Another "Stench" On Wall Street

My last Blog I wrote about the stench coming from Chicago and now we have a stench coming from New York City.

What I am about to write about surpasses anything that we have heard about in our country’s business community.

I think God is shaking the American tree and all the bad fruit is falling to the ground. The tree shaking started back in the 70’ and 80’s revealing the corruption in some of America’s religious institutions. Sex scandals, thievery, lying, fraud, are some of the words used when the fruit started hitting the ground.

God started with his church and now He is exposing the business community along with our government institutions for all of the lying, fraud, pandering, and corruption that has entered in. So far it hasn’t made the front pages of our major newspapers (and their turn is coming) but this one so far takes the cake!

After graduating from law school back in the early 60’s Bernard Madoff started Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, which we now find has been running a con game, a giant Ponzi scheme, a type of fraud in which earlier investors are paid off with money raised from later victims - until no money can be raised and the scheme collapses.

Madoff has bilked his investors out of over $50 billion dollars. The house of cards came tumbling down Friday because he was not able to keep up paying off his older investors with the money created from his new investors. With the stock market down it all tumbled on Friday taking thousands of people and institutions with him including his very own family.

For years, investors, including rivals and government regulators all wondered how Bernard Madoff worked his magic of continually yielding over 10% returns on investments even when others on Wall Street couldn’t even come near it. Why wasn’t his suspected con game not uncovered sooner by government regulators?

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which investigated Madoff in 1992 but cleared him of wrongdoing, appears to have been completely surprised by the charges of fraud. A Boston whistle blower has claimed that he tried to alert the SEC to the scheme as early as 1999, and Barron's weekly newspaper raised questions about Madoff's returns and strategy in 2001, although it did not accuse him of wrongdoing.

Despite all the red flags, many hedge fund companies kept promoting Madoff's funds to other investment houses and individuals. Many prominent Jewish families in the New York and Miami areas have lost everything. Recently, the Japanese firm, The Nomura Group, one of the largest global investment banking and securities firms began soliciting investors for Madoff internationally. One hedge fund advisory firm alone, Fairfield Greenwich Group, said on Friday that its clients had invested $7.5 billion with Madoff.

Victims of the scam included grey-haired grandmothers in Florida, investment companies in London, and charities and universities across the United States. The Wilpon family, the main owners the New York Mets, and Yeshiva University both confirmed that they had invested with Madoff, and a Jewish charity in Massachusetts said it would lay off its five employees and close after losing nearly all of its $7 million endowment. Wealthy individuals and other money managers entrusted billions of dollars to funds that in turn invested in his firm, based on his reputation and reported returns.

Now thousands, possibly tens of thousands of investors confront losses that range from serious to devastating. All the pain and suffering because of one man’s greed and corrupted heart!

Stay tuned and let’s see what God’s Word has to say.

Psalm 14:1
"Fools (those who are morally deficient) say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile.”

Proverbs 10:23
"A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom."

Proverbs 11:29
"He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind."

This story only highlights the condition of a man's heart. Mr. Madoff has lived with this lie for over 40 years. When sin is allowed to harden the heart like a stone then it loses its tenderness to hear the voice of right and wrong. Through the washing of the blood of Christ Jesus and the confession of sin the heart can be restored. May God have mercy on his soul and that he will find the One and only restorer of hearts, Jesus Christ! Please pray for Bernard Maddoff, his family, and all of those who have been devastated by his con game.

One last thought from Matthew 16:26, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"

THE CHICAGO WAY

Something Has Been Stinking in Denmark! Ooops! Illinois! The stench of government corruption in the heartland has permeated itself to the point that the smell may follow the President-elect to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Don’t forget the mayor of “Chicagoland” not only runs the city but the State of Illinois. He is the political king of Illinois and is in the know.

I don’t know if you have ever smelled someone who has been around a bonfire but when you get near them you can smell the burnt wood. It “kind of sticks to ya” knowingly or unknowingly and is especially noticeable to those who have not been around the fire.

For mayor Daily, President-elect Obama, or Congressman Jackson to deny that they were not aware of the goings on in the governor’s office is beyond belief. Daily, Obama, and Jackson come out of the same mould of corrupt Windy City politics. Now, we find Congressman, Jessie Jackson, Jr., was the 5th person heard talking to the “Gov” and something about $500,000 was mentioned by him or one of his aids on a FBI wiretap of the governor’s office phone seeking the nod to fill the vacant Obama Senate seat.

On November 10th there was a 2-hour+ marathon telephone conference bugged by the Feds between Governor Blagojevick’s office and Obama politico’s in DC. It is interesting that Valerie Jarrett was Obama’s first choice for the nomination for his Senate seat and within hours of the big meeting she said she was no longer interested. While we are at it former Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, to be one of the most powerful unelected officials in the White House, who runs interference for Obama, is part of the Chicago Way.

Here is an interesting little tidbit if you already don’t know. All one has to do is connect the dots and follow the money and you find that President-elect Obama’s ties to arrested Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevick is also connected to Chicago slum land lord and convicted felon Tony Rezko. You see Resko was the political godfather for both Obama and Blagojevich, helping both to rise in the stench and corruption of Chicago and Illinois politics. President elect Obama has credited Rezko with helping with his political career. Of course this was said before he ran for the office of the President.

Evidence that things are so bad in Illinois, Blagovjevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were bold enough to try selling President-elect Barrack Hussein Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder according to a 76-page FBI affidavit released this past Tuesday.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald calls the effort to barter the seat the “most sinister and appalling” of a long list of accusations against Blagojevich and Harris. When there is a Senate seat vacancy the respective state governor is responsible for naming a replacement.

