The Untouchables: How the Obama administration protected Wall Street from prosecutions

A new PBS Frontline report examines a profound failure of justice that should be causing serious social unrest

• 
• • Glenn Greenwald
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 January 2013 07.27 EST

Obama: bought and Paid for

Eric Holder talks to DOJ Criminal Chief Lanny Breuer in 2010. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

PBS' Frontline program on Tuesday night broadcast a new one-hour report on one of the greatest and most shameful failings of the Obama administration: the lack of even a single arrest or prosecution of any senior Wall Street banker for the systemic fraud that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis: a crisis from which millions of people around the world are still suffering. What this program particularly demonstrated was that the Obama justice department, in particular the Chief of its Criminal Division, Lanny Breuer, never even tried to hold the high-level criminals accountable.

What Obama justice officials did instead is exactly what they did in the face of high-level Bush era crimes of torture and warrantless eavesdropping: namely, acted to protect the most powerful factions in the society in the face of overwhelming evidence of serious criminality. Indeed, financial elites were not only vested with immunity for their fraud, but thrived as a result of it, even as ordinary Americans continue to suffer the effects of that crisis.

Worst of all, Obama justice officials both shielded and feted these Wall Street oligarchs (who, just by the way, overwhelmingly supported Obama's 2008 presidential campaign) as they simultaneously prosecuted and imprisoned powerless Americans for far more trivial transgressions. As Harvard law professor Larry Lessig put it two weeks ago when expressing anger over the DOJ's persecution of Aaron Swartz: "we live in a world where the architects of the financial crisis regularly dine at the White House." (Indeed, as "The Untouchables" put it: while no senior Wall Street executives have been prosecuted, "many small mortgage brokers, loan appraisers and even home buyers" have been). (read more here)

Watch the State of the Union Pre-recorded Here

Paying Their Fair Share and the Same Rules Apply

I was duct-tapping my head last night when I heard Obama saying 'fair share' and 'same rules apply'.
And Obama would be right if he meant getting government out of the way by removing the regulations and policies that favor some financial activity over others and picks winners and losers financially.

Then people would all have the same rules and a fair share at succeeding through their hard work, not a fair share through some paying higher tax rates than others.

If I make more and pay the same percent as someone who makes less, then I still pay more aka my 'fair share'.

Obama needs to apply the 'fair share' rhetoric to the government not taking more than its 'fair share'. The government gets more than its 'fair share' from the American people through their salaries and business profits.

Obama, the ultimate Crony Capitalist, allows his buddy donor's corporations to pay no taxes. Tax loopholes sold to the highest bidder. And before you mention W. Bush, he was just as bad. And I attacked him then for the same actions.

The mistake people make, especially most but not all of the Occupy Movement, is thinking that all Wall Street, Conservatives, Republicans and Capitalism are bad and to blame for the financial crisis and income disparities.

When some of Wall Street and real capitalism is good, and Democrats and so-called progressives are just as bad and just to much to blame for the financial crisis and income disparities, while pretending to be anti-Wall Street.

And, Obama is the biggest offender of them all. He was backed and funded by Wall Street more than any other candidate in history.

And finally, real capitalism isn't bad, and what caused all the economic turmoil was crony capitalism also known as corporatism.

For the uninitiated, Crony Capitalism or Corporatism is a bastardized form of capitalism which isn't capitalism at all. It is when the government gets in bed with Corporations and makes rules and regulations that favor the corporations that fund their campaigns and give them slush money and hurt small (Mom and Pop) businesses. The government picks winners and losers, sometimes even among the corporations, based on favor through who pays the most or who their buddies are. Sometimes the government is paid to create private monopolies or public ones that hire their favored corporations to run them.

Its time for all of us 99% to stand up to the government and the crony capitalists, demanding they stop all the favoritism that robs our money tax through high taxes and government sanctioned corporate financial scams. This would give everybody a 'fair share' and make the 'same rules apply' through a true free market without government favoritism to the corporations who are the highest bidders. Not a fake 'fair share through more taxes giving the government an unfair share.