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Subscribe to RSSTo help pay for the $13 billion European bailout, the government plans to take up to 10 percent from all savings accounts, angering those who say they aren't responsible for the economic crisis. CNBC's Sue Herera reports.
Cyprus's parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits as a condition for a European bailout on Tuesday, plunging one of the smallest European states closer to financial oblivion.
The rejection, with 36 votes against, 19 abstentions and one absence, brought Cyprus to the brink of financial meltdown.
But jubilant crowds outside parliament broke into applause, chanting: "Cyprus belongs to its people."
"The voice of the people was heard," said Andreas Miltiadou, a 65-year-old pensioner among the demonstrators.
The European Central Bank said it was in contact with its IMF and EU partners and remained committed to providing liquidity within certain limits.
"The ECB takes note of the decision of the Cypriot parliament and is in contact with its troika partners," the bank said in a statement, according to Reuters. "The ECB reaffirms its commitment to provide liquidity as needed within the existing rules."
The widely criticized bailout deal looked set to collapse despite a last-minute compromise attempt Tuesday.
The European deal could also be scuppered by a furious Russia, which is one of the biggest foreign investors in Cyprus and which stands to be among the biggest losers.
Reuters said the situation had “potentially severe consequences for the rest of the troubled euro zone.”
One analyst told CNBC Russia might even seek revenge by disrupting energy supplies to Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday criticized the bailout as "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous."
There were media reports that Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris, who was in Moscow Tuesday, had resigned, but he told Reuters by text message that there was "no truth" to the claim, which had further rattled nerves over the crisis.
Cypriots awoke Saturday to the surprise announcement that up to 10 per cent of their bank account deposits might be seized as part of a $13 billion rescue package agreed by the European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Banks on the Mediterranean island have been ordered to remain closed until Thursday amid fears of a massive rush to withdraw deposits in advance of the deal, further precipitating a financial collapse that could cause an economic ripple effect throughout the region and beyond.
Thousands withdrew savings over the weekend, emptying ATMs and sending global money markets into a steep dive.
Panicos Demetriades, chief of the country's central bank, told the Cypriot parliament's finance committee Tuesday that banks stand to lose more than 10 percent of their deposit base within a matter of days if a levy on bank deposits is imposed.
The European bailout has been widely criticized by commentators. In an editorial, Bloomberg said it was the “worst” decision of the entire regional financial crisis, while the Economist panned it as "unfair, short-sighted and self-defeating."
Cypriot and euro-zone officials sought to soften the initially proposed levy of up to 9.9 percent, ensuring that deposits below the value of $25,000 were not affected, in order to ease the burden on small savers and overcome lawmaker opposition, CNBC reported.
Adding to the uncertainty, Greek media reports have suggested Russian energy giant Gazprom might offer Cyprus an alternative bailout deal.
Russian citizens account for the majority of the billions of euros held in Cypriot banks by foreign depositors, and Moscow has already given the Mediterranean country a sovereign loan to ease its financial crisis.
Steve Keen, professor of economics and finance at Australia's University of Western Sydney, told CNBC that Russia could retaliate against the perceived proxy attack on its citizens and their money.
"If you try to target the Russians, and there's President Putin acting under the image of the 'strong man' of Russia, why would he not then decide to shut down gas supplies to Germany until that was righted?" he said.
“If you're going to attack money laundering then attack it directly, don't make Cypriot peasants and small businessmen collateral in your campaign against Russian oligarchs. Declare the campaign rather than doing it under the carpet like this too," he added.
Reuters and NBC News' Ian Johnston contributed to this report.
Related:
Cyprus bailout backlash poses little wider risk - for now
Photoblog: 'Hands off' say Cypriot protesters to EU bailout plan
Full business coverage from NBC News
This story was originally published on Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:01 AM EDT
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Here's a stupidly simple solution... take the Cyprus budget... look at the current percentage of income to spending... subtract 5% from that percentage, and multiply every single line item by that new, reduced percentage... then the spending will be 5% less than the income, and Cyprus can start paying on it's debt.... everyone feels the same pain... no single class gets raped...
But then, I forget... progressives run Cyprus... they don't know how to cut spending... just rape the successful....
OR the government of Cyprus could just say FU to Germany and the EU and all the bankers and decide (as the Republican party apparently has) that it is going to default on its debt.
All these smaller countries which have, until now, been taken over by Germany aught to just tell them NO.
