The Inauguration Cannot Come Quickly Enough

From the New York Times, Saturday, December 20, 2008:

"Mr. Madoff's higher profile in the highly competitive world of hedge fund management intensified the skepticism about his remarkably consistent returns. Rival money managers complained that when they sought to replicate his trading strategy based on the statements the Madoff firm sent its clients, they found it wasn't possible.

There was a scattering of inconclusive regulatory investigations-efforts so unavailing that the chairman of the SEC in Washington has ordered an internal investigation to determine how the agency could have missed so many red flags and ignored so many credible complaints over the years."

In one sense, Bernard Madoff is us. A man who built a business, a reputation, a fortune, American-style. He was the go-to investment counselor to some of the most prominent Jewish wealth and cash-rich institutions in America. Eventually, he built an international clientele. Eventually, he consulted for the SEC itself on electronic trading. People who spent life times, even generations amassing money and assets cautiously and wisely, turned to this man. They trusted him implicitly. Some actually knew Madoff personally. Many did not.

Madoff promised them results. He is believed to have set up an illegal scheme that would help him fulfill that promise. Madoff himself became rich and admired while pursuing that goal. Now people are beg inning to know the real Madoff. A man who wanted to shield his clients from reality. In a sense, we made Madoff. This society and its desire for results and more results. The disease of more.

The mechanism that helps us to verify the claims of individuals in any market place, to know what we need to know to function and to make the essential decisions, is called regulation.
Years ago, you bought your meat from a man you knew. Now, you trust that a company miles away is doing its best to protect you. Not putting profit over public health and safety. You have government agencies that are meant to insure that this is so. In the investment world, there are mechanisms in place to keep an eye on people. all people. Madoff included. Some people thought this would never happen to them. Some of those people voted for Bush. Twice. The Bush legacy: the Chairman of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, just got paid $83 million. With your bailout money. The company lost $7.8 billion in 2007. Merrill got $10 billion in bailout money.

The Bush legacy: No regulation. A free-for-all. Market anarchy. You could not assemble a worse group of public officials into one presidential administration.

Americans are hard working people. And they are governed, especially lately, by absolutely shiftless, contemptible, even criminal trash. Let us hope that the new administration will be a brave one. Let us hope that they will not shield us from the truth.

That inauguration cannot come quickly enough.

Comments

[Autumn7]

Alec,

Niiice job on Larry King!.. I'll marry you ;-)

[Crowhaul]

It's not enough that Obama simply end the occupation in Iraq; he must RESCIND every last one of Bush's blood-for-oil deals. It's the ONLY thing these people will understand...

[DenverJJ]

Madoff is New York. In any other state he would not last five minutes. The reason, I think, is the arrogance of the New York financial aristocracy to think they are in some way, above the rest of us. This philosphy of social and political superiority gave us the Wall Street we have now. The big New York Banks are the ones mostly at the heart of the problem because of the simple proximity to Wall Street and the capital markets and the big elephant..."the executive bonus." It is this arrogance that cause people like Madoff and the Wall Street types to do the what they do. How many more Madoffs are out there?
These are not Americans, they are New Yorkers first and worship at the alter of New York: a chronically hip, fashion-wipped, fake tough financial elite, with Hampton kissed skin and wry smiles for the fly over states. These psuedo-citizens sit and fiddle while the pillars of finance burn down the rest of the country, but there is cure...
If you moved the NYSE to Des Moines, Iowa and made it the IOWA EXCHANGE we would have no "melt down" and hot shots like Madoff would only be as good his last audit from the state regulators. The financial debacle is New York elitist ego pure and simple.

[proud-elitist]

I completely agree. Although we all realize that Obama is human and will be an acceptable target for criticism--as we all are--soon, very soon, the Bush-Cheney mafia's furniture will be packed in trucks and carted away. They will be gone, too. Life won't be perfect, but it has to be much better.

[scaramouche]

So it is evident that the Bush policy of non-regulation every-man-­for-himsel­f dogma doesn't work. But we shouldn't just trash Bush. How about we go back to that conservative "Saint Reagan" and exorcize the core of this cancer? I'm waiting for history to finally overtake the hype and dump Reagan and his cronies into the trash bin where they belong.

