This morning I saw a story on how Goldman Sachs had hired a legal team to fight the author of goldmansachs666.com and I wanted to provide the link for my readers.
In 2004 as CEO of Goldman Sachs Hank Paulson lobbied the SEC to release the major investment houses from the net capital rule, the requirement that their brokerages hold reserve capital that limited their leverage and risk exposure. The complaint put forth by the investment banks was of increasingly onerous regulatory requirements. After the SEC agreed to set aside this rule, Paulson and his contemporaries levered up their institutions 40 to 1 with Mortgage-backed paper and derivatives. The rest, as we say, is history.
In 2006 Mr. Paulson left Goldman, cashed out millions of dollars and accepted the position of US Treasury Secretary in the Bush Administration. There he led the plan to transfer trillions of dollars from taxpayers to bail out the same Banks he had once worked and lobbied for. Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up. The facts are part of the public record.
The incestuous weave of Goldman and the other big banks with the US government has been well documented for all who care to see it. Anyone who wants more history on this can read ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island; A second look at the Federal Reserve” among many other books and publications that have been written on the topic.
To try and put the goldmansachs666.com blog out of business is surely an enormous PR blunder for Goldman and company. Last I checked this is not North Korea. Fair comment that scrutinizes the actions of big business and government must be welcome in a free and democratic society.
Sure it isn't pleasant that people are suggesting a “devil” connotation to Goldman and company. But if you aren't the devil you ought'a be able to defend yourself with evidence and factual debte not teams of lawyers.
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