Category Archives: citigroup
First Rodeo
Eric Holder’s Wars
Eric Holder’s Justice Department sued Standard and Poor’s for giving bad advice. That bad advice consisted of high ratings the company gave for mortgage backed securities leading to the 2008 meltdown.
Jack Lew, the president’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, worked for Citigroup’s subprime department during the time leading up to the 2008 meltdown. Lew was rewarded with a nearly million dollar bonus following Citigroup’s government bail-out.
In an effort to divert attention from Lew (okay I made that up), the White House released Justice Department documents justifying the killing U.S. citizens without judicial review. I didn’t make that up.
Real Scandal
Politico had over 90 stories last week about the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegations. It’s still unclear just what is being alleged but it doesn’t appear to include pulling down his pants and ordering a subordinate to “kiss it”. That would be the charge against President Bill Clinton from about the same era.
Oddly, women’s groups swarmed to the defense of the “lovable rogue” and, after being impeached, he weathered the storm – minus his Arkansas law license.
None of us, however (at least not the 99%), weathered the storm caused by another scandal with racial overtones. Paul Sperry reported in IBD, how Clinton pressured financial institutions to make home loans to the un-creditworthy. Meanwhile, MSN Money quotes David Weidner, of Marketwatch, saying Clinton’s biggest mistake was the repeal of Glass-Steagall.
Business Week reported this week that, after stating a $4.4 billion loss for the third quarter, Freddie Mac will seek an additional 6 billion dollar bail-out from taxpayers.
Short Shorts
Holman Jenkins says the subtext of yesterday’s Senate panel grilling was that it’s unpatriotic not to lose money when home values plummet.