Why ask why?

Last year, the government deported 393,000 people, at a cost of $5 billion. Since 2007, felony immigration prosecutions along the Mexican border have surged 77 percent; nonfelony prosecutions by 259 percent. In Ohio last month, a single mother was caught lying about where she lived to put her kids into a better school district; the judge in the case tried to sentence her to 10 days in jail for fraud, declaring that letting her go free would “demean the seriousness” of the offenses.

So there you have it. Illegal immigrants: 393,000. Lying moms: one. Bankers: zero. The math makes sense only because the politics are so obvious. You want to win elections, you bang on the jailable class. You build prisons and fill them with people for selling dime bags and stealing CD players. But for stealing a billion dollars? For fraud that puts a million people into foreclosure? Pass. It’s not a crime. Prison is too harsh. Get them to say they’re sorry, and move on. Oh, wait — let’s not even make them say they’re sorry. That’s too mean; let’s just give them a piece of paper with a government stamp on it, officially clearing them of the need to apologize, and make them pay a fine instead. But don’t make them pay it out of their own pockets, and don’t ask them to give back the money they stole. In fact, let them profit from their collective crimes, to the tune of a record $135 billion in pay and benefits last year. What’s next? Taxpayer-funded massages for every Wall Street executive guilty of fraud?

Above from a provocative piece from Matt Taibbi — Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail. Fascinating.

11 thoughts on “Why ask why?”

  2. Tabibi’s article is a wonderfully researched and well written article. The well connected and wealthy steal billions from the middle class with impunity. Meanwhile, we the people, bicker noisily about small change.

    How does the 500 BILLION that one bank stole compare to the entire budget of Wisconsin?

    History shows that the underclass will tolerate astonishing levels of corruption, as long as they feel that they’re getting away with something too. American Idol and People Magazine (as well as its lesser spawn) do their share of keeping the public distracted and complacent.

    1. Here’s a little troll snack for you…

      Do you have any facts to support your disparaging remarks of Mr. Tabibi? Perhaps you feel it is sufficient to just make unsupported slurs, just like some talk show hosts, who will go unmentioned.

  4. Where’s your outrage, Ephraim? If you think Taibbi has his facts wrong, set us straight. We live in a world where humans are doing so many things wrong – invading and occupying countries, stealing from everyone, busting unions – that the really serious issues – anthropogenic climate change, ocean acidification, unconstrained population growth – get short shrift.

  5. Here’s one answer to a question I had after reading Taibbi’s article, namely, what can I do in response to the problems he describes. The answer my friend is to write Sen. Leahy, the head of the Judiciary committee.

    Taibbi’s blog has this note:
    thanks to all those who wrote in about the “Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?” story. There were a number of people who asked what they can do about the problem, and while I don’t have too many concrete ideas on that score, I can offer one: Write to Vermont Senator Pat Leahy and tell him you demand that his Senate Judiciary Committee hold hearings on the issue and demand action.
    As one former Senate aide wrote to me this week, “Where is Pat Leahy, and why isn’t he holding Eric Holder’s nuts over a roasting fire?”
    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/mailbag-ron-paul-in-2012-middle-east-upheavals-student-loans-20110221

  6. If you look at your computer screen now you’ll see that there is a white strip at the top where you can type the page name you want to see.

    Type in the words ‘google.com’ then press the enter key.

    Once you’re at the google front page type the words ‘matt taibbi’ in the ‘search’ white strip then press the enter key again.

    Google will take you to a results page where information about Taibbi is presented.

    Have fun.

    1. May I suggest, Ephraim, that you go ahead and try this same trick with the words “Rick Santorum.”

      2. Sigh. I never should have even tried, Ephraim. In order for my suggestion to work, you would have had to have a drop of intellectual curiosity, and wondered what I was talking about. But you don’t. You’re really narrow-minded and truly stupid.

        There’s no “back and forth” with a brachiosaurus. Back to ignoring you as you head for extinction, along with the rest of your kind.

Comments are closed.