What the bankers are doing to Detroit is criminal
Published on The Confluence, by riverdaughter, August 16, 2013.
Go read No Banker Left Behind at the NYTimes. Let us recap, shall we?
The bankers, who had all of their bonuses protected and bailed out with our federal tax dollars when they blew up the world because people like Larry Summers argued that it was unfair to violate their compensation contracts, are bearing down on Detroit to pay outrageous sums of money on ill-advised derivatives transactions that will result in innocent Detroit municipal employees forfeiting up to 90% of their pensions.
I blame Obama. Yes, I do. If he had come into office committed to holding responsible the people who lied, conned and irresponsibly gambled away our money, we might well be on the road to real recovery right now. Instead, he had people like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner advising him to go easy on the bankers because shoring up the banks was THE most important thing.
Screw everyone else:
What I really regret is that so many former Democrats went off in a rabid frenzy over some stupid birth certificate issue instead of focussing on the real offenses of this White House. So much time and energy wasted over citizenship red herrings and vacations. I’m not sure which is worse. Stupid conservative leaning Democrats or banker lackeys in the Oval Office.
Whichever it is, Detroit’s employees shouldn’t have their lives ruined over it and I have yet to see Obama step up and prevent this unfolding tragedy from taking place. Which only means one thing to the rest of us: if our own pension plans go belly up because of some stupid merger or incompetent pension fund manager or predatory bankers, we’re all equally screwed. No one is going to step up and protect your deferred compensation for all your years of work … //
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Links:
Guardian Masterclasses: Journalism courses;
GCSE results 2013 – live! on The Guardian, by Alexandra Topping, August 22, 2013: All the latest news and reaction as pupils in England and Wales receive their GCSE results following predictions of a worst ever fall in grades this year …;
General Certificate of Secondary Education GCSE, on en.wikipedia: The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland …;
Female students in Indonesia may be forced to undergo virginity tests, on The Guardian, by Kate Hodal, Bangkok, August 21, 2013: Indonesia’s education chief Muhammad Rasyid has drafted plans to protect children from prostitution and free sex … the plan for mandatory virginity tests has been denounced by MPs, activists and rights groups.