if it weren't for lawyers like himself he would be in prison On Mar 22, 12:57 pm, dick thompson <[email protected]> wrote: > March 22, 2009 > > AP Gives Aid and Comfort to Spitzer's Fiction-Based 'I Told You So' on > AIG > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/2009/03/22/ap-gives-aid-and-comfort-to-spitz...> > > Filed under: Business Moves > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/category/business-moves/>, Economy > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/category/economy/>, MSM Biz/Other Bias > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/category/msm-biz-bias/>, MSM Biz/Other > Ignorance <http://www.bizzyblog.com/category/msm-biz-ignorance/>, Taxes > & Government <http://www.bizzyblog.com/category/taxes-government/> --- > TBlumer @ 10:51 am > > SpitzerAP0309.jpgDisgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer > clearly sees the current AIG bonus controversy as an opportunity to > redeem his reputation. > > The Associated Press's Michael Hill provided rehabilitation assistance > in his Friday report > <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gZvR4vOTFl8d_x-jNhG...>. > > Spitzer is best remembered for resigning > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/03/12/> as the Empire State's chief > executive after being caught > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/03/10/fox-eliot-spitzer-to-resign-as-ny...> > patronizing high-priced prostitutes over a period of several years, and > for having a reputation as an attorney general on a self-aggrandizing > crusade against against corporate corruption prior to that. > > Spitzer is attempting to capitalize on the public's incomplete knowledge > of his sorry saga to get back in its good graces. > > The AP's Hill gave Spitzer the print equivalent of a soapbox > <http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gZvR4vOTFl8d_x-jNhG...> > to do just that: > > *With AIG, Spitzer is Sheriff of Wall Street redux* > > Eliot Spitzer has a few words to say about the AIG bonus brouhaha: I > told you so. > > The former New York governor battered American International Group > with charges of corruption long before his own dizzying downfall in > a prostitution scandal. He has used this latest financial scandal to > strike his old populist, Sheriff of Wall Street themes and, just > maybe, mend his reputation --- though critics contend that he bears > a share of the blame for the insurance giant's historic near-collapse. > > ..... As for all those politicians piling on AIG this week? Been > there. Done that. > > "We pursued AIG and Wall Street's structural failures in a way that > others shied away from because it was politically unpalatable for > them to address those issues," Spitzer told host Brian Lehrer > Wednesday on WNYC Radio in New York City. "Now it is the flavor of > the month. Everybody is jumping up and down serving subpoenas, > beating their chests trying to be tougher than the next person." > > On CNN Thursday, Spitzer said his initial probes came from AIG's > "effort from the very top to gin up returns whenever, wherever > possible and to push the boundaries in a way that would garner > returns almost regardless of risk. > > "Back then I said to people, AIG is the center of the web," he told > CNN's Fareed Zakaria. > > Spitzer pursued AIG for years when he was New York's attorney > general. The company eventually announced in 2006 that it would pay > $1.64 billion to resolve allegations that it used deceptive > accounting practices to mislead investors and regulatory agencies. > AIG's veteran chief executive officer, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, was > forced to resign in 2005 after a long and contentious, sometimes > ugly battle with Spitzer. > > "He obviously believes history has vindicated him," said John > Coffee, a professor of securities law at Columbia University, "and > wants to remind America that he was there first." > > ..... Coffee suspects Spitzer is more concerned about reclaiming a > legacy than mounting a comeback. Jeffrey Stonecash of Syracuse > University's Maxwell School said the recent comments fit Spitzer, a > natural crusader zealous about rooting out financial crimes. > > Hill waited until his 19th paragraph to note that there is a quite > contrarian take on Spitzer's legal legacy, noting that "Critics, mostly > on the political right, claim that by forcing out Greenberg and creating > turmoil at AIG, Spitzer laid the groundwork for the debacle roiling the > country today." > > A year ago, in the wake of Spitzer's resignation, the Wall Street > Journal reminded us > <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120519359147125705.html?mod=rss_opini...