The breakup of the EU has started. I hope Putin decides its time to impose a tax on Germany.
LOL
Hello folks, so the bank holiday continues until the Cypriot parliament decides how it's going to rape its citizens.
The Cyprus price tag is relatively small compared with two rescues for Greece worth some 380 billion Euros ($496 billion), Ireland‘s 85 billion Euros, Portugal’s 78 billion and 41 billion for Spanish banks.
This appears to be a beta test to see if the banksters can get away with stealing from the citizens when times get tough. In other words John and Jane Q taxpayer or in Cyprus’s case Chloe and Alexander Q taxpayer are getting taxed on their already taxed money to save the banksters. The European Central Banksters could easily print another 10 billion of monopoly money which is confetti to those crooks. Like I said this is a beta test. The major banks around the world are tied together and if one goes down it could create a domino affect. The Fed gave the ECB a 1.2 trillion bail out in January and another 99 billion at the end of February. Too big to fail and too big to jail.
The silence has been deafening by the western world leaders when asked about the theft tax aberration in Cyprus and they haven’t chastised or definitively ruled out these type of Capital Controls.
This is a clear indication that the banksters will throw the people under the bus to maintain their exorbitant salaries and bonuses.
Remember folks if you don’t have your money in your pocket, you really don’t have it! We should have learned that from the MF Global and PFG frauds.
Or maybe Russia could just buy Cyprus - assume the debts and pay them off. Make the island a resort colony. Make the colony an even more attractive place for foreign depositors, giving the Swiss and other money launderers some real competition. Then double the price for the gas supply to the E.U. (cash in advance, no euros please.)
Then the Cypriots won't need to decide if they are Greeks or Turks - they will all be Russian subjects.
This 10% tax on accounts is just unbelievable! What a miserable way to ruin your country and steal from the people.
By the way, whoever allowed Cyprus into the EU club???? What a joke - and now you get the results for your stupidity.
It's really some chutzpah for Cyprus to believe that Germany has a duty to grant a bailout in the absence of any notion that there is some duty owed or a price to be paid for that generosity! It's the sense of entitlement that is at the core of so many problems world wide! Forget the bailout-- forget the EU-- it's a failure. The underlying problems continuously infecting the EU are that only those that are disciplined and work the hardest lose out and are continuously called upon to assist the undisciplined entitlitists!
That is my thought as well (except I don't think it's just the banks...governments want to see how people would react if they did things like this or tax x% from retirement accounts). I'm glad this is blowing up...if it didn't I'm betting we'd see other European countries take similar steps - and possibly the US in another 5 or 10 years.
The IMF is nothing more than a financial terrorist tentacle of the United Nations, along with G-7, G-8, and G-20.
If the money given to the IMF by member nations is not part of the EuroPIIgs bailouts, it is used for World redistribution to "underdeveloped" nations or to fight Global Warming-Gate.
Yep, the 10% taken from personal bank accounts is nothing more than thievery from a bunch of International crooks. This must be a litmus test to see if the Progressives can do the same thing with 401Ks to pay for their Progressive spending.
Next "personal accounts" will be Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Standby for an European revolution.
I don't think we're in that boat quite so soon Ron,
What the bottom line is that people get used to getting something for nothing. whether that's the bankers' bonuses or the "taker" recipient of gov't largess, or the middle of road taxpayer who's country spends more than it collects in taxes. Once you get used to it for a while, it's hard to give up, and it sure seems unfair to suddenly have to pay.
Without getting too far into whether the "problem" is taxes or spending, the facts are the same. We as citizens of Cyprus or the USA, we're getting more than we're paying for. Whether that's a war, or reduced Medicare drug costs, or a 15% tax rate on qualified dividends, we're either getting too much or paying too little for it.
I'm hopeful this country won't get to the point where they have to shock us with something like this. To get there, we'll have to cooperate, and be honest with ourselves. Think we can do that?
Ido,
...or a tax on wealth that was undertaxed in the first place--which is why the country is broke.
Don't get mad at me for saying it. It's arguable.
Financial concerns - worldwide - are suffering because of the shaky and inadvisable loans they granted, or because they never bothered to examine the worth of the securities they accepted/purchased.
Bad debts (aka "toxic assets") cannot suddenly be transformed into paying assets, and bailouts are merely an additional layer of financial fiction, designed to disguise the truth.
The truth is that money-value has been squandered, stolen, conned away, and embezzled (look up the definition), and that none of the exotic and bizarre 'remedies' is going to make that money reappear.
