Let's Get Political...Government Should UPHOLD the Law NOT Help Break It.

Larry's Corner


Politics and our government specifically has, in my opinion, done more to break and circumvent laws.  This complete disregard for our laws and the protection of our people has been led by the leaders of our government from the President on down to our Congressmen, Senators, Governors, Mayors and even Judges.  This has been gong on for quite some time but became blatantly evident during the George W. Bush administration.  It matters not Republican or Democrat.  Both sides are guilty and seem to work from the same play book in what I have called a Democratic Dictatorship.

From illegal wiretapping to allowing white collar crime (for a select group of elite primarily in the finance industry), our government - past and present - continue to violate our Constitution and our constitutional rights if it works to their advantage.

Is anyone paying attention out there?  It seems not as their is little outcry from the masses.  Yes, there are those like New York Attorney General Schneiderman who would see justice done and there are those main street reporters like Matt Taibbi and Gretchen Morgenson who are not afraid to speak out.  Yet, you will not hear this type of criticism from Anderson Cooper of CNN.  How about putting some of these politicians on your Ridiculist?  You won't hear about this on the NBC, CBS or ABC evening news.  How about it "high profile" news anchors?  Your job is to report the news. Is this continued attempt by government to cover up and condone the breaking of law and our Constitution not news?  You should all be on the "Ridiculist".

How about it FOX News.  Where are you?  We all know what side of the political spectrum you stand on. What a great opportunity for you to voice your opinion on this topic and serve your own needs at the same time.  Just expose the current tidal wave of this administration, you don't even have to go near the previous one.

And my fellow Americans.  Where are you?  You are losing your jobs, your homes, your retirement savings and most of all your dignity.  You need to be seen and heard.  Yes, you comment on the various blogs on cyberspace but to no avail.  We need to write our politicians, call them and do so consistently.  We need them to hear us not ignore us.  As in my previous post, they are our servants not our masters and too many of us allow them to enslave us and be our masters.

Now let's hear from two journalists who are not afraid to speak out publicly, Matt Taibbi of The Rolling Stone and Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times.  In a recent post on line -  Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal - he references another article by journalist Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times - Attorney General of N.Y. Is Said to Face Pressure on Bank Foreclosure Deal (the topic of one of my previous posts).  Note:  click underlined to link to original articles by each.

A power play is underway in the foreclosure arena, according to the New York Times.

On the one side is Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, who is conducting his own investigation into the era of securitizations – the practice of chopping up assets like mortgages and converting them into saleable securities – that led up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

On the other side is the Obama administration, the banks, and all the other state attorneys general.

This second camp has cooked up a deal that would allow the banks to walk away with just a seriously discounted fine from a generation of fraud that led to millions of people losing their homes.

Not that Matt does not express himself well, but, what he is saying is that there is a power play here between Justice and Injustice.  A power play between selective distribution and dispensation of our laws.  In other words, selective enforcement.  If you are in the select group of elite then our laws will not and do not apply.  You may commit atrocities against your fellow citizens and even citizens of the world without fear of capture, prosecution and punishment.  In deed, should you be discovered of such illicit practices by mountains of real evidence, the government will either look the other way or take its' own illegal action to let you go.

We have a government gone wild.  A government reminiscent of many other oppresive regimes past and present.  Regimes we sacrifice our kids for in the name of JUSTICE and DEMOCRACY.  How hypocritical we are.

This is all about protecting the banks from future enforcement actions on both the civil and criminal sides. The plan is to provide year-after-year, repeat-offending banks like Bank of America with cost certainty, so that they know exactly how much they’ll have to pay in fines (trust me, it will end up being a tiny fraction of what they made off the fraudulent practices) and will also get to know for sure that there are no more criminal investigations in the pipeline. 

"...all about protecting the banks...".  Is it not the job of government to protect the people?  Is that not the oath they all take when sworn in to their respective offices?

Oath of Office for President

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Oath of Office for Senate and Congress

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

Solemn Oath of Justices and Judges

Each justice or judge of the United States shall take the following oath or affirmation before performing the duties of his office

"I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as ________ under the Constitution and laws of the United States.  So help me God."

I believe to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, is meant to protect the people who are guided and protected by it.  I do not believe that the Constitution allows government to select which of the people it is to protect and which of the people it is to allow to pillage and plunder, rob and thieve.

Even amongst thieves there is now two classes.  The common thief who can walk into a bank and rob it and the elite financial industry thief who can walk into your life and rob it.  The first will be apprehended by the law, charged, prosecuted and in all probability face many years of prison.  The latter group - the elites - can openly rob us and never face any charges.  Only a few the government uses as scapegoats - like Bernie Madoff or recent times and Michael Milken of years gone by - ever do the time.  Neither of them could ever have done what they were accused of without the knowledge and sanction of government.

In fact, Milken - who created the junk bond, unlike mortgage backed securities and CDO's, had SEC approval.  Milken, unlike the Wall Streeters today, called his paper exactly what it was - junk - and did not give them exotic, colorful names like MBS's, CDO's or Credit Default Swaps.  Junk Bonds, by the way, are very heavily traded legally today.  Go figure!

To fully understand the total impact of governments attempt to forcefully get AG's to agree to only fine and not prosecute banks(ters) read Taibbi's description.

This deal will also submarine efforts by both defrauded investors in MBS and unfairly foreclosed-upon homeowners and borrowers to obtain any kind of relief in the civil court system. The AGs initially talked about $20 billion as a settlement number, money that would “toward loan modifications and possibly counseling for homeowners,” as Gretchen Morgenson reported the other day. (emphasis added)

Constitutional?  Lawful? Protection of the people?  Fair?
-or-
Simply dictatorial with a plan to transfer wealth to the elite and annihilate everyone else forcing all into financial slavery.

So this deal being cooked up is the ultimate Papal indulgence. By the time that $20 billion (if it even ends up being that high) gets divvied up between all the major players, the broadest and most destructive fraud scheme in American history, one that makes the S&L crisis look like a cheap liquor store holdup, will be safely reduced to a single painful but eminently survivable one-time line item for all the major perpetrators.

Read all of Matt Taibbi's article...click here
Read all of Gretchen Morgenson's article in NYT...click here

I wish to personally thank Gretchen Morgenson and Matt Taibbi for having the guts to publish the truth and expose those guilty of violations against us...even the government.  Gretchen and Matt are not afraid to do their jobs of reporting facts and truth.  Both are true Americans and REAL journalists.

If we allow this injustice to occur and do not stand up and back up our public servants like Schneiderman then this country and all it stands for will be lost forever.  If you think we have it bad now, just wait and see how much worse our children and grandchildren will have it.

We are seeing history repeat itself of governments overpowering the people, creating an elite class of mega rich, an elite class of mega powerful turning this small hand full of people into the very privileged.  The HAVE's and all the rest of us The HAVE NOT's.

Ever wonder how tyrants and dictatorships take hold of populations without force or gunfire? 

