WATERVILLE, Maine — Several protesters assembled at Colby College on Saturday to ask the institution to disassociate itself from former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond.
About a dozen protesters stood outside of the Diamond Building, which is named for the current Colby College board of trustees chairman. A few cars honked as the protesters held up signs calling for Diamond’s resignation.
“For Diamond’s name to be attached to the college in any way, in particularly as chairman of the board of trustees, is a travesty. It just can’t continue,” said Jody Spear of Brooksville, who graduated from Colby in 1963.
Diamond resigned as chief executive of Barclays on July 3 in the midst of a scandal regarding interest rate reports of its interbank borrowing rates that were falsified. That data goes into the calculation of a key market index, the London interbank offered rate, according to the Associated Press. Barclays was fined $453 million by U.S. and British agencies for its submission of those false reports.
Diamond, a 1973 graduate of Colby, donated $6 million towards a building that would be named after him, the Diamond Building. Construction began on the building in April 2005 and it opened in February 2007. It houses eight departments, including economics and government, along with the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs.
“The administration has to cut him loose,” said Spear. “He’s a real liability for a college that purports to be offering a good liberal arts education, and here the example Diamond is setting is about cheating.”
Augusta’s Ed Bonenfant, one of the Occupy Augusta protesters on campus on Saturday, urged the college to look into the funds Diamond has donated to the school over the years.
“We basically want them to audit all of the funds they got from Robert Diamond to discover whether or not these were clean or dirty funds and to take his name off the building and fire him,” said Bonenfant.
Diane Messer of Liberty said she wants to tell the community about Diamond and his involvement with the school.
“We imagine that there are some people who don’t know what this building stands for,” Messer said. “Why is Colby refusing to disassociate itself with Diamond? And we just want people to know about that, especially students and alumni.”
“Where’s president [William] Adams? Where is he saying it’s okay?” Lew Kingsbury of Pittston asked.
“This could be Colby’s Penn State moment,” added Kingsbury, referring to the Jerry Sandusky sexual assault scandal from earlier this year, where Sandusky was indicted on 52 counts of sexual abuse dating back to 1994.
Representatives from the college could not not be reached over the weekend.
Several of the protesters were among those arrested in November after jumping a fence at the Blaine House in Augusta. Messer, Bonenfant, Jim Freeman of Verona Island and Kim Cormier of Benton were outside the Diamond Building on Saturday. They were charged with criminal trespass and failure to disperse.
“We are about to have a retrial,” said Messer. “It would be more intelligent, and a better part of valor, I might say, to dismiss the charges for a very minor criminal charge, a Class E misdemeanor. They’re taking full jury time and space on the court calendar in superior court when there are a lot of serious cases waiting to be heard.”
Messer said the trial starts on Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta.
The Occupiers are back must mean good weather has returned.
Down for the struggle, as long as it’s not too humid or hot.
Or just generally icky.
Ad hominem attacks against a movement you hate even thought you’re too lazy and stubborn to actually bother to try to understand it?
Cute.
There’s nothing wrong with a good ad hominem attack now and again.
Another chuckly. Thanks. I do like your sense of humor.
But there is no class, political or otherwise, to being ad hominem ad nouseum.
“The Occupiers are back must mean good weather has returned.”
There is going to be an election soon, too, did you know ?
I suppose they want Diamond to go away, but leave the 6 million behind at the school.
Did you read the article and watch the video?
crapola….
I wish the occupiers would bring this sort of passion to the elimination of welfare fraud.
Nah, corporate fraud has a much more far reaching impact on our economy. And, it is more pervasive.
Nobody but the bureaucratic collective gives a rat’s ring piece about corporate profits – that boat sailed with Karl Marx, national socialism, and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
The comment was about fraud not profits. And, you defeat your own argument by using the word nobody, as logically somebody does. And, in fact many somebodys do, be it a majority or minority.
Mea culpa – I should have written “nobody with a life”.
Now, this is common ground that the OWS and Tea Party movements can agree on as well as all Americans of all tribes. The questions remains, when will Diamond be slapped in handcuffs and do hard time and when will his chair be removed from the mahogany room. Not soon I’m afraid.