The only way out is to LET IT CRASH.
This is why a Republic is a failure. 400 people decide what Millions should do. And those elite hundreds have probably 50x more money than those poor million. Bad policy to send a Millionaire to decide tax policy on people making 50k. Yes, I'm calling you voters SUCKERS!
cypress is finding out what happens when you have liberals run your country the hardway.
let me guess though, this problem is happening because of the people who worked, saved money, put it in the bank right? now those people who saved are going to be punished. but hey thats fair right?
Heh, you're right...this is a beta test...and western leaders have been silent. When the banks fall yet again here in America cyclically and we finally run out of options to prop up the ever failing dollar...if political precedence has said anything...they will pursue a tactic like this and, instead, protect those having 250k or more in banks or at least allow them to move the money in time. It will be the poor/average masses who get hit with a tactic like this in the western world, and there will be no effort to protect the average worker from it...even if it was a media @!$%#storm. Our politicians have made that clear.
John the bankers aren't a bunch of liberals. This country and others had a huge crisis because of a bankers' ponzi scheme--the "insured" collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market. Economies around the world crashed because of that, not "liberalism" Give me a break. Crooked bankers--that's where the blame goes.
Regarding who pays for the aftermath, the people who worked and put the money in the bank aren't the ones who created that, but too low taxes (or too many free services) meant they had money to put in the bank. So it's arguable that the more you have in the bank, the more you benefited from the undertaxing system. Thus, you should pay more now. Of course, none of it is fair because of what JMCrowle says, but nevertheless, there is an argument to be made for a "collection." It may be a bad idea in the long run, but there is an argument for it.
Actually, centralized banking is very much progressive/liberal policy (just ask Paul Krugman). In reality, based on whom it ultimately favors (and believe me, it doesn't favor responsible savers, it penalizes them), it is corporatism, not capitalism.
Cyprus is so backward; they should take a lesson from America, just print more, and more, and more money; that is what we do; I guess they do not understand modern finance, debts do not count, print more moneys, lend it out to the banking community so they can invest in the stock market, some country's are just backward; Federal reserve forever!
The Russian mob isn't about to allow some piss ass greedy government officials grab their dough. Can you imagine the threats that were telephoned in?
The productive members of the EU remind me of an animal with tics and fleas devouring it. The little parasites aren't too bad when it's just a few but when a whole swarm of them are at it it could kill the animal.
SmBusOwnerinNY . . .
Great post.
I don't know why everyone keeps associating what is happening in Cypus as something to do with the Democrat party in the US. Amazing how so many can take any subject and point it back to the President.
John Haddock, you are comment spamming all over the place. Stating the same thing over and over doesn't make it any more than it is.
Layton,
You realize what the EU (really Germany and the IMF) came up with was to steal 10% of people's assets over a set dollar amount. Be they foreign or domestic individuals. If you think the tax rates in certain income streams are too low that's one thing. (and something I agree with) But simply stealing an individual or group of individual's (company's) assets overnight is not right, or fair, or moral.
Change the law and deal with it appropriately. Of course the people will just remove their money and go else where, then you'll be deeper in the hole then when you started. But it's your, the government's fault, and austerity ends up being the only way out of this mess. The poor are going to suffer, get use to it. Maybe a few riots and crooked politician's heads on pikes will straighten these failed and 'purchased' Republics out.
The socialist will never go for them taking less of what they already are taking, the only option is to take more from those that have it, its simple, that's why the hard working class have more, its so they can give it to those that want more but are less willing to work for it, get real the wealth was meant to be shared, the people that have a little more then others owe that to the people and its there responsibility to share it till its all gone. some day people will wake up from this dream world and realize that they can have it if they work for it. and when its all gone its all gone. if there is no more to take the host dies and you need to find a new host, its time to move to Germany.
Unfortunately, the 'cat is out of the bag' with this attempt to confiscate private savings accounts, and savers throughout Europe will be very careful about leaving their money in European banks. People will likely still make a 'run on the banks' to minimize their risk, and the net effect will be severely weakened banks and economic instability - compounding an already skittish public perception.
It's time to see one of the weak Euro nations fail so that we can see the consequences - I thought it would be Greece, but I guess Cyprus will be the first 'Guinea Pig'.
Unfortunately, Obama still insists that 'We don't have a spending/Debt problem', even though we are on exactly the same trajectory as weak European nations, and there is not enough money in the World to 'bail us out' when we hit that wall.
