Ward on Words

My ire level is raised this morning - and if I had ever been able to absorb the color-coded messages of our national security alert system, I'd apply the most stressed-out federal color to my own particular sense of security right now. But in my mind, the colors of our national security alert system remain blended in a melange of beige; thus I'll label my color red. Not commy red (that's been out of style since The Wall came tumbling down) - not red-state red, though I'm on board, this morning, with their loathing of government. I'm seeing rage-red today. Flaming hot flickers of red hot rage. Enough to make me want to raise a fling a bunch of verbal pitchforks at people. My ire level is raised today simply because I made the mistake of perusing the news. Here's a sampling of what I've read: WaPo's Bonuses beat profits as bank industry imploded . A news story (but didn't we know this already?) informing us that the NY AG has determined...

So Mother Jones has an interesting article offering "an insider's view of Wall Street's rebound" written by former Goldman employee Nomi Prins. What we need to know - according to Prins - is that numbers lie. And if you look past the PR, past Goldman's congratulatory pat on its own back for paying back the $10 billion TARP loan, you'll see that Goldman's profits wouldn't exist (nor would the company) without the massive access to federal subsidies that they've enjoyed for nearly a year. Becoming a "bank holding company" has been the secret to Goldman's success, letting the company tap into unimaginable amounts of money. "Bank holding companies (which all the biggest financial firms now are) come under the regulatory purview of the Fed, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the FDIC. The capital they keep in reserve in case of emergency (like, say, toxic assets hemorrhaging on their books, or credit derivative...

On August 6, 2009, New York City's Film Society of Lincoln Center will be hosting the New York premiere of What's the Matter with Kansas? , a documentary film by Laura Cohen and Joe Winston, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Thomas Frank. I chatted recently with director Joe Winston about the film (which will have its Chicago premiere in September.) He shared with me his story of an urban liberal who decided to embed himself in red-state Kansas... and the lessons he learned along the way. In 2004, when America was hurtling toward the successful re-election of George W. Bush, Winston went to a book reading in Chicago to see three authors read selections from their books. He went specifically to see Studs Terkel and Howard Dean, but came away from the event absolutely fascinated with what the third author, Thomas Frank, had to say. Frank was reading from his book, What's the Matter with Kansas? - which looks at a key red state to determine why the...

Wife, mother, grandmother, hockey mom, ex-governor of Alaska, fierce fisherwoman, national figure, high-ranking Republican, a voice for all those red-state residents who cannot themselves be heard, Sarah Palin has many titles. We can now add "poet" to her list of career accomplishments (right after pitbull)... Thanks to Ezra Klein at WaPo for sharing this....

Fascinating story about Goldman Sachs in New York Magazine... The magazine's story on our new millennial G-men (no Elliot Ness here!) talks about leverage, layoffs and the firm's "essential" position in the American capital markets. Some key quotes include: On the tarnish now seen on Goldman's gleam: "Ever since the bank crossed paths with U.S. taxpayers, getting saved with at least $10 billion in government aid last year and then parlaying that into $5.1 billion in profits in 2009 (so far), the firm has been seen as the ugly essence of capitalism at its most cynical—by Washington, by the public, by the financial press, even by some of its clients. Stalwart voices of Wall Street like the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal have criticized the firm’s undue influence on government and its ruthless pursuit of risky profits. Venom is flowing from more unlikely quarters as well: A recent Rolling Stone article called Goldman “a great vampire squid w...

Roger Cohen has a brightly optimistic op-ed piece in today's NY Times, carrying the headline "A Nation Hard to Short." He was up early the other morning to see: "...The rising sun just knotting its tie over the serried high rises of midtown and the Upper East Side. It was a magnificent sight, the city resplendent. New York has recovered, if not its stride, at least its balance." On that very same day, Cohen had seen Warren Buffet on MSNBC making the claim that “It’s hard to short America in the long term.” The beauty of New York at dawn - Warren Buffet's happy optimism on MSNBC - these elements of Cohen's day leave him filled with hope for "the land hardwired for the future," and renewed by the "enduring belief of millions in America as a transforming power." I read this today in my house in a suburb of a city that is posting an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent . And I think that there is a certain myopia to much that I ...

