This week on Bill Moyers Journal Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who is on the House Budget and Oversight, Appropriations, and Government Reform Committees, and Simon Johnson, a former Chief Economist of the IMF were  on to talk about the lack of progress on Banking Reform, and what that means for us.  It is a must-see interview; they are both sounding the alarms for the dire need for true reform, not the "nibbling around the edges" that is being considered currently.  Johnson said that the window of opportunity for re-regulation may have already closed.

The opening  clip shows Michael Moore interviewing Kaptur, and she answers, "...yes, what happened was a financial coup d'etat."  And then he addresses the new 'revelations' that Tim Geithner takes calls from Wall Street while Congresspeople must leave messages.  Johnson says this should not be shocking to us, and that the key rule is that whoever has access to the oval office holds the power.

 They described the White House economic team and their recent top jobs in Big Banking, and the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. They included alleged Obama advisor Robert Rubin, all part and parcel of the people who were instrumental in causing the economic meltdown, and helped to shape the policy and direction of the bailout.   Rubin, of course, was singled out in having been the prime mover in de-constructing Glass-Steagall, the laws that had put up a wall between commercial banking and investment banking, and established the FDIC.

 They point out that instead of breaking up the biggest banks, where there were a dozen before the bailout, there are now four big banks.  And the fact that when the President went to Wall Street to ask them to play nice and be responsible, the heads of the Big Four Banks didn't even show up for his speech, because they can afford to be arrogant, knowing the power they hold. 

 Moyers reminded us that part of the bailout terms was that the banks would renegotiate underwater mortgages to prevent foreclosures, though foreclosures are sky-rocketing. 

 Johnson:

 I'm afraid that it's pretty obvious and it's very tragic. That they have no interest in helping the homeowners. They make money with what they're doing. Bill, they'll expected a lot of these mortgages they made to default, okay? It was in their models. A high default rate. Now, they didn't expect house prices to come down so much. That's where they got their losses. But they absolutely made these loans expecting they would have to foreclose on people. And figuring they would make money on that.

 Moyers played a clip of Kaptur speaking on the House floor, urging homeowners to demand to see their original loans and paperwork before they moved out of their houses, and to stay put until the papers were produced.

  Kaptur:

 So why should any American citizen be kicked out of their homes in this cold weather? In Ohio it is going to be 10 or 20 below zero. Don't leave your home. Because you know what? When those companies say they have your mortgage, unless you have a lawyer that can put his or her finger on that mortgage, you don't have that mortgage, and you are going to find they can't find the paper up there on Wall Street. So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave. In Ohio and Michigan and Indiana and Illinois and all these other places our people are being treated like chattel, and this Congress is stymied.

 Again we hear the story of all the profits going to the Banks, and all the losses shoved onto the American taxpayer, perhaps to the tune of trillions of dollars; no one really knows.  And Ben Bernanke won't say, and Geithner won't say--even to Congress.  Simon Johnson says it's 'Lemon Socialism.'  (Maybe 'We get the juice, you get the pips'?)

 Moyers pleads, in effect, "Well then, what can we do?  If the Bankers are getting their way, and Congress isn't too very interested in anything but cosmetic changes?"

 Kaptur notes the blasé attitude of Congress toward the problem:

 If you want a marker at the Federal level of how serious we are to get justice out of this financial crisis, look at the F.B.I. Look at the number of people who are really prosecuting and investigation mortgage fraud and securities fraud. It is so small

I've been one of the Members of Congress trying to increase by ten times the agents to get at the justice issues for the American people. For companies that have been hurt. For shareholders that have been hurt. Our government isn't doing it. That it's very easy to look at the budget of the F.B.I. in mortgage fraud and securities fraud and say, 'How serious is the government?' And until those numbers increase, we will not begin to get justice.

 They bat around other things Americans should be demanding from Congress and the White House concerning regulatory reform, and housing, especially now that the federal government owns Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; some simple, short term-solutions.  And if we don't get true reform?  Johnson is worried about a True Depression of long duration. 

 Johnson points out that the final crumb of Glass-Steagall was swept away in August, to our (the taxpayers) detriment:

 Well, the final end of the last vestige of Glass-Steagall came in just now in August. Unnoted, but I think very significant. Goldman Sachs, you remember, was an investment bank, a securities company. Not allowed to be a commercial bank; didn't have access to the Federal Reserve and this ability to tap into the money supply of the country. Until September of last year, when the crisis broke, they were allowed a very short notice to convert to being a bank holding company. This was what saved Goldman Sachs in my opinion. Also Morgan Stanley. Which meant they could stay in the securities business. And they could also have access to the Federal Reserve. In August, just now, they converted to what's called a financial holding company. That may seem like a technical detail to you, but this means they can borrow from the Fed, at essentially zero interest rate now.

They can invest in, I mean, as far as we can see, from the outside, looking at their portfolio, anything they want, including, you're going to love this one, they just bought some stock, big chunk of stock in a Chinese automotive company. Okay? So, that's your money, that's your Federal Reserve, financing a highly speculative investment. And if it goes well, they get the upside. And if it goes badly, that's another one for us.

 A few months ago on The Journal Simon Johnson said that he wasn't, in theory, adverse to the notion of the Poacher turning Gamekeeper.  He would give Obama some time; now he is even more skeptical that The Change Obama promised will occur. And Marcy Kaptur says, "I think he (the President) needs some new Generals  (financial team). It's time."

 It's time for us to squawk to the President and Congress.  We spent four days arguing about the Nobel Prize.  Well, let's suit up for this one: They are flushing our futures and the futures of our kids and grandkids down the toilet.  They are legally stealing our financial futures; stealing our health care is only one part of it.

 Please: Send the links around, get people riled up on this one! 

 The video is here:  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html

  The transcript is here:  http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/transcript4.html

Simon Johnson reminds us that Louis XIV had many rotten things happen under his rule; but so many folks liked him, they always said, "We need to tell Louis; if only Louis knew what was going on..."

It's time to run out of patience, and time to "Tell Louis."