#OWS Cheers As DEFIANT Judge STOPS Obama From SELLING IMMUNITY To Wall Street

[Segami]

Judge Rakoff: “Truth is Confined to Secretive, Fearful Whispers”



:applause: :applause: :applause:



" In an audacious move against Citigroup, the SEC, and the practice of "selling immunity", a Federal Judge in NY abruptly put the brakes on a settlement agreement proposed between the Obama Administration and another giant Wall Street firm accused of betting against their own investors. Judge Jed Rakoff sent a message today to Wall Street and the Securities Exchange Commission that may multiply in shockwaves. Rakoff refused to approve a $285 million dollar payout to drop charges against Citigroup for defrauding investors without admitting any guilt.




With prosecutions for bank fraud today at a 20 year low, the Occupy movement has focused new attention on questionable glad-handing between Wall Street titans and federal officials who are supposed to keep them honest.On his way out in 2008, President Bush issued a DOJ directive that greenlighted the practice of "deferred prosecutions" which gave DOJ and SEC desk jockeys incredible latitude to craft immunity deals in secret in exchange for millions in fines and promises to be better. But you might be disgusted to learn that these huge fines only went to the government after being split with attorneys for the banks. The sale of immunity prevented victims from suing for damages. This is why Rakoff's bold stand is so consequential - any finding of guilt opens up the floodgates for investors to bring civil suits.





- Rakoff was critical not only of the "insufficient" amount offered as restitution, but the lack of transparency and especially the idea of shirking accountability for serious misconduct.This closely parallels a line in the OWS proclamation released Sept. 27 which notes Wall Street firms "determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce." The banks, who have till now enjoyed a plethora of judges rubber-stamping anything approved by the SEC, will now have to fashion a different deal with the SEC to resubmit to Rakoff, negotiate a limited admission of guilt directly with Rakoff, or try to prove their innocence at trial.




It is not known whether Rakoff would accept any settlement that did not make Citi acknowledge guilt and thereby allow individual investors to bring damage suits. Wide public recognition and debate of Rakoff's rejection here will also be keenly observed by other judges, banks, the Obama Administration, banks and particularly the understaffed SEC, exposed here for serially taking harmful shortcuts.





cont'


http://www.opednews.com/articles/OWS-Cheers-As-Defiant-Jud-by-Gustav-Wynn-111128-986.html

.

[Quartermass]

1. I forsee he'll be remove from his job in some way. In doing so he is making powerful enemies.

[Frustratedlady]

14. That was my first thought, too. Then, the feds will let the banks off the hook.

A huge uproar should follow, if that actually happens. Maybe they realize many people are watching closely and won't do what we fear.

We need to remember his name.

[tblue37]

35. Like the judge removed for telling NYC that they could not force the OWS protesters

out of the park. A more compliant judge was put in her place.

[dballance]

45. Yep, he's toast

They'll replace him with someone who will to the will of Wall Street.

[Huey P. Long]

2. OWS is bad, mkay? Its also meaningless and counterproductive.

Let the 'professional' and 'elected' handle it. They've got this!

[Enthusiast]

43. Yeah, and they poop in the wrong place.

And they're hippies. Oh yeah, and they're violent to the nice policemen.

[elleng]

3. WTF, stops 'Obama' selling immunity?

Had a bad night?

You are aware, are you not, that SEC is an 'independent' regulatory agency, works more for Congress than for any administration? They messed up, sure, and Rakoff's been on their case throughout, but to suggest PrezO had anything to do with this is more than a stretch, imo.

[AmericaIsGreat]

6. Well, maybe he needs to have something to do with it

I'm tired of hearing about how Obama has no control over anything ever.

[Segami]

8. Obama has been working hard to RUSH through settlements on all levels regardless

of the crimes banks have committed.


