Reversing its oft-repeated position that it was acting only on behalf of its clients in its exotic dealings with the American International Group, Goldman Sachs now says that it also used its own money to make secret wagers against the U.S. housing market.Nice. Meanwhile, Sen. Scott Brown and the Senate Republicans won't let us tax the big banks to get some of that money back because it's just not fair to companies like Goldman Sachs. Gotta love how that works, huh.
A senior Goldman executive disclosed the "bilateral" wagers on subprime mortgages in an interview with McClatchy, marking the first time that the Wall Street titan has conceded that its dealings with troubled insurer AIG went far beyond acting as an "intermediary" responding to its clients' demands.
The official, who Goldman made available to McClatchy on the condition he remain anonymous, declined to reveal how much money Goldman reaped from its trades with AIG.
However, the wagers were part of a package of deals that had a face value of $3 billion, and in a recent settlement, AIG agreed to pay Goldman between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. AIG's losses on those deals, for which Goldman is thought to have paid less than $10 million, were ultimately borne by taxpayers as part of the government's bailout of the insurer.
We're being played for fools and idiots. Just how stupid do the Republicans think we are?
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Meanwhile, Sen. Scott Brown and the Senate Republicans won't let us tax the big banks to get some of that money back
Because do you think they'll eat the profit loss or do you think they'll have their customers pay a bit more here and there to make up for it?
Think.
Under that logic, why should we bother to make the banks pay us back at all?
They're clearly going to charge more fees and already are, starting with the end of free checking. They're doing that regardless of what comes down the pike on FinReg.
Fear of them raising fees on customers is irrelevant. They already are.
Under that logic, why should we bother to make the banks pay us back at all?
They're clearly going to charge more fees and already are, starting with the end of free checking. They're doing that regardless of what comes down the pike on FinReg.
Fear of them raising fees on customers is irrelevant. They already are.
Why are they doing that? Because they know full well FinReg is coming, and with it comes the elimination of overdraft fees, etc. They're already preparing. My point is taxing them will not lead to any benefit. If you think it will then you're delusional. A promise not to increase taxes on middle class means dick if the ripple effect of increasing it on others still costs the middle class.
"Why are they doing that? Because they know full well FinReg is coming, and with it comes the elimination of overdraft fees, etc. They're already preparing. My point is taxing them will not lead to any benefit. If you think it will then you're delusional. A promise not to increase taxes on middle class means dick if the ripple effect of increasing it on others still costs the middle class. "
So what you're saying is that there's no point in assessing any fees or asking the banks to pay us back because they will simply turn around and charge every penny of that back to customers.
Gosh, why should we tax corporations at all for anything? Why should government try to assess any fees on any business in order to raise revenue, because the mean old businesses will just pass the costs along?
In fact we should cower in front of our corporate masters and placate them, else they will take it out on us.
Don't you think there's something wrong with that setup?
So what you're saying is that there's no point in assessing any fees or asking the banks to pay us back because they will simply turn around and charge every penny of that back to customers.
Again you are not reading, I didn't say the banks shouldn't pay us back. You are taking the statement out of context and making it generalized. I'm saying in this specific instance, taxing the banks is a bad idea. That is not saying they should not pay us the TARP funds back, because they should, and they should with a modest interest.
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