We want to make two points from our posts yesterday---first, Elizabeth Warren is KNOWN to be a specialist in BANKRUPTCY LAW and indeed while in Texas and then at Harvard she was central in writing corporate bankruptcy law being BFF with Romney the corporate bankruptcy raider and Trump the corporate bankruptcy KING. Global Wall Street and national media never mention this but make Warren the populist leader of the 99%. Want to bet Warren was not tied to writing RING FENCING FOR CORPORATE BANKRUPTCY?
While Ring Fencing policy used by left social progressives to protect CITIZENS AND TAXPAYERS from losing their tax revenue and having fraud and corruption kill social programs and projects-----of course global Wall Street corrupt that term when applying it to corporate profit-making.....it is used to skirt corporate debt and worker's benefits.
What is Ring Fencing?
The phrase “ring fencing” refers to steps taken to make a subsidiary “bankruptcy-proof” or “bankruptcy remote.” Ring fencing is supposed to shield the assets of the subsidiary from the bankruptcy of its parent or affiliates and allow the subsidiary to obtain or maintain a “standalone” credit rating substantially higher than the lower credit rating of its parent.
Below we see an article by ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE---that is the global 1% ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE UNITED NATIONS group pretending to be left social progressive when they are representing the FDR side being that GLOBAL WALL STREET ROBBER BARON. Here we see mention of Warren with the CFPB making it sound as if it will protect the 99% of citizens from bad financial practices. Notice CFPB has not mentioned these several years of massive US Treasury bond fraud or the fact that private and public pensions have again been attached to these fraudulent bonds? CFPB is built to protect one corporation's assets from fraud or trade violations by ANOTHER CORPORATION.
JUST AS IN 1990s ----this is how Clinton far-right Reagan neo-liberalism was made to sound left social progressive and it was all propaganda. Again, GLOBAL IVY LEAGUE HARVARD does not hire as professors people creating populist laws.
'What Warren did with the CFPB'
Finance & WealthPolitics
How Elizabeth Warren Put Bankruptcy on the Progressive Map
By Roosevelt Institute | 09.15.11Share:
http://bit.ly/1Pb4AFDShe’s already had a knack for raising the profile of ignored but important issues, and the office of U.S. Senator can act as an even bigger megaphone.
Elizabeth Warren, who yesterday announced her candidacy for the Senate in Massachusetts, is best known as the inventor and rightful director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In that role, and in appearances on The Daily Show, her disarming charisma — made up of equal parts moral commitment, intellectual firepower, and a sense that she’s listening as intently as she’s talking — became familiar to millions.
But I still think of Warren at least as much for a role she played earlier in the decade: bringing the issue of bankruptcy into the public debate, most notably in the Warren Reports, which she and some of her students and protégés at Harvard Law School set up as a subsection of Josh Marshall’s Talking Points Memo blog in 2005. The Warren Reports set bankruptcy reform, which passed Congress that year, in the context of middle class families’ struggles to stay afloat in the economy. It showed us how bankruptcy — the chance to start over after a financial disaster — is as essential a part of the social safety net as unemployment insurance or savings.
What Warren did with the CFPB — put forward a specific policy idea and watch it pass into law — is rare enough, given the American political system’s resistance to good ideas. But what Warren did with bankruptcy is even more impressive. She took an entire issue that had no political salience whatsoever and helped make it matter. Bankruptcy was a classic example of an issue that had no constituency in the world of narrow interest groups except for the credit card companies and banks, all big political donors, that wanted to make it much harder for people to declare bankruptcy and start over with manageable debts. Unions didn’t think it was important (it would affect their members, but not the unions themselves); anti-poverty groups were more focused on federal programs and most bankruptcies affected the working middle class, not the very poor; health care advocates knew that health crises were a leading cause of bankruptcies, but it was not their issue. A handful of bankruptcy lawyers pushed back, but they were plainly self-interested and no match for the credit card behemoths. Members of Congress, including many Democrats (especially those from states that you might see on the return address of a credit card solicitation), voted to tighten bankruptcy laws year after year before the bill finally passed, and rarely did they hear a protest from a constituent or an activist.
But Warren, her TPM blog, and her other activism helped put the issue on the radar for the emerging “netroots.” The most useful contribution from the online activists of the netroots has been to break that single-issue interest group model of progressive politics and look more comprehensively at everything that matters for the middle class and working poor in America as a whole. They don’t say, “That’s not my issue” if it’s important. Key netroots blogs of that period, such as Daily Kos and Mydd.com, picked up Warren’s message and began to blast Democrats who had voted for bankruptcy reform, and it was a major issue in Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards’ successful 2008 primary challenge to Rep. Al Wynn. The bill had passed by then, unfortunately, but at last the issue mattered. Reversing the changes to bankruptcy law reform is now a major progressive priority.
I assume that lots of Warren’s friends have asked her why she would want to bother being a senator. Until they become committee chairs after three or four terms, or unless they can wedge themselves into the position where they are the critical 60th or 50th vote on key legislation like Ben Nelson of Nebraska (the most conservative Democrat), each senator has very little clout. Former governors, accustomed to the limitless power of the executive, often chafe at the endless talk and indecision. But a very few Senators are able to have an impact far greater than their institutional clout because they ignore institutional power and treat the Senate as a platform for ideas. That’s what Paul Wellstone did at the peak of his career (although it took him a while to figure it out), or the great liberal figures of the 1980s and earlier, Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio and William Proxmire of Wisconsin. On the right, Jesse Helms did much the same thing. Because any senator can introduce any amendment at any time, and with a subcommittee she can hold hearings on almost anything, she can force debates that the American political process doesn’t want to have. Combine that with a good use of all the external platforms that are available to a person with the words “U.S. Senator” before his or her name, and it can become an enormous megaphone for what Warren did with bankruptcy and the CFPB: putting an issue or an idea on the agenda. And if she’s elected, she might show some of her colleagues that if they want to make a difference, they have to do more than sit around and vote in committee meetings.
