LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.   Exclusive Truthdig Merchandise: Mr. Fish T-shirts and Signed Prints
November 12, 2009
Log in / Register

 Choose a size
Text Size

Most Read

'Daily Show': Cold Busted, Sean Hannity

The Economy Looks Better in Paul Krugman's Neighborhood

Testing Next Year's Lies Today

Gorbachev's Sermon on the Mount

The Man Who Put the Rainbow in 'The Wizard of Oz'

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports
 * NEW! * Where Does the Caving End?

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
 * NEW! * Freedom’s Fight

Digs
Financial Meltdown 101
Vetting Sarah Palin

Truthdig Bazaar
Whose Knees Are These?

Whose Knees Are These?

By Jabari Asim
$6.99

more items

 
Ear to the Ground

Wall Street Showered Obama’s Top Economic Adviser With Riches

Email this item Email    Print this item Print   
Posted on Apr 6, 2009
Flickr / World Economic Forum

Lawrence Summers is the man President Obama turns to for insight into the economy, so it’s more than a little disturbing that the very financial institutions the taxpayers are now rescuing—to the tune of nearly $3 trillion—paid Summers almost $8 million last year. Goldman Sachs & Co., a major beneficiary of the government’s largesse, paid him $135,000 for one speech.

Such revelations can be found in a financial disclosure form released by the White House over the weekend. Read it here (PDF).

Wall Street Journal:

A financial disclosure form released by the White House Friday afternoon shows that Mr. Summers made frequent appearances before Wall Street firms including J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. He also received significant income from Harvard University and from investments, the form shows.

Financial Disclosures

In total, Mr. Summers made a total of about 40 speaking appearances to financial sector firms and other places, with fees totaling about $2.77 million. Fees ranged from $10,000 for a Yale University speech to $135,000 for an appearance paid for by Goldman Sachs & Co.

Read more

More Below the Ad

Advertisement

Chrome Bag - Free Shipping

Elsewhere: .

Comments

Are you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.

By KDelphi, April 7 at 6:37 pm #

DWIGHT—Geithner is a smirking chimp and a sociopath.

I have NEVER “reported” a person. Dont really believe in it. But, could you keep them shorter so I dont have to make my hands sore scrolling past them.

Report this

By Folktruther, April 7 at 1:40 pm #

Usually Wall Steet doesn’t pay off the president until after his stint.  With Reagan it was a ranch, with Clinton tens of millions in speaker fees.  Obama shold really clean up afterwards given all the taxpayer money he is giving the ruling class.

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 7 at 11:48 am #

WHAT IS RIGHT IS RIGHT AND SHOULD STAY THE SAME
WHAT IS WRONG DOES NOT BELONG IN OUR
CITIES, STATES AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
By Dwight Baker
December 25, 2008

The vile open festering wound——the nastiest of all societal objectionable wretchedness———- that stinks in the nostrils of our GOD——- is prevalent in our American culture today. And that is seen and heard in all forms from the many that seek and tend to create all evil avenues in the pursuit of the NEED for GREED.  Thus that lack of respect for each other’s rights to life has become a target for many to lay in wait with prospects to subvert and steal any way from others what they can.

With little to no consequences for their sweeping shameful and illegal deeds done.  In doing they can claim for their own personal gain.  And that has been seen in the many enterprises from the smallest to the biggest of beast in around and about in America today. Thus many seeking to fulfill the actions for the NEED for GREED have become a staple in our economy as many just looked away and said nothing.  And because of that tone and tenor and the lack of the enforcements of the RULES of law those things have become paramount. And in so doing the overt and total lack of respect and obedience for all manners of LAW has been the launching pad for many white-collar criminals and some lesser crooks.  Thus that has been the core of the present rebellion tearing our nation apart. And is against the basic law of a good and godly conscience. To that end——- if the OBVIOUS NEED for GREED is not soon stopped we will have proved to our fellow man and history that as a once great and sanguine society we have not the will to rule ourselves any longer.

Thus at our doorsteps today——pleads the voices of wisdom and intellect saying, ARISE AND SHINE. Sweep out the criminals and get started again rebuilding our nation.  Ruler ship over the masses around the world today has not proven to dispel the beast of mankind from seeking personal gains while in administration of government functions for the people.  Therefore people here and around the world are looking to us to have a plan that works for the betterment of not only us here but them also.  The void I see in our civility is that many of the bright ones who have proved their worth in academics and governmental service have sold out their original ideas most with good and godly conscience intent to the mainstream BARONS of TRADE and COMMERCE or the governmental benefactors to extend their rule. 

