[also see: "More on Too Big To Fail; Too Big to Exist" and "Still More on Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist"]
Bernard (Bernie) Sanders, U.S. Senator for Vermont, has recently introduced a short and simple bill in the U.S. Senate. The bill is designed to prevent the banking industry from ever again getting itself into a position where banker irresponsibility, recklessness, arrogance, and greed can undermine the U.S. economy.
Basically, the bill, if enacted into law, would direct the Treasury Department to identify those financial companies that are too big to be allowed to fail (as in, those companies that the taxpayers have had to bailout this time around), and then require that those companies be dismantled into smaller component parts (kind of like what the federal government did to AT&T in the early 1980s).
You could envision, for example, the two largest bank holding companies, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, each being busted-up into maybe 5 - 10 smaller regional banks, similar to how things were prior to 1994 (that’s when restrictions on interstate banking were eliminated, and bank holding companies were allowed to universally operate in multiple states - the result was a feeding frenzy of banks gobbling each other up to create ever-larger companies, culminating in the five major banks of today who dominate (monopolize) the U.S. banking industry).
The rationale behind this bill is to prevent any financial company from ever becoming so large that its failure would jeopardize the security of the U.S. economy.
The proposed law is an outstanding idea that every American consumer should support (especially anyone who has been financially damaged by what the mega-banks did to the U.S. economy this time around).
You can demonstrate your support by signing the online petition that is located on Senator Sanders’ Website:
http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c53f1aca-5881-403e-928b-a25980cb4e0c
[You can bet that the idea of the federal government havng the power to bust-up their private empires has the banking industry "Masters of the Universe" trembling in their pin-striped designer suits]
If you're mad as hell, and don't want to take this bullshit anymore, here's a way to take action against the banks that caused this economic meltdown. Sign the online petition, and forward a copy of the email (below) to everyone you know.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE No. 1:
The concept of the federal government being granted the power to breakup bloated financial companies was initially met with skepticism -" a snowball’s-chance in hell of passing" was the initial reaction of many. But the House Financial Services Committee just approved (November 18, 2009) a bill that included provisions by U.S. Representative Paul Kanjorski (Pennsylvania) that would allow the government to dismantle even healthy, well-capitalized financial firms that were so large, interconnected, and/or leveraged that they could harm the overall U.S. economy if they ever got into fiscal difficulty. So, this is a concept that, if the American people show their support for it, may very well end up being law in some form or another.
UPDATE No. 2:
You still need to show your support by signing the online petition, and advising your federal Senators to vote for a "too big to fail; too big to exist" bill.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is one version of the email that has recently been circulating through the Internet regarding Bernie Sanders’ "The Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist Act of 2009". Help make sure that everyone is aware of this bill and has the opportunity to show their support for it if they want to. Forward a copy of the email to everyone you know.
******************************* email ***********************************
Fwd: Corrupted Mega-Banks - the Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist Act of 2009
>> Message >>
The "Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist Act of 2009"
This is Important !
Bernie Sanders, U.S .Senator from Vermont, has just introduced a bill in Congress that would break-up the mega-banks that caused this "Great Recession" we are struggling through (banks including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and USBancorp. The purpose behind this bill is to prevent these banks, or any other bank, from ever again getting so large that their failure would threaten the overall U.S. economy.
The mega-banks are run by arrogant and outrageously greedy individuals who between 2001 and 2008 knowingly engaged in the negligent and reckless conduct which resulted in the destruction of the livelihoods and financial security of 30 million or more American citizens over the past 14 months.
After crashing the economy (worst recession since the Crash of 1929), these banks demanded government bailouts, and then used the taxpayer money to get larger (buying up distressed competitors) and paying the architects of the crisis obscene "talent retention" and "performance" bonuses. Adding insult to injury, they then embarked on a program of terrorizing U.S. citizens with foreclosures and repossessions, and have aggressively engaged in profiteering (jacking up interest rates on existing credit card balances).
It’s time for the American people to say "we’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore !"
It’s time for the American people to give these mega-banks a good kick in the ass, and make sure that they can never damage this great country in this way again !
Read a summary of the proposed bill (Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist Act of 2009) at:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/172245-the-too-big-to-fail-too-big-to-exist-act-of-2009
There is also a petition that is soon going to be sent to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that EVERY U.S. citizen should sign. It’s located at:
http://sanders.senate.gov/petition/?uid=c53f1aca-5881-403e-928b-a25980cb4e0c
This is EXTREMELY important !
At the very least, take the time to sign the petition online.
Here is the opportunity to express your outrage at the conduct of these banks – especially if you have been financially damaged by the actions of one or more of these banks.
If you really want to help prevent something like the current economic catastrophe from happening again, email, or mail a hardcopy of, the information at the two links provided above to YOUR federal legislators (House and Senate), with a note stating that you expect them to support the "Too Big to Fail; Too Big to Exist" bill.
If you do nothing, these banks will continue their abusive and reckless ways, will continue to financially enslave us all, and will have us back in a similar economic crisis situation in the not too distant future. Act now to protect the rights and financial security of yourself, and of every U.S. citizen !
Don’t delay – don’t give the politicians that have been bought off by the banks time to kill this bill in committee. Take a few minutes and deal with this today – DO IT NOW !!
And be sure to forward this email to everyone you know – especially anyone who has experienced financial difficulties as a result of the misconduct of these corrupt mega-banks.
Find the addresses for your federal legislators:
U.S. House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
**************************** end of email ********************************
Next Post in Topic, "The Great Recession"
_
No comments:
Post a Comment