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Banks Own the US Government
There are smart ways to raise money and regulate the market, but Wall Street is working to kill any meaningful financial reform
Last month, when the US Congress failed to pass a bankruptcy reform measure that would have allowed home mortgages to be modified in bankruptcy, senator Dick Durbin succinctly commented: "The banks own the place." That seems pretty clear.
After all, it was the banks' greed that fed the housing bubble with loony loans that were guaranteed to go bad. Of course the finance guys also made a fortune guaranteeing the loans that were guaranteed to go bad (ie AIG), and when everything went bust, the taxpayers got handed the bill. The cost of the bailout will certainly be in the hundreds of billions, if not more than $1tn when it is all over.
More importantly, we are looking at the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. The cumulative lost output over the years 2008-2012 will almost certainly exceed $5tn. That comes to more than $60,000 for an average family of four. This is the price that we are paying for the bankers' greed, coupled with incredible incompetence and/or corruption from our regulators.
Under these circumstances, it would be reasonable to think that the bankers would be keeping a low profile for a while. That's not the way it works in Washington. The banks are aggressively pushing their case in Congress and Obama administration. Not only are we not going to see bankruptcy reform, but any financial reform package that gets through Congress will probably contain enough loopholes that it will be almost useless.
In this political environment, the poor might get empathy, but Wall Street gets money, and lots of it. Even when the issue is global warming Wall Street has its hand out. The fees on trading carbon permits could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades. A simple carbon tax would have been far more efficient, but efficiency is not the most important value when it comes to making Wall Street richer.
This is why it was so encouraging to see congressman Peter DeFazio's proposal to tax trades in oil options and futures. DeFazio proposed a tax of 0.02% on trades in oil futures and options as a way to make up a shortfall in the federal government's highway trust fund. This tax could raise billions of dollars each year in revenue and make speculation in the oil market a more dangerous affair.
The logic is very simple. For someone using these markets to hedge, the tax will be inconsequential. For example, a farmer that hedges a $400,000 wheat crop will pay $80 when selling a future. Similarly, airlines that hedge by buying oil futures will barely notice the higher cost. In fact, because trading costs have fallen so much in recent decades, a tax at this level would just be raising costs back to their levels of two decades ago, a point at which there was already a very vibrant futures and options market.
However, even a modest tax will make life much more difficult for speculators. Many of them expect to make quick short-term gains, often buying and selling the same day. For these traders, an increase in transactions costs of 0.02% would be a burden.
Of course, a modest tax will not drive the speculators out of the market altogether, it is just likely to reduce the volume of speculation. For this reason, even a modest tax can still raise an enormous amount of money in a market where tens of trillions of dollars of derivatives changes hands each year.
This tax can best be thought of as a tax on gambling. Gambling is heavily taxed in every state that allows it. DeFazio's bill is effectively a tax on gambling in the oil markets. It will not stop it, but it would discourage it, and in the process raise a huge amount of money that could go to productive purposes.
The bill faces an enormous uphill struggle in Congress. As Durbin said, the banks own the place, and they are not going to just step aside and let Congress impose a tax on such a lucrative business. But, it is important that people know about the DeFazio bill. First, DeFazio deserves a place on the honour roll for standing up to Wall Street.
Also, it is important for the public to know that there is a relatively low-cost way to make up the shortfall in the highway trust fund. When Congress raises some other tax and/or cuts a useful programme, people should know that there was a better alternative. It just didn't happen because, as we know, the banks own the place.
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71 Comments so far
Show AllI've said this many time and I'll say it again: Banking is a criminal conspiracy and they would all be imprisoned but for the fact that they have paid off the lawmakers.
As long as Obama and Co. don't see a need to break up banks that are too big to fail, there is no hope for any meaningful financial industry reform.
Because the financial industry is no more regulated today than it was a year ago, carbon cap and trade adds another opportunity for the Wall Street pirates to create unregulated derivatives that will corrupt that system and reward polluters.
Obama's idea of reform is to give billions of minimally conditional dollars of TARP money to banks while the Federal Reserve hands the same banks trillions of unconditional dollars that they now use to pay back the TARP money. US taxpayers are on the hook for all of this corporate welfare.