Mark Schmitt is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Fellows Program at the Roosevelt Institute.
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Here is Stiglitz----leader of ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE----at the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM FOR THE GLOBAL 1% backing MONEY-LESS SOCIETY.
Roosevelt Institute and Aspen Institute---with CLINTON INITIATIVE are behind all the United Nations protests against Trump and silent about the tremendous repression by CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA and those global human capital distribution systems enslaving global labor pool to Foreign Economic Zones around the world.
These institutions work for the global 1% and their 2%---if they are marching for women or Muslims it is for that global 1% and their 2% ----our Arabic 1% are as enslaving and abusive of their Muslim 99% as Asian nations have been to their 99%.
THIS DIGITAL CURRENCY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FIGHTING CORRUPTION FOR GOODNESS SAKE---GLOBAL WALL STREET IS THAT SOURCE.
Who controls global internet, the technology, and oversight? WORLD BANK, NSA/INTERPOL/GLOBAL CORPORATIONS. Who drove this Robber Baron fleecing of America and US citizens of their personal wealth these few decades? Global Wall Street, global corporations, and their 5% pols and players. Stiglitz is STILL WORLD BANK.
Joseph Stiglitz: US Should Dump Cash And Move To Digital Currency
Written By: Ross Chainey January 18, 2017
India was the ‘test case’ for gong cashless, and it was so successful that the United States is next in the crosshairs. This isn’t about staving off corruption, but rather implementing Technocray. ⁃ TN EditorIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already removed 86% of his country’s currency from circulation in an attempt to curb tax evasion, tackle corruption and shut down the shadow economy.
Should the US follow suit?
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist, thinks so. Phasing out currency and moving towards a digital economy would, over the long term, have “benefits that outweigh the cost,” the Columbia University professor said on day one of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
Stiglitz was speaking in the session Ending Corruption alongside Mark Pieth from the Basel Institute of Governance and APCO Worldwide Founder and Executive Chairman Margery Kraus. Stiglitz and Pieth co-authored a report, Overcoming the Shadow Economy, in November last year.
Quantifying the scale of the problem, Stiglitz said: “You can put it into the context of one of the big issues being discussed in Davos this year – the backlash against globalization, the darker side of globalization … The lack of transparency in global financial markets, the secrecy havens that the Panama Papers exposed, just reinforced what we already knew … There is a global framework for both corruption and tax evasion and tax avoidance.
“The fact that you can hide ill-gotten gains so easily in these secrecy havens really provides incentives for people to engage in this activity as they can get the economic returns and then enjoy the benefits of those returns. If there were not these secrecy havens then the benefits from engaging in these kinds of illicit activity would be much diminished.”
One of the countries that has not done enough to fight corruption is the US, Stiglitz went on to say, and one remedy could be to phase out cash and embrace digital currencies.
“I believe very strongly that countries like the United States could and should move to a digital currency,” he said, “so that you would have the ability to trace this kind of corruption. There are important issues of privacy, cyber-security, but it would certainly have big advantages.”
Stiglitz is not the only Davos economist to make the case for a “less-cash” society. Harvard’s Kenneth Rogoff has argued for two decades that a society awash with cash contributes to the growth of the underground economy. Rogoff believes large-denomination bank notes, rarely used by ordinary people and businesses, should be phased out. “Cash facilitates crime because it is anonymous, and big bills are especially problematic because they are so easy to carry and conceal,” he says in this article.
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Here we have MODI----we spoke of India's Modi when we spoke of Gabbard and Haley as HINDI in US supporting MODI. MODI makes no bones about being far-right wing global neo-liberal ----he is expanding Foreign Economic Zones inside India as fast as he can. India is rebuilding its old CLASS SYSTEM with extreme wealth extreme poverty and these few decades of CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA has seen those East Indian professionals some of the lowest paid in the world.
India would not be a model for America.
India as China would be a good place for a money-less society because their population is so large and almost all of that population is poor----MONEY-LESS.
If we watch which US citizens tie themselves to DAVOS----to UNITED NATIONS----WORLD BANK ---we then know these people are global 1% and their 2%----or those pesky 5% players wanting to be MERCHANTS OF VENICE BUT NEVER WILL.
Modi is right------the global 1% and their 2% will have cash----will have gold and silver-----it will be the 99% in this money-less society.......
"It's correct that a 100 per cent cashless society is not possible. But why don't we make a beginning for a less-cash society in India?" Mr Modi added'.
India to become 'cashless society', PM Narendra Modi hints
'We can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society'
- Samuel Osborne
- @SamuelOsborne93
- Sunday 27 November 2016 14:46 GMT
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said his government understands how millions have been affected by the ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, but used his monthly radio address to defend the policy Rob Stothard - WPA Pool/Getty Images
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has called for the nation to become a cashless society.
Mr Modi urged his country's small traders and daily wage earners to embrace digital payments.
Speaking in his monthly address on national radio, Mr Modi said the government understands millions have been affected by the ban on 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, but defended the policy.
The move is an attempt to fill Mr Modi's election promise of curbing tax evasion and unaccounted wealth.
Indian people queue outside a bank as they wait to deposit and exchange 500 and 1000 rupee notes in Amritsar, India (Getty)"I want to tell my small merchant brothers and sisters, this is the chance for you to enter the digital world," Mr Modi said, according to a translation by Reuters.
