Now I've been reassured that I was right in my initial assessment by this article in Politico:
Lament of the Plutocrats
On a recent afternoon, executives at Goldman Sachs invited a few hundred major investors to the Conrad Hotel in lower Manhattan. The bankers and their guests filed into a large room and turned their eyes to Hillary Clinton.
Yes, Hillary Clinton was the featured speaker at a Goldman-Sachs event. Is it fair to judge a person by the company she keeps? I think so.
But Clinton offered a message that the collected plutocrats found reassuring, according to accounts offered by several attendees, declaring that the banker-bashing so popular within both political parties was unproductive and indeed foolish.
Also barely existent.
I mean, occasionaly a Democrat will criticize bankers and occasionally it's someone other than Elizabeth Warren, but when's the last time you heard a Republican "bashing" bankers?
(Hint: It was him)
Striking a soothing note on the global financial crisis, she told the audience, in effect: We all got into this mess together, and we’re all going to have to work together to get out of it.
No, we didn't! We didn't all get into this mess together. Just like the Glendale Train and Jesse James didn't get into this all together. Pretending that no one is to blame for the financial crisis that was caused by specific people, many of whom are in the room, is a pretty good way to ensure that they will do it again. You're not helping, Ms Clinton!
What the bankers heard her to say was just what they would hope for from a prospective presidential candidate: Beating up the finance industry isn’t going to improve the economy—it needs to stop.
Except no one IS beating up the financial industry. Some people are making the radical suggestion that they be held responsible for their actions, or that rules be put in place to prevent them from crashing the economy again. If that's what you call "beating up the finance industry," then yes, beating up the industry will definitely help the economy.
Goldman’s Tim O’Neill, who heads the bank’s asset management business, introduced Clinton by saying how courageous she was for speaking at the bank.
Oh, I know, because you poor, persecuted bankers are such pariahs!
Certainly, Clinton offered the money men—and, yes, they are mostly men—at Goldman’s HQ a bit of a morale boost. “It was like, ‘Here’s someone who doesn’t want to vilify us but wants to get business back in the game,’” said an attendee. “Like, maybe here’s someone who can lead us out of the wilderness.”
Wilderness? What wilderness have you been in? What game have you been out of?
Dow Jones Industrial Average hits new record high of 16,000 during trading
Posted: 11/18/2013
NEW YORK - The Dow Jones industrial average hit another milestone on Monday -- surpassing the 16,000 mark during trading.
Standard & Poor's 500 hit 1,800.
It was another milestone in the market's epic ascent in 2013. The Dow hit 15,000 just six months ago, in May.
The Dow has recovered its losses from the financial crisis.
Wow, sounds terrible.
So, anyway, I feel pretty vindicated. No, I am not ready for Hillary. NO, no, no.
You don't love bankers? What's wrong with you, commie?
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I'm sorry, bankers contribute so much to society!
ReplyDelete