*JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CONCLUDES GOLDMAN SACHS PROBE :GS US
*JUSTICE DEPT. WON’T PROSECUTE GOLDMAN SACHS, EMPLOYEES: AP
*JUSTICE FINDS NO `VIABLE BASIS’ FOR CHARGES AGAINST GOLDMAN
*SENATE INVESTIGATIONS PANEL RELEASED REPORT IN 2011 :GS US
*SENATORS LEVIN AND COBURN REFERRED REPORT TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
As Manal Mehta of Sunesis Capital observes, “And the total lack of accountability for the financial crisis is now complete.”
This calls for an Open thread . . .
Category: Legal
Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor implied. If you could repeat previously discredited memes or steer the conversation into irrelevant, off topic discussions, it would be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
Was there any doubt of this outcome?
Rule of, by, and for the Obanksters.
What’s the point? Anyone paying attention to all the corruption has long ago given up on the chance for justice. Add the DOJ to the list – SEC, CFTC, Fed, OCC, Treasury and our illustrious elected representatives in DC – total and complete sellouts to the special interests. I firmly believe that the only way to get real change will be after an economic crisis far worse than 2008. And the control the crooks have of the corrupt status quo means another crisis is inevitable.
what the hell is going on with the Think Tank? I’m still stuck on July 24th over there. What was the article about again? Goldman get’s off scott free again? hahahahahaha. “shitty deal” alright. and now we know where the shit resides. “don’t worry…the entire financial crisis was caused by a 24 year old French National”! to paraphrase Churchill “never has so little been owed to so few by so many.” or is it “so much to so few to so many” now? and to think the history books used to bitch about “the Great American Barbecue” days! Now we don’t even get that anymore! We GET barbecued now! hey, phuckers…I WANT MY CHICKEN! AND A FREE TOASTER TOO. I call it my “GET A ROASTER WITH A TOASTER” campaign. WHO’S WITH ME? YOU SWEEPING THE FLOOR OVER THERE…ATTACKKKKKKK…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q47bpOCTcaY
Epic free-market fail.
That is all.
I’m out of Ideas.
The Tea Party is Protecting the Criminal Class.
You need REAL Progressives in government, but even here it’s Democrat’s bought out.
Does Obama think he’s going to get Goldman Saches support? Not Likely.
It must be Jobs for Government Workers then.
That revolving door needs some grease I guess.
How infuriating. This is another “shitty deal” that perverts the notion of justice. From Bloomberg:
Collapse. Sounds like it is by design. A bit like giving a five year-old some dynamite.
Future GS employees decline to prosecute future employer.
Obama still flush with cash from financial sector despite frosty relations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-more-cash-from-financial-sector-than-gop-hopefuls-combined-data-show/2011/10/18/gIQAX4rAyL_story.html
We (collectively) elected the representatives who promulgated the rules and hired the staff that protect firms such as GS from prosecution for acts that 30 years ago would have been prosecuted for major felonies.
“I have absolutely no idea what my generation did to enrich our democracy. We dropped the ball. We entered a period of complacency and closed our eyes to the public corruption of our democracy.” -Wynton Marsalis
The “are you better off today” question should be reversed: “What have you done today to make us all better off” would be more on point.
Shit! Now I’m out all that money I bet my buddy that the DOJ investigation was going to yield criminal indictments and help restore order and balance to the world of finance.
We don’t prosecute them, then we cannot hire them as future Secretaries of the Treasury …. duhhhhhhh.
A shitty (wok) deal:
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/153272/city-wok-deal
It just shows the British banks need more campaign contributions.
@billybob
Obanksters? Check your math: Reagan – 8 years. Bush I – 4 years. Clinton – 8 years. Bush II – 8 years. Obama — 3.5 years.
When it comes to selling out the Republic to the iBanksters, looks to me like:
Republicans 20 Dems 11.5
You lose.
Having just finished reading the book “Predator Nation”, this is not at all surprising news. It simply confirms the fact that capitalism in American finance is dead, replaced by outright fraud. Now we will need to see how many DOJ employees go to work for Goldman Sachs over the next 12 months.