Related articles

• Bank Fraud Continued Cover Up From The White House (theforeclosuredetonator.wordpress.com)
• Matt Taibbi: NY Attorney General Vs. The Banking World (huffingtonpost.com)
• Securities and Exchange Commission Accused of Shredding Investigation Documents for Nearly Twenty Years (jonathanturley.org)
• Interview with Matt Taibbi on the SEC scandal (americablog.com)
• Politics: An Oath to Defend the Constitution is an Oath to Oppose Sharia (americandefenseleague.wordpress.com)
• New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe (huffingtonpost.com)
• NY AG Schneiderman charges Bank of New York with defrauding investors (americablog.com)

Editor's Note:  I want to thank Steve Dibert of MFI Miami for publishing Matt Taibbi's article in his blog which brought it to my attention.  With so much to read each day it is often difficult to run across everything even with automatic searches.  Thanks Steve for your efforts.  Keep up the good work.
Larry

Who Else Helped Goldman Sachs Bring Down the Economy?

So you thought that only the politicians have been bought by outside interests. I have more news for you: there is an unholy trinity of influences that strives to direct policy for the benefit of corporations and banks, influences that are inherently bad for the people of the United States. Add "academics" to industry and government and you have the trifecta.

Conflicts of interest are inherent in the economics discipline, according to Ferguson, as exemplified by Glenn Hubbard and Laura Tyson. To the surprise of no one, there are Goldman Sachs guys in the mix, namely John Thornton, a former president of Goldman Sachs, and William C. Dudley, a former chief economist of Goldman Sachs. They are everywhere!!

Why economists are part of the problem
By Director of "Inside Job," Charles Ferguson - The Daily Bail

Both Glenn Hubbard and Laura Tyson have played major roles in American economic policy, and both also, unfortunately, exemplify the disturbing, opaque conflicts of interest that pervade the economics discipline.

Over the last thirty years, academic economics has been penetrated by special interests, particularly financial services, in the same way that America’s political and regulatory systems have been compromised by campaign contributions and the revolving door. In fact, the “revolving door” is now a triangular trip between industry, government, and academia.

Prominent economists are now routinely paid to testify in antitrust cases, criminal trials, and regulatory proceedings; to testify in Congress; to give speeches to the industries and firms they study; to serve on boards of directors and as advisors; and to write supposedly objective analyses of industries, companies and policies. These payments and the conflicts of interest they generate are rarely disclosed, except when required by Federal law.

These activities are not marginal; they are now, literally, a billion dollar industry, managed by firms such as the Law and Economics Consulting Group (LECG), The Analysis Group, Compass Lexecon, Charles River Associates, and others. Professors’ income from such groups often dwarfs their academic salaries. That neither universities nor most publications require such disclosure was one of the most shocking facts I learned while making Inside Job, my documentary on the financial crisis.

From 2001 to 2003, Glenn Hubbard was chair of the Council of Economic Advisors in the George W. Bush administration. He was a major force behind the Bush administration’s tax cuts, over half of whose benefits went to the wealthiest 1% of the American population. Since becoming dean of Columbia Business School, Hubbard has written and spoken widely on financial regulation, and has served as co-chair of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, whose other co-chair is John Thornton, who is chairman of the Brookings Institution – and the former president of Goldman Sachs. Hubbard’s recent or current affiliations include but are not limited to Met Life ($250,000 per year), Capmark (a major commercial mortgage firm during the bubble, which went bankrupt in 2009), KKR, and Black Rock. In our on-camera interview, Hubbard refused to disclose his current consulting clients.

In 2004, Hubbard co-wrote a paper with William C. Dudley, then the chief economist of Goldman Sachs, entitled “How Capital Markets Enhance Economic Performance and Facilitate Job Creation.” The paper praises securitization and the rise of credit derivatives (particularly credit default swaps), saying that they have increased economic growth, reduced systemic risks, and reduced both the size and duration of recessions. Hubbard refused to answer when we asked him by letter whether he was paid to write the paper, and also refused to disclose whether he had ever received any payments from Goldman Sachs.

Laura Tyson was chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and then director of the National Economic Council, in the Clinton Administration. Shortly after leaving government and returning to U.C., Berkeley, she joined the board of directors of Morgan Stanley, which pays her $350,000 per year. She also joined the board of AT&T and became a principal of the Law and Economics Consulting Group. She agreed to be interviewed for my film, but then stopped responding to email and phone calls, so we were unable to interview her. In general, she has confined her remarks on the financial crisis to extremely vague statements about “greed,” “human nature,” etc.

Other prominent economists heavily dependent upon financial services income over the past decade, and whose behavior is examined in my film, have included Larry Summers (hedge funds, investment banks), Martin Feldstein (AIG), Richard Portes (Icelandic banks), and Frederic Mishkin (Icelandic banks, unnamed U.S. financial services firms), all of whom have played prominent roles in public debate and policy. So, unfortunately, Hubbard and Tyson are in prominent company.

See the article here

Hubbard and Dudley's paper can be read here

Can Goldman Sachs Learn A Lesson or Two?

Because the Department of Justice seems reluctant to investigate Goldman Sachs in order to lay criminal charges against its fraudulent behavior (creating CDOs, having them rated highly when they are just junk and then selling them to unwitting investors thus helping to cause a financial crisis), we have to rely on individuals and other groups to sue Goldman Sachs for its bad behavior. It seems that Goldman can commit perjury, bet against mortgage securities that they knew were junk when they sold them and continue on its merry way without acknowledging anything but a "mistake."

If Goldman Sachs acted ethically and honestly the bank wouldn't have to deal with so many charges and pay so many fines! A little time in jail might catch their attention!

Factbox: Goldman faces myriad legal challenges
By Andrea Shalal-Esa - Reuters

. . . .

Among the legal issues currently facing the bank are:

-- A Justice Department investigation launched after the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations referred its 640-page report on the financial crisis, which included a large section on Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities. The panel's chairman, Senator Carl Levin, said Goldman and its executives misled investors and Congress, but said it was up to federal prosecutors to determine if any crimes were committed.

Goldman has said it disagreed with many of the report's conclusions but took seriously the issues addressed.

One deal involving collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) marketed as "Hudson," may provide prosecutors with the most compelling case for possible criminal or civil charges, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

-- In June, New York city prosecutors subpoenaed the bank to explain its actions in the run-up to the financial crisis. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, is not seeking new documents, according to one source, but wants to ask further questions about the information in the Levin report.

-- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating Goldman as part of a broader probe into the mortgage operations and securitization practices of seven banks. Schneiderman was removed Tuesday from the committee negotiating a nationwide foreclosure settlement with U.S. banks after he objected to a ban on further investigation of fraudulent business practices as part of the settlement.

-- The Securities and Exchange Commission is also investigating Goldman's handling of mortgage-backed securities deals. When the SEC settled its case with Goldman last year, it expressly noted that that did not preclude further actions. One source said the SEC viewed the case as a continuing priority.

-- In May, Goldman said the Commodities Futures Trading Commission was investigating its role as a clearing broker for an unnamed SEC registered broker-dealer. The CFTC advised the bank that it intends to bring aiding and abetting, civil fraud and supervision related charges against Goldman, related to its clearing services for the broker-dealer, Goldman said.

