on short sales and forgiveness of home-equity loans that allow them to take bad loans off their books. Profits from new lending are increasing even as regulators enforce penalties for modification missteps and foreclosures pursued with fraudulent or missing documents. Last year, mortgage revenue at the four largest lenders -- Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), and U.S. Bancorp --surpassed the amount they spent on consumer settlements and investor demands they buy back faulty loans.

“The banks have shown a knack for sidestepping government attempts to have them redress their role in the foreclosure crisis and keep people in their homes,” said Arthur Wilmarth, a law professor at George Washington University in the nation’s capital. “A lot of these efforts end up helping the banks, not the homeowners.”

High-Maintenance

Short sales rid banks of high-maintenance borrowers as they stretch to implement more than a dozen new servicing regulations imposed by the settlement with the federal government and 49 state attorneys general. The harm done to consumer credit scores by short sales is about the same as going through a foreclosure, according to Fair Isaac Corp., inventor of the so-called FICO system of ranking risk.

Short sales “are a real relief provided to the borrower, and consumer relief is the premise of the program,” said Rick Simon, a spokesman for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America. Amy Bonitatibus of JPMorgan in New York, Tom Goyda of Wells Fargo in San Francisco, and Sean Kevelighan for Citigroup in New York declined to comment.

The banks spent $11.3 billion extinguishing home equity loans that in many cases stood behind delinquent primary mortgages.

In the settlement, reached Feb. 9, 2012, Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc. (C), Wells Fargo andAlly Financial Inc. (ALLY) settled federal and state allegations of fraud and other misconduct without conceding guilt, receiving immunity from state civil prosecution. The pact created the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight now supervised by Smith, the former North Carolina Commissioner of Banks.

More Money

This year, 13 banks including Bank of America, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Morgan Stanley (MS) settled with regulators over similar charges including so-called robo-signing, the fraudulent endorsement of affidavits used in foreclosures. The collective $9.3 billion of agreements free them from complying with a 2011 order by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency mandating they pay for and provide documents for independent reviews of foreclosures in which borrowers claim bank malfeasance.

“The decision to pursue a settlement allows more money to go to more consumers much more quickly than would have occurred had the independent foreclosure review run its course,” said Bryan Hubbard, director of public affairs at the OCC.

The banks will pay $3.6 billion to borrowers who were foreclosed on in 2009 and 2010, with everyone receiving something, whether they lost their home through the use of fraudulent documents or their case was pursued legitimately. The regulators will appoint a payment agent to decide the amount of money each borrower receives. In the new restitution system, as in the one it preempts, the banks will provide the information to document their conduct.

Rising Profits

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Bank of America and U.S. Bancorp reported $24.4 billion from home lending in 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Combined profits for all commercial banks in the U.S. rose to a record $130.2 billion last year, beating a 2006 peak of $128.1 billion, according to Hamilton Place Strategies, a Washington consulting firm. Net income was helped by an increase in mortgage lending, particularly loan refinancings, said Patrick Sims, the firm’s director of research.

“Banks are paying big mortgage settlements -- it’s definitely a big expense for them -- but they have set aside reserves for that,” Sims said. “With the improvement in the economy and less troubled loans, banks now can take their capital and apply it to more profit-making activities.”

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'World Banksters': Space Gallery hangs the new Natasha Mayers exhibit

from pressherald.com

Posted:Today
Updated: 5:28 AM 

'World Banksters': Space Gallery hangs the new Natasha Mayers exhibit

Space Gallery hangs the new Natasha Mayers exhibit that has something to say – both funny and serious – about U.S. banks and economic policies.

By Bob Keyes bkeyes@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

Natasha Mayers is still angry.

click image to enlarge

Natasha Mayers’ new exhibit inserts banking figures into touristy postcards from around the United States.

Images courtesy Natasha Mayers

click image to enlarge

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No, check that. Natasha Mayers is still outraged.

But the outspoken activist-artist from Whitefield has mellowed. She has managed to infuse subtle humor into her latest project.

"World Banksters," on view through March 22 at Space Gallery in Portland, pillorizes the American banking establishment and what she calls America's "sense of exceptionalism and entitlement. Somehow, these guys in our country think that they are above the law, that we are above the law and supreme economically and militarily."

In her art, she inserts banking figures into touristy postcards from the around the United States. They are anonymous, faceless and often headless (and heartless?) figures, dressed in suits and ties that might be mistaken as straightjackets.

They're anonymous, but one detects resemblances to John McCain and Dick Cheney, among others. They dominate the scene, lording over the White House, Capitol and even Mount Rushmore.

