The 60 Minutes broadcast on Sunday had a segment that pointed to the lack of prosecution of bankers who quite obviously broke the law and almost brought down the entire world financial system. Both Citi and Countrywide were featured.
60 Minutes Steve Kroft keeps asking why there have been no prosecutions in cases where fraud has clearly occurred. The segment is worth a look, and I have to say that the answers given were not really satisfactory. Kroft used two “insiders” to highlight not only the systemic corruption occurring, but also the very important “testimony” that the top brass at both firms were given real warnings about it and failed to act.
The United States burned trillions in wealth, but many people walked off the field of carnage with millions of dollars reaped as a direct result of fraudulent activity. Not only are they not prosecuted, but they have been, in large part, allowed to keep the ill-gotten gains.
Kudos to 60 Minutes for a great report. I wonder why they did not focus in on the Community Reinvestment Act as a reason for the financial collapse? Maybe the systemic fraud committed by banking companies throughout the United States was forced upon them by the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act? I jest of course but for those who have taken the position that the entire crisis was caused by some loans made to poor folk please watch this 60 Minute segment.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
Bill Manzi.com 
Your Honor,
The Community Reinvestment Act was the instigator of the melt don of the economy. It led to reduction of credit standards and consequently, the corruption of the mortgage financial systems.
First the politicians (Like Barney Frank) insisted upon the banks to issue mortgages while implying the government would back them.
Now Wall St. caught the greed and issued unsustainable mortgage volumes and bundled them fraudulently.
Then the crises reached it’s peak and collapsed of it’s own corrupt weight.
This happened under our RINO president G.W. Bush. How much he pushed for reducing credit standards I don’t know.
I was the vast volume of bad mortgage loans that made the corruption that sank the economy.possible.
Don’t count on Obama to resolve the problem or bring justice to bear on those at fault as Wall Street biggies are his top contributors.
Despite frosty relations with the titans of Wall Street, President Obama has still managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate, according to new fundraising data.
From the Washington Post.
“Obama’s key advantage over the GOP field is the ability to collect bigger checks because he raises money for both his own campaign committee and for the Democratic National Committee, which will aid in his reelection effort.”
Jules
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