Three tarnished members of America's Government-Corporate Monstrosity (GCM) had their luster restored this week. Steven Rattner, John Paulson and Mark Sanford presented themselves as rehabbed.
Rattner settled with federal and state authorities over allegedly participating in a kickback scheme to get public pension fund investments for his private equity firm two years ago. He's back as a major GCM player.
The Hill reported on John Paulson's transgression:
Paulson & Co. was mentioned prominently in a fraud action the Securities and Exchange Commission filed against Goldman Sachs.
The SEC alleged that Paulson & Co. participated in a scheme in which Goldman sold subprime residential mortgage-backed securities to investors, such as foreign banks and pension funds, that were expected to lose value.
Paulson & Co. bet heavily against the value of the fund, named Abacus 2007-AC1, which included mortgage bonds it viewed as overvalued, earning millions at the expense of Goldman clients who invested in it.
Paulson proudly promotes tax reduction via offshore methods and is a keynote speaker at the upcoming SALT meeting.
"SALT will feature the world's political leaders and top investment managers to explore potential solutions to key issues," (that will enrich these GCM members).
The Government-Corporate Monstrosity has no shame, as evidenced by Mark Sanford's political return and Congressional staffers taking foreign-government funded boondoggles. How many Switzerland trips were to Davos for the The World Economic Forum, another huge GCM event?
The Government-Corporate Monstrosity is President Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex on trillions in federal steroids. GCM members lust for power, exude greed and prize clubiness. This is the milieu that creates unethical and illegal behavior. It's the very thing that ignores such behavior and does it best to dismiss or cover up.