-- The Justice Department is also reviewing matters similar to a European Commission investigation initiated last month into the supply of data related to credit default swaps and fee arrangements for clearing of credit default swaps, including potential anti-competitive practices, the filing said.

-- This month, Goldman said the SEC was investigating the bank's compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a case linked to Goldman's dealings with Libya's sovereign wealth fund, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Read the entire article here

On Goldman Sachs Guy, Peter Haller (aka Peter Simonji)

It is interesting to see how Peter Haller uses his time to try to embarrass others. He is a petty man who betrays the respect that should be given to Warren and to the workings of the committees of Congress.

Elizabeth Warren was fully aware of who had contributed to the financial crisis and said so:

"To restore some basic sanity to the financial system, we need two central changes: fix broken consumer-credit markets and end guarantees for the big players that threaten our entire economic system. If we get those two key parts right, we can still dial the rest of the regulation up and down as needed. But if we don't get those two right, I think the game is over. I hate to sound alarmist, but that's how I feel about this."

Such honesty is like a red flag to banks like Goldman Sachs that would prefer no regulation at all. In the end, Elizabeth Warren was not chosen to implement the changes she worked on. Sad!

So this is how Goldman Sachs guys work in the real world to thwart the creation of necessary regulations of the banks! Haller's having worked at Goldman Sachs is a taint, not a blessing.

Our Little Friend From Goldman Sachs Scheduled Elizabeth Warren's Oversight Committee Testimony
By Susie Madrak - CROOKS AND LIARS



More on our little former Goldman Sachs VP. Of course, I'm sure he would never have anything to do with trying to set up Elizabeth Warren:

ThinkProgress has now obtained more evidence that suggests that Haller’s employment under Issa is more akin to a bank lobbyist than a public servant entrusted with protecting the public interest. In May, GOP members on the Oversight Committee invited Professor Elizabeth Warren, then a special advisor working on the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to testify about the new agency. The hearing quickly became a media sideshow, with Republican lawmakers trying to trip Warren up and embarrass her.
One congressman, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), became infamous overnight for berating Warren and accusing her of lying about her scheduling with the committee. It turns out that Haller, again carrying water for financial corporations afraid of new regulations, was behind the scheduling controversy at the heart of the McHenry confrontation with Warren.
According to e-mail correspondence obtained from Judicial Watch, Haller oversaw the scheduling of the Warren testimony. According to Flavio Cumpiano, a congressional liaison for the CFPB, Haller reportedly changed the time of the hearing at the last minute, then misled Warren staffers by promising to end the testimony by 2:15 pm that day. In the emails, Haller denies ever agreeing to 2:15. But, Haller had been informed that Warren could not go beyond 2:15:

– Monday May 23 8:43pm: Haller writes to Flavio Cumpiano, a congressional liaison for the CFPB, the night before the hearing to make “an [sic] late change to 1:00.” At 11:00pm, Cumpiano responds to figure out a better time.– Tuesday May 24 morning: After Haller and Cumpiano go back and forth with e-mails about which time would be best, a phone conversation occurs between Haller and Adewale Adeyemo, chief of staff to the CFBP implementation team, and a schedule is set. At 10:11am, Cumpiano e-mails Haller: “Hi Peter. I understand from Wally -copied here- that you both spoke and she’ll [Elizabeth Warren] testify from 1:15pm to 2:15pm. Thanks, Flavio.”– Tuesday May 24 afternoon around 2:15pm: McHenry, with Haller sitting behind him, accuses Warren of trying to evading the committee by trying to leave at the agreed-upon time. When Warren noted that McHenry’s aides had agreed upon the schedule, McHenry elicited audible gasps in the room by declaring Warren a liar: “You’re making this up, Ms. Warren. This is not the case.”– Tuesday May 24 2:32pm: As Warren leaves the hearing room, Haller fires off an e-mail to Cumpiano demanding that he “please confirm” that he did not “confirm the end time.” Later that afternoon, Cumpiano responds by reiterating that Haller had confirmed the 2:15pm end time, and had even told Adeyemo that he would inform McHenry of the schedule during the call.

McHenry seemed to have a mission that day. As Crooks and Liars blogger Karoli pointed out, before the hearing started, McHenry appeared on CNBC and accused Warren of lying about the nature of her advice to the consumer protection agency. The scheduling controversy at the hearing appears to be little more than a cover for McHenry to smear Warren as untrustworthy.Haller, who is visible to the C-SPAN camera in a seat near McHenry, shakes his head at Warren when she said “we had an agreement for the time this hearing” (time stamp 00:55).
ThinkProgress reached out to Haller for comment on this story, but the Oversight Committee refused our request.Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year lobbying on new Dodd-Frank mandates, and has sent its representatives to private meetings about the implementation of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules.
The Warren incident provides more fodder to critics who say Issa has turned his Oversight Committee over to lobbyists. In comments to the press, Issa’s spokeswoman did not deny that Haller worked previously [for] Goldman Sachs or that he covers financial issues for the committee.
Public Citizen’s Bart Naylor commented on ThinkProgress’ story last Friday, noting “Chairman Issa must take every step to ensure that his investigations are unclouded by any appearance of conflict. The next time Chairman Issa sends a scolding letter to regulators and asks that they contact Peter Haller, he should disclose that Mr. Haller worked at Goldman Sachs.”

Read the story here and also here

Goldman Sachs Loses $2.6 Billion--All Its Petty Cash is Gone!

I have chosen the following article to post because I like the opening--$2.6 billion lost by Goldman Sachs.

But there is another article by Matt Taibbi called Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal that you can find here. If you go down to the bottom of the page with that link, you will see another link that says Back Off Banksters! NY AG Eric Schneiderman Fights Back. Click on the link and go to the 4closure Fraud website and scroll down to the NY AG Contact Info where you can get in touch with AG Schneiderman to tell him he is doing the right thing by standing up to the predatory banks who want to take care of their fraudulent activity by throwing money at it.

There is even a sample script to use. The webmail site accepts both American and Canadian information.