And many of them have been recruited into think tanks to propel the agenda of the sponsors.  Much like those who have creativity today, who have the skills to originate patents. Many them prefer to work within the framework of academics or corporate America instead of as an individual to champ the idea to creation and then on into the markets.  Thus in them is not the idea of the rights for individuals in FREE ENTERPRISE or the spirit of entrepreneurship. And what remains lacking in them is the will of steel to push their ideas to the market for all to profit.

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 7 at 11:47 am #

WHAT IS RIGHT IS RIGHT #2

In that context we see many that have originated Web sites today coming from academia or corporate America to re-create what they come from——but for them to have their own say and way and make a profit. And often those have grand ideas of becoming part and parcel to the News and Entertainment media to enhance their individual egos more fail miserably to preserver.  Thus their agenda becomes one of building large subscribers list to sell their exposure to the highest bidders. Then we must ask what have been their real motives?  Because now most of them plea for more money to come in because of budget short falls. 

And what have been seen in most of them is nothing more than a reverberation of grips and complaints but nothing much more.  No real call to action that would change a thing.  Therefore what are the consequences for those many Web sites today?  I think dim.

Because to read then post becomes a waste of time, most of us know what we want but at this time a forum is not present that has the power to take our pleas, demands, desires and wishes then represent them in an orderly fashion to the Administration and or CONGRESS with the power punch by the strongest lobby that could be bought. 

What we need at this time is a WE THE PEOPLES ADEVOCACY/LOBBY.  With the peoples VOICES to be heard and VOTING rights for all proposed legislation and input with the legal staff with their ideas as the legislation takes form in construction. 

We must in an effort hurriedly stop being as mundane morose morons and take on the right and just tasks of changing one vital missing step in our current democratic process by adding a true voice of WE THE PEOPLE in having and supporting our own lobby in Washington DC.

OFTEN MORE TIMES THAN NOT
THE VICTIMS MESSAGES ARE MORE PROFOUND


FAMOUS QUOTES BY FREDRICK DOUGLAS 1818——- 1885

America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.

At a time like this, a scorching iron, not convincing argument, is needed.

Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong, which will be imposed on them.

I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.

The thing worse than rebellion is the thing that causes rebellion.

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.

Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

Report this

By thebeerdoctor, April 7 at 11:34 am #

re: DwightBaker

Your country first comments are ridiculous. May I suggest checking out the Barlett and Steele piece on Timothy Geithner. Lawrence Summers helped create the economic disaster this country is in, and there is nothing altruistic about this arrogant nincompoop coming to the alledged rescue, despite any cut in pay. Your analogy about a pay cut in millions is absurd. You are talking about people who receive higher salaries than 98% of all Americans. As B.B. King might say: “I’m getting some outside help that I don’t really need.”

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 7 at 9:01 am #

Country First
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, April 7, 2009; Page A23

The recent headlines about Lawrence Summers had it all wrong. They announced with an implied breathlessness that he earned around $8 million last year—much of it from the hedge fund D.E. Shaw.

Here’s what I would have written: “Man Takes More Than $7.9 Million Cut in Pay.”

Somewhere in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of shrinks, there should be an entry for “public servant.” They are all, bless their hearts, a little nuts.  Mine, of course, is not an approach that Screaming Cable TV takes to such people. They are all crooks, up to here—wherever “here” may be—in conflicts of interest and perks, and too dim to succeed in the vaunted private sector. But the truth is otherwise. There are, it turns out, successful people who would give up big bucks and much of their privacy to work for you and me. It’s virtually un-American. Summers is clearly one of these people.

D.E. Shaw paid him $5.2 million last year to meet with important clients. In addition, he lent the firm his expertise as a crack economist, and it, in turn, provided him with an idea of how a wildly successful hedge fund works. At the same time, Summers made around $2.7 million in speaking fees from other organizations and companies. He was, to use a technical (micro) economic term, on easy street.

Yet he chucked it all for an office on the street of broken dreams, Pennsylvania Avenue. So did national security adviser James L. Jones, who was earning about $2 million a year. David Axelrod, who had been running public affairs firms before going into the White House, kissed away at least the $1.5 million he earned last year and sold his stake in his companies. Other members of the Obama team similarly unburdened themselves of excess wealth, spare time and privacy, proving that money is not everything.

This is the dirty little secret of Washington. I don’t mean to characterize these or other administration aides as the functional equivalent of Trappist monks, since they enjoy the attention, the power and—above all—the action. They are doing something substantive, important—sometimes making life-or-death decisions and gaining, if they are lucky, a mention in a history book. It is not a life without any compensation.
There are few among us who would take a multimillion-dollar pay cut.