The one thing we have that European nations don't is the ability to 'print more money', but that is going to be highly inflationary - in fact, that is already occurring since China has been REDUCING their loans to us.
Personally, I do not see an alternative to us having very high inflation in the near future, but since my assets are largely 'hedged against inflation', I'm largely immune (actually, I will benefit greatly from inflation), but I feel sorry for those who don't understand what's coming.
This was, quite simply, an attempt by the bigger EU banks to take money out of the Cyprus banks and shrink their size all at the same time. The bigger banks could not compete with Cyprus, so they decided they wanted to impose their rules on the banks and seize some of their assets.
Read the Bloomberg article referenced in this article. It says that the EU wants to shrink the size of the Cyprus banks (relative to GDP for the country) to the same size as other EU countries.
THEY DON'T LIKE THE COMPETITION SO THEY TRY TO STEAL FROM THEM!!!
I hope this becomes a lesson for anyone in the EU to just tell the ECB (and the German banks) to stuff it and just default rather than give in to forced downgrades of their economies. It will be over quicker, cleaner and without having Germany controlling your government.
Cniht . . .
Totally agree.
As if democrats haven't already decided to copy that idea.
Cyprus lawmakers reject proposed bank tax
Hello folks, how's that for power to the people! Am I missing something, how come this hasn't hit the NBCNEWS front page. In any event yeeehaaaaaa! The banksters can take a flying leap!
HINT to the Obama administration and Progressive Congressional Representatives:
Don't touch my 401K to support YOUR out of control spending.
The ECB doesn't need a bailout. Proof of that claim?
Hello Barry, I will give you the link to Zerohedge and in the article there are several links to previous articles from Zerohedge where it says here, here, here and here (click on any of those) along with the initial article listed below, those are all explanations of the Eurpean banker bailouts.
If you want to look these numbers up yourself they originate from the H.8 Charts on the Federal Reserve website.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-09/fed-injects-record-100-billion-reserves-foreign-banks-operating-us-past-week
The EU has come up with some truly dumb ideas in the last several years but this one is breathtaking in its stupidity. Who thought people would just quietly submit to this?
Well, what did these socialist morons think was going to happen? People are going to take all their money out of the country's banking system thereby destroying what little vestige is left of the economy. I think it will be a very long time before anyone puts any of their money back into these banks because the specter of money being arbitrarily stolen from them will remain in their conscious thoughts forever. This frightens people to think that their after tax savings could be stolen from them by an inept, grasping and greedy government.
In Cyprus, the socialists have indeed run out of other people's money to spend.
Yes, dumbest idea anyone has come up with in a very long time. What happened / is happening would have been obvious to the casual observer. No need for "experts" to come up with something this stupid.
cypress is finding out what happens when you have liberals run your country the hardway.
let me guess though, this problem is happening because of the people who worked, saved money, put it in the bank right? now those people who saved are going to be punished. but hey thats fair right?
When you're blabbing about socialism and spending other peoples money, do you even think of which moron and company said, "Deficits don't matter"?
That's it boys, keep on fighting the "It's the left it's the right at fault." Wake up, they are one in the same, they continue to lie to us over and over again and then we believe their rhetoric. Behind closed doors they make deals to benefit themselves and their crooked friends. This has been planned for a long time and now the real owners of this country are showing their faces, the major money families of America and Europe. Very poor we will all be soon.
Is Nancy Pelosi running Cypress now?
Anita & BinNH
What's truly frightening about this really dumb idea in Cyprus is that I fear someone in Washington is reading about this and thinking it has merit.
It's inevitable here in the US too!
Out of control spending and debt we cannot repay. Talk of disarming people, drones in the sky, millions of rounds of ammunition purchased by the govt...
The dominoes are lined up and ready to tip. Once Cyprus fails, other countries will do the same in the EU. It will reach the US eventually then it's game over. Think I'm wearing a tinfoil hat? That's fine if you want to think that. Meanwhile I'm prepping and you should too!
I agree. Not only will the government take some of our savings, but stocks, bonds, and any investment that's on paper will be seized. Just keep on investing in the stock market people and help with solving the deficit problem. Keep on complaining about raising taxes until you make yourselves vulnerable.
I think you're right about preping and all that. There is a chance maybe 25% we get a real meltdown worse then the great depression. However, I believe the future is more likely continued economic malaise, similiar to now for the next 10 or 20 years, just like Japan. The government and banks refuse to take their losses, and instead are handing the loses down to the working person.
