In a response to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission releasing its final report on the financial crisis today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce pitched a hissy fit calling the report an "abuse of the process" that would create "job-killing lawsuits." (So much for the new tone in Washington.)
FCIC the New Wikileaks?The Chamber quickly goes to the heart of the matter:
"The commission's final report and its pledge to post raw materials -- apparently including information obtained from companies as well as other government agencies -- is an astounding abuse of process that would effectively create a government-sanctioned Wikileaks," said Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform.
This is what the Chamber fears most of all, the FCIC's planned release of those reckless, imprudent and downright ugly emails from the masters of the universe crowing about how well they do their jobs -- fleecing America.
A stack of these emails were just released by Atlantic Monthly in a stellar report on the information uncovered by an insurance firm's lawsuit against Bear Sterns. Documents discovered in the lawsuit suggest that Bear executives cheated clients out of billions by double dipping on securities sales they knew to be flawed. The lawsuit also alleges continued accounting fraud by JP Morgan Chase (which bought Bear in 2008) in an effort to cover-up the problem. In just one example of those embarrassing emails, Bear Sterns top executives crow over selling investors a "sack of shit."
Bear deal manager Nicolas Smith wrote an e-mail on August 11th, 2006 to Keith Lind, a Managing Director on the trading desk, referring to a particular bond, SACO 2006-8, as "SACK OF SHIT [2006-]8" and said, "I hope your [sic] making a lot of money off this trade."
The Real Job Killers
The U.S. Chamber is in panic mode for two reasons. One, the FCIC details in its 576 page report who the real job killers are, reckless Wall Street financial firms and negligent government officials who took a series of specific actions that resulted in 30 million unemployed and underemployed Americans.
They are also panicked because the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law is kicking in to high gear. Federal banking agencies are issuing new rules under the act that will clamp down on some of the reckless behavior in the big banks, mortgage services and other financial firms. Unbelievably, the Chamber is fighting hard to protect the lucrative shadow banking industry from being dragged into the sunlight, rigorously protesting the new transparency, capital and margin requirements for all over the counter derivatives traders.
This week the Chamber released an amusing art work, placing the array of Dodd-+Frank rules into a graphic chart full of polka dots. As the watchdog group U.S. Chamber Watch noted: "Although the Chamber has unveiled this pointless pointillist masterpiece, (probably being secretly funded by the big banks that, left unregulated, led to the recession in the first place), it still has yet to release a substantive plan for jobs or avoiding future financial meltdowns."
Buy the FCIC report today, and call the U.S. Chamber of Commerce toll-free and tell them what you think of their foray into modern art. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Customer Service: 1-800-638-6582.
While purposely blaming those in opposition to their intent, the myopic, ideological, and self serving interests of some factions incredibly ignore the glaring connection of their actions to our financial crisis. Read the background on the dissenting member of the FCIC. It is clear that they are in fact the same individual that directly or indirectly influenced our financial [de]regulation policy, and induced our government to disregard effective regularity prescriptions. And given that our financial system functioned exactly as they designed it to, coursing to the precipice of a total collapse, they obviously find no fault in their political ideologies unambiguous failings.
When I read that sentence I paused and said... NOPE - we won't see the emails
Thank God for efforts such as the FCIC report, which brings the truth to light, and provides us with the evidence needed to repudiate these rascals selling us out for their own profit.
The release of the SACO email is symptomatic of the problem of having political hacks try cases in public. The excerpt itself is misleading and is no proof of wrong doing. In their role as bankers they create products with different degrees of risk and pricing and sophisticated clients, who should know better, buy this ‘sack of sh‘ based on how much exposure they want to that type of risk at that type of price. People buy cr*ppy investments all the time and some make a killing. These banks do not then go and claw back that money because the investor invested wisely. They simply settle up. If you do not want cr*p do not buy it.
Caveat Emptor.
Kai
the banksters systematically looted the citizens because they owned the politicians and have no risk orf reprisal - they call it organized crime because its organized!
Although I detest PDFs so much the printed copy might seem like a bargain.
The only downside I can see would be if all of the CoC offices were located on the first floor.