As I previously wrote not long after the crisis broke, the Goldman inditement by the SEC is setting the stage for a political push to reform some of the worst (2009 vintage) practices.
The more interesting question is the value of the alumni network of Goldman Sachs. The A-list of Goldman people in senior government positions is quite extensive and institutions such as the consulting firms McKinsey and Arthur D. Little would pride themselves on installing former employees into positions where future business can be leveraged plus provide intelligence as to what is going on.
This would imply that either the SEC move was known to a few people and Goldman had no substantive warning or that they had zero ability to head off the legal action. Additionally the money invested in lobbying seems to have been placed with people who were asleep at the wheel.
One would expect a few heads to roll once the dust has settled.
Second, what does this crisis portend for the lifeblood of American politics - campaign financing. The banks chose to bet on Obama and made very healthy contributions to Democrat coffers in the 2008 election. As they say in New York, one would suspect that they (wall street) "are over it".
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As Jimmy Paige once wrote - or was it Robert Plant? - "It makes me wonder". I wonder what defect it is in the psychological makeup of a group of human beings that would have them putting the health and well being of millions of other human beings behind the private profit of a very few. Most of these lawmakers who live in the pockets of the Plutocracy call themselves "Christians". Have they ever made a serious study of the books? You know! - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? - Those guys! How do they justify their actions? How do they sleep at night? We're talkin' major hypocrisy here! That's what makes them so much fun to watch! I always get a certain twisted delight in watching their fake piety. Imagine Wendy O. Williams being cast as Bernadette of Lourdes; or Marilyn Manson as Mahatma Gandhi. It's kind of the same thing.
Sooner or later our right wing friends, within the Congress and without, are going to be forced to admit that the era of anything goes deregulation was a really stupid idea. You can only sit calmly in a burning house, ignoring the flames all about you, for just so long. Sooner or later you'll be forced to flee for your life. After making your escape, if you still refuse to acknowledge that the house is indeed on fire, you're beyond the point where you can make rational decisions on your own. You've entered Librium Country, hombre!
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
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