How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

[Fiat Currency]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

... Can we agree on that and do something about this?

Or are we going to just hoard our gold and cry doom like a bunch of misfit teens brooding in the peanut gallery?

Here here. Anything in particular in mind ?

I have been meeting with business partners and having the same discussions. Several of them are lawyers - which comes in handy. We all know generally where things are heading, and we now want to plan some real actions that will make a positive & peaceful difference.

I passed some ideas on to EJ. One of them included a "vend in" of an ounce of gold for a "share" in something I will call "iTulip Gold" just for fun. Lots of smart people here. We could elect a Board of Directors and create a capital base.

If 1,000 people joined we would start with $1.5M. I've started with much less before. We could start a bank (with all the rights of people) or a VC ... and so on. Put the word out to all the smart Internet people/writers who have now basically resigned themselves to "reporting the news" and I'd bet you'd have 10,000 people, $15M in capital, and a kick-ass Board & Advisory Group.

Use the Internet to create a "virtual republic" and drive some positive change.

If somebody would put up a poll ... it would be interesting to see how many people here would be willing to risk an ounce of gold & a bit of their time to drive something positive.

Just a thought.

[lektrode]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

If somebody would put up a poll ... it would be interesting to see how many people here would be willing to risk an ounce of gold & a bit of their time to drive something positive.

Just a thought.

put me on that list.

aloha from SLC (where theres _another_ foot of climate change on the ground above el8000 ;)

[lektrode]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

....If you believe it was "the liberal/progessives that have backed most of the policies of the past 50 year that have brought us to the present precipice" and only (or mostly) them, you are part of the problem and just as brain-washed as the rest of us sheople. If you don't believe that, why take a shot at them here? Doing this, you are automatically turning off 30%(?) 40%(?) 50%(?) of the people, and contributing to the divisiveness that's crippled us.

sorry - dont mean to sound polarized - but its kinda tough to simply ignore ones observations (indoctrinations?) as a self-employed tradesman for the past 30 years. (even tho i believe that if you put all the slivers of the lib/dem voting block into a room with free booze? in an hour or 2 they'd all be fighting amongst themselves ;)

but.... if WE can keep the lib/consv argument in check, maybe WE can get somewhere, eh?

because afterall is said and done, its the political aristocracy (along with the FIREmen) that has screwed the rest of us and they are the enemy, doesnt matter what side of the aisle or ideological divide they occupy.

[subtly]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

but.... if WE can keep the lib/consv argument in check, maybe WE can get somewhere, eh?

because afterall is said and done, its the political aristocracy (along with the FIREmen) that has screwed the rest of us and they are the enemy, doesnt matter what side of the aisle or ideological divide they occupy.

My point exactly.

Besides, the differences 'tween lib/con may not be as great as Washington and the media lead to believe. I don't think conservative types wanna see old folks fishing through dumpsters for their next meal any more than liberal types want half their paycheck going to the Gov. At least not the people I speak with who identify themselves as either.

This re-instating Glass-Steagall thing, I think, could be something all could rally around. It seems an easy enough concept for most to understand. Especially if discussed often enough. And maybe the process could be used to further educate the masses on economics leading to more progress, and,...wow, my meds must kicking in...I'm thinking in a positive light about this whole situation.

Sublty

[subtly]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Fiat,

I think it's a great idea since people of modest means, like me, can be involved.

Howdy from DFW (where we're experiencing a bout of global cooling today)

Subtly

[dcarrigg]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Now we're getting somewhere. Thanks to charliebrown for writing in.

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away a single stone.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Waste your time responding to this with despair, or write an e-mail to your congressman. The time commitment is identical.

I did both. When I had to choose a topic for the email to my house rep, there was a drop down list of 20-something topics...education, homeland security, agriculture, but nothing to do with regulation, finance, banking, so I had to choose "other."

As for despair, here's Joe Nocera on the O.C.C. Read it and weep.