This continues the pattern of zero accountability for crimes committed in our society – and not just in business. Our country has whittled away the whole “Zisk vs Reward” equation when it comes to crime. At some point, people begin to seek justice on their own – which may explain why the government is growing increasingly afraid of the potential for social unrest in America. The 1% know their ways are not sustainable, but they will do whatever they need to do to extend their crime spree as long as possible – like putting drones over US cities to monitor groups like Occupy Wall Street.
Maybe a few state attorneys general will go after them.
That’s the only hope.
This is just another political outrage in our lives.
Look at the top of the syllabus under: Regulatory Capture 101.
Makes one wonder if Bernie Madoff’s scheme were unearthed today, whether the protection racket would keep him out of prison as well.
It’s beyond disgusting. I don’t know how people in law enforcement can report to work and do NOTHING to stop this criminal behavior… then go home and face their families day after day.
More of the same plot…
Osborne lobbies Geithner on StanChart: London tries ‘quiet diplomacy’ over NY allegations
Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3b73b1d2-e243-11e1-8e9d-00144feab49a.html
AND ALSO:
Cognitive researchers find truth in Colbert’s ‘truthiness’
Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/08/cognitive-researchers-find-truth-in-colberts-truthiness/
The end of an Empire with a totally corrupt and broken system.
When the government refuses to prosecute those who deserve to be prosecuted because of crony capitalism, then “We, the people” should be able to do so instead.
I say roll out the guillotines on Wall Street.
Is this a good time to get conspiratorial… ;) In 5 years or some more when a real black swan comes to visit, effort to contain or mitigate will be swept away under the unbearable weight of lies, rampant fraud and opaque undercapitalized risks/exposures. when the gov, can’t contain things what will the 1% do then… ref earlier article, Ritholz/ http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/08/bank-trading-and-derivatives-activities/ between this, shadow markets and HFTs were in for some ‘interesting times’
Sleaze reigns supreme at the House of Holder.
Impeach that race-baiting, Big Money shill.
Hey Mitchn
>Republicans 20 Dems 11.5. You lose.
Actually I detest Repub party even more than the Dem party.
Green party = I win. In my own mind anyways. ;-P
One hand washes the Other.
It’s OK.
We will get a second chance to prosecute in the next financial crisis coming soon to a financial institution near you.
It is clear that the only lesson that they have learned is that fraud pays (quite well). As a result, they are continuing to destabilize the system as they still believe they can privatize gains and socialize costs.
Barry, you are an attorney so you have better insight into what constitutes regulatory violations when it comes to marketing securities that your traders are betting against. Personally, I have had a very positive experience with GS and its people through the years, so I thought I would comment to balance out some of the reactions here in light of all the negative publicity the firm has faced since the subprime crisis. In any case, I have always respected GS’ analysts more than those of any other firm, but even their reports, I take with a grain of salt.
Jaymaster, your link is outdated. Romney is the banksters pick this time around:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/index.php
I get tired of hearing the whining about GS. Our prosecutors have more important things to do. Like taking care of this guy — two and a half richly deserved years in prison, IMHO.
http://www.thebaffler.com/past/adam_wheeler_went_to_harvard/
Yawn.
Someone long lamp posts and rope at the right time is going to make a killing.
All this finding says to me is the underlying causes of the 2008 crash will not be modified.
Granted, the housing market can only be ramped and crushed once every few generations.
Distant and recent history has me hoping for a controlled decline of purchasing power.
Perhaps the Fed and Congress can keep GS happy with a constant QE drip?
Enough of tanks in the streets theatrical threats from Wall Street to justify bailouts/looting for awhile please.
All hail GS, now more than ever, Masters of the Universe.
Dems and obama shot self in foot. America , not just the leftys and rightys are sick of Wall Street co- opting the financial markets. GS and it’s lobbyist/ white house allies, nurturing a blind eye screwed the US taxpayer. Obama may be a good speech guy, but his administration is co-opted by Wall Street BS. He has lost the middle class vote unless he has the kahonas to turn the full power of the Fed goverment on parasites like GS/Angelo Mozillo and others who raped this country. Why are no financial executives in jail?