Obama does not have that kind of power over the banks. They own the government. If our government could somehow wrestle control from them, they would move to London or Cayman Islands, etc.
Your logic is sound but your premise is faulty. "They" own our politicians but they do not own our government. We do not have a government. We are now in the process of becoming aware of this fact and removing our support of, belief in, hope in, confidence in, etc. et al the two branches of the corporate party.
We are the cow they milk. They cannot live without fleecing us. We are going back to frugality and austerity as a WAR, not as a money saving technique. We are going to crush corporate influence by destroying their profit. I'm going to enjoy this depression and the "eggs" that are going to break to make this omellete are rich elite eggs. They can't kill you for being poor. Don't spend and we'll bring them down.
I have to say I agree with you. It certainly seems to be working (though ever so slowly) with the oil companys.
When I first started paying attention to the stock market, share trade volumes numbering 1.5-2 million were described in the business press as "heavy trading."
These days, 150-200 million shares/day is considered light. Pols looking for new sources of revenue should consider extending the sales tax to cover stock trades (the so-called Tobin tax).
But I guess the point of this article is that such a move is unlikely.
Too bad.
The beast has eaten its own, this whole game is over. we lost.
how long will we have to play along with this stupid charade? Banker/lobbyists justifying themselves to themselves?
time for a new game.
"The beast has eaten its own..."
Hmm. Interesting way of looking at it. But who or what is "the Beast?" Some say the Beast is capitalism, some say it's Socialism, some say it's Islamofascism, some say it's the US Government or Big Government in general.
The way I look at it is that today it's all of that. But when you look under the hood you find the same gang of self-serving frat brats running everything. It's like an octopus with one head and many tentacles reaching into every institution and influencing or controlling them for its own interests.
The banks own the US Government? Well, yeah, but the "officials" running the government belong to the same fraternity that runs the banks. It was Ike and JFK, not "those conspiracy nuts," who first warned us of the military-industrial complex and the secret societies that control them. The banks don't own the US Government. The elite own both.
Excellent point. As long as there's a need for wealth and power, there will be people using whatever weapons they can to gain both. It's just that nowadays (I'd say since WW2) the elites you speak of have realized the most efficient way to "do battle" is by using governments and economies as weapons.
Who is the BEAST???
Read below and you will get a picture, which will be extremely hard to swallow, and very painful to digest: “Collateral Damage” by E. P Heidner, part I and II.
>>> www.scribd.com/people/documents/2169400-ep-heidner <<<
The two documents have just recently been published and are very well researched and referenced (over 400 footnotes). The articles are lengthy, some parts not easy to follow and to digest and they need to be read with an open mind. But they are well worth the effort. They provide the most distressing information (some reads like a thriller).
The implications will challenge how we look at politics, economy, history, finance, war and terrorism. Many persons in the documents are well known; many are right now in pivotal positions of politics and finance. These people do shape OUR life and that of our children right now. The details are stunning. The consequences are BEYOND BELIEF.
Thanks for reminding me. I read about this article on another blog, but I haven't yet read the two parts of the article.
OT - Cynthia McKinney Reportedly Taken Captive By Israeli Navy
From GreenPartyWatch dot org
Yesterday Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.
“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, a former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We’re asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”
Full and unedited at:
http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2009/06/30/
cynthia-mckinney-reportedly-taken-captive-by-israeli-navy/
A recent lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal was titled "Barack Bush Obama" and expressed their admiration for the Obama crew as they follow the Bush/Cheney/neocon policies and practices. The Wall Street ruling elites know they have their guy, bought and paid for, in control and well practiced in diversionary dance moves which the corporate media will stenographically transmit to the world. The July issue of Harpers feature article is titled "Barack Hoover Obama" So the perception increases that the package of "hope" and "change you can believe in" was like most advertising spin: an empty slogan designed by professional liars, the decendants of Edward Bernays and Ivy Lee. We live in a smothering smog of propaganda unlike any other society in history. It would stun and amaze Goebbels and the Nazi propanda masters. Thankfully a net of alternative media has slowly developed outside the corporate controlled media. Do what you can to help it survive and thrive and spread the word of its existence. I've been stunned at how many "educated" people think NPR and PBS and the NY Times are the acme of accurate information sources and fail to see how they are so often just the echo chamber for government/corporate spin and lies.
courtjester July 1st, 2009 10:19 am ......... You may have read these articles already..if not, be prepared to sit down rather abruptly or to sit up and start pacing angrily. They are long, but factual and documented to an amazing degree.
