This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
"The People Vs. Goldman Sachs" - Taibbi's Magnum Opus
By Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone Magazine
The People vs. Goldman Sachs
They weren't murderers or anything; they had merely stolen more money
than most people can rationally conceive of, from their own customers,
in a few blinks of an eye. But then they went one step further. They
came to Washington, took an oath before Congress, and lied about it.
Thanks to an extraordinary investigative effort by a Senate
subcommittee that unilaterally decided to take up the burden the
criminal justice system has repeatedly refused to shoulder, we now know
exactly what Goldman Sachs executives like Lloyd Blankfein and Daniel
Sparks lied about. We know exactly how they and other top Goldman
executives, including David Viniar and Thomas Montag, defrauded their
clients. America has been waiting for a case to bring against Wall
Street. Here it is, and the evidence has been gift-wrapped and left at
the doorstep of federal prosecutors, evidence that doesn't leave much
doubt: Goldman Sachs should stand trial.
The great and powerful Oz of Wall Street was not the only target of Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse,
the 650-page report just released by the Senate Subcommittee on
Investigations, chaired by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, alongside
Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Their unusually scathing bipartisan
report also includes case studies of Washington Mutual and Deutsche
Bank, providing a panoramic portrait of a bubble era that produced the
most destructive crime spree in our history — "a million fraud cases a
year" is how one former regulator puts it. But the mountain of evidence
collected against Goldman by Levin's small, 15-desk office of
investigators — details of gross, baldfaced fraud delivered up in such
quantities as to almost serve as a kind of sarcastic challenge to the
curiously impassive Justice Department — stands as the most important
symbol of Wall Street's aristocratic impunity and prosecutorial immunity
produced since the crash of 2008.
To date, there has been only one successful prosecution of a financial
big fish from the mortgage bubble, and that was Lee Farkas, a Florida
lender who was just convicted on a smorgasbord of fraud charges and now
faces life in prison. But Farkas, sadly, is just an exception proving
the rule: Like Bernie Madoff, his comically excessive crime spree (which
involved such lunacies as kiting checks to his own bank and selling
loans that didn't exist) was almost completely unconnected to the
systematic corruption that led to the crisis. What's more, many of the
earlier criminals in the chain of corruption — from subprime lenders
like Countrywide, who herded old ladies and ghetto families into bad
loans, to rapacious banks like Washington Mutual, who pawned off
fraudulent mortgages on investors — wound up going belly up, sunk by
their own greed.
But Goldman, as the Levin report makes clear, remains an ascendant
company precisely because it used its canny perception of an upcoming
disaster (one which it helped create, incidentally) as an opportunity to
enrich itself, not only at the expense of clients but ultimately,
through the bailouts and the collateral damage of the wrecked economy,
at the expense of society. The bank seemed to count on the unwillingness
or inability of federal regulators to stop them — and when called to
Washington last year to explain their behavior, Goldman executives
brazenly misled Congress, apparently confident that their perjury would
carry no serious consequences. Thus, while much of the Levin report
describes past history, the Goldman section describes an ongoing?
crime — a powerful, well-connected firm, with the ear of the president
and the Treasury, that appears to have conquered the entire regulatory
structure and stands now on the precipice of officially getting away
with one of the biggest financial crimes in history.
Defenders of Goldman have been quick to insist that while the bank may
have had a few ethical slips here and there, its only real offense was
being too good at making money. We now know, unequivocally, that this is
bullshit. Goldman isn't a pudgy housewife who broke her diet with a few
Nilla Wafers between meals — it's an advanced-stage, 1,100-pound
medical emergency who hasn't left his apartment in six years, and is
found by paramedics buried up to his eyes in cupcake wrappers and pizza
boxes. If the evidence in the Levin report is ignored, then Goldman will
have achieved a kind of corrupt-enterprise nirvana. Caught, but still
free: above the law.
...
When it came time for Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein to testify, the banker
hedged and stammered like a brain-addled boxer who couldn't quite
follow the questions. When Levin asked how Blankfein felt about the fact
that Goldman collected $13 billion from U.S. taxpayers through the AIG
bailout, the CEO deflected over and over, insisting that Goldman would
somehow have made that money anyway through its private insurance
policies on AIG. When Levin pressed Blankfein, pointing out that he
hadn't answered the question, Blankfein simply peered at Levin like he
didn't understand.
