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Thom's blog
Charles Keating and the Lessons of the S&L Crisis
Charles H. Keating Jr., one of the most notorious fraudsters in American history, died yesterday at the age of 90. Although his status as financial criminal number one has slipped a bit in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Keating was for many years the guy many Americans thought off when they thought off bankster rip-off artists, and his story reminds us that historically governments have had a very specific response to bad behavior by banks and banksters.
From FDR to Reagan, from Sweden to Iceland, when banks have broken the rules or even engaged in dangerous behavior that might technically be legal but crashes an economy, the investors in those banks have lost their investments, the banks themselves have been taken over by the government (at least for a short time) and the banksters that caused the crisis have gone to jail.
Case and point: After Reagan deregulated the savings and loans in the early 1980s, Charles Keating made millions of dollars through risky investments that ripped off the people who invested in two of the companies he ran, American Continental Corporation and Lincoln Savings and Loan. Tens of thousands of everyday Americans, many of them senior citizens, lost millions of dollars on the junk bonds Keating sold to them.
Keating was protected from federal regulators for a while by a group of senators, including John McCain, but by 1989 the gig was up. American Continental went bankrupt and Lincoln Continental was seized by the government. This was the largest bank failure of the savings and loan (S&L) crisis of the 1980s and 1990s.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... McCutcheon...billionaires win again (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Watch the video 'Last Hours' narrated by Thom Hartmann about the "time bomb" that is ticking underground, underwater and under ice… frozen methane that is now escaping and could trigger runaway climate change. www.lasthours.org
Have a question or comment for Thom? Grab your phone, hit record and send your video to YourTakeMyTake@gmail.com and we may air it on "The Big Picture."
Need to Know: McCutcheon...billionaires win again- Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR, 4th District) 
The Best of the Rest...
Cesar Chavez legacy and immigration- President Arturo Rodriguez, United Farm Workers
Daily Take: Charles Keating and the Lessons of the S&L Crisis
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Tuesday's Daily Stack 
The Big Picture- Nate Sweet, The Big Picture producer
Hour Two: What's a little voter fraud?- Horace Cooper, National Center for Public Policy Research
Article: " 8th Amendment" (cruel and unusual punishment).
Hour Three: Earth will cross the climate danger threshold- Dr. Michael Mann, Climate Scientist
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Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Hour One: Backer vs. Hartmann: money is NOT speech- Dan Backer, Attorney for McCutcheon
The Hobby Lobby hypocrisy...they have sinned- Stephen Ally, The Timothy Plan
Hour Three: McCutcheon...billionaires win again - David Cobb, Move to Amend- David Cobb, Move to Amend
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...
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Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
We'll have the best of the rest of the news...all the latest news & information you won't be hearing from the corporate owned news media...
Plus, a new Pew Research study says the Christian right is responsible for the decline of religion in America...I'll be challenging Bryan Fischer of the American Family Assocation...
And, my favorite segment of the week...Geeky Science...together with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"
And remember...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Are you surprised by the SCOTUS McCutcheon case ruling?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Time for a Second Bill of Rights...
The Good - The Bad and the Very Very Macromasticly Ugly!
Shocker...Banksters Buy & Sell stocks in Mere Milliseconds
The Flight 370 Discovery Is A Risk To Us All
Politics Panel - Ryan's budget is as extreme as it gets
Politics Panel - Whether you love - hate - distrust Obamacare - it's clearly working
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 4/1/14: Obamacare: 7.1 Million and Counting
Thom discusses how the missing Malaysia flight has shown us how badly our oceans are polluted with the Ocean Conservancy's Nicholas Mallos and another reason why we need the Robin Hood tax with the Campaign for America's Future Richard Eskow. Tonight's "Politics Panel" discusses the latest Obamacare numbers, Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" budget and how the wealth controlled by the richest 0.1 percent has skyrocketed. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses how it's become easier to get into Harvard than it is to get into a low-paying job at Wal-Mart.
The Thom Hartmann Program - April 1, 2014
Voter Fraud...A Little Like Drunk Driving?
Earth will Cross the Climate Danger Threshold...
President Jimmy Carter's call to Action...
President Jimmy Carter: Bush Didn't Win in 2000
Thom Hartmann on Economic and Labor News - March 31, 2014
Are Unions Coming To College Football?
Caller: Time to Discuss Geo-engineering?
Time to Consider Ecocide a Crime?
Global Food Security Threatened By Warming World?
Do Veterans Support Keystone XL?
The Thom Hartmann Program - March 31, 2014
Economic Boost for Millions? Raise the Minimum Wage...
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Show Info
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Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook. |
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