(2009-04-08) Moyers Summers Wallst Income

Bill Moyers notes that Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council, received $5.2 million last year working for a $30 billion hedge fund. He made another $2.7 million in lecture fees, including cash from such recent beneficiaries of taxpayer generosity as CitiGroup, J P Morgan and Goldman Sachs. The now defunct financial services giant LehmanBrothers handsomely purchased his pearls of wisdom, too. Reading stories about Summers and Wall Street you realize the man was intoxicated by the exotic witches' brew of derivatives and other financial legerdemain that got us into such a fine mess in the first place. Yet here he is, serving as gatekeeper of the information and analysis going to President Obama on the current collapse. We have to wonder, when the President asks, "Larry, who did this to us?" is he going to name names of old friends and benefactors?

Update: Matt Taibbi goes further, and sees Obama's whole team of advisors as tied into [z2009-03-19-GoldmanConspiracy].