Curbing Wall Street

Bain Capital must seem like a Frankenstein monster to Mitt Romney's campaign. Like Mary Shelley's creature, it's stalking its creator just as he's about to claim the thing he loves most. But Bain Capital—and Bain capitalism—isn't Mitt's creation. It was sewed together from the corpses of dead ideals and shocked into life in Washington's political laboratories.

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The Obama White House continues to push for a settlement that would let bankers avoid being punished - or even investigated - for a wave of mortgage-related crimes that includes perjury, tax evasion, and several types of fraud.[1] more »

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Congratulations, Mr. President. This week you followed your increasingly populist rhetoric with some decisive action on behalf of the middle class. more »

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It doesn't matter whether or not you believe in God or which faith you follow if you do. Here's a question worth asking this holiday season: Would Jesus be an Occupy demonstrator?

The Bible suggests that He would.

Radio Free Heaven

A few years ago I was driving through the back roads of Alabama listening to Christian radio and I heard a preacher say that "Satan's name in the world today is 'God As I Understand Him.'

" Oh, yes, people," the preacher said, "You hear his name on a lot of people's lips: 'God As I Understand Him' loves everybody. 'God As I Understand Him' hates prejudice. 'God As I Understand Him' will let you into Heaven if you're a good person."

"But know this, my friends," said the preacher. "When you hear the phrase 'God As I Understand Him' you're hearing someone invoke the name of Satan."

As the white Southern Baptist railed against liberalism I came to a little town where poor African American women were carrying heavy parcels in the blistering August heat. I saw men lined up outside an unemployment office and people waiting for buses in the blistering sun. I saw run-down shacks, closed storefronts, and vacant lots.

The preacher was saying that God can only be found through institutionalized churches, the kind that tell their followers how to vote. As he droned on I saw hunger, deprivation, and poverty all around me.

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The Obama Administration announced a $335 million settlement deal with Bank of America to settle charges of discriminatory lending practices. Here is, in ascending order of importance, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Justice Department deserves praise for responding to illegal bank behavior more aggressively than it's done in the past. So does the Occupy movement, and so do the many Americans who have expressed their outrage over the lack of prosecutions and sweetheart bank deals. Without them it's unlikely we'd be seeing a deal like this at all.

But while the Justice Department has taken a first step, the proposed agreement seems designed to do only the bare minimum its framers hoped would be needed to quell public outrage. While it will be sold as bold and decisive, it's not. In fact, this deal perpetuates some of the worst failings of past settlements the government's made with big banks.

As we said, it has good features. But where it's ugly, it's very ugly indeed. Hopefully the judge who reviews it will bear that in mind. more »

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The President has adopted the language of the 99%, and it's paying off for him. He's surged from a position slightly behind Mitt Romney in last month'sCNN polling to a 52%-45% lead against the Republican this week. more »

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Lately we've been hearing some strong words from President Obama about Wall Street crime. But when the cameras and lights aren't around, his administration's been working feverishly to protect bankers from state law enforcement officials. more »

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Yesterday on RT Television we discussed the latest poverty figures, the increasingly visible camps of homeless people, and the nationwide crackdown on the Occupy movement. How do we keep the pressure on Washington to address economic issues? What's next for the movement?

The rising poverty figures show an economy that's in an ongoing process of decay. That won't change until the government reasserts its role in correcting economic inequity, providing an adequate social safety net, and ensuring avenues of economic opportunity and growth.

The video is below. They were having communication problems, so I sat in a studio in front of a laptop and did the interview via Skype. Hence the broadcast quality ... more »

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No financial executives have gone to jail, despite an overwhelming body of evidence indicating that a group of organized "banker gangs" conducted a widespread Wall Street crime wave that made them rich and while throwing millions into poverty. more »

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