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Forum Post: Petition to reinstate Glass steagall at White house website.

Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 20, 2011, 12:36 p.m. EST by demcapitalist (977)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/re-establish-and-maintain-separation-between-investment-banks-and-commercial-banks/ywCMKDfn

A very short history of banking. In 1907 there was a banking crisis in America. This was based on some wall street trading and the fears that individual banks were insolvent. This caused panics and runs on banks. In responce to this disaster the banks got together and created a central bank the federal reserve in 1913. 16 short years later there was an awful stock market crash that led to the great depression. The crash was caused in part by some inovative wall street products that allowed regular people to borrow a lot of money to purchase stocks. Stocks were pushed higher quickly due to this influx of borrowed money loaned to the middle class. Many of these investors were left with nothing. In responce to this earlier banking crisis, in 1933 there were laws enacted to seperate investment banks from retail banks. This became known as Glass/Steagall. We had a very effective banking system for decades. In 1999 Glass Steagall was repealed. 8 short years later there was an awful market crash that led to the great recession. The crash was caused in part by some inovative wall street products that allowed regular people to borrow a lot of money to purchase houses. Home prices were pushed higher quickly due to this influx of borrowed money loaned to the middle class. Many of these investors were left with nothing. This time there is the added complexity of derivatives and a banking system that keeps some of thier information out of the public view. I think it's time to bring back Glass Steagall and get wall street out of our banks. At the moment there is no way of knowing if the casino wing of your bank has some toxic trade in play that could take down the whole system.

48 Comments

48 Comments


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[-] 2 points by TechJunkie (3029) from Miami Beach, FL 12 years ago

Is Obama supposed to just reinstate this law by decree, after being moved by all of the signatures on the petition? Is that the plan?

[-] 2 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

No I think lets chop the heads off congress first and maybe the new ones we get can do something useful.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

Without petitions, footwork, and a real sense of self determination the people will not have (nor would they deserve) representation to litigate a move to reinstate the Glass Steagall act. This thing is shovel ready ...as they say. lol

[-] 1 points by TechJunkie (3029) from Miami Beach, FL 12 years ago

I'm all for this particular objective. But the way to achieve it is not a petition to the White House. The way to achieve this would be to participate in the democratic process by electing candidates who agree with your concerns.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

I am for a combination of both! 200%!!

[-] 2 points by ineptcongress (648) 12 years ago

guess who forced (by lobbying) the repeal of Glass--Steagall? Citigroup when they acquired travelers insurance... they wanted to increase their profits and become a mega-bank... 5 years later they had divested much of the acquisition.

[-] 4 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

Clinton under the spell of Greenspan's fed.

[-] 0 points by ineptcongress (648) 12 years ago

yes, but his hand was forced.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

You know it's a phenomenon in an up market. Everyone wants a bigger piece of it and everyone is willing to take more risk to get it. That's was the point of Glass Steagall to keep our retail banks away from excessive speculation. Greenspan is really the guy I blame.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

yup, thanks a lot Citigroup, thanks Robert Rubin... Thanks for nothing.


::::::::Robert Rubin The Nexus of Big Government & Wallstreet::::::::

http://biggovernment.com/cgasparino/2009/11/11/robert-rubin-the-nexus-of-big-government-and-wall-street/

-by Charles Gasparino-

For anyone who thinks that big Wall Street and Big Government aren’t joined at the hip, promoting policies and laws that keep each other fat and happy often at the expense of the American taxpayer, consider the career of Robert Rubin.


[-] 0 points by ineptcongress (648) 12 years ago

shit like this has to stop. period.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Petitioning is lobbying. Take part in the Peoples Lobby - Petition.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/your-voice-is-a-vote-you-dont-need-a-lot-of-money-/

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

Kyle Bass: Bring Back Glass-Steagall, Eliminate Off-Balance Sheet Assets, And Cap Leverage At 10X

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22155543/2010-0113-Bass


::::::::::::MUST SEE GRAPHIC - How The Too Big To Fail Banks Were Born::::::::::::

http://dailybail.com/home/must-see-graphic-how-the-too-big-to-fail-banks-were-born.html

This is how the U.S. banking monopoly was created after more than two decades of unbridled bank mergers endorsed, and in some cases, encouraged the by the OCC, the FDIC, the FTC and the elimination of Glass-Steagall.


[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

20,158 signatures. I would call that a healthy start. As of 11:52am 01/04/2012

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

was at # 19,800 on dec 20 2011 when I posted this

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Well it is going in the right direction and fairly quickly as these things go.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

:::::::::::::If We Break Up the Giants, Smaller Banks Will Thrive:::::::::::::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::And Loan More to Main Street::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Banks -Receiving- Government Aid Cut Loans -More-

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2010-04-21-tarp-banks_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Banks that received federal assistance during the financial crisis reduced lending more aggressively and gave bigger pay raises to employees than institutions that didn’t get aid, a USA TODAY/American University review found.


