Could Goldman Sachs be the Next “Major Threat to Homeland Security?

February 18th, 2010- by Sam Rosenfeld 

There have been a range of allegations in newspapers recently, not least in the New York Times. The role of Goldman Sachs in the downfall of AIG and their profiteering from it, their financial engineering of the Greek debt, and then shorting as a result of their knowledge and other allegations, all contribute to the image of Goldman Sachs as an organization committed only to their bottom line with no thought for their country, Main Street or the welfare of anyone but themselves.

Goldman Sachs stand by every action they take as being both legal and in the interest of their employees and shareholders. An investment bank with their influence everywhere, their profit margins and bonuses are driven both by advising and market participation. The reports about the AIG relationship are that their active reluctance to seek a third party valuation and setting low valuations on arrangements with AIG hastened AIG's demise. Not only did these acts hasten AIG's demise, but a percentage of those funds went to GS to settle obligations – obligations that have since significantly increased in value, making GS more money on the backs of the taxpayer.

Just as Eric Prince (Blackwater) was perceived to have influence at court through his relationship to the Republican Party and the White House, so Goldman Sachs is perceived to have influence through the penetration of its alumni into government – the joke "Government Sachs" isn't so much a joke as a loose description.  Hank Paulson ran Goldman Sachs, Tim Geithner came from there, as did Neal Kashkari, who ran the original TARP fund. It does not take a conspiracy nut to argue just how much GS profited from the decisions of the organizations, "off the taxpayer's back."

 
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