Dear Mr Obama

With our fifth Dollar$ Buccaneer Award, this time to John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, now, happily, unemployed, we are including an open letter to our new President. Incompetence is one thing, but theft is another. John Thain, now fired from Bank of America, is an economic terrorist, and warfare perpetrated on American citizens that threatens to end democracy needs to be met swiftly, forcefully, and without compromise.

DEAR MR. OBAMA:

Democracy in America will not fail because Islamic fundamentalists fly airplanes into tall buildings—but we will be walking hip-deep in the shards of democracy if you are unable to restore confidence in the American system.

If terrorism is war by a few against the many, then the Wall Street Wizards and Buccaneers who have accepted their fiduciary responsibility for our nation by rapacious theft and lying are terrorists.

It is one thing to err, it is another to deceive. It is one thing to earn; it is another to steal.

Terrorists deserve incarceration.

Please keep Guantanamo open so that the class warfare perpetrated by the super-rich and elite on the rest of us must be met with justice. Your election is evidence that America wants to be a just society. America must defend itself against economic terrorists, or else expect crowds that become mobs. We are the only nation in human history for which obesity is a national problem, but we are losing our way of life to terrorism.

Dollar$ original purpose was to dissolve the smoke of rhetoric with a flame of indignation and—as the URL of this site suggests—plain talk about money. This purpose no longer seems necessary. The shenanigans of the financial terrorists are no longer obscure.

Theft and embezzlement need to be called what they are.

No other way allows people to confront the class warfare the superrich have perpetrated on citizens. The world needs to know that our institutions are no longer owned and operated by the very few, for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very, very many.

Theft and embezzlement are undermining our democracy and threaten world stability.

CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR

Dollar$ does not suggest that bad judgment is criminal behavior. Criminal behavior is, however, criminal behavior, and needs to be treated as such.

Take the former CEO of Merril Lynch, John Thain, a man with an MBA from Harvard, and a jaw Buzz Lightyear could envy. In 2007, Thain was pain more than $80 million dollars for his service to the world’s largest brokerage house. Dollar$ thinks anyone earning $219,178 per day is shameful, but not criminal.

Thain’s machinations in the final weeks of 2008 are criminal.

Thain’s company faced bankruptcy and so sold itself to Bank of America. Bank of America should have performed due diligence—weak judgment there—but it seems that Thain misrepresented Merril’s troubles to the tune of at least $47 billion. Probably a rounding error….

Despite Merril’s $15 billion in final quarter losses, Bank of America was told by the Fed it could not back out of the deal. Mr. Thain was earning his salary at that time by skiing in Vail and planning a business trip to Switzerland. Mind you, he had not departed for Colorado until after he’d accelerated bonus payments of $3 – $4 billion to the posse in Merril’s executive suite. These performance bonuses were made in December because if delayed until in January, the usual month for bonus awards, Bank of America might have declined lining the pockets of this gang with anything so brashly called “performance.” Thain funded the ripoff with tax money, TARP funds. Had to–Merril had no cash.

While Thain dined on steak in Vail, the office at Bank of America Thain expected to occupy was decorated — again with tax payer money — for more than $1 million. Most of us will never use a $35,000 commode, but Thain’s crap is not like yours or mine…

THE BUCCANEER AWARD

So, Mr. President, in addition to the Dollar$ Buccaneer’s Award, may we ask that anyone stealing tax payer money on so grand a scale deserves more than to be fired from Bank of America, but perhaps warrants being a guest of the Fed in Leavenworth. If Thain represents the best America can produce—Harvard and MIT! — let’s demonstrate to the world that deception, theft, lying, rapacity, and arrogance are not the American Dream.

Let’s not tolerate economic terrorism perpetrated by the rich upon the poor.