:::::::::::::::The Only Way to Save the Economy: Break Up the Giant, Insolvent Banks:::::::::::::::

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/10/the-only-way-to-save-the-economy-break-up-the-giant-insolvent-banks.html


[-] 1 points by dcosts (69) from St Petersburg, FL 12 years ago

Thank you! I signed the petition..

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

Keep spreading the word. Glass Steagall will Divide Them. Break Up the Too Big To Save Banks

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Don't forget to petition the Justice Department to start prosecuting the economic criminals. There has to be accountability.

This is why we are here this is why you are needed.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/inside-job-documentary/

Share, circulate, educate, inspire.

See also people from all walks of life, from all over the political map "not" supporting a party or leader or group of leaders but "supporting an Ideal".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2Bgqt1YYko

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

Federal RICO Charges would be an appropriate start as well. I suggest people start contacting Attorney Generals to urge them to go ahead, and let them know they have the peoples support to indict.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

Needed to look up RICO ------that would be interesting I spent the last few days reading "The eXile" mark ames and matt taibi bio of their Russian newspaper --interesting ! big mafia type money grab there http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Contact everyone you can think of in Government and the justice system. Let them know that we are waiting for them to do what is right, what is demanded under the law.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

Need to change a few laws. Have you looked at the law regarding derivatives from 2005? here's' a link http://syntheticassets.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/the-no-derivative-left-behind-act-of-2005-1-5/

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Here's a new one. Hope you like.

Check this out could be real good fun.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/irs-could-resellrent-foreclosed-properties/

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

:::::Too Big to Fail Banking Disaster Predicted since 1999 by Congressman:::::

(((Video))) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2RzRv8yQXQ&feature=player_embedded#!

In a speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives in 1999, Congressman Dingell warns against repealing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

He argues that repealing the law would allow banks to become "too big to fail," which would cause instability in financial system. Nonetheless, Congress repealed the law and the nation suffered the tragic consequences of the 2008 financial crisis about a decade later.


[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

I'm so interested in the outcomes in the MF Global case. I don't completely understand The CME but I know a lot of those traders whose money is gone, put their own money on the line to make a market for commodities, unlike Corzine who was getting unlimited leverage from JP Morgan. They were talking today about a law that puts customers first, I guess to overrule that law that puts derivatives first. That would make a big difference in situations like the AIG bailout. Hope I've got all this right, I'm trying to piece it all together from little bits of info. There really ought to be class action home buyer lawsuits as well.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

(((MD: I pasted a portion of an article I have been nosing through recently, below. The portion I found most interesting is this))):

:::A Run On The Global Banking System—How Close Are We?:::

http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/12/run-on-global-banking-systemhow-close.html

.....Rather than being treated as a bankruptcy of a commodities brokerage firm under subchapter IV of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law... http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/11C7.txt ...MF Global was treated as an equities firm (subchapter III) for the purposes of its bankruptcy.

Why does this difference of a single subchapter matter? Because in a brokerage firm bankruptcy, the customers get their money first—because after all, it’s theirs—while in an equities firm bankruptcy, the customers are at the end of the line.

In the case of MF Global, what should have happened was for all the customers to get their money first. Then everyone else—including JPMorgan—would have picked over the remaining scraps. And the monies MF Global had already pledged to JPMorgan? They call it clawback for a reason.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which handled the bankruptcy, should have done this—but instead, the Merc was more concerned with making JPMorgan whole than with protecting the money that rightfully belonged to MF Global’s 40,000 customers.....

(((MD: I'm still trying to make heads or tails of the legalese in subchapter IV of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law)))


Barnhardt: MF Bankruptcy Illegally Filed As "Securities Firm" To Give JP-Morgan Priority Status

(Scroll to the 5:30 mark in the video)

(((Watch Video Interview Here))) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18A698QQex0&feature=player_embedded#!

http://ml-implode.com/staticnews/2011-12-22_BarnhardtMFBankruptcyIllegallyFiledAsSecuritiesFirmToGiveJPMorga.html

-Dec 21, 2011-


(Terrence Duffy's Introduction at CME Group Press Conferecne with Mayor Daley)

Terry announces $100 Billion in Collateral As They are “the guarantor of every transaction that happens in our markets”

((WATCH Terry's empty guarantee a year ago))) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3XpfPXxjbw&feature=player_embedded

(((MD: So I'm left to wonder, was Terry just Lying, or is the situation that MFGlobal customers now find themselves in due to a breach of contract?)))


[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

Interesting questions. Gonna be quite a few lawsuits over this. It's similar to 1929 even the people who we think of as big money start ending up broke or ripped off by each other.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

---ya, If this is true it would implicate a lot of people---

(((Ann Barnhardt ))) "The merc, bankruptcy trustee, and all of these people who organized this bankruptcy fraudulently, illegally, filed this bankruptcy under a chapter 7 of a SECURITIES FIRM, and -Not- as a commodities brokerage."

"This bankruptcy Should Have been filed under sub-chapter IIII of the chapter 7 bankruptcy code, which specifically covers commodities brokerage firms."

