A couple of items in the financial sector, but both can be summarized in these words: the powerful and greedy continue to run things with impunity in the financial world.
First there's the news that Goldman Sachs is making record bonus payments for the first half of the year. Let me repeat that: RECORD bonus payments. Bigger than 2004 or 2005 or 2006 or 2007. Bigger than at the height of the bubble. In spite of all the toxic assets they have created. In spite of all the government bailout help. In spite of all the stunning damage to the American and world economy. In spite of all of that (or maybe because of some of it), for the very, very short term, the company has good profit numbers. Ergo post hoc, they are giving out really awesome bonuses to their big enchiladas.
Then, there is the massively infuriating article entitled "Treasury's Got Bill Gross on Speed Dial". It seems that Bill Gross is extremely happy these days. Everybody in government seems to hang on his every word. The plan that he helped develop, the Public-Private Investment Program (the PPIP for short), which would coincidentally make him billions of dollars, is being pushed by Tim Geithner.
Read these two articles back to back; and if you are not sputtering with rage at the end, you must truly be the most pro-corporate libertarian around.
Hey, I know it takes a heck of all ill wind not to blow somebody some good. And I knew that when the Summers-Geithner policy of resuscitation of the financial system rather than restructuring it was adapted, that lots of people would make money off the deal. But reading these two articles really does make you wonder who won the election, and how these greedy folks can get away with doing whatever they want.
Check out this absolutely terrific post by Drew Westen, one I had really wished I had written because it's so on target. I want President Obama to succeed more than I've ever wanted anything politically, but it's not going to happen unless he (a) wrenches the control of the economy away from the greedy, and (b) confronts the greedy directly. You have to decide which side you are on, Mr. President: the struggling tens of millions barely hanging on, or not hanging on at all, in this dreadful economy. Or the greedy bankers and health insurance executives. I trust that you have good values and instincts, and I want to be on your side in these fights. I appreciate the good things you've done so far on the stimulus, the budget, health care, the environment. But at some point, you are going to have to confront the greedy, or you are not going to inspire and you are not going to win.
Fight the good fight, Mr. President, and there will be tens of millions of us who will fight it with you. Avoid these fights, and your presidency will be adrift, with neither set of allies fighting for you or big legislative victories.
Mike Lux is the author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be.
There isn't a scintilla of past behavior that would indicate that Obama won't give the bankers everything they wish - no matter what deleterious effects it has on taxpayers.
Your comments are, frankly, utter nonsense because Obama hasn't got the slightest bit of courage to do anything that might go against the bankers and support taxpayers.
I feel that my efforts to get this administration in place have been a total waste. I'm not sure what his political calculation is, but it does not include meaningful change.
I'm trying to find a meaningful way of opposing this administration. Much of government does not listen to citizenry, and there are few options available. Any suggestions from the many HuffPost participants will be appreciated.
"Ergo post hoc, they are giving out really awesome bonuses to their big enchiladas."
At the risk of sounding pedantic, ergo post hoc? Post hoc ergo propter hoc, sometimes shortened in this way? I think Mr. Lux might instead have meant ipso facto.
Ergo post hoc is a logical fallacy that can be illustrated like this: That man drank mothers milk as an infant. That man is a drug addict. Drinking mothers milk causes drug addictions.
Ipso facto means becuase of the fact without any intervening action, for example, because of the fact of accounting procedures that made Goldman Sacks appear to be having a good year though the entire world knows it to be false, Goldman Sacks paid record bonuses because no authority intervened to prevent it.
Or were you referring to 'Government Sucks'?
But, you know, come to think of it, Goldman sacks has a meaning quite different and maybe more appropriate than Goldman sucks, but I'm going to be honest, no, the entendre was not on purpose.
But feel free to use it...
http://seekingalpha.com/article/130909-the-goldman-sachs-group-inc-f1q09-qtr-end-3-27-09-earnings-call-transcript
The conference call describes how Goldman hid some losses in a spare month it invented which it called December which according to Goldman was a month between quarter 4 2008 and quarter 1 2009, "December net revenues were $183 million, net earnings were negative $780 million and earnings per diluted share were negative $2.15." impacted by "$2.7 billion in fair value losses"
The conference call described accounting procedures "Despite more than $2.5 billion of fair value losses in the first quarter, $2.2 billion of revenues and $300 million in additional expenses, we generated an annualized return on common equity of 14.3%"
The entire world knows that Goldman "has taken more than $20 billion in taxpayer cash through loans, payments and backstops" in the past year to bail it out, without which Goldman's common equity would have been wiped out. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-sachs-bailout-bonanza-lloyd
Or were you being facetious?
We are witnessing the end game between:
Democracy and Plutocracy.
Plutocracy is winning big time, with the largest transfer of wealth from the people to the banksters in human history.
Till people, world wide understand and react, the banktser will impoverish us all, while the party in obscene wealth.
see profile for background and links.
we must stop the Banksters, regulate them, charge them with fraud and shut down derivatives.
http://larouchepub.com/other/2007/3414fdr_housing.html
Take a break.
Go look it up, it really happened, and it's only gotten worse since then.
Who are "banksters" ? You're confusing the millions of folks who work in the banking industry from a few thousand predators working n the secondary mortgage market and on trading desks, although they're not technically bankers. IMO, we need a strong financial services industry. The US is still and will continue to be the best in the world in that sector of the global economy, and it brings tremendous wealth into the United States. We utilize the cheap labor of emerging markets to manufacture super cheap consumer goods for US citizens, but we get a lot of that money back via financial services and higher asset prices and dividends (as well as the
Bankster is what FDR called the corrupt, greed blinded bankers and gamblers on wall street. Just like now. From Maddof to PJMorgan and IAG, total frauds. You want to play words games and dance around the issues. Boring.
Distraction from:
You just watched the greatest transfer of wealth in human history from the people to the banktsers, and you forgot about it?
They have the support of our White House and Congress.
You are the sandman.
We already know that you are a nice guy, but you are President now and we want results not more excuses for why things don't get done, or that we the taxpayer have been ripped off again by our elected politicians.
Stop the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now.
Figure out immigration.
Severely get Wall St. and the Banks regulated, curtail greed as a business goal, replace it with ethical, moral standards of accomplishment that does not defy logic, and if you cheat you will get shot down, and thrown in prison if you pulls this $hit again.
Get American manufacturing in a competetive level once again.
Get Health care finished.
Open communications with Cuba, and all of S. America.
Get moving with N. Korea and Iran.
Good fortune Mr. President, most of us are beyond you all the way.
And you are right. If Obama continues to side with the Greed Street crowd I will work against him in the next election. For if he's their president he's not mine.
One of these days a real tide will turn. I don't know how the people will get on top of this equation but there are a lot of willing participants. I hone the prongs of my pitchfork nightly.
The moves the Administration and Congress are making really are going to enslave the rest of the nation from the bottom up. With the bottom suffering the most financially. I keep watching the price of gold and silver with the widget http://www.learcapital.com/exactprice expecting any day for the trigger to be pulled and them to rocket.
And the danger will be whether or not the government makes it illegal to own gold once again. If that happens, look out.
Vote on what you believe to be the worst corporations of 2009 here. It's fun: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2215/t/8981/signUp.jsp?key=4278
Nice to know that your Obama "happy face" is beginning to slip a bit; it's the sign of a truly concerned progressive, and one that distinguishes you from the blind faithful.