At least Boss Tweed tried to cover up his graft when he was a Democrat by giving money to charities. The modern political class in our country doesn't even bother trying to disguise the stench of corruption anymore, as evidenced by the White House releasing disclosure statements on a Friday afternoon to hope for minimum chatter from the media. From Wall Street Journal:
The disclosure -- in a financial report that is required for federal office holders -- comes as Mr. Summers is involved in shaping the Obama administration's policy decisions on the financial meltdown as well as the broader recession. Among the many decisions the economic team has wrestled with has been whether to step up regulation of hedge funds, one of the most contentious subjects during a summit of world leaders this week. European nations pushed for tougher rules, while the Obama administration preferred a less stringent approach.So the man with significant influence in the Obama administration's handling of TARP funds and economic policy had been getting paid huge speaking engagement fees by the same institutions they are supposed to be regulating. Glenn Greenwald had some blistering words, but I doubt anyone is going to really give a shit. This weenie-wagging between Wall Street and DC is so prevalent now, we've sort of become desensitized. It's no surprise that Obama told the bank CEOs that he was "the only thing between you and the pitchforks".
See what the others have said:
3 comments:
Yeah -- stunning news, eh?
Spot-on as usual, Greenwald had encapsulated the zeitgeist well:
the "blatant, sleazy oligarchical control of both the Executive and legislative branches," and the "propagandistic, sycophantic and fact-free are the most extreme Obama worshippers in our "journalist" class".
Yep.
And I didn't even mention that the Obama administration is working around congressional rules to ensure execs of bailed out corporations get secret compensations. See Washington Post.
The first thing to come to mind: WTF?
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