Guest Post by Wil Martindale of Let Them Fail
Bob Beckel literally read my mind this morning when he emphasized that, among other things, John Corzine’s role as former Chairman at Goldman Sachs DID NOT help his numbers in his bid for re-election.
Though New Jersey-ans are taxed to death already and up to their ears in debt, the association is clearly being made that Wall Street’s brand of government is a load-up-on-debt-and-tax-to-death government by design – and it’s coming to YOUR State, if it’s not there already.
At least that’s what Obama is pushing, if his close alliance with Corzine and subsequent failure to boost his image is any indication.
The letters “G.S.” are becoming Scarlet Letters of shame, and I hope the stigma of being associated with this den of royalist thieves impacts the lives of people like:
Adam Storch: Appointed the SEC’s first Chief Operating Officer on Oct. 15, 2009. This branch of government regulates the securitization industry, including mortgage backed CDO’s and related derivative products. The 29 year old Storch comes directly from Goldman Sach’s business intelligence unit.
Henry Paulson: Served as Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush. Was CEO of Goldman from 1999 to 2006.
Robert Rubin: Served as Treasury Secretary under President Clinton. Previously, he was co-chairman of Goldman from 1990 to 1992.
Robert K. Steel: Served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, the principal adviser to the secretary on matters of domestic finance and led the department’s activities with respect to the domestic financial system, fiscal policy and operations, governmental assets and liabilities, and related economic and financial matters. Retired from Goldman as a vice chairman of the firm in 2004, where he worked as head of equities for Europe and head of the Equities Division in New York.
Mark Patterson: Chief of Staff to Secretary Tim Geithner. Was director of government affairs at Goldman.
Dan Jester: Key adviser to Geithner, who played a key role in shaping the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Was strategic officer at Goldman.
Kendrick Wilson: Brought in to advise former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, another Goldman alum — after a personal call from his old Harvard Business School classmate, George W. Bush — to advise him on how to fix the financial markets. Paulson brought Wilson to Goldman in 1998 from Lazard Freres. Before that, Wilson was president of Ranieri & Co., which was established by Lew Ranieri. While at Salomon Brothers in the 1970s, Ranieri pioneered mortgage-backed securities, the exotic financial instruments that helped stoke the mortgage bubble. In other words, the man brought in to fend off a financial crisis appears to be a protege of one of the men who helped cause it. Was senior investment banker at Goldman.
Neel T. Kashkari: Appointed by Paulson to oversee the $700 billion TARP fund and was considered Paulson’s right hand man during the crisis, all at the tender age of 35. Kashkari was criticized for the lack of oversight of the funds disbursement, which he said would have been impossible since the cash is fungible. This assertion has been largely refuted by Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Kashkari was also responsible for recruiting Reuben Jeffrey. Was technology investment banker for Goldman in San Francisco from 2004 to 2006.
Reuben Jeffrey: Selected by fellow Goldman alum Kashkari as the interim chief investment officer for the bailout. He was formerly the chairman of the CFTC, a role currently held by fellow Goldmanite Gary Gensler, as well as Under Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs. Was executive for 18 years at Goldman, beginning in 1983.
Edward C. Forst: Left his post as executive vice president at Harvard to serve as an advisor on setting up TARP, but has since returned to the school. Was global head of the Investment Management Division at Goldman for 14 years.
William Dudley: President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Was former chief economist and advisory director at Goldman where he worked from 1986 to 2007.
Stephen Friedman: Was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until May 2009, when he was pressured to resign after buying Goldman shares in December and January. Previously, he was director of President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council. Joined Goldman in 1966 and was co-chairman from 1990 to 1994.
Gary Gensler: Appointed by Obama to head the CFTC. This was the commission headed by Brooksley Born in the late 1990’s, when Alan Greenspan, Larry Summers and Robert Rubin overruled her attempts to regulate credit-default swaps; fellow Goldmanite Reuben Jeffrey also held this position. Gensler worked in the Treasury Department as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1997-1999 and as Under Secretary from 1999-2001, a position he received from Larry Summers. Was partner in Goldman from 1979-1996
Joshua Bolten: Former chief of staff with the Bush administration as well as former director of the Office of Management and Budget until 2006. Was executive director of Government Affairs for Goldman Sachs from 1994 to 1999. Bolten was instrumental in recruiting his fellow Goldman alum Henry Paulson as Treasury Secretary.
Jon Corzine: A strong supporter and political ally of Obama, Corzine is now former governor of New Jersey. Before being elected governor, he served as the New Jersey representative to the U.S. Congress from 2001-2006, where he served on the Banking and Budget Committees. Began working for Goldman in 1975 and worked his way up to chairman and co-CEO before being pushed out in 1998.
Robert Zoellick: Currently serves as president of the World Bank and previously was deputy secretary of state. Was previously a managing director at Goldman, which he joined in 2006.
James Johnson: Was involved in the vice-presidential selection process for the Obama campaign and served as president and CEO of Fannie Mae. Board member of Goldman.
Richard Gephardt: Was House Majority Leader from 1989 to 1995 and House Minority Leader from 1995 to 2003. His lobbying firm was hired by Goldman to represent its interests on issues related to TARP.
Read the rest of the names HERE
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