Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gansta Bankster!

posted by The Sailor @ 5:40 PM Permalink

Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Criticize Limits

Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., recipients of more than $100 billion in U.S. rescue funds, criticized congressional proposals to tax Wall Street bonuses.

Wait, what!? Don't We The People own these guys?

They should STFU until they can be in a prison where they can squeal like a pig all night long.

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Donating for dollars? Many bailed-out banks still contributing to campaign funds

[...]
Bank of America's political action committee (PAC) gave $24,500 in January and February, "including $1,500 to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and another $15,000 to members of the House and Senate banking panels."
[...]
Citigroup, which has received a total of $45 billion in federal aid, donated $29,620 to members of Congress, including $2,500 to House GOP Whip Eric Cantor.

Cantor, who like nearly all of his GOP colleagues opposed the stimulus plan, also received $10,000 from Swiss banking giant UBS, which got $5 billion in federal bailout funds via AIG as one of the scandal-ridden insurance companies' "counterparties." In February, UBS agreed to pay U.S. authorities $780 million in fines, penalties and restitution and hand over customer details to settle charges of tax fraud in the United States that threatened the bank's existence.

Jeebus, they're using OUR money to lobby bribe Congress!

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WaMu sues FDIC for more than $13 billion over forced sale

Washington Mutual, the bankrupt, seized and "under investigation" financial institution which saw some operations forcibly sold off to JPMorgan Chase in 2008, is suing the agency that guarantees Americans' deposits, and that agency is running low on funds.
[...]
Washington Mutual was seized by federal regulators in Sept. 2008; the company filed for bankruptcy immediately thereafter. The ensuing investigation "one of the largest and most complex federal investigations ever undertaken in Western Washington," a US Attorney told the Seattle Times

Waa, waa, WaMu!

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House reviews advice given to 401(k), IRA holders

Lawmakers took a hard look Tuesday at rules adopted in the final days of the Bush administration on how millions of Americans with 401(k) and individual retirement accounts get guidance on investing for retirement.
[...]
Current law states that a pension plan may contract with an investment adviser if the adviser charges the same no matter what products they recommend or if they provide advice from a computer model that meets requirements for objectivity. The Labor Department rules go beyond the statute, providing various exemptions, including allowing advisers to provide personalized advice

Gosh, no one could predict that having your 'financial adviser' be beholden to his own interests and not yours would result in a financial meltdown!

I am so sick of the 'I got mine jack, FY' mentality.

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Bank of America’s Bernstein Says Sell Bank Stocks After Rally

[...]
Removing devalued loans and securities from banks’ balance sheets is a short-term solution that will delay the problem’s ultimate solution, which is bank takeovers, Bernstein said.
[...]
“The history of bubbles shows quite well that financial sector consolidation is inevitable,” Bernstein, Bank of America’s chief investment strategist, wrote in a research note.

Dude, we own you, you've already proved that you don't know jack! The problem isn't that we need more bankster mergers, the problem was because we allowed banks to get too large to let fail!

The 'free market' will always trend toward monopolies, that's why we used to have anti-trust laws!



Cross posted at SteveAudio

Labels: banksters