In Money-Changers We Trust

[SHRED]

It is a "class war".
It is "bipartisan".
And they have won.

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In Money-Changers We Trust
Posted on Dec 28, 2010
By Robert Scheer




Two years into the Obama presidency and the economic data is still looking grim. Don’t be fooled by the gyrations of the stock market, where optimism is mostly a reflection of the ability of financial corporations—thanks to massive government largesse—to survive the mess they created. The basics are dismal: Unemployment is unacceptably high, the December consumer confidence index is down and housing prices have fallen for four months in a row. The number of Americans living in poverty has never been higher, and a majority in a Washington Post poll said they were worried about making their next mortgage or rent payment.

In a parallel universe lives Peter Orszag, President Barack Obama’s former budget director and key adviser, who even faster than his mentor, Robert Rubin, has passed through that revolving platinum door linking the White House with Wall Street. The goal is to use your government position to advance the interests of your future employer, and Orszag and Rubin’s actions in the government and then at Citigroup provide stunning examples of the synergy between big government and high finance.

As Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary, Rubin presided over the dismantling of Glass-Steagall, the New Deal legislation that would have prohibited the creation of the too-big-to-fail Citigroup. He was rewarded with a $15-million-a-year job at Citigroup, where he became a leader in the bank’s aggressive move into high-risk ventures. An SEC report in September claimed that Rubin as Citigroup chairman was aware that the bank failed to disclose $40 billion it held in subprime mortgages before the collapse.

During those years at Citigroup, Rubin financed the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, an economic policy program, and named Orszag, a Clinton economic adviser, as its director. The Hamilton Project continued to celebrate Rubin’s deregulation philosophy up to the point of utter embarrassment. Clearly, Orszag is not easily embarrassed, for upon taking his new job recently he boasted “I am pleased to be joining Citi, with its unmatched global platform and dedication to providing clients with service and advice.”

MORE:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/in_money-changers_we_trust_20101228/

[Fumesucker]

1. K&R, thanks for posting..

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[paparush]

3. K&R

[raouldukelives]

4. Just like being in a street gang only more lucrative

You do favors for initiation into the gang and then roll old ladies for social security money.

[DCKit]

5. Except gang bangers go to prison. In droves.

Would that it were exactly the same.

[rapturedbyrobots]

6. The dirty little secret of the Democratic party

While the Repubs were busy making their beds with Fundies and military contractors, the Dems were getting busy with the finance industry. In terms of economic policy the choices in national electoral politics essentially boil down to NeoCon (R) or NeoLib (D). Both come from the same bankrupt economic ideology of the Chicago school free-enterprisers...devil spawns of Milton Friedman. And both taste like crap. Reminds me of that guy in prison talking about tossing salad on HBO's Jail Special. Some prefer to cover the taste with jelly, some prefer syrup. Either way you're still stuck sucking some rich dude's ass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=077UtUWGQOA

[somone]

7. WWJD

[rapturedbyrobots]

8. WWRD?

what would Robespierre do?

(before he went all crazy & started killing everyone who looked at him wrong)