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unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 07:17 AM Apr 2014

SEC Prosecutor Says SEC Top Brass Are Corrupt

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/sec-prosecutor-says-sec-top-brass-are-corrupt

SEC Prosecutor Says SEC Top Brass Are Corrupt
By Eric Zuesse


April 11, 2014 | Bloomberg News reported, on April 8, that a Securities and Exchange Commission prosecuting attorney, James Kidney, said at his recent retirement party on March 27, that his prosecutions of Goldman Sachs and other mega-banks had been squelched by top people at the agency, because they "were more focused on getting high-paying jobs after their government service than on bringing difficult cases." He suggested that SEC officials knew that Wall Street would likely hire them after the SEC at much bigger pay than their government remuneration was, so long as the SEC wouldn't prosecute those megabank executives on any criminal charges for helping to cause the mortgage-backed securities scams and resulting 2008 economic crash.

His "remarks drew applause from the crowd of about 70 people," according to the Bloomberg report. This would indicate that other SEC prosecutors feel similarly squelched by their bosses.

Kidney's speech said that his superiors did not "believe in afflicting the comfortable and powerful."

Referring to the agency's public-relations tactic of defending its prosecution-record by use of what he considered to be misleading statistics, Kidney said, "It's a cancer" at the SEC.
41 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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SEC Prosecutor Says SEC Top Brass Are Corrupt (Original Post) unhappycamper Apr 2014 OP
Duh. Like anything is going to happen to them. djean111 Apr 2014 #1
+1. We know how this plays out. closeupready Apr 2014 #8
What!?!? SEC Truthers Again!!! billhicks76 Apr 2014 #27
In other breaking news, scientists discover water is wet....... Fuddnik Apr 2014 #2
HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!! WillyT Apr 2014 #3
Recommend! KoKo Apr 2014 #4
Meanwhile, on Air Force One... MannyGoldstein Apr 2014 #5
K&R! hrmjustin Apr 2014 #6
kick Tsiyu Apr 2014 #7
Read the whole thing and its scathing. Ichingcarpenter Apr 2014 #9
Now, now, we must look forward! BuelahWitch Apr 2014 #10
kick phantom power Apr 2014 #11
As if the SEC isnt guilty of anything! They were the ones who allowed the banks ErikJ Apr 2014 #12
They actually thought their "customers" were the crooks and not the American People. Spitfire of ATJ Apr 2014 #19
Yes, here's an expose WaPo article written by Elliot Spitzer in Feb 2008. ErikJ Apr 2014 #24
Yeah,....because a sex scandal is how you rid yourself of a pesky Dem.... Spitfire of ATJ Apr 2014 #25
Some Republicans have resigned or retired because of sex scandals. merrily Apr 2014 #37
+1,000 (nt) scarletwoman Apr 2014 #31
Give the prosecutors a third of the take ... GeorgeGist Apr 2014 #13
Yep. DeSwiss Apr 2014 #14
K&R emsimon33 Apr 2014 #15
KnR thanks unhappycamper nt chknltl Apr 2014 #16
Kicked! Important post. cheapdate Apr 2014 #17
"for helping to cause the mortgage-backed securities scams" Spitfire of ATJ Apr 2014 #18
Knowing it and getting something done about it are two separate things. It doesnt look like the rhett o rick Apr 2014 #20
In part because the courts rule against the SEC more than any admin. joshcryer Apr 2014 #21
Excellent! Calls for suspensions & investigations, IMHO. grahamhgreen Apr 2014 #22
NO WAY. progressoid Apr 2014 #23
K&R stage left Apr 2014 #26
, blkmusclmachine Apr 2014 #28
K&R (n/t) WorseBeforeBetter Apr 2014 #29
Who coulda' or woulda' thunk it? indepat Apr 2014 #30
Corruption from sea to shining sea. Enthusiast Apr 2014 #32
Interesting who is ignoring this thread. Rex Apr 2014 #33
I am curious why they ignore certain issues. It seems coordinated almost. rhett o rick Apr 2014 #34
No you are not naive, I found their hangout (by accident) and been reading Rex Apr 2014 #36
Because message board strategy is that important? merrily Apr 2014 #38
K&R nt Guy Whitey Corngood Apr 2014 #35
Well, *duh*. Most of us figured that one out when we were still in the womb. nt Zorra Apr 2014 #39
knr and posted on my Facebook Douglas Carpenter Apr 2014 #40
Recommended. (nt) NYC_SKP Apr 2014 #41
 

closeupready

(29,503 posts)
8. +1. We know how this plays out.
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 10:58 AM
Apr 2014

Little people get screwed, elites make out like bandits, rinse, repeat.