Stop the haggling - we want to be generous! That's the news coming out of Goldman Sachs' PR office today. They've bought back warrants from the feds for $1.1 billion - the full value as determined by the feds. Just a few weeks ago, Goldman had wanted to pay just $650 million for the warrants. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman CEO, had this to say in the press release: “This return is reflective of the government’s assistance, which benefitted the financial system, our firm and our shareholders,” said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO. “We are grateful for the government efforts and are pleased that this additional money can be used by the government to revitalize the economy, a priority in which we all have a common stake.” He added, “Because Goldman Sachs advises companies with their growth plans and raises capital to support that growth, the best and most sustainable operating environment for us is one where consumer and business confidence and economic growth flour...

 In Cool Hand Luke , Paul Newman, in the title role, is serving a jail sentence for chopping the heads off of parking meters (foreshadowing the rage felt today in Chicago for the parking meter mess .) Luke is a rebel, fond of questioning authority and, as seen in the scene posted above, the authorities don't want to be questioned; they want to be blindly obeyed. "What we have here is a failure to communicate," says the chain gang captain, after beating Luke to the ground. The American consumer is feeling a little beaten up these days, what with the crushing collapse of their portfolios and job prospects. There are grumblings 'round the fact that Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, BoA and Citigroup are having such fabulous success at a time when the rest of the nation remains paralyzed by the crash of the economy. We're puzzled, those of us outside of the Wall Street / Washington, D.C. corridor, by the extreme diversity in luck. All those "too-big-to-...

Way back in 1976, the Bicentennial year of our nation, when we celebrated 200 years of American independence, Ronald Reagan introduced a very popular character into the national lexicon. The Welfare Queen. Reagan was one of the best raconteurs on the American political stage, perhaps rivaled only by Lincoln. When he spun his tale of fraud and waste, Reagan described "a woman in Chicago. She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and is collecting veterans' benefits on four nonexisting deceased husbands.... Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000."* People were outraged! Outraged that one woman could do such harm to the system. According a February 14, 1976 NY Times article, Reagan's story was a bit of a stretch. The Queen in question was prosecuted by the Cook County State's Attorney's office for defrauding the system of about $8,000. But never mind. Reagan continued on for years with this story of destructive fraud, paintin...

Apparently the fabulous profits "earned" by Goldman Sachs this quarter aren't quite enough for the investment banking firm. According to this story by Allan Sloan in the Washington Post, they're haggling with Treasury over the price of the stock purchase warrants it gave the feds last fall. Not in the economic biz, so I'll let Sloan explain the warrants: "The warrants are very valuable, especially with the recent sharp run-up in Goldman's stock price. The warrants carry the right (but not the obligation) to buy 12.2 million Goldman shares at $122.90 each. Goldman's closing price of $160.03 on Monday put the warrants "in the money" by a bit more than $450 million. (That's the $37.13 difference between $160.03 and $122.90, multiplied by 12.2 million.) Given that the warrants still have more than nine years to run, they're clearly worth more than $450 million because their owner has years of upside. However, because there'...

On Sunday, the NY Time reported that Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, was going to be attending JP Morgan Chase's board meeting. Today, he's changed his mind . In a world where appearances mean so very much, having a key Obama operative hanging out with Jamie Dimon and the others who've profited so very nicely from the collapse of the economy might send a wrong signal. I'm left wondering what Rahm was going to be doing at the meeting. Perhaps asking for a refund? Suggesting that Chase share its profits with the middle class that's been royally screwed by the crisis? Or cementing the feel-good relationship between Washington and Wall Street? We'll never know for sure.

Full confession: I'm not a Fox News fan. When I watch the channel, I end up like Krugman's proverbial boiled frog . I watch and watch, then find myself boiling over in rage, hurling curses at the screen, particularly when Hannity is running at the mouth. Since becoming a mother, I've tried to limit the "swears" (as my son calls them) and thus limit my time with Fox News. But I saw this clip and realized that Glen Beck and I are kindred spirits, at least when it comes to our thoughts on Goldman Sachs. Beck uses a low-tech blackboard and some signs to show the flow of money from the feds to the now profitable Goldman. Quite an interesting analysis! Check it out... This is actually one time I want the Fox News guys agitating the masses over an issue. Keep it up, Glen...

I never thought I would say this, but Rodney Dangerfield and Roland Burris are like two peas in a pod. Sort of. Rodney Dangerfield made a career in comedy out of being the man who couldn't get no respect from anybody. Roland Burris is retiring from the Senate because he lacks the same thing - respect. It's certainly not news that Roland Burris is declining to seek a public vote of affirmation for the senate position he acquired from disgraced former Governor Blagojevich. But it was reported in yesterday's Chicago Tribune that Burris has been able to raise hardly any money at all since assuming the position of junior senator from Illinois - just $41,320 from April through June. This figure is clearly a huge improvement from the $845.00 (and no, that's not a typo!) he raised from January through March, but clearly insufficient to continue the charade of his candidacy. A senate seat is pricey real estate these days (requiring at least $3 million, accordi...

