Goldman and the 'sophisticated investor' lie

If only what Goldman said ever had an ounce of truth. If they treat their big "sophisticated investors" this way, imagine how badly they're giving the shaft to the rest of them. Heidi Moore at the Post does a nice job of sorting out the big lie from Goldman.

It's not just the big clients, however, that get hurt. What Wall Street would like to ignore when it is taking bets in its casino is that a big pile of chips on the table come from regular consumers -- from their bank deposits, retirement accounts, credit-card balances, car loans and mortgages. That's why the distinction between these sophisticated investors and everyone else is nonexistent. When Wall Street banks omit information and draw profits from "institutional investors," that means they are taking money from your pension funds, your school endowments, and your city and state governments. Other sophisticated investors include hedge funds, which take money from those pension funds, or private-equity funds, which own companies that employ 10 percent of all Americans.

Pension funds, for instance, are considered "sophisticated investors" on Wall Street. But those are just pools of retirement money owed to workers. The pension funds, looking to expand their stash, invest in stocks and bonds sold by Wall Street. These pension funds also give their money to other funds, such as hedge funds and private equity funds, that invest that money in riskier investments, perhaps troubled companies or distressed mortgages. Pension funds play the Wall Street game to score a healthy return -- but when they lose, the money lost belongs to regular people.

And guess who paid for this? Taxpayer bailouts around the world. Read the rest of this post...

Bike friendly Bucharest?

Sounds a bit dodgy but I like the idea in principal. Biking in a suit?

"Mentalities have to change in Romania about biking. Lots of people do not imagine you can go to work on a bike," said Maxim, who was also Romania's entrepreneur of the year in 2008.

Impeccably tailored men and women pedalled to work hoping the "business on a bike" scheme will change the image of cycling, but also encourage the municipality to build more bike lanes.

The Romanian capital's roads are far from biker-friendly, counting just 45 kilometres (28 miles) of cycle lanes in a city of two million inhabitants, compared to 500 kilometres (310 miles) in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam.

In 2008 the Romanian documentary "Apocalypse on Wheels" evoked the city's endless traffic jams and erratic car drivers.

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Arizona to ban Mexican-American studies & English teachers with heavy accents

Seriously.

Arizona's new immigration law is just about crime, its supporters say, but given that the state's new education policy equates ethnic studies programs with high treason, they may not be using the commonly accepted definition of "crime."

Under the ban, sent to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer by the state legislature Thursday, schools will lose state funding if they offer any courses that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

As ThinkProgress notes, the Tucson Unified School District's popular Mexican-American studies department is the target here. The state superintendent charges that the program exhibits "ethnic chauvinism."

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Congressman arrested at White House immigration protest

Good for him.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) was arrested outside the White House on Saturday during a May Day protest for immigration reform.

Guiterrez had been speaking to a crowd of hundreds at Lafayette Square when he announced that he was going to go to the White House fence with other protesters, sit down, and not move until he was arrested or until comprehensive immigration reform was signed.

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BP failed to plan for disaster

Or in other words, yet another example of the failures of self-regulation and the absurdity of government officials who believed Big Oil. The anti-environment, anti-regulation crowd that is so popular in the south can complain all they want but whether it's Wall Street or Big Oil or the rest, it's obvious that without rules this is what happens. How long before Dick Cheney hits the TV to defend Halliburton and the claims of mismanaged drilling?

British Petroleum once downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore rig that exploded, causing the worst U.S. oil spill in decades along the Gulf Coast and endangering shoreline habitat.

In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.

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Immigration protest with civil disobedience at White House today

Particularly interesting is that they have at least one member of Congress attending the immigration protest at the White House today. The Latinos are clearly getting increasingly mad about this issue. Just as interesting, there's also a "Don't Ask Don't Tell" protest outside the White House on Sunday. Two key Democratic constituencies both acting up before a key election. Very interesting. Read the rest of this post...

Froomkin: Stop Robert Rubin before he kills again

Dan Froomkin at the Huffington Post:

Robert Rubin is poisoning Washington again.

The former Treasury Secretary who presided over the nearly-fatal deregulation of the financial industry -- then made $126 million nearly killing Citigroup -- had been keeping an appropriately low profile in the nation's capital ever since everything he wrought went pear-shaped.

But now he's back, and once again trying to influence public policy.

On Friday he made his third major (and apology-free) Washington appearance in two weeks, delivering opening remarks at a conference that his pet think tank, the Hamilton Project, co-sponsored with the liberal Center for American Progress.

But the last thing Washington needs right now is another infusion of Rubinomics -- by which I mean the combination of deregulatory zeal, deficit obsession, free tradeism and general coziness with fat-cat Wall Street bankers that Rubin epitomizes.

Jumping to his defense Friday afternoon in Newsweek was Jacob Weisberg, the Washington Post Co. executive who co-authored Rubin's 2003 autobiography (talk about intimate relationships between journalists and their sources). Weisberg insists that Rubin supported regulation, but was just powerless to do so given the opposition from Wall Street and other members of the Clinton administration. Similarly, Weisberg argues, despite multiple reports to the contrary, that Rubin wasn't involved in the decisions that led to Citigroup needing a massive federal bailout to survive.

Is anything disqualifying from public life these days? Given the chance to weigh in, the voters evidently think so -- consider the parable of soon-to-be-former Sen. Chris Dodd.

In Washington public policy circles, however, the answer is apparently not -- certainly not if you're rich and well connected.

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Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Instead of posting Obama's weekly address, I thought we'd revisit a previous statement from the President. Soon, we'll find out if he calls the shots on DADT or the Pentagon does:

Heading out for a run. My running partner, Courtney, actually showed up on time today.

What's going on? Read the rest of this post...

X Blue Spark

A slightly different but excellent version of X's classic. After a few days running all over the Netherlands with crazy hours (or at least painfully early starts) this is exactly what I need to get going today. It had been a while since I was last up there and somehow I managed to string together a few days of perfect weather. The tulips were on their last leg but the lilacs up there were stunning. People were talking about an entire month without rain so the water levels for drinking water had dropped. Having been rained on countless times there, it's hard to believe Holland is having water issues.

There was a bit of rain Thursday night as the Queens Day partying was kicking off but the sun was out as my 6:30AM train left Amsterdam. I left my young colleague there so he could join the party. I did receive a text message from him so I know he at least survived the massive party. I'm not much of a group party person but everyone seemed friendly enough as they dressed up in their orange. It's time to get some riding in while the sun is still around down here. Read the rest of this post...

China opens Shanghai expo, rounds up dissidents

Same same, but different event. Is it possible for that regime to do anything without these tactics? The IOC didn't help during the Beijing Olympics when they looked the other way.

With security precautions at their height tonight, thousands of police are on duty, guards have been stationed at thousands of bus stops and 8,000 firefighters are on alert.

But campaigners say the event has also brought a crackdown on dissent. The Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said officials have detained, harassed or placed under surveillance activists, intellectuals and petitioners across Shanghai and surrounding areas. One target has been those who have protested over the forced demolition of their homes to make way for the Expo site. According to official estimates, 18,000 households have been knocked down.

In a statement the CHRD urged: "The government must stop the practice of placing 'troublemaking' individuals under surveillance and restricting their movements on 'sensitive' occasions. These individuals should not be punished for exercising their freedom of expression or their right to defend human rights."

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