This is gonna leave a mark:
Institutionalizing Crony Capitalism
In the wake of the recent financial meltdown, Americans know that we need reform. Not only have many individuals learned lessons about personal responsibility through this, but we’ve been able to engage in a discussion about government’s appropriate role.
The current debate over financial reform demonstrates what happens when political leaders react to a crisis with a raft of new regulations. First off, the people involved in writing government regulations are often lobbyists from the very industry that the new laws are supposed to regulate, and that’s been the case here. It should surprise no one that financial lobbyists are flocking to DC this week. Of course, the big players who can afford lobbyists work the regulations in their favor, while their smaller competitors are left out in the cold. The result here are regulations that institutionalize the "too big to fail" mentality.
Moreover, the financial reform bill gives regulators the power to pick winners and losers, institutionalizing their ability to decide "which firms to rescue or close, and which creditors to reward and how." Does anyone doubt that firms with the most lobbyists and the biggest campaign donations will be the ones who get seats in the lifeboat? The president is trying to convince us that he’s taking on the Wall Street "fat cats," but firms like Goldman Sachs are happy with federal regulation because, as one of their lobbyists recently stated, "We partner with regulators."
They seem to have a nice relationship with the White House too. Goldman showered nearly a million dollars in campaign contributions on candidate Obama. In fact, J.P. Freire notes that President Obama received about seven times more money from Goldman than President Bush received from Enron. Of course, it’s not just the donations; it’s the revolving door. You’ll find the name Goldman Sachs on many an Obama administration résumé, including Rahm Emanuel’s and Tim Geithner’s chief of staff’s.
We need to be on our guard against such crony capitalism. We fought against distortion of the market in Alaska when we confronted "Big Oil," or more specifically some of the players in the industry and in political office, who were taking the 49th state for a ride. My administration challenged lax rules that seemed to allow corruption, and we even challenged the largest corporation in the world at the time for not abiding by provisions in contracts it held with the state. When it came time to craft a plan for a natural gas pipeline, we insisted on transparency and a level playing field to insure fair competition. Our reforms helped reduce politicians’ ability to play favorites and helped clean up corruption. We set up stricter oversight offices and ushered through a bi-partisan ethics reform bill. Far from being against necessary reform, I embrace it.
Commonsense conservatives acknowledge the need for financial reform and believe that government can play an appropriate role in leveling the playing field and protecting "the dynamism of American capitalism without neglecting the government’s responsibility to protect the American public." We’re listening closely to the reform discussion in Washington, and we know that government should not burden the market with unnecessary bureaucracy and distorted incentives, nor make a dangerous "too-big-to-fail" mentality the law of the land.
- Sarah Palin
Stopping corruption, and having complete transparency in government, is a subject Sarah Palin knows a little something about. Above she modestly talks about taking on "Big Oil" in Alaska. That was an epic battle!
In fact, Sarah’s successful efforts to stop the cronyism and reform the energy business in Alaska were so impressive Kay Cashman, the publisher and executive editor of Petroleum News, wrote the book entitled: Sarah Takes On Big Oil. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the leadership Sarah Palin has exhibited in the area of reforming government and industry. You can pick up a copy from Amazon.com here.
We should also remember that Sarah, while working as the state’s chief energy and environmental regulator, found massive corruption within her own Republican Party. Those included were the party chairman, and a former Attorney General. When she was through fines were paid, and some were trotted off to prison.
Contrast Sarah with Barack Obama. Chicago is world famous for it’s corruption. Being a corrupt Chicago politician is almost a given, especially if one is a member of the democrat party. The guy who is running for Obama’s old seat has Mob connections for God’s sake! While Obama was putting on a dog and pony show today on Wall Street, he was pretty silent all those years when he was in an incredibly target rich environment.
The difference between the courage Sarah Palin shows standing up to corruption vs Obama’s willingness to wallow in it, is breathtaking.
What’s very interesting about the snake oil Obama was peddling today is the fact that as soon as he was done with his circus act, he and his cronies retired to a swanky $30,000 a plate fund raising dinner attended by the same "greedy Wall Street bankers" he had just went off on!