Now back to William Cohan:

What's Really Bugging Goldman Sachs Investors: The Ticker
By William Cohan - Bloomberg

Late Monday afternoon, after word broke on Reuters that Lloyd Blankfein, the chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., had hired Reid Weingarten, the criminal defense attorney with an especially scary list of white-collar clients, Goldman's stock plunged and the firm went into damage control mode.
Goldman issued the following statement: “As is common in such situations, Mr. Blankfein and other individuals who were expected to be interviewed in connection with the Justice Department’s inquiry into certain matters raised in the PSI report, hired counsel at the outset.” (PSI refers to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.)
From his vacation lair on Long Island, Lucas Van Praag, Goldman's chief spokesman, explained that Blankfein's hiring of Weingarten was not especially noteworthy. "It's the legal equivalent of buying an insurance policy," he wrote in an e-mail. But at $2.6 billion lopped off Goldman's market value, it turned out to be a very expensive premium.
In the first hours of trading today, Goldman's shares have recovered a bit from Monday's big selloff. But the question remains: Why would investors drive Goldman's stock down to $106.51 on Monday, its lowest level since March 2009, during the depths of the market's plunge? All for hiring a lawyer?
Turns out, Blankfein actually hired Weingarten in May, when Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the PSI, first recommended that Justice Department lawyers study whether Blankfein and other Goldman executives perjured themselves during their 11-hour testimony in April 2010 before Levin's panel.
It's fairly unusual for the CEO of a Wall Street firm to hire his own counsel -- suggesting that his and Goldman's interests may be diverging -- but it's not unique. Former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack had his own counsel during an investigation into an insider-trading probe of Pequot Capital, where he once briefly worked.
It seems investors are simply jittery about Wall Street financial stocks, which is just as it should be. It's not the least bit clear whether Justice will bring a perjury case against Blankfein. Such charges are notoriously difficult to prove, especially against a former lawyer and Harvard Law School graduate like Blankfein.
What is clear is that Goldman Sachs has entered a brave new world of uncertainty about how to make money when trading opportunities are reduced and in disfavor, and the investment-banking fee well seems dry as a bone. My bet: That is what investors were really reacting to, not the old news that Blankfein had hired a defense lawyer.

Read the article here

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ye Gods! This video is from Edwin M. Basye's blog and he calls it pathetic. It is more than pathetic. It is abhorrent.

Goldman Sachs isn't being punished for its success!

Goldman Sachs isn't too big to have criminal charges laid!

They may not have disclosed all documents!

Their proprietary information cannot remain secret when they are a public bank!

It is not just in hindsight that Goldman Sachs knew about the mortgage market failure because GS contributed mightily to that failure with full knowledge about what it was doing!

I feel apoplectic.

See the video here

The Federal Government Is Our Servant Not Our Master

Larry's Corner

Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!

The above quote is taken from the Thomas Jefferson  Monticello site.  Jefferson is often quoted.  There seems to have been an understanding and a vision by our forefathers that has been lost somewhere along the way. 

Here we are, American, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the world yet we are quickly becoming a third world country as Ariana Huffington writes in her book Third World America. (click here...to read why she wrote this book)

The danger in all this is that much of the power that we have can and someday might be used against us.  I speak not only of military power, yet that is very definitely a concern, I speak of the power to intimidate and hold captive the population as a whole allowing only a very small minority access to the freedoms and opportunities we are all entitled to.

What prompts me to write this are the comments received on Joyce's last post, Blankfein and Others Lawyer Up at Goldman Sachs.

Most of the readers comments relate to the disbelief that fraud is so blatant yet no one in government seems to do anything about it.  In fact, government seems to be protecting the fruadsters and even more alarming the fact that government gives them more of our money to continue their criminal, fraudulent activities.

The old saying, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is very true today.  The elimination of the middle class and the growth of the poor in contrast with the ever increasing wealth of the already rich (be they corporations or individuals) is alarming. 

As we sit in our living rooms every night, we witness the people of countries who for years and even centuries have been governed under dictatorial rule, take control of their lives and overturn their oppressive dictatorships.

There is a transformation in Africa and the Middle East.  People wanting freedom which leads to opportunity.  An amazing turn of events if you think about it.

Yet, as we sit and watch these events unfold in real time around the globe we seem to be immune to the oppressions being forced upon us right here in the good ole USA.

Mike Morgan, our founder, said it when he first began this blog, "WAKE UP AMERICA".  He saw - as did others of us who joined him - the dangers of the actions of the leaders of our major corporations like Goldman Sachs.  Lloyd Blankfein in conjunction with his predecessor, Hank Paulson - former Treasury Secretary - orchestrated what I believe to be the greatest fraud and ponzi scheme in the history of the world. 

Now we sit idly by as these many frauds are paraded around in front of our faces almost mockingly daring us to take action against them.  But to do so would mean to take action against our very own elected officials but their power instills the fear in us so we won't.  TYRANNY!

For the few people like New York's AG Eric Schneiderman retribution came by his removal  from a leadership role in negotiating a nationwide foreclosure settlement with U.S. banks because his office “actively worked to undermine” the effort, as reported by a state official.

In addition, two attorneys working for the Florida Attorney General's office - under the previous administration bank fraud were fired by the new AG, Pam Biondi who works for another corporate crook, our governor, Rick Scott.  They were too knowledgeable and probably getting to close to bringing charges.  End result, the investigations came to an abrupt end.  

Now Governor Scott was founder of Columbia/HCA Hospitals who during his reign as Chairman and CEO defrauded medicare for over 10 years.  While again, no indictments or convictions resulted from this (the rich have an open ended "get out of jail free" card) the company paid the largest fine EVER - $1.7 billion.  The company he lead plead guilty to 14 felony charges but no admission of guilt required by the leader when you just pay a fine which is just a fraction of your earnings.  But even more important and astonishing is that NO jail time for this massive criminal act for anyone.

We, The People, are being led like sheep to the slaughter.  Hence we are now known as The Sheeple.  We seem to be to afraid to speak up and out.  We live in fear of our government who can do as they will against us to maintain their status quo. 

Gone are the 60's where the masses rallied against the government to stand up for what they believed was right.  The people had an effect.  Were it not for the massive outcry from the people, the Viet Nam war would have raged for many more years.  The 50,000 plus death toll could have easily doubled or tripled.  Then the government feared the people.  LIBERTY!

We need not take up arms in order to accomplish regaining our Liberty.  We can use the voting booths at every election.  We can start by joining the party of 'NON INCUMBANTS'.  We clean house every chance we get of the old regime -yes they are a regime - and put into place people like you and me.  People who will understand the basic principal that Jefferson wrote in the quote at the top of this post.  The Federal Government is our SERVANT not our MASTER.  The sooner we get back to that base, the sooner we can begin to control the corporations who seem to have captured our government turning them into their servants.

A friend and neighbor said to me a couple of years ago, "this is a battle for control between the banking industry and the government and the banks are winning".  His words ring very true today.

We will keep reporting and aggregating the news against Goldman Sachs and the other bandits of our time.  I will continue to speak up and out and continue to editorialize in this forum as well  as in my sister publication, TheForeclosureDetonator.

As I always say, "Together We CAN Make A Difference".  "The Law Is The Law For EVERYONE"!

Related articles

• What Will Happen to Goldman Sachs's CEO? (goldmansachs666.com)
• Gold man Sachs braced for legal battles over financial crisis (guardian.co.uk)
• When civil service and politics clash (theglobeandmail.com)
• Freedom and States Rights (lewrockwell.com)

What Will Happen to Goldman Sachs's CEO?

Here's another opinion about the fate of Goldman Sachs's Lloyd Blankfein:

Could Blankfein Face Prison?
The Goldman Sachs CEO didn't get a bit-time criminal-defense lawyer because he's worried about an SEC wrist slap--there's a real possibility of doing time, says former Goldman managing director Nomi Prins
By Nomi Prins - The Daily Beast

There’s a saying that loose lips sink ships. So can dead weight.