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 7 at 9:00 am #

Country First #2

Yes, you could say, someone like Summers could make it back, but that’s not really—or always—the case. Take Tom Daschle. Here was a man who was not trying to build a career. He is 61, and his career is largely behind him. Yet he was willing to give up a lucrative lobbying practice to go back into government as secretary of health and human services. It turns out he cared more about reforming health care than he did about building a fortune. He didn’t make it into the Cabinet, foiled by a humiliating spot of trouble about taxes that he could have avoided just by staying where he was and raking in the money.

In Ronald Reagan’s famous formulation, “government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” This statement, at the very heart of the so-called Reagan Revolution, denigrated government and the people in it.

Reagan’s statement withdrew John F. Kennedy’s invitation to the intellectually gifted to come to Washington and see what they could do for their country. Reagan sent a different message. Government service is for the lame, the cautious. If you really want to do something for your country, shun Washington and make money. It was morning again in America—whatever that meant.

It is to Barack Obama’s immense credit that he has reversed Reagan’s reversal.

Washington crackles with people on a mission. Brains are once again in vogue, if only because Obama has them in abundance. Not for him the aw-shucks affectation of the previous eight years, when instinct was extolled and ideology trumped analysis. We are in a mess, and one of the reasons is that people who might have noticed or done something about it had been told to stay out of government.

In our scandal-soaked culture, it is de rigueur to denigrate public officials and to search for the inevitable conflict of interest. But here are people, such as Summers, who have put aside wealth and lavish perks for government service. They have their reasons, sure, but whatever they are, we—not they—are the richer for it.

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Report this

By P. T., April 7 at 1:33 am #

Timothy Geithner was numero uno at the New York Fed, which means he was supposed to be keeping an eye on what the Wall Street bankers were up to.

Report this

By christian96, April 7 at 12:34 am #

Truedigger3 and Kdelphi—-Thanks for your humanity.
I wish I knew more about Jason but he won’t respond
to my questions.  One of those silent types.  Perhaps, he gets his handout working for our competent honest government.

Report this

By Xntrk, April 6 at 11:03 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

KDelphi, you pegged Geithner right, and I think that puts him right in there with the Wall Street thugs. It’s kind of like one hand washing the other, and the money sticks to both…

As for tightening regulations etc. I read that one of the first new regulations is to slack off the ‘mark to market’ regs, which mean that the banks can now mark their worthless ‘toxic’ investments to the value they would have IF there was a ‘market for worthless paper’, rather than pegging them at Zero, which is their current value.

Now, the Government funded ‘investors’ in this worthless trash will be more inclined to pay top dollar for the crap, rather then the pennies it is worth in reality [if that much].

I am not an Economist, but English is my native tongue, so I am pretty certain that this ‘tightening of the regulations’ is just another method of fucking the tax payer and siphoning off more money to the Wall Street thieves.

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 6 at 8:06 pm #

TRUE we post the most digger deeper #3

GET OFF YOU HIGH HORSE——PAL-GAL-IT

Jason has a right of passage round hear, all men have a voice to be heard you know ——That is a human right of life.

So you step back deep a deep breath and dig deeper to find some conscience care and concern that leads to compassion for your fellow man.

Your friend Dwight

Report this

By truedigger3, April 6 at 7:02 pm #

Jason,

Life is full of nasty surprises!! So, show some
compassion and humility or take a hike and don’t
come back.

Report this

By KDelphi, April 6 at 6:20 pm #

When I heard Larry Summers mentioned, despite my misgivings about Sen Obama, I was truly amazed. To add Geithner, just makes it wotse.

The US Govt is a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.

P.T.—wasnt Geithner the NY Fed????

Jason!! I disagree with christian most of the time, but, you are a heartless basterd. What do you suggest the uS do with disabled people? I hope you get hit by a bus.

Remember, you are only temporarily able bodied.

Report this

By William deB. Mills, April 6 at 3:36 pm #

As all Federal employees are repeatedly reminded by ethics personnel, when you are in charge of funds, you are expected to recuse yourself even if there is only the appearance of a conflict of interest. $8 million, most people would agree, constitutes at least such an appearance. Mr. Summers, who after all was very much present at the creation (of the legal framework that gave us the recession), should recuse himself from any action related to resolving the crisis. That is not my opinion; that is Federal regulation.

Report this

By P. T., April 6 at 3:32 pm #

Timothy Geithner’s personal history has been in the bureaucracy.  He’s not a Wall Street banker.

