Who’s to Blame: Washington or Wall Street?

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Nell Minow: Wall Street did three things that are unforgivable. First, their math was wrong. They didn't take out their slide rules, they relied on bad statistics. Second thing, bad incentives. They were getting paid based on the quantity of transactions, not the quality of transactions. Next, terrible oversight by shareholders. Guess who the big shareholders are? They're on Wall Street. Who was voting in favor of these insane pay packages? Look at the firms on Wall Street. And, yeah, Washington behaved very badly. Do you think the fact that from 1998 to 2008 over $600 million was spent on lobbying to get rid of regulations, to get rid of capital requirements on banks— do you think that might have had an effect on it?

Gordon: I'm sure that's perfectly true. On the other hand, Washington took the money.

Minow: You know what? Washington has its own market system. And people have to get reelected. They took the money. But you're blaming the victim there.

Ferguson: Nell, I'm struggling to understand how the recipients of bribes are victims. I'm afraid your moral GPS just broke down on you.

Minow:If you look at the lobbying statistics you'll see that half of the people that took the money voted against them anyway. That's part of politics too. People ran for office and were elected on policies of deregulation.

Ferguson:You've hit the nail on the head there. AIG contributed directly to elected officials and parties $9.3 million since 1989, and the top recipients of the money include the chair of the Senate Finance Committee and the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. Now, if that doesn't tell you that something is morally rotten at the heart of Washington, I don't know what I have to show you.

Chanos: Well, just because the Keystone Cops couldn't catch the gang that couldn't shoot straight, doesn't absolve the gang from its guilt.

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Posted By: basiclloyd @ 07/01/2009 5:35:20 PM

the parable for greed goes something like this,(and i"m not to far off) Its harder for a rich man to recive GOD"s graces, than it is for a camel to pas thru the eye of a sewing needle
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Posted By: TheReason @ 05/09/2009 3:24:27 PM

The politicians are not the ones in power people. It is the banks or i should say the Federal Reserve

This story really kills me. And you have a PRIVATELY owned bank like the Federal Reserve who cannot track or explain where 9 trillion dollars went?

Why hasn't ANYBODY audited the PRIVATELY owned Federal Reserve? They are owned privately just like Wells Fargo. Why was the Federal Reserve not in the stress test?

Where is the missing 9 TRILLION dollars?

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=91&task=videodirectlink&id=1389

Here is video of one senate meeting you wont find in the media because this information would cause hysteria.

I used to laugh at these black helicoptor people. I am not laughing anymore.
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Posted By: Tan Boon Tee @ 03/29/2009 11:12:31 PM

Do not blame any person or institution. It is the system that has gone wildly astray.

For instance, there have been indicators that mergers of oil companies seem to be on the move in this difficult time.

One of the causes of the current crisis has been in no small measure due to the maddening increase of mergers and buying of smaller companies by the bigger solvent cartels. And when these giants get too huge, they get nasty and out of control, likely to result in massive fraudulence and embezzlement.

State-owned firms are endowed with colossal sum of money. By having incessant acquisitions, they help to create monstrous monopolies. And that will be the curse of the poor.
(Tan Boon Tee)