Romney is a worse alternative, but he will get votes because of the impotence of the Obama team..Its sad cause I voted for Obama and have been disgusted by his reluctance to take on the Wall Street predators.
It’s always a tricky situation when deciding whether or not to prosecute your boss…I’m not surprised they took the safe route and let bygones be bygones!
They will continue to siphon money out of the system until they leave a hollow shell that collapses in on itself …right along with all the other industrial complexes that get money for stuff we don’t want or need also…
- military (spend 10 times the next largest country)
- healthcare (cost twice as much as every other advanced country)
- prisons (5% of the worlds population and 25% of the prisoners)
- drugs (100s of billions wasted on prohibition destined to fail)
- security (TSA, NSA, etc. spying on us)
- And on and on and on…
But the banks are the worst …they just steal with abandon and nobody ever does a thing about it except give them more taxpayer money to put us at further risk.
And the everyone in both political party’s will always be complicit or they will lose re-election when they lose their financial support.
And in most of America …”nobody notices and nobody cares.” ~George Carlin :/
thought I’d throw this link into the the thread:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/man%E2%80%99s-bank-protest-earns-him-interest-%E2%80%93-of-cops
“Gorczynski also carried another sign that said, “Give a man a gun, he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, he can rob a country.”
The other sign he carried into the bank (in black & a mask) “You’re being robbed”.
Generally the OpSys is prosecuting – yelling fire in a crowded theatre.
~~
on this threads direct issue – as in Drew Peterson case – knowing & proving in a court of law – apples & oranges
“The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time,” the Justice Department said in a statement late on Thursday.
AS THEY EXIST AT THIS TIME??
“Cynicism is almost the same thing as experience — just try thinking the worst about people and you’ll usually be right” ~Catbert
The main question is (and should always be for that matter):
“Are you prepared for a total melt-down of the financial system, as we know it?”
If you had awakened this morning, and found that the markets in Asia and Europe had failed utterly overnight, and that the US futures were at or near zero (or were plummeting toward that lower limit — now 5:45 EDT), could you rest easy?
Are your assets in a form which would help you and your family survive such a melt-down?
Without such a back stop, what is the point in investing, if all the paper can be trumped by scissors? [rock/paper/scissors -- the childhood game]
HEY – maybe “we the people” should hire James B. Comey to go after them
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_B._Comey
”This criminal case is about lying — lying to the F.B.I., lying to the S.E.C., lying to investors.” Addressing a question that has long hovered over the investigation, he added, ”Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not for who she is, but because of what she did.”
And it’s five, six, seven
open up the pearly gates
it ain’t no use to wonder why
whoopee! we’re all gonna die
Country Joe and the Fish
“Discuss”
See “regulatory capture”. Read Bill Black.
No discussion necessary, the Truth is Out There …
… History tells us that the only corrective action which will be taken at this point will be taken by the banksters themselves, when they blow themselves up and burn the Bananamerican economy to the ground … Financial suicide bombers …
Ry Cooder recently used the term “rapacious capitalist” to describe Romney. There was a time when that term was not redundant — there were capitalists and then there were rapacious capitalist. How do we find our way back if not through the rule of law? Even an unsuccessful prosecution might have shed some light on interesting actions taken by GS and others.
Whew. Finally, confirmation that America’s two-tiered justice system works.
The link between Washington and Wall Street is secure.
OK Mark Carney, now what ???
The very crisis the banksters and governmentsters created is the same one they will keep using as the dire threat which maintains their power. Permanent crisis.
Lots of jobs at the Justice department will be upgraded and their careers will be fast tracked. They can get away with this type of inaction as long as the sheeple are fat, drugged and entertained.
This is the primary reason. The key Senators are constituents of GS and the rest of the TBTF Bankster syndicate.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/07-2/non%20US%20Banks.jpg
from nearby thread..
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/08/stunning-crimes-of-the-big-banks/
~~
really, this is New?