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who just got himself a lawyer, may be facing the possibility of sinking, either because of his own words in April 2010 before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) or because his shipmates are distancing themselves in a legal version of every man for himself. Or both.

Recall that Blankfein emphatically told the subcommittee, “We didn’t have a massive short against the housing market, and we certainly did not bet against our clients.” The 650-page subcommittee report (PDF) presented on April 13, 2011, which cites Blankfein 79 times, begs to differ.

The report accused Goldman of trading against its clients by simultaneously shorting certain subprime mortgage securities (a.k.a. “cats and dogs”) while stuffing them into the collateralized debt obligations it sold. It also suggested that Goldman executives, including Blankfein, misled Congress in testimony surrounding the Abacus CDO, Hudson, Timberwolf, and other deals, by saying it didn’t have a big short.

The top lesson I learned before leaving Goldman in the wake of Enron was Goldman’s foremost internal policy is to protect Goldman. It’s also to protect the most powerful members. When cracks manifest in the corporate armor, those two policies are at odds.

The executives running Goldman are exceedingly wealthy, not least because when the firm faced its darkest hour and lowest stock price in years during the bank-created crisis of fall 2008, the government provided it billions of dollars in the form of cheap loans, FDIC debt guarantees, TARP, AIG make-wholes, and a late-night moniker change from investment bank to bank holding company, giving the firm access to excessive Federal Reserve aid.

On Monday, Goldman shares took a 6 percent beating during final and extended trading hours on the announcement that Blankfein had hired a lawyer, without waiting for specifics. The last time its shares hit a 106.51 level was in early 2009.

That kind of downward movement concerns the firm’s partners. So would a wide number of casualties. Securing a separate attorney is a way to divide the firm’s members, to keep from being summarily conquered.

You could look at Blankfein hiring external counsel as a normal prudent, legal move. But that’s naive, given the attorney he selected. Hiring a major criminal-defense lawyer is about more than the fear of a $550 million SEC wrist slap for bad documentation in the Abacus CDO. It’s about the real possibility of doing time.

Big-shot Washington defense attorney Reid Weingarten, of the firm Steptoe & Johnson LLC, has represented former Enron chief accounting officer Richard Causey (who pleaded out), former Rite Aid vice chairman and chief counsel Franklin Brown (found guilty by a jury on 10 counts of conspiring to falsely inflate his company’s value), and former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers (convicted on nine felony counts by a jury). All three are in jail. Two of them, Ebbers and Causey, had undergone congressional panel investigations beforehand. Another of Weingarten’s clients, former Tyco counsel Mark Belnick, was acquitted, though Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, who was not represented by Weingarten, was convicted and remains in jail.

Read the full piece here

Blankfein and Others Lawyer Up at Goldman Sachs

Finally, Blankfein is sharing something with Worldcom's CEO Bernard Ebbers and Enron's Richard Causey, that is, defense attorney Reid Weingarten. This may signal that justice will be done, that the rule of law will triumph and that the perpetrators of the financial meltdown will receive their just comeuppance!

We live in a shabby world when CEOs at the mere mention of being interviewed by the DOJ immediately hire a lawyer. Maybe Blankfein will finally explain the difference between hedges and betting "against the products they were selling to clients."

Maybe the predator will be stopped from stealing the wealth of the public and be tried in a criminal, not a civil, case.

Under Fire, Goldman Sachs CEO Hires Top-Notch Attorney
By Elizabeth MacDonald - FOXBusiness

Goldman Sachs’ shares nosedived nearly 5% after it confirmed that its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, has hired Reid Weingarten, a high-profile Washington, D.C., defense attorney to defend the embattled executive in connection with the Department of Justice’s inquiry into Blankfein and other firm officials.

The Justice probe is looking into findings in a report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations which alleges Goldman Sachs (GS) executives misled Congress and investors about its mortgage-backed securities deals.

Weingarten’s past clients include a former Agriculture secretary charged with corruption, the top executive of WorldCom, and an Enron accounting officer.

“As is common in such situations, Mr. Blankfein and other individuals who were expected to be interviewed in connection with the Justice Department’s inquiry into certain matters raised in the PSI

(Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations) report hired counsel at the outset,” the firm’s statement says, which was issued after the news broke that its CEO hired Weingarten, who is with the firm Steptoe & Johnson.

Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan and Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma earlier this year had jointly signed a letter asking Justice and the SEC to examine the Senate panel’s report, which suggested Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein lied under oath when he said the firm didn’t have a massive short position against the housing market, and that Goldman Sachs misled investors when it didn’t disclose to clients that it was betting against securities it was selling to them.

In April 2010 CEO Blankfein testified under oath before the Senate Subcommittee: “Much has been said about the supposedly massive short Goldman Sachs had on the U.S. housing market. The fact is we were not consistently or significantly net ‘short the market’ in residential mortgage-related products in 2007 and 2008…We didn’t have a massive short against the housing market and we certainly did not bet against our clients.”

Based on evidence in the Senate’s 635-page report, Senator Levin has said: “In my judgment, Goldman clearly misled their clients and they misled Congress.”

Meanwhile, an SEC official has already told FOX Business: “The SEC is not inhibited from bringing any future action against Goldman Sachs. Goldman is not fully absolved of its sins, if the information shows a case can be brought. The SEC can still come back to Goldman Sachs.”

Weingarten will likely do a full court press that Goldman Sachs was not net short mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or housing, even though internal emails and documents released by the Senate panel show firm executives used the term the “big short” on housing, and that the firm didn’t tell investors it was shorting deals it was selling to them, betting they would fail.

Weingarten is known for courtroom theatrics and for attacking opponents' credibility, but he has a mixed track record in securities and accounting cases. Weingarten won an acquittal on charges of securities fraud and grand larceny for client Mark Belnick, former general counsel of Tyco, where former executives Dennis Koslowski and Mark Swartz were found guilty of stealing $150 million from the conglomerate.

Weingarten in recent years took on the case of former Enron accountant Richard Causey, who had pled guilty to one count of securities fraud (attorney Daniel Petrocelli initially represented Causey).

But Weingarten lost securities fraud cases for Bernie Ebbers at WorldCom and Franklin Brown at Rite Aid, who was convicted of 10 counts stemming from accounting irregularities at the drug store chain.

Read the whole article here

BREAKING NEWS: Goldman Sachs CEO Hires High Profile Attorney

Just released minutes ago by Reuters.

Goldman CEO hires high-profile defense attorney

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON | Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein has hired Reid Weingarten, a high-profile Washington defense attorney whose past clients include a former Enron accounting officer, according to a government source familiar with the matter.

Blankfein, 56, is in his sixth year at the helm of the largest U.S. investment bank, which has spent two years fending off accusations of conflicts of interest and fraud.
The move to retain Weingarten comes as investigations of Goldman and its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis continue.

Is this the moment of truth and JUSTICE we have all been waiting for?  Perhaps.

