Mortgage Settlement 'Whitewash': US Taxpayers Will Pay for Big Bank Settlement

UPDATE: Reports in the Financial Times and elsewhere say that US taxpayers may be on the hook to bail out big banks -- again.

Neil Barofsky, the former special inspector-general of the TARP, said this morning that the recently approved mortgage deal between the nation's largest banks was "supposed to be a settlement for this remarkable fraud that the banks and the servicers have created across the country" is, in fact, a "political whitewash" because instead of the banks facing punitive action it "is actually going to involve money flowing from the taxpayer into the banks." And, straight to the point, he said, "We're bailing them out again!"

Barofsky, appearing on Marketplace radio this morning in an interview with Adrien Hill, said of the deal:

Read More:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/17-0

Matt Stoller - The Federal Reserve Knew About the Housing Bubble in 2004

The data — both anecdotal and otherwise — was out there, and the Fed even discussed it internally. Let’s not let it off the hook.

I noticed something odd about the recent release of the 2006 Federal Reserve Open Market Committee transcripts. Binyamin Appelbaum has a characteristically good article about the inept chatter at the FOMC meetings that year, where the various participants missed the housing bubble completely. And there has been suitable mockery of the Fed.

What I’m finding, though, is a bit of an apologia for these folks in the form of “no one knew.” This is just not true. I remember in 2002-2003 I heard crazy stories about housing, where people would list their home and get 15 bids in 24 hours. It’s why I didn’t consider buying a home. It wasn’t just anecdotal, but the data was out there.

Read More:

http://www.newdeal20.org/2012/01/17/the-federal-reserve-knew-about-the-housing-bubble-in-2004-69345/

You Tube Video - The American Dream- FEDERAL RESERVE BANKING SCAM Part 1/2

The AMERICAN DREAM is a 30 minute animated film that shows you how you've been scammed by the most basic elements of our government system. All of us Americans strive for the American Dream, and this film shows you why your dream is getting farther and farther away. Do you know how your money is created? Or how banking works? Why did housing prices skyrocket and then plunge? Do you really know what the Federal Reserve System is and how it affects you every single day? THE AMERICAN DREAM takes an entertaining but hard hitting look at how the problems we have today are nothing new, and why leaders throughout our history have warned us and fought against the current type of financial system we have in America today. You will be challenged to investigate some very entrenched and powerful institutions in this nation, and hopefully encouraged to help get our nation back on track.

Shocking News - The US financial situation simplified

The US financial situation simplified: This makes it very easy to understand the present situation. This country won't be able to go another four years at this rate. How those in charge can't see this is a total mystery.

Why the U.S. was downgraded:

• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000

• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

• Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

• Annual family income: $21,700

• Money the family spent: $38,200

• New debt on the credit card: $16,500

• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710

• Total budget cuts: $385

William Robinson - Global Rebellion & The Coming Chaos?

Published on Friday, December 2, 2011 by Al Jazeera

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111130121556567265.html

Global elites are confused, reactive, and sinking into a quagmire of their own making, says author.

by William I. Robinson

SANTA BARBARA, CA - As the crisis of global capitalism spirals out of control, the powers that be in the global system appear to be adrift and unable to proposal viable solutions. From the slaughter of dozens of young protesters by the army in Egypt to the brutal repression of the Occupy movement in the United States, and the water cannons brandished by the militarized police in Chile against students and workers, states and ruling classes are unable are to hold back the tide of worldwide popular rebellion and must resort to ever more generalized repression.

Simply put, the immense structural inequalities of the global political economy can no longer be contained through consensual mechanisms of social control. The ruling classes have lost legitimacy; we are witnessing a breakdown of ruling-class hegemony on a world scale.

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