Go to Israelshamir.net and scroll down to the collateral damege articles..part I and II.
Sioux Rose
COURT JESTER: Excellent post and I know just what you mean. A friend of mine, who at one time I counted among my most astute friends, a librarian, religiously listens to NPR. Due to my remarks about it, our friendship is strained. I realize that the limits of socially approved discourse have also moved so far to the right that what counts for liberal/progressive to persons who once trusted in these media "institutions" has become its own dangerous farce. It's like telling a person who always ate at the same restaurant, even when ownership silently changed hands and ingredients became compromised, that it's not the establishment it used to be. Habit won't allow them to see the truth! And don't under-estimate the power of habit, a nation of addicts prefer to be "right."
Excuse me, but did I miss something?
The banks are evil because Baker fails to place blame on the Democrats and Republicans who write the legislation, which give the banksters carte blanche, and then signed into law by messers Bush and Obama?
As usual Mr. Baker is putting the cart in front of the horse.
Excuse me, but did I miss something?
Banks Own the US Government
Could it not be any more clear?
The politicians let themselves be owned by the banks (and F.I.R.E), they can support public financing if they want.
Citizens let themselves be owned by the politicians. The only way out is to convert enough conservatives.
Surf's up, Dude...
Abolish banks.
That can be done very easily when more people switch to credit unions and leave those bad banks defunded as a tough punishment. I like your idea of going local on currency too. That will really make Washington fall to its knees and get its spending priorities right. :)
One of the usual talking points always recited in defense of Obama is "Give him time, he has a mess to clean up". The fact that he is adding to and inflating the mess as time passes never seems to occur to these blind partisan hopers.
Might as well hope for Bush to display some compassion for all the change they are getting.
Obama is worse than Bush because what would never be tolerated from Bush is justified with Obama.
Oh! We give them (banks and corporations) all our money and
they own us. Brilliant. (not) Connect the dots: Zionism and neoconservatives -invert the truth to rationalize their narcissism (lies). "Their mothers never taught them anything", except to go shopping; their religions are rotten. And the rest put up with it.
...that the nation of leeches
that conquered this land,
are the biggest, bravest, boldest, and best.
My Country 'tis of Thy People You're Dying.
Buffy Saint Marie
Tax all trades and socialize health care -equal protection under the law (or does that apply only in the case of stolen election?!)
Money is a government program.
Banks are an appendage of the government. Both need each other.
Banks operating in free markets is an oxymoron. Banks operate in controlled (regulated) markets. It's just the nature of the regulation and who controls it that we debate.
oldcreditiste
Money is of two kinds, fiat money is created by law, and credit money is created by agreement between men.
The Banks create credit money, over 95% of the money supply in circulation.
As long as the banks create the money the present system will be fastened on the American people as predicted by Thomas Jefferson.
Even the 'fiat money' in the United states is manufactured be a private company called the Federal Reserve. Until that is understood widely things will remain the same.
Money in man made and controllable and the money supply can be raised or lowered to correct inflation or recession.
The Banks own the US govt.; along with a few other industries (Big Oil, the MIC, and Big Pharma) so what else is new?
What can be done about it? Working within a corrupted system only produces more corruption. We either need a radical change in the way politics is done, or we as a society continue to decay from the corruption. The historical precedent for this is very clear. All great powers eventually rot from within.
"What can be done about it?" - I suggest another course of action: remove the need for wealth.
Can you imagine how the world would change if there was a cheap way to "clone" objects, like we do now with a copy machine? Put in 1 loaf of bread, out comes two. Obviously this *seems* far-fetched. But so was a fax machine when it came out. Contact DEKA Research and suggest they work on this. They're a visionary company whose founder uses his money and knowledge to help humanity.
You are thinking of something similar to a replicator out of Star Trek. It's a pretty good idea if you have the energy to feed it. ST replicators were supposed work by converting energy into matter.
