What's The Greater Threat To Our Country-- "Espionage" Or Our Own Willful Stupidity? Offshore Banking or Offshoring Jobs?

Clearly, the new Miss America, Nebraska's Teresa Scanlan, had a beautifully successful operation to have whatever vestiges of a pesky ole brain she ever had, removed before the contest... either that or she watches CNN or Fox all day. You wonder how someone like Ben Nelson, Adrian Smith or Mike Johanns keeps getting elected? Just remember who votes. And where they chose to get their information.

I I shouldn't pick on Nebraska. Voters in Ohio are demonstrably as retarded. In a state plagued by unemployment caused by offshoring, they just elected two of the most degenerate architects of American trade policy, Rob Portman and John Kasich, as Senator and Governor, Portman (57-39%) and Kasich (49-47%), while electing 5 new Members of Congress-- Steve Chabot, Steve Stivers, Bill Johnson, Jim Renacci and Bob Gibbs, 100% dedicated to sending their jobs overseas as quickly as possible. Go Ohio!

Last week one of Ohio's top blogs, Plunderbund, looked into how Kasich is balancing his vitriolic attack on public service workers and their unions with unconscionable pay raises for bureaucratic patronage jobs in his administration. One thing all these newly-elected Ohioans have in common is an uncanny dedication to lending a hand to their wealthy campaign donors so that the state's-- and, worse, the nation's-- wealth is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer rich families while the middle class sinks into a morass that threatens the very existence of democracy in our country. And that brings us back to... wikileaks, so badly comprehended by the new idiot Miss America. I wonder if this will even matter to people like Teresa Scanlan, Ben Nelson, Adrian Smith, Mike Johanns, Rob Portman, John Kasich, Steve Chabot, Steve Stivers, Bill Johnson, Jim Renacci and Bob Gibbs. Nah... I don't really wonder.

Swiss whistleblower Rudolf Elmer plans to hand over offshore banking secrets of the rich and famous to WikiLeaks.

...The offshore bank account details of 2,000 "high net worth individuals" and corporations-- detailing massive potential tax evasion-- will be handed over to the WikiLeaks organisation in London tomorrow by the most important and boldest whistleblower in Swiss banking history, Rudolf Elmer, two days before he goes on trial in his native Switzerland.

British and American individuals and companies are among the offshore clients whose details will be contained on CDs presented to WikiLeaks at the Frontline Club in London. Those involved include, Elmer tells the Observer, "approximately 40 politicians."

Elmer, who after his press conference will return to Switzerland from exile in Mauritius to face trial, is a former chief operating officer in the Cayman Islands and employee of the powerful Julius Baer bank, which accuses him of stealing the information.

He is also – at a time when the activities of banks are a matter of public concern-- one of a small band of employees and executives seeking to blow the whistle on what they see as unprofessional, immoral and even potentially criminal activity by powerful international financial institutions.

Along with the City of London and Wall Street, Switzerland is a fortress of banking and financial services, but famously secretive and expert in the concealment of wealth from all over the world for tax evasion and other extra-legal purposes.

Elmer says he is releasing the information "in order to educate society." The list includes "high net worth individuals," multinational conglomerates and financial institutions-- hedge funds." They are said to be "using secrecy as a screen to hide behind in order to avoid paying tax." They come from the US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia-- "from all over."

Clients include "business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates-- from both sides of the Atlantic." Elmer says: "Well-known pillars of society will hold investment portfolios and may include houses, trading companies, artwork, yachts, jewellery, horses, and so on."

"What I am objecting to is not one particular bank, but a system of structures," he told the Observer. "I have worked for major banks other than Julius Baer, and the one thing on which I am absolutely clear is that the banks know, and the big boys know, that money is being secreted away for tax-evasion purposes, and other things such as money-laundering-- although these cases involve tax evasion."

...[P]rivacy is being abused so that big people can get big banking organisations to service them. The normal, hard-working taxpayer is being abused also.

