Goldman Sachs Case Could Help Obama Shift Voter Anger

Los Angeles Times:

Fraud charges leveled against the investment bank Goldman, Sachs & Co. center on complex financial dealings. But for President Obama, the accusations against the iconic Wall Street institution offer a chance to revitalize a simple political narrative that he has all but lost in recent months: that he and his party are protecting ordinary Americans victimized by the economic meltdown.

Republicans have been notably successful in mounting populist attacks on the administration, even framing the pending legislation that would increase regulation of Wall Street as a recipe for perpetual bailouts by taxpayers. Now the Goldman case gives the administration a chance to send a countervailing message that government intervention is essential in the face of unregulated trading that favors well-connected insiders.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[davecarlson]

06:10 AM on 04/23/2010

(CNN) -- As the country was sinking into its worst financial crisis in more than
70 years, Security and Exchange Commission employees and contractors cruised
porn sites and viewed sexually explicit pictures using government computers....

"During the past five years, the SEC OIG (Office of Inspector General)
substantiated that 33 SEC employees and or contractors violated Commission
rules and policies, as well as the government-wide Standards of Ethical
Conduct, by viewing pornographic, sexually explicit or sexually suggestive
images using government computer resources and official time," These are the
guys you trust watchdog and reform our Financial System?

(Associated Press) President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will
increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government
economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping
legislation. The "bums must be thrown out" ...........

O NO "bama bull" the man who knows how to pull the wool, close your eyes while
he tells his lies. Certainly U must know now, why Wall Street is always 3 steps
ahead of the Dow. Us "small fries" will never be wise as long the cries do not
bring change. If They R allowed to "go scott free", shame on U and shame on me.
CorruptoRats and DemoRats become FatCats because no one will step up to bat.......

Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Is-Goldman-Obamas-Enron-No-its-worse-91613449.html#ixzz0lrNfCvQl

[tnkeating]

07:31 PM on 04/20/2010

I'm glad you think so.....

[Harrier]

11:18 AM on 04/20/2010

When companies can borrow money at 2% and without any risk use that money to lend out at 6-8%, that is something no other taxpayer can do. When companies don't care about the down side because the upside is going to give them greater bonus and when the down side come due, there is a clear problem and conflict of interest that still has not been addressed. The current cast of characters do not believe in regulations. Obama will never ask for money back where the banks made bad investment or for property that was foreclosed upon when they made bad loans. Bank are still getting a free ride and there is nothing in place to prevent this from happening again.

[StevieRae]

07:59 AM on 04/20/2010

As long as President Obama does not acquiesce to Congress and let them drive the financial reform. He has to be out and center so as to be seen as the real driving force behind the change.

The OPTICS of this may, may get through to some teabaggers.

[brooklyncitizen]

02:00 AM on 04/20/2010

GS was O's biggest contributor after the Iowa win.We are all being played.

[Monique1]

04:01 PM on 04/19/2010

Interesting hand gesture in photo.

[munki]

09:35 AM on 04/19/2010

WRONG!

Shifting anger for this?

What caused it?

Do we have a good economic advisory team?

[Daisytoo]

08:58 AM on 04/19/2010

In other words, he'll find yet another way to blame Bush for the whole thing.

Next.

[AyeChart]

08:47 AM on 04/19/2010

"But for President Obama, the accusations against the iconic Wall Street institution offer a chance to revitalize a simple political narrative that he has all but lost in recent months: that he and his party are protecting ordinary Americans victimized by the economic meltdown."

No! You really think so?

A better question is: Are you really so clueless that you think the timing of this lawsuit against Goldman-Sachs is just coincidence?

[bigironal25]

08:24 AM on 04/19/2010

Until Wall St folks start going to prison I'm not swallowing any of this BS because the folks that broke international and US laws regarding torture are given free passes , the same thing will happen on Wall St! Plenty of laws broken but NODODY pays...... Mark my words!

[Guytar]

06:00 AM on 04/19/2010

Beatles music is forever.

