Ritholtz, Ratigan Take on the 'Giant Vampire Squid'

The vampire squid is Government Goldman (GS). You are a fish. "Annie, go get your nuke."

Dylan Ratigan teams up with Barry Ritholtz and in 7 minutes they cover everything from AIG (AIG) to Goldman to bailouts and back-door bailouts to bank bondholders to 10-year old girls who are paralyzed (no kidding) to "What the frack is Tim Geithner thinking?"

The female reporter is clueless. Why even bother showing up?

This is a squid-throttling, Sachs-busting, taxpayer-soothing clip . Watch it, save it, send it.

Comments

[CautiousInv...:]

It's rather remarkable that, in the past, so little attention has been drawn to this incestuous relationship that brings into question such fundamentals as integrity, principles of goverance, regulatory impartiality, separation of regulators from the regulated and conflict of interest.

Even at the risk of going "overboard" in attacking the unhealthy and impartial relationship between Washington and Goldman, it serves the larger public interest in bringing light to what is happening, the potential policy issues and the conflicts of interest. The frequently mentioned practice of placing Goldman alumni in high ranking positions at Treasury is perhaps the most central and disturbing issue.

And late last fall when Paulson was Treasury chief and with Kashkari overseeing TARP, a number of inherently political decisions were made in determining which, and to what extent, institutions would benefit from TARP. Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers, large competitors of Goldman, were deemed not to be too big to fail.

This could not be lost on Kashkari or Paulson and it would have been better policy to prop up the other two rather than allowing them to fail and further concentrating the investment brokerage business in the hands of Goldman. Similarly, the two had to know that when monies were put into AIG some would accrue to the benefit of Goldman as AIG would be allowed to honor its CDS counter party risks.

These are but two examples of obvious conflict of interest that are part of an institutional relationship and how each was handled; both were handled in ways highly favorable to Goldman. The continuation of this privilege and obvious conflict of interest must be curtailed and one of the ways this can be done is by continuously reporting on the subject and bringing to light all of conflicts of interests and how....most usually....they are resolved in Goldman’s favor.

Jul 18 09:16 AM

[La Marque:]

Goldman is still an investment bank now taking the taxpayers for a ride as a 'bank holding company.' The FED should revoke their ''bank holding company' status.

Jul 18 11:16 AM

[Chubbs:]

No, its actually operating as a giant hedge fund, all losses to be backstopped by taxpayers.

Jul 18 02:02 PM

[Market Sniper:]

The hubris of Goldman Sacks is breath taking. They no longer even deny it. They are the broker for the Fed and the PPT. They front run the PPT trades. Their server is parked right next to the execution server so they can almost at will, front run large block trades. Their people have been installed at strategic economic and political choke points throughout the system, a web that has been building since the beginning of the Clinton administration. They have been at the forefront of regulatory deconstruction. They are a huge supporter of Cap and Trade as that is the NEXT major bubble scheme and they are now positioned to take total advantage of that. They own 10% of the exchange that will be trading the carbon offsets, a market that is destined to dwarf the energy market down the road. All their other positions are in PRIVATELY held companies. Too good a deal to let you and I in on, that is for sure, including Al Gore's "little" scam company. Seems he is in partnersip with two very big ex-Goldman boys. Increasingly starting to look like a gangster economy.

Jul 18 05:19 PM

[whidbey:]

The scandal is that The attorney general of NY, or the feds (SEC and Ben B) have not found this business-government affair of interest. Clearly there is ground for suspecting fraud and collusion as well as violation of securities and election laws.

But the problem is GS is very generous with money and talent so they go on. We are not just corrupt but happily corrupt.

Jul 18 07:15 PM

[Sober Realist:]

We'll be rehashing this same sh*t next year. Why don't we just rename out country GS of A.

Jul 18 09:02 PM

[Sober Realist:]

Or we could start referring to our government as a "GSOE" - Goldman Sachs Owned Enterprise.

Jul 18 09:06 PM

[nova:]

La Marque wrote:
" Goldman is still an investment bank now taking the taxpayers for
a ride as a 'bank holding company.' The FED should revoke their ''bank holding company' status."

This is really funny taking into account that Goldman is one of the major FED owners.

Jul 18 10:18 PM

[ain't no fo...:]

One wonders about the anger and sense of betrayal and abandonment that must be going through the minds of the many millions of unemployed, foreclosed, uninsured and devastated middle class Americans, many but of course not all of whom did no wrong except to "buy in" optimistically, and too late, to the great lie that was being perpetrated against them and the world at large.

