Who can blame Occupy Wall Street?
The demonstrators could just as easily be targeting Congress, but the alienation in this country is palpable.
Occupy Wall Street has, in a few short weeks, gone from a sideshow to the fulcrum of a national debate about wealth and jobs and a sense of despair that's palpable among many Americans. You can't be on the sidelines on this one; you are pro or con.
Which, frankly, is the problem, because I am not sure what being pro or con actually means in this case.
Am I pro justice for the people who got us into this mess -- chiefly the lenders who lent recklessly and should have known better, and the investment bankers who pooled their miserable loans into unfathomable tranches that have done so much to impair the American economy? You bet.
From the lenders to the processors to the robo-signers to those who took huge bonuses after being saved by TARP and yet were integral to this corrupt process, to the ratings agencies that checked off on it all, I've seen little or no justice at all.
You mean to tell me that no one did anything wrong at Lehman? Can you honestly believe that no one at Countrywide has gotten in trouble with the authorities? How about the outrageous acts of the executives who ran Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into the ground and made fortunes doing so?
Where are the indictments?
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But that doesn't seem to be the focus of the protests. The focus seems to be against the rich. Who can blame them? I think the rich have gotten a great deal in this country. I believe they should have to pay more than they are. Is that a radical position? Lest anyone forget, that was Abe Lincoln's position during the Civil War, and he remains the greatest force of honesty in the history of American political debate.
Yet the rich have gotten away with this outrage because of Congress. Is it "Wall Street's fault"? Congressional Republicans seem addicted to the dollars of the rich and let them get off scot-free.
So I don't get the geographic focus.
All that said, the alienation in this country is palpable. It is caused by a dysfunctional government that can't get its act together and has created a level of uncertainty that makes it difficult for companies to hire. And by a presidential emphasis on creating green jobs when the only real growth area that needs employees is in the oil and gas patch. And by a belief that we are being crushed by our trading partners who take our jobs at will.
Once again, though, those seem not to be the targets of Occupy Wall Street.
So am I pro Occupy Wall Street? If they were to embrace any parts of the issues I am talking about in any coherent fashion, you bet I am.
Until they do, let's just say: Who can blame them? There's plenty wrong with society right now. But can I join them? Not until I know exactly what they really stand for. If they stand for any of the issues I just described, you bet I can.
Jim Cramer is a co-founder of TheStreet and contributes daily market commentary to the financial news network's sites. Follow his trades for his charitable trust.
One of the dumbest pieces I've seen from Jim Cramer, and it is not factually correct. Jim of all people should know that the most campaign money ever gotten from the rich and Wall Streeters was the 2008 Obama campaign. Wall Street gave something like 80% to Dems in 2008, and I think it is now still around 50%. How can that be? Because it has become a protection racket. "Give us the money or we will hurt you." Why do you think credit card profits got crushed by congress?
Jim, Do you really care about who was most culpable? As David Faber said, the sleezy independent mortgage brokers put out most of the loans with underwriting standards that were 'less than zero." Most people assume that they were completely unregulated, but that's not true either. ALL MORTGAGE LENDING STANDARDS WERE REGULATED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE!! Yep Jim. your hero Ben Bernanke could have stopped the worst of it with a stroke of his pen.
PS: The OWS organizers are the exact same folks that burned three low level bank employees to death in Athens 1.5 years ago. Thanks for sticking up for the anarchists Jim!
Where are the indictments?
Agree totally, but not only for the CEOs and CFOs of the banker and mortgage robbers under Sabanes-Oxley. How about the appraisers, borrowers and realtors that all lied while committing loan fraud? And how about those Congress members that voted to repeal Glass-Steagall bank regulation. It's kind of like the immigration laws. Once you let a few break the law it becomes a flood that's impossible to enforce. Greed and larceny are basic human traits.Jimmy : Palpable is as good as it can get . Wallstreet is overrated , but can pack a wollop if it get scared, Politicans sound good ,untill they move to DC and follow the path of helping themselves,
Lawyers are a compo between the 2 and in the end have there only concern, is there bottom line , but in my opinion if these groups were not in tact , the blood would spill like on the gold coast , all over the world, It seems if the rich stay that way and increase there holding , life is more civil , there are more toilets , but give cash to the bandit that has 0 education, and has done nothing but suck blood for free god help the world . Short summary Buffet wants to donate , Carlos Slim wont , if you give the fish to the hungry , Guess what, but you have heard this before , teach a man to fish , babble babble , from a self employed ditch digger hausta nunca
Really Cramer? You don't know what they really stand for? They stand for Marxism-Socialism-Communism-Progressivism. They stand for bringing down capitalism, which would be the downfall of our nation. There is enough capitalism in Russia, China and Cuba, that those nations would collapse from such a stance also.
Abraham Lincoln also said something close to this: "You cannot build up the wage earner, by tearing down the wage provider." These people stand for tearing the wage provider, which is "shooting themselves in the foot", and they don't even realize it.
So, Jim, you are putting most of the blame on "Congressionals Republicans seem addicted to the dollars of the rich."? Goodness, Congress was actually a democratic congress up until a year ago......does that fact have anything to do with the truth?
You also overlook the responsibility of the individual who signed their name to the dotted lines saying they could afford the homes they were moving into.
No one put a gun to their head and told them to borrow money they may or may not be able to repay.
No one in our society wants to take responsibility for anything anymore. We all have learned to pass the buck onto big business and big money.
There will be a time when our entire system will collapse because no one is watching the hen house.
I do agree that Wall Street protestors don't have their banners right but this is a political statement that is being demonstrated and the masses are just out there not really having a clue what they are protesting.
The Democrats controlled the House and Senate from 2006. They had unstoppable majorities in the House and Senate from Jan 2009 until Jan 2011 and the Presidency. They could have punished anyone, righted any wrong (real or imagined) and fixed any injustice in the tax code as you indicate. But they didn't. So don't blame only the Republicans. The Democrats are just as beholden to the money interests as anyone. After all, who pays for their re-election. The wealthy and big business.
Oh and by the way, who do you think risks their wealth by investing in business to provide jobs for anyone. Without them, no one would have jobs because there would be no investment. Yes maybe the executives get paid too much, but as you know their salaries are set by the board of directors of the company. But that's another topic for another time.
I enjoyed your pint of view.
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