Richard Siewert, Former Treasury Counselor, Could Move To Goldman Sachs

The revolving door between Wall Street and Washington is about to turn once more.

Richard Siewart, onetime counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, is reportedly being considered for a position at Goldman Sachs. Siewert, who joined the Treasury Department in 2009, is said to be in the running to head up Goldman's communications department, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources.

The position doesn't appear to carry any direct financial responsibilities, but the news may nevertheless spark concern among critics who think the relationship between Wall Street and Washington has gotten too cozy. Though President Obama touted and signed the Dodd-Frank act -- a landmark piece of financial regulatory legislation -- more than a year ago, banks have lobbied vigorously against the new law, and rulemakers tasked with implementing the law have missed most of their deadlines so far. Critics have expressed doubts that the Obama White House has the political willpower to effect meaningful reform, particularly when so many D.C. power players have spent time on Wall Street, or vice versa.

Among the current or former Obama staffers who have worked in the financial sector are Jack Lew, the president's new chief of staff, who spent time as an executive at Citigroup; Bill Daley, the chief of staff whom Lew replaced, who worked at JPMorgan Chase during the financial crisis; and Rahm Emanuel, another former chief of staff, now the mayor of Chicago, who made a reported $18 million during his three years with the investment bank Wasserstein Perella.

If Siewert moves to Goldman Sachs, he will be joining a bank that spent at least $1.8 million on lobbying in 2011, in part to push back against the Dodd-Frank act. Goldman is also one of several major banks currently trying to get Congress to exempt overseas derivative trading from Dodd-Frank oversight -- meaning that the derivatives market, one of the most high-risk trading areas and one that played a direct role in bringing about the financial crisis, could end up moving hundreds of millions of dollars beyond the supervision of U.S. regulators.

Comments

[JoAnn Kennedy]

05:37 PM on 02/02/2012

Lack of ethics you don't say -- greed --- no liabilitiy -- wow and we point fingers at the unemployed and welfare receipients. Let's do this, we will take those on the dole and replace the Goldman Sach bankers and see what happens. It will be like that movie Tradin Places with Eddie Murphy

[JoAnn Kennedy]

05:35 PM on 02/02/2012

http://www.truth-out.org/byron-dorgan-making-banks-play-rules/1327783200 There is alot of I don't know where the money is, or about the money .....

[JoAnn Kennedy]

05:26 PM on 02/02/2012

surprise surprise Goldman Sachs and the revolving door
http://www.truth-out.org/byron-dorgan-making-banks-play-rules/1327783200

[altesk]

06:11 PM on 02/01/2012

Yes, the "revolving door between Wall Street and Washington" is a big problem. For a start, it might be worthwhile to forbid any decision-maker in government from ever taking an executive/lobbyist job outside government, and vice-versa. But first we need the right kind of politicians who would vote for measures like this.

That means that voters must reject any and every political candidate who receives any form of influence from banks and other interest groups.

Lack of change results from almost everyone voting for either Democrat or Republican mainstream candidates. Why do we just jump back and forth, voting one or the other into office?

Why should we forget about the past harm they've done? That harm was the result of both responding to lobbying and acting based on party ideology.

Enough people voted for Republicans in 2010 to give them a House majority, while we were still suffering from the economic consequences of policies pushed by Republicans. We got rid of them only two years before that. What about Republicans had changed in two years, that we should trust them? Nothing. Their bad deeds merit their permanent banishment from public office, unless they stop taking special interest money. And voting for Democrats in 2008 was questionable also - they contributed to those same problems.

Some voters were seduced by Obama's charisma or saw his election as a chance to break down a racial barrier; but he is just as compromised by special interests as previous candidates were.

[lee bradstone]

06:04 PM on 02/01/2012

INVISIBLE Allliances in the world of wall-street-banditry, MSM-propaganda, financial-terro rism....

Arise fellow Americans!!! How about massive American Spring Uprising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sfsoma]

05:14 PM on 02/01/2012

Change we can believe in. Thanks President O and Secretary G.

[sfsoma]

05:13 PM on 02/01/2012

Tim will be slipping into GS as well, no doubt. You know all those years of "public service" working for the banks at the Fed were low paying. He's got to cash in on the billions now for retirement.

[rosiebag]

01:50 PM on 02/01/2012

With Timmy's blessing, and wish list, he can warm up dim tims seat. .

[Wow Unbelievable]

01:12 PM on 02/01/2012

Hey why not... Geithner's from Goldman along with Corzine, the WH's number 1 trusted person they go to for financial advise.

[JoAnn Kennedy]

05:40 PM on 02/02/2012

don't forget Chief of Staff Daly -- yuppers and now Goldman is backing RoMoney -- seems to me that the only office that will not be changing in DC's will be several Goldman Sach's seat of involvement. GEEZ how did this get sooooo bad.

[Mister Grumpy]

12:48 PM on 02/01/2012

But there is no conflict of interest.... Right!!!