Goldman's White House connections raise eyebrows

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON — While Goldman Sachs' lawyers negotiated with the Securities and Exchange Commission over potentially explosive civil fraud charges, Goldman's chief executive visited the White House at least four times.

White House logs show that Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein traveled to Washington for at least two events with President Barack Obama, whose 2008 presidential campaign received $994,795 in donations from Goldman's political action committee, its employees and their relatives. He also met twice with Obama's top economic adviser, Larry Summers.

No evidence has surfaced to suggest that Blankfein or any other Goldman executive raised the SEC case with the president or his aides. SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in a statement Wednesday that the SEC doesn't coordinate enforcement actions with the White House or other political bodies.

Meanwhile, however, Goldman is retaining former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig as a member of its legal team. In addition, when he worked as an investment banker in Chicago a decade ago, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel advised one client who also retained Goldman as an adviser on the same $8.2 billion deal.

Goldman's connections to the White House and the Obama administration are raising eyebrows at a time when Washington and Wall Street are dueling over how to overhaul regulation of the financial world.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/21/92637/goldmans-connections-to-white.html#ixzz0lrE6ztIC

[NJmaverick]

1. Yet this article fails to mention it was the Obama appointee that broke the tie and pushed this case

forward. :thumbsdown:

[Rex]

2. Oh sure, this gets 'raised eyebrows' BUT Dick Cheney's connections

to Halliburton didn't seem to count in the 'raised eyebrows' department.

Tell ya what, when Obama is linked to a corporation known for murder and cover-up in Iraq then I will pay attention.

[blm]

11. Halliburton/KBR was in charge of refueling Cole when it was bombed by terrorists posing as refuelers

and the corporate media didn't even come close to raising a brow then.

[Rex]

21. Didn't know that, I wonder how many 'events' they can be traced

back to? I'm sure none, if Repukes have their way with history.

[laughingliberal]

3. K & R nt

[Enrique]

4. undermines the idea of Obama as a socialist

why would a socialist be so close to a big bank?

Also makes it harder for liberals to rally around him.

[JuniperLea]

10. Why would a Muslim attend a Christian church?

The RW Obama talking points are in conflict with each other.

[TwilightGardener]

5. And yet, whatever "association" they're seeming to imply in this article

didn't save Goldman from the scrutiny of the SEC. The suit was filed. Not sure where the story is.

[Rex]

8. A desperate try at making Obama look like Bush and Dick.

Even if the story is just like you say...everything was done accordingly and now Goldman will be punished.

[amborin]

14. the suit will not stop GS's practices; naked shorting has to be banned or the game continues

[NightWatcher]

6. civil fraud (fines) vs criminal probe (jail). SEC vs DOJ, of course the donations helped

I'm sure that the 1 million they paid to Obama is helping keep this a civil matter, payable by a fine if found responsible versus jail time for the big wigs.

Plus cant they pay the fines with the money that they have swindled? How does that hurt? I'd rob a bank tomorrow if I could get away with it by paying a fine equal to 1/8 the amount that was taken.

[scheming daemons]

7. Obama raised $500 million in 2008 for his campaign.... 1/500th of it from Goldman-Sachs

Anyone that thinks $1 million out of $500 million would make a difference in how he governed or who he's beholden to is an idiot.

[kentuck]

9. Actually, I think it was closer to $700 million.

:-)

[tkmorris]

12. Wait, someone gives a million dollars to a campaign

And your argument is "So what? A million dollars is chump change". Really?

[Enrique]

13. you should take the 'idiot' smear back

But Goldman was Obama's #2 contributor according to OpenSecrets. I won't call you an idiot for not caring about this, but I do care about it.

I've highlighted the disclaimer about who this includes.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=n00009638

Top Contributors
This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Because of contribution limits, organizations that bundle together many individual contributions are often among the top donors to presidential candidates. These contributions can come from the organization's members or employees (and their families). The organization may support one candidate, or hedge its bets by supporting multiple candidates. Groups with national networks of donors - like EMILY's List and Club for Growth - make for particularly big bundlers.