"Their ideas included all the terms (and then some) included in the O.C.C. proposal, though with more specificity. Unlike the O.C.C., the attorneys general had devised a way to actually enforce their settlement, by deputizing the new consumer bureau, which opens in July. And they wanted to impose a stiff fine — possibly $20 billion — which would be used to modify mortgages. In other words, the attorneys general were trying to help homeowners rather than banks.

By jumping out in front of the attorneys general, the O.C.C. has made the likelihood of a 50-state master settlement much less likely. Any such settlement needs bipartisan support; now, thanks to the O.C.C., there’s a good chance that Republican attorneys general will walk away. The banks will be able to say that they’ve already settled with the federal government, so why should they have to settle a second time? If they wind up being sued by the states, the federal settlement will help them in court."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/opinion/19nocera.html

[dcarrigg]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

I did both. When I had to choose a topic for the email to my house rep, there was a drop down list of 20-something topics...education, homeland security, agriculture, but nothing to do with regulation, finance, banking, so I had to choose "other."

As for despair, here's Joe Nocera on the O.C.C. Read it and weep.

"Their ideas included all the terms (and then some) included in the O.C.C. proposal, though with more specificity. Unlike the O.C.C., the attorneys general had devised a way to actually enforce their settlement, by deputizing the new consumer bureau, which opens in July. And they wanted to impose a stiff fine — possibly $20 billion — which would be used to modify mortgages. In other words, the attorneys general were trying to help homeowners rather than banks.

By jumping out in front of the attorneys general, the O.C.C. has made the likelihood of a 50-state master settlement much less likely. Any such settlement needs bipartisan support; now, thanks to the O.C.C., there’s a good chance that Republican attorneys general will walk away. The banks will be able to say that they’ve already settled with the federal government, so why should they have to settle a second time? If they wind up being sued by the states, the federal settlement will help them in court."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/opinion/19nocera.html

Thailandnotes, I have been watching this one carefully. I started a thread on it at the end of last month.

It was interesting. It looked like the settlement was going to go through. It was one day away. Then BofA called and said they no longer had any interest in being a party to it. It was ominous.

I never expected the Comptroller of Currency to prevent any other bank from signing on and choke out what had been a 50 state bi-partisan agreement that would actually help people.

It's one of those real black marks on this administration that will never get any press play. It's a shame.

[seanm123]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Up for a real challenge? Well look before you leap, there is 3.5 Billion in annual Lobbying Dollars spent down in the Beltway by the special interests. A Letter writing campaign is only effective shortly before an election when no meaningful legislation passes.

I agree with Clue1 there needs to be allot of additional pain for any real Change Movement to form in this country. A KaPoom or sudden stop might trigger it or more likely not. One example why is the US housing market has lost 9 Trillion in housing value since it peaked in 2006 millions lost their homes, 40+ million are on Food Stamps and the everyday folks barely blinked. They cannot comprehend the scam, they did not even bother to watch the movie Inside Job which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011, it only had 4.3 Million in revenues in the theaters and so far still does not have much of renewed interest even in the Movies on Demand or pay per view where you don't even need to get off your sofa to order it.

EJ did a piece on change down in Washington DC during/after the depression, it is worth revisiting.

http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthr...ession-history


The Oligarchs have won this round, and they are now planning a massive new issuance 100 Trillion in new credit to the rest of the emerging economies of the world. The USA may now be headed into it's own version of the Japanese lost decades but the rest of the world is still ripe and virgin.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Up for a real challenge? Well look before you leap.

If I leap it will probably be more in this direction...

"We must defy the cant of consumer culture and recover the primacy in our lives of mercy and justice. And this requires courage, not just physical courage but the harder moral courage of listening to our conscience. If we are to save our country, and our planet, we must turn from exalting the self, to subsuming of the self for our neighbor. Self-sacrifice defies the sickness of corporate ideology. Self-sacrifice mocks opportunities for advancement, money and power. Self-sacrifice smashes the idols of greed and envy. Self-sacrifice demands that we rise up against the abuse, injury and injustice forced upon us by the mandarins of corporate power. There is a profound truth in the biblical admonition “He who loves his life will lose it.”