"Once you become part of senior management," he says, "and gain international experience, as I did, then you are part of the inner circle-- and things become much clearer. You are part of the plot. You know what the real products and service are, and why they are so expensive. It should be no surprise that the main product is secrecy … Crimes are committed and lies spread in order to protect this secrecy."

...That first crop of documents was scrutinised by the Guardian newspaper in 2009, which found "details of numerous trusts in which wealthy people have placed capital. This allows them lawfully to avoid paying tax on profits, because legally it belongs to the trust … The trust itself pays no tax, as a Cayman resident," although "the trustees can distribute money to the trust's beneficiaries."

Now, Blum says, "Elmer is being tried for violating Swiss banking secrecy law even though the data is from the Cayman Islands. This is bold extraterritorial nonsense. Swiss secrecy law should apply to Swiss banks in Switzerland, not a Swiss subsidiary in the Cayman Islands."

Espionage!

And in preparation for the release of more espionage, Bank of America has bought up Internet domain names BankofAmericaSucks.com and, in honor of BofA's CEO, BrianMoynihanblows.com/ Mary Bottari took a look at what Wikileaks actually has on America's biggest bank that's making them so nervous. Here are some of the likeliest scenarios we'll see playing out:

Legal Liability for Toxic Mortgages

BofA is already under the gun, defending itself from multiple lawsuits from private investors as well as Fannie and Freddie demanding that the bank buy back billions worth of toxic mortgages-backed securities. The firm stopped issuing subprime mortgages in 2001, but it kept underwriting subprime mortgage-backed securities for many years. In September 2009, for example, BofA underwrote $239 million worth of securities backed by subprime loans. BofA has reserved $4.4 billion for these "put back" lawsuits. If Assange has emails showing that top executives at BofA knew they were peddling toxic dreck to investors, it would rock the firm and give tremendous ammunition to the army of lawyers already knocking on BofA's door.

Reckless and Illegal Foreclosures

BofA is at the heart of the robo-signing scandal and has wrongfully foreclosed on countless American families. One poor woman returned to a vacation home to find it locked, all her possessions gone -- including the ashes of her late husband. How could such a mistake be made? A BofA employee deposed in February 2010 said that she signed as many as 8,000 foreclosure documents a month without reviewing them, in violation of the law. Mounting questions about the fraudulent and illegal foreclosure practices at the big banks and mortgage service companies prompted BofA to temporarily halt foreclosures nationwide in October 2010. If Wikileaks can document that top BofA officials have a callous disregard for legal processes and constitutionally protected property rights, BofA's mounting legal liability may not be sustainable.

Countrywide Headaches

In 2008, BofA acquired Countrywide, one of the most aggressive and fraudulent lenders during the housing bubble. The result has been a trainwreck of liability and lawsuits for the megabank that now has over 1.3 million customers in foreclosure. To settle the lawsuits with Illinois, California and eight other states over predatory lending, BofA came up with an $8.4 billion loan relief plan for those holding Countrywide mortgages. In June, 2010 BofA paid $108 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission case that charged Countrywide with having extracted excessive fees out of borrowers facing foreclosure. BofA paid $600 million in August 2010 to settle shareholder claims that Countrywide had concealed the riskiness of its lending standards. There is no end in sight for these suits. In June 2010 the State of Illinois sued Countrywide again, this time over racial discrimination in its lending practices. Wikileaks could have further documentation of Countrywide's illegal and reckless underwriting practices or ongoing fraud at BofA.

Taxpayer Paid Bonuses

BofA acquired the brokerage firm Merrill Lynch for $50 billion in January 2009. The U.S. government blessed the merger with a $20 billion bailout loan to aid BofA. After the acquisition went through, it was revealed that Merrill Lynch had lost $15.8 billion in the last quarter of 2008 and that $3.6 billion in bonuses were paid ahead of schedule to top executives at Merrill. Among beneficiaries of the bonus bonanza was Merrill's CEO John Thain, who famously spent a million redecorating his office at the height of the crisis. About the deal New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said: "One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding." If Wikileaks has emails showing top executives knowingly used bailout bucks for bonuses, this ugly chapter in history could be reopened, prompting Congressional investigations and further bailout backlash.