You would think we would be watching Europe melt down and heed the lessons that are evident: You can't keep taxing, spending, and borrowing and remain solvent. And yet our current administration's "answer" on the economy is precisely that: Raise taxes, spend more money on social programs, and don't worry about the tsunami of debt that is accruing. It boggles the mind that we aren't seeing this and taking steps to prevent it when it is so clear to be seen.... Like moths to a flame we are transfixed!
Agree that fiscal responsibility is important, disagree this story is directly applicable to the U.S. We use money backed by the federal government here, there is no political or financial power or authority above the federal government (like the EU to Cyprus) to dictate that we'll suddenly lose 10% (or bail us out--if you can call this absurdity a "bail-out"--more like a "blood-bath").
Of course, that doesn't mean the fed can't print too much money and devalue our currency by 10%, but that's the fiat financial system no matter where it is in place.
$16.5 Trillion, divided by, say 325 million equals $50,769 per American........That would sure go over well here....
The stupid stuff the EU is doing is contracting their economies by impoverishing their citizens and not investing in their economies and infrastructure. National and global economies do not function the same way your household budget does. " Austerity" is making the situation worse, not better. Industry and business do not make money by saving it up. They make it by borrowing to expand, invest and diversify, paying back loans with interest and investing profits in further expansion and updating. If they do it well, they make a boatload. If they don't, they go bankrupt, but no business thrives by stuffing their profits in the mattress. The same essentially goes for large public economies.
ProFreedom
One correction to your post. That's billions of rounds of ammunition, not millions, their obvious goal being to create ammunition shortages and higher prices for the civilian market. Our government, disarming the American people any way they can.
If they can't take the guns, they'll take the magazines, and if they can't take the magazines, they'll take the ammo.
cypress is finding out what happens when you have liberals run your country the hardway.
let me guess though, this problem is happening because of the people who worked, saved money, put it in the bank right? now those people who saved are going to be punished. but hey thats fair right?
our government already is, a 3.something tax the next time you try and sell your house for obamacare...
its already started with the "fair share" crap
"The government and banks refuse to take their losses, and instead are handing the loses down to the working person." Exactly Alan. Profits are private,and losses are socialized. This could end up biting them and America where the sun don't shine. The writing is on the wall.
I'll bet Obama is already salivating at this idea - if you have savings, he'll just take a part of it. That way, he can continue to waste money and all of those evil doers who managed their finances well will be punished.
Yes, but in the case of the European model, the tax on savings upstreams to protect the rich. A great Republican idea if I have ever heard of one.
Many people did handle their finances well, but they still lost home value, pensions and stocks to those who stole it. Politicians (mainly Republicans) are protecting thieves. The people who support them should no longer be called conservatives but collaborators.
No, the US government is not likely to take assets this way. It is much easier to pilfer savings through inflation - borrow huge sums and pay it back with inflated 'money'.
stally,
I'm not a fan of the current Republicans, but I think the Democrats had just as much to do with causing the recession. They could have stopped many of the Republican spending programs (and the wars), but they didn't. They also fully supported the deregulation of the banking industry in the late 90's. Also, they fought tooth and nail to ensure lenders were constantly pushed to make more and more sub-prime loans. The Republicans also screwed up royally the last 12 years - but so did the Democrats.
cypress is finding out what happens when you have liberals run your country the hardway.
let me guess though, this problem is happening because of the people who worked, saved money, put it in the bank right? now those people who saved are going to be punished. but hey thats fair right?
@Ron
Actually what caused it was unethical and criminal activity that the government isn’t prosecuting. Deregulation simply allowed the criminal activity to go unnoticed. Lying about the security of a loan is criminal regardless of what regulations are in place. Manipulating the stock market though your investment arm so that your banking arm can buy it is probably also criminal. When the criminal activity finally blew up in our face those criminals are now asking us to pay for their crime. We are asked to tighten our belts; to accept our loss of pension and investments. We are asking our children to give up services that we once took for granted; we are asking our kids to give up the American Dream.
Every time someone argues that we should kill programs that we took for granted or that we should accept the fact that our savings and investments were decimated they are collaborating with the thieves that stole it. This is not about taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. It’s about getting back what was stolen from us. The thieves want you to believe it’s a class war so they can distract people from themselves and draw in the honest rich into the war they created.