And now they find themselves rapidly running out of assets, and jobs, and those two most important commodities of all, the drivers of all economic expansions - hope and faith in the future - as they watch Jon Stewart, or this interview between Ritholtz and Ratigan, and realize that they have been HAD, abandoned by their government, their bankers, the regulators, the ratings agencies, and the media who all conspired to perpetrate and conceal the nature and extent of this abomination for so long.

And who are still conspiring to do so, as they reap the twin windfalls of huge financial fortunes and virtually unlimited political power.

Never has our American society been so divided, between those with obscene riches and power, and those who have lost everything by those very same oligarchs' immoral, unethical and illegal actions.

The lose of hope by a large and vital segment of the population plays out in many forms, from economic to psychological, but it has a far more ominous potential impact, because when a society loses hope, it also loses many of the restraints that civilized activity depends upon to function properly.

Jul 18 11:13 PM

[Rey Delmar:]

Doesn't this all add up to the rich getting richer and the middle class having to payfor the idiots that voted for this new administration and therefore more of seperation off class and less oportunity to improve ones life.

Jul 18 11:33 PM

[Fighting Yoda:]

Goldman profits simply demonstrate - 'privatization of profits and socialization of losses'. Robber baron era is back with rejuvenated force - shame on BHO and utter remorse for all who voted for him.

Goldman gets richer and populace keeps losing jobs and homes.

Jul 19 01:35 AM

[kmarkt2:]

Dear Americans,

You are dealing with a sovereign nation within a nation, when you deal with Goldman Sachs. Please think carefully, what your and your Government's options are - do not expect to see tanks charging into Wall Street, like what you have seen, for Saddam Hussein's Iraq only to find that there was no WMD; the WMD is at Wall Street all this while. So, now, you realise that the WMD has exploded at your front door of capitalism, causing an implosion on your net worth and your future generations are already on the liabilities side of the balance sheet of Goldman Sachs, does it looks like its ever going to go away - its really Rotten Sucks for you - ain't it ?Short of a full rebellion or a resurrection of the ghost of FDR, nothing else can stand between Goldman Sachs and your eternal everlasting poverty.

Jul 19 04:14 AM

[Henry L. Me...:]

Goldman Sachs the private company is merely a facade for the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to operate in the public markets. Isn't that obvious enough?

Sure Goldman the private company makes out like bandits by front running the market operations that the Treasury or the Fed wants them to carry out in the public markets, but Goldman is merely a front company for the government.

Jul 19 08:26 AM

[ScroogeMcduck:]

The real problem is the goverment and its acceptence of contribution money, this should be outlawed. Clearly, the more contribution money a party has the better advantage it has to winning power. That money comes with attachments though. Now a party is obligated to repaying or favoring the ones who contributed, even if their failing businesses or thieves. The goverment was created to serve us when did it turn the other way around?

Jul 19 11:13 AM

[curious cat:]

the system is not broken. it works very well, just not for us. the laws are made by the people who benefit. what we need is an ammendment to the constitution that does two things.

we need to replace all taxes with a graduated tax which is only collected once, by one government agency. we fill out one form, period. all taxes collected must be split by them into local, city, state and federal. this would create a more level playing field, regardless of where you live in america. it would reduce the burden on businesses and people, thereby increasing productivity. if obama is so keen on computerizing medicine for the benefits and reductions in spending, he should be all for this measure.

second, we should require that all elected officials be put into a bunker for the term of their office. all their assets should be frozen, not put into trusts, blind or otherwise. they should be sequestered from any and all influence peddlers, so they can accomplish the greatest good for the greatest number of people, not just their constituents. if they truly want to serve the people, let them serve and sacrifice. let them wash the feet of the masses. let's tweek the system to weed out self interest. obama wants to change medicine and other businesses to be a calling. well, here's what we're calling for, some sacrifice from our representatives. the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

Jul 19 01:46 PM

[M-P:]

The GS/Govt relationship is clear for all to see ... per Barry, GS has a nice quid pro quo going ... they are getting exactly what they paid for. The size of their latest bonuses is basically ridiculous, given the taxpayer backstops and the way the bankruptcy rules are applied differently for GS.

The real shame would be if no one speaks up ... I have written my senators and congressman - I may be delusional, but if enough people speak up, it could become politically unfavorable for GS to pay out what they are looking to ... think John Thain and his 10m payout ...

Jul 19 03:42 PM