Umm anyone else notice how the LA Times ad makes an annoying honking sound? Wtf is that? Is this our punishment for making fun of Mike's Hard Lemonade?

yes, AJ, it is.

Now for a relevant comment, Chris Dodd is an idiot... and he's chairman of the Senate Banking Committee... and politicians wonder why everyone hates them

GS gets investigated? For what? Running the world instead of Congress? Boo Hooo

Why shouldn't they question Paulson, you know how honest and squeaky clean all those Wall Street people are. I am surprised that Brian Williams hasn't picked some Wall St. turkeys as persons of the week.

you know who used to be on the senate banking committee? bess's favorite former senator.

About time .... too bad they won't do anything.

It amazes me that there are people that actually believe GS tries to make money for clients instead of just frontrunning them.

True, they act as if this is some sort of amazing revelation.

Like "whoaaaa hold the phone, GS made money at their clients' expense, whoaaaa noooo wayyy!"

Yea better that GS runs its business like Merrill or Citi. Then maybe sell out a it's foot or arm to Dhubai.

Wall Street exists to help people raise money or sell stuff, and also, to make money in the process.

So providing the money for mortgage firms to make mortgages, and then, selling the collaterilized assets to others who wanted to buy them, while at the same time, hedging out any risk, or trying to profit, is not corrupt.

There are two groups who deserve most of the blame. Joe Blow down the street who was perfectly willing to take on a mortgage that stretched his income limits (while lying about income), and the mortgage people pushing to do deals without due diligence.

If there is a governmental firing squad, those two groups should be at the forefront.

Dodd wants to arrest the pimps and let the hookers and johns go free.

Oh Finn, how little you understand. Don't worry, I once thought the way you do. In time, you'll learn.

Regardless of the merits of Ben Stein's specific charge, there is a related, broader charge against Treasury Secretary Paulson that is indisputable: his conflict of interest in dealing with Goldman Sachs. It is in the Treasury Secretary's role as regulator and investigator of potential wrongdoing and criminal acts at Goldman Sachs that Paulson has an indisputable conflict of interest. Can Treasury Secretary Paulson be expected to investigate and refer for prosecution Goldman Sachs CEO Paulson? Mr. Paulson has a blatant conflict of interest. He is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Public confidence in the banking system will only be restored after vigorous investigation and punishment of the guilty by federal prosecutors of the biggest financial scandal in U.S. history.

last time I checked all these wall st banks offer securities on their brokerage side that their research side may be bearish on. Will Dodd shut them all down?

the govt needs to look at the mortgage brokers and stop wasting time

finn-

but the banks who took those "bad loans" and leveraged themselves into near oblivion (by a factor of about 20x in some cases) are completely innocent??. They are the reason that the credit market is locked up.

Just keep blaming the individual as most who do fail to understand what is really going on....socialism for the banks.

Paulson was the enabler of the system that allowed this packaging of risk and offloading (they thought!!) to the next person. He has benefited handsomely from it and now he has to "fix" the problem that he was paid millions of dollars to enhance.

Conflict of Interest beyond any reasonable doubt.

Finn,

If I read your blog commentary on "Jesus" coming in the form of gov't to save the mortgage correctly then let's go back a couple of steps. (See Finn's blog by clicking on his name in post above.)

Using your theological analogy:
GS = the snake
Mortgage industry = Eve
Joe Blow = Adam
Subprime as the apple

Your argument is that everyone got what they deserve because Adam should have known better. Completely his fault for falling for temptation.

I think Cayne needs to move to DC. Everyone there is smoking some DAMN good pot.

Lol.. Congress if full of cartoons what took them so long.. Don't they have un-doctored intel on these things.. Dodd will get a campaign donation and he will be all cheerly about the great forces of the markets and how the govt is going to help those victims of markets downside (read GS)

Good thing this blog has people who can see through Dodd and Paulson.

Socialism is an understatement...