The Fox In The Henhouse
The fox went out for a chase one nightprayed to the moon to give him light
for he had many a mile to go that night
He ran right up to the farmers pen
ducks and the geese were kept therein
he said a couple of you gonna grease my chin
He grabbed the grey goose by the neck
slung the little one over his back
he didn't mind the quack quack quack
and the legs all dangling down-o
Old Mother Pitter Patter jumped out of bed
out of the window she popped her head yelling
John, John the grey goose is gone
and the fox is on the town-o
John he ran to the top of the hill
blew his horn both loud and shrill
the fox said I'd better flee with my kill
for he'll soon be on my trail-o
He ran right up to his cozy den
there were his little ones eight nine ten
they said daddy won't you please go back again
for it must be a mighty fine town-o
The fox and his wife without any strife
cut up the goose with a fork and knife
they'd never had such a supper in their life
and the little ones chewed on the bones-o
The fox is a fey one and he takes many guises. Farmers respect his wit while they loathe his purpose, purloining their fowl, and leaving nothing for their own table and trade. It's the way of foxes; they line their own dens with the avails of their enterprise.
Isn't it utterly breathtaking in the sheer scope of its arrogance for the president of the United States to bestow upon a multi-multi-millionaire like Henry Paulson, formerly Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs, oversight of the United States Treasury?
Isn't it completely amazing that no one appears to be particularly perturbed over this blatant surrender of U.S. taxpayers' national funding to a corporate insider who aided and abetted the engineering of the largest financial collapse in living memory?
It was, after all, in his guise as CEO of Goldman Sachs that he had oversight of that institution's investments, the underwriting of junk mortgages, not worth the effort invested in them at sub-prime rates, no down-payments, non-existent monthly payments, then collapsed as non-prime mortgage holders dropped their end of the flimsy bargain.
But it all appeared in writing, if not liquidity, that a meaningful transaction had taken place enriching the participants, from the new home-owner, to the Realtors, to the lending institutions, the investment houses, the corporate executives, the shareholders, and the country at large as it celebrated the affordability of life in America.
For his troubles in guiding the fortunes of the institution he represented, in underwriting and amassing a breathless take of junk mortgage issues, Henry Paulson held proud ownership of four and a half million shares in the investment bank whose interests he energetically led.
About $700-million worth, along with the bonus valued at $18.7 when he left at half-year time. Sitting pretty, including the previous year's $38.3-million in salary, stock and options. What more could a man wish for? Wealth, power. And, in case we forget, wealth and power breed more of the same.
But then he had fully 8 years of amassing personal wealth at the helm of Goldman Sachs, before venturing out on a plea to represent government treasury holdings. During his tenure at the bank, it's estimated that approximately $100-billion of toxic, worthless issues circulated into the world's financial systems.
How powerful, prescient, pleasantly willing to share the spoils can any one man get? Having reached success in that venture, which unkind fate chose to regurgitate as a stunningly failed financial pyramid scheme, his past expertise and experience made him the logical choice to guide the country through a massive rescue effort.
His $700-billion brainchild passed muster, despite the gigantic headache it incurred in Congress and the Senate, and he was then free to "save" the floundering financial institutions he helped to scupper. Wildly benefiting Goldman Sachs and Investment bank Morgan Stanley. All is not lost, friends and colleagues.
The banks are now free of those nasty debts, enabling them to once again begin lending. Are there any assurances that they will be capable now and in the future of a measure of restraint? And it's the ordinary man and woman on the street experiencing those chilling, mind-numbing headaches, scrambling to meet a bleak future.
For his part, Mr. Paulson, the Wall Street financial genius, is in hiring mode. Former colleagues from Wall Street and Goldman Sachs will do their very best to assist him in determining which debts will be bought and which banks to be rescued.
Let's hear it for financial deregulation. And criminal neglect at every level of government and private financial enterprise. Oh dear, it's election time.
Labels: Political Realities, United States, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, October 09, 2008
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