A problem with the Country Wide the WaMU settlements.
We have to consider the externalities of the fraud. While a $337 million dollar fine may be sufficient for the
individuals defrauded by Country Wide, the cost to the nation and the state was
much greater. These could be
called externalities or collateral damage. And the costs are truly astronomic. See posts below.
Remember what caused this crisis – it wasn’t the
government. First came the housing bubble and the selling of near fraudulent
home mortgages by corporations such as Country Wide and WaMU– thus the
settlements. To make a profit major banks and corporations looted the
economy creating an international meltdown.
Now we have cuts in parks, in universities, in
nurses, libraries. School children did not create this crisis.
The major
bankers, finance capitalists in the U.S. robbed the bank last year – and
the federal treasury. They took hundreds of billions of dollars –
Goldman Sachs alone took $10 Billion. For example, Ken Lewis of
Bank of America received an $ 81 million dollar pension. They have not
even been punished. One thing we should do is arrest the top 100
executives and CEO’s of these companies, give them a fair trial, and throw them
in jail. Until we arrest some people there will be no real changes.
Note: House Concurrent Resolution 85.
Dec. 2011.
