The elitists, rich, powerful, politically connected never really get pursued by the SEC. If it’s an individual case there isn’t enough evidence. If it is firms like JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citicorp or Bank of America, etc., they pay a fine and it all goes away. Seldom do insiders like Ken Lay get pursued criminally. They are only pursued when there is no other choice.
Yes, the SEC engages in selective enforcement. Now two Senate Committees are investigating whether the commission staff, rather then pursuing possible insider trading by the hedge fund, Pequot Capital Mgt., held back when it came to taking the testimony of John Mack, who had briefly worked at Pequot, about his dealings with Pequot’s founder, Arthur Samberg. We covered all this some time ago due to the testimony of former SEC Attorney, Gary Aguirre, who was fired for wanting to pursue the matter. Mr. Mack is an insider elitist, with major juice and political clout. Thus, Aguirre was fired for doing what he was paid to do. The SEC is totally corrupt and has been since its inception in 1934. They are used as political exterminators against those who government wants out of the way or destroyed.
Neither Mr. Mack nor Mr. Samberg will see enforcement action against them because they are insiders.
Fortunately, the Senate Finance & Judiciary Committees are pursing their investigations of the matter. Unfortunately, we believe they will go nowhere. Our bought-off and compromised Congress will do nothing because the elitists control our government.
The change in plans and change in direction of George Bush since James Baker III entered into the scene has been startling. Our president has fled the field from ‘stay the course’ signaling not just the un-winability of his war, but also the bankruptcy of his political strategy. Everything has become fuzzy. When ‘stay the course’ left the scene so did ‘cut and run”. Bush’s accusation of Democrats being all over the place in Iraq doesn’t hold water as George is vacating the field as well. Some Republicans are now calling for Balkanization. The result for Republicans is it’s every man or woman for themselves.
The option backdating scandal is adding up, costing the involved companies $10.3 billion total in lost share price and additional compensation expenses and their collective market value has dropped $5.1 billion since disclosure.
Corporate corruption and fraud knows no bounds. 153 companies have disclosed backdating problems just since March - that is more than 600 corporate officers who got caught defrauding their companies.
As the cost of college skyrockets and the federal government limits how much it will loan students, young adults increasingly are taking out loans to finance their education. The amount loaned to students nearly tripled between 2001-2006, from $6.1 to $17.3 billion. This trend is especially dangerous, because these loans carry a variable rate of interest and lack the protections of federal loans. That means the student loan is nothing more than another credit card loan. It is not hard to get $50,000 in debt. In the past five years university costs have risen 35% with no end in sight. Federal Stafford loans are limited to $23,000. The government should increase that structure to $50,000. The Pell Grant maximum is $4,500 for three years – a drop in the bucket. It is in the best interest of every American that all who qualify for college attend and hopefully graduate. It enhances our society. Look at what the GI Bill did for America. Congress should extend borrowing limits for college costs because if they do not we will fall ever further behind the rest of the world.