Will America’s 'War on Stupidity' Replace The War on Terror? On Merrill Lynch, Lehman, et al. Flood-Up and Trickle-Down Street Socialists
”The War on Stupidity is starting…”
Opined CNBC’s Dillon Ratigan on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today. He probably meant war on unbridled greed and lousy management but that wording would have offended many people of the greed-is-good school of thought.I have my serious doubts, if past experience is any guide.
He was speaking on the hard-to-ignore continued frivolous spending spree by CEOs who have put their companies up the proverbial excrementum creek. The white-collar welfare recipients who do not elicit loud howls from the ‘right’ that the less fortunate welfare recipients do. They were talking about the culture that has prevailed over the past 8 years (actually 20+ years) that anything goes, that you can get what you can get away with without getting caught. He was commenting on the former CEO of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, and his famous recent renovations that cost millions, area rugs that cost $80,000 each, and a toilet commode that cost about $40,000, give or take a few bucks. (The commode expense was supposed to trickle down?) And the office trash bin that cost $1,400. Not to mention the billions of bonuses paid as extra rewards for executives who bankrupted the company. (A bonus Is supposed to be extra pay for extra ‘good’ work).
The counter spin was quick, led by John Thain himself with the help of CNBC’s former top chick and perennial CEO cheerleader, Maria Bartiromo. She said he told her that the board knew about all these expenses, which is like a suspect saying that he had a partner in crime. Comrade Thain blamed attempts at character assassination and that that was a different era (he was talking about only a few weeks ago when he could get away with it). Bartiromo, the former top chick on CNBC, opined that she thinks “I think this guy has integrity….”. Which translates into “He was smart enough to away with what he got away with, suckers: which makes him a man of integrity in my book.” Which means she believes in that type of non-tax trickle-down theory and that we, the public, will let it trickle down on us while holding our noses.
Comrade Thain had an enabler of sort: Comrade Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, voted ‘Banker of the Year’ of 2008 by American Banker. That was before the other shoe fell.
And I thought only Middle Eastern potentates and bankers get frivolous titles from the media.
HuffingtonPost quotes Reuters that former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld sold his $13.3 million Florida mansion to his wife for $100 last November. Comrade Fuld had told the media and Congress that he shares the blame for the collapse of Lehman with US regulators and Congress. You see, the man was yearning to be regulated and supervised, he was dying to be saved from his own tendencies. He was tired of being in the closet: he wanted to come out of the executive closet and needed help. No comments from the CNBC chicks on this story yet, but stay tuned: it can get even funner.
This is a continuation of the parade of business geniuses that we have been watching over the past few years. One or two are in prison, most others, too many, are out and about enjoying the fruits of others' labor.And the beat goes on...
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
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