In the end Republicans lie to your face and Democrats behind your back. No one is doing the right thing. It’s time we all got smarter.
Ron,this recession,is almost the total responsibility of bill clinton and his sidekick rubin @treasury.Their relentless push to abolish Glass/stegal opened the floodgates to uncontroled mortgage lending, and the burst bubble.That,and obama's crazed spending resulted in this mess.We are only at the tip of the iceberg,it is probably to late to truly remedy our situation before total collapse,even if our "leaders"had a mind to.Obama's masters want this,and conservatives can't seem to deflect them.2014 is going to be too late.So hang on to your hats boys,the worst is yet to come,including confiscation of money and property.Remember these words:IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST.
That's too easy and simply a way to try to distract us from the real criminals; create a fall guy and say all your problems are because of him. Sorry the world isn't that simple. Abolishing Glass/stegal did have some very negative effects and it was a stupid thing to do, but a thief who uses an unlocked door is still a thief. Why are you trying to protect them and only blame the ones who unlocked the door?
Stally,not protecting,just indicating the sequence of this facet of the plan.obama is merely a tool being used by his masters to facilitate this segment,as I said much more to come. Could unlocking a door be somewhat like starting an avalanche/setting the wheels in motion?
So you're comparing criminal activity to an uncontrollable act of nature. It was their nature so we shouldn't hold them responsible. That's very "liberal" of you; a bit too liberal for my tastes. Glass/Stegal didn't steal from people, people stole from people. Sound familiar?
Stally,
How are the republicans protecting the thieves and who are the thieves (your post 4.2)? Sounds like typical Obama-speak. I don't know all the details of what went into the securities that ultimately failed, but the root cause of the problem goes back to too much government intervention. Social Engineering at it's finest.
The crisis started with Bill Clinton and his liberal cohorts (including Barney Frank & Chris Dodd) believing that everyone should be able to own a home. With the help of Frank and Dodd, Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac were pressured to ease lending requirements to make it easier to buy a home. When I bought my first house in the early 90's, it was not easy to qualify, when I bought my second house in the early 2000's it was easy and the loan-to-income ratios were greatly reduced. I could have bought a huge house with an interest only loan, but, I had a brain and knew that things change and I could be upside-down in a heart beat. I'm not saying the republicans are blameless, but, there were discussions during Bush's terms that Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac should be investigated, but nothing was ever done.
As far as the bundling of the bad housing bonds & loans, the blame can be spread far and wide. Don't forget that more of the rich wall street bankers supported Obama than McCain in 2008 and also again in 2012.
There are sufficient laws on the books to go after criminal activity, but, strict enforcement is something that not always done. Also, many people and institutions invested in things they had no understanding of and that is a personal responsibility/accountability issue.
Bush should have never agreed to the bailouts and Obama should not have continued them. They should have let all the banks and lenders fail. Many people (including me) would have been impacted but eventually things would recover. All we have been doing since the initial bailout is prolonging the inevitable, because no one wants to hurt anyone or hold those who made bad decisions accountable.
This is an example of what happens when the government tries to do too much and it's only going to get worse. Government is the problem, not the solution!
By trying to make this into a class war rather than a war against dishonest people who stole money in rather sophisticated ways; by punishing the victims of the crime by making cuts to programs and not going after the ill gotten gains of the individuals that stole the money from us.
This is the first generation where our children today are better off than we are. I am so much better off than my young counterparts/ Reganomics failed. You can't step on the gas pedal of the economy without coming up with a plan to fill the tank. You don't feed the lion and starve the plankton. Trickledown economics is contrary to nature and doesn't work.
Of course it does. The closed minded always shield themselves from the truth with statements like this. This statement is meaningless, contributes nothing to the argument and only attempts to deflect. I've read the rest of your post, this statement isn't worthy of you.
Clinton doesn't really help make your case. He was a fiscal conservative and this actually this started with Reagan.
Yes they should but we should also investigate the banks that misrepresented their loans. The loan officers who gave those loans should also be chastised (not prosecuted). These are the professionals who need to take charge of the situation. When I go to my doctor I expect him to be the expert since I can't be the expert at everything. The loan officers in this case are the experts and it's their responsibility to say no when someone can't pay their loan. You can't expect every borrower to be a financial expert. That's why we have specialized professions.
