Goldman's Blame Game: Today's Outrage
NEW YORK (
) --
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
, having lost much of the protective cover it once enjoyed as the main hiring center for U.S. regulators, is now working on a new defensive strategy: finger pointing.
In an
SEC
filing on Monday, Goldman pointed the finger at the media. Apparently we journalists are to blame for the banking industry's fall from grace. Regulators and elected officials also get cited as a source of bad publicity.
Here's a quote from Goldman's 10K surfaced by Michelle Leder in the
New York Times'
(there they go again, the darned media!):
"The financial crisis and the current political and public sentiment regarding financial institutions has resulted in a significant amount of adverse press coverage, as well as adverse statements or charges by regulators or elected officials."
So let me get this straight, Goldman plays a big role in one of the biggest financial crises in modern memory and it's the media's fault that the bank's reputation is tarnished?
Then Goldman ignores calls for temperance after receiving taxpayer assistance and doles out a 47% increase in salaries and bonuses last year, and once more it's the media's fault that the bank now faces lawsuits and shareholder demands to review compensation practices?
Oh Goldman, don't you know that when you point one finger at others, you've got three fingers pointing back at you.
--Written by Glenn Hall in New York.
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