Whitman Defends Tenure At Goldman

[Appaholic]

Calif. GOP gubernatorial hopeful seeks to defuse criticism over connection

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman said Tuesday she regrets taking part in a now-banned stock sale practice at Goldman Sachs and said she left the investment bank's board after 15 months because she "wasn't a good fit."

The Republican front-runner in the California governor's race sought to defuse criticism about her connections to the firm, which have put her on the defensive in the GOP primary.

"The lesson learned about it is you have to be extra vigilant about seeing any actual or perceived conflict of interest," she said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I missed the signposts here."

Whitman's ties to Goldman have become a rallying point for her opponents, especially as the firm faces federal fraud charges. Goldman executives faced questioning Tuesday on Capitol Hill, where some senators accused the iconic Wall Street firm of helping to fuel the mortgage-related financial crisis that plunged the country into recession.

Goldman Sachs paid Whitman $475,000 for her board service, but she left in 2002 after questions were raised about whether Goldman gave her preferential access to stocks that were flipped quickly for huge profits in exchange for eBay Inc.'s investment banking business.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36816611/ns ... _politics/

[Ivytalk]

I knew Lloyd Blankfein in college. Straight shooter from a humble background. Now he's taking it from idiots like Carl Levin? Give me a break.

[kalm]

I knew Lloyd Blankfein in college. Straight shooter from a humble background. Now he's taking it from idiots like Carl Levin? Give me a break.

How many times are you going to go to that well Ivy? Either G.S. are geniuses manipulating the system within the laws set forth and new this was all coming, or they are lucky cleptocrats. Either Blankfein knew exactly what was happening and made a butt full of money for his company at tax payers expense and while the world wide economy fell, or he has no control over what happens amongst his own troops. Either way, sociopathic or inept - he may have been nice in college, but he needs to be taken down at this point. No middle road here.

[Ivytalk]

I knew Lloyd Blankfein in college. Straight shooter from a humble background. Now he's taking it from idiots like Carl Levin? Give me a break.

How many times are you going to go to that well Ivy? Either G.S. are geniuses manipulating the system within the laws set forth and new this was all coming, or they are lucky cleptocrats. Either Blankfein knew exactly what was happening and made a butt full of money for his company at tax payers expense and while the world wide economy fell, or he has no control over what happens amongst his own troops. Either way, sociopathic or inept - he may have been nice in college, but he needs to be taken down at this point. No middle road here.

Get over it, kalm. All GS did was satisfy its institutional clients' appetite for CDO investments whose risks were fully disclosed. If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

[Baldy]

How many times are you going to go to that well Ivy? Either G.S. are geniuses manipulating the system within the laws set forth and new this was all coming, or they are lucky cleptocrats. Either Blankfein knew exactly what was happening and made a butt full of money for his company at tax payers expense and while the world wide economy fell, or he has no control over what happens amongst his own troops. Either way, sociopathic or inept - he may have been nice in college, but he needs to be taken down at this point. No middle road here.

Get over it, kalm. All GS did was satisfy its institutional clients' appetite for CDO investments whose risks were fully disclosed. If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

EXACTLY, my friend...
AND you can add to that, their enablers in Congress...like Barney and Dodd'y'

[kalm]

How many times are you going to go to that well Ivy? Either G.S. are geniuses manipulating the system within the laws set forth and new this was all coming, or they are lucky cleptocrats. Either Blankfein knew exactly what was happening and made a butt full of money for his company at tax payers expense and while the world wide economy fell, or he has no control over what happens amongst his own troops. Either way, sociopathic or inept - he may have been nice in college, but he needs to be taken down at this point. No middle road here.

Get over it, kalm. All GS did was satisfy its institutional clients' appetite for CDO investments whose risks were fully disclosed. If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

The SEC doesn't agree with you. And as I've mentioned before, Fannie and Freddie need to be fully audited and heads should roll there as well.

Bottom line is your buddy's company and his industry spent $5 billion over a ten year period lobbying congress to deregulate the markets under the pretense that it would be good for the economy.

I knew some swell guys in college as well, but I'm not sure any of them ended up being sociopaths. If they did, I wouldn't defend their actions, but you go ahead.

Sycophant.

[Ivytalk]

Get over it, kalm. All GS did was satisfy its institutional clients' appetite for CDO investments whose risks were fully disclosed. If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

The SEC doesn't agree with you. And as I've mentioned before, Fannie and Freddie need to be fully audited and heads should roll there as well.

Bottom line is your buddy's company and his industry spent $5 billion over a ten year period lobbying congress to deregulate the markets under the pretense that it would be good for the economy.

I knew some swell guys in college as well, but I'm not sure any of them ended up being sociopaths. If they did, I wouldn't defend their actions, but you go ahead.

Sycophant.

