Howard Beale, as portrayed by Peter Finch in the 1976 movie “Network” could not have said it better when he uttered the following line, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08
Although not exactly on point, Beale could have been addressing the illegal activities that currently permeate Wall Street as analogized to the economic blight of the middle 1970s. With respect to the greed and corruption that controls Wall Street I must admit, I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore but as one person there is little I can do. It is for that reason, a truly altruistic one, that we take our original blogging a logical step further.
We established Citizens for Wall Street Reform (“CFWSR”) a non-profit Social Welfare Organization formed and registered under §501(c)(4) of the IRS Code. CFWSR was established to consolidate the efforts of shareholders and executives of publicly traded companies whose securities have been affected by the illegal practice of naked short selling and related trading improprieties. CFWSR consolidates the efforts of everyone interested in leveling the playing field into a platform of “one voice” carrying the message from Main Street to the world that “Wall Street is badly broken and in need of repairs”. Together we look to maximize the effort for all involved while amortizing the cost and expense of taking such action.
We are not associated with any one company nor are we part of any other organization or effort. Regardless of the basic underlying fundamentals of the company or the composition of its board of directors or management, the act of naked short selling and its progeny are illegal and must be expunged from the system. We care that these illegal activities have reached epidemic levels on Wall Street not that these practices depress the price of any particular security. As such, uniformly and across all borders and sectors, these illegal trading practices must end
The intertwined web of those who transact the majority of business on Wall Street, clear the trades and regulate the industry has risen to a level where abiding by the rules has become secondary to producing profits allowing greed and corruption to flourish. Greed and corruption has taken a firm foothold in today’s marketplace due in part to the fact that the organization in place to match and clear the illegal transactions, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (“DTCC”) is an extension of those who transact the majority of the business on Wall Street, funded by and operated by the same institutions that perpetuate illegal activities. The Securities & Exchange Commission, established by Congress in 1934 as an independent, non-partisan, quasi-judicial regulatory agency has lost its direction and now caters to the powers that be on Wall Street speciously and sporadically enforcing their own rules. Something is wrong with this picture and it is up to all of us, together, to bring the functions of these entities back into focus.
The primary mission and objective of Citizens for Wall Street Reform is to return control of Wall Street to Main Street and to reestablish Wall Street as a resource for capital formation not capital destruction. We can systematically eliminate illegal Wall Street trading practices by obtaining information in existence that proves the actions of these criminals broke the law. We will then lobby for changes in legislation at all levels of government, seek criminal enforcement by galvanized federal and state attorney generals and support direct civil action where feasible.
Grass roots organizations find their base and strengths in people. People meet with, talk to and exchange ideas and information with one another. In taking this initial communication to the next level, we understand that utilizing the power of the Internet is essential. We embrace this communication tool and ask all participants to do as we have done; to spread the CFWSR message that Wall Street is broken, asking each person they contact to do the same within their own respective on-line communities.
We need your help, we need your time and we need your contributions and the assistance and contributions of the publicly traded companies and executives victimized by these illegal activities. Above all, we need you to get this message out. Send emails to your friends and colleagues, post messages on message boards of the stocks you follow, comments on blogs and related media and more. Distribute the CFWSR link to as many people as you can, in as many places as possible and let them know that together Main Street can remake Wall Street into being a resource of capital formation not capital destruction.
We thank you for your support.
Please continue to the following blog entry which provides instructions as to how you can vote for our entry in the Deep Capture contest. The contest ends on Friday, October 31st. Prizes will be awarded. Any prize money obtained in this contest will go directly to the cause.
http://aaronmorgangroup.typepad.com/citizens_for_wall_street_/reforming_wall_street/
