We all remember the massive political and financial failures of the Bush Administration which were gradually resolved by the Obama Administration, but who remembers what punishments were handed out for the gross incompetence and criminal activities of the politicians and bankers who caused the crisis?
Who?
Oh yes, most of those who we now know are the most dangerous people in the United States—the individuals who, through greed and incompetence could easily destroy the American Experiment—were actually rewarded with an obscene influx of American taxpayer’s dollars to make their business positions solid again and they are still tossing their greed around in ways that threaten all our futures.
Which bankster went to prison for destructive and illegal activities?
Who?
T
he United States government apparently is too deeply committed to the large corporations to do anything meaningful about either corruption or looming Fascism. But what do we expect from the biggest economy in the world and the most powerful nation in the world? This is America, not Iceland.
But I was just reading an interesting article at The Nation of Change Bullhorn website written by Maurice Bedard. The title says it all:
Iceland Sentences 26 Corrupt Bankers to 74 Years in Prison
Iceland just sentenced their 26th banker to prison for his part in the 2008 economic collapse. The charges ranged from breach of fiduciary duties to market manipulation to embezzlement.
When the banking induced “Great Recession of ’08” struck, Iceland’s economic hit was among the hardest. However, instead of rewarding fraudulent banking procedures with tons of bailout money, they took a different path.
Prior to the recession, Iceland had one of the more thriving economies in the world, in spite of the fact that their total population (327,000) wouldn’t even fill a mid-sized American city. When the recession struck, they were among the earliest and hardest hit. However, instead of running to the vaults to shower the banks with money, they let the banks fail. They also resisted traveling down the European/Republican austerity road. Instead, they kept their social programs intact at a time when they were most needed.
And, they sent fraudulent bankers to jail.
Although I read this article with great pleasure, it was unsatisfying knowing that in this country, greed and corruption seem to win every time and the average American is just screwed.
Remember: Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank; give a man a bank and he can rob the whole world.
A Celebration of Reading 