Danny Schechter - ColdType

As readers know, I have stated many times that Goldman
is nothing but a gigantic, taxpayer guaranteed, government
protected hedge fund. They have taken more risk than any
large financial institution in this country, nearly failed but for
a massive government bailout, and have benefitted multiple
times from government assistance: ranging from expedited
bank charters, government guarantees on their debt, ZIRP,
TARP, open access to the discount window (without being a
bank), and 100% payout on 50% devalued assets that they
voluntarily purchased from Merrill and voluntarily insured
with a soon to be insolvent counterparty.
Despite all of this, they are actually being lauded as supermen!
Hey, give me $95 billion of cash, guarantees, impunity
and immunity from prosecution and associated assistance
and I’ll blow my quarterly numbers out as well. What’s to
prevent me from maxing out risk when I know I keep the
rewards and the taxpayer keeps the losses????
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Commenting on various conspiracy theories about Goldman,
former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, while not
subscribing to one said, “just because it’s a conspiracy theory
doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
The OpenSecrets.org site that monitors corporate lobbying
clout noted: “The firm closely monitors issues including
economic policy, trade and nearly all legislation that governs
the financial sector. It has been a major proponent of privatizing
Social Security as well as legislation that would essentially
deregulate the investment banking/securities industry. The
firm tends to give most of its money to Democrats.” Political
donations in 2008 came to nearly $6 million dollars.
Earlier, at one point in the debate over the first bank bailout,
Congressman Dennis Kucinich pointed at Goldman’s power in
Washington by asking his colleagues, “Is this the Congress of
the United States or the boardroom of Goldman Sachs?”
What are the odds now of the Congress authorizing a seri-