It is not known for sure why Sir Lloyd - Gods emissary  to the world - would now find the need to hire a defense attorney.  After all, he has claimed all along that he and the company he has led has done absolutely no wrong.  He says so with a straight face even though the evidence is glaring against his comments.  Further, I believe, there may be a lot of complicity by high profile government officials such as Hank Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs and sitting U.S. Treasury Secretary during the years of obvious fraud and abuse by GS on his watch.

In addition, current U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Timothy Geithner - in my opinion, could also be implicated as he was sitting President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  FRBNY is the leading and most influential bank in the Fed system.  For some reason it is able to make decisions like transferring billions of dollars after midnight on Sunday to bail out institutions like Goldman Sachs and AIG - whose bailout directly benefited Goldman Sachs.  Hmmmm?  Conspiracy anyone?

But back to the breaking news.  Reuters further reports,

The move to retain Weingarten comes as investigations of Goldman and its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis continue.

The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) in April released a scathing report that criticized Goldman for "exploiting" clients by unloading subprime loan exposure onto unsuspecting clients in 2006 and 2007, and concluded that its top executives misled Congress during testimony in 2010.

Yet Goldman - as is their style commented,

Goldman said in a statement on Monday: "As is common in such situations, Mr. Blankfein and other individuals who were expected to be interviewed in connection with the Justice Department's inquiry into certain matters raised in the PSI report hired counsel at the outset."

Of course, just ordinary business as usual.  Nothing happening to be afraid of. But is there?  Quoting Reuters's;

"Why do you bring in someone like that?" said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly, about Weingarten. "It says one thing: that they're taking it seriously."

Yes, I am sure that they are taking something very seriously here.  It is about time!

One other direct result of this action is the immediate drop in the value of their stock (and Blankfein's net worth as a stockholder).

Goldman shares fell sharply shortly after Reuters reported Weingarten's hiring, closing down 4.7 percent at $106.51, their lowest level since March 2009. They slipped further in after-hours trade to $105.64.

I can't say that does not please me.  Anyone profiting off of these banksters should lose their greedy investments - especially those like Blankfein and all those other greed mongers employed by them.  I just hope Hank Paulson is still heavily invested.  Perhaps morality should come back into the business place.

Read the Reuters Report...click here

Related articles

• Goldman Sachs TANKS After CEO Lloyd Blankfein Hires Famous Defense Lawyer (GS) (businessinsider.com)
• Goldman shares drop on Blankfein attorney news (marketwatch.com)
• Goldman Sachs Shares Fall From Table to Lowest Since March 2009 (blogs.wsj.com)
• Exclusive: Goldman CEO hires high-profile attorney (huffingtonpost.com)
• News Blankfein Hires Prominent Defense Attorney Send GS Stock Tumbling, Gold Futures Soaring Over $1900 (zerohedge.com)
• Meet Lloyd Blankfein's Lawyer: Reid Weingarten (blogs.wsj.com)

Sometimes We Just Need To Rant At Goldman Sachs

This is one of those times. We need a really good rant and here are two. First Yves Smith posted a video that caused some negative responses from viewers to which Yves Smith replied:

Yves Smith says:

August 15, 2011 at 11:52 pm

I clearly said I wasn’t endorsing this blanket condemnation. That is your projection. Zeitgeist watch items are germane. You ignore cultural changes in mood at your peril.

I had someone in another thread get very upset because this reminded him of Nazi propaganda. This was the response from someone else on the same thread:

I don’t agree with your propaganda analogy. I’m Jewish, and a German Jew by heritage. I am sure I have a few scarred, broken branches on my family tree from lives cut short gratis gas chambers disguised as “work camps”. The spinning coin and the light globe in that video are captivating and irresistible but ONLY to those who are already filled with deep alarm, anger, and concern….

rant

If comparisons are to be made to the Nazi Germany times, here you go; there are millions of suffering, trapped, frightened, desperate, dispossessed, homeless families who are marginalized, stigmatized, and blamed for the downfall of one’s community, neighborhood, & country. They have had seen their businesses crushed, their access to credit evaporated, their ability to function economically damaged by a label (credit score vs gold star sleeve patch). They believe that sanity and reason surely will descend soon, once those with the power and position to intervene understand the dire circumstances. Most believe their own family, if they can simply hang on & do the right thing/stay quiet/empty 401k & savings/fill out the same loss mitigation documents hundreds of times, then they will be saved from the unspeakable fate that has befallen their friends, neighbors, & colleagues. They live in fear of “property preservation teams” taking photos of their homes and even changing the locks and tossing their possessions out onto the street. They know there is only danger when one reports these incidents to those tasked with protecting the citizens of the state. They know law enforcement and the judiciary is fully biased against them. They know documents will be forged to “prove” they are liars and worse evil debtors who believed the stated & implicit guarantees of a workable refi or modification, but are now deemed unfit for the “luxuries” they once enjoyed, being safe, employable, providing for one’s children, and being secure in one’s home.

/rant

You can read more about the video here

Here is the video and you can make your own judgement:

Video: The Bankers as the Enemy of Humanity
Post from Karl Denninger's site by Yves Smith - naked capitalism



You can view the video here

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Second, we have Max Keiser's interview with William K. Black about the looting of the banks, which, of course, includes Goldman Sachs. The second half of the video is very pertinent.

Keiser Report: Banking Looters



You can view this video here

Goldman Sachs is Not Energized By Solar Power

Would Goldman Sachs apply to lease desert lands meant for the development of solar energy in order to delay the growth of alternative energy? Or is Goldman Sachs just speculating that it can keep these lands and make money from them? Cogentrix is a Goldman Sachs owned company that operates coal-and-gas-fired power plants in the US. Do you smell conflict of interest here?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began leasing lands in 2005 but spent more time in developing oil resources under Bush's administration. Fifty-two (52) of 354 applications came initially from Goldman subsidiaries.

Cogentrix, which has no experience in creating solar energy, locked up half the land set aside in the Nevada desert for the production of solar energy. Such stalling tactics have resulted in Cogentrix losing its applications for development.

AP Exclusive: Cogentrix solar applications denied
By Jason Dearen - Associated Press - Mercury News

SAN FRANCISCO—Federal land managers are rejecting a Goldman Sachs-owned company's applications to develop solar projects on public lands in the sun-drenched Nevada desert; years after the subsidiary filed more claims to build glimmering solar farms than anyone else.

For years Goldman's Cogentrix Solar Services, LLC held exclusive rights to develop solar plants on nearly as much federal land in Nevada as all other companies combined—even though the firm had neither written plans nor inked agreements with utilities to buy the power they proposed to make.

An Associated Press investigation last year found that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's first-come, first-served leasing system allowed companies, regardless of solar industry experience, to squat on land without any real plans to develop it. Under that system, the first company to file a claim on a site then held exclusive access to it until the application was rejected or withdrawn.

Cogentrix, which mostly operates coal-and-gas-fired power plants in the eastern U.S., had no solar development experience prior to filing its applications and never produced plans for the vast swaths of land on which it had filed claims.

This week, the BLM's renewable energy projects manager for southern Nevada, Gregory Helseth, said he was in the process of rejecting Cogentrix's applications. This would re-open the lands to other developers that had until this point been blocked from accessing the sites because of Cogentrix.