...
This isn't just a matter of a few seedy guys stealing a few bucks. This
is America: Corporate stealing is practically the national pastime, and
Goldman Sachs is far from the only company to get away with doing it.
But the prominence of this bank and the high-profile nature of its
confrontation with a powerful Senate committee makes this a political
story as well. If the Justice Department fails to give the American
people a chance to judge this case — if Goldman skates without so much
as a trial — it will confirm once and for all the embarrassing truth:
that the law in America is subjective, and crime is defined not by what
you did, but by who you are.
Read the full thing here
»
- 40990 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
PLENTY of people should be in jail, lots of blame to go around. We should start a list...
Including ourselves (as an electorate). WE put these guys into .gov! WE wanted more from .gov!
Good point. I bet if every eligible American voter had marked 'x' in the Ralph Nader box in 2008 (or '96 or 2000 or 2004-fuck Americha likes to squander opportunities) he, unlike any of the Demoblicans, would have told the banks to go and ef themselves. So, following a short, sharp stint of pain, there would have been a parade of frog marches on Wall St, followed by orange jumpsuit clad piker penitents, and the US would be well on the way to an ACTUAL economic recovery by now.
'Course the US would have also had to deal with all the soldiers returning home from fighting for oil companies overseas, which, along with no bailouts/interest free loans for the plutocratz/their wives, would easily cover (ghod forbid) single payer health care while still being able to reduce the deficit, if not the national debt....
On second thought scratch all that; I doubt RN would have made it to inauguration before some well conditioned Manchurian candidate on a grassy knoll, or nestled in a book depository, dealt him a losing hand of 'hole in the head'(@1:39)
Yup, or given an offer he couldn't refuse. : )
I disagree. The electoral process in the US and the vote's ability to influence anything at a national level has been almost entirely eroded. The current system all but prohibits 3rd party candidates, who are marginalized and mocked by the captured mass media. It is a joke. They don't stand a chance, and any candidate who would buck the system is stopped at the earliest possible place, and anyone who bucks the system after they get in will find themselves the victim of a sex sting, a corruption/ethics investigation or some other misfortune. The Clampdown has it all under control. Empires are like that.
Your vote in the ballot box is quite ineffective at the national level. The only folks with the ability to influence events in Congress are the ones bringing the bags of cash to the House and Senate offices.
Very true, but I don't agree that it is just at the federal level. I see the same bs at the State and Local levels too. You don't get to feed at the Fed trough if you don't play with the pigs.
I heard they tried that honey-pot thing on Ralph Nader ages ago, he saw right through it. Now Ralph is at an age where it would probably only be effective as an assassination attempt.
And despite never making POTUS ol' Ralph has managed to accomplish quite a bit for the American people over the last four DECADES with his 'fire in the belly'.
The Freedom of Information Act has been useful, so I've heard; Clean Drinking Water act... his list of contributions goes on for quite awhile.
Honestly, why America would elect some inexperienced Hopey Changey elitist acolyte over this tried and true veteran when given the chance (or 4 chances) still baffles me.
That's why we MUST support Ron Paul in 2012. He is the only candidate worth our trust. ZHers should already be pledging their support and talking him up wherever they go. I got an email from Dennis Kucinich today in which he asked for opinions. I told him to meet with Ron Paul and support him and to try to become the VP candidate with him. A Paul-Kucinich ticket would break all the rules, putting a democrat and a Republican on the same ticket. Not that it hasn't been done before - in fact, I believe it was a kind of policy way back when (somebody, anybody can correct me on that) like the losing candidate would become the VP.
Anyway, we did vote for whomever we thought best, but we did not appoint Geithner, nor Bernanke, nor Paulson. Those evil-doers are blood on the hands of presidents and senators.
Paul-Kucinich 2012. I like the sound of it.
FreeNE! I respond to you again! How about:
Ron Paul for President 2012!
VP: either of ZH-ers "ColonelCooper" or "JW in FL".
Either of the above hardasses would be useful to Ron Paul...
And Paulson bought Obama for Goldman. Price Unknown.
