Confronting the Greedy
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.
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Has Obama been personally threatened if he doesn't go along with business as usual? Did they tell him about JFK? I don't want to be unnecessarily conspiratorial, but clearly, Obama's character and his actions regarding the "too big to fail"s are not in synch. I still believe in Obama. I just think he can only do so much in an arena where the Fed have controlled everything for so long.
JFK gave the US large supply side tax cuts. Obama has nationalized most the domestic auto industry, is moving towards nationalization of the healthcare industry, will destroy many US companies with cap and trade, and is raising taxes (directly or indirectly) on all Americans (new tax on healthcare benefits, cap and trade tax on everybody, big income tax increases will come next year, etc). About the Fed, it is independent agency and shouldn't be under political control. It appears that Obama will try to take over the Fed by putting in Larry Summers as Fed Chairman.
What past behavior can you point to that would indicate that Obama might, even under optimum conditions, do anything, anything, that would put some constraints on the bankers?
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.
Iri, I could not agree more. Today there is news that he has caved on healthcare.
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.
Mr. Lux wrote,
"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.
At the risk of sounding pedantic: it's spelled 'Goldman Sachs'. :-)
Or were you referring to 'Government Sucks'?
Nope, plain old spelling error, excuse me...
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...
"The entire world knows to be false"....
http://see
Hi Dugan,
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
Or were you being facetious?
If Obama does the FDR thing to the Banksters, they will probably assassinate him, as they plotted to kill FDR and install a fascist governmnet.
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://lar
you're paranoid.
Take a break.
BS. You're Naive.
Go look it up, it really happened, and it's only gotten worse since then.
The author of that article in the link is either unaware or fails to mention that housing peaked in 1927, two years before the general economy peaked. The biggest housing bubble was in Florida in the 20s and that peaked in about 1925 and saw a little bit of a resurgence after the big 1926 hurricane. The author also waits several paragraphs into the article before he mentions how small the mortgage market was back then, as many folks paid for homes in cash or got loans from family, etc. It's also important to note that housing construction was dead throughout the entire decade of the 30s - it never came back. Home construction didn't boom again until the 1950s when there was a tremendous home shortage and widespread urban decay - so much for FDRs program...
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
wow, 2 years, so what? House bubble was a part of the crash, shorting and derivatives, as now, were 10 times the problem because of leverage.
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?
I fully agree with your analysis but I think it is well past time to face the fact that President Obama is not the man for the job of "confronting the greedy".
You're right. Obama has made it clear (not just once, but over and over again) where his priorities lie, and any hope that he's going to do what needs to be done is misplaced hope.
These banks believe they can do whatever they want, and no one will stop them.
And so far, they appear to be correct!
They have the support of our White House and Congress.
At risk of appearing just 'pompous'. How about studying the mother country. Less Lear jets. Less swimming pools. Less hummers type vehicles. More 'parity'. More contentment? More acceptance of paying ones dues? Higher gas prices to pay for the fact that any couple or single parent can afford to have a child? Smaller cars and houses and less foreclosure and bankruptcy? No one in the whole country needing to owe a doctor a cent. No one going without medical despite the lying reports on Fox talk radio? No Government elected in the future is going to change the system of confidence that prevails in the UK. No 'degree' owning women having to turn to the 'meat market' to earn a living? Look in fact more closely at all the European nations and check what it costs per person against the prices to stay the same in the USA?
American's don't want smaller houses, smaller cars, high gas prices, etc. I want a huge house, a swimming pool, a large expensive car, cheap gas, etc. About Europe, things are expensive there and services are lacking? Ever try picking up some small item at a CVS type place or a Target? Good luck. How about decent fast food? What is good about the tiny apartments or flats they live in or their little tin box cars? Ever wait sit in a queue for six hours at a hospital waiting to be seen by a doctor? Their is a big black market for medical care over there. My wife is Italian and always paid a doctor under the table to get some decent medical attention. She doesn't have to do that here though.
now I finally figured out who you are, Dugan.
You are the sandman.
What is mostly good about them is that they do not go online and see their fellow citizens living in tent cities while you live in your huge house. Too many will step over bodies to get what you describe. No one in the UK dies at 50 for diabetes as they can't afford or get medical treatment. If you waited that long in the UK you would have gone with a blister and gone through triage? Decent fast food? Fast enough to digest in two seconds and explain the obesity?
Yes, the President needs to go on the "full" attack mode with Republicans over all the issues. Stop with the nice guy persona.
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.
Wrestle control from the Rich? It going to have to take alot more than the President Obama to do so, it is going to have to come right down to a social revolution to accomplish being down the Establisment of Corporate greed. And that means taking to the streets and protesting, most Americans talk about being frustrated and angry, but they on the whole are not angry enough to take action and take risks in the confrontation that must happen. When Americans really are mad enough and pushed into the corner, then and only then will they act.
I've said it before & I'll say it again now: Tim Geithner works for the other side! Will somebody please give Obama a clue about this guy?
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.
This article is ridiculous! Obama already awarded the greedy wallstreet bastards by giving them our money! Bush too! Capitalism works! The reason these companies needed bailing out is because they were poorly managed (giving huge bonuses to mediocre performance). Letting them fail would have been the right thing to do. Giving them bailout money was a progressive plan to control the banks and be able to move money without congress' approval. Progressivism is a disease. It destroys freedom.
I appreciate these remarks. Maybe they will find an ear in the Obaoa Administration, somebody outside of the Treasury of the Council, because they are all dealing off the bottom of the deck to the insiders, I am outraged that the financial abuse has not stopped. It is greed and it is self serving arrogance that those in the management positions pf finance think it is their right to millions in compensation. and it's hidden. Read and study your average 1099B Statement of annual gains eeeeer, losses and tell me if the fees are disclosed or are they just netted out and buried. We've done studies and analysis. They are stealing you blind, and you don't even know it. Because it is hidden. How can they get away with that?
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.
I frankly have come to the conclusion that both parties pretty much don't care about the US citizen. The government appears to me to more and more out for themselves and we are the sheeple that they feed off of.
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
And the danger will be whether or not the government makes it illegal to own gold once again. If that happens, look out.
I'm glad to see a lot of media coverage casting a bright light on Goldman Sachs. They deserve transparency in the public arena if they are ever going to adopt new codes of conduct. The fact that Goldman has huge bonuses in a recession makes political activism and social organization pivotal if we wish to hold these companies accountable.
Vote on what you believe to be the worst corporations of 2009 here. It's fun: http://sal
Welcome to the real reality, Mike; some of us have been fuming here ahead of you, wondering if you would join us, and noticing that your tone has ever so slowly been...cha
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.
Well said Rolo. There may be hope for Mike yet.
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