Matt Taibbi On Iowa AG Tom Miller: The Best Way To Raise Massive Campaign Funds? Investigate The Banks
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller (glasses) increased his campaign contributions from the finance sector this year by a factor of 88!
Reposting this story from May in light of the following from Gretchen Morgenson:
NY Attorney General Facing Intense Pressure From Obama Administration On Bank Foreclosure Fraud Deal: "Wall Street Is Our Main Street And We Have To Make Sure We Are Doing Everything We Can To SUPPORT Them"
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By Matt Taibbi
A hilarious report has come out courtesy of the National Institute of Money in State Politics, showing that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller – who is coordinating the investigation into the banks’ improper mortgage dealings – increased his campaign contributions from the finance sector this year by a factor of 88! He has raised $261,445 from finance, insurance and real estate contributors since he announced that he was going to be coordinating the investigation into improper foreclosure practices. That is 88 times as much as they gave him not over last year, but over the previous decade.
This is about as perfect an example of how American politics works as you’ll ever see. This foreclosure issue is a monstrous story that is somehow escaping national headlines; essentially, all of the largest banks in the country have been engaged in an ongoing fraud and tax evasion scheme that among other things has resulted in many hundreds of billions in investor losses, and hundreds of thousands of improper foreclosures. Last week, the 14 largest mortgage lenders a group that includes bailout all-stars like Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, managed to negotiate a settlement with the federal government that will mandate some financial relief to homeowners who have been victims of improper foreclosure practices. It’s unclear yet exactly what damages and fines will be involved in the federal settlement, or how many homeowners will be affected. But certainly there are some who believe the federal settlement was a political end-run around the states’ efforts to extract their own deal from the banks.
Put it this way. If the banks had to pay what they actually owed – from the registration taxes/fees they avoided by using the electronic registry system MERS to the money taken from investors in toxic mortgage-backed securities to the fees and payments stolen from homeowners via predatory loan practices and illegal foreclosures – they would probably all go out of business. That’s how much money is at stake here: the very future of financial giants like Bank of America and Citi and JP Morgan Chase is hanging to a very significant degree on the decisions of politicians like Miller.
Hence the sudden avalanche of money sent Miller’s way.
The numbers are laughable.
Continue reading at Rolling Stone...
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Here's the report:
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller
Campaign Contributions Rise When Foreclosure Investigation Begins
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller's campaign war chest got a dramatic boost after he announced his leadership of the 50-state attorneys general investigation into foreclosure irregularities. Out-of-state law firms and donors from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector gave $261,445-which is 88 times more than they had given him over the previous decade.
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How quickly things change for Miller - From just 4 months ago:
Iowa AG Miller vows to put financial criminals in jail
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, the lead attorney general in the 50-state foreclosure investigation, told homeowners at risk of foreclosure today that he supports a settlement with the big banks that requires significant principal rate reductions, loan modifications, compensation for citizens defrauded of their homes and criminal prosecutions against big bank executives who broke the law.
“We will put people in jail,” Miller said, in response to questions during a meeting Tuesday with more than 100 people from 15 states representing community, faith, and labor organizations, foreclosure victims and struggling homeowners from across the country.
Aug 22, 2011 at 1:16 AM
Reader Comments (51)
http://thegazette.com/2010/12/14/iowa-ag-miller-vows-to-put-financial-criminals-in-jail/
How quickly he forgets...
http://gizmodo.com/#!5794614/the-man-who-successfully-challenged-five-speeding-tickets-using-traffic-photo-timestamps
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/04/federal-reserve-paying-banks-interest.html
A bunch of friggin crooks in our government maybe a crash is the best thing that can happen in this country then maybe people will be so ticked off they will find a way to stop it. I say bring back public hangings that would make those thieves that steal money from people to give to special interests and line their own pocketbooks a reason not to do it.
All of a sudden, they are awakened to the fact that public officials need to be "greased", just like most any tool. Our current
political turmoil in WI is evidence that the time to "milk the heartland" has arrived.
Check out the past pictures of all the long multi-directional scars on the back of Pres. Obama's head. He has some explaining to do such as to why the CIA ordered his education, medical, and birth certificate sealed instead of a court judge. The CIA has no jurisdiction with such matters even if congress and the justice department are too busy indulging themselves to react. Chimps in a zoo cage comes to mind.
Mr. you forgot to mention that Obama's mother was a Jew and that is the worst disease one can contract.
Other great Jews were Hitler, Stalin etc..
It is the Jews of London which control America through their Jewish friends at Wall Street and the Federal Reserve. These are facts and no conspiracies and nobody wants to talk about. America with its cult of love the Wall Street troops makes me laugh hard every day. You want to serve your country serve us drinks.
Jack Lohman
http://MoneyedPoliticians.net
Works twice as well it the industry is engaged criminal activity such as fraud, perjury, false advertising or other corporate crimes that well paid legislators can ignore, or introduce bills to legalize.
It is time to replace a completely corrupt government and the joke of an electoral process that encourages the continuation said corruption.
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8487
No one does better unbiased reporting on that subject then Brad.
A question on a holiday weekend. Did you see "Inside Job"? If so what did ypu think?
The commentary is unreal.