They'll just pay their portion of the $5 billion fine and get off with immunity from future prosecution courtesy of the State's AG's and an Eric Holder.
Torch and Pitchfork time Amerika!
Ken Lay and his boys had a nice run too...
The squid is everywhere.
Some old guy with a transparent ponzi scheme and some fat minority man named Raj Raj have been the sacrificial cows for GS/JPM/Bank of America et.al. Business will go on as usual, despite Matt.
Let the good times roll.
i'm convinced someone will realize stocks went down on the day raj raj was convicted and decide its a bad thing to prosecute inside traders - at least the big ones
....he sure makes a wonderful, TV friendly scape goat....there we fixed Wall Street...it is all cleaned up now...trust us.
Has anyone noted that these guys are advising countries like Greece and Ireland. Peter Sutherland a partner in Goldman did not even realise how bad the situation was in Ireland . He arrived full of good cheer and thought the feel good factor would solve everything!
Yeah must be the Coke party and the hookers in NY.
more of: Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Go Matt!
The hard thing is to find the evidence that will convict, however. I don't think DOJ is up to the task--nor motivated.
DOJ, what the fuck is that?
Department of JOKES?
Eric holder should use his real name, Dick in the mouth holder.
They can start right here:
-- Lloyd Blankfein.
GODS are crazy to have GS use their name. Hang the bitxhezz or time for GS employees and Upper managment for some Hari Kari.
Dark thoughts but America is akin to an alcoholic. Alcohilics typically need to hit bottom, rock bottom, look at themselves in a pool of vomit (unsure even if it's there's), unsure where they are, unsure what they've done...look at the mess they have made of everything, and decide to either kill themselves (slowly / quickly / whatever) or save themselves.
America is that financial and governmental creitoholic / debtaholic. We will need to see it through before a true revulsion can swell, take the Keynisian methods to their extreme - only then in the ashes can a paradigm shift that took place in the '30's when folks knew they couldn't trust anyone but themselves, their families, and their local communities.
The sooner we hit bottom the better for only then can the healing begin.
Very philsophical I must say. However can be cured with some hanging. hang the bankers bitchezzzz
Well said.
Being an alcoholic myself, I can relate to having to hit bottom before a turnaround can be made. The thing is, the individual has to decide where the bottom is. Some people hit an emotional or spiritual bottom while they still have all their stuff, others have to wind up in the street, like I almost did. But that was years ago and life is good today. But the analogy is accurate, and I'm afraid America is a low-bottom drunk, and we aren't going to turn things around until we have an epic collapse of the economy, financial systems, and political system. America and Americans in general (and lets be honest, most western countries and citizens) are addicted to debt.
You don't fix an alcoholic by giving him a case of whiskey, and you don't fix a debt problem by piling up more debt.
I was warned that every bottom has a trap door in it.
Good to see another FOB here.
Thanks, Rocky. Definitely found a few trap doors on the way down. Steady trudging the road now though. Good to know ya.
Me as well. 20 years last April. Lovin' it.
I'm still a youngster. 8 years next month. Glad to be coherent to witness this epic time in history and try to navigate through the storm that's coming. We'll all need to have our wits about us. Ironic how things turn out sometimes. I'm the level-headed one in my family these days.
For many, many alcoholics, to hit bottom means death...
Exactly - we either decide to save ourselves or we decide to destroy ourselves...it's a choice we're going to make.
I learned very important things in astrology. The body you inhabit is not you. I learned the dual psychologys of man. The core psychology of a person versus the aligning and steering psychology and events that occur through the incarnation process. I learned how to explain it to people. But then I learned that the alignments are not for any good reason or towards any goal. You are not an alchaholic. You are simply living in the body of an alchaholic. You don't save you. You save the alchaholic body you inhabit.
You see the history of the planet. It's pure alignment of servant to chief servant to king servant to president or prime minister servant to church or ideology, servant to skill developement, servant to violence. There are good alignments but they won't go too far. It's simply a ruse to pretend the world is not what it is and is not headed where it is heading.
What?
We lost Hep several weeks back...
Hep didn't hear the announcer say "Don't eat the brown Acid. The brown acid has gone bad." He may have doubled down. He is not insane, he is only in the body of an insane person, also likely in the shoes and pants worn by an insane body.