(Dollar$ has an ever-shrinking financial position in Bank of America)

Not So Stupid: Staring Down Deflation

In the aggregate, eventually, we wise up.
Citizens can be impulsive. Each of us from time to time has suffered buyer’s remorse. “What was I thinking?” we ask as we stare at the turquoise jewel-encrusted porcelain elephant in the living room.
But while one of us may buy the elephant, most of us do not, and in the presence of accurate information, so-called transparent markets, even Beanie Babies deemed “collectibles” by marketeers lose their luster and are thrown on the scrap heap.
RATIONAL BEHAVIOR
For at least a generation, solons have wrung their hands at Citizens with the temerity to run up debt. Every year, the total debt being carried by individual investors grew larger.
Buccaneers directing industry (but with no operational responsibility) awarding themselves millions in bonuses, salary and perks, self-proclaiming their services indispensible and thus justifying compensation greater than the GDP of Haiti, moaned in terror. Mind you, terror prevented no Buccaneer from issuing non-secured lines of credit to the uncreditworthy. Wizards (perhaps now to be called “Madoffs”) on the porch of ocean view homes in the Hamptons clucked in disapproval at Citizens borrowing a few bucks to live a decent life. Their disapproval did not stop their invention of evermore financial products based on non-assets and intangible assets, and offering them as leveraged opportunities to Citizens. Weasels, in league with those same Buccaneers and Wizards, ran both left and right, simultaneously admonishing Citizens to the values of thrift while running up national debt to nosebleed heights and nearly succeeded in turning Social Security into a perpetual revenue stream for Wizards with a Georgie Bush plan called “privatization.”
Boy, wouldn’t that have worked out well?
But Citizens ran up so much personal debt because they are in the aggregate, sensible. If the price of a house, car, television or goldfish today is less than the price will be tomorrow, you’d have to be an idiot to delay the purchase. In an inflationary environment, today’s debt is paid with tomorrow’s dollars, and if tomorrow’s dollars will be worth less than today’s, only a fool would delay.
DEFLATION
What if Citizens believe that tomorrow’s dollars will be worth more? Why buy a house today if the price next month will be significantly less? What fool would take money from his pocket today to pay $10.00 for an object or service that next week will cost $9.00?
Once again, the solons are wringing their hands. The cessation of discretionary economic activity is just rational behavior by Citizens.
Watch that word discretionary.
Citizens will continue to eat; we will continue to care for our children; we will continue to consume medical services.

Dollars$ Buccaneer Award: Robert Rubin, Citigroup, Inc.

THE FACTS

• Robert Rubin is the CEO of Citigroup, Inc. at one time the largest bank and financial services institution in the world, capitalized at $255 billion.Citigroup is now worth $20 billion.
• CEO Rubin has been an appointed Weasel, as Secretary of the Treasury and once worked for Goldman Sachs.
• Rubin has no operational responsibilities at Citigroup. In labor unions, this is called a sweetheart, no-show job. People go to jail for this.
• Rubin has pulled down $115 million in pay since he started at Citigroup.
• Citigroup’s shares are down 70% since Rubin joined the company; 86% from its all time highs. He is quoted as saying, “I have been very involved.” (WSJ, 11/29)
• Rubin points out in the same interview that Citigroup’s “decision to increase risk followed a presentation to the board by a consultant.”
• Citigroup is laying off 75,000 workers out of 375,000 worldwide.
• Citigroup has received $40 billion in Citizen aid.

THE QUESTION

WTF???

 

People earn $ 10 million per year with no operational responsibility ask a consultant? If they don’t know, and if they have to hire advice-givers, fire their overpaid asses and hire the consultant!!

 

THE CHUTZPAH

Rubin is quoted as saying, “I bet there’s not a single year where I couldn’t have gone somewhere else and made more.” (WSJ 11/29) and,

 

“Maybe there are a few things in the context of the facts we knew then, we should have done differently.” (WSJ 11/29)

 

GEE BOB, YOU THINK??  STRICTLY IN THE CONTEXT OF FACTS, THAT IS.

 

THE AWARD

Stand! Robert Rubin, recipient of the Dollar$ Buccaneer Award, Extraordinaire with Oak Leaf Cluster for Balls of Brass.

 

In ancient Rome, he’d have fallen on his sword. That’s too much to hope for, so let’s ask Bob to avoid having the door hit him in the ass on his way out–and, O, leave that golden parachute so the Citizens paying for your mess don’t finance your place in the Hamptons, your use of the corporate jet, or the your medical benefits for life.