Usury Interest Rates:   In the early years of Christianity, usury was considered a crime against God.   (By today's definition, usury is charging excessive interest rates on loaned money.)  In the 1930's usury was considered to be criminal activity in the United States and those caught engaging in it were sent to jail.   But humans have made such wonderful progress since those days.   Today, (2009) usury is not only legal, it's now the life blood of the financial industry.   

Betting on the Stock Market:    Betting on whether the stock market goes up or down used to be illegal.  Today speculators  gamble on the rise and fall of the stock market using a tool called subprime derivatives.   **m3  The gamblers are called "hedge fund" managers and "investment bankers."  Using this technique hundreds of billions of dollars have been siphoned out of the stock market, out of the pockets of the everyday citizens like you and me and into the bank accounts of the "hedge fund" managers and multi-millionaire  investment bankers.  

Insider Trading:   Buying and selling stock based upon information that is not available to the public is illegal.  Before this practice became illegal, Joseph Kennedy (father of former President Kennedy) made most of his money using this practice.   Today it's illegal for everyone except U. S. Senators and Congressmen.   Have you noticed that federal politicians commonly leave office far wealthier than when they were first elected.   Insider trading is one of the ways they become wealthy.  

The Federal Reserve:   The Federal Reserve offers  still another example of highly deceptive, financial manipulation.   You and I  are paying hard-earned money as interest on the use of make-believe (fiat) money  -- money  simply printed on pretty paper of entered as ledger account in the cyberspace of some computer somewhere in some bankers office complex.   The Federal Reserve not only controls the inflation, it creates it.   Inflation has been a tool to secretly  milk money from the masses for almost one hundred years.  

Although hard to believe, here's a piece of truth you ought to know:  The Federal Reserve is the greatest, most-lucrative, longest-lasting financial swindle the world has ever seen.   But don't believe us, and don't disbelieve us either.   Examine the evidence for yourself.     
http://www.MoneyGodMoney.com/federal-reserve.html#55  

Different Standards For The Rich than for the Poor:   For example, the federal usury law, prohibits charging an interest rate of more than ten percent, except if you run a bank or any other lending institution.  

Here's a second example:  If you had some spare money and decided to buy some gold, and you spend less than $1,500, you must pay a sales tax.   If you spend over $1,500, there is no sales tax.   

Restricting Competition:   There are also thousands of laws that sound good, but in reality, they merely restrict competition and keep the price up.  The illegal drug trade is the most blatant example of this.   

More:    For an exposé on money manipulation, readers are directed to the TLC-Life-Center website titled: The Great God Money at: 
http://www.MoneyGodMoney.com#55  

  The Multi-billion dollar financial wheelers and dealers are so thoroughly in control of the U.S. government that a realistic financial policy from the government is literally impossible.   For example, all of the economic advisors of President Obama have huge conflicts of interest between their sworn duty to serve the public interest and their commitments to the financial industry and to the Federal Reserve.  

  As the system is presently set up, it's all about the super-wealthy keeping the working class people in debt and collecting interest on the debt.  

  In the last days of the Republican administration (November -December  2008) those in power positions did all they could to set barriers against resolving the financial crisis.   They did so by deficit spending hundreds of billions of fiat/fake money.   They used the money to pay the debts of the financial industry.   They spent no/none/zero money for the relief of the working class.   They also instituted thousands of executive orders that were designed to aid the super-wealthy at the expense of the people and at the expense of the environment.  

  The environment is not taking the back seat.   It's not even in the car.  In the eyes of those who control the politicians, it is completely ignored   The fact that humans have turned on Nature's Doomsday Machine and the fact that we have about five years left to turn it back off  is being completely ignored.  

You may think this environmental warning is the ranting of a lunatic, but what if you are wrong?   Are you willing to bet the survival of your children, your grandchildren, and billions of other people on whose right and whose wrong?    Don't believe me.  Don't disbelieve me either.   Examine the evidence for yourself.
http://www.HowToReverseGlobalWarming.info
#NaturesDoomsdayMachine

The Non-solution Alternatives:   The solutions do not lie in adding regulations or making patchwork adjustments to the existing financial system.   Permanently solving the financial crisis requires either a complete replacement of or major redesign of the management aspects of banks and other lending institutions.   

Some people are suggesting nationalizing the the banks and the other financial institutions.   Beyond a temporary, short-term fix to prevent their complete destruction, this is unnecessary and would, in the long-term,  be counter productive.   Why?   Because nationalizing has three major drawbacks:  1)  It would make losers of the existing stockholders,  2)  There is and will be strong resistance to this form of solution by the super-wealthy who are the major owners of the financial institutions, and 3)  Bureaucrats simply do not have the necessary training or the experience to be good financial managers.    

There are actually two other options both of which are relatively simple to implement.   Both involve the use of non-profit foundations.   Neither takes assets away from anybody.   Both are outlined below and described in considerable detail on other pages of this website.  

The Long-term Solutions:   Look at the financial system in two distinct parts --  the management system and the physical infrastructure.   The management aspects of the present financial structures are in such bad shape that they they are not fixable without a major re-design.   Fortunately, the physical infrastructures are in good condition and can, with relative ease and simplicity, be adapted to fit whatever new system we choose to create as a replacement.  

Solution One -- Replacement:    Solution one involves the creation of a national network of independent non profit foundation/corporation partnerships which would initially be funded with public money directly out of the federal treasury.  They would very soon become financially independent, return the federal startup moneys, and become a source of money of  county and city governments.***es2     The foundations would become the lenders for small businesses and for individuals.   Home loans,  auto purchases, student loans, and the like would be funded out of theses foundation/corporation partnerships.   The existing banking system would continue to fund corporate loans and other privately owned projects in need of large amounts of investor capital.   This process is described in detail at:  
http://www.EconomicSanity101.com/bo-3-how-to-end-home-forelcosure-crisis.html#83   

Solution Two -- A New Corporate Management Structure:   Any corporation with publicly traded stock can make a simple, yet major transformation in its business management practices by creating a non-profit foundation and then partnering its profit-making corporation with its newly-created, independent, non profit foundation  to create a Hybrid Business Structure.   It's a more flexible, more efficient, more productive and much less destructive way of doing business.   Using this new business structure, it's possible, with relative ease and simplicity, to drastically reduce or even completely eliminate corporate debts and to establish a management system where corporate employees, corporate  customers, and the environment have equal standing with making a profit.***   This process is described at:  http://www.ThePeacefulRevolution.com#57