Occupy Wall Street: the Banks Cost More than Just TARP

I hope the Occupy Wall Street movement would understand that the TBTF banks cost American taxpayers a lot more than just the cost of TARP. Erin Burnett had embarrassed herself by going to the OWS site claiming that the banks had pretty much paid back TARP. But the scam on her part was that the banks cost Americans a whole lot more than just the 700 billion dollars of TARP.

The banks cost America, jobs, credit, savings returns, housing prices destroyed, cultural dislocation and much more. We are talking about trillions upon trillions of dollars here. We are not talking about a measly 700 billion dollars that Burnett thought she could pass off as the cost of the financial meltdown.

The OWS movement will only stay on task and define itself properly if it realizes that long term clawbacks from the banks should come. Perhaps it is too late to clawback bonuses. It is not too late to claw back with the use of the transaction tax on trading. Certainly Tim Geithner doesn't want the tax. But Euro leaders do. That destroys Geithner's argument that implementing the tax on Wall Street would cause trading to go elsewhere, like Europe. That is always his excuse. And it is pretty clear that the tax would not be that onerous anyway.

OWS needs to realize that Geithner and Paulson are the leading candidates for criminality. Geithner was regulator and president of the private NY Fed. He let Paulson and others pass around billions of dollars of bogus CDO's that crashed. He bears huge responsiblility for the ponzi housing scheme that could not have operated without the securitization of those CDO's. And Paulson was spreading these bonds, clearly now seen as fraudulent, with no penalties at all!

Is it a wonder that when Geithner says America cannot have a tax on trading no one believes a word he says! He had a chance to get a piece of the big banks, not just to pay back TARP, but for all the financial hurt banks caused the American people and he ended up with C and AIG. He left GS and JPM and Wells Fargo alone! Whether there was a law in place at the time or not, a case could have been made for banks bearing the cost of the entire crisis, not just TARP! And TARP was paid back by banks getting easy loans and buying treasuries which proliferated because the banks crashed the economy in the first place.And the buying of the treasuries caused the return to decline for elderly savers.

It is crucial for the United States to seek a long term return from the banks. This return could come in the form of a permanent cap on speculation, and through a tax on the speculation that is allowed. The OWS should seek politicians willing to take on the banks in this fashion. The casino is still a threat to world prosperity, and a permanent tribute to king taxpayer is in order.

The NWO wants a vat tax. That taxes the real economy. No, that won't do. If I sell an ebook in Europe the vat tax is pretty substantial. But there should be a vat-like tax on the banks. You banks want to churn contracts up on all we pay for goods? Well, pay a stiff tax for that churn.

Geithner was central to the shadow unregulated banking system having free reign. For that Fox News has always been nice to Timmy. The OWS needs to track inconsistencies like that. Pay attention to the news, carefully, and see what the motive is for people acting the way that they do. It can tip one to the new trends in financial trickery. If a bright light is shown on the banks, it is harder for the cockroaches to scurry around creating new financial instruments of destruction. That should be the legacy of the OWS. There should always be OWS-like watchdog folks keeping an eye on the banks.

However the OWS movement ends, or whatever future path it takes, exposing the plans of the banks should be a top priority, and also exposing the language of the bankers as they seek to put the public to sleep is also worth monitoring.

While I agree with the analysis of Ron Paul and Karl Denninger, I don't agree with their libertarian solutions, regarding cutting budgets massively. I agree with them regarding prosecutions. I would like to see the OWS force the banks to give back money to the treasury. But I am against the concept of some in the Tea Party when they say we cannot help the unemployed or that social security should be killed and medicare should be killed or that no jobs programs should be created. That is libertarianism, and should not be a part of the OWS movement at all!

The Tea Party was against bailouts, but bank runs have to be bailed out, but with the government taking an interest in the bailed out banks. And then the banks need to be regulated to stop speculation rather than be unregulated as the libertarians want. Something to consider, OWS!