Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

What Larry Summers Told Me
Bill Moyers | Elizabeth Warren | 09/05/14

In early April, I got a call from the office of Larry Summers. I didn't know Larry well, but I'd met him a few times while he was president of Harvard in the early 2000s. According to reports, Larry had been Tim Geithner's mentor when they were both in the Treasury Department in the 1990s. Now Larry was the director of the National Economic Council, which meant that, along with Secretary Geithner, he advised President Obama on economic issues. Would I be interested in meeting him for dinner?

Sure, I replied. Larry's office suggested the Bombay Club, an Indian restaurant near the White House. Quiet and softly lit, it served Washington's power elite.

When Larry arrived for our dinner, he ordered a Diet Coke as soon as he sat down. He glanced at the menu, ordered quickly and soon the food started coming.

It was a long dinner, with plenty of intense back-and-forth about everything from the bailout, to deregulation, to the foreclosure crisis. I also talked to Larry about an idea I'd been working on for a new consumer financial agency and he seemed interested. We didn't agree on everything, but I give Larry full credit: I'll take honest conversation and debate any day of the week over the duck-and-cover stuff I so often saw in Washington that spring.

Late in the evening, Larry leaned back in his chair and offered me some advice. By now, I'd lost count of Larry's Diet Cokes, and our table was strewn with bits of food and spilled sauces. Larry's tone was in the friendly-advice category. He teed it up this way: I had a choice. I could be an insider or I could be an outsider. Outsiders can say whatever they want. But people on the inside don't listen to them. Insiders, however, get lots of access and a chance to push their ideas. People -- powerful people -- listen to what they have to say. But insiders also understand one unbreakable rule: They don't criticize other insiders. I had been warned. Read more

America's Wealth Gap 'Unsustainable' According To Harvard Study
Reuters & HP | author | 09/08/14

The widening gap between America's wealthiest and its middle and lower classes is "unsustainable", but is unlikely to improve any time soon, according to a Harvard Business School study released on Monday.

... "Shortsighted executives may be satisfied with an American economy whose firms win in global markets without lifting U.S. living standards. But any leader with a long view understands that business has a profound stake in the prosperity of the average American," according to the report. ... Read more

The Expanding World of Poverty Capitalism
NYT | Thomas B. Edsall | 08/26/14

... In terms of food, housing and other essentials, the cost of being poor has always been exorbitant. Landlords, grocery stores and other commercial enterprises have all found ways to profit from those at the bottom of the ladder.

In addition to probation, municipal court systems are also turning collections over to a national network of companies like Sentinel that profit from service charges imposed on the men and women who are under court order to pay fees and fines, including traffic tickets (with the fees being sums tacked on by the court to fund administrative services).

When they cannot pay these assessed fees and fines -- plus collection charges imposed by the private companies -- offenders can be sent to jail. There are many documented cases in which courts have imprisoned those who failed to keep up with their combined fines, fees and service charges. ... Read more

4 Ways Greedy Capitalists Rig the System to Profit Off Our Misery
AlterNet | Paul Buchheit | 09/07/14

Self-indulgent capitalists have turned much of America against its own best interests by promoting a winner-take-all philosophy that reaps great rewards for a few people at the expense of everyone else. To the neoliberal, vital human needs like health and education are products to be bought and sold.

Neil Patrick Harris Marries David Burtka In Italy
HP | author | 09/08/14

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka are married! Harris and Burtka wed in an intimate ceremony in front of family and friends in Italy on Saturday, Sept. 6, E! News confirmed. The couple wore Tom Ford tuxedos for the nuptials, which were officiated by "How I Met Your Mother" producer and director Pam Fryman. Elton John performed at the party. ... Read more