Posted by: biliruben
- [16105237] Tue, Apr 27, 2010, 17:57
"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. Son, we live in a country with an investment gap. And that gap needs to be filled by men with money. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Middle Class Consumer? Goldman Sachs has a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Lehman and you curse derivatives. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what we know: that Lehman's death, while tragic, probably saved the financial system. And that Goldman's existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves pension funds. You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want us to fill that investment gap. You need us to fill that gap. "We use words like credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligation, and securitization? We use these words as the backbone of a life spent investing in something. You use 'em as a punchline. We have neither the time nor the inclination to explain ourselves to a commoner who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very credit we provide, and then questions the manner in which we provide it! We'd rather you just said thank you and paid your taxes on time. Otherwise, we suggest you get an account and start trading. Either way, we don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!"
What we didn't need was derivatives which couldn't pay off if what they were designed to insure against actually came to pass.
What we also didn't need was having all our 'too-big-to-fails' loaded down with packages of tier one capitalization hardly worth the paper they were printed on.
2
Perm Dude
ID: 5510572522 Tue, Apr 27, 2010, 23:22
Levin grilling Goldman Sachs executive on making money on "a sh!tty deal":
They knew exactly what they were doing. Knew it was wrong. And lied about it.
Baldwin is right about derivatives and about "too big to fail" and the proposed Dodd legislation covers that very well, I think. It is only a matter of a few days and Sen Graham will be on board as well.
3
Boldwin
ID: 183112613 Wed, Apr 28, 2010, 11:19
There are some very important provisions like clearinghouses in this, however the devil is in the details and I've heard and forgot some whoppers they stuck in there. Haven't had the time to research it yet.
4
Perm Dude
ID: 5510572522 Wed, Apr 28, 2010, 11:21
Please do. The overall scheme is exactly what we need, IMO.
5
Perm Dude
ID: 5510572522 Thu, Apr 29, 2010, 09:06
I think we can put at least one thing on the "problem to be fixed" list:
6
Perm Dude
ID: 5510572522 Fri, May 21, 2010, 12:49
Shhhh! Financial reform passed Congress. Now the House & Senate have to hammer out their differences.