This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 14 Apr 2009, by Clay Burell.
-
14 Apr 09
Clay BurellAnnotated link http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.salon.com%2Fopinion%2Ffeature%2F2009%2F04%2F11%2Fsirota%2Findex.html%3Fsource%3Dnewsletter
-
For example, the banking industry recently paid Rahm Emanuel $16 million for about two years of work. That investment was recently paid back when, as President Obama's chief of staff, Emanuel led the January campaign to release another $350 billion in bank bailout funds. Turning a $16 million down payment into a $350 billion payout -- that's huge!
Likewise, Goldman Sachs hired former Senate aide Mark Patterson as one of its lobbyists -- an investment that proved a huge winner when Patterson became the Treasury Department's chief of staff and the agency subsequently killed proposals to limit executive compensation at bailed-out banks. Cha-ching!
And the hedge fund industry paid economist Larry Summers $5.2 million in 2008 for part-time work -- an investment that hit pay dirt when Summers became Obama's top economic aide and the administration resisted tough international hedge fund regulations that some G-20 countries wanted. Show me the money!
That's right, the surest way to make big cash is not to invest in people with proven business experience or in valuable entrepreneurial ventures, but in blue-chip members of Permanent Washington -- career politicos and bureaucrats who inevitably get back into positions of power and payback!
-
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.