World-News

Goldman Sachs set to pay £3.5bn in bonuses

GOLDMAN SACHS, the world's biggest investment bank that is now assailed by accusations of fraud, is poised to reignite controversy over bankers' bonuses by paying its staff more than £3.5 billion for just three months' work.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article7100961.ece



A volcanic cloud over Wall Street

The charges against Goldman could have far wider consequences.
http://snipurl.com/vljh1



Now we know the truth: The financial meltdown wasn't a mistake, it was a con

The global financial crisis, it is now clear, was caused not just by the bankers' colossal mismanagement. No, it was due also to the new financial complexity offering up the opportunity for widespread, systemic fraud.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/18/goldman-sachs-regulators-civil-charges



Goldman's Travails: Don't Get Your Hopes Up

By Mike Whitney

Screwing people is a "growth industry". And a big organization like Goldman has a reservoir full of snakeoil, so it doesn't have to worry about running-low on reserves. Just stitch-together a bunch of junk securities, dress them up in sequins and gold-lame', dump them off on investors, and rake in big profits when the ship sinks.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25252.htm



Goldman Sachs: Too Big To Obey The Law

By Simon Johnson

These huge banks will behave better only when and if their executives face credible criminal penalties. This simply cannot happen while these banks are anywhere near their current size.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25256.htm



The Financial Terrorists Who Destroyed Our Economy Will Pay Zero in Taxes and Get $33 Billion in Refunds

By David DeGraw

You and I are working our a... off, paying 30% of our limited income in taxes. Not the banks that triggered the financial crisis.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25253.htm



Numerian: The Goldman Sachs Credo - So What if We Lie? It's Nothing Personal, It's Just Business

Reading the SEC allegations against Goldman Sachs and Co., you get the impression the agency would prefer a simple world where you could charge a company with lying and be done with it.

http://snipurl.com/vmgkr



Goldman Sachs: the bank that thought it ruled the world

'Long-term greedy" was the phrase that Sidney Weinberg, Goldman Sachs's legendary managing partner from the 1930s to the 1960s, used to describe the American investment bank's overarching strategy.

http://snipurl.com/vmgla



Under-fire Goldman Sachs reveals 90% jump in profits

Just days after US regulators began a $1bn (£650m) fraud action against the firm, Goldman revealed a leap in quarterly profits from $1.8bn to $3.5bn and disclosed that it was setting aside $5.49bn to pay its employees.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/20/goldman-sachs-profits-bonuses


From Information Clearing House

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Is the SEC Case Against Goldman Sachs Being Staged for Political Advantage?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/sardi/sardi165.html

Goldman Could Trigger Market Correction
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers-j/rogers-j88.1.html

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The Fall Of Goldman Sachs?
http://act.commondreams.org/go/280?akid=29.124981.MHAcOz&t=2

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Goldman Hires Obama's Ex-White House Counsel to Fight Fraud Charges

Jason Leopold, Truthout: "Wall Street banking behemoth Goldman Sachs, which was charged with securities fraud last Friday over its role in the subprime mortgage meltdown, has hired President Obama's former White House Counsel Greg Craig to defend the company, according to a report published late Monday by Politico."

http://www.truthout.org/goldman-hires-ex-white-house-counsel-defend-bank-against-fraud-charges58716



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By David Kennedy

Robotic planes now deliver death from the sky on innocent civilians. These are the modern-day equivalents of the olden day thunderbolts of vengeful gods. They are controlled by vengeful and evil men, men that WE elect into power.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25248.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=drone
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civilian+deaths

Alexander Cockburn, Truthout: "As Obama and his counselors ponder potential nominees, the air is filled with counsel that Obama should avoid a protracted fight and should pick 'a moderate' - i.e., pro-business, pro-government - nominee.... The left has put up no preferred nominee, expressing concerns that the Republicans might filibuster. So, why not provoke just such a filibuster with a decent candidate?"

http://www.truthout.org/this-will-be-obamas-legacy58652

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Obama space policy not grounded in reality

Freedom Politics
by Thomas J. Lucente Jr.

04/18/10

As President Barack Obama has been dancing around the space issue, one thing is certain, science is taking a back seat to politics, jobs and economic development. His plan is nonsensical, a mixing of compromises to supporters and target dates so far away they are useless, such as landing on an asteroid by 2025 and orbiting — not landing on — Mars in the 2030s. The 2030s? Is he for real?

http://tinyurl.com/y46haxp



Taxpayers take another hit from Obama

OpenMarket.org
by Hans Bader

04/16/10

Taxpayers will pay billions more due to an executive order signed by President Obama that effectively restricts federal construction contracts to the minority of construction firms whose workers are unionized. That will encourage them to jack up their prices, by shielding them from having to compete with lower bids from non-union construction firms...

http://tinyurl.com/y7tfk6h



The huge, hidden tax you pay for government

Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Clyde Wayne Crews and Ryan Young

