Protesters call for JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon to go to jail

(CBS News) The bank bailout of 2008 may be in the rearview mirror, but the anger about it was front and center on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Even before JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was able to say one word of his much anticipated testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, a Code Pink activist in a brown suit called him a "crook" and a "predator" who "needs to go to jail."

The activist said JPMorgan Chase took trillions of dollars in U.S. funds during the 2007-2009 financial crisis that stemmed from banks making too many risky loans without properly assessing if they would be paid back.

"These guys are not the job creators, they're the job destroyers," he shouted.

Moments later, a group of five protesters from a group called Occupy our Homes began to chant "Stop foreclosures now!"

In 2010, banks were accused of having used "robo-signers" to sign hundreds of foreclosure documents a day without proper review, bringing back a public anger with the banks that began after the Wall Street firms received billions of dollars in taxpayer money to prevent a financial meltdown in 2008.

Dimon remained calm during the brief disturbance before the protesters were escorted away.

[wayneonly]

What the "Too Big To Fail" banks did prior to the 2007 meltdown was not illegal or unlawful. It was however CRIMINAL. With all the "smart" bank CEOs with their huge salaries it is hard to believe they could not see failure on the horizon. In fact they were warned as early as 2004 that what they were doing was very risky. Yet they continued to issue and trade sub prime mortgages and risky bonds and derivatives. I believe they knew that Congress would bail them out and that they could even make a profit by the bailout. If so, that was illegal in that it was an intent to defraud the taxpayer. And in fact that is what happened.

What Congress did was probably not illegal either unless they were in collusion with the banks to defraud the taxpayer. And, in fact, Congress did indeed defraud the taxpayer. Congress literally opened the vault and told the banks to "Help yourself". The banks should have been given only what assistance they absolutely needed to survive. Instead they were given generously of taxpayer money far above what was necessary. While this was not technically an illegal act by Congress, it surely was CRIMINAL.

[Molly-Pchr]

Stop foreclosures? Next time buy with your head, not with your heart. What about people who are renting and lost THEIR jobs? They don't even have homes to sell. But they can't just live there and not pay, they get the boot! As they said a couple of decades ago, Things are tough all over.

[nojoy01]

The activist said JPMorgan Chase took trillions of dollars in U.S. funds during the 2007-2009 financial crisis that stemmed from banks making too many risky loans without properly assessing if they would be paid back.
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Trillions? A little grandstanding there. True, when the "real estate bubble" burst Trillions of dollars of value was lost, but the U.S. Gov't did not give the banks "Trillions of dollars". Several hundred billion, yes. Trillions, no.

[audemus]

Jamie Dimon and his buds think the recovery has been stalled because of stricter regulation of their industry...but the stricter regulation of their industry is because they nearly ended the American economy as we know it....remember ? What followed was a massive taxpayer bailout, which verified to Dimon and the rest that indeed their business was "too big to fail"; without even stricter regulation, they have every reason to roll the dice and do it all over again.

None of the people who benefited the most from this arrogant, greed-inspired display of "screw you", have been prosecuted....in fact, most are making more money than before, and they want to relax the regulations so they can do it all over again, and make even more. Why not ? If the government is willing to give me billions of dollars because I'm too big to fall, and my income goes up again, and I have zero concerns about being prosecuted...why not ?

It's past time that these greedy, selfish bastards were shown the front door....the one that leads into the penitentiary.

[wakeupandseethecorruption]

These same banks pay a tremendous amount of money through employees into our politicians campaign funds. In 2008, Senator Dodd the Liar, Obama and McCain were ranked #1 #2 and #3 for receiving the most money from big banks. These same banks were permitted to rape the American economy with oil speculation. Was it Goldman Sachs that recently claimed a 40% increase in profit due to energy speculation?The result has been a great swing in the stock market but it is based on a purely criminal process. The Dems like the high prices so they can cram green crap down our throats and the GOP likes the high prices so they can complain about needing more drilling..... Wake up America and tell your Congressional Rep or Senator that what they have allowed is nothing but total corruption. Use your voice and speak for your children and their children...or there might very well be nothing left for them if not.........