It looks like Goldman may be trying to settle with the SEC.

This is one case where I think the SEC should not give in to cash. The SEC was not created to just fine companies and take cash settlements, that will solve nothing. This case needs to be proven and seen through to the end.

There was clear fraud at Goldman, and it wasn’t any one person, it was many. It needs to be brought into the light and people need to see what kind of institution this really is and how it is a peice in a larger puzzle of greed.

I was glued to the tv along with many Americans to witness the grilling of Goldman Execs. Overall the day proved a couple of things to me.

1. Those guys are crooks, pretty obviously, and they will do whatever it takes to cover up their mess.
2. It isn’t likely that the government understands finance or what really happened, well enough to pull off anything. To me, most of that grilling came off as a political “please the people” type stunt.

I was happy to see those execs up there sweating a bit, but will there be any follow through? That is what I am truly waiting to see. There was a lot of tough talk, but where does it go? I want to see the government audit everything Goldman has done in the past 10 years and nail them down.

I couldn’t help but notice that some of those execs had already departed the company. Of course they did, they already had robbed the old ladys and taken candy from the babies, what’s left? They went home with their loot.

I found John McCain’s comments to Lloyd Blankfein to be particularly comical. McCain thrashed Blankfein on how Goldman had recieved government TARP money while the community banks were hammered and failing due to the actions of banks such as Goldman Sachs. That conversation was particularly upside down, since it was John McCain who put out the message to Barak Obama during the presidential campaign to join him on capital hill and help get TARP passed.

You see, I think the guys at Goldman Sach’s are assholes, no doubt about it. I also think that it was the abesence of financial regulators, the Federal Reserve, and Congress, that allowed these Wall Street banks to run amok. I don’t see the government taking any responsibility here, and they should. If this is real, and they really want to deal with the problem head on, they need to admit their own role. It’s the only way that these things will truly get resolved.

I enjoyed watching the Goldman execs get sliced and diced in front of the world, but let’s see some real action. So far, it’s all talk.

Make this real, expand the probe to other investment banks. Goldman may have been a leader in this mess, but they are far from being the only participants. How many other “shitty deals” were being pushed on unsuspecting pension funds? Wake up Goverment! The time for talking is over. Now, it’s time for action.