When reading a WSJ story with the headline "A Tale of Two Bailouts," my mind began thinking of Dickens and his rather famous opening paragraph for A Tale of Two Cities, the Dickensian tale of the French Revolution, when the unwashed masses rose up in violence against the privileged ruling class. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...." Interesting, how apt that quote remains today.... For Goldman, the Crash has truly been the cause of some very good times . However, for CIT, another TARP recipient, the worst of times are possibly approaching. It is a financial institution that still teeters on the verge of bankruptcy. And it is not yet clear if the feds will bail CIT out. So what does CIT's possible ...

Goldman Sachs is reporting a "robust turnaround" in performance (says the NY Times. ) That "robustness" translates into net earnings of $3.44 billion just for the second quarter of 2009. According to their own press release , GS business highlights include: *Ranking first in worldwide announced M&As for the year-to-date *Record quarterly net revenues of $736 million in equity underwriting *Repurchase of their stock form the TARP Capital Purchase Program It's been a heck of a great year for Henry Paulson's old employer.... According to today's NY Times story : "Many analysts are likely to welcome the news as another sign that the financial industry is stabilizing, and the Goldman results will probably set a positive tone for a slew of other bank results expected in the coming week. Other banks like JPMorgan Chase have been emerging as strong players since last year’s financial troubles, and analysts also expect them to record strong...

Not even the dead can rest in peace when there's money to be made, apparently. At least not at Burr Oak cemetery, located in the Chicago suburb of Alsip. Burr Oak cemetery is a historic graveyard , the final resting place of Emmit Till, the young boy who was lynched in Mississippi a half century ago for grinning at a white girl. It's also a cemetery with a gruesome secret... old, unmarked graves were being dug up, the bodies dumped elsewhere on the grounds of the graveyard, so the plots could be resold for cash. Apparently, the four workers involved have pocketed more than $300,000 from the horrifying scam. They're now in jail, awaiting trial. You can read more on the methods used to make money off of the dead in the Sun-Times and in the Trib . Just thinking about this scam leaves me feeling shrouded in a black and horrible gloom.

It's called Governor of one of our 50 states. How else can you explain the mental breakdowns of so many governors in such a short time? It's an issue that surpasses gender and ideological differences. Let's just take a look... *Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, forced to resign after quoting Kipling and being caught on tape trying to sell Obama's old senate seat. *South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who decided to head down to Argentina for some cuddles with his girlfriend - on Father's Day weekend, leaving his wife and children to wonder where he was on that day set aside to celebrate paternity. He will not resign from his position as governor, promising to be working on his marriage, even as he misses the Argentinian woman he calls his "soul mate." *And of course Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who took advantage of the patriotic feelings stirred up by the 4th of July to announce her resignation . She's apparently been driven mad by th...

On the same day we learned of the bleak June jobs report , with its grim news of nearly a half million lost jobs, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the firms on Wall Street are on track for one of the biggest bonus payouts ever . 2009 has been particularly good for Goldman Sachs, the Journal reports: "Based on analysts' earnings forecasts for 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to pay out as much as $20 billion this year, or about $700,000 per employee. That would be nearly double the firm's $363,000 average last year, and slightly higher than the $661,000 for the average Goldman employee in fiscal 2007, according to analyst estimates reviewed by The Wall Street Journal." Ahh, the riches that come from having friends in high places! What good would Paulson’s TARP have been if it hadn’t been profitable for his friends and former colleagues at Goldman? He cleared out its competitors, fed it TARP money directly and indirectly through AIG. They’re ...

Summer is here and the time is right to slash and burn jobs. At least that's the conclusion we can reach when we see that almost 500,000 people lost their jobs in June, making the jobless rate - 9.5 percent - the highest its been since Reagan was in office. That was back in 1983, when the Rust Belt cleared out all those jobs in steel and other manufacturing industries. Back in the early 1980s, Reagan promised he would bring "morning in America!" And we got a nasty recession and unemployment and states across the country dumped the mentally ill from asylums they could no longer afford to keep open. Reagan also promised the benefits of "the trickle down" theory - all those tax cuts for the rich would enhance the lives of everyone else. That "trickle down" boat seems to have sailed out to sea with just the very rich on board. Since Reagan, with rising prices and stagnant salaries, the middle class seems to be sinking, not rising, as promised, w...