Hip Hip Goldie Hip Hip Goldie….. Lord Fein a friend of Jesus…Let’s get this puppy back up to 200+
“Our government is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction; to wit: by consolidation first and then corruption, its necessary consequence. The engine of consolidation will be the Federal judiciary; the two other branches the corrupting and corrupted instruments.” –Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon, 1821. ME 15:341
Usual kneejerk vitriole. I need more than the headlines to form an opinion. Did they truly find no fault? Did they find fault but conclude that the evidence was insufficient to prosecute and convict? Was what could be prosecuted insignificant and not worth the trouble? Was what was done not a violation of current law (even though it might be unconscionable?) Were they, as many noted above, bought off? Did they lack resources (starved by Congress) to take on a prepared and defensive GS? All of the above? None of the above?
This country is ungovernable. And it isn’t the politicians/banksters/other guys. Countries in general get the governments they deserve. Incompetent, dishonest populace gets dishonest governments. Want to know why things are so screwed up, look in the mirror (except for you and me, and I’m not so sure about you).
Wall Street, FASB, Congress, DA, anyone deserved I’m forgetting:
FUCK OFF!
I am seeing a lot of brain dead auto-responses but would prefer some real information.
People are going like: “they did something bad so they should be prosecuted”. Well sometimes bad things are not illegal, and then they cannot be prosecuted. Some have suggested using some “rubber-law” concept such as fraud. But the rubber-laws basically give the judges all the discretion to define what is legal. Do people really think that the current supreme court (who stretched the rubber far enough to put a personhood on corporations) would go against the big corporations?
The problem is that Wall Street ever since Newt’s K-street project literally have been writing the laws, and therefore none of what they do is illegal. The GOP invented the K-street concept and half the democrats have more or less willingly adopted it as a way of surviving the next election. Few districts will give you the option to vote for a progressive candidate and even fewer districts have any chance of electing one (as morons funnel their anger into tea party candidates who vote to repeal any and all restriction on “big” people).
I know that there are some political realities to deal with (fundraising would be hurt and the anti-business mirage energize the GOPsters) – and the case would possibly have been thrown out of court. But it seems to me that it was a political mistake to not bring it forward anyway. Now they have a serious risk of losing the trust and energy of their own base.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV7yx2y3TtY
Lifting those ipads will not make the arm strong for the coming fight.
Still easier to make money in the market than win prizes at the carnival but now they’re both operated by the same sort of people.
Uhhh…
You can’t swing at every pitch?
Don’t fcuk with me today. I ain’t come here to work?
I just don’t have the energy built up because I’d resigned myself to this inevitability?
How about…When we can get worked up to toss OJ in the can for 10 years for some bullshit, in large part to spite him for a prior perceived miscarriage, but we can’t get behind
guttingstoningthrowing away the keys on one of these guys, just to show the rest we are tired of this and reserve the right to mean business, the world isn’t showing signs of jumping off the hamster wheel any time soon, leaving me less than enthused?@DeDude: While I concur with some of your sentiments about the shape of Beltway politics, I don’t buy the suggestion that THESE bad things cannot be prosecuted (because they may not be illegal).
There’s so many laws on the books that it’s beyond credulity that they couldn’t find ONE where these actions rose to criminal conduct. Recall that Al Capone was prosecuted for tax evasion, not bank robbery or racketeering. But he was prosecuted because they WANTED to put him behind bars. It’s that simple.
And consider the IRS sits within the confines of the U.S. Treasury, which is lorded over by our President’s BFF, Timmeh Geithner, and you have the makings of a Get Out of Jail Free card for Wall Street and Co. So from my perspective, this is as much regulatory capture as it is political (not that the two can easily be separated).
Finally, it’s mind-boggling to me that one of America’s greatest economic growth industries is the prison-industrial system, populated with far too many low-level drug offenders jailed for simple possession and/or small-time distribution of street drugs. This while people actively destroying our economic security and future (Wall Street) continue to have their activities back-stopped by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
It’s as if the Baby Boomer generation has lost their collective ability to think critically and work together for the greater good. Maybe “trying” and “feeling good” became good enough. Too bad there aren’t more of the early-20th Century generations around to kick Boomer arses into shape.
that should read, “…for
rubbing our noses ina prior perceived miscarriage…”C’mon. This is a surprise? If it is, then I have a bridge or two that crosses the Hudson River to sell you. I’ll even give you a really nice price.
