Preach Sister

Preach sister!

Senator Warren hits hard at the heart of many American's bad feelings re: Wall Street - the apparent double standard related to personal vs. corporate financial accountability. 

      Frankly, I'd be delighted to see, in lieu of monetary settlements, the top execs in these cases do a little federal time for fraud. There are only two options in these cases, re: accountability. Either,  a: the CEO's personal ethos was corporate philosophy, and criminal activity is directly attributable to top management, or,  b: the CEO and top management were criminally negligent in failing to supervise underlings. In either case, accountability resides at the top. Period. Watching lesser employees fall on their swords might satisfy some, but it fails to send the proper message.

        

      As long as a guy like (Fl governor) Rick Scott and United Health Care (his former corporation) can buy their way out of illegal activities, there's no real incentive to play honestly. This is far from new. There has long (as long as we've existed) been the sense of privilege and entitlement ascribed to "our kind of people" - persons of wealth -mostly inherited- who are deemed to be quality folk, ergo not to be treated like criminals, even when their actions meet that definition.

       Bernie Madoff and Michael Milken are stark and isolated examples of the few instances where justice has been done. Had Madoff not scammed so many of his peers, thereby violating the upper crust's  prime directive of  "don't s**t where you eat," he'd still be walking around a free man.

     It is long past time for a renewed Progressive long, hard look at business practices in this country. I do believe that one job of Government is to, whenever possible, help American industry and business to be successful. At the point, however, that doing so unfairly disadvantages any single taxpaying citizen for the profit of the wealthy - that crosses the inviolable line.

        I think Senator Warren is correct in her proposition that fines should actually be fines, not pseudo-fines riddled with write-off opportunities for admission of guilt. Perhaps a public trial, admission of guilt and exposure in public of economic malfeasance, might hurt a corporation's market standing. So be it. We see many corporate tax loopholes lumped in the category of "cost of doing business."  Perhaps public disclosure and jail time need to be the cost of doing business fraudulently.