For those of us being crushed (long after their bailout) by JP Morgan/Chase Bank, can't we Occupy JP's Lawn?

The top execs of Chase should be first on the court docket to answer for what appears by all evidence to be criminal behavior. It's quite a list. Earlier this year, Chase admitted complicity in the failure of competitor WAMU in 2008, whose assets were gifted by the FDIC to Chase after the sudden closure. These assets included billions in unsecured high interest credit card debt. Chase paid a large settlement (though certainly much less than its ill-gotten gains) in return for having the terms sealed with a gag order.

Chase was them shown have back-loaded variable interest home mortgages to U.S.. military personnel, especially those who were fighting overseas, and foreclosing. This makes Chase's current ad campaign featuring its announced plan to hire 100,000 returning veterans about as sincere as the well-known Mafia tradition where an assassin would send the largest wreath to the funeral of one he murdered.

There's an easy short-term solution, and fair. Immediate amnesty of all unsecured and credit card debt to banks which received bailout money, especially to those clients who have continued to pay arbitrary and high interest payments resulting from the banks scheme of selling debt to one another, which became illegal on February 22, 2010. After all, it's the same middle class taxpayer that bailed out the banks who pay those inflated notes!

As far as mortgages like yours, I can't comment without further information. But it is relevant that Chase was among the banks which created and leaked a policy known as "Liar's Loans", where mortgages were granted to any and all who applied without regard for income or collateral. The purpose of this policy was to use such mortgages (which in themselves were the basis for enormous self-distibuted bonuses to Chase officers) -- to use them as the basis for highly leveraged bonds. These in turn were declared on Chase and other banks' ledgers at 100% of face value. With leverage in both the mortgages and bonds often at 90%, bank profits were "increased" by a factor of 90 times 90, or some 8000 times over any real money invested. This in turn drove up bank stock prices and executives took enormous bonuses on these "profits" as well, once again based on plateaus which they themselves established in-house. Believe it or not, this practically worthless bond paper, printed by the banks themselves, then became the sole "collateral" of new bonds -- which constituted the so-called "Derivative Market". FED chairman Greenspan (and his acolyte, Larry Summers, Obama economic advisor and the architect of the repeal of Glass-Steagall which enabled the scam) -- both actively prevented any investigation into possible fraud by banking officers in creating and marketing derivatives, despite explicit warnings of this possibility from the Department of Commerce, the governmental regulating body.

There are only the most flagrant, public, and obvious examples of Chase miscreance. To me there is plenty to warrant criminal indictment, and not some superfluous civil thing like this week's by the SEC against the CEOs of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac. It's the only way to restore confidence in the marketplace both on Wall Street and on Main Street: call a spade a spade and punish those who actually stole from the American economy with jail time. We had a dose of the nonchalance these men have toward their acts and the suffering they have caused in seeing former NJ Governor John Corzine respond to Congressional Sub-Committee questions about the $1.5 Bn which disappeared from the investment firm he headed (!) with "I simply have no idea where the money went."

It's worth noting that Obama's Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner has championed a bill which would actually exempt all those involved in the 2008 crash and any collusion or criminal intent that led to it from present and future prosecution. And of course there's the extraordinary Supreme Court decision last year which deemed corporations as "individuals" who enjoy 1st Amendment rights. So, it appears that even if indictments are one day brought for criminal activity, the executives themselves might escape being named individually at all. What do you do? Put JP Morgan Chase, Goldman-Sachs, Citibank, and Bank of America behind bars? Their officers are, as the saying goes, laughing all the way to the bank. Everywhere, the honest man's handshake has been replaced with the conspirator's wink. The American public has been completely robbed of both present and future, and the Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves.

Oh that blows, KitKat. I've got a spare room if you need it.

By the way, I can tell you where your bailout money went to. It went to people like my sister, who were contacted by her bank and offered to have her mortgage renegotiated with very favorable rates. She said yes of course, and now stands to save around $50,000 over the life of the loan. She was told the bank had to do this for a certain number of home owners as conditions for the bailout the bank received.

The odd thing is, her and her husband have both had stable jobs throughout this recession. As such, they make their payments on time and have never been in danger of default or bankruptcy. Looks like the banks only want to help those who they can still make money off of.

True story.

So sorry to here of your eviction!
<I> and Titou echo my sentiments!
The bail-out money should have been given to the people rather than the banks!

There are banks that are donating foreclosed houses to local governments rather than pay the property taxes. And I believe 60 minutes reported that in Cleveland they are simply tearing down foreclosures that don't sell.

I thought we were better than this!

You would think they would have just an ounce of decency and reduce the mortgage/payments and let people stay in their homes.

My heart is with you.

i'm sure old JP can afford portable air conditioners so he can replicate the climate in michigan before he turns the sprinklers on.

my sister's step daughter is dating the son of a bank vice president who got an 80k bonus. the bank can afford to throw away millions on bonuses, and yet won't give a rehabber a loan so he can create jobs, and won't cut some slack to a struggling homeowner who's probably already paid the principal amount in interest.

bankers are even more vile than lawyers. that's why my money is in a credit union.

Good luck with that because if Mr Burns has any say in things expect the dogs or some other even nastier reception like the appearance of Tony Blair and his scary wife.

EDIT **double takes** OH GAWD! You got evicted!!! So sorry to hear that, good job you have a wonderful mates like OurScott & Tofubeast at this time.

Its shocking, where ever do they expect you to move your little family and life stuff?

(((((KITKAT))))) thinking of you I hope something gets sorted quickly.

I'd be there in a tent beside you mate if I were in the US. Occupy all their stolen land. Take back what the people have had usurped from them...their country, their power, their future hopes.


No one will ever face justice for what they have done to the US economy. To the world economy for that matter. It gets more and more disgusting each day. The SEC is suing 6 senior execs from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for Fraud, citing them for giving misleading financial advice. Yes well that's all very well and good. But the taxpayer will be funding their defence.


http://nakedcapitalism.com/2011/12/t...

How's that for justice, eh?

Doubtful

You are more of an outcast and a danger to this country in the eyes of this administration that foreigners and illegal aliens occupying land all over the place.

THEM: get jobs, benefits, education, housing, tax breaks, etc
YOU: pay your bills and keep paying taxes or go to jail.

It pains me to no end, hearing about this sort of injustice.

We (the FREAKIN' Dumb@$$ People) bailed the MF's out, and they turn around and think it's financially macho to crush the little people who are in desperate need of help!

I'm not trying to bang my own drums, but this year alone I felt conscientiously obliged (as a human being) to spend over a 1/3 of my income trying to help friends and family out of similar dire straits! ... But frankly, as long as the soulless GREEDY bankers know that there are softies like me out there, who are willing to help, they have no incentive to change their despicable ways! ... And all for what, a higher margin of profit and fat-@$$ bonuses for inventing imprudent financial strategies to begin with?!

We should have bailed out the little people instead, and let the big-time banker bASStards (the top 1% a-ho's of this country) fry in their own freaking juices.

Hang in there, dear; don't let 'em take the fight outta you.

(((((KitKat)))))


http://youtube.com/watch?v=zOLiguB_Z...


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Kit kat, If you could stand living with a tea party member, I live alone in a three bedroom house here in Cypress,[Just north of houston ] Your family is welcome to stay til you can get on your feet again.
If you`re interested, e mail [[email protected]]

That sucks.
North Dakota is colder than Michigan but I have warm beds for you and yours if things get out of control.

<< Seriously >>

RScott