He urged them to use mobile banking applications and credit-card swipe machines instead.
"It's correct that a 100 per cent cashless society is not possible. But why don't we make a beginning for a less-cash society in India?" Mr Modi added.
"We can gradually move from a less-cash society to a cashless society."
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WE THE PEOPLE THE 99% simply must know these MONEY-LESS policies are coming from WORLD BANK---DAVOS----and are global banking neo-liberal to understand any citizen or organization promoting them are ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE GLOBAL 1%.
We hope our friends in INDIA are already fighting this----we know there is strong movements against neo-liberalism in India---please don't allow the far-right pretend this is LEFT MARXISM as they did with MAO'S GREAT LEAP FORWARD.
Worst of All Worlds' as Neoliberal BJP Wins India Elections in Landslide
Critics say victory of Hindu nationalist party and ascendancy of Narendra Modi put nation on perilous course
by
Jon Queally, staff writer
TRS adopting Modi’s neo-liberal policies: Brinda Karat
THE HANS INDIA | May 20,2017 , 04:43 AM IST
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(File Image): CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat
Hyderabad: CPI (M) politburo member Brinda Karat on Friday criticised the TRS-led State government in Telangana for its dismal record as far as distribution of lands to the tribal people under Forest Rights Act (FRA) are concerned.
Speaking at the Meet-the-Press organised by the Telangana Working Journalists Forum (TWJF) here, Brinda Karat said the TRS government headed by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had been following the polices being pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre.
Expressing solidarity of her party with the farmers agitating for better price for chillies in Telangana, she said the apathy on the part of the State government in regard to release of pending wages to workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) reflected the attitude of the government.
She said that restructuring the bank loans to the tune of Rs 72,000 crore to a single corporate house and providing additional loans was being encouraged by the Central government which was pursuing neoliberal
liberal policies. “Waiving of farmers’ loans to the tune of Rs 75,000 crore was projected as sending a wrong message by the chairman of the NITI Ayog,” she said.
Reiterating her party’s stand on the contentious triple talaq, Brinda Karat called it retrograde and obnoxious.
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Here we have GABBARD----long-time far-right wing global Wall Street Clinton neo-liberal our national media allowed to simply pretend to FEEL THE LEFT SOCIAL PROGRESSIVE BERN-----she is indeed far-right wing and that is why she is on Trump's team.
When Bernie et al embrace Gabbard as part of OUR REVOLUTION---they are not talking about a revolution of WE THE PEOPLE----they are speaking to that 1960s bloodless revolution creating ONE WORLD ONE GOVERNANCE GLOBAL 1% RULE.
It is HAWAII that is bringing these BASIC INCOME----we are sure we will see CASHLESS SOCIETY -----all the time calling it LEFT MARXISM.
'By now, Gabbard has left any ambiguity about her religious beliefs behind. She identifies as a member of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism Sect of the Hindu faith.
It’s a faith she shares with India’s leader, Narendra Modi. But they share more than that— they share a hard-right political philosophy that is at odds with Gabbard’s perceived role as a liberal touchstone in the Democratic Party'.
Our OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE GLOBAL 1% FREEMASONS are NOT religious---they simply use religion against WE THE PEOPLE THE 99%. So, we see MERCHANTS OF VENICE FREEMASONS are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindi.....forgot Buddhist. The 99% wanting to protect their religions need to shake these global Wall Street players out of their leadership.
This is how the 99% always gets into trouble---they look at a candidate and say----I'll vote for him/her because-----she's a woman----he's a Catholic----she's gay------he's a corporate executive-----NONE OF THAT tells us where they will stand on public policy---if they are tied to these global 1% groups they DO ANYTHING GLOBAL 1% TELL THEM.
Tulsi Gabbard Is Not Who You Think She Is
From homophobia to Islamophobia to cultism, she is no progressive's dream.By Eoin Higgins | November 22, 2016 | 9:12am
Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Politics Features Tulsi Gabbard
To some progressives, the news Monday that Tulsi Gabbard was meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump for consideration of a position in his administration must have been confusing.
Gabbard’s February 2016 endorsement of Bernie Sanders’ quixotic run for the Democratic nomination for president involved publicly resigning her seat as DNC Vice Chair. Her name has been floated as a possible candidate for 2020. And at a glance, her positions seem in line with the liberal wing of her party.
But a deeper look at Gabbard’s political career shows that she is devoted to attaining power and to the perpetuation of extremist, fringe ideology. She adopts and sheds extremist positions at will, but one thing remains constant: her consistent embrace of hard-right politics.
The 35-year-old Congresswoman from Hawaii was raised in a politically powerful household. Her father, Mike Gabbard, is a well-known firebrand in Hawaiian politics— his most beloved issue is a virulent rejection of homosexuality and gay rights.
The younger Gabbard protested against a bill advocating civil unions during her tenure in the Hawaii Congress, holding up signs decrying the proposition. The bill eventually stalled.
Gabbard replied to a request for comment on her father’s connections with cult leader Chris Butler (more below) in 2004 with an oddly worded email accusing Honolulu Magazine of a homosexual conspiratorial attempt to discredit her father.
“I smell a skunk,” [Gabbard] wrote. “It’s clear to me that you’re acting as a conduit for The Honolulu Weekly and other homosexual extremist supporters of Ed Case.”
This political position held until 2012, when she made an about face and declared she supported gay rights— just in time for the election for Hawaii’s 2nd District. And that wasn’t the first time she had shed a piece of her past in order to make herself more palatable to voters.
Gabbard’s first marriage, to a man named Eduardo Tamayo, lasted from 2002 to 2006. Tamayo and Gabbard were both involved with a man named Chris Butler, the leader of a Hare Krishna spinoff called the Science of Identity Foundation that is located in Honolulu County.
