Goldman Sachs' Richie Riches Run, Hide and Buy Guns & Alan Grayson Says NO!

From Naked Capitalism we learn (take notes!) (emphasis marks added - Ed.):

There you have it. The bailout was meant to keep the curtain drawn on the way the rich make money, not from the free market, but from the lack of one. Goldman Sachs blew its cover when the firm’s revenue from trading reached a record $27 billion in the first nine months of this year, and a public that was writhing in financial agony caught on that the profits earned on taxpayer capital were going to pay employee bonuses . . .

No, talk of Goldman and guns plays right into the way Wall- Streeters like to think of themselves. Even those who were bailed out believe they are tough, macho Clint Eastwoods of the financial frontier, protecting the fistful of dollars in one hand with the Glock in the other. The last thing they want is to be so reasonably paid that the peasants have no interest in lynching them.

. . . For the record, in the 1980s, people in the industry were greedy on a much more modest scale. A nice (and I mean nice, not ostentatious) apartment on the Upper East Side, private school for the kids, summer home, nanny, and a BMW or equivalent meant you were successful. And pretty much all i-Bankers, those at Goldman included, were careful not to flaunt their wealth. There was genuine horror when the story broke that Mike Milken made $500 million in a single year. It was seen not as a titanic achievement, but as confirmation that something crooked must be up at Drexel.

. . . if the proles really do appear brandishing pitchforks at the doors of Park Avenue and the gates of Round Hill Road, you can be sure that the Goldman guys and their families will be holed up in their safe rooms with their firearms. If nothing else, that pistol permit might go part way toward explaining why they won’t be standing outside with the rest of the crowd, broke and humiliated, saying, “Damn, I was on the wrong side of a trade with Goldman again.”

Thanks go out to Lisa G for the following "Heads up!" and tribute to our leader against Afghanistan lies, Alan Grayson (Stop Senate Stalling). (And don't miss our undercover weasel covering his tiny ass tonight as he explains how we won WWII in 4 years but may need 40 for Afghanistan.)

Ed Schultz talks to Rep. Alan Grayson about the proposed war surtax to pay for Afghanistan. Grayson feels we've paid too much already for both Iraq and Afghanistan and that it's time to bring the troops home. Schultz: $234 billion, that’s the price tag; that’s that eight years of war in Afghanistan has already cost this country. Now we’re sending 30,000 more troops — a nearly fifty percent increase. We have no idea how long they’re going to be there or how long it’s going to take to “finish the job”. The idea of a war surtax is gaining momentum in both houses of the Congress and with both parties for that matter. Joining me now Florida Congressman Alan Grayson. Congressman good to have you with us tonight. Should we make sure that we can pay for this next military increase in Afghanistan and how would you propose doing it? Grayson: I think we’ve paid enough. We’ve paid $3 trillion already for the war in Iraq — that’s $10,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. For my family, my wife, myself, my five children that’s $70,000. Enough is enough — we’ve paid enough for Iraq in both money and blood. We’ve paid enough for Afghanistan. Now it’s time to come home. Schultz: So, we’re going to be there and the President’s going to make the announcement. We’re going there, so what do we do for the finances of this? Do we increase taxes and where do we go to do that? Grayson: No, people are suffering too much already, but what we need to do is change the President’s mind and if necessary to vote to end the war. I think we need to do that. This is a war that really ended a long time ago and not enough people have noticed that. After the two months following Sept. 11th we’d overthrown the Taliban government and after three months we had expelled al Qaeda from Afghanistan into Pakistan. And Gen. Petraeus said back in May that al Qaeda no longer even operates in Afghanistan. So why are we there? We are not safer because we sent 100,000 of our young men and women across the ocean to a place 8000 miles away. You know the Constitution doesn’t even contemplate a standing Army, much less an Army standing in Kabul. Schultz: Congressman, do you think President Obama is leaving his base? Grayson: Yes. I think that he needs to speak out as the moral person that he is in favor of peace. We have people now who are in first grade and second grade who have never known an America their entire lives that was an America at peace and I think it’s time we thought about that; thought about what we’re like as human beings and as a country. We need to pursue peace.

Schultz: What do you think the progressive community should do if anything at this point? Grayson: What we always do — organize, organize and organize. Tell the President, tell our elected representatives and hope that we can build bridges among enough Congressmen so that we can tell the President honestly this war should be over. And I’ve been following the polls and I’ve seen that in the case of Afghanistan the polls are shifting. In the past year more than 20% of Americans have changed their mind about the war in Afghanistan and they conclude we shouldn’t be there. And that’s what we need to do. We need to change people’s minds. Schultz: If the vote comes up for a surtax, would you support it? Grayson: No. Schultz: You would not support it to be fiscally responsible, because that would be supporting the war then? Grayson: The fiscally responsible thing is to end the wars that have cost us $3 trillion and come close to wrecking the economy. We don’t improve the economy by increasing the taxes to pay for this war. We improve the economy by bringing those soldiers home. That’s how we improve the economy. Schultz: Do you think Barack Obama would have been elected President of the United States if he had gone around campaigning saying we’re going to put another 30,000 troops in Afghanistan? Grayson: I haven’t lost hope. I think that if enough people change their minds about the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, in the end President Obama will be one of them.

I'm not sure I agree with the last statement.

But I'm willing to change my mind. Suzan __________________________ P.S. On a lighter note, from Marja's lovely blog we meet Max Stroomer who tells us about the importance of the 2009 Special Olympics.

When you read the newspaper you get messages about the dark side of life; accidents, burglaries, wars. Although I think it is very important to report on these happenings, I think it is equally important to report on the bright side to light up the dark. There are a lot of people out there who with quiet determination make a difference. A difference in making the world a better place. One of them is Max. He isn't quiet but made a video on You Tube to raise funds for his trainees to go to the special Olympics. Check him out.

Max is a volunteer swim coach at the North Shore (Auckland). Every Sunday night he is preparing his team to be the best. His team is very happy with him and Max seems very proud of their improvements. Max is 14 years old. Support Max to support his team to go to the Olympics and/or let him be an inspiration to all of us.

What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind.

- Cleveland Amory

And Max will be a general of the army.

Contribute to a good cause, friends!

(Marja)

Thank you for this opportunity, Marja! Suzan ____________________