Neil Barofsky Discusses “Incestuous Orgy” Between Washington and Wall Street on Bill Moyers

It was Bill Moyers who used the expression “incestuous orgy” in this interview with former head of SIGTARP Neil Barofsky to describe the relationship between major financial firms and the Federal government. That beats the anodyne “revolving door” all day and I hope becomes part of the lexicon for describing the capture of Washington by Wall Street.

Barofsky describes not only his experience at SIGTARP in fighting with the Paulson and Geithner Treasuries to oversee the bailout program, but also his reasons for thinking a financial crisis is inevitable.

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18 comments

  1. LeeAnne

    ‘unfair power crazy’ -something they can understand and their children’s children.

    Even little children understand ‘unfair’ and are passionately offended by it. The adults mask unfairness by a thousand slurs as they rush to get their infants into trendy kindergartens.

  2. Susan the other

    Barofsky sounded like he was resigned to the next crash because no one knows how to prevent it short of TBTF break ups. And breaking up the bigs is not being planned. New Ideas are verboten. At least not publicly. The Fed did require living wills from all of them – hard to believe that was just a useless exercise. In fact Barofsky sounded like another crash was inevitable even if we break them up because the market has been so distorted by bailouts that reform will be prolonged and not surgical. His account of being lectured to tone it down tells me the administration, all of D.C. is terrified that someone is going to yell fire in the movie theater. Coincidentally ‘prolonged and not surgical’ seems to be the course of the European reform. Three years down the road something or other is going to happen. I’m hoping it will be the adoption of the surprisingly sensible new position of the IMF. I fear even that will be agony.

  3. Christina Marlowe

    There is one and only one solution to both the American and the entire Global problem of the thorough “financialization” of the Kleptocratic, Corporate-owned and Corporate-Run [Corporate Takeover] Fascist Dictatorships that have enthroned themselves to power. Here it is:

    The CRIMINALS must be PROSECUTED for their CRIMES. Absolutely NOTHING will “change,” much LESS get “better” until and unless THAT happens. Indeed, if the CRIMINALS are ALLOWED to continue to PLUNDER, it will, in FACT, only get WORSE. MUCH WORSE.

    ALL criminals involved in these monstrous, reprehensible, PATHOLOGICAL financial CRIMES, which were clearly, totally and willfully collaborated as a gigantic Scheme to Defraud and totally BILK the very citizens of this, our country, the United States, and, um, the entire world, MUST PAY.

    Each one of these Criminals must be Indicted, Prosecuted to the fullest extent of THE NEW LAWS, (all of which will be made retroactive) and, finally, actually PUNISHED SEVERELY; Let me be perfectly clear: Each CRIMINAL that is found GUILTY in the Courts of Law, whether by a judicious Judge or by a Jury of his/her “peers,” shall be held fully accountable for their [blatant] CRIMES, and penalties will surely entail STIFF terms of imprisonment, along with the lawful SEIZURE of ALL ill-gotten gains.

    We all know, for example, that George Bush, Dick Cheney…that list goes on and on: War Criminals; And let’s not forget Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Fuld, Hank Paulson, Larry Sommers, Timothy Geithner, Alan Greenspan; And an astonishingly dizzying and countless number of all the other CRIMINALS; All should be on the TOP of the list for the vigorous investigations and thorough prosecutions.

    We MUST HOLD each of these Serial PREDATORS/Criminals FULLY ACCOUNTABLE for their outrageous crimes of Fraud, Scheme to Defraud, Financial Elder Abuse, and countless other very serious Felonies.

    In fact, they should ALL be publicly EXECUTED by HANGING.

    Regards,

    1. Susan the other

      One fun thing which will not be fun for the defendants: Abeel. Abeel v. all the Banksters and their facilitators. A complaint of over 400 pages asking for damages of 43 Trillion. Filed 10/25 (two days ago) in a Brooklyn Court. Worth watching.

  4. mrtmbrnmn

    I call it the Wall Street/Washington DC Axis of Evil…

    also, praise the lord (or whoever) for Bill Moyers, who always talks to smart people like Barofsky, Matt Taibbi and…Yves Smith!!!

    1. jawbone

      Where are the people who can do what Moyers does? Who would be permitted, even on PBS, to do what he does? Who cna do what he does?

  5. econ

    N. Barofsky experience and vantage point needs to be understood well by Amuricans since he worked inside the belly of the beast on Wall St. Ignore it at your collective peril.
    Crony capitalism is a deadly cocktail.

  6. rob

    high praise for bill moyers.one of the few real journalists in the business.For years he has led/allowed his staff to go after real stories.that really matter…..time has proven his message to be true.
    NC and staff are also fighting the good fight,getting real stories out.illuminating reporting….getting to the marrow…with the likes of democracy now,link tv,greg palast,project censored and all the others who are really trying to help…..
    what is mindblowing,is that despite all the good work that is done everyday.these voices are unheard by the masses.most everyone is stuck in the two party trap,debt paradigm the powers that be are most comfortable in.
    to say a crash is inevitable,is a pretty good guess. because,nothing is changing,barely even attitudes…
    this is truly an existential dillemma.Akin to how parables were coded “for those with ears to hear and eyes to see”.those doing real reporting are attempting to”heal the sick” ,sick of mind,sick in that they drank the kool-aid,were taught,educated that there are no REAL alternatives.or taught that they have no enough sense to doubt, those who know THAT forgone conclusion.
    what we need is an awakening.one where everything can be realigned.let the “good” outweigh the “truth”.
    but like jesus found out….you can’t mess with power….directly….that just gets you strung up and crucified only to be thrown in a nameless hole…..only to be ressurected hundreds of years later when your story can be totally misconstrued and manipulated to empower the very beast you set out to tame.
    in order for the student to be taught, first they must be “un-taught”….
    and since too many cling to the rotten edifice of what a few decades ago,seemed less vile,but has really always been rotten,there is no room for change….because either a democrat,or a republican is going to win all the next elections,and the academic industrial complex will go on brainwashing the youth, and bankrupting their hearts and wallets,and the military industrial complex will go on causing strife and misunderstanding between men and nations,through propaganda and lies,while taking half our money,and the energy industrial complex will keep the lights on and the gas trickling…for a price…and the prison industrial complex will throw in jail anyone who doesn’t want to be a part of the mob,and tries to go it alone…and the financial/monetary policy industrial complex will decide who gets to make money and who doesn’t…..and the world isn’t stopping, and there is no frontier anymore… the globalization industrial complex is seeing to it that the fascist screws will run the world…post collapse..of course.

    1. Aquifer

      “.because either a democrat,or a republican is going to win all the next elections,…”

      That will be up to us …

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