There is a case that hasn't been prosecuted and is all available in SEC records. I am too lazy to look up the firm. Basically their investing arm trashed RIM. While they were doing this their banking arm was buying the stock. When the earnings came out RIM did a lot better than the investing arm said and the stock shot up. Their banking arm made a fortune. Glass-Steagall would have prevented this, however even without Glass-Steagall the act was still criminal. The absence of the law didn't make the act any less criminal. Clinton did a stupid thing and I would love to understand why he did such a stupid thing, but his mistake does not exonerate the people who illegally exploited it.
You're missing one very important word "Corrupt." Corrupt Government is the problem, not the solution! We need to clean up the government and we need to show politicians that selling out their nation to the highest bidder is not acceptable. The only way to do that is to get people off their dogmatic ass and actually look at the problems rationally. When you say Democrats did this and Republicans did that, you're missing the point. I've argued my points with many conservatives and the results are not what you would expect. I found that when you argued with an honest person that the only real difference is perspective. Moderates don't actually disagree; it's our politicians who want us divided so that we can't stand with one unified voice. Ideally the Government is us! If we don't trust ourselves then we might as well give up our freedoms to a dictator.
This is primarily a bank regulation issue not a government spending issue.
Nonetheless, when banks are able to bend the political will against any reasonable bank regulation you will have stupid solutions where the 99% must pay for the 1%. This was perhaps one of the dumbest solutions ever proposed by anyone looking to protect the concept of banking in modern financial history.
Treating depositors, even crooks like the Russians, like shareholders is the dumbest f--k thing I have ever heard! The Germans, in particular, who have benefited significantly from the Euro have shown once again their insensitivity to their European neighbors. If you can't stand the loss don't make the f--ken loan!
Well the Europeans want a green environment and Russia may just give them the chance to see how well it works......Egor when told to shut off the oil line for a while, "How will we know when hell is frozen over?"
Very disappointing. When is the real banking collapse going to get started?
By next week this story will be forgotton and the bat sh!t crazies will be back to talking about another crisis from the right wing scare machine. Keep on buying that dehydrated food and gold coins marked up 500%.
True. But who believes the crisis ever went away? And you can buy gold without paying for such a huge markup for collectibles. Silver is a better deal and more convenient for us little fish.
Everything is fine, the Fed is going to raise rates to 5% any day now.
There are any number of things that can be fairly lodged against an action of this type.
However; imagine the gall in making a democracy's people pay for the sins of its government and/or agents of its chosen economic system! Almost makes me want to both vote smarter and scream in the ears of my representatives - need first to yank their longing gaze away from the money that can be tossed in pursuit of their affections though.
It really reminds me of the Treaty of Versailles. The rise of Hitler was a direct result of the crushing burden imposed on the German people, much like this new burden imposed in America and elsewhere to buy off the thieves in the financial industry. Ironically, it's all war, just a different type.
What the media is not reporting is the obvious: the banksters are trying to rob and enslave the people through debt.The IMF is a criminal and a terrorist organization that creates human misery. No good can come of squeezing the people for the banker's gambling and austerity moves-it may lead to bloodshed. Because of the huge ,unpayable debt a similar scenario is coming to your neigborhood - the media is not telling you that, but you heard it here first.
Does anyone care that the Federal Reserve is confiscating $250 a month from each man, women, child, Democrat in this country?
C-1059824
What money does the government have???? Our government is broke heh heh. And since the gov. is broke, the only money that is available now is the assets of it's citizens LOL. They've aready took much of the retirement from many of the fed's retiree's and now they are looking at how they can get ahold of 401K's heh heh.
what does this have to do with the article? Sorry about this nbcnews posted it in the wrong article once again. I'm getting so tired of the wrong pages appearing when you hit post.
Just don't panic dude.
Desperation invokes financial stupidity, who will put or leave their money in banks that are taxing (stealing) it. Large depositors from abroad aren't happy campers with their funds in jeopardy. The EU and the Euro are still in danger of falling apart and becoming extinct.
We've been on that path for too long but don't realize it yet. The CBO has been waving the red flag but Congress and this Administration are intentionally burying their heads up their ying yangs while kicking the can endlessly. They haven't a clue how to get out this mess because we're in too deep, $16.4 trillion and climbing.
16 trillion is the teabagger debt total but economists usually only consider debt held by the public and it's closer to 12 trillion.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
Yeah sure and believing that is like saying the unemployment is at 7.7 % and inflation at only 2 to 3 %. Why would the Treasury tell the truth when the Spender in Chief is in charge. Government is never a reliable source unless propaganda is your thing.
