Our banking system is a privately-owned, for-profit enterprise based on fraud. It is owned and run by the international banking cartel because congress passed a law in 1913 (the Federal Reserve Act) creating the FED (a privately owned bank) and legalizing/granting a monopoly on the creation of money to the private banker owners via the FED.
Uh-oh. That's bad because it requires the US gov't to BORROW money AT INTEREST for government projects and operations from the FED and incurs an ever-increasing federal debt. Simply put, this is an economically and ecologically unsustainable system. It is an enormous monopoly game whose endgame, where the bankers have all the money, property and control and everyone else is broke, is what we are experiencing now. Our fraudulent banking system is at the root of our current economic meltdown. The interest on the debts has grown so large that the citizens and the country simply cannot pay anymore. Current government actions, the bailout and other schemes put forth by (guess who) bankers are aimed at propping up the current system as long as possible, instead of actually reforming banking so that it works for everyone.
WHAT WE SHOULD DO:
• Repeal the Federal Reserve Act and make debt-free treasury money the legal tender of the realm.
If the government can write a check, they can issue money--it's all done with the stroke of a key these days...
This would break the bankers' monopoly and the stranglehold they have on the US economy.
• Pay off the federal debt to the FED with all the worthless Federal reserve notes traded in for US Treasury Notes.
This would retire the debt and we would no longer need to spend our tax money paying interest on it.
• Create Treasury banks to lend to businesses and individuals, using the interest on those loans to fund gov't
operations and projects that enhance the well-being of the nation, -- education, research, infrastructure, etc.
• Form an Monetary Committee to oversee all banking activites including sales of deriviatives and draft
Ellen Brown, J.D., author of "The Web Of Debt and What We Can Do To Break Free" to oversee the
implementation of the 3 suggestions above.
I admit, I have only scratched the surface of these issues. These suggestions may not be the full answer to our woes but taking these steps would go along way toward straightening out our banking system and building a healthy and sustainable economy. An excellent analysis of how banking really works and affects all of us can be found at www.webofdebt.com, Other resources include the videos/films "From Freedom to Facism", "Money As Debt" --if you can still find it on the internet. It has been banned from google video and is expected to be removed from YouTube soon. And the video/film "The Money Masters".
All right, I am going to put WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT here too.
It seems like the why part doesn't get shown in the idea once it is submitted. If you see it twice, I apologize.
This idea is important because it would restore oversight and control of the money supply to the government on behalf of the people of this country. It would allow us to pay off and retire the federal debt, paying it off with all those traded in worthless federal reserve notes. It would provide competition for private banks, breaking the bankers' monopoly of money creation and their stranglehold on our government through the creation of recessions/depressions by manipulation of the availability of credit. Were the government to lend debt-free treasury money to businesses and individuals, interest on such loans could be used to fund government operations instead of taxes or to fund infrastructure, education, health care for everyone and other programs for the common good instead of being shoveled out of the economy into the pockets of private bankers. It would solve the "credit crunch". If the government decided it was time to make loans available there would be no bankers in between saying "Sorry! We're gonna use the bailout money to buy up other banks."
And I notice there is no category for ideas about banking. Why the hell not? We're in a depression for chrissakes! We SHOULD do something to fix the system.
Comments (17)
I reposted this because I forgot the keywords so it didn't show up for related questions.
"The interest on the debts has grown so large that the citizens and the country simply cannot pay anymore." What i wanna know is, why didnt anyone turn to our government when the banks were holding guns to our heads when signing up for the loans? lol
Privately owned banks control availability of credit. Banks print/create money via the decisions of the head of the Federal Reserve (Fed). Since the head of the Fed is selected by representatives of the banking industry (though the President of the US is allowed the formality of making that appointment), it is naive to think of the Fed as a representative or branch of the US government. The Fed is an entity unto itself and represents the power arm of the banking industry. One can only wonder when/if Congress will decide to wrest control from the banking industry rather than succumb to something they currently either do not appear to understand or refuse to acknowledge (as long as the banking industry funds politicians, it may be that Congress-people will continue to not give a damn).
The problem:
Then GOVERNMENT decides who gets loans, and they are REALLY bad at making those decisions (look at GM, Chrysler, AIG, etc). Worse yet, they'll make sure it's the well-connected politically who get them, and not care if they aren't paid back, because the taxpayer will cover it.
Oh wait, we've already GOT a system like that. :-(
Yes, it isn't perfect --people run the system and they are a squirrelly bribable lot-- but I think there are a lot more pros than cons to this suggestion.
It's not like this is an untested idea. It worked in Ben Franklin's day. It worked so well they didn't need taxes at all. And when King George heard about it and made it illegal for the colonies to issue their own money it caused a huge economic crash within one year and kicked off the revolutionary war. If we can put a man on the moon, I'm sure we could figure out some public oversight for Treasury loan policies...
