How come there isn’t more coverage of the interview Fareed Zakaria did [1] with Elliot Spitzer on Friday? [2]
I gotta wonder whether Elliot Spitzer’s attempt at outing Hank Paulson and the Goldman Sachs scam [1]- will suceed?
It looks like mainstream media will try and taint Spitzer - because of his fall from power and disgrace for sleeping with a hooker and overpaying.
But this is a big story - and I usually don’t write about politics -but this time I am.
It also looks like Giethner is definitely old guard and protecting all his Wall St buddies. But my man Axelrod ain’t gonna take that anymore! [3]
“Virtually all” of the $80 billion-plus in the initial AIG [4] bailout went to the company’s counterparties, including nearly $13 billion to investment bank Goldman Sachs alone, Spitzer said.
“Why did that happen? What questions were asked? Why did we need to pay 100 cents on the dollar on those transactions if we had to pay anything?” he asked. “What would have happened to the financial system had it not been paid? These are the questions that should be pursued,” he said.
I believe that paying $1.00 on the dollar to those ‘counterparties’ (that AIG wouldn’t even disclose) is the epitomy of what’s wrong with all this bailout cash.
You know what we could do with $175B?
Or even just $80B!
It’s disgraceful that ANYONE would think that AIG HAD to pay out $1.00 on the dollar. What about all those ‘toxic assets’? Those broke auto vendors? Those Union contracts, those unemployed workers? Are WE getting 100% of what we’re owed?
Goldman Sachs should get the premium they paid for those insurance policies - and double it. That’s it!
This is not going to go away. [2]
I hope that Bill Gates and Warren Buffet make a big deal of this. Oh wait! Buffet owns 20% of AIG. OK - I get it now.
And the fact that Spitzer would do this - shows that he’s a classic NYC DA - who wanted to become governor and did. But then partied too hard. And now he can use his clout to get back at the scum - otherwise known as Wall St. Classic.
[5]