Walll Street Rolling the Dice Again by Ralph Nader

Rolling the Dice Again
by Ralph Nader

The Wall Street gang is at it again! It's been one year since Wall Street's collapse and bailout took trillions from taxpayers and the sinking economy. The speculative instruments that pulled down the economy were those super-risky sub-prime mortgages, credit default swaps, collaterized debt obligations-you know-Las Vegas East, using other peoples' savings.

Here is how the New York Times described the new securitization packages emerging from such corporate welfare goliaths as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and their eager rating agency, DBRS.

"The bankers plan to buy ‘life settlements,' life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell for cash--...depending on the life expectancy of the insured person. Then they plan to ‘securitize' these policies...by packaging hundred or thousands together into bonds. They will then resell these bonds to investors, like big pension funds, who will receive the payouts when people with the insurance die. Continuing its lead front page story last Sunday, the Times describes Wall Street as "racing ahead for a simple reason: with $26 trillion of life insurance policies in force in the United States, the market could be huge."

Congress needs to get going and regulate these derivatives and finally repeal Clinton-era and Bush-era laws that gave them a free ride.

Finally, there needs to be a prohibition on investments in such risky instruments by fiduciary institutions. And, standards of prudence have to be reinstated. Old time bankers and pensions managers would understand such reforms. Investor rights to sue these investment firms and rating agencies for deception and fraud are weak and require strengthening.

Let these casinos and their gamblers on Wall Street do what they want with their own money, but don't let them gamble with other peoples' money.

Please read the complete article at:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/12-5

and the problems that he speaks of would be much less severe today.

Bush and Wall Street implemented the financial deregulation that Congress passed and President Clinton signed in 1999 and 2000.

if he had kept his mouth shut in 2000 it would have just been someone else running in his place.

If President Clinton hadn't supported and led bi-paritisan efforts to deregulate Wall Street in 1999 and 2000 we wouldn't have had the crash.

while simultaneously ignoring the incredibly destructive, totally bi-partisan, corporate welfare state built over the last 30 - 40 years.

And what do you want to bet that these fools will be screaming the loudest when they've had their life's work stolen from them, again?
:crazy::eyes:

Do people not realize that this is going to fuck them once again?