Politics and Wall Street supersede the rule of law.
By John Titus, creator of Bailout.
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House Report On MF Global Goes Too Easy On Jon Corzine
Thursday the Republican majority on the Committee on House Financial Services is set to demonstrate its role as government puppet in the service of Wall Street when it finally releases its report on the collapse of MF Global.
In lieu of upholding the rule of law by demanding the prosecution of Jon Corzine, the Republican-drafted report will instead recommend the adoption of even more legislation for Wall Street criminals to flout as they continue to loot Main Street with complete impunity:
"In its report, the subcommittee recommends that Congress consider legislation to impose civil liability on the officers and directors of futures commission merchants (FCMs) like MF Global who sign financial statements or authorize transfers from customer segregated accounts."
In approving Corzine’s theft of $1.6 billion from customers, Republicans are following President Obama’s lead in two ways.
First, they are acquiescing in Obama’s dictate on 60 Minutes that what Wall Street did was unethical or immoral, but “wasn’t illegal.” The report is silent on whether the victimized MF Global customers or their attorneys agree with that assessment.
Second, Republicans are obediently following Obama’s policy of refusing to punish crime with prosecution and jail, as mandated by law, but with sweeping it under the rug with bankrupt promises to “look forward as opposed to looking backwards.”
To those uninitiated in the ways of financial crime, it might appear anomalous for Republicans to pass up the opportunity to demand that one of President Obama's top campaign bundlers, Jon Corzine, be prosecuted for the outright theft of $1.6 billion from the customers of MF Global. Alas, if there was ever a doubt about the security of Wall Street's position atop the Republican pecking order, this should conclusively put it to rest.
In kowtowing to President Obama's top fundraiser, House Republicans failed to live up to the standard set by Senator Carl Levin, who had the temerity to file a criminal referral concerning Goldman's fraudulent concealment of its short positions against investments from investors.
Not to be outdone, Democrats on the do-nothing Finance Committee have managed to do even less about Corzine's billion-dollar looting rampage than their GOP counterparts. As pitiful as the report is, they won't even sign it and are "preparing an addendum to the report" instead. This was expected given Corzine's prominence within the Party, but it doesn't excuse the sin. Theft is theft and connections shouldn't determine punishment.
Congress fails the rule of law, once again.