"Instead they illegally fraudulently filed this bankruptcy as the bankruptcy of a securities firm."

"What that means is that in a -Securities Firm- bankruptcy, the debtors or the creditors of the company go to the FRONT of the line, and the customers go to the end of the line."

"In a COMMODITIES BROKERAGE Bankruptcy, the CUSTOMERS needless to say go to the FRONT of the line...."

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

I wonder what the rules are for an insurance company? Thinking of that AIG bailout. I know the bondholders and stockholders would have been screwed if AIG went bankrupt, but what about all the policyholders and the cash they put aside for those policies and annuities?

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

..raises eyebrows.. wow that's a really really good point dc

[-] 2 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

LOL ---we don't know because that one got bailed out. It would be nice to know.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

ya but that is a brilliant thought, none the less... If an AIG happens again and it doesn't get bailed out, and people start getting screwed like this... we will have the presence of mind to catch on to it, earlier.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

This is why we are here this is why you are needed.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/inside-job-documentary/

Share, circulate, educate, inspire.

[-] 1 points by BlueRose (1437) 12 years ago

I signed. This is the FIRST petition the site allowed me to sign. Please, try to sign the one about vetoing NDAA, it would not let me!

[-] 2 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

Won't let me eigther

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

The argument for preserving Glass–Steagall (as written in 1987):

(1) Conflicts of interest characterize the granting of credit (that is to say, lending) and the use of credit (that is to say, investing) by the same entity, which led to abuses that originally produced the Act. (2) Depository institutions possess enormous financial power, by virtue of their control of other people's money ; its extent must be limited to ensure soundness and competition in the market for funds, whether loans or investments. (3) Securities activities can be risky, leading to enormous losses. Such losses could threaten the integrity of deposits. In turn, the Government insures deposits and could be required to pay large sums if depository institutions were to collapse as the result of securities losses. (4) Depository institutions are supposed to be managed to limit risk. Their managers thus may not be conditioned to operate prudently in more speculative securities businesses. An example is the crash of real estate investment trusts sponsored by bank holding companies (in the 1970s and 1980s).

(there's also the pro repeal Glass Steagall 1987 opinions on wiki if you have a strong stomach)

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

I bet your reading a book right now.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

LOl wish I had time at the moment

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

-Signed It-

[-] 1 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 12 years ago

Wasting your time with this administration.

Either get your own people in there to raise hell, or wait for something else to come around.

This administration isnt serving you, and the next one wont be either.

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

It's not gonna hurt to have the number on that petition go up

[-] 1 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 12 years ago

True. At least this is specific and achievable. The more I think about it, while I dont think it will lead anywhere, thank you for doing this. Bought politicians and glass steagal should be 1 and 1a with this thing. Keep it up.

[-] 0 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

You may be right but it might make a difference to see some high numbers on that petition --------so we can err on the side of the optimists.

[-] 1 points by MonetizingDiscontent (1257) 12 years ago

~Glass Steagall will Divide them~

::::::::::::The Only Way to Save the Economy: Break Up the Giant, Insolvent Banks::::::::::::

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/10/the-only-way-to-save-the-economy-break-up-the-giant-insolvent-banks.html

The following top economists and financial experts believe that the economy cannot recover unless the big, insolvent banks are broken up in an orderly fashion:

(1) Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz

(2) Nobel prize-winning economist, Ed Prescott

(3) Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan

(4) Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker

(5) Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich

(6) Dean and professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School, and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, R. Glenn Hubbard

(7) Simon Johnson

(8) Former 20-year President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, who was today nominated to be FDIC Vice Chair Thomas Hoenig

(9) President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Richard Fisher

(10) President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Thomas Bullard

(11) Deputy Treasury Secretary, Neal S. Wolin

(12) The President of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a Washington-based trade group with about 5,000 members, Camden R. Fine

(13) The Congressional panel overseeing the bailout

(14) The head of the FDIC, Sheila Bair

(15) The head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King

(16) The leading monetary economist and co-author with Milton Friedman of the leading treatise on the Great Depression, Anna Schwartz

(17) Economics professor and senior regulator during the S & L crisis, William K. Black

(18) Leading British economist, John Kay

(19) Economics professor, Nouriel Roubini

(20) Economist, Marc Faber

(21) Professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the Chicago Booth School of Business, Luigi Zingales

(22) Economics professor, Thomas F. Cooley

(23) Economist Dean Baker

(24) Economist Arnold Kling

(25) Former investment banker, Philip Augar

(26) Chairman of the Commons Treasury, John McFall

[-] 1 points by demcapitalist (977) 12 years ago

If I ruled the world wall street would have to operate in the real free market. Investment banks and hedge funds would not be allowed to borrow money from retail banks or the fed. Retail banks would be allowed to buy CDS but not originate them. Retail banks would be regulated and our deposits would be insured by the FDIC. Wall street would be on it's own so if they over speculate and go bankrupt it would not affect us or our bank deposits.

[-] -1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 12 years ago

Signed and tweeted.