04/15/10

Taxpayers rushing to fill out and file their form 1040 today may think their obligation to the federal government is complete. But it’s really just beginning. Although Americans paid more than $900 billion in income taxes last year, there’s a far larger tax bill hidden from view. That tax is regulation...

http://tinyurl.com/y3pqjba


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, Truthout: "With all due respect, we can only wish those Tea Party activists who gathered in Washington and other cities this week weren't so single-minded about just who's responsible for all their troubles, real and imagined.... If they thought this through, they'd be joining forces with other grassroots Americans who in the coming weeks will be demonstrating in Washington and other cities against High Finance, taking on Wall Street and the country's biggest banks.

http://www.truthout.org/crocodile-tears-wall-street58647



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Robert Reich, RobertReich.org: "The best way for Senate Dems and the White House to respond to the Republican charge that the Dem plan for financial reform doesn't go far enough to prevent another bailout is to call their bluff - and simultaneously do what's necessary to avoid another bailout: Cap the size of big banks, as the UK is close to doing for its big banks."

http://www.truthout.org/preventing-another-wall-street-bailout-requires-capping-size-its-big-banks58639



The Whistleblower They Ignored

Robert Scheer, Truthout: "There aren't too many genuine heroes to come out of the banking disaster, but Armando Falcon is one of them. You have probably never heard of him, but his testimony Friday before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is must reading for anyone trying to figure out why U.S. taxpayers had to bail out companies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars."

http://www.truthout.org/the-whistleblower-they-ignored58648



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Reich+Blog
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Scheer

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt397.html



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http://www.lewrockwell.com/raimondo/raimondo76.html

Obama's Presidential Corruption Has Become SOP for Americans
http://www.lewrockwell.com/douglas/douglas33.1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=corruption
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The corporate media's job is to sell confidence on Wall Street's numbers, rather than tempered or even depressed expectations, no matter how realistic they may be.

http://snipurl.com/vjg10



U.S. Cities In Free Fall

Cities in the "Sand States" of Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada, where overbuilding was rampant, are also in trouble, claiming nine of the top 10 spots in our list of cities in free fall. In Las Vegas, Riverside, Calif., and Phoenix, median home prices have fallen 50%, 44% and 37% from their respective peaks. Jobs are vanishing.

http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/us-cities-in-free-fall



Foreclosure activity up sharply despite loan modification program

Banks were beginning to repossess properties at a faster clip despite the Obama administration's push to help borrowers.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/15/business/la-fi-foreclosures15-2010apr15



California's unemployment rate hits high of 12.6%

California's unemployment rate reached a new high in March, hitting 12.6%, bolstering fears that unemployment will remain a persistent problem through at least the end of the year. The unemployment rate in February was 12.5%.

http://snipurl.com/vjg1p



Lobbyists and Lawmakers Bond During Springsteen Concerts

DeFazio's aerie came with 18 tickets and a wet bar, televisions and a private bathroom. His campaign rented it for $2,220 from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), whose legislative agenda focuses heavily on the highway matters that pass before DeFazio's subcommittee.

http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/lobbyists-and-lawmakers-bond-during.html



Miami Beach cops are paid up to $225K and face lawsuits galore

Maybe he has pulled you over. Maybe you have passed him at CVS, where until recently he worked late-night shifts. You probably don't remember him. But Chorens has secrets. For one, he's rich. In 2008, he pulled in$175,651.84.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-03-25/news/miami-beach-cops-are-paid-up-to-225k-and-face-lawsuits-galore/



Why Sharks Should Not Own Sport

By John Pilger

The Corporate Distortion and Corruption of Sport.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25277.htm


From Information Clearing House

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Democrats Haunted by Corporate Ties
http://act.commondreams.org/go/300?akid=30.124981.aB8CV8&t=7



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=DeFazio
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
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Following a cooperation deal with Colombia last year, the United States military this week announced plans to further expand its influence throughout Latin America, using agreements with various governments including Brazil and Peru.

http://snipurl.com/vjfzy


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Latin+America

Afghan prisoners are being abused in a "secret jail" at Bagram airbase, according to nine witnesses whose stories the BBC has documented. The abuses are all said to have taken place since US President Barack Obama was elected, promising to end torture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8621973.stm


From Information Clearing House

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Inviting Torture to Appease the Right Wing

Shahid Buttar, Truthout: "On Friday, the administration conceded yet another political defeat by withdrawing the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, Obama's first nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel - the government agency made infamous by the likes of John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and other lawyers who authorized torture under the Bush administration."

http://www.truthout.org/an-administration-on-its-heels-inviting-torture-to-appease-the-right-wing58636

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Johnsen, Constitution Both Denied Role in Obama Administration
http://act.commondreams.org/go/469?akid=48.124981.xYPIZQ&t=30



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