One has to ask what the real end game is here. Is this another Big Government, power grab, where Obama is trying to impress the Castro(s) and the Chavez(s) of the world with the speed he can take over the economy, and turn America into a communist hell hole, a banana republic, or is this a good old fashioned Chicago style shake down, with Wall Street paying "tribute" to the head of this gangster government?
Hard to know, could be a little of both.
Michelle Malkin notes there sure are a lot of ex-Goldman Sachs people now working for the Obama regime:
All the president’s Goldman Sachs men
While President Obama assails the culture of greed and recklessness practiced by the men of Goldman Sachs, his administration is infested with them. The White House can no more disown Government Sachs than Da Boss-in-chief can disown Chicago politics.
Obama is headed to Wall Street on Thursday to demand "financial regulatory reform" — just as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil suit against Goldman Sachs for mortgage-related fraud. Question the timing? Darn tootin’. There are no coincidences in the perpetually orchestrated Age of O. Everyone from disgraced former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to analysts at the Brookings Institution and Barclays Capital to the GOP leadership and Rush Limbaugh has noted the reeking political opportunism in the air.
As the New York Post reported Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee immediately bought sponsored Internet ads on GoogleGoldman Sachs SEC" to Obama’s fundraising site. "It’s time to hold the big banks accountable," the money-grubbing DNC message bellows. But just like his crony capitalist predecessor George W. Bush, Obama has relied on Goldman Sachs and Wall Street power brokers to engineer massive government interventions to "rescue" failing businesses with the tax dollars of ordinary Americans. that direct web surfers who type in "
While irony-challenged Democratic candidates like mob-linked banker Alexi Giannoulias in Illinois (who hopes to fill Obama’s old Senate seat) call on Republicans to return their fat-cat Goldman Sachs donations, the Democrats are silent on the $994,795 in Goldman Sachs campaign cash that Obama bagged. The class-warfare Dems are also mum on all the president’s Goldman Sachs men sitting in the catbird’s seat:
You can read more and check out the updates here.
One of Michelle’s readers asks:
"Who made money off SEC/Goldman Sachs announcement?"
Reader Daryle wants to know. He e-mails:
On Friday tens of millions of dollars, possibly hundreds of millions were made or lost on Goldman Sachs stock and options.
Friday was option expiry which meant puts and calls, the right to sell or buy Goldman Sachs stocks at preset prices expired. Goldman Sachs puts – the right to sell stock at a set price – increased at some strike prices by more than a hundred fold.
The SEC announcement cause this to happen in the space of two hours. At 12:00 pm Friday trading in April puts and calls ceased trading. Those who sold calls or bought puts before the announcement made big money.
Somebody made at the least tens of millions, probably a lot more because of the announcement.
It would be interesting to know who they were and what they knew in advance.
As the photo on her website suggests, the big benefactor in this whole deal could very well be Nazi collaborator, self-proclaimed "owner of the democrat party" and Obama puppet master extraordinaire: George Soros.
Remember, Soros made his billions by crashing the British pound and has reportedly done very well betting against the American economy since Obama has been in office. Of course who could forget the fact that just three days after Soros purchased controlling interest in Brazilian oil company Petrobas, Obama sent $10 billion down there so the Brazilian oil giant could do more off shore oil exploration. These were ten billion tax payer dollars.
Let us also remember that Obama has also effective shut down all meaningful off shore oil exploration in the United States, even stopping already scheduled lease sales. We absolutely know who this little deal helps!
For a radical Marxist, who continually prattles on about the evils of capitalism, and "rich fat cats" he sure doesn’t have a problem engaging in massive corruption to help out his incredibly rich buddy Soros, does he?
With apologies to Winston Churchill, Obama is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. This is why he is so hard to pin down. Is he a radical communist bent on destroying America and the American way by any and all means possible, or is he Chicago street thug...a two bit gangster...an incredibly corrupt human being who is on the take?
I’d have to say: Yes!
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