My knowledge of physics is limited but I undersand during a nuclear explosion about 1g (gram) of matter is transformed into energy. So to create a loaf of bread about 1lbs (525g) you need alot of energy. The price would be kinda prohibitive. Unless we find a source of unlimited clean cheap energy. which would solve most of our problems anyway.
It could be powered by Republican B/S. It's abundant in volume and can be found just about anywhere.
That's exactly what I had in mind. But I've learned to avoid mentioning "Star Trek" or anything sci-fi-ish. Seems like even progressives can be small minded and just chuckle at things like "replicators", "Star Trek", etc.
I too have a limited physics knowledge. But I always figured the technology wouldn't be creating mass out of energy (which like you say would be prohibitive) but rather more of arranging existing particles according to how they're arranged within an existing object. And given the direction and power of supercomputers, this might not be so far fetched.
As someone speaking on Alternative Radio said," Money is not wealth." Somewhere along the line, the abstraction replaced the concrete reality. That's the only way magical concepts like "growing the money" could be taken seriously. Anyhow, the best soloution is to nationalize the banks and use the profits to establish socialized medicine. Just getting back on the merry-go-round of re-regulating, then deregulating will fix nothing, except for fixing who stays rich and who stays poor.
Sioux Rose
JOHN: That is a very important point most people don't get at all. My sister is well-to-do and she thinks her best bet for dealing with this recession/depression is to have liquid money. I see it quite the contrary. That the money will perhaps now buy things as many are feeling desperate, but I notice everything is already going up. It's paper and only represents "what the market will bear" or what faith persons place IN it.
My car and boat registration just doubled. I see credit cards adding every kind of fee they can, or using their own punitive devices as an excuse to jack up interest rates. While the CD in the bank earns 2.25 percent, how DARE THEY!!!!!! charge 18-20% interest on a credit card! The utilities where I live have raised rates lately, and gas is going up. And I think the high of the late Clinton years that led to the balloon in housing prices, now having burst, should see a reciprocal lowering of costs across the board. Instead it's a free-for-all greedfest. For instance, my dentist... like others in her field seems to think everyone is partying on, Garth, with money to burn. That we may be forced at fiscal gun-point to purchase insurance so that morally bankrupt middle men can determine if and when we get treatment, or any bang for our buck, makes me sick. And of course gas prices are heading up and probably will take advantage of the July 4 weekend to give us another increase.
Some astute author wrote that once Bush got the presidency there would not longer be any countervailing force to the interests of big business. And that's where we are. And I am dumb-founded that some of the persons I know, who I generally consider intelligent, really think Obama is turning this stuff around! They have been taken in, remain taken in, by his graceful manner and glib speech. And they are apparently UNABLE to note the distance between the articulated hope and the actual policies. SCARY!!!!
Exactly right, Soux Rose.
The perception of the well-to-do like your sister is logical from her point of view. Her point of view is that cash money equals security. The tradable skills your dentist has does not mean she has the right to rip you off, but your dentist hasn't been smacked with zero customers yet. It will happen. These things are like the bottom of a lake made by a dam just before the dam bursts. We're down there wondering if we'll ever see blue sky again. The awareness of people that we are tapped out morally and economically as a society is pervasive. They just won't admit it. The more people have invested in the status quo, the more they deny that radical change is happening. When the French Revolution occurred, a whole bunch of pro-royalty rich folks resisted and even reinstated royalty some years down the road. history is messy. As for the "value" of money, consider the situation for Bernake. He's created trillions out of thin air to save his fellow crooks. He's trying to get foreign governments to cover this cost along with you and me, the taxpayer. This guy DOES NOT want hyperinflation. So he is trying to keep the money running around rich circles only. Rich people are stingy and hoard their money under the rubric of "investments". That's Bernake's parlor trick to keep inflation in check. However, it's leaking. But until this depression is over, all the "free money" leaking into the system isn't making up for all the jobs being lost. So, yeah, we are screwed and tatooed on the dental and medical part (13 to 15% increases PER YEAR). But food, cars, houses and "stuff" are not inflating.
I hope this helps.
"And I am dumb-founded that some of the persons I know, who I generally consider intelligent, really think Obama is turning this stuff around! They have been taken in, remain taken in, by his graceful manner and glib speech. And they are apparently UNABLE to note the distance between the articulated hope and the actual policies. SCARY!!!!"
