July 28, 2008 (LPAC)--It is clear from the flurry of articles in the national and local press that there is great anxiety across the land about the safety and soundness of the U.S. banking system. A survey of local press reveals hundreds of articles which follow the same basic format: your bank is safe, your deposits are safe, so don't worry. Some of them even quote local bankers, saying there are no runs on their banks, so everything is fine, and besides, were insured by the FDIC. We view this rash of articles as a de facto admission that there are widespread withdrawals of deposits from U.S. banks, a quiet run which has the bankers and the regulators worried, a run which has the potential to turn into a full-fledged banking panic. No bank can withstand a serious run, and any widespread run on the U.S. banking system would quickly overwhelm the efforts of the authorities to preserve the illusion that the banking system is solvent.

We suspect that the FDIC is booked solid, with banks lined up waiting to be closed just as soon as the agency can get to them.

Lyndon LaRouche summed it up nicely, describing the U.S. banking system as a morgue, with all the banks stacked up and waiting to be processed by the morticians.

Rather than trying to lull the population into a false sense of security, the bankers ought to be organizing for LaRouche's Homeowners and Bank Protection Act. No one with a brain believes the reassurances anyway, so why not spend your efforts on the solution, instead of wasting it on propaganda? If you want a safe and sound banking system, pass the HBPA.