amazing! Another Sweet Day For Goldman Sachs

 

Another Sweet Day For Goldman Sachs

by Jonathan Tasini
Monday 12 of May, 2008
Posted to Front Page Posts

    A year and a half ago, I wrote about the scam that is Goldman Sachs--a company that was about to shower billions of dollars on its executives after it had gotten stupendous tax breaks from New York's city and state governments; a few days later, we also learned that the company's top dog was going to get a tidy little bonus of $53 million, while the janitors and secretaries got pennies. Well, it seems like public money is the gift that doesn't stop giving to Goldman Sachs.

    This morning, The New York Daily News reports this:

New Yorkers are on the hook to hand over $321 million to Goldman Sachs, America's  richest investment bank, because the Port Authority failed to rebuild the World Trade Center as fast as promised.

Under the hidden terms of a deal that then-Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg approved in 2005, the city and state agreed to pay huge penalties to the firm if the Port Authority didn't complete major portions of the Ground Zero redevelopment by next year, a target now impossible to meet.

Goldman wanted speedy construction because the Wall Street giant is building its own $2.4 billion tower across from the site on West St.

Now, Goldman could snare 64 years of free rent worth $161 million that it's supposed to pay for leasing the state land. Goldman could also recoup an additional $160 million in sales tax payments.

    Ah, yes, our mayor--the guy that is supposed to be the great manager of the city and watch its money (no wonder he and our City Council speaker are so friendly--can't find better folks to watch how our money is spent). Funny how the till is quite open and ready for use when it comes to rewarding corporate friends. No word yet on the mayor's position about using public money to help people caught up in the sub-prime mortgage scam--a scam aided and abetted by the mayor's Wall Street friends.