Report this

By christian96, April 6 at 1:53 pm #

Jason—-I would be receiving a lot more if I hadn’t
been forced into disability.  What do you do to earn
your annual handout?  Let’s be honest Jason?  Yes,
I did vote for Obama and it was for selfish reasons.
His campaign promise was to cut all income tax on
social security for people making less than $50,000.
I’M STILL WAITING!  Sadly, the way the government is
“handing out” trillions to Wall Street and Bankers,
I’LL BE WAITING A LONG TIME!

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 6 at 1:39 pm #

P.T.

HERE YOU GO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Geithner

MY TAKE He was the BIG BOSS at the FEDERAL RESERVE IN NEW YORK big shot international boss.

DWIGHT

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 6 at 12:46 pm #

SAMOSAMO

AMEN OR SO BE IT

DWIGHT

Report this

By P. T., April 6 at 12:45 pm #

It is said that Timothy Geithner is not from Wall Street.

However, he thinks like Wall Street does.  That is how he advanced to where he is.

Report this

By samosamo, April 6 at 12:39 pm #

No, I would not buy anything from him. Hopefully he will commit suicide or just drop dead. And isn’t it coincidental that these current ‘multiple mass slayings’ of late don’t include those like summers et. al.
What I am reminded of is that is looks like the modern version of the vast migration of europe to north america, only it is pricks like summers and his ilk that are ‘financially’ going to the next promised land and taking it from the people.
Need I remind anyone that this is still part of that war that has been declared on the people and the way to hopefully get around this is to treat it literally as such and come up with a plan to retalliate or defend ourselves. Not much is more personally serious than having some group of evil criminals declaring war against a person or people.

Report this

By DWIGHTBAKER, April 6 at 12:14 pm #

HEY GUYS and/or GALS or AKA’S THE ONES THAT POST THE MOST

Any one got a clue what to do—- or say—-that would be better than just a bunch of complaining

Does this bunch still think that the BUSH BUNCH OF THUGS ARE IN POWER?

IF THAT BE THE CASE THEN WHAT NOW——I have read some things that some of you have said that does not meet my standards of doing the right things.

When I read or hear a CHICKEN HAWK CRY OUT—-

All I think about is my Grand Kids.

Dwight Baker

Report this

By Jason!!, April 6 at 11:58 am #

voice of truth,

lol! good catch.

Report this

By truedigger3, April 6 at 11:15 am #

What else is new. It is the revolving door as usual.
It is a very sorry and deplorable situation that eroded the public trust in its governmnent
and public institutions.

Report this

By voice of truth, April 6 at 10:52 am #

Jason

There is a serious flaw in your line of thinking.  Obama administration members don’t pay taxes, so their millions don’t support anyone’s handouts.  That’s up to the rest of us.

Report this

By Feral Cat, April 6 at 10:41 am #

And they hired a speech and communication coach for Geithner.  Now his beady eyes don’t dart as much. And he lies at a slower clip.  Welcome to “managed democracy”.

Report this

By artie, April 6 at 9:53 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

An example of the power elite taking care of each other while the helpless masses are neglected and impoverished.

Report this

By Jason!!, April 6 at 9:51 am #

christian96,

His taxes on that 8 million pays for your 40k annual handout!

Now if you put that doctoral degree to work and joined the corrupt Obama party, you might earn millions and can pay for another persons handout.

I bet you voted for the corrupt Obama party so you could get a higher handout. While that might be true, you are only empowering the corrupt so did you really gain anything?

Report this

By jackpine savage, April 6 at 7:58 am #

Just look at the guy.  Would you buy a used car from him?  Would you trust him with your money?

Report this

By christian96, April 6 at 6:44 am #

8 million!  Wow, that’s a lot of money.  I make less
than $40,000 on my disability.  I pay $2,000 yearly
for medication, another approx. $2,000 on medical
costs, and give aprrox. $3,000 to charity and a whole
lot to Uncle Sam to protect me.  I am not complaining.  There are plenty of people much worse
off than I am but they probably don’t have Master and
Doctoral degrees like I do.  What I would like to know is:  What does someone do with $8,000 dollars?
Can one of the famous talking heads on TV interview
Mr. Summers and ask him what he does with $8 million
dollars?  Now, that’s one program I’ll watch!

Report this

By thebeerdoctor, April 6 at 6:12 am #

Isn’t it marvelous that the economic court jesters of the ownership state, can secure such lucrative income from speaking fees.

Report this

Add Your Comment

Posts by unregistered readers are moderated. Posts by members
are published immediately. Why wait? Register today!







Number of characters remaining: 4000

Notify you when others comment on this article?


Are you a human?
Retype the word you see here.


Please read and abide by our comment policy.
By submitting this comment, you agree to this site's terms and conditions.

 
Click here to learn more about Truthdig
 

 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
Chrome Bag - Free Shipping
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
Copyright © 2009 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.