Bill Clinton: Bush Was Wrong To Let Lehman Fail

Los Angeles Times:

Former President Bill Clinton says the Bush administration made a mistake allowing Lehman Bros. to fail -- and that the calamity that resulted from Lehman's collapse heavily tilted the presidential election in Barack Obama's favor.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Merrysunshine]

If Bush had let Lehman fail, then his cousin couldn't have bought the Neuberger Berman unit of Lehman for pennies on the dollar:

Neuberger Berman on its own once more...

...Lehman Brothers Holdings, New York, acquired Neuberger Berman Inc. in 2003 and needed to sell a majority stake in the asset management unit as part of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that began last year.

George H. Walker, Neuberger Berman's chairman and CEO, was the front man for the transaction. In late September, he negotiated a deal with a private equity consortium, but it was scuttled by a bankruptcy judge in early December. That sent Mr. Walker and his team back to the drawing board: They came up with the cash to buy a 51% stake in the firm. Lehman Brothers Holdings retained the remaining ownership stake.

The process was very rocky over “a very long eight-month period. It feels really good to have it completely finished,” Mr. Walker said in an interview about the $158 billion firm.

“Our employees are thrilled,” Mr. Walker said. “It's been a very uncertain period for them and for our clients, and we're very grateful that all of our key employees and most of our clients remained with us.” — Christine Williamson

[World Citizen]

Bill Clinton should just quietly retire and stop this monday night quarterbacking. It was during his watch that the H-1B visas for cheap foreign labor was massively increased to 195,000.

[Gernuser]

Congratulations to to Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize

If you like finance & econ news you'll like: http://pie.im/af30

Obama needs to carry out actual heath care & financial reform. Needs to get things done instead of just talking and planning.

[sonofsamphm1c]

What part of less than one year is not getting through to you? Ever hear of congress? You should read about them. They're like the village idiots. They have to pass reform, not Obama.

[arvay]

Yeah, and Obama wouldn't have gotten the Nobel Prize I tried so desperately to get.

Bill continues to amaze.

[loki]

he could have just said Bush was wrong.

Because Bush was just wrong. Wrong for the country, the world, everything. He failed at every business he ever put his hands on,and he failed as a president. Even when he was handed an opportunity to shine, he screwed it up.

[blueskybigstar]

Lehman was bought by a member of the Bush family for cheap and the name was changed.

[Gernuser]

More work needs ot be done

Good articles: http://pie.im/af30

[MyTalkRadiou]

Obama needs to do actual reform instead of just talk & plan

good articles: http://br.st/tU

~~

[ImissBush]

oh i thought it said lieberman

fail

[FreedomCorpse]

bush was wrong about everything Bill...everything. And Bill, you're wrong about what bush was wrong about.

[wm1066]

Marked as Favorite. When I read what Bill said I was to flbbergasted to say what I wanted to say, I didn't know where to begin! but you said it short and sweet.

[2Bfair]

Every word Bill Clinton utters is self-serving. It really is shameless. Bush deserves lots of credit and blame for the current finanical crisis. But we also know that BILL CLINTON signed the law deregulating the financial industry that openned a wide door for the greedy gambling and abuses that led to the Wall Street collapse including Lehman's failure. Lehman Bros. failed because GOLDMAN SACHS wanted it to fail. Clinton and his equally dishonest Sec. of Treasury, Rubin and Summers, were partners with the GOP on the crime of deregulation, and all cashed in for MEGA MILLIONS when they left office.

Enough of Bill Clinton's ego polishing pontification.

[wreckdiver]

Nice fairytale, but in the land of reality, GLB did NOT cause the financial meltdown.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/who_caused_the_economic_crisis.html

[Rule Of Law]

pt2

Then there's this: "Bill Clinton (Sept. 24): Indeed, one of the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill."

The problem is "too big to fail" and he's rewriting history on the run saying that the monopolistic consolidation taking place now is a good thing? Bah!

Repeal of Glass Steagall PLUS removing regulations on the derivatives that the newly consolidated financial supermarkets put their depositers money into, have created this mess. And Bill signed off on all of it.

[Rule Of Law]

pt1

What an unmitigated load of bovine feces! Two main points in that article (which deals with, btw, ONLY GLB and NOT the Commodities Act of 2000 which removed the restrictions on derivatives that 2Bfair alludes to):

"Actually, deregulated banks were not the major culprits in the current debacle. Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase have weathered the financial crisis in reasonably good shape..."

Check the graphs on this site showing which banks have received the most bailout money. Citi is number one, and has been called essentially bankrupt.

http://www.sitemason.com/files/llt49q/bailouttallysept2009.pdf

And then this"

"An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic."

Nothing obscure about it except to those outside the finance biz. Mark to market puts real world values on assets, not pulled out of the air wishful thinking one that the banks used to prop up their bottom lines for the press. Most of their derivative holdings are worthless, but to say so would mean to admit that they are insolvent. Can't have that.

[lillibelle]

Yep. That is so. Clearly Bill is practicing the old, "If you tell a lie long enough and loudly enough. . . "

[2Bfair]

Well said.

[So Calif Indpdnt]

Just as we have the freedom to succeed we also need the freedom to fail.

[NeoconGal]

Bill, to be honest, ever since you said "I never had sex with that woman", I have never believed anything you said.

[2Bfair]

Well said.

His dishonesty was double underscored for me when he tried desperately to promote his wife as the most eperienced and capable person to lead the nation and the world.

[wreckdiver]

Really? Obama's was triple underscored for me when he said he would filibuster the FISA/telecom immunity law and would release the torture photos.

[NevaforLeadership]

Bill Clinton never was a statesman, never understood boundaries, never cared about the truth and can't go quietly after his presidency ended in disgrace.

[wreckdiver]

"Ended in disgrace"?!?! LOL!

Bill Clinton left after being the first two-term Democratic President in over 50 years, with the highest approval rating of ANY President.

Too funny.

[2Bfair]

You seem to be confused by what presidential performance polls really measur: satisfaction with the economy. The Clinton Economic Bubble gave Bubba a big ride. But he helped pop it with his deregulation of the financial industry, which is shaping up as his great LEGACY. Bill is spinning. His mega-million dollar instant personal fortune speaks more to his motivation and the otucome.

[Luv2Purple]

W Jr. bush/shrub was WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING! WRONG to IGNORE the WARNING...BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN US! W took vacation after that one and what happened to America while W fiddled? We burned & got attacked! wrong about WMD wrong about letting Osama walk away from Tora Bora when he was surrounded (has any other enemy #! of this country ever slipped away from our military like that?) w was WRONG about TORTURE & ILLEGAL SPYING n American citizens. W was WRONG for sitting 7 minutes FROZEN w/ FEAR reading "My Pet Goat" to children. W stands for the WORST president in our modern history..perhaps worst ever!