[howmuchisenough]

Amen, Alec - Can we arrange for you to give a "farewell" speech to GWB at the inauguration?

[Psychodelic]

indeed, lets hope that this new administration will not shield us from the truth, but lets get ready for when they inevitably disappoint us. It will be up to the informed minority to spread the truth. Might as well get started now.

[robXdion]

You betcha!!

(#8000. . . )

[jmpurser]

Thanks to Warren and Obama's first "Bush League Move" now it's "The Innaugeration Can't Be OVER Quickly Enough".

I hope that's his last step in Bush's shoes.

[ProudMormon]

I'm glad to know that there won't be any more deception or fraudulent activities on earth after Obama is sworn in. And I don't have to worry anymore about my car payment or house payment either.

What a glorious day that will be!

[rubinoff]

Alec: why don't you run for political office, we could use 'more thinking' people like you. :)

[SeriousBlack]

Oh, what a clever "I'll mock Obama by claiming he is going to eliminate all pain and suffering in the universe", aka the "you libs think Obama is the messiah" strategy.

Such a useful contribution to the discussion.

Pretty funny considering that Democrats/­Liberals/P­rogressive­s are going to be among the most critical of his performance from day one. Only, critical mostly in a constructive sense because it will be holding him accountable for what he does and doesn't do, as opposed to those on the other side that do no more than post "I'll mock Obama by claiming he is going to eliminate all pain and suffering in the universe", aka the "you libs think Obama is the messiah" strategy -type posts on discussion forums (like yours).

So once again, WE (Democrats­/Liberals/­Progressiv­es) will be the ones actually accomplishing some good while people like you contribute nothing except useless, wiseacre comments.

Happy?

[merger]

Dear, I paid over a million dollars in taxes this year. I have given away enormous amounts of money to charities, I have one child who works for an investment firm, one is a senior at NYU and the other at a great state school. Our family takes their vacation time every year to go to Third World countries to work for charitable causes. We have contributed greatly and will continue do so and yes, we are all Conservatives.

[merger]

Amen, and we can all line up at the Exxon Mobil headquarters to get our share of their money. Then we can move on to Google, Apple, Wa-Mart and the other big profit companies who have managed their businesses well and take our share from them.

[MyDogSez]

My great grandparents worked for their living off land they owned.

My parents worked for wages in exchange for paying their bills,
owning their home and the pension they were promised.

Why do we think we can live without working for a living?
Why do the companies we trade our labor to think we're not worthy of life?

Madoff is all of us who want something for nothing.

Make your own wealth. Educate your children. Teach them what success is.
I hope to die broke, owing nothing.

My kids will do the best they can because I've invested everything
in their skills and their chances.

[PoliticalJNKY]

Great Post Alec! I agree... January 20th cannot come soon enough!

[Chbronze]

It never occured to me that there were no laws against securities fraud. By all means lets bring in Obama quickly, and the fleecing of people will stop. Who could imagine, two hundred plus years of a stock exchange in the US and no one ever thought to regulate it. Fraud is fraud regardless of deregulation. Madoff will be tried and convicted, hopefully, of crimes comitted against others, there are obviously regulation against what was done. Blame Bush for each and every problem including someone else's theft, I guess it attracts ratings.

[lifeinfullcolor]

Months ago when the price of a barrel of oil was going up daily, I wrote that I believed it was a crime to allow speculators to drive up the cost of oil, simply so they could buy another bottle of champagne, while doing so was creating others to go without. No one seems to be talking about what happened to the commodities market. I wondered for years what a service industry economy meant, I didn't realize that the financial sector was considered a service industry? where does that put us now, now that the financial industry has gone belly up. I find it regrettable that we as a species who now can use our brains to create the where withall for the basic survival needs, still act as if we're at war with each other, instead of working out how to live with each other.

[vjoseph]

Alec you are so much better than the politicians and so-called journalists combine! This was a great article, please write more.