This is a very relevant question asked by Lynn Turner, a former accountant at the SEC. This question is in response to this story: Geithner Aides Reaped Millions Working for Banks, Hedge Funds
Some of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides, none of whom faced Senate confirmation, earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other Wall Street firms, according to financial disclosure forms.
Get that - they don't face Senate confirmation. Geithner's 'kitchen cabinet' comes right from the financial oligarchy:
The advisers include Gene Sperling, who last year took in $887,727 from Goldman Sachs and $158,000 for speeches mostly to financial companies, including the firm run by accused Ponzi scheme mastermind R. Allen Stanford. Another top aide, Lee Sachs, reported more than $3 million in salary and partnership income from Mariner Investment Group, a New York hedge fund.
Besides Sperling and Sachs there are:
Geithner’s inner circle also includes counselor Lewis Alexander, the former chief economist at Citigroup; Chief of Staff Mark Patterson, who was a lobbyist at Goldman Sachs, and Matthew Kabaker, a deputy assistant secretary who worked at private equity firm Blackstone Group LP. Patterson’s and Kabaker’s jobs did not require confirmation.
Why does this matter? It's about perspective. It's about the same thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. Here is an example:
The Treasury Department failed to monitor “explosively controversial” bonuses American International Group Inc. paid to executives before committing to pump another $30 billion into the insurer, said the chief watchdog of the U.S. financial rescue program.
This is from the latest report from Neil Barofsky, special inspector for TARP. "Move along nothing to see here", is the attitude of this Treasury Department. Would this happen if there were people with different perspectives and not entirely from the financial oligarchy?
yup, that's in the national interest, surely
Seems since at least the mid 90's, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup has been deciding whatever is in the best interests of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup is what is in the best interests of the nation.
Did you see that reversal on the modest tax code changes?
That was out of Treasury and here we go....can't get a damn thing changed if it's not endorsed and approved by MNCs.
Oh, but everything is OK.
Dow hits 10,000. Nothing to worry about. What a joke!
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
Dow hits 10k
To me, this is no surprise really. I saw AIG a couple of days ago valued @ 44, and now we have financials which are flush with U.S. taxpayer cash, propping them up, soaring on the market.
Does that track on any reality you know about?
No, it's not reality. But we are in a suspended reality.
The next leading economic index will increase because of the stock market. So, the impression will be that everything is fine. Dont' worry about regulating anything. Don't worry about the future because as long as the financial sector is strong America is strong. F*ck them!
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
Channel that rage into specifics
That's the issue here. Believe this or not, the U.S. chamber of commerce is trying to spam this blog with their propaganda. (They hire people, paying peanuts to put corporate agenda comments in blogs).
So, the goal of EP is to not only analyze and get objective here, get into the details, but to also promote policies that are in the national interest, are based in economic realities and don't screw the U.S. middle class or the national interest.
For real?
Do you have some articles you can point towards to show us this?
I think so
I delete the comment spam in the moderation queue but I do not believe someone is going to try to repeatedly say we're all full of shit and link to the U.S. Chamber of commerce's "white paper" on "health care" over and over for free.
I've seen ads on craigslist and in other very cheapo "writing jobs" or "per line" jobs as well as things like cheap labor elance and so on.
So, they are hiring professional comment spammers somewhere, of course they do not identify themselves as major lobbyists and MNC's to do this sort of thing.
Liquidity is driving the stock market
Not profits.
If you want to know what that really means, look at what the dollar does compared to the stock market. They have an inverse relationship.
If the dollar goes down, the stock market goes up that day. And visa verse.
We are cheapening our currency to get an nominal asset boom. The dollar has dropped 25% this decade, so in real value the DOW is less than 7,600.
This is the same dynamic that happened in Wiemar Germany. Their stock market kept pace with their inflation until just before their currency completely collapsed.
That's not to say we will have hyperinflation (I don't expect it), but the same dynamic is at work.
I am watching the House Financial Services Committee's
mark-up of CFPA. It is incredibly frustrating. I am not sure how much more I can stand. Rep. Melissa Bean (D) is supposedly submitting an amendment that will strip away the key provision of CFPA - issue of pre-emption. GOP is trying to kill it with a bunch of amendments.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
My head was going to explode.
Tired of hearing "don't separate safety & soundness from consumer protection" meme from the GOP. I guess I missed the part where the Fed and the rest did a great job with both functions.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
Melissa Bean
Frankly I think she should be impeached for representing corporate lobbyists in Congress. I hear ya and know the history.
What kills me is there were some great candidates as I recall running against her and the DNC didn't plain tell her she couldn't have that seat and endorsed the other ones.
I mean it's just ridiculous, you cannot get anything close to representation in so many of these "so called" elections because it's run by the parties and the districts are gerrymandered on top of it.
At risk you OD'd on Ibuprofen
You have GOT to read this NC post lobbyists not only block new but try to further weaken old regulations.
Rebel, I think the site could use a "can you believe these corporate lobbyists" sort of links, must read the horror of it all type posts too.
This is astounding!