Or union fraud, election fraud, government fraud, or the occupy fraud itself. What was there like 6 protesters but a big story in the BDN. I would like to see the BDN show some passion for a story thats not drenched in liberal bias…lol
Oh no, no, no. Don’t want to discuss THOSE types of fraud. Occupy still struggles to be relevant because its not and will never be.
The proof that your statement bears no weight is in the fact that we are talking i considerable detail about OWS, inequality, the crimes of the very wealthy and of the big banks on Wall St. OWS has done an enormous benefit for society just making THIS conversation possible whereas it wasn’t just a couple of years ago…
So, you’re welcome…
Just as conservatives do wish to discuss fraud of the collective “corporate persons” now having some of rights that Constitution only gives to real people ?
We are… except it is more appropriately called CORPORATE WELFARE FRAUD.
A flaccid response in spite of your profligate use of upper case logorrhea.
So, the Occupiers should stop worrying about rich people stealing money and start worrying about poor people sealing money, right?
That’s exactly how the wealthy and powerful want it. It’s even easier for them to screw us over when so many of us are more outraged by someone committing a few hundred dollars worth of welfare fraud than a company making corrupt and unethical billions.
2011-2012 COLBY Tuition$53,800 comprehensive fee……Ridiculous…..A 4 year Degree costs OVER 200,000 dollars…..Harvard costs $52,652 for tuition, room, board and fees combined, Yale costs $52,700 a year….and Princeton has a $51280 price tag. ALL LESS than COLBY. I think I would rather go to Harvard or Yale or Princeton thanks.
and Bates, Bowdoin, Tufts, Cornell, Columbia, Claremont, Amherst, Williams, Middlebury, etc etc are all $50k plus per year.
At least Colby and Bowdoin (and Yale, Harvard and Princeton and others) offer full grants to needy students ($ ~38,000 each in the past school year), rather than saddling students with destructive loans.
You only get ‘saddled’ if you want to be ‘saddled.’
Regardless of how you feel about the Occupy movement (why any sane, reasonable, decent person wouldn’t support OWS is completely beyond me, but that’s a discussion for another time), it can’t be denied that if Diamond was indeed involved in the malfeasance at Barclay’s, he’s a disgrace to the school, and he’s hardly fit to be chairman of the board of trustees.
I believe Barclay’s cooperated with the governments from day one (which other banks are not) and actually provided information before the investigations went into full swing ( I could be mistaken on the latter). Also, Barclay’s did not take taxpayer funds in US or UK to ‘stabilize’ themselves. RSB, now 90% owned by the UK is *not* cooperating fully with the UK investigators! When all is done, it will be found all the major banks were involved.
Sad that a few rogue traders took down a banks hard work and good reputation. Mr Diamon at Chase is finding that one trader (supposedly) has cost the company first $2B, now over $4B and maybe even more.
At least Diamond at Barclay’s instilled a code of ethics, that a few disregarded.
That said, the whole system needs to be totally revamped with resposibility and ethics at the top of all decisions made from the top down — world-wide.
BS. A few “rogue” traders… laughable apologetics… Sorry, but it has been shown repeatedly that that canard doesn’t bear a shred of credibility.
Colby has a criminal as chairman of the Board of Trustees? You are kidding, right?
I wish I was. Well, just re-read the article and google “bob diamond.” I don’t believe Diamond has actually been charged with anything, but he’s at the center of the Barclay’s scandal and he was forced to resign in disgrace. If what he did isn’t actually criminal, it’s certainly unethical and thoroughly sleazy.
I don’t like the guy for more reasons than one. I’ve met him a few times in Waterville but his arrival into town certainly does help out the airport when his big NetJet plane flies in. Fuel and possible Landing Fee (Waivered with enough fuel purchase). One time a jet took $15,000 worth of fuel. Thats good for the City! It may be “dirty funds” but money is money, we can all use it here!
The fraud committed by Barclays overshadows all welfare abuse ever. The manipulation of LIBOR cheated money out of more people than one could imagine.
So, It will be handled. Illegalities will be dealt with. This is just attention seeking behavior… Look at Me!! Look at Me!!
No it is asking Colby to divest behavior. Glad to see the coverage.
