This question is intended for those of you living in the great state of Texas. Was it okay for Phil Gramm to retire from Congress, collect his big government pension and accept a lobbyist job for a foreign (Swiss) bank named UBS? Did Phil Gramm assist in the 5 billion dollar handout given to UBS from the government bailout money received by AIG?

As I’m sure you’re aware, former Senator turned lobbyist Phil Gramm(R) was a primary lapdog for major Wall Street interests while he served in Washington DC. Phil Gramm led the charge to deregulate the banking, investment securities and insurance industries via Senate bill S-900. With little, if any public debate, Congress passed this deregulation which eventually led to the total collapse of our economy.

During a recent legendary interview between William K. Black and Bill Moyers of PBS, Mr. Black stated that Bernard Madoff was a “piker” compared to the CEO’s and CFO’s running the largest banks and investment securities firms in New York. When asked if it was illegal to trade in derivatives that were nothing but bundled, over-rated predatory loans, Mr. Black stated, “No, but fraud is illegal”…

Our news media has chosen, to this very day, to ignore the honest and candid remarks made by William K. Black. We should all be asking why Bill Black hasn’t been interviewed or seen on the major television evening news?

If given the authority and resources by President Barack H. Obama, William K. Black could easily get to the bottom of who caused the economic meltdown that has tossed innocent people out of their homes, not to mention the hundreds of billions of dollars that innocent investors lost due to obvious accounting (control) fraud created by the financial community that runs Wall Street. If justice can be sought and obtained for the victims of Bernard Madoff, equal justice should be forthcoming from President Barack H. Obama’s administration and Congress. After all, it was the ignorance of a past Congress, led by Phil Gramm, that swung the doors wide open for the fraud to develop and mushroom to a magnitude now deemed as, “Too Big To Fail”.

The watchdog press (if we had one) should be demanding and saying, “Too Big To Continue. Repeal S-900″. Today’s U.S. government should be holding those responsible 100% accountable, neither are happening. Why? Perhaps the advertising revenues and political campaign funds coming from Wall Street has permanently intoxicated our government and mainstream media. Are these folks acting in a just and ethical manner? How much longer should we hold out hope that either our government or media can once again become credible?

Yes, I’ve presented more questions than answers. But, at least I have the honesty and courage to ask these questions. Can that be said of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, BBC, Reuters, Bloomberg, or the Associated Press?

Kudos to Rolling Stone magazine for having the integrity to publish this article, The Great American Bubble Machine… 

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