Mayers holds them and their policies responsible for all the ills facing America and for what she considers to be our country's poor standing in the world.

But instead of hammering her subjects with the hope of inciting rage among viewers, Mayers simply hopes that people start with a chuckle before moving on to the issues.

"I found over the years that a lot of my work was full of anger to draw people in," she said. "These postcards seems to be far more accessible and have the power to engage people with humor. I can be serious and be seriously silly at the same time."

Mayers began her postcard series with a set of drawings during the early days of the financial crises that led to the economic downturn, which in turn fed a frenzy of foreclosures and economic despair for large segments of the country's citizens.

Meanwhile, many of the bankers whose policies and practices led to the economic collapse seemed to float above the fray.

Mayers began inserting images of bankers in her drawings. She liked her drawings, but felt they lacked an edge.

"They weren't enough about the issue, and they didn't express my feelings and outrage. They weren't funny or ironic," she said.

Her project gained focus with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Mayers, who grew up in post-World War II America, appreciated younger generations of protesters raising their voices about income disparity and income inequality. Their words resonated with her.

That's when she began incorporating her banker figures onto the postcards. That was the trick for her that gave the project its heart.

Postcards share a moment, she said. They represent a quick connection and tell little stories, often from exotic places. Her little paintings represent her commentary on capitalism, post-colonialism, globalization, cultural appropriation, cultural authenticity and differences, and sexism.

"Just by inserting these bankers into the postcards, it was more immediate and drew more of a response from other people. It was more fun -- definitely more fun," she said.

Mayers didn't join the Occupy Wall Street protest. Her "World Banksters" work is her contribution to the cause.

She studied sculpture at Sarah Lawrence College, and served in the Peace Corps in Nigeria in the late 1960s. She took a job teaching in Maine after the Peace Corps.

Mayer's art has always been about community. In the late 1970s, she worked with patients and Maine artists to paint murals and poetry in tunnels connecting buildings at the Augusta Mental Health Institute. In the 1994-95 school year, she helped her town's fourth- and fifth-graders paint its history on utility poles.

She organized "Warflowers: From Swords to Plowshares," a 2005-06 traveling exhibition by 44 Maine artists that launched discussion about how to convert our defense-based economy into a peace economy.

Mayer is an artist-in-residence for Peace Action Maine, and was a National Endowment for the Arts Millennium Artist in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Last year, she began working with other artists involved with the Union of Maine Visual Arts to create an Artists Rapid Response Team. They gather once a month to create banners for various groups across Maine lobbying for social and economic justice, as well for environmental groups.

"We're channeling our outrage," she said. "We're doing it as artists. That seems to be the most effective response."

It's been almost a decade since Mayers has shown her work in Portland in a solo show. She is excited about this exhibition, and eager to share her work with a wider audience.

"My outrage is always there," she said. "I have just found ways to use my outrage for a more positive end."

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or:

bkeyes@pressherald.com

Twitter: pphbkeyes

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Thanks Banksters - You Cost the Economy $22 Trillion

from The Economic Populist

Submitted by Robert Oak on February 17, 2013 - 6:51am

Nowhere is the evidence of unbridled corporate greed stronger than in what the financial crisis did to the U.S. economy.   The losses are staggering.  Economic growth was killed to the tune of over $13 trillion.  Homeowners lost a whopping $8.1 trillion in home values.   Personal income nose dived.   Between 2007 and 2010 median household net worth fell by $49,100 per family.  That's a 39% loss.

What's worse is most have assumed the economy will eventually recover.   There is an increasingly more real possibility.  It never will.  The reasons are a loss of private investment and since the U.S. worker has been scuttled, all of the expertise and skills have become atrophied.  As the phrase goes, use it or lose it and businesses refusing to hire are making sure American workers are losing their skill sets.

Below is a graph from the GAO report which shows the two scenarios.   The first is when GDP recovers and returns to normal growth after a financial crisis.   The second scenario is a financial crisis that has permanently destroyed the nation's economy.   The bold line is potential GDP and what has been the trend of economic growth in the past.  The wavy lines are actual economic growth.

Now take a look at the below graph.   This is potential GDP (blue) that our nation could generate versus what the real economic growth was (red) per year.   We can see the United States has been really humming along ever since WWII from the below graph...until December 2007.  You see that red line drop?  That's real GDP.   Now which of the two above scenarios, does the below graph look like?   Is it example one or example two?   It is graph two above.   In other words, it's looking like the financial crisis has permanently decimated America's economic growth.

