Friday, September 3, 2010

CHANGE WAS HIS PHONY SPIEL! HIS BANKSTER DONORS PROFITS UP! FORECLOSURES UP OBAMA'S LIES UP!

WHAT DID THE BANKSTERS KNOW ABOUT OUR ACTOR OBAMA THAT WE DIDN’T KNOW?
Records show that four out of Obama's top five contributors are employees of financial industry giants - Goldman Sachs ($571,330), UBS AG ($364,806), JPMorgan Chase ($362,207) and Citigroup ($358,054).
BARACK OBAMA HAS COLLECTED NEARLY TWICE AS MUCH MONEY AS JOHN McCAIN


WHY IS IT AGAIN SOME CALL OBAMA A SOCIALIST? IS IT BECAUSE HE SOCIALIZES THE LOSES OF CRIMINAL BANKSTERS AND HANDS THEIR WELFARE BILLS TO US TO PAY… once again!
OBAMA IS NOTHING BUT BUSH IN DRAG! BANKSTERS, SAUDIS AND ILLEGALS… how’s that different that BUSH HILLARY-BILLARY?


The government engineered and subsidized the takeover of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual by JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, and Wachovia by Wells Fargo. It allowed the Wall Street icon Lehman Brothers to collapse. As a result, the top five banks control more deposits and assets than ever before.

The fact that the banks are raking in bumper profits in the midst of this economic miasma testifies to the single-minded focus of both the Bush and Obama administrations on protecting the financial elite from the consequences of the financial breakdown precipitated by its own recklessness and criminality.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds have been handed over to the banks—the bulk going to the biggest Wall Street firms—while the Obama administration and both political parties claim there is “no money” for government job-creation programs or relief to the unemployed and those facing such disasters as foreclosure, the shutoff of utilities or the loss of health insurance.

Much of the increase in profits at the major banks came from reducing their capital reserves, thus increasing the risk of future crises. The FDIC reported that big banks cut back the money allocated for reserves by $11.8 billion during the quarter.

US bank profits back to pre-crisis heights
By Barry Grey
3 September 2010
US bank profits returned to their pre-crisis heights in the second quarter of this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the regulatory agency that insures consumer deposits at commercial banks.
Profits reported by the 7,830 banks overseen by the FDIC totaled $21.6 billion for the three months to June, compared to a $4.4 billion loss in the second quarter of 2009. It was the banks’ highest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2007, when the subprime mortgage market began to collapse.
During the quarter, the number of banks on the FDIC’s “problem bank” list hit the highest level in 17 years, rising from 775 in the first quarter to 829 by the end of June. More than a tenth of US banks are now on the list.
Thus far in 2010, 118 banks have failed, well ahead of last year’s pace of 140 banks seized by regulators. There were 104 fewer banks in the second quarter than in the first quarter of this year.
The surge in profits at the big banks occurred during the same quarter that saw a sharp slowdown in US economic growth and a deepening of the social crisis confronting tens of millions of working Americans. Over the past three months the housing market has collapsed, manufacturing has weakened and jobless claims have climbed.
Last month the Commerce Department revised downward its estimate of gross domestic product growth in the second quarter from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent—an anemic rate that all but guarantees a further rise in the official jobless rate, presently at 9.5 percent.
The fact that the banks are raking in bumper profits in the midst of this economic miasma testifies to the single-minded focus of both the Bush and Obama administrations on protecting the financial elite from the consequences of the financial breakdown precipitated by its own recklessness and criminality.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds have been handed over to the banks—the bulk going to the biggest Wall Street firms—while the Obama administration and both political parties claim there is “no money” for government job-creation programs or relief to the unemployed and those facing such disasters as foreclosure, the shutoff of utilities or the loss of health insurance.
The bank rescue operation was designed and presided over by Wall Street insiders, such as Bush’s treasury secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson, and Obama’s treasury secretary, former New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner. They have deliberately worked to increase the concentration of the financial system by favoring the biggest firms and pushing smaller ones over the edge.
The government engineered and subsidized the takeover of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual by JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, and Wachovia by Wells Fargo. It allowed the Wall Street icon Lehman Brothers to collapse. As a result, the top five banks control more deposits and assets than ever before.
At the same time, the Federal Reserve has kept its key interest rate near zero, allowing the big banks to borrow money virtually for free and then lend it back to the government at a higher rate, guaranteeing huge profits. Moreover, the precedent of government bailouts of firms deemed “too big to fail” has enabled the biggest banks to borrow on the financial markets at substantially lower rates than those paid by smaller institutions.
The Treasury handed over taxpayer dollars to the banks with no strings attached. The banks were allowed to use the money as they saw fit, and were not even required to inform the government as to how its cash was being used.
The banks have chosen to use the money to increase their speculative activities, resume paying top executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, and amass a cash hoard above their required capital reserves estimated at $1 trillion. They have sharply reduced their lending to consumers and small businesses, thereby contributing to the weakening of the economy and the deepening of the jobs crisis.
The FDIC reported that in the second quarter, the banks’ aggregate loans and leases fell by $95.7 billion, or 1.3 percent, amid big drops in construction and credit card loans. Commercial real estate loan balances fell 8.3 percent and credit card balances declined by about 2.5 percent. Mortgage loans were also down.
Much of the increase in profits at the major banks came from reducing their capital reserves, thus increasing the risk of future crises. The FDIC reported that big banks cut back the money allocated for reserves by $11.8 billion during the quarter.
The US stock market celebrated the bank profit report with a splurge of buying. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 254.75 points on Wednesday, a gain of 2.5 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite index both rose even more, in percentage terms.
The S&P 500 financials index rose 3.9 percent, with Bank of America surging 6.1 percent, Citigroup gaining 3.7 percent, and JPMorgan Chase rising 3.8 percent.
The financial press largely attributed the stock market surge to manufacturing reports for both China and the US that were somewhat better than anticipated. The markets evidently chose to ignore the monthly survey by Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), which showed a net decrease of 10,000 private-sector US jobs in August, the first monthly decrease since January.
The ADP report said goods-producing companies cut 40,000 jobs, more than offsetting the 30,000 jobs created by service companies.
A separate survey by the Commerce Department reported a 1 percent fall in construction spending in July to the lowest level in ten years. Spending was 10.7 percent below year-earlier levels.
Also on Wednesday, US-based auto companies reported sharply lower sales in August. Auto sales fell an average 21 percent as compared with a year earlier, and 5 percent from the level in July. General Motors sales declined 24.5 percent from August 2009 and Ford sales fell 11 percent.
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WELLS FARGO – BANKSTERS TO THE MEX DRUG CARTEL… and where NO American need apply for a bankster job!

