Fragen? Antworten! Siehe auch: Alternativlos
What's most striking about Jeffery's résumé, however, is an item omitted when his new job was announced: He served as executive director of Paul Bremer's infamous Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, during the early days of the Iraq War. Part of his job was to hire civilian staff, which made him an integral part of the partisan machine that filled the Green Zone with Young Republicans, investment bankers and Dick Cheney interns. Qualifications weren't a big issue back then, because the staff's main function was to hand over stacks of taxpayer money to private contractors, who were the ones actually running the occupation. It was this nonstop cash conveyor belt that earned the Green Zone a reputation, in the words of one CPA official, as "a free-fraud zone." During Senate hearings last year, when Jeffery was asked what he had learned from his experience at the CPA, he said he thought that contracts should be handed out with more "speed and flexibility" — the same philosophy he cited back when he was in charge of regulating Wall Street traders.
Muhahahaha, die BESTEN der BESTEN der BESTEN, SIR! Den haben sie wohl inzwischen gecancelt, aber es geht munter weiter:Fittingly, one of the first to line up at the new trough was none other than the law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani — yes, that Giuliani. The firm's chairman, Patrick Oxford, could scarcely conceal his glee over the prospect of cashing in on the bailout. "This one," he told reporters, "is very, very big." At least four times bigger, in fact, than the post-9/11 homeland-security bubble, from which Giuliani and his various outfits have profited so extravagantly. Even bigger, potentially, than the price tag for the Iraq War itself.
Und das ist alles nur Seite 1. Es geht bis 5. Auch die "Ausschreibung" für das Bailout-Management lief genau so, wie man sich das vorstellt:Private companies wanting to help manage the bailout were given just two days to apply for massive, multiyear contracts. Since it was such a mad rush — after all, the entire economy was about to implode — there was no time for an open bidding process. Nor was there time to draft rigorous rules to make sure that those applying don't have serious conflicts of interest. Instead, applicants were asked to disclose their conflicts and to explain — and this is not a joke — their "philosophy in fulfilling your duty to the Treasury and the U.S. taxpayer in light of your proprietary interests and those of other clients." In other words, an open invitation to bullshit about how much they love their country and how they can be trusted to regulate themselves.
Bwahahaha, wunderbar! Und es geht weiter und weiter und weiter so. Lest euch das mal komplett durch. Unterhaltung für einen ganzen Winterabend!OK, ich kann nicht anders. Noch ein Zitat:
Secretary Paulson promised that the banks won't just "hoard" the money — they will quickly "deploy it" through the economy in the form of badly needed loans. There is just one hitch: Neither Paulson nor Simpson Thacher got that "deploy" part in writing — nor did they put in place any mechanism to require the banks to spend their taxpayer billions. Apparently, the part about lending the money to homeowners and small businesses was sort of implied."There is no obligation for banks to lend the money one way or the other," Jennifer Zuccarelli, a Treasury spokeswoman, tells Rolling Stone. "But the banks have the understanding" that the money is intended for loans. "We're not looking to control their operations."
Das ist selbst für deren Verhältnisse besorgniserregend korrupt. Die Banken haben natürlich nicht vor, das Geld jetzt tatsächlich zu verleihen. Merrill Lynch wird das erst mal als Polster da behalten, und Citigroup hat offenbar vor, damit Konkurrenten aufzukaufen. Morgan Stanley wird praktisch den gesamten Bailout-Anteil, immerhin über 10 Milliarden Dollar, an sich selbst auszahlen, zum Großteil als Boni für die hervorragende Leistung der Manager. (Danke, Sirko)