Goldman Sachs misled clients and Congress about the firm’s bets on securities tied to the housing market, the chairman of the U.S. Senate panel that investigated the causes of the financial crisis said...
The Michigan Democrat also said federal prosecutors should review whether to bring perjury charges against Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and other current and former employees who testified in Congress last year. Levin said they denied under oath that Goldman Sachs took a financial position against the mortgage market solely for its own profit, statements the senator said were untrue.
“In my judgment, Goldman clearly misled their clients and they misled the Congress,” Levin said at a press briefing yesterday where he and Senator Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, discussed the 640-page report from the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
It does puzzle me, and Obama ought to be called to account for this, why no one has gone to jail over the wild speculation and gambling that created the economic collapse of 2008. Even the junk bond fiasco of the 80s and the S&L bailout of the 90s saw SOMEone suffer consequences.
This time around, the only acknowledgement that there was any wrongdoing was in the breach. Jamie Dimon is hailed as a genius for steering JPMorgan Chase clear of the trouble...yet the only SEC investigation out of the debacle will focus on two low-level JPMorgan Chase executives!
I'm not sure why there's no anger in the Federal government over this. I can understand Republicans kowtowing to their corporate masters, and even to some degree why Democrats would genuflect to the banksters, but really? 9% unemployment and millions of foreclosures later and no one is saying, "Maybe we ought to get tougher with the folks who marketed these loans and then bet against the American family?"
Well, except Carl Levin, and maybe Chuck Schumer when he lifts his head out of the Citicorp troughs.
Disgusting.
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