...and using the keyboard of an insane person.
Well excuse me guys. Sorry if i'm not making any sense. But there's a huge sensory input to people as well as a huge drowning out and signal swamping. I don't have any really good ways to explaing it without going off on huge biology dissertations which I couldn't do right now. I opened up again and let some stuff in. Now I'm acid bath unfocused.
But your body is NOT you and it's not even a seperation expression of you through an ego gateway. The whole does not impinge on the piece in the same way or even in a customized way other than the customization is simply obstacles thrown down to enforce restrictions according to how you approach them to get out of losing. But make no mistake you're supposed to lose.
spot on, sir.
Best laugh all day. Thanks.
It actually was pretty funny. :)
That's a fact. I consider myself very fortunate to be here, and living a good, healthy life. I've known many alcoholics who didn't make it. Unfortunately, the leaders of our country seem to be taking us down the same path those folks followed. More of the same, expecting a different result. Insanity.
It's the same as saying, "I have a serious debt problem. I'm going to solve it by borrowing more money and spending it as fast as I can borrow it." Common sense would say, that's not a good plan.
Anyone know where Lloyd lives???
There's an ap for that
knew there was a reason the upper east always feels cleaner than upper west
Tyler, You Phukn Rok Man
"Anyone know where Lloyd lives???"
Probably up a rotchilds or rockefuckers butt.
That is sooo sophomoric....I just laughed out loud. Thanks.
"their only offence was bieing good at making money"
i'm also good at making money,
i'm a fucking bank robber
what you going to do about that?
America is Screwed! Either man the gates or move some place else! I did moved! And now got front row seats, cold beer and Swiss Munchies! Let the circus begin!
I think that you'll have to trade your cold beer for tap water if available, and Swiss munchies for bark chips from home depot, still too expensive but ..... It's coming.
Taibbi is awesome - Love his stuff!
I hope he's careful though, he's poking his pen in the eye of some powerful mushroom den dwellers?
Funny these days, how you have to get real financial news in a rock music mag, and your B.S. lifestyle puffery from the WSJ... up is down, and right is left today. Taibbi/Jan Wenner, good guys fighting a good fight.
Ironic isn't it?
However the Wall Street Journal to its credit has always pointed out how morally hazardous these bailouts were and they joined the lawsuit to force the fed to disclose who received bailout money.
"Left has never been so right."
Multiple innuendos, one of my favs.
Cue the Blankfein Squint (tm)
Apparently doing God's work makes you blind. Especially if God's work is masturbating all day to internet porn, ooops got Lloyd mixed up with the SEC, oh well they're all God's children, or is that ..Satan?
Was NAFTA Passed in Exchange for Mexican Gold to Support the US Dollar?
http://silverdoctors.blogspot.com/2011/05/docs-thoughts-on-case-of-myste...
I read somewhere recently that the Chinese made a similar deal in silver in order to acquire Favored Nation Status.
Matthew Taibbi be one of the planets best pamphleteers; a modern day Thomas Paine; however I think Paine could take a slider to right field; oh I kid.
It will all be ignored, just like all the rest of the evidence. This is not America any more. It is a third world country run by bigots who only care about their govt. expense account and getting re-elected. And until the people march...nothing will change.
Thank you Tyler, great article.
Marching does nothing but provide entertainment and exercise for those marching. More communities will need to come off the grid and organize. Personally, I see the world degenerating into a situation much like that found in India and some parts of Russia with vibrant local economies. India is an old "democracy", but getting anything done in India requires numerous bribes. Things really are not that different already, just in America we call these extortion payments "fees" or "taxes".
Your post is terribly unfair. It is true that your fees and taxes go to pay for the bureaucracy, however, the larger extortion is quite voluntary - campaign contributions. If you wish to have a politician's direct phone line on your direct dial list, then be among his 5 largest donors and he's all ears.
no... america was to busy giving me a ticket for running a stop sigh on my bicycle to be bothered with prosecuting petty crimes like this one.
God forbid you take responsibility for running the red light. You sound like a Goldman exec.
