Citigroup played a major part in the repeal. Then called Citicorp, the company merged with Travelers Insurance company the year before utilizing loopholes in Glass-Steagall the allowed for temporary exemptions. With lobbying led by Roger Levy, the “finance, insurance and real estate industries together are regularly the largest campaign contributors and biggest spenders on lobbying of all business sectors [in 1999]. They laid out more than $200 million for lobbying in 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics…” These industries succeeded in their two decades long effort to repeal the act. Also, “The newly formed Citigroup announced only days after the deal that it had hired recently departed Treasurey Secretary Robert Rubin as a member of its three-person office of the chairman.”

The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities.

Both Sandy Weil, Chairman of Citigroup, and Robert Rubin were instrumental in the repeal of this act which has ultimately resulted in what we are facing today with not only our economy but also the world economy in serious recession. In addition, the Iraq war and other missteps by the Bush administration have bankrupted our great nation. Obama adminstration has the great challenge to fix the mess. We have great hopes. If it too fails, after both Clinton and Bush adminstations have failed, the people will have no choice but to elect the third party. Both Democratic and Republicans have let down for too long.

http://bankimplode.com/blog/2009/01/10/obama-no-smarter-than-khrushchev-or-mao-says-peter-schiff/

We need to return to our roots as a nation. To understand why we are having the economic problems we are having, do you really think that Wall Street did not know that having a housing market increase in value 20% to 30% each year, with no income/asset documentation loans that our who economy will collaspe like a house of cards? If the Harvard and Yale economic bean counters could not see this coming, then we are really in sorry shape. Has any body every connected the dots and the next step is to lower the buying power of the dollar, introduce a new currancy and move us to much like Europe with the Euro. The next step is to the same thing Middle East and Asia, creating 4 economic trading blocks that will be intregrated into one world economy. What a better time to do all of this when the USA and the rest of the world is suffering a global recession. If you don’t think it could happen, look at Germany in the 1930’s and other South American countries. It is done all the time. Printing money is inflationary and when the rest of the world stops buying US Treasuries, you will see interest rates climb that will make the late 1970’s/early 1980’s look mild in comparison.

Also you need to understand that the our founding fathers feared a central reserve bank. Did you know that President Kennedy talked about getting the U.S. off of the Federal Reserve. You can look to see where that got him.

In my eyes, CEO’s in general are an endangered breed. They bring nothing more than pomp and circumstance to any corporation. I have a bee hive analogy. CEO’s are a single employee out of hundreds or thousands of worker bees. Unlike the queen bee of the hive CEO’s don’t perpetuate the hive by creating more worker bees but they are excellent at siphoning off tens of millions of dollars in wages per year just for being the CEO.

The other phenomenon about CEO’s and the world they live in is, once a CEO always a CEO, just like NFL coaches, after making it to the top they stay there but may coach for a different team every couple of years.

The corporate structure many of us grew up around and worked in will be changing in the next few years. CEO’s are not worthless but they are way, way, way, overvalued for the propaganda they spread about how well things are going in their corporate bubbles.

For example, how is Madoff allowed to stay in his 5th Ave condo. He should be in the Tombs in general population with the rest of the thieves. As long as we don’t treat these guys like the criminals they are, they will keep stealing from us.

this is the same group that has been running treasury since 1993 all GOLDMAN SACHS people.

He made more in 2006 than most Americans make in a Lifetime.

What is wrong with this picture….?