Illegal Immigration and Other CriminalityYou can also read the article here
Border Control vs. Cleaning Up Wall Street
By Steve Breyman - counterpunchGovernor Cuomo's recent decision to withdraw New York from the federal Secure Communities program—which sent the fingerprints of all jailed suspects to Homeland Security--got me thinking again about this country's never-ending struggle with illegal immigration. Upon reflection, the worst thing about illegal immigration is that it's, well, illegal.
I'm sympathetic to the plight of undocumented workers. I came of age playing high school soccer in Southern California with some of their children; no one works harder than these people. But as a strong believer in the rule of law, it's hard to get beyond the basic fact that crossing borders without passports and visas is against the law. Here in the US, and everywhere else.
It doesn't matter that undocumented workers provide far more to the US economy, welfare state and Social Security than they take from it.
Or does it? Doesn't that count for something? Given that we'll never be able to fully choke off the arrival of the undocumented--even with an alligator-filled moat--it's fair to do a little comparative analysis of American law-breaking, routine and otherwise.
Is the rule of law under greater threat from paperless immigrants or from bankers on Wall Street and the Obama administration in Libya? How many bankers, mortgage brokers, and the rest of the well-renumerated hooligans who brought the economy to its knees have been investigated or prosecuted for what appears to be some highly questionable activities? Very few.
How many Bush administration officials have been investigated and tried for the long list of crimes committed during the Global War on Terror? Answer again: very few. Hardly any, in fact. Far fewer than deserve serious, sustained scrutiny.
Yet we deport tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants every year.
The aim of law enforcement is, of course, to serve justice and provide deterrence against copycats. Failing to investigate what looks like blatant criminality leaves us with neither. Thus, bankers and government officials continue on their merry (sometimes illegal) ways. Look at the continued shenanigans on 'self-regulating' Wall Street (ever hear of Raj Rajaratnam?) and the refusal of the Obama administration to abide by the War Powers Act in Libya.
Who commits the more serious crime? What are the stakes? An honest financial system, a country that abides by its own Constitution, and an immigration system that has failed to keep out millions who toil to feed and clean up after us. Not much of a contest.
You complain that you're neither a banker, nor approve of presidential failure to respect the separation of powers. My examples apply to too few of us. You pay your taxes, stay out of trouble, and otherwise contribute to society. So do the vast majority of undocumented workers.
Do you ever exceed the maximum speed limit in your car? Speeding contributes to thousands of deaths every year on America's roads and highways. Ever cheat on your taxes? Ever jaywalk? Ever get in your car and drive after one too many? Ever make a rolling stop before turning right at a red light? Always wear a seatbelt? Ever talk on your handheld phone while driving? Ever knowingly overcharge a customer? Ever claimed more from an insurance company than was fair? Insurance fraud costs us tens of billions dollars per year, and contributes to higher premiums. Always pay your child support on time? Ever smoked marijuana?
Are these less serious crimes--in social terms rather than in terms of the penal code--than overstaying a visa or sneaking across a border?
Have you ever left a restaurant because you thought there were illegal aliens in the kitchen? Have you stopped buying or eating lettuce or other produce? Chances are that your salad fixings were picked by an undocumented farm worker. Ever refused to stay in a hotel because you suspected the housekeepers had fake papers? Ever failed to enjoy yourself at the horse track because some of the stable help may be here illegally?
The point is not to justify illegal immigration. It's only to put it in the proper social context. As law-breaking goes, it's the sort that actually enriches all of us, not just a powerful few. Think how we could clean up Wall Street if we devoted even a fraction of the resources to it that we expend on border control. Think how we might rein in official lawlessness if we spent even a fraction of the time and energy debating it that we do with illegal immigration. I'll take an undocumented busboy over a native-born criminal banker or government official any day.
Steve Breyman is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Reach him at breyms@rpi.edu
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Fraud*
According to the Collins English Dictionary 10th Edition fraud can be defined as: "deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage".[1] In the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation. Defrauding people or entities of money or valuables is a common purpose of fraud, but there have also been fraudulent "discoveries", e.g. in science, to gain prestige rather than immediate monetary gain
*As defined in Wikipedia
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Goldman Sachs Should be Judged by Rule of Law too
Steve Breyman has given me permission to re-post from counterpunch the following essay. It makes some interesting and provocative points that are worth thinking about.
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You might have to revisit marriage law or at least sui juris marriage law first....
Inept Obama “Anybody but Warren” Stance Reveals Fundamental Bank v. Middle Class Fault Line
The failure of the Team Obama to move beyond this impasse is revealing. It isn’t merely, as we have repeatedly mentioned, a sign that the Administration is in bed with the banksters. That’s a given.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/06/inept-obama-anybody-but-warren-stance-reveals-fundamental-bank-v-middle-class-fault-line.html
"Think how we could clean up Wall Street if we devoted even a fraction of the resources to it that we expend on border control."
--it looks like they have other ideas.
June 14, 2011
Carney defends Obama meeting Wall Street donors at White House
White House press secretary Jay Carney is defending President Barack Obama's decision to meet in the White House residence with top Wall Street donors who could be key fundraisers for his reelection bid.
The New York Times, which disclosed the session in a story in Monday editions, said the confab was organized by the Democratic National Committee. On the surface, the meeting sounds somewhat like controversial DNC-arranged coffees that President Bill Clinton held at the White House during the 1996 campaign.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0611/Carney_defends_Obama_meeting_financeworld_donors_at_White_House.html
How Bankers are using the Debt Crisis to welcome in the Financial Road to Serfdom
At issue is language regarding the legal rights of creditors vis-à-vis debtors. The United States has long had a body of law regarding this issue. A few years ago, for instance, the real estate speculator Sam Zell bought the Chicago Tribune in a debt-leveraged buyout. The newspaper soon went broke, wiping out the employees’ stock ownership plan (ESOP). They sued under the fraudulent conveyance law, which says that if a creditor makes a loan without knowing how the debtor can pay in the normal course of business, the loan is assumed to have been made with the intent of foreclosing on property, and is deemed fraudulent.
This law dates from colonial times, when British speculators eyed rich New York farmland. Their ploy was to extend loans to farmers, and then call in the loans when the farmer’s ability to pay was low, before the crop was harvested. This was indeed a liquidity problem – which financial opportunists turned into an asset grab. Some lenders, to be sure, created a genuine insolvency problem by making loans beyond the ability of the farmers to pay, and then would foreclose on their land. The colonies nullified such loans. Fraudulent conveyance laws have been kept on the books since the United States won its independence from Britain.
http://michael-hudson.com/2011/06/rolling-back-the-progressive-era/
Read Michael Hudson's piece above.
How Bankers are using the Debt Crisis to welcome in the Financial Road to Serfdom
At issue is language regarding the legal rights of creditors vis-à-vis debtors. The United States has long had a body of law regarding this issue. A few years ago, for instance, the real estate speculator Sam Zell bought the Chicago Tribune in a debt-leveraged buyout. The newspaper soon went broke, wiping out the employees’ stock ownership plan (ESOP). They sued under the fraudulent conveyance law, which says that if a creditor makes a loan without knowing how the debtor can pay in the normal course of business, the loan is assumed to have been made with the intent of foreclosing on property, and is deemed fraudulent.
http://michael-hudson.com/2011/06/rolling-back-the-progressive-era/
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