(and 99.999% of humanity's) ENEMY, and is certainly NOT a 'nightmare' for either the Republican or the Democratic parties' banking/oligarchic overlords.
He is NOT a hero for anyone, except his fellow billionaires (and perhaps multi-millionaires worth over 100 or 200 million).
Do 'hero's' do things like this?
Buffett – trading on inside information – steals $3.7 billion from the American taxpayer.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-18/buffett-generates-3-7-billion-from-goldman-investment-made-during-crisis.html "Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) has made about $3.7 billion, including paper profits, from its $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) at the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.
Goldman Sachs today said it will pay $5.65 billion to redeem preferred stock it sold to Berkshire. The price includes the original investment, plus a 10 percent premium and first- quarter dividend. Berkshire still holds warrants to buy $5 billion of the New York-based bank’s common stock with a strike price of $115 per share, which have generated a paper profit of more than $1.9 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Buffett invested in Goldman Sachs following the collapse of rival securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Under terms of the deal, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire collected a $500 million annual dividend on the preferred stake. Goldman Sachs closed at $159.96 today on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with $84.39 at the end of 2008..................................."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
key quote "Goldman Sachs’s redemptions are “unwelcome,” Buffett said Feb. 26 in his annual letter to shareholders. “After they occur, our earning power will be significantly reduced"
In other words, Buffett wants to keep his hand further in the Goldman Sachs till, as they continue to financially rape and pillage.
flashback video
Charlie Munger (Buffett's long time Berkshire partner), tells the US people that "Thank God that bank bailouts came before handouts" to them and that the Americans need to just "Suck it up and cope"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYHQLNb3zGA ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What bailouts you might ask? The $700 billion in Tarp? No no no, how does over $23.7 TRILLION (much to foreign banks) sound?
U.S. Rescue May Reach $23.7 Trillion, Barofsky Says (article from 2009)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aY0tX8UysIaM------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, many said that this figure would NEVER come into play, that at most the totals would be another 700 billion (similar to TARP).
well.......................................... HELLO:
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3 Senator Bernie Sanders: The FedRes Audit – “U.S. Provided a Whopping $16 Trillion in Secret Loans To Bail Out US And Foreign Banks”
http://sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/GAO%20Fed%20Investigation.pdf (go to page 144, 3 of Buffett-related banks,Wachovia, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, got over $1.1 TRILLION in guarantees and zero or near zero interest loans)
and this
(another disclosure, different from Bernie Sanders' audit)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/the-feds-secret-12-trillion-bailout-of-wall-street/243938http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-21/wall-street-aristocracy-got-1-2-trillion-in-fed-s-secret-loans.html Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Fed’s Secret Loans
http://www.bloomberg.com/data-visualization/federal-reserve-emergency-lending Goldman Sach's (whilst Buffett was a significant share holder (see above), got around $70 Billion in bailouts and loans, Wells Fargo, another $45 Billion, and Wachovia got $50 Billion. That is another 165 billion to Buffett-related banks.
Between just these 2 Federal Reserve disclosures, 3 of the Buffet-related, partially or majority Buffett-directed received almost $1.3 TRILLION in secret bailouts, guarantees, and zero or near zero loans (which they turned around and leveraged out for billions in skimmed profits.)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffet and Drug Laundering Money:Wachovia (now Wells Fargo under Warren Buffett) laundered $378.4 BILLION in drug cartel money, yet paid a fine of only $160 million.
That is equal to laundering a million, and paying a 423 dollar fine. A speeding ticket is more than that in certain cities. Buffett was completely involved in the negotiations to lower the fines.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/04/wachovia-paid-trivial-fine-for-nearly-400-billion-of-drug-related-money-laundering.html -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffett and the Mortgage Fraud Class Action Lawsuit (Buffett now has massive shares in 2 Huge Banks, Wells Fargo and Bank of America that are squarely in Schneiderman's Target Zone):
Buffett Is Betting Against Eric Schneidermanhttp://www.thestreet.com/story/11231295/1/buffett-is-betting-against-eric-schneiderman.html Perhaps. But, if so, the next time banks get government help won't go down like it did last time.