The GAO is really implying this is what has happened, the economic damage is permanent.   So says the IMF as well.  Their research gives a 25% economic loss as a trend for the four years following the crisis.   That means that red line is now repressed by a whopping 25% of the past output trend.

Not only was economic output shifted lower like a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, there are additional losses, many of which cannot be quantified, such as the human toll.

There was $9.1 trillion lost in home equity between 2005 and 2011 and dropping home prices is only part of the reason as people went bankrupt and were foreclosed on.   For the first time since statistics were kept, mortgage debt exceeded home equity.   That's all the way back to 1945.   According to the GAO by December 2011 home equity was $3.7 lessthan total home mortgages owed.   The below graph shows mortgage debt (red) against home equity (blue) as reported in the flow of funds report.

The recognition of just how bad the financial crisis was comes from a new GAO report,Financial Crisis Losses and Potential Impacts of the Dodd-Frank Act which, believe this or not, was chartered to justify the cost of implementing the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.

Various political spinners blame the federal debt on Obama and the Democrats.  There too, the ones to really blame are the Banksters and the reckless behavior of Wall Street.   Federal debt went from 36% of GDP in 2007 to 62% by 2010.   The causes are actually multi-fold but a huge one is decreased tax revenues.  When people don't have jobs, they don't pay taxes.  When businesses aren't making any money, they don't pay taxes.   When people don't have jobs, they need unemployment insurance benefits and food stamps. Yes, the stimulus did add to the debt but so did bailing out the Banksters. Much to the contrary of what one hears about TARP turning profits, many of the bail outs did not did not makeprofits.   The biggest are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the GAO reports have cost $316.2 billion.

The main point of the GAO report is letting banks run amok is costly.   The financial sector really did implode the U.S. economy, along with most of Europe.   Implementing Dodd-Frank is currently estimated at $1.2 billion.   Hmm, let's see, $1.2 billion versus $22 trillion, which is larger?   The question isn't whether there should be financial reform, obviously there should.   The real issue is the ineffectiveness of Dodd-Frank.   Even the GAO hints at this with the wishy-washy could work, depends paragraph opener:

The Dodd-Frank Act contains several provisions that may benefit the financial system and the broader economy, but the realization of such benefits depends on a number of factors.

The reason for that is way too much is left to regulators and some imply the bill actually increased systemic risk.   Take derivatives for example.   They still are going strong and have the potential to once again blow up the economy.

Assuming the risk of counterparty default—most CDS and most other swaps have been traded in the OTC market where holders of derivatives contracts bear the risk of counterparty default.

In addition, swaps traded in the OTC market have typically featured an exchange of margin collateral to cover current exposures between the two parties, but not “initial” margin to protect a nondefaulting party against the cost of replacing the contract if necessary. As of the end of the second quarter of 2012, the outstanding notional value of derivatives held by insured U.S. commercial banks and savings associations totaled more than $200 trillion.

These derivatives have been moved to clearing houses and systemic risk along with it.   Now the clearing houses themselves are vulnerable to need a bail out.   But that's what ya get when Congress is corrupt and derivative loving lobbyists rush in to prevent any reform passage.

The costs of Dodd-Frank are shockingly high.  Yet when one writes a labyrinth that's the price.   But that's really not the issue which needs to be brought to light.   Will the financial reform bill stop the next financial crisis?   From the report:

The Dodd-Frank Act’s potential benefit of reducing the probability or severity of a future financial crisis cannot be readily observed and this potential benefit is difficult to quantify.

What a surprise but when one has a swiss cheese regulation maze, figuring out how many rats can get through it is tough.   There was some Basel committee analysis on capital ratios and margins correlated to a lower next financial crisis probability.

Higher capital and liquidity requirements can reduce the probability of banking crises. For example, the models suggest, on average, that if the banking system’s capital ratio—as measured by the ratio of tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets—is 7 percent, then a 1 percentage point increase in the capital ratio is associated with a 1.6 percentage point reduction in the probability of a financial crisis.

Worse than that, the do not know if Dodd-Frank will reduce the probability of another financial crisis even by a small percentage.  They don't know.  Five years later, a ridiculous amount of rules and governments world wide have no real clue on how to stop the next one, especially with Dodd-Frank.  With $200 trillion in derivatives out there like nukes of the cold war, it's no surprise systemic risk is yet to be quantified.

Along with Too Big to Fail and Too Big To Jail we need to add a new phrase. If one cannot quantify systemic risk, then those elements should not exist