[chindit]

05:28 AM on 04/19/2010

The financial reform bill as written merely sets in stone the ongoing taxpayer backstop for Too Big to Fail Wall Street and guarantees that banks will continue to take excess risk because of the heavily skewed compensation scheme. They win, they keep; they lose, taxpayer eats it. Obama is hiding behind the SEC investigation to pass, along with Dodd, the most Wall Street friendly bill any group of lobbyists could write. There are three possibilities, none of which reflects well on Obama. He is totally lacking in courage, he is not smart enough to understand the ramifications of the bill, or he is beholden to his major campaign contributors at Goldman Sachs and on Wall Street.

The day the HuffPost and the rest of the messiah's flock realize all they got was an empty suit, the faster the country can get to real change for the better.

[jcaunter]

06:21 AM on 04/19/2010

You forgot option number 4, which I tend to favor in my more charitable moments: Obama genuinely believes in the ideology of finance, and he believes that be taking Wall Street money and helping Wall Street out he is actually helping out people (and increasing his chances of being reelected).

That is demonstrably BS however, but Obama is surrounded by so many Wall Street yes-men that he might believe it nonetheless.

[ThomastonPaine]

12:40 AM on 04/19/2010

Much of this was covered in a very good “even handed” interview from MSNBC’s Chris Mathews of Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on financial reform efforts:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/ns/msnbc_tv-hardball_with_chris_matthews#36605657


Senator Dodd,

Please work to continue to strengthen present reform efforts:

Thank you,

Pass a functionally independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency
Pass the Volcker Rule and end proprietary trading.
(Increase Capital Requirements)
Restore The Firewall of Glass Steagall
Pass Responsible and Effective Regulation of Derivatives--transparency--clearinghouses
(Investor protections)
Work To Ensure Rating Agency Accuracy...end "issuer pays" business model.
End Off Shore Exemptions
End Naked Credit Default Swaps--Legitimate Hedging is Good but these are wholly negative speculative instruments
Pass a Windfall Profits Tax On Wall Street
Responsibly Address "Black Box Trading"
End Unconscionable Payday lending abuses (usury caps on excessive interest)
Effectively End Too Big To Fail. (Kaufman Plan)

**In the interview Mr. Mathews also touched upon Senator Dodd’s retirement and how that may influence the reform effort…This is an Important Story From The Washington Post's Ezra Klein on Senator Dodd's likely replacement as Senate Banking Chairman " South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson”

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/01/will_senate_democrats_let_tim.html

Senator Tim Johnson’s Fundraising Summary from OpenSecrets.org
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2010&cid=N00010084&type=C

From Maplight.org
http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/579-tim-johnson

[Return2Sanity]

12:19 AM on 04/19/2010

Amazing they found something to charge Goldman with after Wall Street lobbyists succeeded in getting all the restrictions on OTC derivatives revoked with the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA). Michael Greenberger, professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, points out that:

“The CFMA removed OTC derivative transactions, including energy futures transactions, from all requirements of exchange trading and clearing under the CEA. Thus, in one fell swoop, the OTC market was exempt from capital adequacy requirements; reporting and disclosure; regulation of intermediaries; self regulation; any bars on fraud, manipulation and excessive speculation; and requirements for clearing.”

I am impressed that Bill Clinton just came out and admitted that he never should have listened to Summers' recommendation to deregulate derivatives. I totally agree with the person who said that Obama should dump Summers and replace with Volcker.

[jcaunter]

06:25 AM on 04/19/2010

In Washington, Wall Street failures like Summers and Geithner are rewarded with powerful and influential jobs. It's no wonder at all that none of the crooks on Wall Street are being charged with anything.

[Mij13]

11:09 PM on 04/18/2010

What's sad is the fact that their anger needs to be shifted. The teabaggers have been saying they want to "take their country back", and are angry about taxes, even though they have not seen anything but tax cuts since Obama was elected. Forget about "Where were they when Bush was raising the deficit and bailing out the banks - more importantly, why are they not now protesting on Wall St? Is it possible they really don't care about anything but helping Repubs get back into power? It seems to be the message.