http://truth-out.org/news/item/29151-on-the-news-with-thom-hartmann-too-big-to-jail-banks-may-have-gotten-away-with-more-crimes-than-we-thought-and-more
[video in on-line article]
On the News With Thom Hartmann: HSBC May Have Gotten Away With More
Crimes Than We Thought, and More
Tuesday, 17 February 2015 11:28
By Thom Hartmann, The Thom Hartmann Program | Video Report
Thom Hartmann here - on the best of the rest of Economic and Labor News...
You need to know this. The too-big-to-jail banks may have gotten away
with even more crimes than we thought. According to new details exposed
in the so-called "biggest banking leak in history," HSBC helped their
clients shield billions of dollars in assets from taxes in their home
countries. Not only did that client list include prominent US sports
stars, film directors, hedge fund managers, and major political donors,
but, our government has known about all of this tax dodging since 2010.
The Guardian Newspaper says that the leaked HSBC data was shared with
regulators five years ago, but so far, we haven't seen one single
bankster go to jail over this illegal activity. These leaked documents
show that HSBC regularly allowed clients to withdraw bricks of $100,000
in cash, marketed tax-avoidance schemes to wealthy clients, colluded
with clients to conceal hidden bank accounts, and the bank provided
accounts to known criminals. But, five years after finding out about it,
there hasn't been a single HSBC official put on trial. In fact, even
after HSBC got caught laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, the
banksters were able to buy their way out of those crimes for a couple
billion bucks. Apparently, too-big-to-fail doesn't only mean
too-big-to-jail, it also means that HSBC is too-big-to-prosecute. Sure,
a few of HSBC's US clients have been prosecuted for criminal tax
evasion, but the bank that helped them pull it off is still open for
business. How many times does one company get to break the law before
they are really held accountable? Is there any crime that they can't
simply buy their way out of? We have a few great lawmakers like Senators
Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders who are asking these
tough questions, but every single elected representative should be. No
corporation or bank should be immune from prosecution – and it's time to
make too-big-to-fail mean too-big-to-exist.
According to billionaire Nick Hanauer, stock buybacks are killing our
economy. In a recent piece over at The Atlantic, Mr. Hanauer says that
in the last year alone, corporations spent about $700 billion propping
up their stock prices by buying back shares of their own stock. In past
decades, all the profit would have spread throughout our economy in the
form of higher wages, increased investments in plants and equipment,
taxes, and through the indirect jobs and benefits that resulted. Today,
corporations skimp on wages and benefits, avoid paying taxes, invest in
plants overseas - instead of at home, and buy back their own stock to
manipulate the share price. It's just one more way that corporations
funnel billions in profits to the rich and claim that there's no money
left to give their workers a raise. Thankfully, some are saying that
it's time for a change. In his article, Mr. Hanauer said, "If business
leaders hope to maintain broad public support for business, they must
acknowledge that the purpose of the corporation is not to enrich the
few, but to benefit the many." Hopefully more business leaders are
listening.
If we want to fight inequality, we should fight for single-payer health
care. According to Margaret Chan, the head of the World Health
Organization, "Universal health coverage is one of the most powerful
social equalizers among all policy options. It is the ultimate
expression of fairness." And, some of our lawmakers say that taking the
profit motive out of healthcare may be the only way to fix our broken
system. Despite the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, the new law
still leaves far too many Americans locked out of the system. Millions
of people fall through the cracks because their governors won't expand
Medicaid, or because the corporate executives in charge of their
healthcare find news ways to screw their customers. To fix these
problems, Representative John Conyers introduced the "Expanded and
Improved Medicare for All Act," which would provide healthcare to
everyone and help fight extreme inequality. We can help make economic
and healthcare fairness a reality by supporting this legislation right now.
Nothing is safe from Gov. Sam Brownback's budget cuts. Well, except for
his tax breaks for the rich, of course. In order for the state to pay
its bills in the wake of the $344 million budget shortfall, Brownback
slashed the normal Republican targets like education and pensions. But,
when that wasn't enough, he had to slash his state's prized highway
system to make ends meet. The move isn't likely to play out well with
the governor's rural supporters, and it drew criticism even from
pro-austerity state lawmakers. State Sen. Forrest Knox, one of the most
conservative members of the legislature, said, "When I send out surveys
and say, 'What are the roles of government?' - and this is not just my
district – roads are generally at the top of the list." It appears that
Kansas Republicans are finally recognizing that Brownback's massive tax
cuts make it pretty damn hard to govern. Perhaps now they will wake up
and put a stop to this budget nightmare before it gets any worse for the
people of Kansas.
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