Attitudes that Many on Wall Street would call Acceptable

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

One item of behavior (?) among lists that I find unusual/interesting/curious...

It seems to me that if I go onto certain kinds of websites, often there is a "list of names".
Sort of like Madame Defarge knitting her list for the guillotine.
Maybe it's some kind of "Après la révolution !"

If it's there is no actual list, there seems to be paragraph after
paragraph of sentences linking one name to another to another...,
as if just the association to one another alone is enough for damnation.
One list I came upon by Googling recently had Supreme Court Justice Kagan
as one of the undesirables in the Omaba government.

Maybe I'm just not going to enough of the more "liberal" websites
to see the same phenomenon among them.

But I just don't get it.

That's the basis of a lot of conspiracy theories. I'd guess you could find those types of associations in discussions of the Koch Brothers.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If you're going to regulate Wall Street, you have to recruit people who know how it works, where it cheats, and where the bodies are buried.
I just want to know who's checking on the checkers?

this is a good point. Having worked on Wall Street should not be an automatic condemnation. If this is the standard, why would we bother with the fellow who wrote the letter as he quit?

We can't, more importantly, we shouldn't try to avoid contact with people who've worked on Wall Street ( or big oil or big pharma or defense, whatever) on that basis only. Where would we recruit our leaders from? Sports teams? Joe the Plumber? It is important to have actual expertise in such technical areas in order to have a chance to be competent in such areas.

Who's checking the checkers? Another good point. We are those checkers, ultimately. But there are other checks and balances in our systems of government, auditors, oversight offices, open government laws, etc. WA has a good reputation as an open government, as states go. Laws that reassert the sovereignity of the people to make decisions as to what's important to know and what's not are crucial tools for keeping our elected officials honest. They are just as human as we are after all.

[Lamplighter]

I've completely lost track of which threads followed the securities/mortages fraud of 2008.
So I' putting this article here just because Goldman Sachs has been mentioned.

It's a very interesting read for the background of the SEC court cases,
and I recommend going to the original article in the link below.

This conviction of a mid-level employee may be the lever to open the way
to some higher-ups who were actually more culpable... or maybe not.

Dealbook
SUSANNE CRAIG and BEN PROTESS
8/1/13

Former Trader Is Found Liable In Fraud Case

A former Goldman Sachs trader at the center of a toxic mortgage deal
lost a closely watched legal battle on Thursday, giving Wall Street’s top regulator
its first significant courtroom victory in a case stemming from the financial crisis.

A federal jury found the trader, Fabrice Tourre, liable on six counts of civil securities fraud
after a three-week trial in Lower Manhattan. The case had given both sides
— the government and Mr. Tourre — a chance to repair their reputations.<snip>

The S.E.C. threw innumerable resources at Mr. Tourre’s case,
underscoring its importance to the agency. The onslaught began when
the S.E.C. opened an investigation into Goldman after the 2008 crisis.<snip>

Some critics have questioned why the agency chose to make Mr. Tourre
— a midlevel employee who was stationed in the bowels of Goldman’s mortgage machine — the face of the crisis.
Rather than aim at a high-flying executive, the agency pursued someone barely known on Wall Street.<snip>

For its part, the S.E.C. notes that it has won about 80 percent of its trials under Mr. Martens
and has sued 66 chief executives and other senior officers in cases related to the financial crisis.
S.E.C. officials also note that the agency files cases only where they can be proved,
even if that means not pursuing top executives insulated from the bad acts of their employees.

[Lamplighter]

West Virginia may be leading the way to make CEO's and other upper-level managers accountable for the actions of the company.
But then too, this may have to do more with fiddling with the bankruptcy-laws than with water pollution...

Four Executives Indicted From Company Behind West Virginia Chemical Spill
Climate Progress
Emily Atkin
December 17, 2014

The U.S. Attorney General’s office has filed an indictment against four executives
of the company that contaminated drinking water for 300,000 West Virginians
this past January, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act.

The indictment marks the second time this month that former Freedom Industries
CEO Gary Southern has been charged with violations related to a massive chemical spill
that saw 10,000 gallons of a coal-cleaning chemical called crude MCHM
dumped into West Virginia’s Elk River.
Also named in Wednesdsay’s indictment are company ex-president Dennis Farrell,
former secretary William Tis, and onetime vice president Charles Herzing.

Freedom Industries’ executives are accused of “fail[ing] to exercise reasonable care
in its duty to operate the [chemical storage facility] in a safe and environmentally-sound manner,”
and that their failure to exercise care was the primary reason for the historic spill.

<snip>

Then, earlier this month, Southern was arrested and charged by the FBI
with with bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud, and lying under oath during
the company’s bankruptcy proceedings following the massive spill.

[Lamplighter]

This is a great approach to equal justice.
If a fine stings the little guy, it should sting the big guy too.

Speeding in Finland Can Cost a Fortune, if You Already Have One
NY Times - SUZANNE DALEY - APRIL 25, 2015

HELSINKI, Finland — Getting a speeding ticket is not a feel-good moment for anyone.
But consider Reima Kuisla, a Finnish businessman.

He was recently fined 54,024 euros (about $58,000) for traveling a modest,
if illegal, 64 miles per hour in a 50 m.p.h. zone.
And no, the 54,024 euros did not turn out to be a typo, or a mistake of any kind.

Mr. Kuisla is a millionaire, and in Finland the fines for more serious
speeding infractions are calculated according to income.
The thinking here is that if it stings for the little guy, it should sting for the big guy, too.

Mr. Kuisla’s $58,000 ticket is not even the most severe speeding ticket issued in recent years.
According to another daily newspaper, Ilkka, Mr. Kuisla himself got an even bigger fine in 2013
when he was going about 76 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone.
That ticket was for 63,448 euros, about $83,769 at the time.
—
The Nordic countries have long had a strong egalitarian streak,
embracing progressive taxation and high levels of social spending.
Perhaps less well known is that they also practice progressive punishment,
when it comes to certain fines. A rich person, many citizens here believe,
should pay more for the same offense if justice is to be served.
The question is: How much more?

The fines are calculated based on half an offender’s daily net income,
with some consideration for the number of children under his or her roof
and a deduction deemed to be enough to cover basic living expenses,
currently 255 euros per month <snip>