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If you ever wondered, this is what it looks like when a corporation has politicians in their pocket. Goldman Sachs is the extreme example of capitalism gone wro
by staunch 14y ago
If you ever wondered, this is what it looks like when a corporation has politicians in their pocket. Goldman Sachs is the extreme example of capitalism gone wrong. So powerful they can't lose money and so powerful they can treat legislators and law enforcement like the employees they are.
- bearmf 14y agoThis looks more like US/NY attorneys' initiative. It is a case that has gotten a lot of coverage and they do not want it to end with their defeat.
- Elessar 14y agoIt already ended in defeat. Now they're dragging it back up, gaining headlines that make people ask "why doesn't double jeopardy apply", all for what? There might be no evidence of corruption, but this stinks.
- pyre 14y agoThis is a case where someone has done something wrong, but the aggressiveness of the response is proportional to the size of the victim's wallet. Also, the NY State Attorney General's Office probably smells blood in the water, with a ton of the work (discovery, etc) done for them by the Federal prosecutors. It's probably viewed as low-hanging fruit in racking up convictions.
- fleitz 14y agoYup, but a good question is going to surround why they didn't bring these charges earlier. The more work by the USDOJ they use the more they will be accused of 'acting in concert' and the more likely the issue becomes one of double jeopardy. This isn't about the application of law, this is about the application of political will.
- Zikes 14y agoWouldn't the use of the Federal government's work in this case constitute enough of a linkage to qualify their double jeopardy defense?
- cantankerous 14y agoWhile he did do something wrong, I'm sure it doesn't really help many publicly-elected officials much to do Goldman a favor right now. I for one am not sure whether or not to be cynical and think Goldman is exerting influence or believe that somebody in New York is living up to the responsibilities of their office.
- wpietri 14y agoMost politicians don't really care that you hate politicians in general. For example, note that Congress's approval rating is in the low teens. If a given politician gets valuable future support in exchange for making people think less of government or their fellow pols overall, then that's a win for them.
- ataggart 14y agoGoldman Sachs is the extreme example of capitalism gone wrong. I find it interesting this sort of thing is rarely, if ever, presented as government gone wrong. Not everything based on self-interest falls within capitalism. When someone steals, commits extortion, etc., no one considers it an "example of capitalism". And yet when the government engages in such at the behest of self-interested parties, "capitalism" gets the rap. Quite odd.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jshen 14y agoIt's because the people that want the system this way call it capitalism. If you say "banks shouldn't be too big to fail" you are called an anti-capitalist, etc, etc. Maybe the people doing this name calling are misusing the term, but it catches on.
- jobu 14y agoInteresting point in semantics. Crony Capitalism and Political Prostitution are basically different facets of the same thing. Perhaps it depends on who you blame more: the politicians for taking the money, or business people for offering it. Either way, the main question is how do you counter it or at least balance it out so the little people don't get trampled?