Corporatism run riot.

[SemiAuto]

It's nothing short of the contractual codification of regulatory capture. Make the federal government essential to the operation of the big banks and you make it essential for the big banks to infiltrate the federal government at every turn. Lew and Citi -- operating on the basis of rational, if perverse, incentives -- deserve a lot less of the blame here than a government that makes this calculation reasonable. It's an exercise in plutocracy -- from an administration that likes to posture about "fat cat bankers."

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Jack Lew was confirmed as the Secretary of the Treasury. The vote was 71-26.
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I guess it is okay if a Democrat does it.

[Phineas Finn]

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Jack Lew was confirmed as the Secretary of the Treasury. The vote was 71-26.
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I guess it is okay if a Democrat does it.

No it's not, but it does explain how the rest of us end up treading water while Lew, Rubin, Geithner, (sp?) et al, keep getting bigger and bigger boats.

I'm sure that one of the long-term criticisms of Obama will be the extent to which he blew smoke up the butts of those of us on the left while continuing to turn our economy over to the same people who got us into this mess. But then again, the history will be written by people chosen by the same corporate heads who hired Lew and the gang.

[ms maggie]

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Jack Lew was confirmed as the Secretary of the Treasury. The vote was 71-26.
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I guess it is okay if a Democrat does it.

Read this.
http://www.samefacts.com/2013/02/way...ack-lews-bonus

[SemiAuto]

Read this.
http://www.samefacts.com/2013/02/way...ack-lews-bonus

Now imagine that someone in such a job gets an offer to take an important post in one of the federal agencies whose actions influence the financial-services industry: the Treasury, or the Fed, or the SEC, and that the offer becomes public before last year’s bonus is paid. (People offered such jobs have very little control over the timing.)

Now the firm has a real problem. Presumably it doesn’t want to cheap out. On the other hand, if it pays a big bonus, it has just made a gift to an official whose decisions will help or harm the firm. Such a payment, even if fully justified by past performance, will have the appearance of a bribe. No such problem would arise if the person left to run the Ford Foundation or the Red Cross.)

The appearance of impropriety. As pointed out, "There would be no special payout if he left to run the Red Cross or the New York state budget office."

If the departure bonus got paid no matter what then there wouldn't be a problem as it would simply be a contractual obligation. Yet he only got it if he went to a federal position. A position where having a man on the inside would be beneficial.

This is how the revolving door works and part of the reason why the government and TBTF banks are in bed together.

If you want crony capitalism then I'll wager that a man like Jack Lew is who you would want at Treasury.