Where is the money going to come from? ask the repubs when presented with health care legislation.

Where is the money going to come from? ask the repubs when presented with new education legislation.

Where is the money going to come from? ask the repubs when presented with other budget considerations.

Just the other day, someone on cable was discussing the problems with SEC enforcement. The enforcement division is short on help and there is no money to bring on more staff, was the reply.

In bankruptcy court, there is a trustee appointed. The trustee and the court are paid out of the proceeds--the assets of the bankrupt estate that must be distributed among various creditors--after costs.

Court costs and attorney's fees are oft times awarded in a civil action.

The SEC and the DOJ could make billions of dollars prosecuting the thieves that run our capitalist structure today. Billions. The taxpayers would make money off of these prosecutions. Who is kidding whom?  Somebody is caught in a one billion dollar scheme of some sort, I do not care what you call it. You fine the bastard one billion dollars and put him in prison. Today.

A tax of one percent on all stock and bond trades would take care of half our national budget. Today. They all ready do this in Europe.

Americans are idiots.

Our leaders are idiots. Or are they?

THE CASTE SYSTEM

Aryans migrated from Central Europe and settled in the very fertile Indus Valley. Aryans were very clever. They implemented division of labor in their society. The most clever members of society were selected and given the task to teach others. The bravest people were selected and given the task to protect society. The dullest types of individuals who were able to tolerate a heavy workload were selected and given the task of supplying labor to others whenever needed. The rest of the people of the society were given the tasks to grow food, produce materials, trade, and supply the goods to others.

In Nepal however, there are truly only three categories of caste: Tagadhari (twice born), Matwali (liquor drinking) and Pani Nachalne. The Tagadharis include Nepal�s highest castes: Brahmins, Thakuris, and Chetris. The mid-ranking Matwalis include most of Nepal�s Tibeto-Burman and Indo-European tribal groups. The Pani Nachalne are untouchables associated with specific traditional occupations. These castes are ranked along an axiom of purity and pollution This caste system was codified in Nepal by the National Legal Code (Muluki Ain) of 1853 by Nepal�s Rana rulers. It lasted until 1951 when the Ranas were overthrown. It heavily favored the Brahmins and brought ruling against them when violating caste rules.

http://internet.cybermesa.com/~rotto/caste1.html

Several characteristics distinguish a caste system. The first is the tendency toward endogamy, meaning that people marry within the same caste exclusively. Caste mobility is also extremely rare; one cannot transform from a laborer to a scholar except in very rare circumstances, for example. Higher castes traditionally hold all of the political power, and the castes may be divided further through language, culture, and economics. Within a caste system, each member generally knows his or her place, and your social status is usually apparently to others as well. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-caste-system.htm

Late Friday, Ruth Madoff reached an agreement with prosecutors that forfeits all but $2.5 million.

Saul and Sara Alpern also figure in another way in the ongoing investigation of Ruth Madoff. She had been claiming--as her own money not related to Bernie's fraud--nearly $85 million. That's $84.6 million, including $40 million in cash and securities in bank accounts, $22 million in real estate, and the remainder in boats and personal property, including $2.6 million in jewelry. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-27/the-madoff-family-splinters/3/

Can you really picture some wife of a convicted drug dealer reaching an agreement with the prosecutor and ending up with three million bucks?

And what happens to the CEO's who fail? 

The sweetest sound on Wall Street these days? "You're fired."

The latest example is the $161.5 million retirement package collected by former Merrill Lynch (MER, news, msgs) chief Stanley O'Neal on his way out the doors of the troubled brokerage last month.

On O'Neal's watch, Merrill cranked out risky debt instruments backed by dodgy subprime mortgages. Then last month, O'Neal left the brokerage amid revelations of Merrill's heavy exposure to the imploding mortgage  market.

.http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/The5RichestPayoffsForFiredCEOs.aspx

It's been more than two years since Procter & Gamble (PG, news, msgs) took over Gillette, putting Gillette CEO James Kilts out of a job. A lot of CEOs have left their corner offices since then, but Kilts' golden goodbye was so huge it still takes the No. 4 slot for the all-time biggest retirement payouts this millennium. His take: $165 million,

The sheer size of former Home Depot (HD, news, msgs) CEO Robert Nardelli's golden goodbye sparked outrage on many fronts when he left the company in early 2007. First, Home Depot stock declined nearly 8% under his six-year watch. Next, he got all the loot even though he had already collected huge sums in annual pay -- including $219.7 million in the two years before leaving the company, according to The Corporate Library.

Under Henry McKinnell's watch from early 2001 through 2006, the shares of Pfizer (PFE, news, msgs) declined 40%. That cost shareholders $140 billion. No matter. He still left the CEO slot in July 2006 with a $213 million golden goodbye, thanks to an extremely generous board.

Given the strength in energy stocks since 2000, it probably comes as no surprise that the richest golden goodbye this millennium went to Lee Raymond, who retired as CEO of ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs) in 2006. He got $351 million. That's a lot for a guy who earned $70 million in his last year of work, or $34,457 an hour, according to The Corporate Library. His cash-out included a $98.4 million lump-sum pension payment.

Time reported in October of last year:

In the first half of the year, which is the latest available data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the total fees that the investment banks and brokerage firms collected were nearly $166 billion. That's more than triple the $55.5 billion the firms had in revenue back in the first half of 2002. But the big difference is that in 2002, Wall Street was making money -- nearly $8 billion in the first half of that year. This year financial firms are deeply in the red. They lost more than $15 billion in the first half of the year alone, and that was before the market's big plunge in the past few months. Says Frank Bruconi, chief economist in the New York City comptroller's office: "Had the federal government not stepped in with a bailout plan and other moves, the pay and the employment situation on Wall Street would be much worse."

Three times what was collected in fees from 6 years prior.  Think about this. All made in a LOSING year.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson discusses the latest news in bailouts and banking -- including the recent revelation that insurance giant AIG plans to pay $450 million in executive bonuses to the employees who work in the unit that crippled the company and contributed to its $40.5 billion loss. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101936770

Just think what $450 million might do for road construction or a special medical coverage law.

What are some measures that we might consider in an effort to break down the walls of the current caste system?

I WANT ALL THESE CROOKS IN PRISON AND ALL THEIR MONIES CONFISCATED AS WELL AS THE ENTIRE WEALTH OF THEIR FAMILIES. NOW!!!

Instead we tax them between 5 and 15%--when we are lucky. Most of their taxes are 'deferred' anyway. Do not defer anything, ever. I want my money now.

And when the corporation ends up firing 'the help' way down on the ladder because of management's mismanagement of assets, when the administrative assistant loses his only visible means of support and commits suicide, CHARGE MANAGEMENT WITH MURDER. And fine the individuals involved one billion dollars.

When a janitor loses his job because of management's mismanagement of company assets; and the janitor's daughter dies because lack of access to medical care; CHARGE MANAGEMENT WITH MANSLAUGHTER. And fine the individuals involved on billion dollars.

When an insurer denies coverage to an insured based on some hidden 'clause', and that insured dies, CHARGE THE INSURER WITH MURDER. And fine the individuals involved one billion dollars.

Oh but you say, the great minds, those great achievers of MBA's....they will go elsewhere.

Good, send them to Haiti or Argentina. Who the f....are they kidding.

There are brilliant men and women smuggling drugs into this country every hour of every day. Brilliant. They do not 'go elsewhere' even though they face losing everything and finding themselves in prison for eternity.

(Just saw this after my post from June 6th, a blog I missed: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/problem_is/2009/06/ruth-...)