by Dennis Miller, The Burning Platform:

I’ve had it with the virus panic, riots, looting, property destruction and grandstanding politicians. A poor guy in Minneapolis tried to pass $20 in funny money and ended up dead. His $20 is pale in comparison to the trillions in funny money authorized by congress and created by the Fed to bail out a corrupt banking system.

“The Federal Reserve is a referee who has taken a bribe, a butcher who thumbs the scales, a rogue, a traitor to justice.”– Brian Maher

Since the Glass-Steagall act was repealed on November 12, 1999, taxpayers have bailed out the major banks twice while these corrupt institutions steal much of the wealth of the nation. Never satisfied, the major banks continue to resort to crime and racketeering. The Fed and congress are accessories to the crime.

“The More I Learn The Madder I Get!”, outlines the details of the bailout bill, passed almost unanimously by congress. As it plays out, I realize this crap has to stop. It’s like monopoly, only the banks end up with all the money and the working class ends up in the poorhouse.

It’s enough to send the Good Humor Man into depression therapy for months.

What caused this mess?

Prior to the 1929 crash, banks were using client’s deposits to make risky investments. Many banks failed and depositors lost their money.

Congress then set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure depositor’s money, and also placed restrictions on banking operations and overreach. The system worked well for 70 years, no depositors lost money and no bank bailouts.

The Institute For Local Self Reliance provides some history:

“The total number of banks in the U.S. began a period of dramatic decline in the late 1980s, owing to significant changes in federal banking policy.

…. The Federal Reserve began chipping away at the Depression-era laws that had barred commercial banks from engaging in speculative activity and constrained their ability to branch beyond their geographic regions.

…. These shifts in policy worked to the advantage of large banks and undermined community financial institutions.

Congress took these policy shifts even further in the 1990s when long-standing banking laws, including the Glass-Steagall Act, which had separated commercial and investment banking, were overturned.

…. It’s in these years, from the 1990s to the 2000s, that giant conglomerate banks, such as Citigroup and Bank of America, take control of much of the financial sector. These entities combined commercial banking, investment banking, insurance, and securities trading under one roof. They became so complex that regulators were unable to discern the huge risks that these banks had introduced into the mortgage market, which led to the 2008 financial crisis. (Emphasis mine)”

Forbes adds:

“The 100 largest have $13.8 trillion in assets, representing 78% of total U.S. bank assets.

…. The Big Four of U.S. banking-JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo-have a combined $8.8 trillion in assets, or half the U.S. total.”

In 2018 there were 4,718 banks insured by the FDIC, half of the assets are owned by four of them.

The Federal Reserve is OWNED by member banks. It’s obvious the Fed OWNS the votes of many in congress. Instead of overseeing the Fed, they pass laws enabling the corrupt system.

Stealing the wealth of the nation

Soon after the bailout, the banks continued paying huge bonuses and increasing their dividends.

Bloomberg reports:

“…. A number of government and Federal Reserve veterans…say they’d rather see the banks marshal resources for a rocky road ahead than continue paying shareholders.

…. For the first three months of 2020, the four biggest U.S. commercial banks – Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. – all paid them.

…. From the start of 2017 through March 2020, the four banks cumulatively returned about $1.26 to shareholders for every $1 they reported in net income…. Citigroup returned almost twice as much money to its stockholders as it earned….”

Wall Street On Parade (WSOP) warns, “Citigroup…has $102.5 billion in debt maturing within three years.”

The Fed recently told the banks to suspend stock buybacks, and cap their dividends at the current rate (well in excess of their earnings).

Fed Governor Lael Brainard disagreed with the decision to allow banks to continue to pay dividends:

“…. It is clear that recent changes in financial markets…could have a material impact on banks’ risk profiles and financial conditions.

…. The payouts will amount to a depletion of loss absorbing capital.”

WSOP looked behind the curtain:

“Vice Chair Quarles slipped it into a footnote of a…speech he delivered on June 19 in Washington, D.C.

In order to give all banks subject to this year’s exercise sufficient time to understand their stress test results and make any necessary changes to their capital plans, we expect banks to wait until after U.S. markets close on June 29, 2020, to publicly disclose any information about their planned capital actions and stress capital buffer requirements. Doing so will provide for a more orderly dissemination of information to the public.

…. It just so happens that Goldman Sachs is set to pay out a dividend of $429.86 million on – wait for it – June 29. That will be its second dividend payment in that amount this year ….”

Say good-bye to our wealth

The 2008 bailout was passed against overwhelming public outcry. The low rates were supposed to be temporary. Yeah right! This graph shows the interest rates on 10-year treasuries since 1-1-2000.

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