On a bicycle? I'm absolutely positive that he/she put the entire neighbourhood at grave risk pulling a stunt like that. If only our every action could be monitored 24/7/365 and any fines we might warrant for j-walking or street spitting or wrong-thinking be automatically deducted for our bank accounts, that would be so awesome, and there would never be another broken bone again. I mean, think of the children for God's sake.
Can you say 'paternalism'?
It sounds like Mr.'2 days and a couple of hours' here might need to learn the difference between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law, though I certainly won't be holding my breath waiting for any pennies to drop.
My issue is that his mentality is that of too many bikers who make up their own rules of the road because they're not driving cars. Of course, these same assholes are the ones who whine and bitch about 2 ton hunks of metal not following the same rules and endangering their lives.
Let's also not forget that he's comparing a local police officer doing his job correctly to the issues of the federal government. Was that cop supposed to be arresting Goldman executives instead? Come on.
Did you hear that whooshing sound over your head?
End corporate personhood by adding the word "natural" in front of persons in the constitution of these states united.
"This is America: Corporate stealing is practically the national pastime"
One losing trading day last quarter for Goldman... Is it really stealing if it is handed to you in front of thousands of witnesses? The COCKROACHES are in charge at every level.
Agree- this is just America's latter day feudal lords and knights collecting their "tax" from the serfs.
This should get Buttfein appointed to some high level gov office so he can sell his GS stock and pay 0 taxes eg Hank Paulson.
Maybe even the TIME mag. man of the year award too.
Don't forget Buttfien was praised by the media for shaking Raj Raj's hand in support after giving his testimony. Every place this guy gets sucked off, even when he supports other criminals.
If these criminals dont go to jail this great country is fucked.
......"Buttfein appointed to some high level gov office "
Don't forget the Buttfein Goldan Eagle special edition commemrotive proof set.
proof set made out of pewter, coated with feces.
It's actually made out of feces, by a guy named Pooter.
La Guillotine Shall Claim Her Bloody Prize
The world has fought several bloody wars against the banking cartel. It will again. Just a matter of time and resource allocation.
Usual Suspects. Nothing new under the Sun.
Back to me reading music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8Qi86i82s&feature=related
They came to Washington, took an oath before Congress, and lied about it
Wake up people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHyV9V-37zc&feature=related
The Consumer must decide, your vote will not. Hard right wants War tax.
I think blankfein will go down for this one, the elite may seem servile and incompetent at times, but they are not stupid. Blankfein is a very convenient scapegoat.
Scapegoat?! ... for sure he is not the only criminal, but criminal he is nonetheless!
Absolutely, he symbolizes a corrupt system, and this is an opportunity for the elite to preserve the status quo a little longer by throwing one of their own under the bus. What if obummer gave him a presidential pardon at the end, LOL! Reality is stranger then fiction anymore.
:-)
I doubt he would go down for it. He knows too much and would have a "hot tub" accident first.
No, they are only going to go after his son, Jared Lee Loughner.
William Banzai doesn't even have to use his morphing software to link those two.
Sorry to go OT on this most excellent post but I thought that his was interesting given the situation on the ground and in the air in Japan
Senators: US military plans to reorganize forces in Japan are unworkable, unaffordablehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senators-us-military-plans-to-reo...
Paging William Banzai!!! Smegol = Lloyd!!!!! ; >
Does anybody know which of the two parties produced this report?
"Does anybody know which of the two parties produced this report?"
Which of the "two parties" is not taking a piece of the action off of the Banksters? Don't they all share in the proceeds when it comes down to it? Time to wake up and smell the Treason.
Agreed!
Still ... one of the two actually took the time to do this ... does anybody know?
Here's the full Report
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/Financial_Crisis/FinancialCrisisRe...
Levin is a Dem, Coburn is Rep, so I think it is a bipartisan report.
Of course ...
I'm sure that with Coburn chairman we would have had the same investigation...
In fact I think the House Republicans are looking at this right now, aren't they?
What is the motive for the Levin investigation, who is supposed to benefit? I don't get it. The last things these pols want to do is serve the public interest.
Not all of them ... just not enough semi-decent people to get the right thing done
A troll parade. Troll questions, troll answers. Well played.
"Does anybody know which of the two parties produced this report?"