The Hawaii Free Press notes that a number of Butler-connected Hawaiians have contributed to Gabbard and that her involvement with the cult is still an open question.
Gabbard has scrubbed all mention of her past with Butler’s cult, and with Tamayo, from the internet. The only evidence that is publicly available that Tamayo and Gabbard even know each other— excepting her Wikipedia page— is from anti-cult site Flashlight on Roaches. It’s grainy, but it does show the two together. It’s also the only known photo of Tamayo that is publicly available.
Today, Gabbard would prefer not to be known for her Butler-cult related past. The only way to find it is to dig deep into Hawaiian-centric newsletters and publications. But for those in Hawaii, it’s an omnipresent part of her political and social history. As the Honolulu Civil Beat reported on March 16, 2015:
The Gabbard family’s ties to Butler still hound her — in the hallways of the Hawaii State Capitol, on blogs of political observers, on pages of online discussion forums, and in commentary sections of various news sites, including Civil Beat’s.
Now, the mysterious world that’s been swirling around Gabbard all her life is coming under closer scrutiny as the 33-year-old congresswoman’s stature on the national stage steadily rises, and her views on national and international issues — whether she’s standing up for veterans or challenging President Barack Obama over his stance on the Islamic State — continue to draw the media spotlight.
By now, Gabbard has left any ambiguity about her religious beliefs behind. She identifies as a member of the Gaudiya Vaishnavism Sect of the Hindu faith.
It’s a faith she shares with India’s leader, Narendra Modi. But they share more than that— they share a hard-right political philosophy that is at odds with Gabbard’s perceived role as a liberal touchstone in the Democratic Party.
Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, is well known in India for his hardline right wing politics. He was the governor of the state of Gujarat during riots in 2002 that killed over 2,000 Muslims. Modi has always skirted around his level of responsibility for the violence; on the one hand he can appeal to moderates by claiming ignorance, on the other his claims of ignorance are delivered with winks to the country’s more extremist right-wing elements.
Modi relies on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, for political backing. The BJP and RSS’s actions have been repressive and violent and involve a complete distortion of historical and material reality in order to maintain their control of the state.
The RSS-BJP alliance also uses the fears and prejudices of the majority Hindu Indian population against Muslims to ensure its hold on power. And those views are views that Gabbard shares with them— despite her framing of herself as a peaceful warrior.
A major part of Gabbard’s political story is her military service. Gabbard joined the Hawaiian National Guard in 2002 and served in Iraq in 2004. Since returning to the US, she has advocated for a less muscular and antagonistic US role in the world. As far as it goes, this is fine— she opposes US intervention in the Middle East, generally, and argues against the use of drone strikes and the NSA’s surveillance programs.
Gabbard’s relationship with Modi is well documented in Indian publications. Her admiration of the authoritarian leader is the subject of multiple interviews, where she consistently affirms her support of the Prime Minister and his hardline party. In a three-week visit to India on the invitation of Modi himself, she was treated as a state guest and held private meetings with the Prime Minister and members of his party.
And Gabbard has protected Modi’s interests in the US. She fought against a November, 2015, Congressional bill mentioning his role in the Gujarat massacres, decried the US’s refusal to issue a visa for the controversial leader before 2014, and supported efforts to rewrite Indian history from a Hindu-supremacist viewpoint in US textbooks.
She has worked to relax restrictions on Indian immigration to the US even as she joins with Trump’s rhetoric in attempts to refuse allowing Syrian refugees into the country. And her views on Islam mirror those of Modi’s— both insist that identifying the faith of Islamists is of paramount importance in fighting extremism (not of Hindu extremism, of course).
Gabbard quickly flipped on Donald Trump. When Trump appointed white nationalist Stephen Bannon as his Senior Strategist two weeks ago and 169 Congressional Democrats opposed the move, Gabbard’s name was notably missing.
Perhaps it’s because Gabbard is, once again, jettisoning political beliefs that are no longer useful in her quest for power. It could be that Sanders and the Democrats are no longer helpful to her career, like her father’s homophobia and her public cult-connected marriage. So they must go so Gabbard can continue her rise.
That’s a likely scenario. But it only works if you remember that the other constant in Gabbard’s career is an attraction to hard-right political positions. Even those positions she eventually leaves behind are replaced with more extreme positions—her anti-gay activism replaced with Islamophobia, her ties to a Hawai?i-based cult replaced with ties to Hindu extremism.
News media have reported that Gabbard is under consideration for a position with the Trump administration, that her meeting with the president-elect was more than a bipartisan discussion—it was a job interview.
Given what we know about Gabbard’s attraction to the extreme right and her thirst for power, a place in the Trump administration won’t come as a surprise. It’s par for the course.
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Here we have ground zero for the subprime mortgage loan fraud ----all mortgage originator corporations and regional banks peddling subprime mortgage fraud were bundled into WELLS FARGO.
WELLS FARGO is that CA bank now leading the way to CASHLESS SOCIETY starting to close its brick and mortar banks while national media pretend they are closing those banks because politicians are being MEAN TO THEM.
If we know the history of WELLS FARGO----it is tied to the earliest banking in US and it was central in establishing the US FED at the time of last century's ROBBER BARON frauds....those ROARING 20s----that economic crash-----that GREAT DEPRESSION.
Our US media ---our captured political parties will not tell WE THE PEOPLE all this will lead to US looking like MAOIST CHINA---but it does. MAO and his wealthy family continued to be those OLD WORLD MERCHANTS OF VENICE global 1% while MAO played at being a revolutionary workers' leader.
