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Robert Greenwald

Robert Greenwald

Posted: May 11, 2010 02:35 PM

It Takes a Socialist to Get a Bipartisan Bill in the Senate

What's Your Reaction:

The arrogance was astounding.

U.S. taxpayers, terrorized by proclamations that "this sucker [the economy] could go down," rode to the rescue of Big Gambling (read: derivative-drunk, too-big-to-fail banks) and shelled out trillions of dollars to bail them out. This is after they'd been using our deposits and investments to sit at the roulette table, mind you. But when we asked to see the receipt, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told us what we could do with our request. I'm too polite to paraphrase him, but here's a hint: it wasn't something you do at the dinner table.

The irony of having a gun pointed to your head by bankers shouting "gimme all your money" shouldn't be lost on anyone.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been working tirelessly to let the rest of us see who was behind the ski masks and how much they got from our cash drawer. It's a simple request. They already have the money. We just want to know who got how much of our money and why.

Today, Sanders' legislative language passed in the Senate. Thanks to his tireless work on this issue, we'll get a one-time disclosure from the Federal Reserve, and there's hope that in the conference committee between the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the one-time bit of sunshine can be strengthened into a recurring audit. This is a great moment for transparency in our country, and a big blow to the arrogant, elitist culture among the big banks and the Federal Reserve. We owe thanks to people across the political divide for this breakthrough, including Sanders and U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Ron Paul (R-TX).

Well done, guys. Well done.

Audit the Fed.

 
 
 

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06:41 PM on 05/12/2010
I remember when bank robbers were a problem. Now it's the robber banks that are the problem.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Don Necessary
Nature advocate and Missouri Democrat
04:56 PM on 05/12/2010
If they are too big to fail, then they are by definition.........Utilities.....nationalize 'em like any other banana republic would do.......
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
princeza
12:29 PM on 05/12/2010
This bill isn't all I would've liked, but it's an opportunity to get some much needed info and possibly a foot in the door of the Fed.

Senator Sanders is one reason why I'm proud to be a Vermonter. Him, and skiing, Ben & Jerry's, maple syrup...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Guitarsandmore
devoted father, community activist, musician, reti
11:57 AM on 05/12/2010
Enormously entertaining that Republicans spreading fear and loathing about the coming socialist takeover now agree 100% with our one and only socialist senator Bernie Sanders.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
joetrade
biography
09:10 AM on 05/12/2010
I only wish we had 99 more Bernie Sanders in the US Senate!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
joetrade
biography
09:05 AM on 05/12/2010
I don't know what the rules require to remove a Fed Chairman but they should be dusted off and reviewed.Here we have a Chairman who tells the American people that they are not allowed to see what he has done with their money because their too ignorant to understand the high finance of bailing out the gambling casinos on Wall Street.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Guitarsandmore
devoted father, community activist, musician, reti
11:53 AM on 05/12/2010
That has always been the ruse, the cover up, since the days of Alan Greenspan. It's too complicated for us mortal folk to understand, better just leave it all up to the bankers and the Gods to sort out as they quietly take everything you own and spend it wildly behind your back.

How does it feel?
to be on your own?
no direction home?
like a rolling stone?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
MAX1
... What's a micro-bio?.
01:28 AM on 05/12/2010
.

Q U E S T I O N:
If these Banks were "TOO BIG TO FAIL"...
... Why did they?

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ssfahrer
01:56 AM on 05/12/2010
Because "too big to fail" is a BIG LIE. NOTHING is too big to fail. Period!
09:45 PM on 05/11/2010
greetings.....you really don't think, that this is going to lead to anything, do you???....well perhaps you do....if so, please tell what it might be....
08:57 PM on 05/11/2010
If you look carefully at the three people mentioned in this article you will see that Ron Paul is a radical libertarian, Sanders is a socialist and Grayson is one of the few progressive democrats and I think they are great.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MARYHOBE
At last! Finally!
05:42 PM on 05/11/2010
Will you guys please stop calling Senator Sanders a socialist. I have always seen him as a regular, middle of the road, Canadian politician who took residence a couple of miles south of the border, quite by accident. And I know he describes himself as a social democrat, and do you realize how much courage that took in the 80`s and 90`s? Thank you, Senator, for this and the balance of your work.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
funkalicious
07:31 PM on 05/11/2010
Sanders is a Socialist I live in his state and have known him for years he is a blow hard socialist , you got a problem with that he champions Hugo Chavez he spent the city of Burlington's money flying around the world on his private vacations. He set up his buddy Jonathan Leopold with government contracts enough to buy a resort in the Bahamas,. Leopold by the way has driven the city of Burlington a micro city of 30,000 citizens into 50 million dollars in debt because of his incompetence and misfeasance.
Bernie is absolutely a Socialist he has never had a job outside of government he believe other people should support him, he gives nothing to charity because he believes it is the governments job not his to help other individuals even though he has a guaranteed salary and a 90 % COLA'd pension for life don't kid yourself sister Bernie is a socialist and he is damn proud of it.
07:40 AM on 05/12/2010
What a load of bull. Bernie is the most popular politician in the state of Vermont because he has dedicated his long carreer to championing the causes of ordinary people. Wikipedia has the facts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
super
08:41 PM on 05/11/2010
Bernie Sanders is proud to bill himself as a socialist. It is time we stop allowing the extremist right wing to set the terms of discourse. It is time to stop running away from terms like liberal and progressive. These are not dirty words, even though Rahm Emannuel may have convinced Obama that they are.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LeBelAge
05:05 PM on 05/11/2010
Ironic that the right wing more than the left has been advocating for an audit of the Federal Reserve. But its a socialist that might make it happen. The very thing that the right wing are despereatly afraid.
05:49 PM on 05/11/2010
You're joking....the right wing isn't afraid of Socialists - they're rarer than whooping cranes in America - the just use the word to scare Democrats.
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04:32 PM on 05/11/2010
Freddie and Fannie - private profit, public risk
01:21 AM on 05/12/2010
Wall Street + AIG + banksters + Enron + WorldComm and so on and so on= private profit, public risk
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01:11 PM on 05/12/2010
An equally valid equation. The difference at this in time, is the former is not being addressed, the latter is being addressed in pusillanimous fashion in this bill.
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Chubbster
Always Under Moderation
03:56 PM on 05/11/2010
You are cheering a totally toothless bill.
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MARYHOBE
At last! Finally!
05:45 PM on 05/11/2010
You are right, but politics is the Art of the Possible, and if seen as a small first step...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
The Cause Endures
03:49 PM on 05/11/2010
All we have to lose is our chains, people.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GrumpyGrandpa
A '60's liberal who didn't sell out
03:46 PM on 05/11/2010
Thank God for Bernie Sanders. He, along with Robert Greenwald are doing their best to educate people on the issues of how we got into the economic mess we are in and how we are going to be right back into the same mess or worse if we don't do something about it. 4 Banks owning the equivalent of 50% of the Gross Domestic Output of our country is positively frightening. This is what Teddy Roosevelt spent his life trying to stop and prevent. And we undid what he fought for in the matter of 8 years.
Kudos to Senator Sanders for getting the audit bill passed. Now they can call Ben Bernanke back to the committee and have the names and address of each and every recipient and Big Ben is going to have to finally answer some questions. Or the Fed is going to be completely reorganized and be governed by the US government and not by the Wall Street stock brokers, investment houses, bond brokers and banks. This is a major step forward.