Jon Corzine has run MF Global into bankruptcy and on the way he (as CEO he is responsible for the actions of the company) steals shareholder money to keep the firm alive which is strictly verboten by security laws. So how is Corzine treated? Are there Congressional demands for him to be charged with a crime? Is the news media stalking him and his family demanding to know where the money went? Are there reports on the several houses, boats, cars etc. that he owns? The answer is no. The press is barely covering it and when they do there is nothing about him other than he was the CEO. The following AP article (published today) is illustrative of my point.
If the CEO had had Republican connections, we would hear the news media investigating the potential crimes, his profiting at shareholder expense and his lifestyle. Having a previous work partner investigate him would have brought howls of condemnation. When is the news media going to realize they are complicit in these crimes with their selective politically oriented reporting. When any person, regardless of political party, gets a "pass" by the fourth estate, it degrades the freedom of press and our freedoms as citizens. Without the ability to depend on accurate, unbiased reporting, a citizen must act on incomplete information which might result in decisions which would not have been made had they known "the whole story." It is time for the media to awaken and return to reporting the facts and not what is in the best interests of their political allies.
Here is the article to which I refer:
Corzine and regulator worked together at Goldman
Corzine and lead regulator of MF Global worked together at Goldman and on Capitol Hill
By Daniel Wagner, AP Business Writer | AP
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The lead regulator investigating the collapse of Jon Corzine's securities firm, MF Global, worked alongside him for 18 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The two later collaborated to pass a law intended to prevent accounting scandals.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rose to become Goldman's co-head of finance before leaving in 1997. Corzine left Goldman in 1999, after serving as chairman and CEO.
The two later collaborated when Corzine was a senator and Gensler worked on Capitol Hill. As a key staffer for Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, Gensler advised Sarbanes on the accounting law that bears his name. At the time, Corzine was a Democratic senator from New Jersey.
Several experts in corporate governance said Gensler should recuse himself from the investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict.
"I'm not sure what other options there are," said Naveen Reddy, a research analyst with the firm GMI Inc. "Gensler is a highly qualified guy, but these cozy relationships tend to taint the oversight in these big blowups."
Representatives for Gensler and Corzine declined to comment on their relationship or to say whether Gensler should recuse himself from the investigation.
MF Global admitted early Monday morning that it had diverted client money as its financial woes intensified. Gensler said Thursday that keeping clients' money separate from company assets is the "core foundation" of consumer protection for investors.
"You don't put your hand in the cash register; you just don't," Gensler told a Senate panel.
MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday after a disastrous bet on European debt spooked its investors and trading partners.
____
AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon and AP News Researcher Judith Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.
I fact-check all this stuff. Here is a headline today from the New York Post....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gop_wants_to_return_in_corzine_dough_qfaVJb5gf8DYSWTq6Xp9WM
I had no problem finding others. You are making Corzine the focus rather than the entire banking system. Corzine came from Goldman Sachs. He was replaced at Goldman by Hank Paulson. Paulson then became the Secretary of the Treasury under Bush. He was the architect of the Wall Street bailout from which Goldman Sachs was favored and its arch-competitior (Lehman) was allowed to go bankrupt, triggering the panic in the credit markets.
These banks are STILL doing all the same things that caused the disaster, and lobbying Congress 24/7. The global banking system needs to implement Basel III as soon as possible to get these banks under control. Unfortunately, the bankers call the shots.
I would like you to elevate the discourse on this blog to that level instead of fussing over a small-time operator like Corzine. If he gets indicted, that is when the mainstream media will have their cameras at the courthouse. Until then, it is not a big enough story to get a lot of attention from the press or the public.
--David
I guess I was wrong. I turned on the TV this morning, and every cable news channel (CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, etc.) were talking about Corzine resigning and the ongoing investigation into their company. But, with the 24-hour news cycle, the story will die down quickly in favor of more important news such as the European debt crisis. It will heat up again if he gets indicted. Somebody mentioned that his company did the same thing as Lehman when their bank was sinking, and their CEO was never indicted.
ReplyDelete--David
I would love to get both of your inputs on my post related to the players involved in OWS. I was asked by a follower to help them understand what OWS is all about, but that is a difficult question to answer in one post (or in several), It would be great to have additional input to help my readers understand various views, if you have time please check it out.
ReplyDeletehttp://tcavey.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-feeble-attempt-to-explain-ows.html
What many people fail to understand is that most of the "toxic assets" on the balance sheets of the banks in 2008 were not the subprime mortgages, but rather the trillions in derivatives spun from those mortgages. You can find several good examples here...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/fc7d55c8-661a-11e0-9d40-00144feab49a.pdf
The CEO's and top management of these banks got personally rich from fees and bonuses by selling this crap to unwary investors who trusted these raring (the banks paid the rating agencies for these AAA ratings in a wholly incestuous relationship). Then, they turn around and short-sell the CDO's that they just sold to their customers without alerting them that the whole bundle of CDOs was deliberately designed to fail. This is securities fraud. They made a fortune doing this. Goldman Sachs paid a $500 million fine, and still make a handsome profit.
Most "conservatives" (but not all) mistakenly blame the financial crisis on the CRA. That is demonstrably false….
http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2008/09/community_reinv.html
I joined the OWS to protest what the Wall Street banks deliberately did to make their management rich, bankrupt their own banks, and leave the 99% of us on the hook for their crimes. If the banks are not brought under control and the criminals brought to justice, it will happen again.
You are correct that OWS is a diverse group which has attracted all sorts of people. That is to be expected. But please don't demogauge all of us. The typical OWS protester is simply exercising his First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech. Protesters who assault police should be prosecuted. Police who assault peaceful protesters should also be prosecuted. Agree?
--David
David,
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Anyone who assaults another (unless in self defense) should be held to the standards of our legal system.
As for "typical", I am not sure I agree with that, but I do not disagree either. It is difficult for me to pass judgment when I am not there. I can only make decisions based off what I read in the media or hear from others who are there (or in some place that is protesting).
I will say I am happy we live in a nation where we have the right to express our opinions, I love our freedom and our constitution and I don't want anyone/group to destroy it. I do not want to be a socialist nation or anything other than the Republic we are.
I think at the core American's realize something is severely wrong and something needs to be done to fix it, however after that, it seems we cannot agree. I think less government interference is needed and more individual responsibility. I think the banks should have been allowed to fail (along with all the other businesses that took government money) but we can't go back, so we need to let go of our anger and try to move forward in a more peaceful, less destructive way.
From what I am witnessing OWS and all the other protests are losing their voice in the confusion of anger/frustration. To be effective in protesting less focus needs to be on destruction and more on a solid message. There are too many voices right now drowning each other out. At least that is my opinion.
Tom, here is one from Matt Taibbi…
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/the-mf-global-gamble-and-corzines-lost-weekend-20111102
He is one of the best informed and loudest critics of Wall Street corruption. For example…
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/owss-beef-wall-street-isnt-winning-its-cheating-20111025
--David
Key facts about the roots of the financial crisis….
ReplyDeletehttp://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/bloombergs-awful-comment-what-can-we-say-for-certain-regarding-the-gses/
The Wall Street banks and mortgage lenders created the financial crisis. They were the ACTORS, and Congress/Federal Reserve were ENABLERS and SUPPORTING CAST.
There are people out there like Bloomberg who are doing revisionist history. Even worse, the implication of his closing remarks is that we should just let the Wall Street banks continue what they are doing.
--David