Law and regulation

That $2 billion trading loss is just last week's headline. Is Chase so big and complicated that no CEO could apply, teach and enforce decency and the smell test?

Shareholders, creditors, counterparties and regulators deserve to know more about the causes of that $2 billion trading loss.

Government deference to big banks is a source of disgust and outrage that could ultimately lead to real reform and help all banks, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

Congress, unlike the Treasury, was one Washington institution that took a serious interest in preventing taxpayers from getting defrauded, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The "vice-like grip" giant banks have on both parties makes their forced breakup unlikely. But momentum is rising for a move toward Glass-Steagall, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The size of the biggest banks has made them a greater systemic risk than ever that's been compounded by the "fantasy" that living wills provide safety, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

When pressed on the AIG bailouts, the administration when on the attack and tried to trivialize a serious area of public concern, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

The Home Affordable Modification Program was so poorly implemented that it accomplished on a fraction of its stated intent, says the former Tarp special inspector general.

Tim Geithner's Treasury Department half-truths, exaggeration and intentional deceptions misled the public about Tarp and the AIG bailout, says the program's former Special Inspector General.

Giant banks pose such a threat to the economy that lawmakers have gone to extreme-and futile-lengths to protect against their failures, says the former Trap Special Inspector General.

Dodd-Frank was tailored to tame giant banks and has left smaller institutions suffering much of the collateral damage, says the former Trap Special Inspector General.

The Justice Department's fear of losing cases and lack of sophistication likely enabled many Tarp fraudsters to get off scott free, says the former Tarp Special Inspector General.

The Fed and Treasury fought fiercely to prevent Americans from learning that the Troubled Asset Relief Program was a giant bailout for banks-not homeowners-says the former Special Inspector General.

The Washington-Wall Street revolving door blinded policymakers to outside concerns and doomed the Troubled Asset Relief Program, says its former Special Inspector General.

The $2 billion loss not only helped proponents of a tougher Volcker Rule and punctured the myth of CEO Jamie Dimon's infallibility. It also strengthened calls from regulators like Tom Hoenig for stronger action against big banks.

As a former banker, I watched in amazement and disgust as the country's largest banks morphed from trusted fiduciaries of customer financial assets to unrepentant predators of consumer financial assets in just a few decades.

As the president challenged Republicans to support his refinancing initiative, his administration quietly backed away from a proposal to pay for the plan by imposing a tax on banks.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has dismissed one of the consultants overseeing a massive foreclosure review after it discovered a conflict of interest in outside work the company has performed.

Even before JPMorgan Chase announced its $2 billion trading loss, fewer than two out of five readers said CEO Jamie Dimon was "spot on" in declaring banks are healthiest when Washington doesn't meddle.

I guess I'm tired of reading and hearing banks and their managements cursed, ridiculed and extolled for causing the financial meltdown and economic crisis. It seems that most everyone from Washington to the "Occupy" groups wants a piece of banking's hide for the pain of this recent experience.