Right now it's the Bankers who decide who gets the loans and there is no chance of public oversight at all. If they and their cronies don't get loans / bailouts / laws or anything else they want, they threaten to (or do) crash the economy. The gov't can't force them to start lending to citizens at all! Worse still, private ownership of banking is THE cause of recessions/depressions. Every time they create one, it represents a huge movement of wealth from the people who earned it to the pockets of bankers and their friends. They periodically "harvest" the wealth of the nation.
HEY! THAT'S MY WEALTH! AND YOURS! Just ask someone who's retirement went up in smoke or whose dollars won't buy groceries anymore.
Personally If I'm going to pay interest on a loan, I'd prefer that that interest was used for the public good rather than to buy another learjet or yacht for a banker. Having banking in private hands is essentially handing over a goose that lays golden eggs. Why would anyone want to do that, even if we have to guard against corruption? Banking as we know it today is already corrupt beyond comprehension. A public ownership with public oversight could only improve it.
But assuming bankers are playing with their own money and don't have a bailout waiting to cover their stupid decisions, they will make RATIONAL decisions. With government making decisions about OTHER PEOPLE'S money and ALWAYS having a bailout available, all bets are off. Witness the "Community Reinvestment Act", Fannie and Freddy, ad nauseum.
Do your banking with a credit union. There is no need for government to get involved with this.
Assuming bankers are playing with their own money? The bankers have not been playing with their own money since the early merchant/bankers found that only a small portion of the gold receipts they issued for gold left with them for safe keeping were ever redeemed at any one time. They began issuing receipts against gold they didn't have and charging interest. The superfluous receipts were not wealth, but the interest they received was. A formula for the eventual transfer of all wealth to the bankers. Jefferson warned us 200 years ago that if we ever gave the bankers power to issue our money giant corporations would spring up around us and our children would be homeless in the continent their fathers occupied (sometimes given as conquered).
to tomgoldie--Please go to www.webofdebt.com . There is a wealth of information there about how the scam we call banking really works and it is SCARY!
A stable dollar and and appropriately sized money supply is a national resource which this society and everyone in it needs to have to live and be healthy. The wealth of the people of a nation belongs to them --it's not for bankers to harvest via fraudulent banking practices. It is as wrong to privatize our monetary system as it would be to privatize the air we breathe or water we drink. IT seems a little crazy to me.
8. New Way to Fund the Central United States Government
• Step 1) Abolish the Federal Reserve Bank.
• Step 2) Prioritize all new currency creation to the United States Government.
• Step 3) All interest on funds loaned out by the United States Government is the property of the Federal Government
• Step 4) Interest on funds issued by the Federal Government could be used to:
a. Pay down the National Debt
b. Fund Medicare, Social Security, single payer health care
c. Replace federal withholding taxes; no more federal income tax system
i. Decrease or eliminate federal income taxes on citizens
ii. Maintain current levels of income taxes on corporations and businesses. The distinction between businesses and citizens is:
1. Businesses are an artifice
2. Citizens have innate rights.
45. Repeal S. 900 [106th]: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999: Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to repeal prohibitions: (1) against affiliation of any Federal Reserve member bank with an entity engaged principally in securities activities (securities affiliate); and (2) against simultaneous service by any officer, director, or employee of a securities firm as an officer, director, or employee of any member bank (interlocking directorates). (Gramm, 1999) This bill legalized bank fraud. This was not the intent of this legislation but was the result. This made collateralized-debt-obligation (CDO) and credit-default-swaps (CDS) legal. The creation of CDO’s spurred a massive explosion of irresponsible and predatory lending. The really astonishing aspect of these securities was that they were able to get AAA bond ratings. “Rolling Stone” writer, Matt Taibbi, wrote “The Big Takeover” spells out the history of this financial mess very well. The question that you the citizens must ask now is who passed this bill and why are they still in power. One senate and one house representatives from my district of Iowa signed this bill in the affirmative. I am promoting the idea of recalling them both. They are Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA).
• One idea proposed to deal with the bank securities problem was to institute a bad bank program where the United States pools all of these securities together. This is a good idea. Once all of these securities are pooled, they then can be pulled apart. The asset pool created can then be better assessed as to value. Large holders of these securities can wait out the valuation or take hard assets as repayment. Valuations must be based on fair value coupled with future valuation estimates.
46. Repeal H.R. 4541: Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. Commodity Futures Modernization Act was passed along with twenty-five other bills in H.R. 4577: Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2001. This bill was pitched as an increase in regulation but in fact it was a deregulation bill. This bill legalized credit-default swaps (CDS). This bill also made legal derivatives, which is a form of gambling upon assets that are not owned by the better. Derivatives can be hedged, which is likened to placing a side bet on your bet.
• This practice of packaging large numbers of bills should not be allowed to happen. Each bill must be considered on its own merits. Should congress continue with the practice of packaging bills, then the President of the United States must have line item veto powers as part of the constitution. Congress must have a system to overrule the line item veto power, should a super majority exist. This implies that congressmen actually read every bill that is passed; I doubt this is true. The reality is that most party politicians seek advice from their party leaders and vote party line. Another indication that a two party system is a less efficient system.