Divestiture generally refers to ongoing financial investments the school has made that you might wish to end. What are those in this case?
I believe I used the term correctly:
a : to deprive or dispossess especially of property, authority, or title b : to undress or strip especially of clothing, ornament, or equipment c : rid, free
Conservative talking points work best when they get to define , incorrectly, all the terms used. It is an Orwellian thing with them.
Think about that in terms of “wealthy job creators”, “pro-life” NRA Life Members, and
“grassroots” as has been used by the GOTea Party and the Koch Bros.
Hard to figure out how the manipulation of LIBOR rates cheated money out of people when Barclay’s was actually UNDERSTATING its LIBOR rates. Furthermore Barclays had voiced it’s concerns to the Bank of England that LIBOR rates were being understated by its competitors. Treasury Secretary Geithner also wrote a letter to the Bank of England expressing concerns about flaws in the system and nothing was done. Remember this was at the height of the financial crisis and it was in everyone’s interest (government and financial entities) to under report LIBOR rates. Being the cynic that I am I believe the regulatory bodies were complicit – wink, ink, nod, nod. Now that the misreporting is public Barclays is being hung out to dry. Lots of blame to go around here starting with the fact that LIBOR is a flawed reporting metric.
Barclays manipulated the rate both ways, over an extended period of time. They admitted specificly this in their settlement.
“According to the settlement, Barclays traders regularly coaxed bank officials to manipulate the lending rate they reported, sometimes up and sometimes down, in order to boost the value of their trades.”
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/barclays-libor/
Oh Fun. OWS is back just in time for the dog days of summer. Anyone got dibs on the date of the first OWS assault or drug trafficking arrest?
OWS never went away. They have been busy in NYC. This would be OA speaking their mind and one does have to give Colby some credit for letting them stay rather than removing them from their private campus. There just are some things that need to be protested. Shining the light on where the money comes from it just one of them.
And you are also concerned about the corrupt unions that make political donations as well, right?
Absolutely! Get the money out! Give us back our democracy where constituents matter.
The LIBOR scandal may affect as many as $800 trillion in contracts… You know a “corrupt union” that has done anything close to that…?
Serious question… have an answer?
This is a decision for a private institution to make for itself, though concerned alumni/alumnae certainly have a right to offer their opinions. Let us hope that the jerk who, without any Colby connection, disrupted Colby’s commencement doesn’t disrupt opening ceremonies for the new academic year. Colby can do as it wishes re alum Diamond. It’s none of the business of outsiders to interfere.
Are you referring to the protest of the war criminal that spoke? Why did Colby choose a war criminal to speak in the first place? Maybe there are other things that should be looked into there?
You know. This is interesting. Aligned with war and bank criminals. Makes one wonder about the integrity of the institution doesn’t it? A Colby degree? What will that mean now?
Barclay’s is a huge funder of the taxpayer and ratepayer fleecing industrial wind factories that are beginning to wreck Maine’s beautiful countryside, from our western mountains to the lands east of irreplaceable Katahdin to the legendary rolling hills of Aroostook County.
American Wind Capital Company, announced today that the Barclays Natural Resource Investments team of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC (“BNRI”), a leading global financial services provider, and NGP Energy Technology Partners (“NGP ETP”), a leading private equity firm focused on the energy technology sector, have made a significant investment in American Wind Capital Company.
American Wind Capital Company is led by one of the most experienced teams in the wind and renewable power industry. The Company offers landowners that host wind or other renewable energy projects upfront cash payments allowing them to monetize their future rent payments.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/industry/read/american-wind-capital-company-announces-significant-equity-co-8196/
Are we gonna have a camp out? Do OWS people eat Hot Dogs?
You would have to go to NYC to find out.
I thought the organization was local, making decisions in a “general assembly”. Are you now taking orders from the Central Committee?
That is why I said you would have to go to NYC to find out about the hot dogs. There is no OWS in Maine. Each Occupy is locally controlled through its General Assembly. I am impressed you know that much about the Occupy movement.
I know how “peoples movements” have been organized historically. The OWS doesn’t seem to differ dramatically from the norm.
Now your ignorance of your opposition is showing. (“Know your enemy.”) At least I’ll study what my opponent’s message is so I can at least talk cogently about the shortcomings or ignorance of their positions, or the failings in their policies.
