Just in case you thought Obama was going to
rid Washington of insider cronyism:
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.; Citigroup board member
Robert E. Rubin; and Timothy F. Geithner, the president of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, have for years followed one
another in and out of jobs in government and industry. Their
close relationships helped pave the way for one of the largest
and most dramatic government interventions to date in the
financial crisis. . . . The bailout came only days after Paulson
made comments that many in the financial markets took to mean
that he would leave any future bailouts to the Obama
administration. But once Citigroup's stock price plunged 60
percent last week, Rubin, an old colleague from Goldman Sachs,
told Paulson in phone calls that the government had to act,
according to industry sources familiar with their discussions.
Geithner, too, shared a close relationship with the pair. He
worked for Rubin at the Treasury Department in the 1990s and now
is President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to follow Paulson as
Treasury secretary. As Citigroup's lead regulator, Geithner was
deeply involved in the rescue of the firm, participating in
meetings and conference calls with Paulson through the weekend.
He did, however, withdraw from direct interactions with Rubin and
other Citigroup leaders in these negotiations after his name was
leaked as Obama's nominee, according to people familiar with the
discussions.
You voted for Hope. You got Goldman Sachs.
UPDATE: A friend writes:
It doesn't matter who you vote for. You always get Goldman
Sachs. As someone famous is reputed to have said to Nelson
Rockerfeller, "Why do want to run the country? You already own
it."
Indeed, but you'd think that voters would eventually see through
the liberal class-warfare charade. But if it weren't for gullible
voters, where would the Democratic Party be?
