J.P. Morgan Chase $13B Settlement To Be Announced Today, But Regulation Has Not Been Restored an No Deterent Is In Place To Prevent IThem From Doing It Again

Too Big To Fail Corporations Are Actually Bigger Than When They Caused The Biggest Financial Collapse Since The Great Depression

Remember What They Caused

On October 22, 2013 I posted an article on this site summarizing the chain of events that caused the 2008-2009 financial disastrous collapse Will the $13B Settlement Deter Others? After Bear Stearns was bailed out, and it was determined that Lehman Bros. would be allowed to fail, barring further government bailouts, Fed Chairman Tim Geithner and others had the other shoe drop, AIG. It was realized that through deregulation that had been in place since 1922 that AIG was Too Big To Fail, fearing total worldwide financial collapse. They, AIG, JP Morgan, and others had wiped out Americans net worth through there 401k's and the housing debacle. The stock market went to 7900 (coincidentally the stock market went over 16,000 yesterday, doubling where it was after the collapse.) People not only lost their homes but with their 401k's being severely reduced, found 65 year old people and many others without their retirement savings and having to look for work.

 What was done to Prevent This From Happening Again?

Well, on July 1, 2010 H.R. 4173 (111^th): Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed by President Obama. This was to restore the regulations set after the great depression. Here is  how well we're doing on implementing that law according to www.davispolk.com Dodd-Frank Progress Reports Monthly 

November 1, 2013 REPORT

• In the past month, no rulemaking requirement deadlines passed, six rulemaking requirements were proposed and one rule was finalized to meet a rulemaking requirement.
• As of November 1, 2013, a total of 280 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. Of these 280 passed deadlines, 170 (60.7%) have been missed and 110 (39.3%) have been met with finalized rules.
• In addition, 162 (40.7%) of the 398 total required rulemakings have been finalized, while 115 (28.9%) rulemaking requirements have not yet been proposed  

The World's 29 Too Big To Fail Banks, JPMorgan At The Top

 The updated list of the world’s too big to fail banks is out today and JPMorgan Chase  along with HSBC are at the top.The Financial Stability Board amends the list each year after examining banks to decide which ones pose a threat to the global economy if they were  to fail. Forbes List of Banks Too Big To Fail The list of Too Big To Fail banks has grown and so has the banks themselves. They are actually bigger then when the financial crisis occurred. Their profits are growing, their bonuses have been back for awhile and the stock market has doubled since 2009. Middle class income and salaries are not growing and income equality is increasing.

Corporations Have Too Much Influence On Politicians

Since the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court things have only gotten worse. Things will not get any better unless there is a Constitutional Amendment to overturn Citizens United. This is not a partisan issue, it is not a Right/Left issue, it is not a Conservative/Liberal issue. Polling has long indicated support for an amendment. A 2010/2011 Peter Hart Poll found that 79% of all Americans, including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats support a Constitutional Amendment. An Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) poll found that overall 69% of Americans agreed that "new rules that let corporations, unions, and people give unlimited money to Super PACS will lead to corruption. Three out of four Republicans (74%) agreed with this statement. 71% of Republicans also agreed that "if a company spent $100,000 to help elect a member of Congress, it could successfully pressure him or her to change a vote on proposed legislation. A March 2012 poll conducted by ABC News/Washington Post showed that not only did two-thirds of Americans feel that Super PACS should be illegal, but 69% (two-thirds) of Tea Party supporters felt that Super PACS should be outlawed.

Nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) say that big companies have too much power in Washington D.C. Super PACS, which became funnels for outside spending after an appeals court applied Citizens United, collectively spent more than $609 million dollars during the 2012 elections. Overall outside spending topped  $1.29 billion according to the Center for Responsive Politics "Outside Spending" April 22, 2013 "Outside Spending" by Center for Responsive Politics

Financial Reform is not at all where it should be 5 years after the worst financial collapse since the great depression. The banks have not only not been dismantled, but they have grown, the number of banks that are too big to fail has grown. WE MUST TAKE BACK THE POWER FROM THE CORPORATIONS! or face another, probably much worse, situation at the hands of the greedy and guilty people that caused the last crisis.

