TV Review: The Untouchables

Last night I watched the Frontline documentary The Untouchables that I wrote about yesterday that explored the question of why, more than four years after the financial debacle involving widespread mortgage fraud, not a single high-level Wall Street executive has faced criminal prosecution. All that has happened is a bunch of very low-level people being charged and a series of civil prosecutions resulting in plea bargains in which some banks have paid fines that seem large but are puny compared to the scale of the fraud, and which the bank executives can simply write off as the cost of doing business while they continue to enrich themselves with high salaries and bonuses. The program covers some of the same ground as that excellent 2010 documentary Inside Job that I reviewed here [Read more…]

More on the unequal justice system

I have been highlighting the unequal treatment meted out by the Obama administration’s justice department, where extremely harsh treatment is given to low-level criminals and whistleblowers and hackers while those who commit massive damage to the financial system that cause immense hardship t many, and even acknowledge major wrongdoing, are given slaps on the wrist. It is telling that as yet, not a single high-level official in the financial sector has gone to jail, or even faced the threat of jail, for their actions. [Read more…]

Beware of ‘public spirited’ corporate shills

The so-called ‘debt crisis’ has spawned a lot of groups ostensibly for the purpose of suggesting ways to reduce it. But as this news report suggests, the members of one such group known as ‘Fix the Debt’ may not be as disinterested as they claim to be, because they simultaneously serve other businesses that are directly affected by the measures they propose. [Read more…]

The GOP’s slavish devotion to the rich

One has to hand it to the Democrats. They have been fairly successful in masking their allegiance to the oligarchy. The GOP is far more open about whose interests they really care about. As the fiscal cliff Kabuki theater played itself out towards the end of the year. I did not follow the details of the maneuvering that led up to the final agreement but was intrigued by the suggestion put forward by speaker John Boehner of something known as ‘Plan B’ as a stop-gap measure. This came and went fairly quickly and so did receive much scrutiny but its details show the priorities of the GOP. [Read more…]