"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast"
-Oscar Wilde		 Brilliant at Breakfast title banner "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself."
-- Proverbs 11:25
"...you have a choice: be a fighting liberal or sit quietly. I know what I am, what are you?" -- Steve Gilliard, 1964 - 2007

"For straight up monster-stomping goodness, nothing makes smoke shoot out my ears like Brilliant@Breakfast" -- Tata

"...the best bleacher bum since Pete Axthelm" -- Randy K.

"I came here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum." -- "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (1954-2015), They Live
Sunday, February 08, 2009

I have the worst Congressman in the country
Posted by Jill | 9:37 AM
Perhaps if voters in New Jersey's 5th district would get their heads out of their asses (and if the Democratic Party in this state would get its collective head out of its collective ass), we might be able to get rid of Scott Garrett once and for all.

Here's Garrett (by way of the tireless Matt Fretz) on how there's no need for additional SEC regulations to prevent another Madoff scandal:
There is discussion of "gaps" in our current regulatory scheme that need to be filled to prevent cases like this from happening in the future. I don’t believe that is the case. Each and every one of Mr. Madoff’s relevant businesses fell under the jurisdiction of one or more financial regulators. Given what we currently know about this situation, I do not believe there was a regulatory gap that needs filled with more, often excessive regulation. Rather we should be focused on ensuring that current regulations are being met and that proper oversight is occurring.


Isn't it funny how guys like Garrett always say that the existing laws are sufficient when it comes to things like guns and oversight of financial markets, but when it comes to things like oh, say, women's right to make their own decisions about their reproductive lives, he wants MORE regulation?

Garrett is so rigid in his ideology, which trumps everything else, that he never once stops to think of the impact of his intransigence on real people -- people like 90-year-old Ian Thiermann:
Retired businessman Ian Thiermann is back on the job working 30 hours a week as a grocery store greeter.

Like thousands of people across the country, Thiermann invested with Wall Street financier Bernie Madoff, who is accused of allegedly running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Thiemann said he has lost all of his $738,000.

With house payments and medical bills piling up, Theirmann said he had no choice but to go back to work for $10 an hour.


Garrett may be right that if the SEC is bound and determined to protect its own at the expense of guys like Ian Thiermann -- forced back into the job market at the age of 90 -- then no laws are going to change that. But I also don't see Garrett advocating a whole lot of consequences for the SEC for abandoning its supposed oversight role, either.

Labels: ,

10 comments
Bookmark and Share
10 Comments:
Blogger jurassicpork said...
No doubt, people like Bush and Michele Bachmann would say, "Ain't it great you can still work when you're almost 100? God bless ya!"

That is, if Bush doesn't take his job as a door greeter.
2/8/09, 11:54 AM  
Blogger prin said...
every time i read a story concerning this guy (madoff) i just get more and more pissed. why aren't they all banding together and doing something about it instead of figuring they have to go back to work at 90. shit, i'd be camped outside his door...me and everyone i could scramble together. if the cops removed me i'd be back tomorrow with an even bigger crowd and on and on until he gave me my money back, i was dead or he was... you know he still has it. why doesn't someone make him give it back?
2/8/09, 12:24 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...
He's pretty bad but I'd put up our congressman against anyone as a bad legislator - Pil "loves Rush" Gingrey.
2/8/09, 12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
prin,

As some wag once said, the problem with getting the money back from these crooks [I think he was referring to Ken Lay and that bunch, but the analogy is still right on!] is that they SPEND IT. And assuming that one of the things they spent it ON is overpriced real estate.... Although IIRC, Kenny spent like $2,000,000 [or was it $20,000,000] on a WEDDING.

Although in this specific case, Madoff sent well over $738,000 in jewelry alone to "friends". So this particular individual could probably get most of his back -- but only if everyone else in line passed...

The only ones getting any money "back" from this fiasco will be the lawyers. After they're finished with whatever Madoff has left, the "investors" ["suckers"!?] will be lucky to get pennies on the dollar...

How many Greek Islands does Madoff own?.
2/8/09, 2:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
jill,
i kinda agree with garrett. there are plenty of rules that should have been enforced but weren't. fraud has long been illegal and i'm sure that if someone looks hard enough today they could find enough of that to put some wall streeters away for a long long time.
we should probably charge the regulators with willful dereliction of their duty. if nothing else, the rules we have would get those responsible for the current mess and not simply prevent the next one from occurring.
2/8/09, 2:41 PM  
Blogger prin said...
ted,
i'm sure he spent a good deal of it but haven't i heard of his having numerous off shore bank accounts where probably most of it is residing? that was what i was referring to, the offshore accounts that he won't/isn't giving up.
2/8/09, 3:14 PM  
Blogger D. said...
Adjita.

Shpilkes.

Adjita and shpilkes.

Why aren't we in the streets yet?
2/8/09, 3:35 PM  
Blogger Dave Moriarty said...
for a very comprehensive site with articles on all elements of the madoff fraud go to:

http://madofffraud.boomja.com/


also of items covered there form who the enablers were to the naysayers as well as the impact of the fraud on the investment business
2/8/09, 5:49 PM  
Blogger Rhode Island Rules said...
We're not in the streets because we can't afford to take time off from work (if we are still employed) for fear of being fired. Or we are reduced to freelancing and are afraid to miss a day because we might miss an opportunity. In any case we cannot afford to spend the money to travel to Washington, DC to protest. Therefore we do what we can online and on the phone. Not as effective and much easier to brush off, but better than nothing.
2/8/09, 7:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
prin,

I'm sure all the crooks have off shore accounts.
If Mr Madoff is really "cooperating with authorities" as some news items have suggested, he's identified those [and I have some swamp land you might be interested in!]. Even so, I doubt that there is $50 billion [I don't even know how many zeroes to put there] in the accounts.
So even if it was all "returned", and the lawyers still get first crack, it'll be pennies on the dollar..
2/9/09, 11:35 AM  
Post a Comment
<< Home