Saturday’s New York Times is usually the thickest issue of the week with its special sections, so it’s easy to look past the business section. This past Saturday’s edition contained an article of special interest to anyone who believes that crooks should serve their time and pay restitution to the people they defrauded.
Convicted of fraud – the business word for theft – Devon Archer had been ordered to pay $60 million taken from pension funds and the Ogala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Trevor Milton to repay shareholders $600 million, and Carlos Watson owed $97 million. No more. These thieves were pardoned by Trump and the SEC dropped reimbursement claims.
Not only that, the prohibition against working again in the financial markets was lifted so they can begin defrauding people all over again. One must wonder if it helped that Pam Bondi’s brother represented one, contributed millions to certain political campaigns and the other two curried favor with certain politicians. Crime does pay unless you’re poor.
Prayer for the Day
Spare us, O God, from the cries of the impoverished,
Those who cannot buy relief from justice;
Spare us, O Lord, from the anger of the defrauded,
Those who are victims of theft and greed.
We may not face Assyrian armies across the pain,
But, O Holy One, we know that there will be judgment.
In the name of the One who calls for justice,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
When a plutocracy is disguised as a democracy, the system is beyond corrupt.”
Suzy Kassem, American writer, poet
Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.
Erich Fromm, German-American social psychologist (1900-1980)
The wicked accept a concealed bribe to pervert the ways of justice.
Proverbs 17: 23