Remember ZERO HEDGE is a right wing investment media outlet so they are not writing populist articles----but they do good economic policy discussion
Wells Fargo: Who Says Crime Doesn't Pay
by Tyler Durden
Sep 18, 2016 12:41 PM
Unless you’re one of the few people still watching CNN, you may have missed what can only be one of the most scandalous in-house criminal activities to be uncovered at a bank. And not just any bank. It happened at none other than Wells Fargo, which, up until the scandal was revealed, was the number one bank (as measured via its market cap) in the U.S. The scandal? Here are just a few highlights as reported. To wit:
“On Thursday, federal regulators said Wells Fargo (WFC) employees secretly created millions of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts — without their customers knowing it — since 2011.
The phony accounts earned the bank unwarranted fees and allowed Wells Fargo employees to boost their sales figures and make more money.
“Wells Fargo employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses,” Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement.”
And to use CNN’s own words to describe it: “The scope of the scandal is shocking.”
How shocking you may ask? Fair enough, here’s a little more from their reporting…
“The way it worked was that employees moved funds from customers’ existing accounts into newly-created ones without their knowledge or consent, regulators say. The CFPB described this practice as “widespread.” Customers were being charged for insufficient funds or overdraft fees — because there wasn’t enough money in their original accounts.
Additionally, Wells Fargo employees also submitted applications for 565,443 credit card accounts without their customers’ knowledge or consent. Roughly 14,000 of those accounts incurred over $400,000 in fees, including annual fees, interest charges and overdraft-protection fees.”
As scandalous as all the above is, what is far more insidious, is the damage it inflicts (once again) upon the very fabric of free market capitalism, trust in laws, and last but not least: trust and belief in actual contrition. i.e., “No we’ve really changed, really!”
Something strange is going on in the financial system. And according to The Wall Street Journal, it’s causing some investors to move massive amounts of money out of the banking system.
As I implied, that “trust” has just been obliterated by the very people and institutions that created the last crisis in the first place. e.g., Banks, bankers, boards, and the very CEOs that run them.
Yes, I said it: i.e., Not some intimate object such as “bank.” But the very people who work there; from low-level staff, all the way up to the top as made evident in this latest banking scandal.
Again, as egregious as these revelations may be. What has been far worse (in my opinion) is the way the bank (Wells Fargo) handled this whole sordid affair both during, as well as after the fact.
As reported by the WSJ™, CEO John Stumpf defended his firm with this gem of damage control retort. To wit:
“There was no incentive to do bad things,” Mr. Stumpf said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. He called the conduct that led to last week’s settlement with federal and local authorities “not acceptable,” adding that the bank doesn’t “want one dime of income that’s not earned properly.”
Here’s a tip for Mr. Stumpf, (after all, it is what I do) if that’s the best you could come up with at that time, not only should your PR team be fired along with the 5300 others you’ve dispatched. But so should you. Immediately.
Not only did you not show a minuscule of righteous indignation – you seemed to bend-over-backwards as to defend the payment of (wait for it…) $125,000,000.00 as a parting gift to Carrie Tolstedt, who has been reported to have been the executive in charge of the unit where all this fraud took place. You know, the division where “sandbagging” customers continued long enough to have created its own internal moniker. Absolutely disgusting and shameful. Period.
It has been said that Ms. Tolstedt’s timing to exit was a result of “personal decision to retire after 27 years” with the bank. Geez, I wonder why. Yep, nothing to see here, move along. Just pathetic.
When asked about clawing it back? (Insert non-committal, illogical, double speak here) But if you need to hear what Mr. Stumpf thought about her back in July:
“Tolstedt’s team is a leader in building and deepening customer loyalty and team member engagement across the business, which today serves more than 20 million retail checking households and 3 million small business owners, and employs 94,000 team members.”
It would appear “sandbagging” pays, no?
I suppose everyone was rewarded, even those at the top by the “added shareholder value” produced by such a “team player.” Everyone that is – except the poor customers who trusted one of the largest banks in the U.S. to be watchful stewards of their money, and personal identities. No, it would appear they were preyed upon like minnows thrown into a shark pool. Glad we have all that Dodd-Frank type stuff enacted so people could once again “trust” the banks and their bankers. But I digress.
If the CEO (e.g., Mr. Stumpf) would have hit the news wires first in some form of scathing rebuke of not only the people involved, but the audacity that the people at the very top of this scandal (which, in my analysis, directly implicates him either by willful ignorance or just plain incompetence) could walk away veritably unscathed with $millions to-boot? There might, and I say “might” have been a chance for credibility of deniability. But now it looks far more like implicit, willful, ignorance more than anything else. i.e., “Hey, her numbers are good – don’t ask questions. By the way, have you seen our latest stock price?!”
Because of this, it is my sentiment, that both Wells Fargo, as well as its CEO, have added their images to be poster-child’s in the growing list of what crony capitalism produces.
What the CEO (i.e., a true CEO with an ethical backbone) should have done was to come out swing with something along the lines of the following:
“This scandal is not only repugnant, it is unconscionable that some of the employees, some that I personally trusted and regarded highly, have been found to have violated our customers trust, along with our own, with criminal activity.
I have recommended to the board, and our legal team, to do everything in our power to claw-back every single dime possible that we have paid out seemingly under false pretenses, whether they were in the form of salary or bonuses. And, I want every possible criminal charge brought forth against them that may be applicable. Yes, even those which may result with the need of time being served. Let me be clear: against everyone responsible.
This is a blatant urination upon the sacred trust that is supposed to be upheld when a customer, regardless of how large or small, deposits funds or opens credit terms at any bank. Not just Well Fargo. This is unacceptable and it must not go unpunished. And I won’t rest with anything less than the full repercussions that the law can provide.”