The truth is that Goldman was a cash cow for Obama’s first election and his administration wasn’t going to do anything to upset that situation:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cid=N00009638
All these people nattering about some change in regulations brought on previously are looking way too far into this. Corzine is a high-ranking Democrat with ties into Obama’s administration (and probably has embarrassing details to tell, should be be brought forward in open court) and Goldman, as indicated above, was a huge contributor to Obama’s campaign. Follow the money, people. It’s not that complicated. Both cases provide all the evidence anyone needs as to what the Obama administration will do about corruption in the finance sector.
The DOJ announcement cited the evidence at hand and the law as it stands. We’ve had many years of lobbyists getting loopholes put into the laws to enable behavior such as Goldman’s. Part of the problem is the breakdown of the social compact and unwritten rules that guide moral behavior. I blame in part Movement Conservatism and the Shareholder Rights Movement for that breakdown. People who want to defraud others discovered that they can circumvent rules not written into strongly defined and enforced laws. They only do what they are absolutely required to do (after they have paid to have gutted any really strong requirements). And they philosophically reject any constraints on the “freedom” of market participants, including the freedoms to defraud and to engage in predatory behavior.
I think we have a prime example in Romney’s argument on his tax returns. He says he is in full compliance with law, even though everyone knows he has violated societal expectations. Combine that attitude with laws gutted to allow the freedoms to defraud and to incompetently risk other peoples’ money, and you have the financial crisis.
It’s obvious that a lot of things have happened in our financial system that ought not to happen. It’s obvious that we don’t have enough accountability or transparency. But I’m ignorant of what the actual criminal case looks like against banks and other financial entities involved in the bubble and the crash and the misrepresentation of financial instruments and the excessive risk taking using derivatives. So pleading ignorance, at least I will be following the stated comment policy for this site.
For the sake of argument, let’s just say it is possible that the case for actual criminal prosecution isn’t really a slam dunk, and that it could in fact be seriously lacking in evidence of actual crimes (as opposed to bad faith and sleazy manipulative misconduct) that are on the law books, even though we all intuitively sense unfairness and abuse of insider information and manipulations that don’t resemble what we all feel honest banking ought to look like.
If so, then at the very least there is a case for clarifying the laws and making sure that such abuse qualifies for criminal prosecution in the future.
There seems to be no consistency between the claims that Obama is the source of uncertainty and that Wall Street has turned against him, and that he hurts their feelings by saying mean things about them, and that he tried to firm up regulation by supporting Dodd-Frank, and the claims that he is nothing but a total sell out to the banksters. If he’s a sellout to bankers that should promote a lot of certainty and a sense of security among the bankers. Either only one of these pictures is possibly true, or they may both be false.
I’m sure that in addition to the legal complexities, there are political considerations in an election year. While one might think that aggressively prosecuting the banks would be politically popular, it would certainly open him up to charges that it is a political stunt, that he is “wagging the dog” by picking on Wall Street and American Capitalism in order to win re-election. We all know what kind of dishonest bullshit his political opposition would throw at him.
I guess there are a few questions left: how would prosecuting for crimes affect the election? Would it give Obama a positive boost or would it lose the election for him? And the other question is, can we expect politicians to take the risk of doing what’s right when the political climate is so poisonous and dishonest that doing the right thing can easily be framed by piles of money as exactly the wrong thing? Who is at fault here, the politicians or the voters and media who enable this ugly dishonest ignorance laden political environment where truth is not as important as is perception and winning the new cycle sound-bite competition?
Ask yourself this: if you were Obama, would you risk losing the election by doing something you know is right but could so easily be painted as a radical left wing attack on capitalism and free markets? Or do you wait to see if you win the election, and then do what you know is right?
Don’t worry it will all be over soon. Either we elect Romney (I am Wall St.) or we re-elect George Bush III and they will tune up their fiddle for the coming collapse. Or Obama could grow some and fire the GS wing of the government and start cleaning up the country, while he rides his flying pig.