"We have just about wrapped up rejecting the last of the Cogentrix applications," said Helseth. "(The company) never showed a desire to move forward on their solar applications. They didn't turn in the required paperwork, or show an interest."

BLM's staff was inundated with hundreds of applications for solar claims, leading to years of delays as the agency kept its focus on oil and gas leases. Now, even after years of planning and environmental review, not one megawatt of solar power is being sent to the grid from the millions of acres of publicly owned desert in the Southwest.

While many companies filed claims on public lands that never became real projects, Cogentrix was the most prolific. At one time the company had locked up nearly half the land for which applications had been filed in Nevada, despite a dearth of plans or utility agreements. To date, not one of the company's proposed projects has been approved by BLM.

Michael DuVally, a Goldman Sachs spokesman, declined to comment on the rejected applications. He said Cogentrix had turned its attention to another solar project on private land in Colorado.

"Cogentrix is in the process of developing a project in Colorado that, once it's done, will be the largest high concentration solar photovoltaic generation project in the world," he said. That 30-megawatt plant received a $90.6 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.

BLM's Helseth said, before rejecting the applications, he tried repeatedly to get the company to file plans for its sites in Nevada or withdraw its applications so other developers could begin planning.

Read the entire article here

More on Cover Ups and Fraud At The Highest Levels of Government

A reader asked how history will record these times.  I believe history will say that the past few decades - and especially the decades of 2000 to 2011 - were America's darkest and MOST CORRUPT.  Corruption in government is rampant, obvious and evident.

Here now a few links provided us by readers that need attention.

Keith Oberman and Matt Taibbi.  Not sure of the date but worth the 6+ minute watch and listen.

 ###

ll I see is self serving corruption, greed, stupidity, short sightedness and outright thievery by the parasites and leeches that would have us look upon them as our grand leaders and paragons of commerce.

Dear Fellow American...

Dear Fellow American,
I am writing this letter to you not as a liberal, not as a conservative; not as a lefty, not as a righty; not as a Democrat, not as a Republican, not as a Tea Party populist; not as a Christian, not as a Buddist, not as a Moslem, not as an atheist; not as a socialist, a communist and certainly not as a bailout capitalist.

I am writing to you as just another ordinary American.

Read it all from Zero Hedge...click here  Thanks reader for submitting this in your comment.

 ###

It was almost three years ago since I wrote a comment on how the pension Ponzi scheme dwarfs the Madoff scam. Watch the interview below and pay close attention to what Markopolos is saying. "Someone has to chase the bad guys" or else they will loot trillions in pensions. 

Interview with Harry Markopolis.  Read the entire article from PensionPulse.com...click here
Again, thanks to a reader who provided this link in their comment.

 ###

 Larry's Corner

Folks, we have a problem!

While the initial effort of this blog was to expose Goldman Sachs - which I believe we have done a fairly good job of - Goldman Sachs as it turns out is just a part of the problem.  Granted, it may be a large part of the problem but the problem itself has taken on its own life.

For all the venomous acts of Goldman Sachs - their current and past leaders along with all of those revolving in and out of governments - our government itself has engaged in activity illegal, unethical and most of all UN American.  Gov. Perry of Texas called some of the actions of Fed Chairman Bernanke treasonous which solicited many unkind comments about his own character.  While I will openly admit I am not a fan of Gov. Perry, his statement was not far from the truth.  Many actions by many members of our "elite" class - political and private - seem to be treasonous.  Many actions of the Bush Administration and many in the Obama Administration can be considered treasonous.  

To harsh a word you might say?  Well, let's take a look at Miriam Webster's definition of Treason.

Definition of TREASON...click here for link to Webster's definition...

1: the betrayal of a trust : treachery

2: the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family

Synonyms: backstabbing, business, disloyalty, double cross, faithlessness, falseness, falsity, infidelity, perfidy, sellout, treachery, betrayal, two-timing, unfaithfulness

If treason is the "betrayal of trust" then certainly many of our politicians exhibit this trait.  If "attempting b overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance is treason then again, many of our political leaders and banksters fall into this category.

By attempting to control us all, by attempting to transfer all the wealth to a select few and by attempting to cover up their attempts (crimes), I would say that these offenders are not exhibiting the "allegiance" to OUR country they politically are sworn to do or for those in business are morally obligated to do.

If synonyms for treason are "backstabbing", "disloyalty", "double cross", "falseness", "sellout", "treashery" and "betrayal", then certainly many in government - past and present - and those in business with companies like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan/Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo - to name just a few - certainly fit the categories.

We must just look around to see how these acts adversely affect all of us.  How we, the middle class are being eliminated, our wealth transferred to those in the new elite upper class.  How those in the lower class - growing daily - are being enslaved, starved and made homeless.  Servants in waiting for those that have. 

We are witnessing the destruction of our Constitutional Republic along with a world wide defined effort to control all of the civilized world - A New World Order - as decried by President, King George Bush the "First".

Wake up America.  We can no longer stand idly by and watch this happen.  No, I do not advocate violence in revolt of what is happening but I do advocate revolt by the use of our voting rights and not voting any incumbent back into office.  We need a new slate in our government = people who love this country and are willing to defend their oaths of office to defend our Constitution and the rights of all that we are entitled to.

Let's make Congress a part time job.  limit terms to 4 years.  Limit the Presidency to one 6 year term and eliminate the need to spend more time on re election then on governing as representatives of the people.

Folks, we truly need CHANGE.

Together we can make a difference! 

"With Liberty and JUSTICE for ALL"

Related articles

• The Faustian Bargains of Goldman Sachs (goldmansachs666.com)
• Goldman Sachs...An Organized Criminial Empire? (goldmansachs666.com)
• Goldman Sachs Is Downgraded By The People (goldmansachs666.com)
• Goldman Sachs's Fraud Was Far Larger than Madoff's (goldmansachs666.com)
• The Real Reason the SEC Has Been Shredding Documents For Decades (ritholtz.com)
• The Wall Street Conspiracy...As broadcast on TruTV's "Conspiracy Theory" (themortgagecorner.blogspot.com)
• Matt Taibbi: The SEC's 'Orwellian' Wall Street Cover Ups (huffingtonpost.com)

Why Should Goldman Sachs be "Home Free?"

Washington's Blog has an excellent article about the shredding of documents by the SEC with background information that explains why document shredding is so important to those who has been implicated in the financial meltdown, including Goldman Sachs.

The number one reason that the SEC got rid of some documents was to cover up fraud--no surprise to us where financial fraud coverups are endemic in the system.

The article lists all the culpable parties including Bush, Negroponte, Geithner, Bernanke, Paulson, Summers, Rubin, Gramm, etc. Fraud caused The Great Recession and those who committed the fraud are free and wealthy.

The Real Reason the SEC Has Been Shredding Documents For Decades
By Washington's Blog

. . . .

I pointed out in January that fraud is Wall Street's business model, which is being supported by the government:

Nobel prize-winning economist George Akerlof demonstrated that if big companies aren't held responsible for their actions, the government ends up bailing them out. So failure to prosecute directly leads to a bailout.