You seem tense today.
I’ll let “Do OWS people eat Hot Dogs?” speak for itself…
They do if hot dogs are given to them for free.
Five, countem five protesters and the photo was taken at an angle to obfuscate exactly how many were there… Go Back to the 60’s there’s no place for you here…
Did you bother to read the article? Apparently not.
If you had, you would have noted that it states the numbers of protesters involved.
They said about a dozen… knowing the bias of the paper and the fact they didn’t have a very good photo. probably fewer. Also isn’t one of those signs an anti- east west highway protest sign? At least one of those professional protestors was in such a hurry to get there he grabbed the wrong sign.
A dozen isn’t exactly a large gathering so I’ll assume it’s a correct number. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me.
Re the East West sign. Surely you’ve noticed by now that OWS protesters, like Tea Party protesters, have no focus, merely a number of grievances that vary from person to person and protest to protest?
I chuckle at the idea of them being ‘professional’.
They may not make a living at it… but they certainly see protest as a vocation. By the looks of them they have been at it for decades.
The Tea Party on the other hand is well organized and elects Congresspeople and Senators and that strikes me as having a laser-like focus.
First, the Tea Party doesn’t exist as a Party at all. Voter discontent on the Right help elect more Republicans to office. Polls suggest that a number of those elected in the last cycle are likely to lose this time, and many of the canndidates who ran in primaries this time as Tea Party supporters lost.
Second, many of the OWS protestors have full-time jobs, go to school, and have families.
The Tea Party does exist as a political group and has wide ranging influence. The Tea Party Congressional Caucus has 52 members, nearly 14% of The House. In a normal election cycle many freshman Congresspeople historically have tough re-election campaigns.
After a wave election that saw 63 Democrats bounced from the House in would not be unusual to loose a few members. The talking heads are talking about 15-18 Republican losses this go round. How many of those are Tea Party folk is hard to say. Congress will stay in the hands of Republicans. I read an article the other day that said those 18 losses may be softened by 6 potential Republican pick-ups because of redistricting.
Comparing the Tea Party to OWS is just a plain non-starter. They don’t even play in the same ballpark. (excuse the metaphor.)
I am sure these OWS protestors have jobs… but so do the Tea Party Folks who were first energized by Obama policies. These OWS folks have been energized for decades hurrying from protest to protest since the Vietnam War in a vain attempt to recapture their youth.
Apparently you like criminal acts by those that have no compunction against robbing you through the interest rates on your mortgage, your car loan, your IRA, your pension…
It doesn’t matter who or how many were there protesting… IT WAS THE MESSAGE. Apparently you missed it…
Ayn Rand was a certifiable lunatic… She died poor and alone. Her philosophy of the sanctity of the right to the supreme selfishness of the individual as depicted in her FICTION is a dangerous thing for you to rest your worldview on… supreme selfishness doesn’t serve society. Her fiction was wrong.
“Ayn Rand was a certifiable lunatic… She died poor and alone.”
And on welfare.
Tear the building down.
Hard to figure out how the manipulation of LIBOR rates cheated money out of people when Barclay’s was actually UNDERSTATING its LIBOR rates. Furthermore Barclays had voiced it’s concerns to the Bank of England that LIBOR rates were being understated by its competitors. Treasury Secretary Geithner also wrote a letter to the Bank of England expressing concerns about flaws in the system and nothing was done. Remember this was at the height of the financial crisis and it was in everyone’s interest (government and financial entities) to under report LIBOR rates. Being the cynic that I am I believe the regulatory bodies were complicit – wink, ink, nod, nod. Now that the misreporting is public Barclays is being hung out to dry. Lots of blame to go around here starting with the fact that LIBOR is a flawed reporting metric.
I think most of the protestors didn’t even know what a LIBOR rate was until just the other day.
Nor, you, most likely… I suppose you’d rather people remain ignorant of the crimes being perpetrated against them…?
I first learned about Libor rates 20 years ago when I was learning the ins and outs of business loans.
Suddenly you have my interest though. Lets see….. How exactly can inter-bank LIBOR rates effect normal people?
