What exactly has to happen before this stuff falls under RICO. How is this not an organized crime situation?
It is an organized crime situation. The SEC covering up Wall St. crimes for 10 years pretty much qualifies as an act of organized crime. Goldman's big short on products it was selling as high-quality investments to its clients qualifies as an act of organized crime. The attempt to settle the MERS fraud for pennies on the dollar qualifies as at least organized pseudo-criminality. Heck, the circumstances of the entire bank bailout itself above and beyond the official TARP monies is a story of probable criminal behavior by itself. Matt Taibbi has been documenting Wall St. organized crime for years now.
Tons of links here:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/slouching-toward-weimar-by-david-atkins.htmlUltimately, what defenders of the Obama Administration have to understand is that
the refusal to hold even a single one of these criminals to account for their actions (much less the organizations themselves) has been the most damaging decision the Administration has made both with the progressive base and with independents. One can argue the motives for that decision until the cows come home (be it corruption, lack of political power, a desire to instill confidence in a rocky financial system on the brink of collapse, etc.), but in the end it doesn't matter.
The American public knows that something is deeply, deeply wrong with the system. We have seen three consecutive wave elections, which is unprecedented in modern American politics. What that means is that
people are lashing out, looking for answers from someone. Anyone.The Rest:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/slouching-toward-weimar-by-david-atkins.html