Warren Buffett announced Thursday he will take a stake in Bank of America, paying $5 billion for 50,000 cumulative preferred shares, each with a liquidation value of $100,000.
This investment has already raised red flags in the investment community, with the announcement coming days after Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan vehemently denying that the bank needed capital. Also, the terms of the deal -- specifically the outsized dividend -- have led at least one prominent analyst to declare: "There's no way the bank can make money."
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11230870/1/buffett-to-invest-5-billion-in-bank-of-america.htmlSo what exactly are Bank of America(BAC_) and Warren Buffett up to?
They're betting against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Schneiderman is investigating the foreclosure practices of major banks;
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/233633-schneiderman-removed-from-mortgage-deal-committee opposing any mortgage/foreclosure settlement that gives banks a release from criminal investigations in exchange for civil fines.
In this sense, he's a lone wolf, getting booted from multi-state mortgage-settlement talks
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11229482/1/new-york-ag-booted-from-mortgage-talks.html while facing pressure from the Obama administration to accept "blood money" in exchange for banker immunity.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11226640/1/obama-wants-schneiderman-to-back-off-banks-report.htmlThe proposed settlement of $20 billion would protect mortgage servicers such Bank of America, Wells Fargo(WFC_), JPMorgan Chase(JPM_), Citigroup(C_) and Ally Financial from further mortgage investigations. For perspective, the laughably small settlement is less than a single year's Wall Street bonus pool.
clip
-----------------------------------------------
my thoughts
The $20 billion settlement is is actually 7 and a half times less than Wall street paid itself in bonuses for just 2010.($150 billion)
http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/video/wall-street-bonuses-150-billion/383180
Buffett despises a true investigators like Schneiderman, and actively worked, along with the other bankster oligarchs behind the scenes to pressure his removal.
Furthermore, Buffett, per the terms of his $5 billion investment in Bank of America, gets paid back before ANYONE else, even the US government, in the event of BOA's demise.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffett also played his typical disinfo campaign in regards to the rating agencies (talking trash about them, but reaping huge profits through his large holdings in Moody's, as they blatantly mis-rated mortgages in the sub-prime debacle)http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010062202/warren-buffett-rating-agencies-and-corruption -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buffett and derivatives:
Let’s Hold Benedict Arnold Billionaire Warren Buffett Accountablehttp://www.alternet.org/story/146795/let%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s_hold_benedict_arnold_billionaire_warren_buffett_accountable ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lastly, let me turn to Buffett and his widely played remarks calling for higher taxes on the rich for capital gains and dividends.Buffett owns HUGE shares in companies, he cannot easily pull out of a stock without destroying its market value. He also is known for long term holding, and reaping huge profits, and if his companies get in trouble, he goes running to the government to bail him out.
So, what better to ensure a stock's price than raising the penalty on ALL OTHERS for pulling out by taxing that capital gain at a much higher rate. He is actually calling for the government to force people to stay in stocks much longer than they would have, due to tax penalties. Meanwhile, he completely benefits, as this captive group of investors now is much less likely to abandon the firms that he holds huge shares in. Meanwhile Buffett and his fellow ilk will use ultra-complicated (and previously illegal) accounting methods to offset the increase in taxes he would have paid via losses that he will say he incurred.
I completely agree the truly rich should pay more, as the US tax system is designed to smash small and medium sized firms, whilst the big multinationals, who basically wrote the tax code through lobbyist pressure, pay next to nothing. But Warren Buffett's plans are a sham, a scheme, and also will hurt, once again the small investor and small businesses, who employ 70% of all Americans.
--------------------------------------------
If Warren Buffett, (a billionaire who has consistently used his privileged position to suckle off a bastardized version of crony capitalism which has morphed into corporate fascism through its confluences with the deepest cores of state power) is a 'hero', then........... HOW LOW the thresholds for the heroes of our age have fallen..........
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