“Being the cynic that I am I believe the regulatory bodies were complicit – wink, ink, nod, nod.”
It doesn’t take a cynic to know this… But what it does show is how corrupt the whole system is, how rigged the system is to the BENEFIT of those at the top with the power to manipulate and game for their own enrichment…
Manipulating the rates amounts to securities fraud. Deliberately profiting from it is criminal. That is being shown to be the case. For regulators to turn a blind eye…
So much for the sanctity of the “free market…” There is nothing free about it when the very basis for setting key rates is manipulated deliberately to benefit those with the power to do the manipulation.
“…in everyone’s interest…” is not a credible or even good defense, as it wasn’t in everyone’s interest…
Everyone who was in the know, and not everyone was (ie: quiet, necessary collusion, or “bailout,” take your pick) knew the Fed was doling out trillions of dollars to prop up the major TOO BIG TO FAIL banks to make their balance sheets look better and attempt to unfreeze interbank lending. So, the rates were manipulated, the banks were re-capitalized out of the public eye, the world NOW knows the corruption was endemic and the whole house of cards nearly collapsed when the extent of the overleveraging was revealed by Lehman’s and Bear’s bankruptcies, AIG’s exposure to toxic derivatives, the whole dirty, greedy feeding frenzy over subprime mortgage securitization and the burgeoning SECRET, PRIVATE, UNREGULATED derivatives market…
Which continues, btw, TO THIS DAY…
The global financial crisis is not over, and apologizing for those responsible for it will ensure we all take it hard once again in the not too distant future.
Unless meaningful prosecutions and reforms actually DO come out of this $800 Trillion, or more, scandal.
Well said. It’s fascinating to read all the comments by conservatives who are cheering on the criminal and sneering at those who protest him.
Why judge him in court when they can do it in the gutter…..with homemade visual aids!
A year later and these jokers still have no job! Maybe they should be protesting that!
Maybe they should move to Wilton to get a job…
http://wiltongroup.org/bz_pages/bz_barclays.html
Not much hiring happening on the curb where they’re standing!
Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions. You know what kind of trouble they can get you in? I am betting a few of those there have a job and have been gainfully employed for years.
Gutter? Looks like they were standing on a sidewalk… And I suppose you’d rather be ignorant of what LIBOR is about, what Diamond’s connection to the scandal is, what Colby’s connection to the whole corrupt system that Diamond’s crime represents…?
Let me inform you of the opportunities to learn more about this stuff… there are many excellent resources on the web that will help you think more clearly about what manipulation of such a key banking rate has on the rates YOU likely pay on your credit card, on mortgage, on insurance, on whether your pension or IRA grows at a particular rate or not… how YOU’VE been cheated…
If you are interested, that is…
You do understand that LIBOR rates are the interest rates international banks charge each other, right?
The London Interbank Offer Rate… of course… Manipulation of this rate affects all sorts of other transactions these banks make, affecting loan rates, credit card rates, pensions, insurance…
I see but the money is not directly involved right?
For instance if I got a loan from a bank based on Libor I would not be using their money. My loan would track that rate… sort of on a tangent right?
My current loans are WSJ prime. That doesn’t mean the Wall Street Journal has money involved. Furthermore, If the WSJ were to play with my rate reducing it like LIBOR did that would be to my benefit. Right?
http://www.bankrate.com/rates/interest-rates/wall-street-prime-rate.aspx
Indeed, as you know lots of commercial borrowing rates are pegged to a formula of so many basis points over LIBOR. Folks on this board are breaking into a sweat without having any understanding that LIBOR was being understated which was to be benefit of boatloads of borrowers/consumers. Further LIBOR rates are Estimates of the cost of borrowing by the reporting bank. They are not the Actual historical rates being paid. There is way too much grey in what LIBOR really is and there would be considerably more informed debsate on this board if everyone had a notion of how LIBOR is derived and the underlying flaws in its calculation.
Yes, I also thing that’s lots of people think that money & wealth are “finite” constant numbers. Never stopping to understand that it fluctuates as wealth is created and destroyed.
Why work when the taxpayor supports you?
Stupid comment.
