thebrooklynink.com

With the closing of St. Vincent's in the West Village still fresh in our mind, it's always a sad story to tell when a hospital might be forced to close its doors. The bankruptcy of any institution that provides a service necessary for the general welfare of the people is a blemish on our social record; a terrible testament to the times we live in. More »

In more long-awaited fallout from the mortgage crisis, Federal prosecutors today sued the Bank of America and Countrywide Financial for a scheme to defraud the government via a program called "The Hustle."

Yes, they called it "The Hustle." Its purpose: allegedly to process home loans at high speed with quality control. Its effect: the creation of thousands of fraudulent or bad home loans, which led to more than $1 billion in losses and countless foreclosures, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office.

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Congressman Steve Israel

The New York Post ran an "exclusive" story yesterday suggesting that Long Island Congressman Steve Israel's 2008 support of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for financially strapped banks is the reason he was granted a "bailout" on the mortgage for his Dix Hills home.

The bank that holds Israel's mortgage -- and approved the "bailout" for his mortgage -- is J.P. Morgan Chase, which received $25 billion from the federal government as part of the Israel-approved bank bailout.

Obviously, this arrangement has led to a few questions for the Democratic lawmaker -- and New York Republicans are pouncing on the story, calling on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Israel's shady arrangement.

"The Congressman has taken advantage of his position to qualify for a debt reduction that is supposed to be reserved for hard working families that are experiencing a financial set back," New York GOP Chairman Ed Cox says. "It is not for a congressman that wants to avoid his obligations and a personal financial loss."

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A top honcho at Morgan Stanley, William Bryan Jennings, has been charged with stabbing a Middle Eastern cabbie with a pen knife and using racial intimidation, cops say.

The banking behemoth says that the Americas co-head of fixed income and capital markets has since been put on leave, according to the New York Times.

Here's what supposedly went down: On Dec. 22., Jennings took a cab from a New York charity gala to his $3.6 million Darien, Conn. home. When he got there, he refused to pay the $200 fare, the cabbie claims. He's also said to have become abusive and started using racial slurs.

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In a case that should resonate with the protesters down in Zuccotti Park, three San Francisco bank officials have been charged with fraud after receiving nearly $300 million in federal bail out money during the Bush era financial crisis.

United Commercial Bank CEO Thomas Wu, along with vice presidents Ebrahim Shabudin and Thomas Yu, allegedly falsified financial records and lied to auditors just prior to getting a $298 million bailout in October, 2008 from Bush's Troubled Asset Relief Program, authorities said. Craig On, the bank's ex-CFO, was accused of misleading auditors and assisting in filing false financial statements. Their motive, court records show, was to hide the true amount of their losses.

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Designed by Eddie Colla

Earlier today we wrote of what appeared to be an Occupy Wall Street-related bank boycott planned for November 5th. We've spoken to Kristen Christian, the 27-year-old creator of the event, who has clarified some things. For one, it's not an Occupy Wall Street-organized event, though members of the Occupied movement support the idea and are planning to join in. Further, it's not an effort based in anarchy, or an event that Christian hopes will cause an economic crisis (any more than the one we're already in). "It's not people taking their money and burying it under their mattress. It's shifting the money to a company people respect the practices of. It's like, if you don't like Wal-Mart's practices, shopping at a local grocery store instead." More from Christian on Bank Transfer Day, after the jump.

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Those looking for the passion missing from the Democratic and White House response to the demands of the GOP/Wall Street/Murdoch media coalition, should tune in to the one man rebel band now playing in Washington named Bernie Sanders. The 69-year-old independent senator from Vermont let loose on the Senate floor last week with the kind of speech that hasn't been heard since the Progressive Era.

"There is a war going on in this country," he began. "I am talking about a war being waged by some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country against the working families of the United States of America, against the disappearing and shrinking middle class of our country."

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How much does it cost to get out of the slimy grip of a dictatorial government? Try 500 G's. And that doesn't even get her friends off the hook! But the question remains: Who paid it?

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Our question last October, posed by James Lieber: "When Do We Go After the Crooks Behind Our Financial Collapse?" Now we know the answer: Never.

Why aren't you more pissed off? Why is this story being underplayed?

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Rudolph Giuliani was supposed to come to City Hall to endorse conservative Republican Michael Grimm in his race for the Staten Island Congressional nomination, but one day after announcing it, he's canceled.

No reason is given, but we suspect he did not wish to be questioned by the press that would attend such an event on yesterday's sentencing of Giuliani's former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik.

Liz Benjamin notes that another Friend of Rudy, campaign bundler Rabbi Milton Balkany, was indicted yesterday. The Grimm campaign says Giuliani's still endorsing, but that the formal ceremony would be "rescheduled."