"...Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices, according to people briefed on discussions about the deal..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/business/schneiderman-is-said-to-face-pressure-to-back-bank-deal.html?pagewanted=all




But the key player in the battle to make the banks pay is Harris. California's catastrophic recession is due above all to the unpayable debts with which the banks saddled entire regions of the state. Harris recognized this in September, when she announced that, like Schneiderman and Biden, she was pulling out of the negotiations because the banks remained uninvestigated and the waiver they were being offered for their possible misconduct was way too broad. In her letter to Associate U.S. Atty. Gen. Thomas Perrelli and Miller announcing her decision, Harris said the agreement "would allow too few California homeowners to stay in their homes…. After much consideration, I have concluded that this is not the deal California homeowners have been looking for."


Without California's participation, of course, the banks would never assent to a deal.


Since then, Harris has come under pressure from the Obama administration to get with the program and agree to a settlement. (Having declined to go after the bankers themselves, administration officials now want some agreement, however inadequate, that they can tout to voters.) But Harris has also come under pressure from a broad coalition of community organizations, unions and liberal groups — the realpolitik adjunct of Occupy Wall Street .

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/21/opinion/la-oe-meyerson-kamala-20111121


.

[AmericaIsGreat]

13. Well, there you go!

So he does have something to do with it...and not in the good way!

It is simply incredible that banks commit fraud against Americans, then simply write a check to the GOVERNMENT for a fraction of the damages. So, the banks end up keeping most of the money they made via fraud AND the government gets a nice check. Investors? Told to rest assured that justice has been done while getting nothing. And our President is clearly complicit in this entire, fucking scam.

[CoffeeCat]

30. And I am sick and tired of people suggesting...

...that Obama simply has no control over these matters!

He is the President and our country is sliding into Fascism. There are dozens and dozens of
examples that he is part of the problem, as he kow tows to the corporations.

He is the leader of the free world. The very LEAST he could do is speak out about what is
happening to our failing democracy--but that sure as hell will never happen, now will it?

[sabrina 1]

39. The President is powerless, didn't you know?

Except in this case we already know that this administration was pressuring US Attorneys not to prosecute crooked bankers.

It's funny how the US President is always referred to as the 'most powerful man in the world'. But if we are to believe what we are told here so often, he has no power at all. It's always 'out of his control'.

[Lorien]

40. Nope, never will. The bully pulpit if for shaming liberals. nt

[girl_interrupted]

38. +1000

[Enthusiast]

44. Obama has no power.

His power was swept away by those mean Republicans. All these people? They mean NOTHING.

[dionysus]

7. facts are not essential to campaign against democrats here... mere accusations will do...

[elleng]

16. Right. Think I'll take a break.

[Number23]

21. You notice it's not really against 'Democrats' so much as it only seems to be against

'Obama.' We've already seen that people here will look past the Republicans to blame the president for everything that happens on earth, but they also look past other Democrats, politicians, economic conditions as well as independent agencies.

Obama is the source of all their angst and anger. Every thing that happens will be dropped at his feet whether he deserves it or not. Remember when Bloomberg said POINT BLANK that he was the SOLE person involved in kicking protestors out of Zucotti park and that the decision was his and his alone? Guess who people here still tried to blame?

I'm sure someone will pop up any minute with that tired "the buck stops here" photo but at some point, this pathological need that some have to focus like a laser only on this president needs to be examined. Ezra Klein mentioned it briefly a few weeks ago when he talked about the ignorance of the endless FDR/Obama comparisons and how the main people making it are not only ignorant of history but are ignorant of the present as well.

[dionysus]

23. it's simpy revenge for being elected in the first place, in many cases...

[lonestarnot]

33. the SEC, which Mr. President heads.

[snooper2]

9. Look at the source of the article, they have to keep their audience all riled up

Keeps the web page hits coming you know :)

[Amerigus]

19. To elleng - Obama's part

As the author, I hear you on the SEC answering to Congress, but Obama's role is still vital and egregious (and Congress has a quarter the approval numbers as Obama anyway). Since taking office, Obama has failed to investigate, prosecute or prevent this from happening again.

