Weighing In: Wall Street Wins Again!
Citigroup received billions of dollars in public assistance for a problem it helped create. Now, according to Jonathan Weil at Bloomberg, see What’s Inside the Government’s Deal with Citigroup? the U.S. Federal Housing Finance agency has decided to settle its case against Citigroup. And, as part of the settlement, the government has agreed to not disclose the terms of the settlement to the public.
Let me make sure I understand this. Citigroup violates securities laws and misrepresents data that creates billions of dollars of losses for American taxpayers. It has been investigated by a government agency that decided a settlement is in the public interest. However, the public does not have the right to know the terms of the settlement.
The government used taxpayer money to bail out Citigroup. It used taxpayer money to conduct the investigation. And it tells taxpayers they have no right to know the details of the settlement. The stench from this closed-door deal takes the collusion between Wall Street executives and their political allies to a new level.
It makes sense that Citigroup wants to minimize damages that were caused by its actions. Prolonged litigation has a way of keeping your name in the paper and not in a good way. It also wants to keep the executives who made the decisions to sell toxic mortgages out of jail. Millions of dollars are paid to corrupt politicians who make sure rules favor Wall Street and not investors or taxpayers.
If you ever believed government agencies existed to protect you, think again. This is a clear example of why you have to protect your own financial interests. Corrupt politicians and greedy Wall Street executives are not going to protect you. They are too busy protecting their own interests.
Tell us what YOU think.
Other posts from Jack Waymire
There have definitely been some reprehensible actions in the private sector, but corruption always stems from the public sector. If it weren’t for the special privileges given to Citigroup by our government, they would never get away with their actions. Limited liability, judicial favoritism, and regulations (no matter how well intentioned they were) are the sources of corrupt action. Citigroup wouldn’t exist in a free market, but it thrives under crony capitalism.