One could count the total debt in the country, over $59 trillion of personal, government, financial institutional debt.
One could also count the underfunded obligations such as Social Security and Medicare.
If the Federal Government had to disclose its financial situation using the sam rules that any business has to the actual National Debt is astronomical.
Right, Integral-
Absolutely astronomical and utterly unpayable. Slavery has returned, just as Social Darwinism intended it to.
WHAT!! You mean the money we scammed from Russian citizens and parked in Cyprius is now going to be stolen by the Cypriots?
Who says the Russian mobsters scammed their money from Russian citizens (who really don't have much.) They scammed/coerced lots of it from Western Europeans and North Americans.
You tell people that 10% of their money is going to be seized and you expect anything less than a run on bank? Anyone who can surely say they would not rush to the bank either has very little , or no money there or they are a liar.
If the big spending people in government don't change their ways I would be afraid to have my money in a bank where the government can just come in and confiscate it. What happens when these high living greedy government employees think they need the money more than those who earned it. It will be 10% this time then who knows how much next time.
This story is barely being mentioned by the criminal corporate media - for they must remain loyal whores to their master banking elite. When mentioned at all, it's drilled into the sheeple brain that it's just tiny Cyrpus. The truth is, that the truth must never be disseminated to the people that the worldwide banking system is a massive international crime syndicate created by simple debt scams of banking antiquity and bought & sold politicians (the religion discussion can be conducted later).
As long as the people continue to allow private central banks to create money out of thin air, then loaning this false money to the people to create a false money supply, the people will remain in bondage, tyranny and poverty. Until the Federal Reserve is abolished there will be no freedom or peace throughout the world. Management and creation of the money supply must be returned to the people without debt scams - it cannot be entrusted to private banking cabals like the Fed and their ponzi schemes. This IS the fox in charge of the hen-house. The world economy is reaching a tipping point under massive exponential increasing debt.
Sunshiney,
Your points are very valid, but there is an even bigger problem.
Money is created by debt. Money is destroyed when the debt is paid. The money to pay the interest is never created, so unless the debt continues to expand the money to pay the interest simply does not exist.
the EU is facing the same problems as the US. Unless the economy expands, you are looking at an economic catastrophe. The US is trying to borrow its way out of the problem, which only creates a bigger problem.
We have cut spending in government. Look at the GAO stats. We need to cut more spending, granted. But if the choice for me was lose 10% of my savings to pay off debt, or have the debt paid by someone making 14 times my salary? I'd pick the $400,000 and up people. Seriously, it will take spending cuts and more taxes to get things under control. Almost all economists agree. Spending cuts only (austerity) will bring this nation to it's knees.
Slowing the rate of the increase of our spending is not austerity. Taxing people making over $400k is only going to add about 30 billion dollars to our revenue. Besides we just did that. That whole increase was spent on just relief for hurricane Sandy. The money is already gone. To increase revenue you need more people working and paying taxes. That is true for both the states and federal governments.
Why do we need to spend more every year?
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about keeping money in an actual bank doesn't it?
I hope Russia sticks it to them for the thought of thieving their own customers alone!
Yank your money Russia. See how well the bank stays afloat then...lol.
Your looking at the future of America thanks to Obamanomics.
The scary part of this is that the "progressive/liberal" party in the US loves taking ideas from these countries...
I bet the Russians would be hella pissed and might start a war.
Every EU citizen and others with money in EU banks need to withdraw their money now before the savings tax plan spreads throughout Europe. The EU Zone is dying thanks to austerity economics.
This type of "bailout the bondholder" deal on the backs of savers is a HUGE mistake. If your a saver, you pull your money out and don't look back. This happend in 1930's in the banks in the us and was a total catastrophe to people. If the greeks were smart they would tell the eu to go f' themselves and start their own currency over eliminating all eu debt; the new capital flowing in would replace these eu oligarks in a microsecond.
bob,SHEEEEE IT!
Yeah, spoken like a true fool Bob. The world economy is one big happy family nowadays. EU collapses so does the US and everywhere else. This is no world for old men with old ideas....
And Jolly, the Greeks know they can't do that. Their economy would take upwards of a decade to recover and no country would be foolish enough to invest in such a worthless currency. Their imports would cost so much that no one could afford basic necessities. Remember, we all thought it was a great idea to outsource everything so we could get more for less.
Barry must be drooling over using this idea in the future...Obama makes Bernie Madoff look like Mother Theresa