Regulators and Government still afraid to step on the toes of the big banks

Is the government really stepping up to hold banks accountable? The PR campaign is underway.

It is clear that their has been little pressure on the banks to clean up their act over the past year.  The government has lost its teeth and is in dire need of new dentures.  The teeth of our government came in the form of laws, rules and regulations that were to be enforced diligently to protect the people.  The attorneys general for all states was also given power to enforce laws against fraud and conflict of interests.  The past several years we have seen a melding of government and financial industry.  There is no longer the separation between the two that allows for proper enforcement of law and regulation. 

It has little to do with either political party or which of those hold power in the congress.  It is about the state/government becoming accomplices to the financial industry and their unscrupulous power grab.  It sometimes looks like it is the government being dictated by the banking industry, which is true, but there are plenty of parties from both sides working to blur the separation lines between State and Bank.  Though it was never addressed in the Constitution one could make a case that it is equally as important as the separation of church and state. 

It could be argued that at this point in our history we are at an extremely critical point that has crossed well over the line that used to separate the government from the self interested financial institutions.  The line was blurred psychologically years prior to the recent investments of Tarp funds into the too big to fail banks.  The Tarp just laid it out on the table for all those who had any doubt that the big money players were ruling the country.  The statement that money rules the world would apply to the US government at this juncture. 

I was hesitant to think it was so clear until recently.  The Tarp was an eye opener that showed just how vulnerable our government was to the TBTF banks.  They held the country hostage while they had their hand out looking for aid to get them out of their own mess.  Our institution of Congress took a dive, never giving much a of fight, when the realized elections and recess were around the corner. 

The argument that the world financial system was going to collapse could be made on the side of Congress but it wasn't true.  There is no evidence that world would have caved in had we not bailed out the big banks.  The government could have just as easily paid the country parties with the Tarp and cleaned out the top managers of the banks to get to the bottom of this debacle. 

What have we gotten for our gracious gift of Tarp funds?  Banks that still using deceptive practices to try and stay afloat. 
2. Banks that still have the many of the people in charge of creating this wonder system at the helm.
3.  Banks still milking the treasury for help and using the cheap money at the discount window to create shadow profits, trying to convince the world they were on sound footing. 
oh yes and of course no problems that a few more billion of tax payer dollars could not easily solve.