Did you hear, read, or see anything resembling 10% of what I just stated? Hint: Nope.
Read the above quotes I referenced earlier as a reminder. Makes you want to run out and open an account and dispense with any of that troubling, filthy vehicle known as cash that far too many so-called “smart crowd” intellectuals are touting you should do. Doesn’t it? i.e., Don’t trust cash – trust the bank. Only criminals care about cash.
The only problem that now appears with that logic? It seems those criminals are within the banks just waiting for one to “hand it over.” That’s a reality which is now becoming downright frightening. Just imagine what Jesse James would think about all this. It’s down right laughable if it wasn’t so infuriating.
And, by-the-way, if you’re concerned about such things: you’re insulted or portrayed as some type of “alarmist” (or worse – you must be a criminal) if you dare argue against the idea of a cashless society and the inherent problems contained within the theory.
Take the latest insult to intellect as proposed by Ken Rogoff, a chaired economics professor at Harvard, and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
In his case against cash, Mr Rogoff likes to build his case for a “cashless society” around all the boogeymen an Ivory Tower can muster. James Grant of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer™ wrote a cogent, scathing rebuke of Mr. Rogoff’s thesis. Here is just one line, yet, notice how perfectly it fits into this whole story. (The entire article is a must read) To wit:
“Terrorists traffic in cash, Mr. Rogoff observes. So do drug dealers and tax cheats. Good, compliant citizens rarely touch the $100 bills that constitute a sizable portion of the suspiciously immense volume of greenbacks outstanding—$4,200 per capita. Get rid of them is the author’s message.”
That’s right. Mr. Rogoff want’s you to deposit that filthy cash into a bank as to keep it out of the hands of criminals. The issue?
Well as of today it seems if you followed his advice and deposited at, oh let’s say, Wells Fargo? What you did in actuality was to hand it over to some greedy, dirty, disgusting criminal within where it was used to fuel criminal activity and self gain for themselves.
What’s the take away from all this? Hint: If there’s going to be criminal activity (as far as academia is concerned) might as well have it inside the bank rather than outside. After all: Criminals hate competing with each other. Whether in digitized currency or actual.
To people like Mr. Rogoff it would seem when it comes to criminality – banks are exempt. I wonder how Mr. Rogoff would feel if it was his “cash” that was suddenly misappropriated when it came time for him to use his ATM card only to find “insufficient funds” displayed when he knew he made a deposit days prior? I would wager he’d want his account closed – and paid in cash – as opposed to a “check” or “balance transfer” if he just found out “the bank” had been playing criminally with his hard-earned money. Bet on it.
Now Mr. Rogoff and his ilk could care less what a person like myself has to say about their ideas. After all, we’re nothing but a bunch on illiterate, economically challenged plebes that need to be herded into doing what “they” believe is “best for us.” Whether it’s in our best interest – or not.
So to that I would like to remind this Ivory Tower set of exactly what transpires when the banking system that issues all those digitized ones and zeros goes into free fall because of the reckless nature of those within that system created. e.g., The Great Financial Crisis of 2008. You know, the one that’s not even 10 years past and is requiring central banks around the world to continue “spinning plates” that would make a circus performer blush as to keep it all from crashing.
In, or about, 2008 during the heat of the crisis with the markets gyrating widely, none other than Mohamed El-Erian then at Pimco™ (someone I have great respect for) said in a televised interview on one of the financial shows I was watching (I’m paraphrasing): “My wife called me and asked me what she should do. I told her to go the nearest ATM and withdraw as much money as possible. For we both had no idea of just how bad things were going to get.”
I just wonder how well Mr. Rogoff’s argument about “cashless” would have stood had he needed to argue that position to Mr. El-Erian during that period? i.e., “Hey Mohamed, tell her not too worry, cash is for criminals and low lifes. She or you don’t need no stinkin’ cash! Have faith, faith in the system, faith in the banks!”
I don’t know what the response might have been, but I bet it could be summed up today in two words: Wells Fargo.
Yeah, I guess those other two words you were thinking of (e.g., FU) might be more appropriate. For I was thinking the same. Yet, on the other hand; don’t they mean the same thing as of today?
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We would shout that the policies and laws are already MOVING FORWARD to MONEY-LESS SOCIETY so don't allow these small issues like systemic fraud already existing in these online systems make you think global Wall Street is worried about the 99% of citizens' bank accounts.
Please watch as more and more corporations, utilities controlled by corporations, and even our transactions with government---for example paying taxes -----BECOMES DIRECT WITHDRAW FROM CHECKING ACCOUNTS.
We know VEOLA ENVIRONMENT is doing this with water bills---we know that ONE ENERGY GRID home energy corporations are doing it with electric, natural gas, solar----and in every case there are growing 99% of citizens shouting these bills are fraudulent and cannot get their money back since it was direct withdrawn . One goal of these policies----it gets rid of those pesky 5% players Robber Barons needed to advance all these frauds.
Of course it is our American poor citizens being tied most to these predatory direct debits especially for utilities---but this is just the start to full-blown money-less society.
America won't go cashless until consumers know their money is safe
A new YouGov report shows that 56% of US adults feel mobile payments increase the chances of fraud and theft
Follow @YouGovUS on twitter and stay up to date with the latest news and results
Whenever fierce rivals join forces, it's usually because they've found peace and reached equilibrium. That, or a new, scarier competitor with the potential to ruin everyone just entered the room.
The latter scenario seems to be playing out in the US financial industry, as several of the nation's largest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp — have teamed up to launch a new payments network called Zelle, which allows millions of customers to instantly send money to each other via their smartphone. The idea, of course, is to challenge the increasingly popular mobile payments app Venmo.
