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“Soul-Sickness:” Wall Street’s Secret Moral Pathology. 15 Symptoms of a Deadly Disease That’s Destroying Capitalism & America’s Democratic Values
by Paul B Farrell, JD, PhD
Bloomberg: “New York Fed’s Secret Deal: Taxpayers paid $13 billion more than necessary when government officials, acting in secret, made deals with banks on AIG, buying $62 billion of credit-default swaps from AIG. The government would eventually cover about $180 billion in AIG swaps backing toxic CDOs when Paulson and Bernanke double-teamed to bailout Goldman, saving them from bankruptcy.
New York Times: ‘Before becoming Treasury secretary in 2006, Hank Paulson agreed to hold himself to a higher ethical standard than his predecessors. He specifically said he’d avoid his old buddies at Goldman where he was CEO. Later Congress saw many conflicts of interest, not just meetings but favorable treatment for his buddies at Goldman.’
NY Examiner: ‘Goldman was at the heart of the sub-prime market, selling sub-prime junk as no-risk AAA bonds, then gambling, hedging, shorting their investors. Goldman traded like Enron. That set up the meltdown. The Fed and Goldman’s ex-CEO at Treasury saved Goldman. Taxpayers got stuck with the bill. McClatchy’s Gordon uncovered Moody’s making billions selling triple-A ratings. Bailout overseer Elizabeth Warren called this reckless gambling. Trend forecaster Gerald Celente calls it mafia-style looting.’
USAToday says ‘Goldman Sachs should be celebrating. Yet, the mood at the investment bank seems to be one of crisis about the public backlash over employees’ bonuses. So Goldman’s on a PR blitz in a bid to undo the damage. They canceled their Christmas party. Also launched a $500 million program for small businesses. Get it? They can’t see their moral failings, only a PR problem, so they hire PR agents and crisis managers first.
New York Times: Examined Goldman charitable foundation’s tax filing: ‘Thick as a phone book with more than 200 pages of trades. ‘Never seen anything like it,” said Verne Sedlacek, president of Commonfund, a $25 billion fund for universities and nonprofits. The money to Goldman’s foundation is dwarfed by insiders’ bonuses. The foundation got $400 million, gave away $22 million.’ Bonuses were 20 times more. Even the New York Post said ‘Goldman’s Born Again Image is Laughable.” They’re sleaze-ball cheapskates.
Reuters: ‘Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was fired after a scandal over the billions Merrill bonuses. He says big insider bonuses don’t cause excessive risk-taking nor the financial crisis.’ He blames ‘poor risk management, excessive leverage and too much liquidity for too long. But even if they tie bonuses to long-term performance, that won’t prevent the next collapse.’ Why? They’ll find new ways to break the moral code.
HuffPost’s Leo Leopold warns: ‘Each day reveals how we’ve traded away our sense of decency and the common good in exchange for pure greed. Unemployment means hunger. The Agriculture Department reports 49 million Americans don’t have enough food, up 13 million over the last year, highest number ever.’ Wall Street treats anyone not in the “Happy Conspiracy” as morally-defective capitalists in need of “tough love.”
New York Times’ Maureen Dowd: ‘Goldman’s trickle-down catechism isn’t working. We have two economies. In the past decade Wall Street’s shared little with society. Their culture is totally money-obsessed. There’s always room for a bigger house, bigger boat. If not, you’re falling behind. It’s an addiction. And Washington’s done little to quell it. Geithner coddles wanton bankers. Obama’s absent. Saturday Night Live was tougher. And as far as doing God’s work: The bankers who took taxpayer money, pocketing obscene bonuses: They’re the same greedy types Jesus threw out of the temple.’