Rep. Gary Miller likes to go on and on about the full repeal of the Frank-Dodd act, but offers no substitute legislation to regulate Wall Street and hold them accountable. Like many of his Conservative allies, he probably believes it was all the regulator's fault by not being competent enough to understand what was going on. But what Conservatives fail to point out is the revolving door between regulators and Wall Street and that financial institution shop for the most lenient regulator.
I think the reality is that Mr. Miller does not want to bite the hand that feeds him. Wall Street and the financial industry are big contributors to his campaign coffers and any sense of holding them accountable for misdeeds is thrown out the window.
The most glaring fact is that to date, not one financial executive has been arrested our charged with fraud and sent to jail. You would think that someone would be held responsible for the Global Collaspe of the enconomy. It would seem as if legislators and regulators are just making a show to run out the clock on the statute of limitations which is set at 5 - 10 years for financial fraud. In the end, I think what would happed is that there would be a flurry of fines and probably one executive made an example of, just to show that "justice" has been served.
Frontline has a great report on this issue called "The Untouchables". The main thing that struck me is how the industry got and is continuing to get away with blatant fraud. Fraud is very hard to prove because of intent. However, looking at the elements of fraudulent misrepresentation it would seem very clear cut.
There are 5 elements of fraud (West's Business Law 3rd Edition):
1) A misrepresentation of material facts or conditions with knowledge that they are false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
2) An intent to induce another party to rely on the misrepresentation.
3) A justifiable reliance on the misrepresentation by the deceived party.
4) Damages suffered as a result of that reliance.
5) A causal connection between the misrepresentation and the injury suffered.
If you think about each of these elements and review the facts since the financial crisis, I don't see how we are letting these folks get away without justice being served. It's criminal!
I think the reality is that Mr. Miller does not want to bite the hand that feeds him. Wall Street and the financial industry are big contributors to his campaign coffers and any sense of holding them accountable for misdeeds is thrown out the window.
The most glaring fact is that to date, not one financial executive has been arrested our charged with fraud and sent to jail. You would think that someone would be held responsible for the Global Collaspe of the enconomy. It would seem as if legislators and regulators are just making a show to run out the clock on the statute of limitations which is set at 5 - 10 years for financial fraud. In the end, I think what would happed is that there would be a flurry of fines and probably one executive made an example of, just to show that "justice" has been served.
Frontline has a great report on this issue called "The Untouchables". The main thing that struck me is how the industry got and is continuing to get away with blatant fraud. Fraud is very hard to prove because of intent. However, looking at the elements of fraudulent misrepresentation it would seem very clear cut.
There are 5 elements of fraud (West's Business Law 3rd Edition):
1) A misrepresentation of material facts or conditions with knowledge that they are false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
2) An intent to induce another party to rely on the misrepresentation.
3) A justifiable reliance on the misrepresentation by the deceived party.
4) Damages suffered as a result of that reliance.
5) A causal connection between the misrepresentation and the injury suffered.
If you think about each of these elements and review the facts since the financial crisis, I don't see how we are letting these folks get away without justice being served. It's criminal!
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