Colleges have integrity?? It all about money, most college’s are about money. It should be noted that colleges are the tool to put millions of Americans in deep debt, student loans are criminal. WE fight wars, build drones, why are we not educating our people??
Wait, the Occupy protests are still going on? Hasn’t it been a year since they started?
Wow, they’ve really accomplished a lot.
How appropriate that the Diamond Building houses the departments of government and economics… the collusion of government and economics in the fixing of the LIBOR rates is very evident… the Fed knew the rates were bogus, the Treasury likely knew about it…
The second clip in this link lays out the probable (nearly conclusive) collusion:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/will-the-libor-scandal-lead-to-prosecutions-some-hidden-history-and-current-prospects.html
Security fraud, criminal manipulation of the rates to benefit the banks: Barclay’s (Diamond’s former employer), but also JP Morgan, Citigroup… the results of TOO BIG TO FAIL… Too big to prosecute…
And, yes, those of us in the Occupy movement see and point to the immorality of this… you should be thankful for that, not mock those efforts. YOU become part of the problem when you do…
Exclusive of your morality play generally you have some good insights. What is your take on Goldman and Fin Reg in light of this article.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/goldman-ceo-on-dodd-frank-the-vast-bulk-of-it-is-good./article/2502585?utm_source=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest%20-%2007/20/2012&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Washington%20Examiner:%20Opinion%20Digest
I don’t think I am as much a partisan as you. Regulation is needed to keep the unscrupulous in check. When regulation is “captured” by the industries that the regs are meant to keep in check, the regs are manipulated to work to the industry’s benefit. That is happening with the rule making taking place with Frank-Dodd, and why the Goldman CEO and lobbyists don’t care a great deal about the legislation. If they can capture it, and they will spend millions to do so, the regs work to their benefit. More collusion between govt and industry. IT IS NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE. Both parties are guilty because the whole damn system is rigged to benefit the wealthy, not Main St.
If you were to look at the Green Party platform you would find an agenda that DOES look out for Main St. It is the only credible party on the horizon that does. With mass media “captured” by the media conglomerates, most of which are owned by GE, Disney, Fox… the agenda of the two parties gets talked about, nothing else regardless of how credible or beneficial it is for society. It is not in the media industry’s interest to talk about what will likely cause reform to happen to them as well.
OWS has a working group of former traders, Occupy the SEC, that have written a highly detailed white paper that strengthen the rules that allowed the banks to scam the system… They offered the analysis as public comment to the rules committee of the SEC formulating rules for the Frank/Dodd bill.
http://sdemetri.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/the-great-recession/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/oral-history/financial-crisis/cathy-oneil/
For those of you that denigrate the Occupy people as jobless freeloaders are confused about what the movement is really about, and how it actually looks out for YOUR interests and is trying to make a better world for YOU and YOUR CHILDREN…
I don’t think I have ever characterized OWS people as jobless freeloaders. Misguided and confused maybe… objects for ridicule, certainly. But jobless freeloaders never.
My point is a partisan one in the sense that big government has taken over the banking industry and stifled innovation and is freezing out the little bank. People like you are aiding them in the takeover by distracting from the issue. If people are breaking the law the should be prosecuted. They will be… but by confusing the issue you have helped authoritarians centralize the banking industry. That is not good for my child.
You may not have called them jobless freeloaders, but you do denigrate them and what they/we are about. My comment in the last paragraph was not to you specifically, but to those that are confused about what OWS is, what is supports, what it does for THEIR/YOUR benefit…
“Big government” hasn’t taken over the banking industry. Big Finance has captured government. Bed fellows… Regulation is weak, or non-existent, under-funded, regulators revolved from govt to industry, and back…
Your “big government” meme is false, unsubstantiated. And people like you are preventing govt from policing the unscrupulous… Your “free market” mantra is BS… Diamond’s actions at Barclay, and all of the other banks that manipulated the rates, likely TIBOR and EURIBOR rates as well, point to manipulated markets. Nothing free about them.
People like you fought tooth and nail to prevent the Consumer Financial Protection Agency from being stronger, all in the name of “small government” but in fact setting the conditions that let the financial industry capture government and manipulate the rules to their own benefit.
