Mary Bottari's News Articles

Dylan Ratigan Coins the Phrase "Bankster Party"

by Mary Bottari — May 11, 2010 - 2:52pm

Dylan Ratigan (MSNBC) is the host of the only honest business show on cable. He doesn't spend his day talking only about the ups and the downs of the stock market and encouraging people to "buy, buy, buy!" Instead, Ratigan covers real issues, like how the financial crisis is affecting average Americans, and what the chances are for real reform in Congress.

This week Ratigan went ballistic after the Brown-Kaufman amendment to cap the size of the biggest banks was voted down in the Senate. He created a new term for those who voted against it: the "Bankster Party." In the process, he gave us a target list of Senators who need to be convinced of the need for meaningful structural reform of the banking system. Ratigan's site currently links to BanksterUSA and also CMD's Total Wall Street Bailout Cost table.

Below are excerpts from his great article on Huffington Post. You can also check out the video by clicking here.

Is Your Senator a Bankster?

by Dylan Ratigan

What we have now is a group of politicians with shifting alliances on a case-by-case basis to the special interests who fund them. And currently, the most damaging one to our nation is the rise of the Bankster Party. Thankfully, we can now better identify its members.

It’s Time for the Big Banks to Spin Off their Craps Tables

by Mary Bottari — May 10, 2010 - 6:48am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Last week's "flash crash," which sent stocks plummeting 1,000 points in an afternoon, was just the latest indicator that the U.S. financial system is still spinning out of control and desperately in need of new rules.

    Wagering On Angelina Jolie

    When I visit London, I can drop into a corner kiosk and bet on anything I want. I can put down a million dollars on whether or not Angelina Jolie's next baby will be a boy or a girl, but these bets are regulated for what they are -- gambling. In America, the big banks can spend billions in a far more destructive type of speculation, but this speculation in the so-called "swaps" or derivatives market is completely unregulated.

    New York Times Nails the Big Financial Reform Issues

    by Mary Bottari — May 5, 2010 - 3:33pm
  • Topics: Banking, Corporations, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • A lead editorial by the New York Times on May 5, 2010 parallels arguments made by the Center for Media and Democracy's "Real Economy Project" and publishers of BanksterUSA on the necessity of shrinking the "Too Big to Fail" firms and cracking down on the gambling in the derivatives market. True leadership in the aftermath of Wall Street's reckless disregard for our country's economic future requires tough reforms, not watered-down compromises in the name of "bipartisanship." With all the misinformation out there about who is really on the side of the American people and who is in the pocket of the Big Banks, now is the time for clarity, not for the sake of political expediency, but because the flawed de-regulation and market-knows-best policies of the recent past must be put in check for the health of our economic opportunities and for our nation's future prosperity.

    Critical Week for Financial Reform!

    by Mary Bottari — May 5, 2010 - 12:24pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The financial reform bill is now on the Senate floor. The bad news is that Senate leadership has not yet decided if critical amendments will see a vote. For instance, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware) have not been assured of a vote on their amendment to cap the size of "too big to fail" banks. Is this a democracy or a dictatorship? Senators should be allowed a debate on their measures followed by a vote. Send a message to Congress at BanksterUSA.org. Also Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has not yet seen a vote yet on his simple amendment to audit the Federal Reserve. If you have not taken action yet, send a letter to the Senate by clicking here.

    Blanche Lincoln Rambos Wall Street

    by Mary Bottari — May 2, 2010 - 9:37am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The financial services reform bill is on the Senate floor this week. The recently announced criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs, the bumbling testimony of Goldman's Fab" and the rocking Wall Street protest last Thursday show that momentum is with reformers.

    This bill could codify the "doom loop" of a "boom and bail" economy, or it could set us on the path to a more sustainable future. The good news is that a group of Senators has stepped forward to champion a critical set of issues worth getting excited about. Send a message to your Senator in support of these "too big to fail" amendments at BanksterUSA.org

    Showtime for Bank Reform in the Senate

    by Mary Bottari — April 28, 2010 - 12:03pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Sign the petition at BanksterUSA.

    A financial services reform bill passed the House in December. Now the action moves to the Senate. The Republicans (and one Democrat) are currently obstructing a vote to debate the bill, but few think their resistance will last in the face of public outrage about bailouts, bonuses and other Bankster shenanigans.

    Will the Fabulous Fab Push the Bank Reform Bill Over the Top?

    by Mary Bottari — April 28, 2010 - 11:04am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • On Monday night, Senate Republicans lined up like lemurs and voted “no” on a motion to bring the Senate bank reform bill to the floor for a debate. Forty Republicans and one Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson (D-Kansas), stood shoulder to shoulder with 1,500 bank lobbyists and said “no” to Wall Street financial reform. (Evidently, Nelson was displeased that his friend Warren Buffett did not get special treatment in the bill.)

    Before gloom sets in, it is worth noting that on Tuesday, all eyes will be on the “Fabulous Fab,” the Goldman Sachs trader at the heart of the SEC’s recent charges against the firm. Some of us are rooting for the Fab, hoping that his testimony will put financial reform back on the floor and put us on the path to reform.

    Larry Summers: “Mistakes Were Made,” But Not By Me

    by Mary Bottari — April 27, 2010 - 12:30pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, U.S. Government

    • President Obama's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, was interviewed on PBS late last week about the state of play on financial reform. In an odd, shifty-eyed discussion, Summers admits "mistakes were made," but none by him.

    The Best Solution to Vampire Squid? Calamari

    by Mary Bottari — April 22, 2010 - 7:37am

    The great test for the financial services reform bill, if and when it ever gets debated in the Senate, will be what it does to rein in Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street institution famously described by Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi as “a vampire squid jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.”

    The bill is being taken up just a week after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued civil fraud charges against Goldman for creating mortgage-backed investment vehicles deliberately designed to fail in order to benefit preferred clients. Everyone knows it’s tough to handcuff a squid. So some are advocating for a simpler solution.

    Join the Showdown on Wall Street April 29th!

    by Mary Bottari — April 21, 2010 - 4:27pm

    The same financial institutions that put 8 million in the unemployment line, drove a record foreclosure crisis, sent our economy into a tailspin, and sucked up trillions in taxpayer bailouts, are back to raking in the profits and bonuses. They are also spending millions to defeat financial reform in the Senate.

    It's time to say converge in the belly of the beast, Wall Street, on April 29th at 3:30PM and tell the Banksters that enough is enough. The rocking campaigners at National Peoples Action, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the AFL-CIO are asking you to join them in their call to break up the "too big to fail banks" and protect American consumers. Find out more at Show Down in America. And keep an eye on BanksterUSA.org for the latest on the financial reform bill which will be on the Senate floor next week.

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