A 12 December 2012 article by
Neil Barofsky discusses the failures of the US Department of Justice
(DOJ) in prosecuting crimes committed by key personnel in "too big to
fail" financial institutions following the 2008 financial crisis.
Barofsky, a highly respected lawyer, served as the Special United States
Treasury Department Inspector General overseeing the Troubled Assets
Relief Program from 2009 until his resignation in February 2011.
Writing about the 11 December 2012 DOJ announcement that it had reached a
$1.92 billion settlement with the financial giant HSBC, he asked "Why
no criminal charges? Why instead only some remedial measures and a
'historical' fine that can be measured in weeks -- not years -- of
earnings? It certainly wasn’t for lack of evidence. No, instead the
government determined that HSBC is not only too big to fail, but also
too big to jail. As the New York Times first reported,
even though there were strong voices within DOJ pushing for criminal
charges, the big banks' best friends within the government (the Treasury
Department, of course, and other unnamed regulators) were too fearful
that an indictment could destabilize the global financial system. Yes,
it's 2008 all over again. In the name of systemic stability, a megabank
again escapes accountability for its actions, rescued by compliant
officials."
So, it is now official the
government favors some criminals over others. If you are in a special
government protected class fines may be levied against the institution
you work for but no criminal charges will be filed against those
responsible for the commission of those crimes. That means banking
criminals within taxpayer bailed out too big to fail institutions can
commit crimes without fear of being punished because the fines are paid
from bank assets, not by the criminals who perpetrated the crimes.
When reduced to its most basic form the crimes banks committed
throughout the housing debacle and the bailouts that followed were
against millions of homeowners and American taxpayers. This is the
case for many of the banks involved in the financial scandal. I should
add that numerous government officials,
members of the FED and regulators are just as guilty as the bankers.
The precedent is now set. Future financial crises involving "too big to
fail" institutions (and their government/FED enablers) means the people
will once again be robbed while the government protects the robbers.
If you or I steal our neighbor's $300 outdoor grill we will suffer the
full consequences of the law. Its the same principle, but no matter, we
are just the little people, only certain laws apply to them but all the
laws apply to us. The credibility of our nation's DOJ/legal system is
shot. Laws are now meaningless except when the government decides
otherwise.
Barofsky's article is at the first link. The three following links expand the discussion.
George Burns
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