Perp Walks Instead of Bonuses

by Robert Scheer

There must be a criminal investigation of the AIG debacle, and it looks as if New York's top lawman is on the case. The collusion to save this toxic company in order to salvage the rogue financiers who conspired to enrich themselves by impoverishing millions is being revealed as the greatest financial scandal in U.S. history. Instead of taking bonuses, the culprits should be taking perp walks.

I'm not just referring to the swindlers in the Financial Products Subsidiary of AIG who devised and sold those insurance policies on derivatives that brought the world economy to its knees. They do seem deserving of a special place in hell, and presumably the same divine power that according to Scripture labeled usury a high moral crime and threw the money-changers out of the temple will consider that outcome.

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Does anyone think it funny that the Bernie Madoff prosecution is over? The biggest fraud in human history and they wrapped up the case in months. Peacenik smells a coverup. Thousands of financial crimes have been committed and no one is getting arrested. Just Bernie. Is anyone even investigating the crimes? Obama is more interested in pasting together a corrupt defunct financial system that fixing anything. It is laughable to hear and read the rosy predictions that all will soon be well. No one has gone to jail. No new regulations have been made. Zombie banks continue in a zombie state. Bankrupt companies are allowed to fudge their books to pretend to stay alive.

And the Globe today headlines that major Canadian companies can't meet their pension obligations. And Chrysler wants to pay Canadians Chinese wages or they'll pull out of Canada. Peacenik wishes someone would tell these companies to just fuck off.

U.S. mortgage insurers press Ottawa to fully guarantee policies

GREG MCARTHUR AND JACQUIE MCNISH
January 19, 2009

U.S.-based mortgage insurance companies are pressing the federal government to fully guarantee their home insurance policies in the pending federal budget to expand their market and possibly help resuscitate Canada's struggling real-estate market.

According to people familiar with the lobbying campaign, two leading mortgage insurers, Genworth Financial and American International Group, are fighting to raise existing government guarantees of private mortgage insurance to 100 per cent from the 90-per-cent level that has been in existence since the late 1980s.

Such a move would make the federal government ultimately liable for all of the hundreds of billions of dollars in insured mortgage debt.

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Reading this story this morning in the Globe and Mail almost made Peacenik's head explode. Peacenik can barely type. What is missing from this story? How about some background about how the U.S. insurers lobbied their ideological buddies in the Harper government to first allow insane lending policies in Canada. Polices that directly led to the housing fiasco that is at the heart of the world wide finanancial crisis. Oh, and no mention that AIG is bankrupt. AIG has received billions, Peacenik has lost track, of dollars in a bailout from the U.S. government. AIG is at the centre of the black hole of bad debt. It has so many toxic assests on its balance sheet that it may not survive. And here it is shamelessly lobbying the Canadian government to create policies that are proven to be bad. Peacenik needs to calm down. AIG needs to shut its pie hole.