Public campaign financing and a bounty on any lobbyist caught with in 100 miles of Washington D.C.
Makes sense to me!
Of course your typical corrupt, graft grabbing politician will have two or three hundred thousand reasons or more why that ain't gonna happen.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=184872
[snip]
There comes a time when it is apparent that there is no longer a rule of law in a state, or a nation. That time usually occurs right about when a law that is in the process of being passed, and in fact passes one house of a legislature by a 28-2 margin, and it then magically "disappears" without being considered by the other house and is replaced with something entirely unrelated.
I can't believe how they can pull this kind of crap over and over, and nothing happens.
State or Federal, Republican or Democrat, a majority of the politicians in office today are not worth the air they breathe nor the space they take up on the planet.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=184886
http://swampland.time.com/2011/04/21/bank-of-america-lawyer-consultant-gave-foreclosure-probe-chief-15000/
more on tom miller...
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=185001#
[snip]
"I've got to ask, did lobbyists have anything to do with your decision?" Erwin asked McLain.
"Well, there were people that came and talked to me about it," she responded.
http://www.kpho.com/news/27669447/detail.html
wait till you read the comments................
Check with the Florida Department of Transportation. They were the largest non-Bush corrupted agency in Florida at the time so they were chosen to arrange the under-cover work. Phone taps gave the detective away. It is more important to apprehend the above described cabal. They are not done yet and they are proven killers. And they hire readers. You don't really want to hear the details of the injuries the man suffered.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=2525831
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2011/04/30/az-rep-seel-drops-amendment-requiring-pre-foreclosure-chain-of-title-2-days-after-servicer-grants-principal-reduction/
Six Principles of Global Manipulation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fF3TQ0lJnU
and:
Anti-Qur'an Strategy of the Bible Project Wheeler-Dealers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1wXgXwj3MI
The Fukushima plant with spent fuel stored on top of the reactors was built to be taken out by the next major tsunami. (Do your homework before you even peep.)The fuel pellets and tubes have fused together into an out-of control 100s of tons of material low velocity atomic 'bomb'.The level of radioactivity is too intense to deal with so a steady water flow over the material and into the ocean is necessary and killing us all to stop a faster out of control reaction. The reinforced containment is performing exactly as expected. I know this because I helped build one of these monsters for about 5 months before running away as fast as I could. The MOX reactor and 3 others started melting down immediately. The inbred bags of shit that built these also constructed underground shelters with American tax dollars and plan on retreating there some time in the future. And you're not invited. This is not a drill.
You Dam Betcha, they would. And this is only the tip of the ice burg......!
http://stopforeclosurefraud.com/2011/05/12/foreclosure-probe-chief-asked-bank-lawyers-for-money/
There should be a federal law that all public officials (DAs, AGs, legislators, cops, sheriffs, judges, etc. if found guilty of corruption shall be sentenced to a 15 year minimum sentence with no chance of parole and loss of all pension benefits, before such corruption becomes a plague.
Increasingly, it seems, we get these stories that are so completely unbelievable and outrageous in their content as to veer off and beg a separate question: are we being baited?
I don't know the answer to that, and yet it's a question that recurs more and more.
I come to this game fairly recently. Three years ago, I lost my doo-doo when the House of Representative reversed course in the span of 4 days and passed the bailout. After then I started paying attention--and am not pleased.
My Arizona activist buddy sees the same things, but says he's been on to the scam for 37 years.
The thing that bothers me is that I find myself believing what he says more and more. After enough stories like Tom Miller's, it's not unreasonable to ask if what's going on is by design.
I don't like entertaining that notion, but the fact of the matter is that other options are running out.
Too many people believe in the CFR controlled television as a mother figure. They trust it. And will trust it no matter how many times they get dropped on their heads. I worked in political campaigns for years. People vote based on those 30 second to one minute spots. Fewer than 30% know anything for certain about their candidate beyond party affiliation and their photo. We have a nation of imbeciles who will not tolerate stress. And they hold thinking sane people hostage with their spoiled brat attitudes. Working for a local political party, we targetted different groups for efficiency of our resources and reached good understanding of various demographics. MANY people are fucking stupid because they want to be and relish the chance to compulsively hold candidates hostage over trivial shit.
Candidates know that they must satisfy the Council on Foreign Relations or they WILL NOT RECEIVE ADEQUATE OR APPROPRIATE NEWS COVERAGE. The SCOTUS decided that the news agencies were under no obligation to tell the news . This decision was made a couple of years ago and included broadcasting over the public airwaves. And if we don't butter-up and kiss-ass of the voters, we lose. So we have to suck-up to Israel whose parent is the CFR and the City of London. And we have to suck-up to the voters, except for about 25% of them. It's bloody depressing.
If you have depth of feeling, as an educated soldier or serious investigator, you will be astounded at the lack of understanding and the lust for social dominance by. ranking party officials who put themselves first and the community or the nation somewhere down the list.
Its the CFR, TLC, BBG, that run the world......... They control the votes, and our lifes. Dont evan ask me to prove my point.......Goverment has locked up 2 puters becouse i went where i dident belong...........You dont evan want to know about the Exp. they are doing on living people..........that cant defend them selfs.