Sioux Rose,
I agree with you. I have friends who no longer return my e-mails because I continue to point out the discrepancies in what Obama says, and what his policies actually entail.
These same people are suddenly quiet on the issue of torture and abuse -- whereas, for me, if the abuse and torture was wrong under George W. Bush, it is still wrong under Barack Obama.
I am completely exasperated. And, sad!!
Here is an excellent presentation I found on the internet explaining exactly how the banks have bankrupted America and what must be done about it. It's entitled: "IT'S TIME TO BREAK UP THE BANKS."
I posted a copy of it on my domain for easy access:
http://www.fritzva.com/sherrick/Banks.htm
The video has three separate segments to it - watch all three.
Hey, DB - yea, we know the banksters own the place.
How about a plan to wrest ownership of the place from the banksters and place it back in the hands of We The People?
Until that happens, nothing else matters.
Plus, does DB actually believe there wouldn't be a ton of loopholes in DeFazio's bill, too? And, instead of yet another new tax, why doesn't Pete go after the billions in unpaid oil leases, and the billions in off-shore shelters first?
Oh, right, forgot - they own the place. (Of course, Durbin wasn't just talking about the banksters, he was talking about all the Bigs - Big Finance, Big Energy, Big Drugs, Big Insurance, Big Ag, and really, really Big Military.)
Funny thing is, all of those Bigs - it's us screwing each other again and again and again. Why do we hate one another so much?
And even if there weren't any loopholes, the banksters have their pals in government turning a blind eye through selective enforcement. As Soux Rose said, these people cannot stop. It's a religion to them to lie, cheat and steal. Killing is bad for business but they'll do that too if the need arises. They are incorrigible. Hey, anyone with a degree in business administration knows how to fix all this. They aren't fixing it because of corruption.
If they wanted to fix the system they would:
1) Not only tax futures, but ALL securities transactions. This guarantees a paper trail on all the hanky panky thereby discouraging CDSs and other negative collateral magic crap. If they run shadow Banking scams, they won't be able to go to the government crying for a taxpayer bailout because the transaction was technically illegal because it wasn't reported and taxed. Transparency is a real pain for Wall Street.
2) The tax on securities transactions would be inversely proportional to the amount of time you hold the security. If you hold it for five years or more, NO tax. If you hold it for six months or less 50% of the PROFIT (that way you can still dump a stock if it's tanking without an added cost). Wall Street is all about profit without consciemce. So tax the profit and track all the transactions. They'll develop a conscience real fast. This is all obvious stuff. Congressman Welch from Vermont has tried to get a transaction tax and he has been slapped down each time.
3) Require the feed from the electronic trading software to be free and available to EVERYONE. This discourages tape marking, front running and other scams your favorite broker is always pulling on you.
4) Eliminate margin. If you want a stock, you buy it with your own damned money. You don't borrow, capish?
5) Finally, reinstate glass-steagal and make Ralph Nader chair of a committee to create an enforcement agency tilted towrds defending the small stock owner from the large brokerage crooks/banks. The setup is the exact reverse right now.
See, this is all simple stuff. It's the old "calculus of political viability" bullshit that stops it. Jennifer is right. Credit unions are the only way to go for now. We DO NOT HAVE a government.
Sigh, no mention of credit unions. I have a lot of respect for this author and while he may be telling the truth, it would be nice if he and others who are telling this truth would add an exit strategy for what it's worth. One exit strategy is reminding the audience of the need to switch to credit unions or at least small local banks and why. Ralph Nader has discussed this time and again. It would be lovely if others could pick up on this. Banks will find it harder to own the government the less money they have because more people stood up and punished these bad banks by switching to people friendly small local banks or even better, credit unions. Finally, government would find it much harder to justify bailing out the banks. Mr. Baker, if you are reading this, please make a note of it and include a brief but encouraging discussion on credit unions or at least small local banks. Thank you.
I'm not sure that you understand the point of the article. Baker supports the use of taxation to discourage rampant speculation and reduce the likelihood of bubbles which hurt everybody, especially when taxes are used to clean up the mess after the bubbles burst.
Instead of simply reducing the leveel of deposits in banks, Baker believes that we can find the money that the governnment needs for truly important stuff such as maintaining infrastructure while discouraging the growth of speculative economies.