Well said lihu. Soon they will try to privatize the air we breathe and the water we drink. Monsanto is already doing that with our genetically modified foods we eat.
Where does it end??
The hole in tomgoldie's argument is that it is all sophistry, cleverly worded self-serving banker-talk that amounts to nonsense. The bankers use the fractional reserve ponzi scheme to turn $100 in deposits into over $1000 in new loans. That is creating money out of nothing. They are NOT loaning out depositors money, or "their own money". They are playing with "funny-money" that is conjured up out of an empty hat in a magic act. It's all bookkeeping "sleight of hand". Real money is the note backed by the faith and credit of the USA, in the case of the dollar, or other issuing nation in cases of other currencies.
And if the government can issue a T-note it can issue a dollar bill, and spend it into circulation on roads, schools, bridges, education for every American for life, clean water, pure air, and high speed transportation systems. Portions of the money created could go, per capita, to each state and county for similar infrastructure. Within a decade we could have the national debt retired and our economy transformed beyond current belief. It is all possible, if we take back the sovereign right to create our own money. That right is a contractual right, and every free citizen has the right to enter into contracts, i.e, issue a promise to pay on credit or from existing liquid assets.
That is all money really is: a temporary substitute for real tangible wealth so that goods and services can easily change hands. Money is a bookkeeping entry.
The usury that is now charged on it is totally criminal, and must be stopped.
It is totally irrational and even insane to have public citizens back the privately-created dollar with the full faith and credit of the USA and its citizens. FDIC insurance on failed banks comes out of taxpayer dollars!
When it comes down to it the Federal Reserve System is a gigantic Ponzi scheme that makes Bernie Madoff look like chump change. The banksters are transferring trillions in wealth from the ignorant citizens who trust the system to protect them. Instead, the foxes are guarding the hen house, the wolves are steering the sheep where they can feed off them at will, and our government is a partner in the entire criminal enterprise.
I've studied this money situation for many years, and believe me, AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, Derivatives, Credit Default Swaps, Bernie Madoff, Stanford, these are all part and parcel cut from the same cloth.
BTW. Your suggestion of putting Ellen H Brown, author of Web of Debt, in charge is perfect. I don't think there is a deceptive bone in her body. Stephen Zarlenga, author of "The Lost Science of Money" and direcotr of the American Monetary Institute would be another great candidate.
Thanks, jerehough. I see you been reading the same stuff I've been reading... I'll have to read Stephen Zarlenga, too. Please join me in my avocation of reading online news articles and commenting with info about the role of banking fraud when they forget to mention that part. I'm shocked at how many articles from otherwise sane and knowledgeable people completely overlook the cost of fraudulent banking practices to our economy and citizenry. Once in a while I read articles (even from Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stieglitz) saying that nationalization of banks is inevitable but I am astounded to see that the word "nationalize" is always followed by "reprivatize". What are they thinking? That is another way to say mother-of-all-bailouts. I may not be an economist, but I HAVE been paying attention. Anyway, if you choose to join me in my quest to wake up all the monkeys as to how we're being screwed, don't forget to include references and links where they can get complete info on banking and read up on it. It is, as Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating!" --lihu
jerehough--Check out my other ideas. The are: Vote with your dollar, Eminent Domain for patents, and The Public Gets Their Own Votes In House and Senate.
Obaman had his chance to put the large "to big to fail" banks into receivership, break them up into smaller and more responsible banks, but instead he went to the bailout of unaccountability. The scary thing to this whole mess was the dirivatives, which never should have been made legal, betting on property that you have no ownership or skin in. I think panic got to them, and they made foolish decisions with public money. Now we all know the tarp money was not used to segregate toxic assets. I do not think anyone knows what happened to the tarp money. We must stop funding fraud and repair the damage our congress enacted. Until then, our country is riding on shaky ground.
Repealing the Federal Reserve Act is the WRONG WAY to taking back the power to create money:
1. We will overpay for all toxic assets on their balance sheet;
2. They'll undervalue all obligations to other banks (gold leases, currency swaps, etc.)
3. So it will be a looting of the Treasury to enrich the Fed's private shareholders, as guaranteed by the Act. The banksters were smart enough to put in a poison pill provision.
We should do to the Fed what happened to our 1st private central bank: go into competition with it, when State banks were chartered to compete with the Bank of North America. The BoND is a modern version - the DBA name for the State of ND - but the Constitution prohibits it from emitting dollar bills, and coining money, so it is required to get the Treasury or Congress to do so for it via their own banks, one of which has already been chartered in Puerto Rico: The Government Development Bank, so we don't have to wait for them to recharter the Reconstruction Development Bank in DC. Such banks in federal territories are constitutional pursuant to Art.4 Sec.3, and necessary to implement federal monetary policsy and for State banks to create debt-free greenbacks - neither should be in the hands of a private Fed, who should remain in business, but only to run the system "evolved" by private national banks.