Bernie Sanders Blasts Wall Street, Government In Wake Of Fed Disclosures (VIDEO)

Self-avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) blasted the nation's major financial institutions and the government's failure to hold them accountable in a Wednesday-night appearance on CNN's "Parker Spitzer."

In the wake of Wednesday's mammoth release of documents pertaining to its $3.3-trillion aid program for big banks and other members of the financial community, Sanders said, outrage is growing among those not fortunate enough to head a Wall Street firm.

"The average American is sitting home. His or her standard or living is declining. Can't afford to send their kids to college. May have lost their home," he told cohost and ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. And I think what this revelation, this disclosure is about, is a group of enormously powerful people -- who today in many instances are making even more money than they did before they were bailed out by the taxpayers -- and I think the American people are saying hey, what does the government do for me?"

It doesn't help that the Street isn't returning the favor, Sanders went on.

"What you have right now are the large financial institutions who are doing very very well sitting on huge amounts of cash, and yet small businesses in Vermont and all over this country can't get affordable loans in order to create jobs," he said. "You've got credit card companies that were substantially helped by the bailout saying, 'Oh, thank you very much for bailing us out, now we're going to charge you 25 or 30 percent interest rates.'"

Prompted by Spitzer, Sanders said those same financial institutions lobbied against reform of their business practices as soon as legally possible, "to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, an absolute outrage." And the Fed, he agreed with Spitzer, is complicit in that process by keeping its deals with them secret.

WATCH:

Comments

[Upper Sanctimonius]

10:50 PM on 12/10/2010

I applaud you, Bernie Saunders. You are a true
American, when there are no Americans left in this country.
God Bless You!

[conservicide]

06:23 AM on 12/03/2010

Honestly people, we need to bring back the tradition of burning FED members at the stake in the town square and making them watch each other broiled into chilli

[brisa]

09:09 PM on 12/02/2010

How is the US federal government not an organized crime outfit? No respect for property ownership laws (covering up the rank fraud that is mortgage-gate), no respect for human rights (institutionalized torture/denial of habeas corpus/kidnapping-rendition), institutionalized bribery (former congressmen/military brass turned bag-men for lobbyists), targeted murder,......the list goes on and on.

Even a junior prosecutor at the DOJ could put together a slam-dunk RICO case against any number of our "elected" representatives. That'll be the day.....

[HopeWFaith]

08:41 PM on 12/02/2010

If we had many more Bernie Sanders in the House and the Senate, our nation would never have been allowed to slide into the pit of reckless abandon and delusion, as it has done. Bernie cares about this nation, like no other man in Washington I can think of. He's logical, practical, honest. We need a helluvalot more of his style in DC.

[Independent66]

07:21 PM on 12/02/2010

Another government coverup! If Congress can't learn about this stuff how do you think the rest of American citizens feel. We have not been well served by our government irrespective of control. The American people deserve much better.

[HAZ021]

03:56 PM on 12/02/2010

One of only a few people working for the people. Bernie Sanders for President

[rawresolve]

03:30 PM on 12/02/2010

Why is this story not on the front page? This is an outrageous scandal that I am sure the corporate media will ignore as quickly as possible.

[pooquimeyer]

05:33 PM on 12/02/2010

Good question...but think we know the answer...we are living in a controlled society...we basically have no media anymore...this should definitely be the top news story, but they will continue to report on $arah and anything else that is a trivial distraction...

[ChasG]

01:11 AM on 12/05/2010

The Fed began using emergency lending powers when the first signs of the crisis emerged in late 2007.  It loaned certain "distressed banks" over-night loans, many of which were rolled over for a while, all of which have been repaid with interest about equal to short term Treasury yields at the time.  And there is nothing unusual about this type of transaction except this time it was record sized over-night loans.  But they were fully collateralized, and fully repaid.  Where's the beef?
 
I'm completely in favor of extending unemployment benefits, I'm for continuing to improve health care reform, I'm for continued increased regulation of banks, separating investment banks from retail banking, but where is the scandal here if it cost the taxpayer nothing, and it help rescue the financial industry from having to sell off all their assets at extremely under-valued prices.
 
I just don't see how we make the leap from loans made and repaid with interest to money allegedly "doled out" to banks as a "bailout."  If I borrow money and pay it back with interest am I being bailed out?  It sure doesn't feel like it to me, but I'm thankful for the loan, and for having some collateral to back it up, and for having paid it back within months of losing 75% of my income.
 
Living with less and learning to enjoy it more.

[PARepublican]

02:41 PM on 12/02/2010

Why would the banks loan out money if they are not sure whether it will be paid back? Isn't this what got us in trouble in the first place? I'm speaking of the housing part of the problem.

[Bette]

03:22 PM on 12/02/2010

You might well ask that question of the Bush Administration (which authorized TARP in the first place) and the Obama Administration which continued on with it. Banks were bailed out, GM and other large companies were bailed out -- and no one knew for certain they'd ever be paid back. But it was deemed necessary - and since then, some of the bailout funds HAVE been paid back.

At the same time, it's the bank's duty to do due diligence on people asking for mortgages. There are no absolute guarantees that mortgages will always be paid back (not just in the US, but in lots of countries around the world) and if they're not - the bank holds a lien on the property. Crap happens - people lose their jobs, those without health care sometimes have to pay for massive health care costs -- but that's still no reason not to give those people who, when applying for a mortgage and who have jobs - the benefit of the doubt and bet that they'll be able to pay the money back.

Same goes for small businesses. Government took a chance on the banks, now it's the bank's turn to bet on the success of small business and potential homeowners.

[Brad Majors]

02:37 PM on 12/02/2010

Ironic how the only SOCIALIST in Congress is the only one fighting for regular Americans.