Obama appointed Mary Schapiro as chair of the SEC - she is a connected multimillionaire who sits on the board of Kraft and Duke Energy, and was a pal of the Madoffs, a rank do-nothing since taking office.

Obama has continued the common use of 'deferred prosecutions' through the DOJ and HUD. He could have revised Bush's lenient DOJ guidelines but has been flaccid. Then, he pressured the AGs from every state to accept a pennies-on-the-dollar immunity deal for mortgage fraud. Obama appointed banking giants Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Bill Daley and revolving door Goldman Sachs people throughout the administration. I knew the second I heard Rahm Emanuel's name that Obama was a huge bank-loving bait and switcher, but i gave him every benefit of the doubt till recently.

Now we find the Fed was giving ridiculously cheap loans to banks to make billions in profit as the public deficit soared. I'd love to debate this further so I understand your reasons for claiming he had nothing to do with this.

[Kaleko]

24. Just to make sure everyone understands - you are the author of the OpEd article discussed in the OP,

and this is your bio? http://www.opednews.com/author/author3098.html

Either way, let me welcome you to DU, Amerigus. You clearly have done enough research to give you a most penetrating view of what's actually happening here. However, you will be going up against a slowly dwindling contingent of diehard personality cult followers.

[tblue37]

36. He's been a DU member since 2009. Just not a frequent poster. nt

[Amerigus]

68. That's me

Thanks, I've been here on and off for a while. I fully understand the reflex to defend Obama - I am an Democrat on the county level and he is the head of the party, he was supposed to be the savior from almost a decade of Bush's unprosecuted corruption.

But the fact is, Obama has not produced - we just learned why his transition team decided to let war crimes slide right from the start - he was afraid of retribution. So we see the system is shot and the President is powerless against the corporations, lobbies, SIGs media and party bosses.

I was defending O for years as the best alternative within the current system. But the emergence of OWS has been what thousands have been waiting for, a movement to try to change the system, not the symptom.

The question is, which way will Obama go? Will he stick with the 1% who supply the campaign cash and media cover, or will he side with the middle class who feel the jig is up? My guess is that he will try to do both, talk convincingly throughout the campaign but never swear off the corporate casg he'll ned to win.

Where the rubber hits the road will be whether unlimited ad buys on TV and radio will still sway independent swing voters in the battleground states. If OWS is in the news enough, infiltrating every city and town and converting the debate into action, we might see Obama move towards the right direction. But I don't know if there's enough time between now and November. In the meantime, this is a great time to reject the current system, call out how stacked the deck is and call out propaganda.

[Segami]

28. +1. Thank you and welcome to DU!

[Vattel]

31. I'm not saying Obama is completely innocet, but

I think the DOJ would have loved to prosecute high level wall street people responsible for the economic meltdown. For a DOJ attorney, that's a career maker. The problem is that the banks, etc, write loop holes into the laws, pay smart attorneys to find loop holes even if none were written into the law, destroy evidence, leave no clear signs of intent, etc. Proving intent in some of these kinds of cases is super hard.

[sendero]

49. And who runs the DOJ.

.... and who installed him? Man the denial around here is more than palpable, it is crushing.

[Vattel]

53. You missed my point.

I am not convinced that the DOJ didn't do a lot to try and investigate and prosecute big players on Wall Street. And so if I don't blame the DOJ, I don't blame Holder and I don't blame the man who appointed Holder.

[sendero]

71. I'm convinced..

... that they have intentionally done almost nothing to hold the banksters accountable. I'm tired of folks who steal a loaf of bread going to jail while those who steal billions and wreck the lives of millions walk away. The idea that the fraud is "too complicated" or other such bullshit is just that.

There will eventually be an accounting and those who shielded the evil doers will be held to account also.

[mattclearing]

52. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Nice comment, a pleasure to have you.

[woo me with science]

57. "Obama's role is still vital and egregious..."

"...Obama has failed to investigate, prosecute or prevent this from happening again."

Thank you for that much needed dose of reality. Welcome to DU.

[Ignis]

25. "Had a bad night?"

