re: #567 Henchman Ghazi-808

The problem with the sentiment of sending Wall St to jail is that they can’t be sent to jail: what they were doing was legal, or not illegal, or skirted. That does not mean it wasn’t wrong, nor that it should’nt be made illegal again.

I’m hoping Obama, or somebody else (Barney Frank) will champion a return to banking segregation. But I’m not holding my breath.

Oh there were a ton of crimes committed, too. Most are being prosecuted as civil suits, because the government lacks the resources at the moment for actual criminal prosecutions of financial stuff. The law is complex, jury trials are always a huge tossup and the corporations have shitloads of money to spend in their defense. Civil prosecutions have a lower bar and companies will pay out to avoid the cost if they’re found against.

We need a hell of a lot more financial cops and regulators and investigators. Doesn’t help that the SEC apparently turned into a John Grisham novel.