Here's what you can expect--
How Wall Street Protects Wall Street
Published: February 12, 2010
To the Editor:
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Harry Campbell
“Irked, Wall St. Hedges Its Bet on Democrats” (front page, Feb. 8) amazed me as much as anything I’ve read in years.
Three times over the last two decades, American bankers have messed up, requiring government (read taxpayer) bailouts. After the most recent bailout, they take the money, give themselves bonuses and speculate some more. They give very little money to promote jobs or stimulate the economy.
Yet now the bankers are unhappy because the president is looking to institute safeguards in banking that would protect the American economy.
The bankers now threaten not to give donations to Democratic candidates to show their displeasure. Instead, they will give more to Republican candidates.
Let’s see now. Warren Buffett compared derivatives to weapons of mass destruction; Jeffrey R. Immelt says his generation of business leaders is mean and greedy; Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, says the ATM machine is the most productive innovation the financial community has come up with in the last 20 years.
Fred Rotondaro
Washington, Feb. 8, 2010
The writer is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
To the Editor:
You quote a top official at a Wall Street firm, who chooses to remain anonymous out of fear of alienating the White House, as saying, “The expectation in Washington is that ‘We can kick you around, and you are still going to give us money.’ ” Then the official adds, “We are not going to play that game anymore.”
Have I missed something? I thought it was the other way around, that Wall Street, aided by the big banks, had kicked the taxpayers around and then expected to be bailed out, and was.
Without the slightest shame, these perpetrators now cast themselves as victims of those taxpayers. They threaten to cease supporting those who would dare to reinstate some of the regulations that were in place in an earlier, more stable time.
What is the message that Wall Street and the banks are sending to the country? This takes their actions to a new level and should be a call to action for those of us who might still have some faith in our government’s ability to heed the voices of the people.
Lelde B. Gilman
Portland, Ore., Feb. 8, 2010
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To the Editor:
Your article about Wall Street’s donations succinctly describes what a travesty our so-called democracy has become, how utterly corrupt and undemocratic it is.
When politicians depend on nothing but money, the people do not matter at all. And that is where we are at as a nation as we begin 2010.
Carl Landa
Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Feb. 11, 2010
To the Editor:
It really is sad to see how hard it is for some people to maintain their political values when their six-or-seven-figure bonuses on top of their six-or-seven-figure salaries are threatened.
We always hear how Wall Street drives our economy and how important it is for all of us. Well, maybe so, but perhaps things could be better for everyone if people (especially our young) saw the financial world more as a means to an end and less as an end itself.
Robert Tota
Fairfield, Conn., Feb. 8, 2010
THIS LETTER BY ROSS LEVINE NAILS THE GOLDMAN-AIG ISSUE. THIS MAY BE THE BIGGEST ROBBERY OF TAXPAYERS IN HISTORY.
To the Editor:
Re “Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Precipice” (front page, Feb. 7):
Goldman Sachs argues that it did nothing wrong in betting that the mortgage market would crash by purchasing insurance against losses on collateralized debt obligations (holdings backed by mortgages) from A.I.G. while simultaneously packaging and selling mortgage-related securities to other financial institutions. Goldman says that the sophisticated money managers that run these other institutions have the capabilities to conduct their own due assessment of mortgage-related securities: they messed up, not Goldman.
Yet, Goldman argues that it has a right to receive payouts from A.I.G. even though A.I.G. failed. The implication is that Goldman did not have the capabilities to assess the viability of A.I.G. and now deserves to be paid by A.I.G.’s new owners, the taxpayers: taxpayers messed up, not Goldman.
While Goldman Sachs can ask the government for this money, the real issue is, Why is the government giving it to Goldman?
Ross Levine
Providence, R.I., Feb. 7, 2010
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To the Editor:
“Goldman Chief’s $9 Million Bonus Seen by Some as Show of Restraint” (Business Day, Feb. 6).
How marvelous Wall Street is when a bonus that exceeds what many Americans will make in their entire life is considered “restraint.”
Jeff Sovern
Jamaica, Queens, Feb. 11, 2010
The writer is a professor at St. John’s University School of Law.
wouldn't that help?