What proof do we have that Obama has ties to Rezko? Briefly, here are a few that are public.
-1990 Rezko offered Obama a job while he was still at The Harvard Law School.
-1995 billed 32 hours of work to Woodlawn Preservation and Investment, a low income housing project Rezko was partnered with.
-1995 Rezko was Obama’s second largest contributor when he ran for an Illinois state Senate seat.
-1997 two Rezko companies contributed $2,000 to Obama’s political operation.
-1998 Rezko contributed about $450.00 in food to Obama’s campaign.
-2002-2003 Rezko was one of Obama’s biggest contributors when he ran for his current Senate seat in addition Rezko was a member of Obama’s campaign finance committee. In June 2003 Rezko had a fund-raiser for Obama at his home. Rezko helped raise as much as $250,000 for Obama run for the Senate in 2003.
-2005 Obama purchased a house for $1.6 million beside an adjacent lot Rezko’s wife paid $625,000 for and both deals closed on the same day with the same bank. Later Rezko sold 1/6th of the lot to the Obama’s for $104,500. A fence was constructed to separate the property and Obama paid for the maintenance on both properties.
-2007-2008 Rezko helped Obama’s presidential campaign raise over $150,000 while he was under a Federal investigation. Obama’s campaign eventually gave the money to charity.

I can go on the same way with Rezko’s ties to Blagojevich but I don’t have the room or time and I am sure you don’t want to read it anyway.

So what does all of this mean? It means that Obama, Blagojevich and Rezko are closely associated. Rezko is in prison and if proven guilty Blagojevich will be there with him. So far this is two out of the five that comes out of the same Chicago political mould and the investigation is on-going.

Something is stinking in Denmark! Oooops I mean Illinois! Oooooops in Chicago! Ooooooops maybe 600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

Anyway it has always been like that hasn’t it? After all, it’s the Chicago Way. For the sake of the White House and our Country I hope not.

Here are some thoughts from The Teacher.

Ecclesiastes 10:1-2, 5-6

1 As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.
5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
6 Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.

Ecclesiastes 11:13-14

13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the [duty] of every human being.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

I need not say any more! Blessings!!!

Extremism of the Unusual Kind

There are a number of places found in the “Land of the Free” where we find extremism of the unusual kind. For example in San Francisco you can be a card carrying pot smoker and inhale cannabis right on the streets in full public view and not be arrested by the local john arms. What started as medical marijuana is now found throughout the city. The homeless cruse the streets and public parks in groups and the gay community can be found day and night practicing their art in public places. Walking the streets and public parks of San Francisco one has to be careful not to step on a used needle or have your child pricked by one of them. It appears the general community has been worn down over the years and has accepted what is going on in their town. Sodom and Gomorrah have nothing on the city by the bay.

Then we have another kind of extremism found in the one and only “Detroit City.” Here we find a “cradle to grave mentality” that has entrenched itself deep into the soul of the community by both government and private enterprise. Loss of jobs, people fleeing, high unemployment (9.7%), violent crime 5x and property crime 2x the national average, corruption at all levels, schools in shambles (61% graduation rate), and governmental regulations are just some of the signs of the illness that stifles freedom, es·prit de corps, productivity, competition, and the free market.

As you know the “Big Three” the last time in Washington, were ridiculed for asking for $25 billion without a plan on how they were going to use it. The three CEO’s travel to Washington from Detroit could have been a public relations coup, but turned into a PR nightmare when they were asked how they traveled and they replied by saying private corporate jets. They left DC with no money and their tails between their legs. But don’t let that fool you. They are back this week driving to DC with a plan in hand and they will get your money.

Many in the Congress are beholding to the unions. The Big Three’s trip to Washington this week will strike gold in “them there halls.” Even if the $25-plus-billion only delays the inevitable, they will get the money to save the union jobs. If they fail as businesses, the finger will be pointed at management and not the union and certainly not the Congress or the Administration.

I have been to downtown Detroit a number of times and it is a disaster. Liter everywhere, potholes in the streets, vagrants and homeless on street corners and in the boarded up entrances to abandoned buildings. Walking the streets the stench of human urine permeates the air. The spirit of the city is downcast and fatalistic.

The State of Michigan has been in a serious recession for a number of years. Businesses are closing or moving out of the state to greener pastures where they are not being taxed into the ground. Michigan loses more people then it gains (25% fewer jobs since April 2007).

Government’s answer is always more taxes, more programs, and more regulations. The auto industry has sold its soul to the union in order to keep the peace. Over the years the Big Three have provided more money for hourly wages, medical and retirement benefits, and layoff benefits. They have been hamstrung by their own doing, as well as, by the government.

How about $73 per hour (It costs over $73 per hour on average to employ a union auto worker, according to University of Michigan at Flint economist Mark J. Perry) or $1,500 in legacy cost for each unit coming off of GM’s production lines (GM CEO, G. Richard Wagoner, has noted that each of his company’s vehicles produced in North America includes an average cost of $1,525 in health care benefits, and asserted that GM is the world’s largest private provider of health care benefits) or try getting 95% of your wage if you are laid-off, and what about those long vacations?

Just to give you an idea how bad things are the Wall Street Journal recently reported the following: Ford owes more than $26 billion to the UAW Trust Fund, with $6.3 billion due at the end of 2009. Ford keeps asking the UAW for payment delays-the clock is ticking for this time-bomb. As time moves on it can only get worse as the number of employees retire and the industry shrinks with less working workers.

In both examples of extremism cited above both are fatal to the people and to the society. Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet; maybe it’s time for change. Here are a few words of Solomon the Teacher, King David’s son, the wisest man in the world (935 BC) from Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, 6-7, 16-17.

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment-wickedness was there, in the place of justice-wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself, "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed."

In Ecclesiastes 12:13 Solomon says, “Fear God and obey His commands, for this is the duty of every person.”