The Lion Roars!

The Right Honorable George Gideon Oliver Osborne, Chancellor Exchequer, Second Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, and a member of the Conservative Party has called for the separation of banking function in Britain.  Retail banking will be retail banking, and investment banking will be investment banking.

It appears that the Right Honorable gentleman is invoking the UK equivalent of the United States Glass-Steagall Act.  Which we the people of the United States so foolishly and cavalierly allowed our elected representatives to throw on the mantle of profit and gain for the few, at the cost of the pain and suffering for so many.   Someone does have to pay piper.

According to the Right Honorable gentlemen “No more rewards for failure … no more taxpayers forking out for the mistakes of others,”

Stand up George and take a bow and your next step on your path to being the Prime Minister.

What about the United States?

Now if we can just find such an individual here in the United States, come on ladies and gentlemen for surely there is one amongst all of the individuals in elected office who is willing to come forward and carry this banner?

What say you Barrack?  You are a fine strong strapping lad; you have risen to highest position in the land.  What say you?  You who has been given the bully pulpit.  You who can set the agenda.  You who can bring pressing matters to the forefront of the people.  Your idol was not timid.  Now is the time to build the legend that is Barrack Hussein Obama.  What will be that legend be?   What story will be passed down from one generation to the following generations?  Now is the time to confirm your legacy, now is the time to be audacious.

If not Barrack.  Is there any one else among you who will accept the challenge?  What say you Mr. Reid?  What say you Ms. Pelosi?  What say you Mr. Johnson?  What say you Ms. Warren?

We do know of one that it will not be, that would be the Right Honorable Gentlemen Jeb Hensarling, after all his mentor Phil Gramm was one of the ring leaders in the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

Is it time to unwind Royal Bank of Scotland?

With the latest round of scandal (Libor rigging) and it fines for misbehaving and or lack of adult supervision (500 Million Pounds to date more fines are expected), and now the specter of bonus (250 Million Pounds) being paid to the employees some of whom are in real need adult supervision.  It should be apparent and well past the time for someone in the Government of Prime Minister Cameron to end this mess.  Perhaps the Right Honorable George Osborne should lead this endeavor, after all this mess is in his portfolio, come to think about he might already have been dusted up by this situation.

I would have hoped that somewhere someone in the ministry would have developed a plan to take the beast out into the field and put it down, or was it the Prime Minister, the Chancellor, the members of their staff and the Bank of England’s plan just to pour money down the hole until it filled up?

From the outside it appears that most if not all of the issues with the Bank lie on the commercial/investment side of the house.  If that is the case, then this operation should be removed from the rest of the group.

The commercial/investment banking part could be sold to some other unsuspecting buyer with the condition that any and all future liabilities (Criminal or Civil) for past actions are the responsibility of the buyer.  The other condition is that the buyer cannot be on life support from the crown.  That just moves it from the pocket on your right to your pocket on the left, you still have the stinking mess in your pocket (Mother would not approve).

Maybe the problem can be exported to either the Germans (they have lots of money) or possibly the American (they did not learn the first time around), who knows after all a sucker is born at least once every minute, even a stop clock is correct at least once a day.

If the commercial/investment entity cannot sold off whole, or possibly sold off piece by piece.  If is not possible to sell off the old sod then it certainly can and should be scrapped.