It long has been our theory that the Monica Lewinsky scandal resulted in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton because everyone could understand it. It was patently sleazy. No subtlety was involved.

Compare that to the finagling that led to the 2008 collapse of the financial markets. Trillions of dollars, millions of jobs and hundreds of thousands of homes were lost. And the average American still has no clue about “credit default swaps.”

Now comes the burgeoning LIBOR scandal, the revelation that for years, British bankers, possibly in collusion with three U.S. banks, manipulated the daily fixing of the London Interbank Offered Rate.

This scandal could have cost you — and indeed, may still be costing you — hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in higher interest rates on your business, mortgage and consumer credit loans.

It may be costing your city and state governments millions of dollars because their bond rates are too low.

The LIBOR scandal is not a dalliance with a White House intern, but it could well be criminal.

If it is, people should go to prison. But we’re talking bankers here. If the White House and Congress watched out for the climate the way they do the banking industry, we’d be overrun with polar bears. Even that would be less dangerous.

The U.S. Justice Department reportedly is trying to build criminal cases.

The New York Times reported Saturday that charges are expected against at least one bank later this year.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s Justice Department has not aggressively pursued fraud cases stemming from the 2008 market collapse.

Cases are tough to make. Big banks are lawyered up to the eyeballs. They give a lot of money to politicians. Financial regulatory budgets have been cut back and will be cut further if Republicans have their way.

It’s a question of priorities — when you send 93 investigators and lawyers after Roger Clemens for lying to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, who’s got time for epic financial fraud?

 

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