Taibbi: Goldman's Weak Apology For The Financial Crisis

True/Slant:

Anyone else out there find himself doubled over laughing after reading Goldman, Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein's "apology" for his bank's behavior leading up to the financial crisis? Has an act of contrition ever in history been more worthless and insincere? Even Gary Ridgway did a better job of sounding genuinely sorry at his sentencing hearing -- and he was a guy who had sex with dead prostitutes because it was cheaper than paying live ones.

Read the whole story: True/Slant

Comments

[nomorefed]

Your house is worth $125,000 but you paid $250,000 don"t worry with "Mark-To-Market" Neutered you can say whatever you want to about your home value and no one can refute you!
Now when you go in for a loan, simply declare the house is worth $300,000 and along with your clean "ON-THE-BOOKS Balance Sheet" with no visible other debts means you get money from the FED at 1% interest or maybe less!
Why can"t this world be true for ALL AMERICANS like it is for Wall Street?
We do not own Congress and they DO using ill-gotten FUNDS!
Are the Wall Street Banks really healthy? With "OFF-THE-BOOKS" accounting and "MARK-TO-MARKET" Neutered who knows what the truth is!

good articles: http://kl.am/tsc.am/tsc> recommended website

[zukervati]

I follow Matt religiously and I must say, this one ranks up there as one of his best works. I have never read or heard a more visual explanation of the mortgage mess (chopped up over-hyped mortgages, sold in the markets as CDO, CDS, etc.):
"This isn’t really commerce, but much more like organized crime: it was a gigantic fraud perpetrated on the economy that wouldn’t have been possible without accomplices in the ratings agencies and regulators willing to turn a blind eye. Imagine a meat company that bred ten billion rats, fattened them on trash and sewage, ground their bodies into chuck, and then sold it all as grade-A ground beef to McDonald’s and Burger King, right under the noses of the USDA: this is exactly the same thing, only with debt instead of food. We’re eating it, they’re counting the money."
Can you think of a better narrative? It's the Matt Taibbi that we love!

[nomorefed]

1st 100 days - There are 2.9 million more people unemployed in May than there were unemployed in January. The unemployment rate went from 7.6% to 9.4%.
Since May 2008, we have lost 5.5 million jobs. The biggest losers were:
Manufacturing 1.5 million lost
Finance & Prof Serv 1.5 million lost
Construction 1.1 million lost
Retail & Leisure 1.3 million lost

good articles http://www.bit.ly/12t.ly/12NCJR>recommended reading

[winningticket]

Thank you Matt for a great article as always. I'm glad you see Goldman for what they really are. Last year Goldman also went on to destroy emerging market currencies like the Mexican Peso in order to force Mexico to de-nationalize PEMEX. I'm saddened to read some posts that seem to justify Goldman. Many Americans have a bad case of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to these criminal companies like Goldman hijacking the US and world economy. I'm sure I'll probably get many pro-Goldman responses condeming me for beating on Goldman, as if they were the victims.

[zukervati]

Let them bring it on, your post is on the money and doesn't need any defense - truth is the ultimate disinfectant. I agree with you on the "Stockholm syndrome" and the American people. I hate to generalize it, but there's an awful lot of defending going on (most likely by people who've been royally screwed by the same industry) for institutes like Goldman that are down-right criminal enterprises. Common folk see it, but they don't know how to point that out or internalize it for that matter.

[dbg2]

Goldman is responsible for the up tick in oil prices, they did it last year and they are at it again.

[Rule Of Law]

didn't you get the memo?

it's all supply and demand and peak oyle--wink wink...

[RobertHenryEller]

http://www.goldmansachs666.com/

[grateful4thedead]

I have been employed in the financial sector for 30 years and an active participant in the financial markets for 20 yrs. I do respect the brains and intelligence of the people who have or current work at Goldman; they are clearly a smart group of folks.

That said, they are the biggest pigs on wall st. i honestly and truthfully think each of them would sell out their mother, best friend, etc to make a buck.

They are a primary cause of the systemic mess we have and they will do it again if they can make money on it. They have infiltrated the US gov't and are playing Obama like a fiddle.

I do hope that they get caught on the wrong side of some big trades and lose a fortune because they deserve it. I'm glad that they paid back the tarp funds and I'll be the first to protest in D.C. if they ever come back looking for more.

This group has created a mess for our children and grandchildren and as the author implies, their apology is meaningless and false.

[dbg2]

Screw Goldman, someone publish their home addresses please

[selective]

It could be that Goldman is all that but I like them anyway.

[RobertHenryEller]

Screw the apology, Lloyd.

Cough up the billions your girlfriend Paulson paid you as 100 cents on the dollar for all those contracts with AIG that would not have been worth 10 cents on the dollar if AIG had been allowed to go down the toilet where it belonged.

Do that, and then maybe we'll believe your apology.

Otherwise, get bent, Lloyd.

Then, you can start to explain to us how your bank helped strengthen American capitalism.

[dbg2]

Gent bent please, off with his head.

[bebecca]

I'm glad someone is talking about this again. Will we see Congressional investigations?

[PhilipTaylor]

Like Lewis this guy is BRIGHT and willing to tell the truth against the M0B Rule on Wall Street!