@ Giovanni – Based on what I’ve seen, Obama suffers from the disorder of having a weak identity and being “a pleaser.” He bends to whoever has his ear at the moment. He has no strong core of his own. While in front of crowds he may say many of the “right” things, it is highly unlikely he will follow through. Think about it: He selected and supports a tax-cheat to head the Treasury and IRS. Come on.
They did, however, try Roger Clemens for perjury, twice.
@eliz – I don’t actually know the extent to which Geithner is a “tax-cheat”. I can say that I’ve owed back taxes, and it wasn’t because of cheating, it was because of errors that I later rectified. At any rate I doubt that was the primary qualification Obama considered in making the choice.
I think you are right that he is a “pleaser”, but not because he has no core. I think he knows what he wants, but since he is black he is accustomed to turning the other cheek. I view him like Jackie Robinson, who had to endure jeers and spitting and spikes and bean balls and insults, and even though his “core” wanted to seriously mess some people up, he used restraint and discipline because he knew from experience how the color of his skin affected people and what outcomes were possible and not possible. He got revenge by playing harder than anyone else.
I think Obama, for reasons related to this black coping strategy in a racist world, make him aware of all the ways his enemies can attack him, and makes him try to over-compensate. As a black Democrat he is particularly vulnerable to attacks that play on existing prejudices: weak on defense, radical leftist, soft on drug laws, soft on immigration and defense of borders, willing to give privileges to his homies and take revenge on whites, anti-Jewish, big spending welfare statist, etc. These things drive him to over-compensate by working for centrist achievements: strict marijuana and border enforcement, extending off shore leasing, generally willing to be flexible and conciliatory on fiscal responsibility. I suspect that in his heart he would like to be a bit more progressive. When he has political capital he takes what progressive gains are politically available, but he is constantly watching his flank and shoring up his position in the center because he is constantly aware that his race makes him especially vulnerable to political attack from the right, as Republicans have amply demonstrated by convincing a fairly large number of people that a fairly moderate centrist is really an America-hating radical leftist black liberation theology socialist Muslim conspirator trying to destroy all that white Christians hold dear about America.
So you might say there is a color related deficit or offset from Obama’s progressive instincts toward the center. And I think he is aware of the political preferences of the majority of Americans, and he wants to be the President of all Americans, not a divider. He knows that the first black President would not have the political support to push the country hard to the left. Add to that the limited options available, inheriting as he did the deadly combination of deep recession and trillion dollar deficits and massive debt from his predecessor. He didn’t have a lot of latitude. Sure he’s made some errors, but considering the extraordinary difficulties he’s had to deal with he’s done a pretty decent job in my opinion. Now he’s a seasoned leader who deserves another term.
If you pay every whore in town, there’s nothing stopping you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PkWf9M3rUw&feature=related
The Real Owners.
Deal book reports the public announcement was very unusual by DOJ , but does telegraph to the market that one big factor weighing on Goldman’s stock price has been lifted and may also get more donations flowing from the Goldman crowd. And one larger and perhaps more important observation is that we see once again that Obama’s DOJ under Eric Holder and Lany Breuer do not go after financial crimes/frauds etc.
@bear_in-mind,
I agree that there is a lot of truthiness to the suggestion that the Justice Department had a prosecutable case against GS but didn’t pursue it (for political reasons). However, truthiness is the weak and wimpy cousin of truth. I would love to see someone lay down the actual judicial case for how you could prosecute GS, with success. Al Capone was someone that everybody wanted to see in jail; GS has at least 5 justices on the supreme court who will bend the law to its breaking point, in order to let them go. Most of the law about business crimes require that you must prove “intend”; the supreme court has basically interpreted that as that the accused must have declared his evil intend in front of 10 witnesses (at least half of them nuns), and confess to it in front of the judge. Predatory capitalism is heavily protected by our laws and when the predators go further than the law, they have installed nice little conservative sock puppets on the supreme court to protect them.
In contrast to Romney, Obama is not a sociopath who have no compassion or care about justice for the little guys (Holder I am not sure about). It certainly is possible that our Wall Street masters have forced Obama to fold. With all their power over media, message and ability to purchase public airtime and drown out opponents, they certainly have a formidably strong hand. However, it is very rare that someone fold with a strong hand.
200 West Street.
The name is not even on the door.