Special offer

Wall Street Has No Clue & Washington is Clueless

By
Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Excellence CalBre#01517694/ 01429652

 

Wall Street
Whatever has led the executives on Wall Street to believe they can take taxpayer's bail out dollars and not be accountable for how they spend it? Nobody should expect to spend like a drunken sailor with one hand while dipping the other into public coffers. But that is exactly what the bailed out banks and corporations have been doing.
High end corporate junkets to plush spas, humongous golden parachutes for loser executives, expensive new corporate jets, private jets to chauffeur about, and gigantic bonuses for the non-achievers. Oh, what's a few million here or there? The problem is, the Wall Street players don't play with their own money; it's supplied by the endless flow of stockholders. So when that pipeline dries up and they are in dire straits they just turn on the spigot to public funds...bailout dollars. Should we be surprised when those in a habit of using OPM (other people's money) turn to taxpayer's (Washington), for their next fix?
Then there is Madoff, who made off with billions of investor dollars. How in the world did he fly so many years under the radar of industry and regulatory watchdogs? But, then again there was at least one industry stalwart that cried wolf for nearly a decade and was ignored by both Wall Street and Washington. Madoff maybe the prince of the Ponzi. This may be the largest private scheme, but it pales in comparison to the king, more about that later.
We are being led to believe that no one on Wall Street had any idea that the junk-loan house of cards would one day implode, just party on.
Washington
Now, let's talk about Washington. All through this, the regulators and overseers are clueless to the inevitable disaster as they encourage and promote the bad behavior.
This crew suffers from the same addiction to other people's money, only it's the taxpayers'. Their behavior mirrors Wall Street.
Consider the recent four star junkets taken by members of Congress and their families. Perhaps the use of government planes to commute between home and Washington. Or special interest contributions to the campaign coffers.
It is little wonder that first bailout dollars go first to their twins on Wall Street and then into their own earmarks and pork barrel projects. They can always raise taxes or borrow from China.
Do you remember the prince of the Ponzi? Well, meet the king. Take a close look at the social security system or any number of other entitlement programs and you have the model Wall Street is mimicking.
Oblivious and clueless, you bet, the whole lot. And now they're going to fix it with more of our money?