WHOA! Must Read! CLINTON & GOLDMAN: WHY IT MATTERS! by author of the Clinton System

[snagglepuss]

Simon Head is an Associate Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford and a Scholar at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. His most recent book is The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age. (January 2011 A link to his earlier article, the Clinton System is at the bottom of the page.


SNIP

Why is Hillary Clinton refusing to release the transcripts of her Goldman Sachs speeches? .. What does she have to hide?


SNIP

The larger question is, Why was she giving these speeches at all—and accepting such hefty payments for them—given Goldman Sachs’s record during the Great Recession of 2007–2008?


SNIP

On the stump, Clinton’s criticisms of Wall Street can sound as radical as Bernie Sanders’s or Senator Elizabeth Warren’s..Yet Clinton’s repeated dealings with Goldman Sachs and its top executives since the financial crisis—including the 2013 speeches and more recent events involving the Clinton Foundation—run counter to such claims

SNIP


The Clintons’ connections to Goldman Sachs can be traced back to their beginnings in national politics, in December 1991...,


SNIP


These long-running ties with Goldman have paid off for the Clintons. According to a July 2014 analysis in the Wall Street Journal, from 1992 to the present Goldman has been the Clintons’ number one Wall Street contributor, based on speaking fees, charitable donations, and campaign contributions, the three pillars of what I’ve called the Clinton System.


SNIP

In the early 2000s, Bill Clinton was also a Goldman beneficiary, receiving $650,000 from Goldman for four speeches delivered between December 2004 and June 2005. (The transcripts of these speeches do not appear to be currently available.)

By the winter of 2006–2007, however, Goldman and its CEO Lloyd Blankfein were becoming deeply involved in the collapsing housing bubble—and engaging in the practices that have since resulted in years of investigations and lawsuits.


Read article to see the long list of Goldman transgressions


SNIP


These are summary descriptions of Goldman transgressions, which do no more than point to a pattern of deceptive and often fraudulent trading in derivatives. To get a more detailed sense of what exactly the bank was doing with these trades, we have to look at Goldman’s own record of its behavior during the crash. This record, which is now in the public domain, provides a stark backdrop to Clinton’s recent dealings with Goldman.


SNIP


... the dual history linking Goldman and the Clintons poses two questions that still need to be answered. First, should Lloyd Blankfein remain CEO of Goldman Sachs in view of the bank’s central involvement in the deceptive marketing of securities during the crash? Second, should he, and Goldman, remain the valued associates of Hillary Clinton, with both Clintons receiving inflated speaking fees from Goldman, and with Hillary Clinton performing what amounts to a high-end public relations effort for the bank, even as she styles herself as a reformer of the financial industry? As long as Clinton refuses to reveal the content of her Goldman speeches, the suspicion will remain that she has cast a blind eye on Goldman’s dark years and that her campaign pledge to “rein in Wall Street” cannot be taken seriously.







http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/04/12/hillary-clinton-goldman-sachs-why-it-matters/


















The Clinton System

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511518163

[thereismore]

1. It's a racket. Clinton is running for Prez so they can get more money from corporations and foreign

governments in exchange for influence on US trade, monetary and other policies and, of course, use of US military power abroad.

[JudyM]

3. This is undeniably true. It is what they do. Why other Dems don't care is beyond me.

[antigop]

10. they don't care because 1) they benefit from the status quo

2) They haven't been burned (yet) by the status quo
3) They want a female prez soooo badly.
4) They do not really understand the problems facing our country (thank you, MSM!)
5) Some combination of the above

[ThePhilosopher04]

20. They're also one or two issue voters (i.e. abortion, guns, race, etc.)

and as long as Hillary caters to their issues, they're all good with the corruption. It's the same thing on the other side with Republicans. They're hung up the opposite side of the same divisive issues and as long as their candidates cater to what they believe, they're all good. Meanwhile, the oligarchs and banksters are getting off Scot-free. It truly is two sides of the same coin.

[pdsimdars]

12. Me too.

[fwiff]

2. That's one hell of an article

Or, in DU terms, Why the transcripts matter

It's no wonder why Blankfein considers Sanders "dangerous"

[snagglepuss]

15. Have you read the Clinton System article also by Simon Head?

It is an absolutely jaw-dropping read. So in-depth and well-researched. (The link is at the bottom of the OP.) Odd isn't it, how two in-depth articles revealing the Clinton's underbelly only get published in the New York Review of Books!

[snagglepuss]

28. .

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. There is a culture of corruption that pervades our government

and the corporations that finance its leaders. The Clintons are as much in the middle of it as any Republican; they're just sneakier about it. At least the GOPers are honest about how much they like the corruption, while Hillary just pretends she wants to get rid of it.

I keep thinking of "Slippin' Jimmy" McGill on Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad. Jimmy isn't an evil guy, really; he's actually kind of likeable. He just doesn't worry much about rules and ethics and is willing to do what he feels he needs to do. If Jimmy went into politics instead of trying to make money as a bottom-feeding lawyer for drug dealers, he'd probably be very successful. Bill Clinton has the same gift of gab as Jimmy, and his same slippery ethics. Hillary has the slippery ethics but without the gift of gab.

[thereismore]

6. Nailed it!

[malokvale77]

5. Like lint on ones shoulder...

this will be brushed off as RW conspiracy, followed by demands to see Bernie's tax returns.

[thereismore]

7. Dandruff. She just copied Obama. Funny ha ha. nt

[malokvale77]

11. How dare you imply Hillary has dandruff. nt

[senz]

22. Exactly. Jaded mediocrity will prevail.

[Nanjeanne]

8. Oh who cares about corruption. How is Bernie flying to Rome? That's important to voters.

[pdsimdars]

9. And the Bernie people are the only ones who care about the issues

Hillary supporters, just like Trump supporters, don't care WHAT she does, they're behind her.

[thereismore]

13. Fuuuuck. Bill was a Goldman Sachs plant since 1991.

I supported him... I feel dirty.

[cantbeserious]

14. Bernie Is The Only Antidote For The Corrupt Nation Once Known As America

eom

[potone]

16. I agree, at least at this time.

If he is not elected, I think we are going to be in for a much worse time. Critical problems won't get addressed, or only addressed in a totally inadequate way. I think what is different this time is that unlike Obama, who basically told his campaign people to go home after he won, Bernie recognizes that the election is only the beginning. We will all have to be active in pressuring our senators and representatives to support him, and to punish those who don't. That won't be a quick fix but it is the only way that we can get real change. We may have to take to the streets to get Congress to realize that we are serious; I really think that they have no idea how most people live, and how precarious our sense of security is. We deserve better, and our country certainly can afford it, especially if we stop fighting hopeless wars.

[cantbeserious]

25. When We Stand Together No Citizen Need Settle For The Lessor Of Two Corporate Evils

eom

[mrdmk]

17. K and R to the top for more reviews

Good Donkey, go, go, go!

[Uncle Joe]

18. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, snagglepuss.

[beam me up scottie]

19. Kicked and HIGHLY recommended!

[Israeli]

21. Fascinating read .....

Thank you .

I think you should read this :

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.713790

[floppyboo]

24. can you re-print a few of the main points here? You need a subscription. nt

[senz]

23. Thank you for this, snagglepuss.

[riderinthestorm]

26. Bookmarked. BIG K&R! nt

[slipslidingaway]

27. Thx! knr nt

[tabasco]

29. The oligarchy must be destroyed!

Long live the USA!

[snagglepuss]

30. kick