Criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs opened

By GottaLaff

Via an e-mail alert:

WASHINGTON (AP) AP source: US attorney's office in Manhattan opens criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs.

About time.

More details as they come in.

UPDATE:

In its preliminary stage, the investigation by the Manhattan US Attorney's Office is focusing on whether the financial giant or its employees committed securities fraud in connection with its mortgage trading, people familiar with the probe told the daily.

They said the criminal investigation stems from a referral from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Video- Senator Levin in Goldman Hearing: The Shitty Tape

Hysterical.

Tuh-weet! Palin lectures media on credibility

By GottaLaff

Who better than BaldFace McSpewLies to lecture the media on credibility:


The media expert has spoken. In fact, Half-Gov McHypocrite never stopped speaking, ever. Oh, except when the media asked her to, repeatedly, during Election 2008.

Hey LameScream McEthicless: Want 2 earn some credibility? U hammered the "lame stream" media 4 doing their job in '08, but ignored them when they revealed you to be a complete nitwit. Change that.

H/t: EmeraldKnight76

Goldman Sachs Messages Show It Thrived as Economy Fell

By GottaLaff

Via an e-mail, a New York Times news alert... while we pull TPC back up from the dead:

In late 2007 as the mortgage crisis gained momentum and many
banks were suffering losses, Goldman Sachs executives traded e-mail messages saying that they were making "some serious money" betting against the housing markets.

The e-mails, released Saturday morning by the Senate
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, appear to contradict some of Goldman's previous statements that left the impression that the firm lost money on mortgage-related investments.

Just keep siding with these guys, Rushpublics, please. That should work out quite well for you.

VIDEO- Stewart: Explain Goldman Sachs like "your audience had NOT suffered a traumatic brain injury"

By GottaLaff

Jon Stewart, wondering aloud why even more bonuses are being handed out:

"Hand out over 5 billion dollars in bonuses to their 'fraud division'?!"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
These F@#king Guys - Goldman Sachs
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Gold.

UPDATE: Great news...

Stewart, Colbert to Stay Through 2012 Election

Better late than never: Goldman Sachs busted

By GottaLaff

I'm trying to keep up with all the news today, but here's the scoop:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was charged with fraud Friday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages.

About time.

I wonder who's next.

Under fire, Goldman Sachs scraps cash bonuses for executives

By GottaLaff

How do you speall Goldman Sachs? $$$$$$$$:

Bowing to intense public pressure, Goldman Sachs on Thursday scaled back plans to distribute at least $16 billion in year-end bonuses, stripping cash awards from members of its 30-person management committee in favor of restricted stock.

Those executives will be unable to sell the "at-risk" stock for five years and could be forced to relinquish it if they engage in improper risk analysis or fail to "sufficiently raise concerns about risks," the company said. Bonuses, which are based on the firm's overall performance, represent the bulk of compensation to members of the committee of global divisional and regional leaders.

Why do I always feel a "but" coming on when it involves G.S.?

Goldman didn't say that it would alter bonuses for most of the more than 31,000 employees on its payroll. The employees were poised to receive an average of about $700,000 in bonus payments.

And Paddy has no heat.

"Goldman Sachs is responsible"

By GottaLaff

I was listening to the Thom Hartmann Show today, and he had Dr. Ravi Batra on. Batra blamed Goldman Sachs for the economic crisis. As I recall, Matt Taibbi wrote a substantial article expressing similar sentiments. Batra's prediction for the economy? Long term: Very optimistic. Short term: After about a month of better news, we'll go into a Depression. Unemployment, unemployment, unemployment, plus same ol', same ol' seemed to be Batra's message, from the tiny bit I heard.

Now this:

Newsweek: "Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have reported huge profits, the Dow has made it past 9000, and Barack Obama has moved on to health care. The horror show seems to be over. But as in one of those clichéd Hollywood endings, the monster in this story isn't really dead, even if most people think he is. Lost amid all the premature self-congratulation is the fact that the deepest underlying problem that caused the financial disaster is not being solved."

I smell a consensus.

He's Back...The Return of Elliot Spitzer

By GottaLaff

BuzzFlash Tweeted this link, and what a link it was! Seems Elliot Spitzer is becoming relevant again:

Elliot Spitzer is back and hes talking. The thought of this, no doubt, brings a small shiver to the boardrooms of some of the perps walking around trying to figure out how to hide the money this week. [...]

Plainly stated, Spitzer brings the AIG Ponzi Scheme one step closer to the revered establishment when he explains how the bailout money was funneled straight into the top players, with Goldman Sachs being the name that comes up again and again. [...]

Indeed, Goldman and AIG almost merged a few years ago, but Spitzer notes that the unknown black hole of AIG's business practices were probably what prevented it. Still, that didn't stop the incestuous dealings; it almost makes one think that this whole thing was a setup.

This is country that Spitzer is familiar with; he has been a terrible liability to entities that, under the Bush administration, were allowed to literally gut the country and its citizens. All of this seems to have been part of the Bush Administration's own Ponzi Scheme, which figured that the illusion of an ownership society, terrified of the "terraism" and steeped in the me, me, me, culture would look the other way while they finished clearing out the vault.

Spitzer has been fighting these guys and asking questions all along. Coincidentally, right after the WSJ editorial appeared on Valentine's Day 2008, Spitzer was caught up in what was an extremely unusual sting. So unusual is an investigation like this that it seems almost like it was a set-up; and considering where it all came from and how it all came down, it might well have been.

It seems that Spitzer's bank was investigating expenses under the auspices of the newer Homeland Security laws of the Bush administration. Greg Palast wrote about this compellingly, and in light of how the whole thing is shaking out now, and what Spitzer said back then about this financial mess and what he tried to DO about it, Palast had a pretty good early grasp on what had gone down. [...] We might all find ourselves wanting to thank the egotistical crime fighter who cant keep it in his pants.

I am no apologist for breaking the law, and usually its the highest and mightiest that fall the hardest. But when the mainstream is showing us the shiny object, we must resist the temptation to succumb to our base natures and try to see the bigger picture. There was never a real case against Elliot Spitzer, and no charges were filed. The release of embarrassing personal information was at the discretion of the Bush Administration's Justice Department.

Why was this information released? [...]

Palast:

Not all crimes lead to federal bust or even public exposure. It’s up to something called “prosecutorial discretion.”

Funny thing, this ‘discretion.’ For example, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, paid Washington DC prostitutes to put him in diapers (ewww!), yet the Senator was not exposed by the US prosecutors busting the pimp-ring that pampered him.

Naming and shaming and ruining Spitzer – rarely done in these cases - was made at the ‘discretion’ of Bush’s Justice Department.

Or maybe we should say, 'indiscretion.'

Bush's Justice Department. [...]

Welcome back Elliot Spitzer. I hope we hear more from you very soon...your voice is needed in this matter.