> > that the self-styled, media-assisted Spitzer was much more of a legal > tyrant than crusader: > > Mr. Spitzer's recklessness with the state's highest elected office, > though, is of a piece with his consistent excesses as Attorney > General from 1999 to 2006. > > He routinely used the extraordinary threat of indicting entire > firms, a financial death sentence, to force the dismissal of > executives, such as AIG's Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. He routinely > leaked to the press emails obtained with subpoena power to build > public animosity against companies and executives. In the case of > Mr. Greenberg, he went on national television to accuse the AIG > founder of "illegal" behavior. *Within the confines of the law > itself, though, he never indicted Mr. Greenberg. Nor did he apologize.* > > In perhaps the incident most suggestive of Mr. Spitzer's lack of > self-restraint, *the then-Attorney General personally threatened > John Whitehead after the former Goldman Sachs chief published an > article on this page defending Mr. Greenberg. "I will be coming > after you," Mr. Spitzer said, according to Mr. Whitehead's account. > "You will pay the price. This is only the beginning, and you will > pay dearly for what you have done."* > > Jack Welch, the former head of GE, said he was told to tell Ken > Langone --- embroiled in Mr. Spitzer's investigation of former NYSE > chairman Dick Grasso --- that the AG would "put a spike through > Langone's heart." New York Congresswoman Sue Kelly, who clashed with > Mr. Spitzer in 2003, had her office put out a statement that "the > attorney general acted like a thug." > > These are not merely acts of routine political rough-and-tumble. > *They were threats --- some rhetorical, some acted upon --- by one > man with virtually unchecked legal powers.* > > Eliot Spitzer's self-destructive inability to recognize any limit on > his compulsions was never more evident than *his staff's enlistment > of the New York State Police in a campaign to discredit the state's > Senate Majority Leader, Joseph Bruno.* On any level, it was nuts. > Somehow, Team Spitzer thought they could get by with it. In the wake > of that abusive fiasco, his public approval rating plunged. > > Spitzer's campaign of public intimidation by press conference was rarely > challenged. Firms that believed they were innocent mostly paid up and > forced out key executives like AIG's Greenberg to make him go away. > > As AIG was publicly crumbling last September, I recalled that WSJ > editorial, and added this > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/2008/09/18/bailout-blues/>: > > Left unsaid, but obvious, is that Greenberg wasn't indicted because > he would have kicked Spitzer's butt in court --- which is why > Spitzer avoided the inside of courtrooms like a plague. In the one > case I'm aware of where someone stood up to Spitzer all the way > through a jury verdict, the New York Attorney General was trounced > <http://www.bizzyblog.com/2005/07/08/elliot-spitzer-sore-loser/>. > > ..... Greenberg had at least three successors in the past 3-1/2 > years (Frank Zarb > <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8079-2005Mar28.html> > (a caretaker), Martin Sullivan > > <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aBoMyUpXGIZE&refe...>, > and now-deposed Robert Willumstad > <http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1886344/>. > > Now there's Edward Liddy > > <http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-aig-edward-liddy-sep18...>. > If he could get past the bitterness, and if regulators could admit > that Spitzer's publicity-driven ouster of him was wrong, Greenberg, > even in his 80s, might have been a better choice. > > Who's at the top matters. So does drift at the top, even for a few > months, especially at such a large and complex entity. > > *Note from taxpayers to Spitzer:* Thanks for nothing. > > It's more like "Thanks for $170 billion or more less than nothing." > While AIG's board of course deserves the lion's share of the blame for > the firm's debacle, a strong case can be made that the biggest corporate > crackup in history might not have occurred, or might have been much less > severe, if Spitzer hadn't chosen to make Hank Greenberg his personal piñata. > > That Spitzer is getting unchallenged opportunities to appear on CNN and > elsewhere to peddle his fantasies, along with barely concealed hosannas > from an AP reporter, is disgraceful --- and, sadly, typical. > > /Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org > <http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2009/03/22/ap-gives-aid-comfo...>./ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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