Is Larry Summers Taking Kickbacks From the Banks He's Bailing Out?

[ensho]

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/140327/is_larry_summers_taking_kickbacks_from_the_banks_he%27s_bailing_out/


Why did Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley steer millions to a company Larry Summers directed while he administered "stress tests" on them?


-snip-

Last month, a little-known company where Summers served on the board of directors received a $42 million investment from a group of investors, including three banks that Summers, Obama’s effective “economy czar,” has been doling out billions in bailout money to: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. The banks invested into the small startup company, Revolution Money, right at the time when Summers was administering the “stress test” to these same banks.

A month after they invested in Summers’ former company, all three banks came out of the stress test much better than anyone expected -- thanks to the fact that the banks themselves were allowed to help decide how bad their problems were (Citigroup “negotiated” down its financial hole from $35 billion to $5.5 billion.)

-snip-

Last month, it was revealed that Summers, whom President Obama appointed to essentially run the economy from his perch in the National Economic Council, earned nearly $8 million in 2008 from Wall Street banks, some of which, like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, were now receiving tens of billions of taxpayer funds from the same Larry Summers. It turns out now that those two banks have continued paying into Summers-related businesses.

According to filings obtained for this story, Summers first joined the board of directors of Revolution Money back in 2006 (when it was called “GratisCard”), the same year that Summers was forced to resign as president of Harvard after his disastrous tenure. Revolution Money/GratisCard was a startup headed by former AOL chief Steve Case. Revolution Money billed itself as the Next Big Thing in online payment, “PayPal meets Mastercard,” according to their own pitch.

-long snip detailing his scams-

Everything about Summers, from his horrible track record in the developing world in the 1990s to the sleaze and plunder he’s overseeing in the White House should make us terrified. Hell, he even looks like some old Batman villain: Summers, whose trademark bullfrog neck was enough of a distraction before Obama brought him into the White House, has seen his gelatinous layers of neck-fat swell up like an amphibian guarding its eggs ever since he took control of the economy.

Get this monster out of the White House now, before he devours us all.
-----------------------------------


maybe they are letting him cook his own goose

we can only hope

[Teaser]

1. oh yeah, he is a monster. A real hitler. He keeps murdering thousands upon thousands

.

[aquart]

3. Guess what, genius?

Financial crimes kill. They kill economies. They kill hope. They kill families. Just because "white collar" crimes are treated more lightly that the so-called violent ones doesn't mean they do less damage. They do more.

And thousands upon thousands ARE going to die because of the financial crimes made legal in the last ten to twenty years.

[w4rma]

2. Good grief, can we get rid of him, yet? Those two have been disasters. (nt)

[ljm2002]

4. Outrageous...

...and illustrates how, for a certain class -- the political / financial / ruling class -- the idea of "conflict of interest" has become "quaint", much as the Geneva Conventions were declared "quaint" by the Bush administration.

Sadly, the population -- and I do include nearly all of us: right, left and center -- has become so apathetic / complacent / cynical as to be psychologically incapable of the outrage that would be necessary to rebel against the corruption that is at the heart of our society.

Wondering if We The People will ever reclaim our status as "citizens" instead of "consumers". Not looking good at the moment.

[sixmile]

5. I've got some news for you:

There's kickbacks EVERYWHERE up and down the money chain. So many financial guys are getting rich off our money right now it's amazing we haven't brought back the guillotine and the pillory (well not that amazing, actually).

No money changes hands without someone making a fee, vig, juice or commission in the financial sector. I would love to see some journalist take this further.