:eyes:

[fasttense]

50. The SEC is the overseer and regulator of the U.S. securities markets.

Much like the Attorney General and the Justice department.

Independence is a questionable term. Especially considering how the SEC has a revolving door with securities corporations.

The SEC has been co-opted by the very groups it is suppose to oversee and regulate.

I'm not sure how Obama could clean out that nest of vipers but I see no effort on his part to do so.

[elleng]

66. In this context, 'independent' means not a cabinet agency,

but a 'stand-alone' agency; does not mean independent of the industry it regulates (unfortunately.) Same with many other Fed. Gov. agencies, they becomes co-opted, and look out for 'interests' of those industries and not for the public. Also, does not have same 'control' of bad actors as DoJ/AG, but can only negotiate with offenders, can't indict without DoJ's specific approval and joinder.

Only 'control' a Prez has is through appointments to the agencies. President gets to select chairs of his/her party, and then to fill vacancies, as they occur, based on formula giving admin's party majority. Not possible to 'clean out nest of vipers,' really, imo, unfortunately.

[Hotler]

4. k&r n/t

[gratuitous]

5. I wonder if the Obama administration will countermand the Bush directive?

And if not, why not? Is it really in the public interest for financial industry misconduct to be negotiated away secretly with Department of Justice attorneys who may or may not have all the information they need to make the best deal for the country, deter future bad actions, and hold the bad actors accountable? If, say, some Big Financial Boyz make $500 million on crooked deals, pay a $50 million fine, and walk away from the whole mess with governmental imprimatur, will they draw the proper conclusions about staying on the straight and narrow, or will they conclude that they made $450 million and nobody went to jail, so let's do it again?

Just as an example, you understand.

[Modern_Matthew]

10. That judge should get a spot on the economic planning committee when the proletariat takes over...

I'll let you judge if I'm serious about that statement or not.

[Robb]

11. Don't tell them he's a copyright enforcement/RIAA stooge.

:rofl:

Good ruling, this. A Clinton appointee, I'd add. Senseless to frame this as an Obama issue, IMO. :thumbsup: otherwise.

[whatchamacallit]

62. Could your post be more duplicitous, Mr. Mod?

:eyes:

[Robb]

69. Life can be complicated, Mr. Member.

Yesterday's villain is tomorrow's hero, or something like that. Too subtle?

[whatchamacallit]

70. :)

I think I get ya...

[PufPuf23]

12. Corporate and business crimes should be treated as crimes

rather than a cost of doing business otherwise crime pays and victims receive no justice.

[geardaddy]

15. +1000

[redqueen]

18. +1

What a radical concept.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

51. Since "corporations are people, too"...

... then if they break the law, put them in receivership and have their profits sent to Habitat for Humanity, or the Salvation Army or ... pick a charity of your choice. And the CEO's and/or the board serve prison time and confiscation of assets, just as they would do to a real person that committed such a crime.

[RobertBlue]

54. +1

Since corporations are considered persons then why are they above the law?

[JDPriestly]

17. Americans are very confused about what happened.

The 80-90% of working-age Americans who are working do not have the time to follow the money and figure out the real story behind our economic catastrophe.

That is why these back-room deals are so dangerous. It is essential that American voters know who did what because in the end, it is the voters who must decide who will have the chance to do what in the coming years.

These backroom deals are wrong. It is very likely that crimes were committed. I know of several cases in which civil wrongs were definitely committed. Unconscionable contracts were written. People were encouraged to lie and to pretend not to notice the lies of others. The corruption that led to our economic mess should at least be brought to light.

[Kaleko]

26. Bringing the corruption to light means

destroying the entire US banking/governing system as it exists right now because it can only survive in the shadows of massive secrecy, hidden behind veils upon veils of unbelievable lies.

[Enthusiast]

47. You are so right.

No presidential candidate from either party would be allowed to win an election if they did not agree to protect the entire US banking/governing status quo.

I have come to believe that these diabolical forces are so deeply entrenched that it would take an all-out civil war to dislodge them.

