Goldman Sachs As Welfare Queen

My blood is boiling again, when I realize just how much money has been given to Goldman Sachs, and how connected the problem-solvers of this financial crisis--Henry Paulson, Tim Geithner, Neel Kashkari-- are to the venerable investment house.

Read this posting from Josh Marshall's talkingpointsmemo.com.

These are the figures we know about:

TARP funds: $10 billion plus
AIG securities lending unit: $4.6 billion
Maiden Lane III: $5.8 billion
AIG collateral: $2.5 billion

Total: $22.9 billion plus

So we need to ask the question again: why is Goldman pretending that it didn't have exposure to the derivatives market crash and wasn't a counterparty to the notorious credit default swaps?

"Just for good measure, it's also worth noting that Goldman is getting an additional several hundred million dollars per year in interest savings, according to Gross, thanks to an FDIC program that guarantees bonds issued by banks. Under the program, which is designed to make it easier for banks to raise capital, Goldman has sold $21 billion in bonds since November."