As the race to capture the mobile payments market heats up, a future cashless society seems more likely every day. Indeed, a new YouGov report, titled "Cashing in: US," shows that 35% of US adults predict that America will become a cashless nation within 20 years.
The report, however, also highlights many barriers to reaching that cashless state. First, 72% of Americans still use cash when making in-store purchases. Six in 10 say they use cash at least once per week. Habits like that take time to change.
Fear of the unknown and concerns over security pose more obstacles. The report, for example, shows that the majority of US consumers (56%) feel using mobile payments makes them vulnerable to fraud and theft. Only 5% think mobile payments reduce the chance of fraud and theft, while 13% say it makes no difference.
Additional numbers find that about one in five US adults who aren't using mobile payment apps avoid them because they're concerned about malware steaing their personal information. A similar amount worry about the added consequences that come from losing their device or having it stolen.
At the same time, however, the report also notes that people 55 years old or older make up the bulk of those concerned about mobile payments increasing the chances of fraud or theft. The data suggests that younger generations are less concerned.
In Reuters, Bill Wallace, head of digital at JPMorgan Chase, is quoted as saying the following: "By coming together to offer Zelle, we are providing a large majority of Americans with a safe, fast and easy way to move money." If mobile payments providers hope to bring about the so-called cashless society sometime soon, the data indicates they'll have to put more emphasis on the word safe when addressing the public.
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As with any new policy global banking is putting as much LIPSTICK ON THIS PIG as it can----so it will make everything free---it will pay good interest ---it will give easy lending to move 99% of global citizens onto these VIRTUAL BANKING STRUCTURES.
If we watch our US credit card corporations -----just before our US economy is going to crash---they send out all kinds of zero interest deals sign on new consumers and then when that short time period is over they raise interest rates to 25% RIGHT AFTER THE ECONOMIC CRASH when lots of citizens are losing jobs and income just to strap people to DEBT.
Please don't think we are getting a deal with these global online banking corporations. The goal is indeed MONEY-LESS SOCIETY and if we get any money into those accounts at some point global banking will simply TAKE IT.
PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR ZERO INTEREST CREDIT JUST AS THE ECONOMY IS GETTING READY TO CRASH!
What makes this advertisement twice as insulting to WE THE PEOPLE is it comes from ALLY BANK. Know who ALLEY BANK is? It is the finance arm of GENERAL MOTORS....GM. Global Wall Street pols wrote laws allowing what was to be only a loan for automobiles turn into a subprime mortgage loan fraud vender---imploded GM FINANCE and used this as an excuse to bring GM to bankruptcy just to shed labor union wages and benefits. GM FINANCE was one of the bank bailouts getting millions of taxpayer funding and it came back as this GLOBAL BANK----now trying to take global 99% to ONE WORLD ONE MONEY-LESS SOCIETY.
Five Great Internet Banks
- By Eric Griffith
- November 8, 2011
- 24 Comments
Sick of paying fees to greedy banks? Check out these online-only direct banks where you can do your checking, savings, bill payment, and more--all for a lot less.
Bothersome bank fees can add up, which only encourages desperate financial institutions to try to collect even more of them. For example, Bank of America recently announced plans to charge a $5 monthly fee for debit card use. Thankfully, a customer revolt put a stop to that, and similar plans by Chase and Wells Fargo, to name but two.
The damage was already done, though, as fee-free Internet-based banks saw a huge uptick in customer sign-ups. Todd Sandler, head of product strategy at ING Direct, said the bank recently saw a 43 percent increase in Electric Orange checking account openings. As banks try other ways to raise more millions—such as new checking account fees, fees for excessive withdrawals from savings, and, of course, credit card interest hikes—the number of migrations to lower-cost Internet banks will only increase.
Another term for the so-called "Internet bank" is a direct bank. It doesn't have branches with tellers and drive-up windows, but customers can access money in a number of ways, including snail mail, mobile apps, telephone, Web page, and ATMs. By getting rid of the overhead of brick-and-mortar locations, the direct banks can provide better services, including higher interest rates and fewer or no fees. Customers just have to be comfortable knowing they can't walk up to a teller.
So how did we determine the best of the Internet banks? Though we didn't open up accounts everywhere, we scoured the best sources for online-banking info, sites like BankRate.com, CNNMoney, ConsumerSearch.com, and MyBankTracker, to see what they considered the best. Our list aggregates those Internet banks with multiple mentions and the best user ratings.
Let's face it, no bank is perfect. It's your money they're playing with over there, after all. But that said, we're confident you'll see the least risk picking one of these direct bank institutions for your funds. All five listed here are members of FDIC, except Connexion, which is member of NCUA.
Ally Bank
www.ally.com, 1-877-247-ALLY
Minimum needed to open account: None
Monthly Fees: None
ATM Fees: None – fees charged by other banks are automatically reimbursed at end of the month
Interest Checking: Yes – 0.50% interest on average monthly balance under $15,000; 0.80% interest on balance over $15,000
Online Savings: 0.85% variable APY
Other Fees: $9 for overdraft, $15 for stop payment
Free transfers with other banks, free use of the Popmoney service to transfer funds to friends and family via their email or phone number, free deposit of checks you scan in yourself. Sensing a pattern? Ally Bank offers lots of free services unimaginable with other banks. There's the usual litany of IRAs, money markets, CDs and of course, automobile loans, but the hallmark of Ally is a high-interest online savings account and interest checking. While the MasterCard debit card also has a cash back program with selected retailers, Ally puts the money right back in the account when you spend with the card.
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AND HERE IS GLOBAL ONLINE BANKING IN MARYLAND OF COURSE!