PLEASE use the links below to contact your Congressmen/women, and Senators RIGHT NOW, and OFTEN, and tell them that WE MUST PASS A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO OVERTURN CITIZENS UNITED. Left in the hands of those who will NOT be going to jail but simply paying fines, is a bad place to be. I don't care how much the fine is (it's no where near what they stole from the people,) it will happen again rest assured. Perhaps the world economy will collapse next time. We can't let that happen, it's up to us to take action.

So, today they'll announce a $13B settlement will be paid, no one will go to jail, and the too big to fail banks will keep getting even bigger. Call or E-mail your Congressmen/women and Senators NOW!

Here is a sample e-mail, if you wish, you can copy and paste it into your representatives e-mail comments;
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Dear (ENTER YOUR Congressman, Congresswomen, or Senators NAME HERE)

I am writing you to tell you that I support a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling by the US Supreme Court. I believe, as does nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) that big companies have too much power in Washington, D.C. With Super PACS spending $609 million during the 2012 election cycle and $1.29 billion from overall outside spending, I ask you to do whatever you need to do, to pass a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision.

This is not a partisan issue, not a Republican/Democratic issue, nor a Conservative/Liberal issue. A 2010/2011 Peter Hart Poll found that 79% of all Americans including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats, support a Constitutional Amendment. An Opinion Research Corporation poll found that overall 69% of Americans agreed that "new rules that let corporations, unions, and people give unlimited money to Super PACS will lead to corruption. Three out of four Republicans (74%) agreed with this statement. 71% of Republicans also agreed that "if a company spent $100,000 to help elect a member of Congress, it could successfully pressure him or her to change a vote on proposed legislation. A March 2012 poll conducted by ABC News/Washington Post showed that not only did two-thirds of Americans feel that Super PACS should be illegal, but 69% (two-thirds) of Tea Party supporters felt that Super PACS should be outlawed.

I thank you for service and want you to know that I will track any legislation pertaining to this issue, and you, as my Representative, on GovTrack.us, Open Congress, Votesmart.org, or www.Senate.gov

Thanking you in advance for your anticipated cooperation, I am,

(YOUR NAME)
(YOUR ADDRESS)
(CITY, STATE, ZIP)
(E-MAIL, PHONE NUMBER)

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Why Nothing Will Change - Money Has All The Power, Politicians, Courts, Business Not Regulated

Photo by threadless.com

Nothing Will Change Until We Get Money Out of Politics

Citizen's United Can Not Be Repealed - Very Unfortunate

When the U. S. Supreme Court  held that parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, BCRA §203,  (better known as the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002,  in a 5-4 decision,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act held that held that portions of BCRA §203 violated the First Amendment, it was devastating to this country, and started us down the path we're currently on. The United States Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political independent expenditures by corporations, associations, or labor unions. Thus allowing these organizations to contribute unlimited amounts of money to campaigns in the U. S. Basically it said to the Koch brothers, Karl Rove's Crossroads USA, and hundreds of non-profits to contribute any amount of money they were willing to spend. This, my fellow Americans, is why we are where we are. It would take a Constitutional Amendment to repeal this Act, which means it would require it to be presented to both houses and requires a two-thirds vote, which, in our day and age will never happen.