[ChasG]

02:54 AM on 12/05/2010

It may seem like he's fighting for you, but the unintended consequences of his good intentions (proposing to abolish the Fed) would probably be another Great Depression, if history is a lesson.
 
I admire and respect Bernie Sander's beliefs in social justice, but he is in over his head when it comes to banking, money and economics.
 
Everything Bernie wants socially, and which I share with him, could be accomplished by returning to a progressive tax system.  This is how it's done in a free-enterprise democracy. Rates could be expressly scaled to reduce the gap between richest and poorest by gradually pushing it back to levels of about 40 years ago.  It could be targeted to effectivel pancake the wealth pyramid so that our politics and government aren't controlled by dynasties.  Basically, reverse George Bush's transfer of wealth to the wealthy by transferring wealth back from the wealthy to the middle class via the Income Tax Code. 
 
If Bernie would do something practical like proposing a progressive tax structure that reduces both the degrees and amounts of wealth concentration, he'd have my vote. 
 
Getting into bed with libertarians... c'mon Bernie, that's craziness.  You know it.  Without the Federal Reserve, who manages the local and regional shifts in money supply?  The banking system needs to be regulated by Congressional legislation, not by abolishing it.

[gleitz05]

02:31 PM on 12/02/2010

Wish we had more like Bernie.

[LateDave]

02:23 PM on 12/02/2010

Even Sanders refers to small business owners as good guys. But who are the Bush tax cut "small businesses" worshiped by the Repos (over $250,000/yr in taxable income after deductions)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of them actually doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other such professionals who are members of "partnerships" or other non-incorporated entities? Anybody else would prefer the liability protection afforded by creating a corporation with some minimal board of directors. A plumber or other contractor might prefer to run everything out of his pocket, but he wouldn't be affected by this law any more than a micro-corporation.

Who else besides high-profit partners does this law affect?

[jimmcclarin]

05:24 PM on 12/02/2010

OK, you're wrong. Stores, contractors, gas stations, small manufacturers, shipping companies, insurance agencies, dry cleaners, logging companies, farmers, ambulance companies, car dealers. Go through the Yellow Pages sometime.

[MarsAmbassador]

02:11 PM on 12/02/2010

The plutocrats and oligarchs are leading us to our destruction and they are being aided and abetted by corrupt politicians, judges, attorney generals and an inept corporate owned media. The Fourth Estate has failed us miserably and all our outrage is for naught, as it dead-ends in corporate-friendly courts and political offices. Government itself isn't the problem, it's merely the extension of our collective will, but it's been entirely co-opted by the forces of greed and fraud. Justice is nowhere to be found, people are losing hope, the American Dream is a punch-line and the Middle Class is being destroyed a day at a time. The social contract has been torn up by the plutocrats and we're too stupid to realize it until it's too late. Well, I think it was too late about 30 years ago. It's all part of Their plan. The people that REALLY control the world, the oligarchs who want monopoly and the 1% plutocracy. Big Banks aren't lending to small business so more business goes to Big Business. They are bankrupting us so we willingly give over all public control to private interests and ruining the West so they can move the rest of the labor force and jobs over to the Third World where they will exploit the people over there for $1-2 a day. There are literally billions of people in these countries and they all are simply viewed as 'labor force' by Them. We are screwed.

[SoutheastBeast]

01:56 PM on 12/02/2010

I was born just after the fall of Jim Crow. My African-American parents were imbued with a sense that our country was finally becoming a land of hope and promise, that it was the best country on earth. Well, I used to share their optimism, but no more.

The Tea Party thugs are trying to re-impleme nt Jim Crow for Latinos. We have wars based on lies. We accrue debt in order to bail out corporations and subsidize rich individuals. We rob poor kids of school lunch programs. We cut off unemployment benefits for desperate people. We allow people who were swindled to lose their homes, while the banks that swindled them get no strings attached gifts from us. We won't even let gay people serve in our military. How exactly are we the best country in the world?

[tangerinesong]

03:02 PM on 12/02/2010

Beast lets keep the line of sight here. It was our administration that allowed this loose as a goose bailout without due recompense for the American people. What does this have to do with Tea Baggers, Latinos or Jim Crow exactly? And I am Latina. Bush did this with TARP and he was run out on a rail as well he should have.

The extent of this bailout is not known. It was first some $868 billion. Well come to find out it was $3.8 trillion and the disbursement of this money is just now coming into view. The $868 billion is merely the amounts this administration says are not subject to FOI. What is now known was never communicated to the American people, quite the contraire’ and this little oopsy is going to grow not legs but jet engines as well it should. Our government certainly should be supporting American industry only, not Euro Companies but domestic companies by loaning taxpayer money to purchase the companies debt. I have no interest in our government purchasing equity in any Domestic Corporation or for sure any International Corporation which this simply is. Slippery slope for sure with nothing to hang on to.

[SoutheastBeast]

04:09 PM on 12/02/2010

My point is that the bailout, the attacks from the right on Latinos, etc, etc., are symptoms of a larger sickness gripping our nation.

[56hoperoad]

06:06 PM on 12/03/2010

Dylan Ratigan has been talking about the real cost of the bailout in Trillions for the last year. Bringing up the fact that the banks were getting free money and buying Treasury Securities at 3.5% and keeping the profits.

[dominus]

01:32 PM on 12/02/2010

The people are being duped with the vernacular called "bailout." In truth, it's called welfare.

[DustinTime]

05:04 PM on 12/02/2010

Amen.

[ChiBloger]

01:28 PM on 12/02/2010

How could we clone Sanders? we could use a hundred of him in the US government, but I would settle for 10 more spread out nationally.