Financial Crisis Commission Quotes

(lloyd blankfein, left - jamie dimon, right
"whew, glad that's over. wanna go for a ride in my
gold-plated jet?")

Two days ago, the new Financial Crisis Commission held its first hearings. The Commission questioned the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Have these men learned any lessons from the financial meltdown?

Looking back, do they have any regrets about recklessly gambling with billions of dollars, selling investors packages of garbage disguised as gold while simultaneously betting AGAINST the very same gold-plated garbage, decimating the financial status of millions of Americans, happily accepting taxpayer bailouts and siphoning off huge profits every step of the way?

Let's listen in ... (my comments are in red) ...

Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan): "Let me be clear: no institution, including our own, should be too big to fail ... the solution is not to cap the size of financial firms."
So, let me be clear. Financial firms should not be too big. But don't make them smaller either. Gotcha.

John Mack (Morgan Stanley): "We did eat our own cooking, and we choked on it."
No Mr. Mack, WE choked on your cooking. You are still eating caviar.

LLoyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs): Goldman "got caught up in and participated in and therefore contributed to elements of froth in the market."
Froth? Excuse me? Froth in the market? Don't you mean fraud??

Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs): "How would you look at the risk of a hurricane? The season after we had four hurricanes on the east coast, which was actually extraordinary versus the year before, rates got very low ... that year after 4 hurricanes ... rates went up spectacularly ... is the risk of hurricanes any different of those times?"
Hey Lloyd, is this what you meant a few months ago when you said you were "doing God's work" at Goldman Sachs? You were creating hurricanes? I guess maybe you were right after all.

... and my personal favorite ...

Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan): "It's not a surprise that we know we have crises every 5 - 10 years. My daughter called me from school one day and said 'Dad what's a financial crisis' and without trying to be funny, I said 'It's the kind of thing that happens every 5 - 7 years.' And she said, 'Then why is everybody so surprised?'"

... sigh ...

~~~