Danny Schechter - ColdType

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structure of the economy itself has to be transformed, as do
the rules that govern it.
The Administration realizes this but it may be boxed in.
President Obama’s own Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel was
quoted as saying in August 2009, “The [finance] industry is
already back to their pre-meltdown bonuses. We need to make
sure we don’t slip back to risky behavior where the institutions
have all the upside and the taxpayers have all the downside,
which is why we need regulatory reform.”
Congressional action is problematic because, if the past is
any guide, the special interests that reshaped the economy
permitting the plunder of the near past, will not sit idly by.
They are already working to limit the scope of investigations
and changes in the law that could lead to more aggressive
enforcement of the way the industry functions.
White-collar criminal Sam Antar has even written to President
Obama warning of massive fraud because of all the bailout
monies being pumped into the economy. He believed that
the disclosures of these frauds in a few years will jeopardize his
reelection The FBI seems to share his fears, estimating that as
much as $50 million dollars could be at risk because of fraud,
poor management and controls.
Investigative reporter Gary Weiss cautioned me against
expecting that criminal practices would be ending any time
soon.
“I wouldn’t say that we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes
again. I’d say that we will willingly and cheerfully make
the same mistakes again; because that is the way the system
is set up. The system is not designed to correct or to change in
a fundamental way. Nothing that’s happened, so far, none of
the actions taken by the Obama administration regarding the
financial crisis portends change.”
I asked him, “What would portend real change?”
“Well, the only way that you’re not going to see a continu-