Moreover, as I noted last month:

Fraud benefits the wealthy more than the poor, because the big banks and big companies have the inside knowledge and the resources to leverage fraud into profits. Joseph Stiglitz noted in September that giants like Goldman are using their size to manipulate the market. The giants (especially Goldman Sachs) have also used high-frequency program trading (representing up to 70% of all stock trades) and high proportions of other trades as well). This not only distorts the markets, but which also lets the program trading giants take a sneak peak at what the real traders are buying and selling, and then trade on the insider information. See this, this, this, this and this.

Similarly, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley together hold 80% of the country's derivatives risk, and 96% of the exposure to credit derivatives. They use their dominance to manipulate the market.

Fraud disproportionally benefits the big players (and helps them to become big in the first place), increasing inequality and warping the market.

[And] Professor Black says that fraud is a large part of the mechanism through which bubbles are blown.

***

Finally, failure to prosecute mortgage fraud is arguably worsening the housing crisis. See this and this.

The government has not only turned the other cheek, but aided and abetted the fraud.

***

And this environment is ongoing today. See this, for example.

***

Even when the government has prosecuted financial crime (because public outrage became too big to ignore), the government has settled for pennies on the dollar [as a way to quietly bail out the big banks].

Corruption At the Top Leads to Lawlessness By The People

Corruption at the top leads to lawlessness by the people.

Unfortunately, the lawlessness by those at the top will lead to lawlessness by the people. This will lead to the break down of the economy and the financial system ... and society as a whole.

Read the whole article here

Goldman Sachs...An Organized Criminial Empire?

Larry's Corner

There’s no greater evil against our great country of America, than those who are paid public tax dollars and swear an oath to pretend to defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic – only to betray that high level of public trust – for personal gains! ...Laser Haas

Goldman Sachs attorneys MNAT IPO/Bankruptcy Fraud eToys

From Citizens Against Bankruptcy Fraud
First published March 18, 2011 and updated May 20, 2011

Paul Traub's Organized Criminal Empire

DOJ Corruption assist Goldman Sach’s Organized Crimes

We are greatly disheartened and saddened that despite the Administration change, the rogue elements within the Dept of Justice and their nefarious Cover Ups and failure to arrest billions in frauds – continues.

Therefore, I, Steven Haas – (more commonly known as “Laser Haas”) do testify this day, May 20, 2011 – Under Penalty of Perjury – that the reports in this blog are true and correct!

Within public docket records there stands substantial irrefutable and overwhelmingly proof that more than 100 felonies are transpiring and the DE Dept of Justice US Attorney’s office and Region 3 US Trustee’s office. Inexplicably they are not only failing to arrest the organized criminal enterprising – they are fostering their ability to thrive (see our DOJ Cover UP website (here)).

Delaware’s rogue elements in the Dept of Justice and Federal Court system are duplicitous in organized crime’s success!

Of course, this is just one man's opinion based on researched evidence and in no way can be viewed as an indictment of either The GS or The DOJ/GOV.  Yet, as I have been saying for years now, how much more evidence must be presented openly through blogs and even our major media outlets before someone in our supposed legal system recognizes that there is probable cause for real indictments.  How much more evidence must be presented in the public view before a Grand Jury hears it?

It does appear that our government has been hijacked by our Too Big To Fail's and Too Big To Fail growth is still being supported and encouraged by our so called elected officials who truly have forgotten their "oath of office" and who they serve.

What we have now in this country are "Masters of Deceit", once possibly honorable people who, when sworn in seem to be overcome by greed and power.

Read all of Laser Haas post...click here

Thanks again to "Anonymous" for posting this link in his/her comments.  Thank you also Laser for your efforts and continued research into the deliberate destruction of once was the greatest country in the history of the modern world.  A country where the opportunity for betterment was around every corner and available to anyone who wanted to take that walk.  A country where our children could have a better life then ours and their children better then theirs and their children even better.  Instead we have eroding lifestyles for the masses with decreased opportunities for younger generations.  Instead of offering hope and dreams that could come true, we have saddled them with debt that will take generations to pay - if ever.  Yet, The Federal Reserve will continue to receive their interest payments on every dollar issued now and forever.  Those who privately own The Fed will continue to create wealth at the expense of the average American.

And the Winner is---Goldman Sachs!

Fred N. Sauer writes an insightful analysis about the reasons why Goldman Sachs always wins. In spite of declines in trading revenue, decreases in fixed-income and commodities trading and losses and reduced profits, Goldman Sachs always rises to the top. Sauer looks at Goldman Sachs's "Mysterious Business" statements from 2007 to 2009 and explains how unusual they are.

His conclusion after making many interesting comparisons: Goldman Sachs "is just a gigantic hedge fund for the benefit of Goldman Sachs's employees and most favored clients."

Why Goldman Sachs (and Warren Buffett) Always Win
By Fred N. Sauer - National Legal and Policy Center

. . . .

In 2007, Trading and Principal Investment Revenue was $29.714 billion and then precipitously dropped to just $8.095 billion in 2008. This is a decline of 72%. So, for starters, let's say 72% of their assets had declined in value. Anyone who was working in the financial industry at this time knows that almost every market locked up, and went illiquid including money market funds. What could have happened to markets for Goldman Sachs more esoteric assets? Since, total debt in 2008 was $820 billion and total assets were $884 billion, any material decline in their assets' value and or liquidity would put them in a desperate position. It would also put their lenders of the $820 billion in a desperate position. Were they insolvent and broke?

We prefer to turn to an expert for a final opinion on the matter:

Well, as a matter of fact, it (Goldman Sachs) did not survive this crisis. It was saved by the United States taxpayers who through the Federal Reserve breathed life into its dead corpse.

Lender of last resort indeed. The Federal Reserve pulled back the curtain yesterday on its emergency lending during the financial panic of 2008 and 2009....

We learn, for example, that the cream of Wall Street received even more multibillion dollar assistance than previously advertised by either the banks or the Fed. Goldman Sachs used the Primary Dealer Credit Facility 85 times to the tune of nearly $600 billion. Even in Washington, that's still a lot of money. Morgan Stanley used the same overnight lending program 212 times from March 2008 to March 2009. This news makes it impossible to argue that either bank would have survived the storm without the Fed's cash.

How does this happen? Suppose you are a personal investor who wants to borrow money against your stock portfolio. If your stock portfolio is worth $100,000, you could borrow 50% of this value and buy another $50,000 of stocks giving you a total portfolio of $150,000. Goldman Sachs had total shareholder equity of $64.369 billion in 2008. Using the same margin requirements, they would have been allowed to borrow $32.184 billion and then purchase another $32.184 billion in equities resulting in total equity of $96.553 billion. But, they were able to somehow borrow $820 billion. So, it turn out that the purpose of this firm is solely to make as much money as possible for their employees with the United States taxpayers guaranteeing their losses and absorbing all their risks. It is just a gigantic hedge fund for the benefit of Goldman Sachs' employees and most favored clients.

. . . .

Read the entire article here