WE THE PEOPLE should not be looking for a deal----we must stop these deregulating policies for banking leaving nothing protecting our money and no way to receive our earnings. The left social progressive policy is repeal all deregulation of US banking and bring brick and mortar community banking back to all US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones
Do we need Wall Street banks if we have global online banking? This is global multi-national banking----since the US is no longer a sovereign nation we lose terms like WALL STREET.
The Penny Hoarder
May 16 · Dang. This bank pays 100 times more interest than our existing checking account!
This Secret Bank Has No Fees and Pays up to 100 Times the Normal Interest Rate
Dana Sitar
December 7, 2015
Disclosure:Some of the links in this post are from our sponsors. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.
I recently made a huge move — from Wisconsin to Florida — but it’s not my first. Before that, I had stints in Seattle, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.
Plus there was a period where I didn’t have any residence at all. I bounced from city to city for about eight months via hotel rooms, couches and lots of goodwill.
To say this lifestyle makes banking a challenge would be an understatement.
I need an easy way to access my cash and an account I can manage from anywhere — but beyond that, my banking needs are pretty simple.
Plenty of institutions offer online banking or brick and mortar branches around the country, but many also come with fees or requirements I don’t want to be bothered with.
I don’t need much from my bank. I’m not applying for loans, traveling internationally or even writing checks, so I don’t want to pay extra for services I won’t use.
That’s why I was happy to discover Aspiration.
Aspiration’s Summit Checking Account is an online-only bank account with no fees, no minimum balance and no minimum monthly deposit.
It yields up to 1.00% interest, which is 100 times more than my existing checking account!
That makes this checking account the perfect place for me to save extra money for things like holiday shopping and travel.
A debit card and free ATMs anywhere in the world make it more accessible than a typical savings account, and the high yield makes it far more lucrative.
I’m sold.
Why I Like This Checking Account
On top of the benefits of the Summit Account, I’m actually impressed with Aspiration as a company. This isn’t a traditional bank; it’s a California startup with a jovial personality that’s sorely lacking in the financial space.
The Summit Account is less than a year old and has been named a “Best Checking Account in America” by Money magazine.
The modern interface of the website makes banking intuitive (can you imagine?!). And the company is not only good at what it does; it’s also fun and socially responsible.
My favorite part of the sign-up process was the little extras that popped up as I navigated the website. I entered my March birth date, and instead of a plain confirmation, I was surprised by the message, “You’re a Pisces! Do you like the ocean?”
I do, in fact, love the ocean! I appreciated the personal touch, something you don’t find from many banks.
Plus, the company’s commitment to “do well and do good” means it donates 10% of its revenue to charity.
Where does that revenue come from if the services are free? All of Aspiration’s services work on a “pay what is fair” model. You choose your price and pay as a “tip.”
When you create an account, you’ll be prompted to choose your tip — a recurring payment up to $6 per month — and you can choose as little as $0.
How to Open a Summit Checking Account
f this sounds good to you, too, you can get started with Aspiration here.
Start by entering your email to secure your spot. Within seven to 14 days, you’ll get an invitation via email to set up your account.
Once you receive your invitation, the whole sign-up process takes about 20 minutes.
You’ll need your Social Security Number (you must be a U.S. citizen to open this account), a state-issued I.D. or passport, and your online login information for an existing bank account.
To open the account, you’ll need to make a one-time deposit of at least $10.
At the end of the sign-up process, you’ll e-sign and receive a PDF of the account agreement. I loved that I didn’t have to print or scan anything — I haven’t owned a printer in years.
You’ll answer some questions to verify your identity online, and if that works, you’ll be set. Based on my answers, the system was unable to verify my identity, so I had to complete an additional step.
I received an email the following day asking for primary and secondary I.D. I took a picture of my driver’s license and obtained a PDF of a check stub. I resubmitted the application, and my account was approved and open within three days.
Tips for Using an Online Checking Account
The Summit Account might not replace your existing bank account, but it can augment your financial benefits. Here are the cool ways I’ve found to use it:
Free ATMsMy favorite perk of the Summit Account is the free ATMs! Users who travel, especially abroad, can transfer money into the account, so it’s available when you need it at no extra charge.
Saving for Special Events
This seems like a great account to save for holiday shopping — but I prefer to use it as a travel fund.
I like to deposit payments from my freelance side gigs into my Summit Account. It’s helped me save for my flights home for the holidays, and now I’m planning a trip to Washington, D.C. for New Year’s Eve and meeting friends in Las Vegas later in January!
The Summit Account offers 1.00% APY on a full balance of $2,500 or more, or 0.25% on a balance below $2,500. Compare that to an average savings account with an interest rate of about 0.06%.
With no fees and no minimum, this is an attractive option for saving small amounts.
Emergency Fund
In addition to saving for special events, this account can be a good place to keep an emergency fund. You can make payments as needed with an Aspiration debit card, via Apple Pay or through Venmo.
Giving to Charity
Best of all, you can give to your favorite causes directly from your Summit Account. Just enter an amount you want to give, and select one or more causes — poverty, water, education, etc.
This should make it easy to start contributing to causes that fight poverty. It’s something I’ve been trying to get around to since college…
Plus, when you refer a friend who opens a Summit Account, Aspiration will donate $25 to your favorite charity and to your friend’s, too. That’s all on top of the 10% the company already donates!
Investing Through Aspiration
In addition to the free, high-yield checking account, Aspiration offers two investment funds for middle-class investors. They are:
- Flagship Fund: This mutual fund has a goal of long-term growth with limited volatility.
- Redwood Fund: This fund invests in companies with sustainable, environmental and socially responsible practices.