OLIGARCHY Must END along with the FED!

Campaign Reform to DE-LINK Washington from the M0B of Wall Street!

[PhilipTaylor]

Americans remain IGNORANT OF THE SCALE OF THIS CRISIS:

Treasury+Fed = Pumping funds into the WS Banks = Fake Profits = $0 Stimulus
WS Banks = pull back on loans to Main Street because of unemployment = $0 Stimulus
WS Banks = Increasing Interest Rates and Cancelling Credit Lines = Negative Stimulus
People = Cutting Spending and Lacking Credit = $0 Stimulus
People = Losing Jobs (10 to 20% unemployed), Homes, Retirements = NEGATIVE STIMULUS
Collections Agencies = Taking People’s transportation and other goods = Negative Stimulus
Obama Program = $45 Billion to Main Street = $1 to Main Street for every $284 to Wall St
End of Dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency = Start of Economic/Political decline in US

Government’s support of the Criminal C1ass on Wall Street, aided by a corporate media that continues to peddle fatuous gossip+trash talk+“FAKE” NEWS while we endure the greatest economic crisis in our history!

DIRECT STIMULUS: Obama must infuse Main Street with FUNDS DIRECTLY around Wall St Banks!

Government Automated Internet Central Bank (ICB) to serve small business and consumers. The competition would be valuable and the ICB can take up the slack Wall Street has left wide open by reducing Credit Lines while raising rates on Credit Cards Rates.

Direct Funds to Main Street is the ONLY ANSWER!

[pragmaticdallasite]

Agreed entirely. We must deficit spend directly on a jobs program for Main St. producing real value while the dollar is still relatively strong. I hope Obama is learning the same lessons FDR did, he doesn't have nearly as much time though.

[sheilaofmiami]

How can we possibly get money where it really needs to be when the money going out from the Fed is being put back in, via the back door????

Our government is owned by the banks and insurance and the auto industry. They fear not the apparent government ownership of them, cause they set it up!!! This is a cycle of scandal and abuse and fraud that will not be stopped until lobbying is outlawed, and since the lobbies own the government, for the banks et al, I don't see lobbyists going anywhere. We no longer own our souls, we no longer own our government.

I had hoped that a vote for Obama was a vote for all, but he got taking in so fast we did not even see it happen.

[Artamentous]

Too bad Americans are too stupid to do anything about the massive fraud perpetrated on us. A vast majority of the unemployed have these companies to blame.

Rallies sure would be nice. It wont happen though, Tea Parties were a great idea, sadly they let themselves get hijacked by right-wing nut jobs, and lost a lot of credibility with the people they wanted to rally.

Oh well we are all under the heel of the "too big too fail" companies that even our President our President is too scared to do what is needed. Busting them up. Disgraceful.

[sheilaofmiami]

I agree. We need to take back our government but I don't see it happening either. I, with some health issues would go to a rally to support the banning of lobbies.

[Lyr]

Lobbying is protected in the constitution as the right to petition the government.

[nomorefed]

Take back the trillions of $$$ given to the banks, who just sit on it and make it totally ineffective then start government incentive to create realistic industries that give employment and generate real productive income, some of which would hopefully be from exports.

Every other country, especially China and most of Europe have goverment incentives to protect it's industries. No matter what you call it it's a form of protectionism and its inevitable. We should stop being naive and take care of our own house. The only ones who win if we don't are the multinational corporations who don't care where they get their hand out.

recommended reading: http://www.bit.ly/12NCJR

Every other country, especially China and most of Europe have goverment incentives to protect it's industries. No matter what you call it it's a form of protectionism and its inevitable. We should stop being naive and take care of our own house. The only ones who win if we don't are the multinational corporations who don't care where they get their hand out.

[Furby]

We're talking about the rip off of the millennium, and you want to talk protectionism. The only protection you need is against your own corporations, the very one's who are smiling every time the word protectionism comes up.

[jeffp26]

While I understand Taibbi's point, and am not a fan of blatant hypocrisy, in support of Goldman I would point out that they did what they could to make money for their shareholders. That is what they are supposed to do.

And Goldman is both smart and brutally realistic. If driving Lehman out of business made them money, that is Lehman's fault, not Goldman's.

[Rule Of Law]

Goldman uses its influence in government to game the system. Whatever profits they derive from that are bogus. The so called profits made for shareholders was the furthest thing from the minds of the people who run the company. THEIR profits were foremost in their minds. It doesn't take a financial genius to show profit when you own the whole dammmed system.

[pragmaticdallasite]

Exaclty, I don't want to hear that shareholder nonsense. Plus they gamed the system

[Furby]

If Goldman is your reference point when it comes to "making" money, then any bank robber adheres to the same code of ethics as Goldman. Who cares if they're robbing banks, they're "making" money to support their families.

[petef59]

Fraud is not smart.

[Donatella]

An excellent review of Goldman Sachs "apology". Taibbi should be the host of Meet the Press, then at least it would be interesting.

[Rule Of Law]

I'll second that!!!

[Mickey1]

I would watch. He is a real news reporter. Never happen.

[MovingtoNorway]

No apology necessary. Long term jail sentences would be preferred