TOP CONTRIBUTORS OBAMA 2008

University of California $1,591,395
Goldman Sachs $994,795
Harvard University $854,747
Microsoft Corp $833,617
Google Inc $803,436
Citigroup Inc $701,290
JPMorgan Chase & Co $695,132
Time Warner $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP $588,598
Stanford University $586,557
National Amusements Inc $551,683
UBS AG $543,219
Wilmerhale Llp $542,618
Skadden, Arps et al $530,839
IBM Corp $528,822
Columbia University $528,302
Morgan Stanley $514,881
General Electric $499,130
US Government $494,820
Latham & Watkins $493,835

[amborin]

15. Obama got more from GS than any other candidate:

Goldman Sachs $994,795 ***********
Harvard University $854,747
Microsoft Corp $833,617
Google Inc $803,436
Citigroup Inc $701,290 ************
JPMorgan Chase & Co $695,132 *************
Time Warner $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP $588,598
Stanford University $586,557
National Amusements Inc $551,683
UBS AG $543,219
Wilmerhale Llp $542,618
Skadden, Arps et al $530,839
IBM Corp $528,822
Columbia University $528,302
Morgan Stanley $514,881 *****************
General Electric $499,130
US Government $494,820
Latham & Watkins $493,835

[Enrique]

16. I don't think we're idiots for paying attention to this

I think this money could potentially influence anyone.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000085&type=P&sort=A&cycle=2008

Top Recipients (Goldman-Sachs).

Senate Obama, Barack $996,595
Senate Clinton, Hillary $411,150
Delegate Romney, Mitt $234,275
Senate McCain, John $230,095
House Himes, Jim $155,098
Senate Dodd, Chris $112,500
Delegate Giuliani, Rudolph W $111,750
Delegate Edwards, John $66,450
Senate Specter, Arlen $47,600
House Emanuel, Rahm $37,750
Senate Sununu, John E $31,400
Senate Reed, Jack $30,100
House Skelly, Michael Peter $26,171
Senate Baucus, Max $26,000
Senate Harkin, Tom $24,580
Senate Lautenberg, Frank R $24,100
Senate Chambliss, Saxby $22,400
Senate Collins, Susan M $21,900
Senate Warner, Mark

[amborin]

19. the bankers in the Obama administration:

The Bankers on Obama's Team

The latest round of Wall Street muckety-mucks now in charge of regulation.

— By Andy Kroll

NewsletterShareClose this Share Box
5 Comments | Post Comment.January/February 2010 Issue
See More Charts
GOLDMAN SACHS CEO turned Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson wasn't the first, or the last, to use the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. Here's a short list of Obama officials who got their start in the private sector—many, like Paulson, at "Government Sachs."

OFFICIAL
CURRENT ROLE IN WASHINGTON
PREVIOUS ROLE ON WALL STREET

Neal Wolin
Deputy secretary of the treasury (Tim Geithner's No. 2)
Exec at one of the largest insurance and investment firms

Mark Patterson
Treasury secretary's chief of staff
Goldman Sachs lobbyist

Gene Sperling
Counselor to the treasury secretary
Made nearly $900,000 advising Goldman Sachs

Larry Summers
Obama's chief economic adviser
Made $5 million as managing director of a hedge fund

Rahm Emanuel
White House chief of staff
Made $16 million as a partner at a Chicago investment bank

Herbert Allison
Assistant secretary of the treasury (oversees TARP)
Longtime exec at Merrill Lynch; headed Fannie Mae

Kim Wallace
Assistant secretary of the treasury for legislative affairs
Managing director at Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers

Karthik Ramanathan
Acting assistant treasury secretary for financial markets
Foreign exchange dealer at Goldman Sachs

Matthew Kabaker
Deputy assistant secretary of the treasury
Made $5.8 million at the Blackstone Group in 2008-2009

Lewis Alexander
Counselor to the treasury secretary
Chief economist at Citigroup; paid $2.4 million in 2008-2009

Adam Storch
Managing executive of the SEC's Division of Enforcement
VP of Goldman Sachs' Business Intelligence Group

Lee Sachs
Counselor to the treasury secretary
Made more than $3 million at a New York hedge fund

Gary Gensler
Chairman of Commodity Futures Trading Commission
18 years at Goldman Sachs, where he made partner

Michael Froman
Deputy assistant to Obama, deputy nat'l security adviser
Managing director of a Citigroup investment arm

[frylock]

23. i wipe my ass with million dollar bills..

please... a million dollars?! BFD. :eyes:

[BrklynLiberal]

17. I do believe that Goldman's connections to Washington predate Presisdent Obama.

and include appointments by both repukes and Dems in the White House.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/government-sachs-goldmans_n_210561.html\
Government Sachs: Goldman's Close Ties To Washington Arouse Envy, Raise Questions


Check out map of GS connections with Washington and also slide show of people at above link.

[earth mom]

18. Does anyone really think anything will really happen to Golden Sachs when Obama

benefitted so handsomely from them?

Puhleeze. :eyes:

Follow the money people.

[katandmoon]

20. No, I don't. Just like health insurance companies, they will continue to prosper at our expense.

[greencharlie]

22. just shows...

every politican is a corporatist. Every damn one. Hope and change, baby... Nothing will really change as long as Corporate America has a special relationship with politicians.

[Kingofalldems]

24. Search the internet, find bad things about Democrats. Post it here.

Again and again.