On corporate corruption, Elliot Spitzer, and the Bush Admin.

Elliot Spitzer, the New York City Attorney General has been going after corruption in the investment industry for a few years now, and he's uncovered an industry rife with corruption. He has now focused on the insurance industry and he's so far found the same level of corruption there as well, in his words "fraud, deception, bid rigging, falsehoods throughout the bidding process." In a recent speech at a National Press Club luncheon he noted how the present US administration has pointed the finger at excessive class-action suits, and liability litigation, but not once has it mentioned the corruption in which this industry is rife throughout every level of management and operation, not a single time. What's more, many investors blame Spitzer for investment losses due to the drop in share prices (e.g. AIG) as a result of the guilty pleas, fines, and restructuring of business models, but they don't blame the companies themselves for the losses. Spitzer's critics say his investigations are over the top, and that he's merely seeking the spotlight, but they ignore the fraud and corruption that Spitzer is uncovering. It seems that the basic attitude of these critics, the most influential of whom being Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, is that Spitzer's investigations are bad for the economy because of the depression it causes in these companies' stocks, and that the bottom line, more investment money, is more important than how that investment money is actually being made. In an interview with FoxNews, Spitzer fired back at Donohue saying, "I think he's a shill for guilty people, and Tom Donohue has never once found a crime that he couldn't justify, as long as it was committed by one of his dues-paying members. And it is too bad. The Chamber of Commerce should rise above that sort of rhetoric." Spitzer is a critic of the Bush Admin, as well, for failing to act on the corporate misdeeds that have occurred during his admin, Enron and WorldCom for example. He in turn is criticized for not criticizing the Clinton Admin. during which a lot of this corruption actually took place. Spitzer's investigations have been politicized, verily, he's active in the Democratic Party, and has declared his intention to run for the New York state governorship under that party. Neil Cavuto in the FoxNews interview was staunch in presenting the US administration/conservative line, even calling Spitzer "zealous."

Money is being made in the market through exceedingly complex business models that are basically elaborate workarounds of the law. Spitzer has found this to be the case in the investment industry, and he is finding it in the insurance industry. This is most likely occurring throughout the broad spectrum of corporate America.

http://www.c-span.org/search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=spitzer
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147718,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147902,00.html