Sycophant? kalm, I'm amazed that you dare to challenge the great Ivytalk with a polysyllabic word. And where do you get off calling Blankfein a "sociopath"? Anyway, I've been around this board long enough to know that you never let anyone have the last word on a thread that you create or infest, so whale away, Mr. Logorrhea. .

[kalm]

The SEC doesn't agree with you. And as I've mentioned before, Fannie and Freddie need to be fully audited and heads should roll there as well.

Bottom line is your buddy's company and his industry spent $5 billion over a ten year period lobbying congress to deregulate the markets under the pretense that it would be good for the economy.

I knew some swell guys in college as well, but I'm not sure any of them ended up being sociopaths. If they did, I wouldn't defend their actions, but you go ahead.

Sycophant.

Sycophant? kalm, I'm amazed that you dare to challenge the great Ivytalk with a polysyllabic word. And where do you get off calling Blankfein a "sociopath"? Anyway, I've been around this board long enough to know that you never let anyone have the last word on a thread that you create or infest, so whale away, Mr. Logorrhea. .

[native]

...If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

... whale away, Mr. Logorrhea. .

[kalm]

...If you want to finger the real culprits, try Fannie and Freddie.

... whale away, Mr. Logorrhea. .

[houndawg]

I knew Lloyd Blankfein in college. Straight shooter from a humble background. Now he's taking it from idiots like Carl Levin? Give me a break.

For those of us that haven't had the pleasure, perhaps you can clear up whether he's a criminal or just incompetent?

Lock him up and throw away the key.




Don't worry about Levin, that's all just for TV. Once the campaign season arrives and Blankfein can write all the checks he wants to, Congress will be kissing his filthy ass in the middle of Wall Street at high noon.

[Ivytalk]

I knew Lloyd Blankfein in college. Straight shooter from a humble background. Now he's taking it from idiots like Carl Levin? Give me a break.

For those of us that haven't had the pleasure, perhaps you can clear up whether he's a criminal or just incompetent?

Lock him up and throw away the key.




Don't worry about Levin, that's all just for TV. Once the campaign season arrives and Blankfein can write all the checks he wants to, Congress will be kissing his filthy ass in the middle of Wall Street at high noon.

Neither.

Don't know about Congress's butt-smooching in this particular case, but candidate Obama was the recipient of a lot of Goldman largesse back in '08. And this is the thanks they get.

[travelinman67]

For those of us that haven't had the pleasure, perhaps you can clear up whether he's a criminal or just incompetent?

Lock him up and throw away the key.

Don't worry about Levin, that's all just for TV. Once the campaign season arrives and Blankfein can write all the checks he wants to, Congress will be kissing his filthy ass in the middle of Wall Street at high noon.

Neither.

Don't know about Congress's butt-smooching in this particular case, but candidate Obama was the recipient of a lot of Goldman largesse back in '08. And this is the thanks they get.

Political theater...

"Lloyd, it's Barack. Look, I'm getting pressure from Nancy, Chris and Barney that the numbers don't look good for them. The redistribution has worked well, but with all the press coverage of the plan's components...you know David hadn't planned for the extent of press coverage we received on the healthcare thing...anyway, we have a strategy to mitigate some of the damage."


"What are they talking? Twenty five, thirty five million?"


"Naw, this may run around ten, but you'll take a press hit. I'll talk to the raters and get your back. Conceivably, you could end up making something off of this."


"Wouldn't be the first time..."


"Rahm's going to have the SEC throw some bogus ethics complaint against you. We'll keep it going until after the election, then settle for a couple of million. We talked to Robert, but Citi's trying to bury the toxic numbers and his contract comes up again in September, so he asked that we pass this on to you."


"We could save some money by coordinating. Is there anyway Craig can come on board to help our legal staff get up to speed?"


"Done."


"And I'll pass on to Kazaam to lay it on Hank. His clause is still in effect until 2011"


"I hate to bring this up now, Lloyd, but I could use half a dozen positions as gift right now. I'd be willing to swap some legislation for say, five or six in salary. We'd vet them to avoid any scrutiny, but, and you'll get a kick out of this, at least one of them had their money with Bernie, so he's hurting right now."


"Absolutely, Mr. President. Goldman Sachs wants to do their part to employ Americans."


"I gotta go now. I'll let David know to work with your people to coordinate everything, OK? Thanks again, Lloyd."


"Your welcome. I'll have my secretary send over information next time I head out to the island. You have a good day, B."


............

'Lloyd, Lloyd...wait, Lloyd...I KNOW the intent of the clause. I drafted the initial language when Jon was leaving. It was never intended to be perpetual. What? Well you don't have to tell me my venues are limited. Yes. Yes. Yes. How much? Any way I want it? Well, let me think on it tonight, but, for that amount, I'll let is slide. By the way, throw in some extra security, OK? You know, if I ever suspected the White House was going to abuse our relationship, I would have never added the ex-CEO scapegoat clause when I left."