Monday, January 12, 2009

crime and punishment

This is what I would like to here Mr. Obama say on the 20th:

"America has labored for more than twenty years under the belief that we can push paper around, lie, cheat and steal our way to prosperity. The truth of this matter has now come home to rest in every American's home value and retirement account, and is responsible for most of the current job losses.

To those who have lied, cheated and stolen in our capitalist system, forcing bad debt to be "covered" by the American Taxpayer so that the financial system did not implode last fall, I stand here today to tell you that you're not going to get away with it. I am hereby directing the FBI, along with the Secret Service to investigate and prosecute all instances of fraud within our financial system, whether they be companies abusively shorting securities they are selling to investors, home buyers lying about their incomes, CEOs making false claims about their firm's financial status on cable TV or ratings agencies being effectively bought off to give inflated ratings on securities.

For more than a decade there has not been a cop on the beat, but this changes today. To those who have been defrauded and lost their life savings, we may not be able to get your money back even though we will try, but we most certainly can prosecute and jail those who robbed you, and who robbed America.

To those who have had their faith in Wall Street and our Capital Markets damaged or destroyed, we will restore your faith by holding to account each and every one of the person and corporations who committed these acts. We will not slap people with meaningless fines; where corporate misconduct is involved the firms responsible will lose their corporate charters and be dissolved, while those individuals, directors and officers involved will be investigated, indicted where appropriate, tried by a jury comprised of Americans, and if convicted imprisoned for the maximum term allowed by law. We will use our Racketeering Statutes to seize the assets of those convicted and, to the extent possible, make those who were defrauded whole and relieve the burden of the taxpayer.

America will no longer permit or practice Ponzi Finance, and those who attempt it will face justice rather than enjoying multi-million dollar yachts and penthouses.

Never again will anyone on Wall Street or Main Street, nor in Congress, believe they can buy influence or cheat American and foreign investors without consequence. The cop has left the donut shop, and is on the beat."

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