"Life is not only about us. We can never have justice until our neighbor has justice. And we can never recover our freedom until we are willing to sacrifice our comfort for open rebellion. The president has failed us. The Congress has failed us. The courts have failed us. The press has failed us. The universities have failed us. Our process of electoral democracy has failed us. There are no structures or institutions left that have not been contaminated or destroyed by corporations. And this means it is up to us. Civil disobedience, which will entail hardship and suffering, which will be long and difficult, which at its core means self-sacrifice, is the only mechanism left."

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/...ance_20110418/

[lektrode]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

... 40+ million are on Food Stamps and the everyday folks barely blinked. They cannot comprehend the scam, they did not even bother to watch the movie Inside Job which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011, it only had 4.3 Million in revenues in the theaters and so far still does not have much of renewed interest even in the Movies on Demand or pay per view where you don't even need to get off your sofa to order it.....

i believe the reason that most havent even heard of INSIDE JOB is directly due to the liberal-dem controlled lamestream media DOESNT WANT THEM TO KNOW about this movie - and i've started asking everybody i meet/discuss any sort of current events with: "have you seen or heard of the movie INSIDE JOB?..."

and so far, essentially NOBODY i've asked has even heard of it???

ask em "ever seen or heard of inconvenient truth or supersize me?..."

every last person has either seen it or heard of em BOTH!!!

explain that one?

[lektrode]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

...The president has failed us. The Congress has failed us. The courts have failed us. The press has failed US. The universities have failed us. Our process of electoral democracy has failed us. ...]

truer words have seldom been written... ESPECIALLY: the press (particularly during the runup to the elections in 08) has utterly failed to do its job, beginning with its utter failure to focus on anything substantive and/or unflattering to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in direct comparison to the previous tenant, whom they focused on with laser-like intensity and castigated at every opportunity - not that i'm defending _him_ but, again, the double standard/hypocrisy is BREATHTAKING!!!

and their miserable failure to adequately cover the biggest theft in all of history, virtually all of it occurring while the dems ran all 3 branches of the .gov - and essentially NOTHING WAS DONE about it, nobody of any real import got prosecuted, nobody went to jail, very few have had any of the STOLEN hundreds of millions clawed back

and the 'banking reform' of frank-in-dodds-butt?

TELL ME WHAT THIS JOKE OF A LEGISLATIVE NIGHTMARE HAS DONE FOR THE PUBLIC?
sides add fees to things that were prev 'free', ridiculously low 'minimum payments' that dont pay off balances within the specified promo period, while levying $35 late charges if you miss a payment that wasnt prev required (see home depot)

(oh... and sorry for getting all judgemental/partisan, too much coffee too early this morning...)

[chr5648]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

the press has utterly failed to do its job

They did their job perfectly, they got ratings within their ideological frame. This is no different than people borrowing too much to speculate on home prices and banks over leveraging with MBS and such. Perfectly rational behavior within their framework and rules.

The real question is what is their duty to you? What duty do you have to the media?

I don't know why anyone would even assume that the media has any duty to consumers.

[dcarrigg]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

They did their job perfectly, they got ratings within their ideological frame. This is no different than people borrowing too much to speculate on home prices and banks over leveraging with MBS and such. Perfectly rational behavior within their framework and rules.

The real question is what is their duty to you? What duty do you have to the media?

I don't know why anyone would even assume that the media has any duty to consumers.

Ethics has a place within the framework and rules. Therein lies the foundation for a duty to consumers. This is not to say that there is no place for profit, but ethics do matter too.

Principia ethica: Primum non nocere. Secundo lucrum.

[chr5648]

Re: How to Get Glass-Steagall Back

Ethics has a place within the framework and rules. Therein lies the foundation for a duty to consumers. This is not to say that there is no place for profit, but ethics do matter too.

Principia ethica: Primum non nocere. Secundo lucrum.

You mean Ethics SHOULD have a place within the framework and rules. I would like to see some consistent empirical evidence of ethics in government, media, and corporations, until then assuming that ethics or duty exist is no different than living in some fantasy world. This whole site is packed with lies and deception of the government, media, and corporations. Ethics and social norms have been gutted out, moral relativism rules the day.