Regarding your WSJ rate loan… You are a businessperson… I’m not. I don’t have a comment on that specifically. I am not the one that pointed out originally that manipulating LIBOR has far reaching consequences, some of which are not necessarily bad in every case. But in societies that value the rule of law, committing securities fraud is against the law and ought to be prosecuted. The hubris, greed, seeming immunity from accountability of the TOO BIG TO FAIL banks enjoy ought to give one great concern, not prompt them to make apologies for bad behavior that has caused millions and millions of common people to suffer devastating losses, many to be made homeless and broke… Heads ought to roll, not be apologized for.
I will boil down my response to this. If you object to the notion of TOO BIG TO FAIL why do you advocate policies that in fact encourage that?
As for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, did you know that as of this past week rules have been put in place that allows that agency to review the financial dealings of all citizens? Another personal freedom gone away.
Financial dealings of individuals has been under the purview of govt agencies for decades. RED HERRING.
What does that have to do with TBTF? And are YOU advocating policies that reign in the power of the TBTF banks?
I am not sure what you mean by “reign in” but generally a dispersion of power is a good thing. Except the policies you advocate centralize power by taking control of it and putting them in the hands of a few.
As for financial oversight, as far as I know reviewing in total and in detail financial relations between me and everyone I do business with has never before been done before. I am not talking IRS or if I come afoul of some law. I am talking about everyday transactions. Right down to the six-pack of beer I buy with my debit card at the corner store.
Given your upside down world view on the role of business and government, especially your apologetics for the big businesses that have been caught red handed time after time after time after time in criminal activities, I tend not to trust your take on regulation. Hyperbole is a favorite disinformation tool of the dishonest right these days. I hope you’re not being unduly influenced by it. You’ll have to prove your fears better.
But I’m off trying to make a few bucks right now… I’ll check in later…
I apologize for no one. They are the big boys and can care for themselves. I just don’t understand why you think it is a good thing to concentrate power in the hands of a few in the banking industry and government. That s exactly what your drive for “regulation” is.
The purpose of government should not be picking winners and loosers but setting up a system of laws we can all live by and have an even playing field. The government should not own the bat & ball and lease us the field.
Go make money.
We can agree on a level playing field, but I don’t understand how you think that can be achieved without oversight of an industry that habitually thumbs the scale. They get caught, pay the relatively miniscule fines, thumb the scales again, gets caught again… Without oversight and accountability it is all rigged against the little guy…
I’m sorry but we don’t live in a system where the means of production are in the hands of government. That is vastly different than sound law, appropriate rule making, real oversight to protect those that can’t protect themselves from the greedy and unscrupulous…
Oversight and control are two different things.
Interesting. What are your thoughts on a state bank like the one in place in North Dakota? It seems it has helped a bit there. Granted it is not a national centralized bank but it is government run. And, it seems to me it is the people who give their money to the big banks that are responsible for their success to the detriment of the small bank. Hence the ‘Move Your Money’ movement supported by Occupys across the country.
Re Colby’s choice of “war criminal” Tony Blair for its commencement speaker: I didn’t see any of these folks protest Susan Collins’ commencement speech(es) in 2011 at UME’s two ceremonies? Did they conveniently forget about her complete support of funding by the Congress for the Iraq War–funds that came from US taxpayers, unlike Blair’s UK allocations. Did they conveniently ignore her absolute refusal to hold hearings on the “impaired” humvees that cost so many American soldiers their lives when they didn’t hold up to wartime conditions? Yes, Tony Blair strongly supported Pres. George W. Bush, but “Our Senator” Collins was no less passionate, and who ever protested her appearances anywhere in Maine?
The Occupy “movement,” the Norma Desmond of politics.
“I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.”
Super editing BDN– allowing a reference to Penn State in a white collar story. Shameful but not unexpected given the rag’s liberal (and yellow) leanings.
Equating child sex abuse to financial misdealing is low minded and illogical even by Occupy standards.
“Occupy Occupations.”
Or, “Get a job, you dirty hippies.”
Hey, just a Clarification, I was not arrested nor charged with anything at the Blaine House protest…. and we didn’t jump the fence, it was wide open. ; )
If you want to see the Occupy vision for the world, go see The Dark Knight Rises. It was scary how similar it was to the “movement”.