From the article:
The great and powerful Oz of Wall Street was not the only target of Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse, the 650-page report just released by the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan, alongside Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
um... two parties? where have you been...?
Both did. This was done with Levin and Coburn
If we allow the POTUS to define justice, and accept that financial crime at the scale Mr. Blanfein facilitated is terrorism, then we could dispence with investigation, prosecution, and conviction and go straight to execution. Such is the status of justice in America.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7089899.ece
I'm flat against any physical harm coming to anyone for any reason, even self defense. But if you're going to have a death penalty, and if you are going to kill certain high-value "terrorist targets" (LOL, what a crock) on sight, then start with the banksters/CPAs. Kill a few hundred, then offer life in prison for the rest if they turn themselves in and all their wealth too.
It's only a matter of time before Matt is writing about the crimes transpiring in Silver.
Only difference is Goldman Obama will be substituted with JP Morgan Ben.
...And, of course, nothing will come of it.
I hate to say this (in part because my observation deals with a tool that some have mastered and relied on for so long), but technical, or chart analysis can--at best--only be seen as partially (if at all effective) in these rigged markets. And this is true now more than ever. Look at the impunity with which the bank cartel is doing what it wants to. Look at what happened to crude today, and silver last week. What is happening here has parallels to what is going on in the MENA countries. There, we are watching how government are losing control and, in a response of panic, tightening the noose around the neck of their citizens, turning every official statement into a propaganda declaration, and using psy-ops to get their way (aside from just pure, brut, unethical force and violence. In a similar attempt to control things, banksters here (and the administration) are manipulating facts and events, and they are doing so in ways that are brutally destructive of the middle class. In this environment then, technical chart analysis means far less than it ever did. As long as the CFTC does not restore order to the markets (i.e. end price manipulation), there will be no way to sanely foresee anything; except, that you can bet on the fact that the banksters AND THE ADMINISTRATION ITSELF will continue to jack us around at whim. This will continue until the CFTC puts an end to the at-will actions of the banksters (which is unlikely given their status as part of the "plunge protection team"), or until the markets and/or economy implodes ... or a black swan event happens. Because these (or some derivative thereof) is likely to eventually happen, things will eventually even out, but not without more bloodshed (i.e. financial loses and loose of faith in our government). Read my opinion piece on why the CFTC will do nothing here:
http://thesilvergoldhedge.blogspot.com/2011/04/reason-why-cftc-is-doing-...
For some levity and my call to action, watch this animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs7-yDO6i9Y
Yes, Virginia, there is no technical analysis.
After decades of saying tech analysts are kooks, while they themselves use tech, Wall Street recently embraced tech analysis. Did they do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Craemer was a hedge fund manager, he used tech analysis, why was it over a decade before he even mentioned it in his show?
The Big Money is using tech like they have always used fundamental analysis to herd us into one side of the trade.
Tech analysis used to work so well because it is the eyes and ears of a trader to measure what is happening. When retail ignored it, it was greatly profitable. Now that retail uses it, not so much. In fact, using common indicators with the default setting will put you on the side of the trade with the most retail traders. Result: You are harvested with the sheep.
My fourth rule of life is never buy your banker a lunch and those bastards have been eating well on Mortgages and Telecom bubbles for the last fifteen years. This is MUTANT capitalism .
If we want our freedom to remain safe we need to bring an end to this blood sucking form of Capitalism and get back to the basics. I wonder if there is time.
No, times up. Way past the point of no return.
Gold and silver bugs ain't buying no more stick saves. It is priced in.
Gold and silver will rise and falls with the death throes of the giant mutant vampire squid and its master, the central bank. We have not seen the bottom in either PM, and the end is obvious, FRN O, PMs WIN BABY!
I remember a time when everything was cheap
Now prices nearly put a man to sleep
Well when we get our grocery bill
We feel like making our will
Tell me how can a poor man stand such times and live?
-Ry Cooder-
Isn't the word fascism?
No-one wants to use the f-word. They would rather demean capitalism.
There is NO capitalism when using ponzi capital. Bullshitism is the only "ism" that applies anymore.
"Bullshitism is the only "ism" that applies anymore"
Nice one Ruffcut!
Inhale to the chief and pass the Bullshitism.
