Goldman’s Coup: Why Banks Are Benefiting and Workers Aren't

Posted by Laura Flanders, GRITtv at 8:00 AM on July 16, 2009.

“They frankly own the place,” Dick Durbin said back in April referring to the power that banks hold over policy decisions in Washington. If they own the place, presumably they can make the rules. But as Goldman Sachs brings in record profits and prepares to dole out handsome bonuses to employees and executives, many are lauding the company's willingness to take risks. So is Goldman Sachs, dubbed by many 'Government Sachs,' a risk taker or a coup maker? And what will it take to confront what may be the most powerful lobby in American history?

Matt Taibbi, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and author of The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion, Robert Johnson, former chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee, and Michael Lux, co-director of Progressive Strategies and author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be on why the banks are benefiting and the American worker isn't. You can read Taibbi's recent article in Rolling Stone on how Goldman Sachs blew up the economy here.

Laura Flanders is the host of GRITtv and the author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians.