Goldman Sachs team switch

[troubador]

Why did Goldman Sachs (and other banking firms) switch from supporting(as a top donor) the democratic candidate (Obama) in 2008 to supporting the republican candidate(Romney) in 2012?

 

[troubador]

2008 Obama Top Donors
[TABLE="class: datadisplay"]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]University of California[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$1,648,685[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$1,013,091[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Harvard University[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$878,164[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Microsoft Corp[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$852,167[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Google Inc[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$814,540[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]JPMorgan Chase & Co[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$808,799[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Citigroup Inc[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$736,771[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
2012 Romney Top Donors
[TABLE="class: datatable"]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Goldman Sachs[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$891,140[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bank of America[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$668,139[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]JPMorgan Chase & Co[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$663,219[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Morgan Stanley[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$649,847[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Credit Suisse Group[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$554,066[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Citigroup Inc[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$418,263[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="class: rowTint, bgcolor: #F0F3F6"]
[TD]Wells Fargo[/TD]
[TD="class: number, align: right"]$414,750[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[cshea2]

A lot of it has to do with the Dodd-Frank Act. It's a huge bill that has some good parts and some bad parts. The bill makes it harder for banks to loan out money because of the higher reserve requirements. Goldman Sachs runs deeper inside the government than any other financial institution. Romney on the other hand did business with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (the private equity unit of GS) for many of the leveraged buyouts at his company Bain Capital.

Remember a couple years back when Obama called them mobsters?

 

[Little Wing]

Romney and his wife, Ann, have investments in nearly three-dozen various Goldman funds together valued at between $17.7 million to $50.5 million, according to a financial disclosure form (PDF) filed in August 2011. Those investments appear in the blind trusts and individual retirement accounts belonging to the Romneys. Romney's been a loyal Goldman Sachs client. His 2007 disclosure, filed before his first presidential run, showed Goldman investments valued at between $18.2 million and $51.5 million.
No other Republican presidential candidate comes to close to matching the size and breadth of Romney's investment portfolio. Nor do any of the other candidates' personal financial disclosures list any investments in Goldman-run funds.

Goldman Sachs is considered by many one of the villains of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi acidly described Goldman as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."


so essentially it's a birds of a feather switch i guess

 

[Little Wing]

Here's a list of the Romneys' most recent Goldman investments:
[TABLE="class: tableizer-table"]
[TR="class: tableizer-firstrow"]
[TH]Investment[/TH]
[TH]Low range[/TH]
[TH]High range[/TH]
[TH]Holder[/TH]
[TH]Type[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Financial Square Federal Fund - FST Shares[/TD]
[TD]$5,000,001[/TD]
[TD]$25,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Private Client Portfolio[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,001[/TD]
[TD]$5,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Strategic Income Fund Class 1[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,001[/TD]
[TD]$5,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Small Cap Value Class 1[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Financial Square Federal Fund - FST Shares[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Linked to GP GSCI Agriculture, structured note[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Trust GS Inflation Protected Securities Funds - INSTL SHS[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Linked to MSCI EAFE Structured Note[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Local Emerging Mkts Debt FD Mutual Fund[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Strategic Income Fund CL 1[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group Inc Linked to DJIA Structured Note[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group Inc Linked to DJIA Structured Note[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS 2002 Exchange Place Fund LP[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Capital Partners Fund 2000 LP[/TD]
[TD]$500,001[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Global Opportunities Fund LLC[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners LLC[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners II LLC[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]$1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Trust GS Inflation Protected Securities Fund - INSTL SHS[/TD]
[TD]$250,001[/TD]
[TD]$500,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group Inc Linked to Russell 2000 Index Structured Note[/TD]
[TD]$250,001[/TD]
[TD]$500,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cash - GS Account[/TD]
[TD]$100,001[/TD]
[TD]$250,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cash - GS Account[/TD]
[TD]$50,001[/TD]
[TD]$100,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund LLC[/TD]
[TD]$50,001[/TD]
[TD]$100,000[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Capital Partners III LP[/TD]
[TD]$15,001[/TD]
[TD]$50,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Financial Square Federal Fund - FST Shares[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]$15,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Core Fixed-Inc Mutual Fund[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]$15,000[/TD]
[TD]Ann[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]The Goldman Sachs Group CMN (Sold)[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Investment Grade Credit Fund - Inst (Sold)[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GS Global Equity Partners I, LLC (Sold)[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]Blind trust[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cash - GS Account[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Ultra-Short Duration Government FD (Sold)[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Goldman Sachs Short Duration Government FD (Sold)[/TD]
[TD]$0[/TD]
[TD]$1,001[/TD]
[TD]Mitt[/TD]
[TD]IRA[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Little Wing]

After a lengthy investigation into the firm's activities, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) accused Goldman last year of deceiving its clients by selling them complex investments that the firm's own traders predicted would fail?a charge Goldman vehemently denied. Levin also accused Goldman brass of misleading Congress about its trading activities, referring the matter to the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

[Big Pimpin]

Obama has been Goldman's bitch since 2009. Big True!

 

[Zaphod]

Romney and his wife, Ann, have investments in nearly three-dozen various Goldman funds together valued at between $17.7 million to $50.5 million, according to a financial disclosure form (PDF) filed in August 2011. Those investments appear in the blind trusts and individual retirement accounts belonging to the Romneys. Romney's been a loyal Goldman Sachs client. His 2007 disclosure, filed before his first presidential run, showed Goldman investments valued at between $18.2 million and $51.5 million.
No other Republican presidential candidate comes to close to matching the size and breadth of Romney's investment portfolio. Nor do any of the other candidates' personal financial disclosures list any investments in Goldman-run funds.

Goldman Sachs is considered by many one of the villains of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi acidly described Goldman as "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."


so essentially it's a birds of a feather switch i guess

Politicians with conflicts of interest still? Say it ain't so!

 

[Zaphod]

Obama has been Goldman's bitch since 2009. Big True!

You can probably count the number of politicians that aren't their bitch on one hand.

 

[Big Pimpin]

You can probably count the number of politicians that aren't their bitch on one hand.

^^^Bigger true!

 

[LAM]

Obama has been Goldman's bitch since 2009. Big True!

the Dems have not passed one piece of legislation that favors banking. the empirical data shows from the past 40 years that the markets grow the most under Democratic administrations.


Op-Chart - Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

 

[troubador]

the Dems have not passed one piece of legislation that favors banking.

That makes sense but why did they support Obama over McCain in the first place?