Just starving the banks is not enough. The entire financial sector needs to be put on a diet.
I'm not disputing your point about moving money out of the big banks; it's a good idea. But to truly control these monsters, we have to keep them from getting too big.
q
Taxing the banks wouldn't be a bad idea but since Uncle Sam is bailing them out with our tax dollars, the money is just going back to them so the idea won't work. And if not bailing them out, then more war funding. Between the big corporations and government, neither one of them has my respect. If the pols can prove to us that they'll put our tax dollars to work and actually do so, then I'll trust them.
Anybody who didn't know banks own the government before now---know it now.
What I can't understand is why they seem to be intent on bankrupting the government that is one of their holdings.
The idea is to use the government's power of taxation to transfer money from the general populace to themselves.
q
Sioux
NIETZSCHE: It's as yet an undiagnosed but pervasive disease that goes by the hush name of "excessive greed disorder." They CANNOT stop, like sharks on a feeding frenzy, whatever is left they will circle until it is all theirs.
Due to recent dental costs my Citibank card was just over $2000. and I sent in $800. Nice payment, no? I got the bill the first of June and the money was processed on June 17. So I just opened my new bill to see a "late fee." They are now all shortening their billing cycles so they have an excuse to add late fees. It wasn't enough that they made $42 interest on my account last month...
My joke is they will soon have to hire Olympic sports coaches who use stop-watches to make sure your payment arrives within the 2.5 minutes that is allotted to each billing cycle. Do NOT rule such a thing out! We're in lawless land now, and the laws only mean what big money wants them to mean. I no longer look at money in the bank as secure, credit union or whatever. It's all backed by FDIC insurance which is its own scam. There IS no money, lest they print it and we know what that means, to cover it all. Especially since the same mechanisms that caused the global fiscal implosion--primarily that of assessing the BET on an item's future as the same thing as ACTUAL worth--to the tune of trillions is still operating! The feeding frenzy by those suffering from the aforementioned disorder has been aided and abeted by our darling reps in D.C. They are addicts, and gambling away whatever semblance of worth is left in our financial system, liberating it from its true investors. WHOA, when people realize the barn is empty and the livestock have all disappeared.
I think you fret too much about our monetary system collapsing. I believe the majority at least have moderate faith that things will not get as bad as the great depression or inflation so bad everyone needs a wheelbarrow. Things will get worse than they are right now, but likely only a little worse, and then slowly back to somewhat normal. In other words try to end your credit card debt and worry a bit less about a huge financial collapse. Anyway, working towards a debt-free situation has nearly always seemed ideal to me.
If you owe a credit card anything you are fucked. They are making it impossible to pay off a debt unless you can afford to pay the balance in full------by the way that is the last thing they want you to do.
Than don't f$$cking pay it off. One less problem. I learned that not too long ago, thank god. They are not about to drown me. We all need to fight tooth and nail against these corporate demons controlling the country.
don't fret, pet. we're making other plans.
There's a delicious irony in this article. Futures markets were originally set up, primarily in farm commodities, so that a farmer could be guaranteed a future price for his product thereby allowing him to make the required expenditure to produce the commodity.
As we know this use of the futures markets is now less than 5% and the rest is speculation. A 0.02% tax on transactions which are often leveraged between 10 and 20:1 would tend to move these markets back toward their original purpose, hence the irony.
as Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor said to Ned Beatty's Otis and Valerie Perrine's Miss Teschmacher in the great Christopher Reeves vehicle, Superman:
Lex Luthor: Miss Teschmacher, when I was six years old my father said to me...
Miss Teschmacher: "Get out."
Lex Luthor: Ha ha. Before that. He said, "Son, stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good, but they will always need land and they'll pay through the nose to get it! Remember," my father said...
Otis: "... land."
Lex Luthor: Right.
Land, Otis, land...property ownership supports the monstrosity...
We need a DEATH PENALTY for corporations. If a corporation commits 2 felonies it should lose it's charter, all contracts for payment of it's board, debts and executives are void and the assets should be sold and funds split between the government and hourly employees as severance.
I like the idea of a death penalty for bankers too; if you're a banker you should be put to death.