 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
27. What!?!? SEC Truthers Again!!!
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 07:39 PM
Apr 2014

That's in honor of Michael Ruppert RIP. He committed suicide the other day. There was a lot of pressure on this man. Check out the movie The Last Party starting him, Robert Downey Jr and Bill Clinton about the 1992 Democratic Convention. Kudos to all those fighting everyday for peace, justice and civil rights like Michael did every day of his life.

 

MannyGoldstein

(34,589 posts)
5. Meanwhile, on Air Force One...
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 10:49 AM
Apr 2014


Now Jamie... Jamie... no, we can't fire him, he's retired... oh that kind of fire!? Can't do that, already getting enough whining from Those On The Left about the Freedom Dunks the CIA gave to prisoners... er Lloyd, just wiring all of the money out of his bank accounts might undermine trust in the banking system... stop laughing guys... and wiring it to your account would look unseemly... I don't care what Geithner handed you for being a counterparty damaged by AIG, this fellow isn't AIG... yes, "snatch the kidneys from Kidney" is clever, but... no he's not on Elizabeth Warren's payroll...
 

ErikJ

(6,335 posts)
12. As if the SEC isnt guilty of anything! They were the ones who allowed the banks
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 12:47 PM
Apr 2014

to do as they wish. No oversight during Bush term. Feds nullifying state mortgage laws etc.

 

ErikJ

(6,335 posts)
24. Yes, here's an expose WaPo article written by Elliot Spitzer in Feb 2008.
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 03:32 PM
Apr 2014

Spitzer wrote:

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. . . . These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers. . . . [A]s New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. . . .

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye. . . . The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). . . . In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government’s actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules. But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.


Less than a month after publishing this editorial, Spitzer had been exposed, disgraced, and was out of office. Greg Palast pointed to the fact that Spitzer was the single politician standing in the way of a $200 billion windfall from the Federal Reserve, guaranteeing the toxic mortgage-backed securities of the same banking predators that were responsible for the subprime debacle. While the Federal Reserve was trying to bail them out, Spitzer was trying to regulate them, bringing suit on behalf of consumers.3 But he was quickly silenced, and any state attorneys general who might get similar ideas in the future would be blocked by the federal “oversight” then being imposed on state regulation.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/not_too_big_to_jail_eliot_spitzer_is_wall_streets_worst_nightmare_20130819
 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
25. Yeah,....because a sex scandal is how you rid yourself of a pesky Dem....
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 03:43 PM
Apr 2014

Republicans? Not so much...

merrily

(45,251 posts)
37. Some Republicans have resigned or retired because of sex scandals.
Wed Apr 16, 2014, 02:59 PM
Apr 2014

Vitter, of course, was not among them.




 

DeSwiss

(27,137 posts)
14. Yep.
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 01:32 PM
Apr 2014
- One wonders how these people got their jobs and how they keep them. Oh, right. The whole shebang is rotten to the fucking core. I dozed off, now I remember.

K&R
 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
18. "for helping to cause the mortgage-backed securities scams"
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 02:03 PM
Apr 2014

Republican Religion (...bow yer heads, ya heathens...) demands that the POOR and Democrats are to blame for THAT.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
20. Knowing it and getting something done about it are two separate things. It doesnt look like the
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 02:07 PM
Apr 2014

current administration is too worried. I suspect that neither the leading Democratic candidate nor any Republican candidate will pledge to fix it either.

joshcryer

(62,265 posts)
21. In part because the courts rule against the SEC more than any admin.
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 02:14 PM
Apr 2014

SEC's enforcement ability has been neutered by sorry right wing appointments.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
33. Interesting who is ignoring this thread.
Wed Apr 16, 2014, 10:11 AM
Apr 2014

Doesn't fit their perfect narrative. No doubt Kidney will be thrown under the bus in due time.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
34. I am curious why they ignore certain issues. It seems coordinated almost.
Wed Apr 16, 2014, 12:32 PM
Apr 2014

"Doesn't fit their perfect narrative." That must be it, but it is hard for me to believe that politically liberal posters could delude themselves to this level. Maybe that shows how naive I am.

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
36. No you are not naive, I found their hangout (by accident) and been reading
Wed Apr 16, 2014, 01:37 PM
Apr 2014

up and YES it is totally coordinated. And NO, not in the group most people are thinking of. They found a nice place to go and hide and talk about what to do next.

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