Photo by Timeline Photos

McCutcheon v Federal Election Committee (FEC) Could Be 10 Times Worse

Last week on October 8th the U. S. Supreme Court heard McCutcheon v FEC. For the 2013-2014 election cycle, Federal Election Commission rules state that a donor can give no more than $123,200 to all political committees with two sub-limits of $48,600 to candidates and $74,600 to political parties and political action committees. Without these overall caps, a single donor supporting one political party could theoretically give more than $5 million in individually limited contributions to every House candidate, every Senate candidate, every state party committee, every national party committee and every leadership PAC. Article by Huffington Post on McCutcheon v FEC. If this goes the way of McCutcheon we have given all future power to the rich. Look at how money being spent convinces people who only watch Fox News and listen to Talk Radio to vote Tea Party members into our Congress and Senate. People vote for politicians that totally ignore what they want. Look at when background checks for buying guns was wanted by the people everywhere, after the Newtown shooting where 20 children were killed. Many districts were in favor of background checks by 70% and up to 95% yet their representatives voted against the background checks, totally ignoring what the people, who voted them into office, wanted. That was because of the NRA lobby which had plenty of money backing it. In fact, after the background checks were defeated two democratic State Senators were ousted from their elected offices because they backed the background checks. "An epic national debate over gun rights in Colorado on Tuesday saw two Democratic state senators ousted for their support for stricter laws, a "ready, aim, fired" message intended to stop other politicians for pushing for firearms restrictions. Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron will be replaced in office with Republican candidates who petitioned onto the recall ballot." said  A Denver Post article from September 10, 2013.

The Koch Brothers, Evil, Very Rich, Greedy, and Willing to Destroy Our Environment, Economy, and Anything That Gets In Their Way

By kochbrothersexposed.com

October 17, 2013 article by PoliticusUSA exposed "The Koch-funded FreedomWorks issued a letter in February that said, “Conservatives should not approve a CR unless it defunds Obamacare.  This includes Obamacare’s unworkable exchanges, unsustainable Medicaid expansion, and attack on life and religious liberty.” If paying a surrogate to demand Republicans and teabaggers tie defunding the Affordable Care Act to keeping the government operating is not taking a position on the government shutdown and the continuing resolution, then the Sun rises in the West and the Earth orbits the moon." Read the Article

The Most Recent Example of Why There Is No Deterrent for The Greedy People To Stop Taking Everything From The American People;

 J. P. Morgan Chase

A month after JPMorgan Chase acknowledged that “severe breakdowns” had allowed a group of traders in London to run up $6 billion in losses, the bank has preliminarily reached a rare agreement to admit that the trading blowup itself represented reckless behavior, according to people briefed on the negotiations.

 Washington D.C., Sept. 19, 2013 — Securities Exchange Committee Press Release Sept., 19, 2013
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged JPMorgan Chase & Co. with misstating financial results and lacking effective internal controls to detect and prevent its traders from fraudulently overvaluing investments to conceal hundreds of millions of dollars in trading losses.

The SEC previously charged two former JPMorgan traders with committing fraud to hide the massive losses in one of the trading portfolios in the firm’s chief investment office (CIO).  The SEC’s subsequent action against JPMorgan faults its internal controls for failing to ensure that the traders were properly valuing the portfolio, and its senior management for failing to inform the firm’s audit committee about the severe breakdowns in CIO’s internal controls.

JPMorgan has agreed to settle the SEC’s charges by paying a $200 million penalty, admitting the facts underlying the SEC’s charges, and publicly acknowledging that it violated the federal securities laws.

Firm Must Pay $920 Million in Total Penalties in Global Settlement. Now you might look at this and say, "that will teach them," but no it won't. If I said to you I will give you $6 Billion, but then later I'm going to take $1 Billion back, and NO ONE will go to jail, would you take that deal? Damn right you would! Everyday!

So there is no deterrent for these greedy, selfish, people to stop taking everything they can get from the rest of us. Period.

Photo by uphamscornernews.com

So, You Ask, What Can I Do? 

YOU CAN MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD BY CONTACTING YOUR CONGRESSMEN/WOMEN AND SENATORS ON A REGULAR BASIS ON ANYTHING THAT YOU FEEL STRONG ABOUT!!! Can I say it any louder?

Use these links to find out who your Congressmen/women are, if you don't already know. All you need to know is your address and zip code. These sites will allow you to contact your Representatives via e-mail or even call their offices. These Politicians DO feel pressure when many of their constituents (you) contact them.

CONGRESS: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

SENATE: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

We common, middle class, all Americans must take our country back. It won't be easy. We must stay on top of the politicians, because you can bet that the big money special interests will not stop putting more and more pressure on our elected officials. Join the fight for America or we can only expect more inequality, more damage to the environment, more stagnant wages, and overall a country that only serves the rich and powerful.