Huffington Post is
reporting a finding from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that Goldman Sachs received at least $2.9 billion through some sort of backdoor chicanery from the AIG bailout monies. Because this is just breaking news, I will follow-up when there is more definitive news about this, but if true, taxpayers who funded this bailout were taken for a ride again. I am tired of hearing that the deals are legal. Where is the fairness and who will protect us? Are ethics any part of American big business dealings? Here is part of the story:
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“…Goldman--the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history--benefited directly from the massive emergency bailout of the nation's financial system,…”
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who led the New York Fed at the time the AIG rescue was crafted, later told Congress that a collapse risked "large and unpredictable global losses with systemic consequences--destabilizing already weakened financial markets, further undermining confidence in the economy, and constricting the flow of credit." Both the New York Fed and Treasury declined to comment. Analysts say such fears caused the officials who crafted the bailout to lean heavily toward speed and size, while failing to factor in fairness. "At the time, the idea was the sucker could go down because there wasn't enough liquidity in the system, money wasn't moving, and you could see a domino effect," said Ann Rutledge, a principal at R&R Consulting in New York, which specializes in structured finance. In reality, she contends, those fears were overblown: There was ample money in the financial system.
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