The Weekly Folly: A Filet Of News With An Anti-State Twist And A Dash Of Humor
In this week's edition of The Weekly Folly, we find humor in the hypocrisy of Mafia USG slapping the wrists of their bankster mafia brethren.
From Yahoo News......(my commentary will be in bold and italics)
US acting as global policeman for financial crimes
Translation: A gang of criminals, using the abstract label “US” as cover, acting as global criminal police force for financial crimes.
Washington (AFP) - Handing out multibillion-dollar fines right and left to domestic and foreign financial giants, the United States has taken on the role of the unforgiving global cop of the business world.
My comments: So where does all this money go, if and when these fines are actually collected? Do they fund black ops? Do they pay off some government crony insiders? Does it get cycled through the criminal federal reserve? Unforgiving? I guess those trillion dollar bailouts for the “Too Big To Fail” crowd were really harsh and unforgiving, right?
In stark contrast to the relative inertia of white-collar law enforcement in Europe, Washington most recently brought the hammer down on Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, which sold junk-filled, mortgage-backed securities ahead of the 2008 financial meltdown.
My thoughts: And what about Goldman Sachs?
Deutsche Bank has agreed to a payout of $7.2 billion, while Credit Suisse settled for $5.3 billion to resolve American authorities' allegations and avoid the lengthy headache of a trial……..
Translation: The decision makers at those two monstrous financial institutions jumped at the chance to pay such a paltry sum. A secret agreement was probably reached with the so-called authorities that the money will come back to the banksters later through some complex tax loophole.
…...American giants have not been spared: JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America collectively have shelled out $40 billion to settle cases linked to toxic, crisis-era financial products.
My thoughts: A minor slap on the wrist in order to make it look like the government actually gives two flying fucks about the little guy and is “enforcing the law” on the big boys. A tiny sum to pay back after the countless billions were handed out in the bailout boondoggle, to be sure.
"There's a kind of fundamentalism to US law," said Nicolas Veron, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel and the Washington-based Peterson Institute.
"If you break the law, punishment comes down."…...
"The appearance of the law must be upheld, especially when it is being broken." - Gangs Of New York
Note: I had trouble editing. The Gangs Of New York quote is at around the 2:20 mark of the following clip.
My meanderings: I guess the so-called “law” doesn’t apply to everyone. The hypocrisy is utterly gut-busting laughable when you take a look at the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute. Not to mention if you look at Mr. Veron’s personal bio, which includes sitting on the board of the Depository Trust And Clearing Corporation, one of the biggest derivatives clearinghouses on the planet. Don’t take my word for it. Check out the following links from the Peterson Institute.
https://piie.com/experts/senior-research-staff/nicolas-veron
https://piie.com/about/board-directors
…...In the most recent cases, the United States imposed $2.6 billion in criminal penalties on the Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht -- most of which will be paid to Brazil -- and a half billion on the Israeli generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical. Both matters involved corruption occurring outside the United States…..
My comments: Mafia USG wants its cut! Corruption must go through proper channels!
…..Given the means and opportunity to apply its laws "extraterritorially" with such regularity, the United States has become a kind of worldwide anticorruption police force, and buttressed its geopolitical influence.
My thoughts: Rest easy, world. The fox is guarding the hen house!
"There's a real nexus between economics and foreign affairs," said Aaron Klein, head of the center on regulation and markets at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
My thoughts: Wow, Aaron Klein, how many years did you have to go through formal schooling to figure out that economics and foreign affairs are closely intertwined? Bravo, Brookings.
In a different kind of case, Volkswagen's sprawling emissions-cheating scandal also has shown the might of the US legal system and its ability to bring major companies to task.
To compensate drivers and repair damage to the environment, the giant German automaker has agreed to pay out more than $15 billion so far, and doubtless will have to pay more before putting the scandal behind it. But the company still could face criminal charges.
My comments: In a related story, 15 billion one dollar bills will be dropped from 30,000 feet at an undisclosed location (near an oligarch hideout) to combat climate change.
To read the original article in its entirety without my comments go to:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-acting-global-policeman-financial-crimes-020233607.html
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