Spitzer re WSJ blaming him for AIG:"I hope nobody relies upon them to make important life decisions"

[sabra]

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/03/spitzer-slams-aig-wsj-geithner.html

<snip>

During the 20 minutes he spoke to Spitzer, Lehrer only briefly - and a bit obliquely - brought up the subject of the Ashley Dupre fiasco, asking the ex-governor how it feels to be on the sidelines at a time when a company he once targeted, AIG, is once again in the crosshairs.

"I am obviously dispapointed in what led to that," Spitzer said. "I've apologized and in my view have acted in the past year the way I should have, which is to say I will remain quiet and others will step in and hopefully pursue these issues, whether it's the MTA refinancing or AIG investigations and continue to move forward."


"I, like others, also am disappointed at what I have seen in terms of public policy in these domains and, as you've suggested, there was a number, there was a period when as attorney general of New York I was pursuing issues that nobody else wanted to pursue and we pursued AIG and Wall Street's structural failures in a way that others shied away from because it was politically unpalatable for them to address those issues.

"Now it is the flavor of the month; everybody is jumping up and down, serving subpoenas and beating their chest trying to be tougher than the next person and that's wonderful."

...


And as for the Wall Street Journal, which blamed Spitzer for going after former AIG head Hank Greenberg, weakening the firm and, in the eyes of the paper's editorial board, laying the groundwork for its current troubles, the former governor said:


"You know , the Journal editorial page has been wrong on, I would say, just about every issue out there. I hope nobody relies upon them to make important life decisions."


"That's akin to blaming the doctor who discovers the cancer and saying: If you hadn't looked, it wouldn't have been there. When we looked at the books (of AIG), as I've told you, they were a mess, and the board of extremely wise individuals...looked at Hank Greenberg and said, 'No, this is not a way to run a company.'"

[global1]

1. Does Anybody Here Think Spitzer Was Taken Out Because He Was Getting......

too close to exposing this?

[alstephenson]

2. Absolutely. eom

[TornadoTN]

3. Maybe. But he still was the one making boneheaded decisions in his personal life

Plus, it does expose him as sort of a hypocrite being tough on vice on one hand and then enjoying it on the other. He only has himself to blame for giving them the ammo to take him out.

That being said, I think it's ridiculous that his personal life was used against him to remove him from office. We need someone like him in power to take these corporate assholes to task and hold them to account.

What might have been.

[malaise]

4. Here's Spitzer's Valentine's Day 2008 Op Ed

Follow the dates of the Op Ed and the day they brought him down.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302783.html
<snip>
Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.

But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.

When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.

[global1]

10. Who Were The Most Vocal Of The State's AG's And Is The Timing Of.......

their being taken out by BushCo anytime around when they were actively fighting for new rules?

[global1]

12. So He Wrote This OpEd Feb 14, 2008 And Resigned March 17, 2008........

I suppose this was at a time when BushCo was still saying that the 'fundamentals of the economy are good' when in fact they were already hiding that we were in a recession.

[malaise]

6. And don't forget this interview days before they took him out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAn9oRKv5bk

Spitzer takes an interview with The NewsHour's Paul Solman back in his AG days in New York (pre-prostitute scandal).

[global1]

11. Wow - Sounds Like He Was On Top Of This And Getting Too Close For......

comfort. So instantly - a scandal that takes him out of the picture - hmmmmmm!!!

I'm almost thinking I'd like Spitzer to take over Geithner's job. Think we can overlook his dalliances? At least he's not a tax evader.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Oh, sure. Spitzer. Blagojevitch. Natasha Richardson.

All victims of Karl Rove.

[malaise]

5. Any video of the Lehrer interview? n/t

[bleever]

9. There's an mp3 at the original source link:

http://blogs.wnyc.org/news/2009/03/18/eliot-spitzer-on-aig/

[rhett o rick]

8. Does anyone refute that we are heavily into the class war? The MSM is pulling out

all stops to discredit Obama and Democrats.