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PRESS RELEASE


LaRouche: Pass Glass-Steagall Now,
Or You're Doomed

Oct. 19, 2011 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee.

In view of the fact that the world financial system is at a point of no return, American statesman and economist Lyndon LaRouche said today, "there is no other issue on the table, that means anything in terms of the survival of this nation and the people in it, than Glass-Steagall. If it's not enacted, you are doomed, period." He made the statement on LaRouche PAC-TV's Weekly report today.

But, he added, "Glass-Steagall alone does not contain the remedy, in and of itself, to save this economy." Once Glass-Steagall is enacted, we must move forward to a credit system, along the lines of the Hamiltonian system embedded in our Constitution. "What I'm proposing is a return to the policy of the Founders of the United States."

Presently, there is a bill before the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 1489) to restore FDR's Glass-Steagall, which has 47 cosponsors, plus sponsor Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). No Senators have yet introduced a companion bill. As of yet, there is not the political support needed to ram the bill through in time.

Expose Wall Street's Lie

Right now, there is a campaign by Wall Street to intimidate people into opposing the drive for Glass-Steagall, said LaRouche, using the outright lie that enacting Glass-Steagall will close every bank in the United States. "This is a damned lie, and only damned fools believe in it." And LPAC intends to destroy this lie.

LaRouche:

"Because Glass-Steagall will not sink all the banks. It will sink about six, big fat banks which ought not to be banks, at all! And the sooner they're wiped out, the better! That's good for you!"

"The fact is, you're going to have thousands of other banks, which are not these merchant banks! And what we're going to do is two things: We're going to eliminate the obligations of those banks, those honest banks which are real banks, to this kind of illegal kind of obligation! We're essentially going to exterminate the merchant banking system, in the present form it exists! Not by going out and exterminating, but simply by taking away all the pleasure of their money."

Organize a Credit System

"Now, as a result, we're going to have banks which will still exist! Of commercial banks, and commercial banking institutions, or things like commercial banking institutions, under similar law; we're going to have them. But what are we going to do? Well, the Federal government is going to put this whole system through a bankruptcy reorganization, and two measures will be taken: First of all, we will protect banks which may be insolvent, but are still viable as banks. We're going to keep them alive. We're going to supply, under the Hamilton rule, of the Constitution, we're going to go back and supplement the present financial system, with a banking system, which is a Federally guaranteed banking system." As for the Federal Reserve, "we're going to replace that by going back to a Hamilton National Banking System, based on a credit system, which is the U.S. system."

"Under that system, the Federal government will utter authorization for Federal credit, both to banks, which are solvent banks, competent banks, and for projects which are in the national interest, especially productive employment projects. NAWAPA is one of the most typical of those large projects, which will save the United States. The Act of Glass-Steagall, if followed through, by an Act, a restoration of a Third Bank of the United States, as applied under lessons learned under Franklin Roosevelt, with projects such as NAWAPA, means that the collapse of mercantile banking system, the elimination of that entire system; the obliteration of every one of those so-called banks, will be the greatest bonanza, that the people of the United States has experienced, in practically a century."

Forget Public Opinion

Why haven't people already mobilized sufficiently for Glass-Steagall, LaRouche asked. Because they insist on conforming to "democracy" and "public opinion."

"They believe that a 'democratic vote' is what determines truth, and the time has come that a democratic vote as such doesn't mean a damned thing."

"If the present trend goes this way, you're all damned doomed fools, however you vote. So therefore, you have to be very serious, about making sure this vote goes the right way when it comes up. And the vote is for Glass-Steagall, without any reforms, any difference with the Roosevelt version earlier. They [the Congress] votes that way, or you're doomed!"

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