Thursday, March 07, 2013

Let's replace the difficult with the unlikely

On the one hand this is already well-know, depressing, and frustrating that the response of professional prosecutors is a shoulder-shrug:

The size of the largest financial institutions has made it difficult for the U.S. Justice Department to bring criminal charges when there’s wrongdoing, Attorney General Eric Holder said.

Criminal charges against a bank -- something that could threaten its existence -- may also endanger the national or global economies in the case of the largest ones, because of their size and interconnectedness. That has “made it difficult for us to prosecute” some of those institutions, Holder said today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.'
The reasonable response would seem to be -- I somehow thing somebody who wants to make a crapload of money will be there to pick up the pieces.

Or there's this obvious solution hat one can talk about:

While Holder didn’t single out any specific institutions, he said bank size was something Congress would “need to consider.”

That's a great idea.  I'm glad Holder took time out from arguing the President can kill anyone anywhere to says it.

However, you know that the biggest lobby of them all and about 80 Senators and 360 Congresspeople they pay off will never allow this to happen for the foreseeable future without a concerted groundswell of voters with an interest in the issue.

So, welcome to the United States of Bank America.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

3 comments:

StonyPillow said...

“The greatest deterrent effect is not by the prosecution of any corporation, though that’s important,” he told Grassley. “The greatest deterrent effect is to prosecute the individuals in the corporation who are responsible for those decisions.”

OK, Mr. Holder — where are the prosecutions of individuals? /crickets

Anonymous said...

You don't have to bring down the institution, you only need to put its officers - IN PRISON!

Sweet Jesus in Topeka, is this that hard to understand?

pansypoo said...

then we are done. we are spain circa 1550. commence the end. thanks ronald reagan +oliver stone.