[Enthusiast]

46. Nice.

The American people have been treated to a mishmash of explanations for the economic mess. Most of these "explanations" suggest that Barney Frank, Freddy Mac and Fanny May are somehow responsible. That and President Clinton's drive to "force" the banks to lend to unworthy (mostly minority) home buyers.

Media + Government + banks = no hope for the American middle class.

[Magoo48]

20. A judge with balls.....good

[woo me with science]

22. K&R The administration should NOT be backing these settlements.

Protecting criminal banks is an outrage and a betrayal of the American people who have been driven into poverty by these thieves.

These are CRIMINAL acts against all of us.

Throw out the thieves. Support OWS.

[annabanana]

27. k&r. . . . .. . . . . n/t

[Wilms]

29. I think Holder is doing a remarkable job.

He defends Bush's and Banks while persecuting cannabis users and immigrants.

Quite remarkable.

[Enthusiast]

48. Holder is doing exactly what "They" want.

TPTB are probably making a fortune on illegal drugs.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

32. Occupy Kick and Rec!

[woo me with science]

34. Kick. nt

[burrowowl]

37. K&R

[RBInMaine]

41. Obama, Obama, Obama .... as if he micromanages every minute detail of everything at every second.

Sheesh.

[woo me with science]

65. He has been pushing for settlements like this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2397918&mesg_id=2399040

Don't be disingenuous. He is far from an innocent bystander here.

[Enthusiast]

42. An honest judge! A true American!

Wonderful!

[RobertBlue]

55. k&r n/t

[unionworks]

56. an honest judge

Will miracles never cease?

[unionworks]

58. to paraphrase Perry Logan...

It was inauguration day. We looked at this bright young man, and in him we saw hope, we gave ourhearts to him, believing hewas the one who could lead America back out of the darkness.


This lasted about 5 minutes...;-)



I do believe we have to keep it in context. Last time we didn't we got 8 years of George Bush. Have we forgotten the wonders of John Ashcroft so soon? :-P

[slipslidingaway]

59. knr n/t

[SnakeEyes]

60. As a legal minded person

I have to say that the twisting of things into "selling immunity" is rather misleading.

Deals like this are cut all the time in criminal prosecution when the state of feds can gain from them. Usually immunity is granted in exchange for ratting out people bigger, badder, more important in a criminal act(s). It often requires them to testify in court against the higher ups. Usually they will also be required to plead guilty to lesser charges to avoid or reduce any jail time. As we see here, huge fines as punishment often occur as well.

Also, while I detest what these people have done, I also disagree with jailing non-violent criminals. So punishment of fines is A-OK with me. Though they need to be paying for the rest of their lives to pay back all the money they stole.

[woo me with science]

61. Kick. nt

[tomtharp]

63. we should use Rakoffs image when we mint the new money!

Eliiot Spitzer was investigating AIG, look what happened to him. I hope Rakoff is clean I'm sure GOP is looking for dirt on him.
The SEC like the FDA has a revolving door, it's employee's pass pro wall st leg, quit and go work in finance - fail .
congress is bought - fail, Obama's cabinet proposed this miscarriage of justice??? - fail .
How I hope the judiciary will defend our battered democracy. Allan Grayson was yesterdays hero, today Rakoff !!

[disndat]

64. OWS had a major role

in blocking the attempted AT&T merger with T-Mobile, according to the NYTimes Business columnist, Andrew Ross Sorkin - Quote: Putting aside the antitrust laws, AT&T clearly missed the shifting mood in Washington. While Regulators have become more permissive about large tran actions, AT&T's analysis ignored the growing opposition to big business represented by the Occupy Wall Street movement and tonal change, fairly or not, by President Obama. Unquote.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/atts-11th-hour-plan-to-save-its-deal-with-t-mobile/?scp=3&sq=Andrew%20Sorkin&st=cse


.The OWS protesters should stand proud of what they have accomplished in pushing Obama to act on behalf of the "99%."

[defendandprotect]

67. Late K/R