CA MORTGAGE LICENSE REVOKED FOR WELLS FARGO!

“Wells Fargo said last month that first-quarter profit jumped 53 percent from a year earlier as borrowers rushed to refinance mortgages amid record-low interest rates.”
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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Monday, November 12, 2007

Mortgage giants Wells Fargo and Countrywide Financial are accused of slapping dubious fees on homeowners struggling to save their homes. With fewer new mortgages being written, these
companies appear to be leaning on these lucrative fees to stay profitable—with devastating consequences for homeowners. We’ll have that report.
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DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS
The San Diego Union
By Craig D. Rose May 3, 2003

Wells Fargo mortgage license is revoked
State takes action over interest dispute


Citing a pattern of overcharging borrowers, state regulators yesterday revoked the mortgage lending license of Wells Fargo, but the bank will continue to make and service loans under federal jurisdiction.
The California Department of Corporations said Wells Fargo, the state's largest mortgage lender, has been charging consumers interest for days disallowed by state regulation.
"Wells Fargo charged consumers interest on their mortgages more than one day before being recorded, an admitted violation of California law," said Demetrios Boutris, state commissioner of corporations. "If Wells Fargo is not going to abide by California's laws, it has no right to California's licenses."
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Bank of America and Wells Fargo both also spent more than $2 million in the first half of the year. Spending far less were PNC Bank, US Bancorp, Capital One Financial and Regions Financial. The American Bankers Association, the main trade group for the industry, also lobbied heavily, spending $4.2 million in the first half of 2010.


Bailed-out banks spent big on financial lobbying
By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY
The Associated Press
NEW YORK รข€” The 10 banks that received the most bailout aid during the financial crisis spent over $16 million on lobbying efforts in the first half of 2010, as the debate over the financial-regulatory overhaul reached its height.
Disclosure reports show that the banks that got the most government help in late 2008 and early 2009 also invested the most to influence members of Congress, the White House, the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and a long list of federal agencies as new rules were enacted governing Wall Street and the nation's financial system.
"I'm not shocked that they spent that much money because I saw them every day," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer-program director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group, who said more than 2,000 lobbyists worked on the financial overhaul bill.
The sweeping law signed by President Obama in July topped 2,300 pages, and outlined broad rules for issues ranging from derivatives trading to the fees merchants are charged for processing credit- and debit-card transactions. It also covered the creation of a consumer-financial protection bureau. Banks are continuing efforts to try to shape many of the new rules that are still being finalized.
The $16.32 million spent in the first half of 2010 was 26 percent higher than the combined $12.94 million they spent in the first half of 2009.
Leading the pack this year was JPMorgan Chase, which spent $1.52 million on lobbying in the second quarter, on top of $1.51 million in the first quarter of 2010, for a total of $3.03 million, according to disclosure reports filed with the House of Representatives clerk's office.
Citigroup, the largest bank recipient of government funds during the crisis in late 2008 and early 2009, was second. The New York-based bank spend $1.47 million on lobbyists in the second quarter, after spending $1.31 million in the first quarter for a total of $2.78 million.
And Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs was third, with $1.58 million spent in the second quarter, on top of $1.19 million in the first quarter of 2010.
Mierzwinski said the big win for consumers was the financial protection bureau, which banks tried to remove from the law.
Bank of America and Wells Fargo both also spent more than $2 million in the first half of the year. Spending far less were PNC Bank, US Bancorp, Capital One Financial and Regions Financial. The American Bankers Association, the main trade group for the industry, also lobbied heavily, spending $4.2 million in the first half of 2010.
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HEY, ANYONE ACTUALLY BELIEVE FOX IS NOT IN ON MEX DRUG CARTEL MONEY? HE’S A FREAKING MEX!