Interestingly, the biggest facists were the folks in the National Socialist German Workers Party.....love the irony of that one
capitalism and free markets are a great idea!
We should try them some day.
When, TCT, when?
They say End of Days are coming...
We had our chances.
Ruffcut is right: "Bullshitism is the only "ism" that applies anymore".
Thanks for sharing.
Supply and Demand, 2008, Revisited 2011. All designed to bring everything down.
http://wp.me/swkw8-2043
The supply and demand product trading swing pump and dump, designed to force the TRIGGERS.
Smart enough to learn from traders who mastered the scam in the first place.
Not smart enough to know it would come back to haunt them for the rest of their lives.
If not in this life, then surely the next. There names disgraced in this country for time and all eternity.
The time HAS COME TO CLAW EVERY DIME BACK.
MT, you sure gave your mom a nice little reading, for mother's day. you are the best son a mother could ever wish for. be safe†
The bankster and their puppet masters have ruled the world long enough.
Where do you place yourself.
http://lonerangersilver.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/pyramid-of-capital-syst...
Bring Spitzer back tot try this one. Despite his indiscretions, Sptzer is The Man when it comes to standing up to coroporations. Sadly, the present system goes after the poor.....the "Hoi Poli" small fry, and looks the other way when Billions are stolen.
+1
Privilege.
It has never been any other way.
2 troo.
ORI
Will somebody please give Wall $t a courtesy flush. It's really starting to stink up the whole country.
Surely this will escape every single "regulatory" agency in the country. Honestly, we are being taunted...
People will do anything for money. We are too easily bribed, too easily bought off, too easily threatened.
Why does anyone do business with Goldman Sachs? Or JP Morgan for that matter? Are they the only game in town? People believe Goldman Sachs will make them rich. Otherwise they would go out of business, which is what they deserve.
Bank Holding Company my ASS.
I am very surprised that I haven't turned on the news and hear that someone with a terminal disease or on death's door hasn't gone and killed any of these mfers yet. The terminal brigade! Doesn't anyone have balls in this country anymore? I only hear when people kill themselves or annihilate their own families due to the repercussions of these sociopaths.
Let us know when you turn notions into actions.
Since I am probably already on multiple lists anyway, I guess an old woman will have to do that, as soon as I get a terminal disease or am staring death in the face. I have turned notions into actions all my life. What have you done? Besides "talk"?
Kali I'll mail you a suicide kit you PUSSY. Stay real Papa Swamp!
And what have you done douche-bag head? And, yes, I am a pussy, otherwise known as a woman to civilized men, I don't consider that epithet an insult. If I am going to die, and I have the opportunity, I would do it. Would you fuck face macho man?
This is already confirmed. The game is as old as Crassus. Just Google him.
Goldmans Sachs or someone else like them will ultimately be the fall that keeps it going. Or it all collapses and we lose more than we can imagine in the process. They is no golden way out. this is the sick game to be played.
I certainly won't try to justify the crap that is Goldmans Sachs.Everybody and every coproration is a part of the same sick game.
Corporations keep billions overseas so they aren't taxed on it. If they brought it on-shore they would immediately pay a 30% tax. So the idiots in the tea party and republican smegma keep this game going by lying and saying "corporations are taxed to death!" They are hardly taxed and we are running a trillion+ deficit.
We created a permanent underclass and a new group of squatters that take pride in "screwing the banks" by paying nothing on their mortage. We all pay for this, but some pay more. We all are denial when our time comes at the slop trough. The democrat and progressive yeast infection keeps this game going while permitting a tax-evasion con game that they are a part of.
They really aren't idiots, they are a part of the mechanism that parts you from your money. They lies and crap they pull makes them look stupid but the purpose is to get rich off of of others is nothing new.
No matter what you do, somebody is going to take their cut of the skim that is you. Do your best to minimize it, be a part of it, whatever. Being pissed about it doesn't solve it. Goldman or silver or whatever, it is a part of being on this rock.
Here is the fundamental conspiracy theory lie: you can actually change this. The "revolution" bullshit makes it even worse. Just new people (hopefully not ideology driven) to bleed you dry with more volatility and crazy all around.
