Breaking Up Big Banks


Policy #9 from Bernie's Plan:

9. Breaking Up Big Banks   The function of banking is to facilitate the flow of capital into productive and job-creating activities. Financial institutions cannot be an island unto themselves, standing as huge profit centers outside of the real economy. Today, six huge Wall Street financial institutions have assets equivalent to 61 percent of our gross domestic product - over $9.8 trillion. These institutions underwrite more than half the mortgages in this country and more than two-thirds of the credit cards. The greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of major Wall Street firms plunged this country into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. They are too powerful to be reformed. They must be broken up.    

When we did the 2009 stimulus & supported the bailout, it was on the understanding that the banks had become "too big to fail" and that why they had to be supported... AND that after this support the banks would be broken down so we wouldn't be faced with such a problem again. Instead we seem to be facing just that very situation again with the sneaky deregulation trick the GOP pulled with the spending bill making it legal to gamble with your money (not just their own money).

The Big Bank Fury - The SEC settles with big banks involved in the 2008 global financial crash and then brags about it. (4:59):
Articles:

Should The U.S. Break Up The Big Banks?

Break Up The Big Banks, Says the Dallas Fed

TARP is Over, But the Bailouts Will Continue Until the Big Banks are Broken Up — And Washington Knows It

America's Next TARP Model - A Bloomberg report reveals that the U.S. government loaned banks $7.7 trillion in secret bailout funds at no interest and then borrowed the money back at interest. (7:53): 

Bloomberg: Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress

Saved by the bailout, bankers lobbied against government regulations, a job made easier by the Fed, which never disclosed the details of the rescue to lawmakers even as Congress doled out more money and debated new rules aimed at preventing the next collapse.

A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.


Related Posts:

How De-Regulation Led To The Financial Crisis of 2008 & Why All Banks Need To Come With A Disclaimer Till The Glass-Steagal Act Is Re-Implemented

Useful Information: A video of an enlightening interview from 2009 on the Bailouts.

With The Rider Traitor Inc. Slipped Into The Spending Bill... The GOP Is Making It Clear That They Are Determined To Destroy The Economy.

Useful Bailout Links and Congress Video Clips