Wells Fargo, which owns Wachovia, immediately entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid the federal government $160 million in fines.

Several other U.S. banks have also been discovered flouting money-laundering laws.

No wonder former Mexican president Vicente Fox, a conservative businessman, is
urging his country to legalize the production, sale and distribution of drugs
"as a strategy to weaken and break the economic system that allows cartels to earn
huge profits."

Calderon's military surge was backed by more than $1.2 billion in drug war aid from former President Bush, and by several hundred million more from the Obama administration.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/08/20/2010-08-20_mexico_drug_war_boosts_us_firms.html#ixzz0xaCMzkz0
Bloody Mexico drug war boosts U.S. gun shops, banks

Juan Gonzalez - News

Friday, August 20th 2010, 4:00 AM

Romero/ReutersMexican military has spent billions of
dollars fighting endless drug war, with little to show
but profits for banks and gun dealers in U.S.

They found the body of Edelmiro Cavazos
on a dirt road on the outskirts of Santiago,
a popular tourist spot near Monterrey,
Mexico.

The 38-year-old, U.S.-educated mayor of
Santiago had been shot execution-style,

hands tied behind his back, head bound
with tape.

Cavazos, whose body was found
Wednesday, was the fifth Mexican mayor
gunned down in the past two years - the
latest high-profile victim in a nation that is
bleeding to death from its War on Drugs.

The mayhem in Mexico has gotten so bad
that President Felipe Calderon launched an
unprecedented public debate and political
summit on ways to end the war, possibly
by legalizing drugs.

The reason Mexico's politicians are
desperate for peace is simple.

More people are dying each day from the
bullets and bombs of drug traffickers in
their country than are being killed in the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.

In the border city of Juarez, the epicenter
of the violence, 60 residents were gunned
down between Friday and Monday.

Since December 2006, 28,000 Mexicans
have been murdered, including more than
2,000 police and security officials.

Drug gangs have resorted to car bombs,

kidnappings and have even blockaded
wealthy neighborhoods of Monterrey in
spectacular displays of force.

The escalating carnage is a direct result of
Calderon's decision, shortly after his
election in 2006, to station 45,000 soldiers
and police on the country's streets to
combat the cartels.

Calderon's military surge was backed by
more than $1.2 billion in drug war aid from
former President Bush, and by several
hundred million more from the Obama
administration.

Although Mexican officials have captured or
killed scores of drug lords and seized tons
of drugs, the violence and the trafficking
continue to mushroom.

The country's tourism is dying, its industry
is suffering and thousands have fled
violence-plagued border cities like Tijuana
, Matamoros and Juarez.

Meanwhile, two industries in the U.S. are
flourishing from Mexico's tragedy.

More than 7,000 gun shops have sprouted
on the U.S. side of the border, and their
owners seem not to care where the

merchandise goes. Three-quarters of the
84,000 weapons, including high-powered
assault rifles, that Mexican officials have
seized since 2006, originated in the U.S.

Then there are the banks.

On March 12, federal prosecutors in Miami
charged Wachovia Bank with repeatedly
failing to report possible money-laundering
activity by money-transfer firms from
Mexico that used the bank.

Some of the more than $370billion wired to
Wachovia from Mexico bought planes here
that were used to transport drugs.

Wells Fargo, which owns Wachovia,
immediately entered into a deferred
prosecution agreement and paid the
federal government $160 million in fines.

Several other U.S. banks have also been
discovered flouting money-laundering laws.

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QUOTE FROM JOHN EDWARDS CAMPAIGN MANAGER
"Barack Obama's kind of change is where you sit down and you cut a deal with the corporate world," Edwards Campaign Manager David Bonior said during an interview with MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough. "If you look at his record in Illinois when he had a major — sponsored a major health bill that's what he did. He watered down with the help of the corporate lobbyist and they got a weak product out of that."
Scarborough asked: "Are you saying that Barack Obama is a sellout to corporate interests?"
Bonior replied: "He was four years ago in Illinois. All you have to do is look at the legislation I'm referring to."
Bonior was referring to health care legislation that Obama was instrumental in passing when he was an Illinois state senator five years ago, in part because he worked with insurance companies to make additions to the bill that would ensure their approval of the measure.

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