"Peaceful" change is no longer possible, there is no law, there is no peace. These people need to be reminded that they are killing us, quite literally. Live by the "sword" die by the sword. The whole system has been co-opted by quislings and sociopaths. There is no comfortable resolution, whether we "fight" back or not. You must be new here, I am prepared and have been for a few years now, I left the "system" as much as I could years ago. I have been "fighting" these battles for over 3 decades, only to have been severely "punished" for it, while the sociopaths prosper in their self made bacchanalia. There is no comfortable resolution.
The law is nothing but a control device for the benefit of the few. When they don't impose huge demands is all you should ask for.
If you have been fighting for 3 decades, first be thankful you are still alive. Second reflect on how much better it would have been for you to keep a low profile than to flip off TPTB.
Third, you'll get no cookie from me. Live by the sword die by the sword will get you killed. If you have a death-wish, fine. I want peace and to minimize the impact of nut jobs above and below on my life.
Speak English! Please, you are so cubed}
As another writer so aptly put it, “It is the new capitalism of destruction”. They produce nothing of net value to anyone but themselves, and for every dollar they make doing it, they cost the rest of us a thousand dollars
The marketplace decides what is valuable and what isn't. Our two opinions are only a part of a much larger price discovery.
Everyone is a part of the same slop-trough. If you live in the United States you are privileged to enjoy the fact that your lifestyle is based on Uncle Sam putting trillions on what is essentially a credit card called a t-bill.
YOure an idiot, there IS NO marketplace, only a scam.
Goldman Sachs and Blankfein eat shit.
Ditto Dimon, Bernanke, Paulson, Geithner, Buffett, Munger, Holder, Mozilo, Raines, and the rest of the thieving, corrupt elite.
Won't solve a thing but to cool some seething rage. Somebody is still going to get a cut of the skim that is you even if your list of characters is in the pokey.
1. I am not talking "pokey".
2. Rage is sometimes an appropriate response.
3. YOu fucking pussy, "it's no use fighting cuz it'll always be this way"? why don't you just suck their cocks now while they're raping your ass. Are Americans really so fucking wimpy now you will do nothing? Hoping for someone, something else to save you? Go to church then. There is becoming nothing to save in this country, or the world for that matter, they already control most everything. Sheep. BAAAAAAA
Thanks, nut. You are exactly the kind I want to minimize in my life. Out.
then what are you going to do?
I already tried to organize a break in to the squid's main lair.
I even promised to bail out the first twenty that joined me if we were arrested.
I got one real response and two responses that appeared to be connected to FBI domains after my nerdy genius buddy traced them.
Let's get at it. If you are ready.
They actually eat at the best restaurants around the world ... definitely not shit!
"...definitely not shit!"
I would imagine that depends entirely on whether or not the staff recognizes them; a good number of bodily fluids/solids are practically imperceptible in a wide range of dishes.
Poop in the soup! They are fortunate it is not ground glass.
Kali, your sister told me you are left handed
Kali, your sister told me you are left handed. In the west left handed people are architects.
Ah, the adolescent is afoot.
Law in America (as in every country) is subjective. It has always been this way. It must be this way for any government to exist as such--one set of rules for subjects, and a different set for rulers.
For example, stealing from government is a violation. Goverment stealing from you is perfectly fine, though--they call it taxation, so that makes it OK, because it's a different word (neat trick).
Likewise: kidnapping/incarceration, assault/arrest, vigilantism/law enforcement, extortion/fee, terrorism/collateral damage.
They lie to you as a matter of course; lying to them is perjury and will land you in prison (if you fail to grease the right palms).
Etc.
There are different ways to see this Goldman episode--that GS stole our ("the taxpayers'") money, and be pissed; or, that GS stole the United States Government's and its customers' money, and be--apathetic (as a member of neither group).
Personally, I can't work up much loathing for the crook whole stole from the crook who steals from me. The damage was already done with the original theft. Nor do I curse them for colluding with members of government at my expense, any more than I would curse the parasite in the gut of the shark that is chewing off my legs; without government, Goldman would have no means to steal my property unless I foolishly entrusted it to them.
How about limited government?
If the government has no money and no way to give out favors then lobbyists go away.
No one lobbies a bum.
Limited government = TPTB don't make onerous demands on you.
This is all you can ask for.
That is all we need.