Its new mission:
To protect the financial oligarchy".
There is a quote that is so appropriate for what the Obama Administration particularly via the Treasury Department are doing:
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
--Albert Einstein
Check out the Obama Administration's last appointment to the Treasury Department. He's name is Jeffrey Goldstein. Mr. Goldstein has a HUGE potential conflict of interest:
Treasury Nominee Owes at Least $10.5 Million for Investments
That is right Mr. Goldstein, as partner of a private equity firm, owes millions of dollars to the firm he belongs to.
Goldstein has pledged $5 million to $25 million each for two funds run by his former firm, Hellman & Friedman LLC, and $500,000 to $1 million in another of its partnerships, according to the form, which only included ranges for the values. The money must be paid when requested by the fund manager, Goldstein wrote in the disclosure to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics."
This is potentially a blatant conflict of interest especially when there is talk of regulating the private equity industry. Oh, but wait - he is actually already working with the Treasury Department before his Senate confirmation as a "counselor" to Tim Geithner. And he owns stock in several TARP recipient companies.
This is absolutely ridiculous. Does this mean that we can only recruit candidates for Treasury positions from Wall Street and the financial oligarchy? What about academia? What at the various career people at regional Fed Banks? What about bankers from the rest of the 49 states in this country?
It is clear that the Treasury Department's new mission is to help strengthen and preserve one class or group in society.
UPDATE:
An examination of some of the top Treasury officials may help provide a better picture about Treasury Department's new (some say pre-existing mission):
Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury:
Before his nomination to the Treasury, Secretary Geithner served as the ninth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he began on November 17, 2003. In that capacity, he served as the vice chairman and a permanent member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the group responsible for formulating the nation's monetary policy.
First, Wall Street practically owns the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. FYI, Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, serves on its FRBNY's board. Funny, he served at the same time Maiden Lane and Chase's other Fed assisted purchases were taking place. Geithner played an important role in AIG's bailout and some reports indicate that he was the architect of the AIG's original bailout loan. At the same time AIG was giving huge bonuses to its executives.
Neal Wolin, Deputy Secretary of Treasury:
Before joining the Obama Administration, Mr. Wolin was the President and Chief Operating Officer for Property & Casualty Operations at The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. He previously served as General Counsel of The Hartford from 2001 to 2007. The same Hartford Financial Services Group that received $3.4 billion of TARP funds. Alan Krueger, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy: Wow, an actually economist. Kudos for this pick. He advises the Secretary on all aspects of economic policy, including current and prospective macroeconomic developments and the development and analysis of the Administration’s economic initiatives. He is currently on leave from Princeton University where he is the Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, where he has held a joint appointment in the Economics Department and the Woodrow Wilson School since 1987. Michael S. Barr, Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions: Barr has taught Financial Institutions, International Finance, Transnational Law, and Jurisdiction and Choice of Law, and co-founded the International Transactions Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. He has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and at the Brookings Institution.... Barr previously served as Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin's Special Assistant, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, as Special Advisor to President William J. Clinton, as a special advisor and counselor on the policy planning staff at the State Department, and as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and then-District Court Judge Pierre N. Leval of the Southern District of New York. Mr. Barr wrote, prior to joining Treasury Department, a report regarding financial regulations: Behaviorally Informed Financial Services Regulation. Herbert M. Allison, Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability and Counselor to the Secretary: Allison is responsible for developing and coordinating Treasury's policies on legislative and regulatory issues affecting financial stability, including overseeing the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Allison is also Counselor to the Secretary. Most recently, Allison served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae. Emphasis added. Enough said. Kim Wallace, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs: In this capacity, Wallace advises Treasury Secretary Geithner on legislative strategy, communicates Treasury’s priorities to Congress and keeps the Department informed of Congressional objectives and concerns. Before coming to Treasury, Wallace was a Managing Director and head of the Washington Research Group at Barclays Capital. Previously, he served in the same position at Lehman Brothers Inc. until 1994. From 1989-1994, Wallace was a legislative aide for fiscal policy to then-Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and worked as an analyst on the Senate Budget Committee under then-Chairman Lawton Chiles. Notice Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers Inc. Actually, the make up of past Treasury Department staffs were probably similar but maybe that is part of the problem. We have a much larger pool of potential candidates than just from Wall Street. Again, think in terms of the above Einstein quote.
same song, different verse
Overall, this is what it looks like to me. They spent trillions saving the financial oligarchy and made them stronger, meanwhile the U.S. middle class is plain getting raped.
You have a typo, ridicules instead of ridiculous.
Can you go into more facts, connections?
I also don't think the Treasury changed it's mission. One could claim that has always been the mission. Geithner was involved in the NY Fed and also part of the original "bail out plan".
I updated it.
I have to admit I totally missed Neal Wollin nomination. Wow, did this guy actually lobby for a Hartford bailout?
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
good intel now
This little insiders club and that catch on someone running Fannie getting into Treasury is priceless.
I mean what does it take? These cats literally brought the entire globe to financial meltdown, and basically almost nothing has happened to them.
What the hell does it take to stop this revolving door, financial oligarchy, idiot mentality and boys club insider?
Someone who gives a damn
about American citizens in the US Senate, casting "nay" votes on confirmation of these birds. It costs a minimum of $20 mil to get elected to US Senate in Florida, and none of the viable candidates are talking about the revolving door. Why? Could it be that the $20 mil will have to come from this oligarchy? And they like things just the way they are.
Frank T.
Frank T.
More on Mr. Geithner
Geithner, Member and Overseer of Finance Club
This article, in the left sidebar, has Mr. Geithner's schedule.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.
RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.