RESTITUTION - WHERE ARE THE BIG CRASH BANKERS?

It is regrettable that a former Kimball township official, and others mentioned in the “Restitution payments no guarantee” 5-21-15 local Times Herald article, have repaid so little [6% over 6 years in her case] of what they stole.  But it is devastatingly tragic that none of the wealthy bank CEO’s and financial speculators that drove our country into bankruptcy in 2008 have even been arrested or convicted for their huge rip-off of billions of our tax and investment dollars, no repayment necessary.   Our locals with hands in the till, are petty criminals compared to the officially sanctioned high-finance robbers we coddle by non-enforcement because they are so rich and clever.  The Times Herald titles a companion editorial this same day, "Embezzlers' sentences should fit crimes."  Amen. Therefore, we must try and sentence Wall Street, if we're to have an impact on Main Street.

What an example we set as a country by allowing those with the most money and connections to get away with it!  In our county, hammered more than most by the depressed national economy caused by financiers who robbed with impunity, it’s a miracle that many more don’t follow their lead, lining their pockets with ill-gotten gains.  The name of that national game is get-away-with-it, the natural order of a business model that idolizes survival of the fittest.

Before we can expect to squeeze blood from the tiny local stones that have bilked in the ten thousands from county institutions, we must demand repayment from our country’s financial leaders who’ve sequestered billions for themselves in the midst of the financial crash they created.   What do we do with local citizens who did wrong, and still have little means to repay?  Send them to debtors’ prison?   And yet our national level wheeler-dealers still pilot their yachts to wherever their excess dollars are welcome.

et’s put an end to this idolatry of dollars, by honoring responsible business people, and making those who’ve committed world-class financial scandal come to court—in a true and fully restorative justice system.   One way of removing some of the temptations from these too-big-to-fail banks and Wall Street speculators, with their huge cash flows, is to transfer our accounts to local banks, credit unions and foundations who may have our local needs closer to heart.

We must work and pray that those who’ve mistakenly put their trust in the dollar instead of God {that includes each and every one of us to differing degrees} repent, turning towards God’s way of mercy and service.

 

Illumination by Kathy Brahney