Hypocritical lying whore of the week

The big story this week is the $50 billion Madoff swindle, which was made possible because hedge funds aren’t regulated by the SEC and don’t have to be audited the way public companies must be. For that you can thank Congress, and especially one of my Senators, Chuck Schumer, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and a member of the Senate Banking Committee.

A recent New York Times article called Schumer a “jackhammer” when it comes to fundraising and reports that he raised a record $240 million in his party role – including nearly four times as much Wall Street money as the RNC. He has also raised more personal campaign funds from the securities and investment industries than all but one other Congressman, Senator Kerry.

“So what,” you may be asking. Well, here’s a quote from the Times article: “He is serving the parochial interest of a very small group of financial people, bankers, investment bankers, fund managers, private equity firms, rather than serving the general public,” said John C. Bogle, the founder and former chairman of the Vanguard Group, the giant mutual fund house. “It has hurt the American investor first and the average American taxpayer.” Bogle is not exactly a lefty. What he is referring to is Schumer’s ongoing and enthusiastic efforts to gut the SEC, keep credit rating agencies unregulated, lower taxes for hedge funds and private equity firms, and much more. Wall Street got its money’s worth out of Chuckles. It’s all in the Times article.

So that’s the “whore” part of the headline. What makes him a hypocrite and a liar is that he is now trying to recast himself as a populist defender of the little guy’s interests. “After eight years of deregulatory zeal by the Bush administration, an attitude of ‘the market can do no wrong’ has led it down a short path to economic recession,” Mr. Schumer said on the Senate floor in September after carrying Wall Street’s water bucket for years.

He was not alone, of course. Lots of bad people in Washington, New York and elsewhere made their contribution to the financial meltdown. But Schumer played a pivotal role, and is another “elite” -- Harvard undergrad, Harvard Law – who might have served the country in gratitude for the blessings he received, but served himself instead.

Did you watch 60 Minutes last night. If you think the mortgage mess is nearly over, there is a second wave about to hit that is bigger than the first one. You can see the segment here.

Movies: Two I can highly recommend to you are Gran Torino, staring my man Clint. If you love him, you’ll love this movie, and if you are one of those people who have never liked the Dirty Harry side of life, this movie might surprise you.
Another that came to me out of left field, that I really enjoyed, was Slum Dog Millionaire. A sweet love story, but wrapped in a rowdy, 15-year flashback that takes place in the underbelly of India. Also – can’t wait to see Cadillac Records which gets a strong recommendation from AY, my personal movie critic.

Oh, I forgot to mention last week, O.J. wants you to know he is very sorry.