atkinreport.com

This Madoff Ponzi scandal just keep getting uglier.

And meanwhile the guy’s probably having caviar at lunch on Park Avenue right now. What’s really sad are the agencies and foundations that help people in need going under because of his greed and avarice. Yet, it’s so easy to see why people and organizations got sucked into the “Made-off magic.” Many investments–like bundled high-risk mortgage securities that have brought the economy to its knees– are just too complicated for most people to understand, or really care much about, as long as they’re getting those monthly statements showing they’re making money. I’m not sure if Madoff was issuing fraudulent statements, but it’s also sick that the SEC ignored legitimate and multiple complaints about his investment practices. Thanks, soon to be out-the-door Christopher Cox.  What were these “regulators” doing? Like so many of the Bush aministration, where it counted, they were asleep at the switch.

The whole thing also brings to mind a rich, snobby, arrogant (former) friend. You know the type: so self-centered and entitled that they were proud (instead of embarassed) of their pre-schooler who would demand lobster for dinner–and told the story countless times, as if the kid had received straight A’s in kindergarten or had achieved something/anything aside from being a brash little entitled brat, a spitting image of his parents.  This person, who had just bought a $6 million home but was constantly worried about running out of cell phone minutes and inflicted this bizarre obsessiveness by making every conversation rushed and tense, would always brag: “Oh, my uncle invests all of our money.” Uncle Bernie? Ha ha. Maybe no more lobster for the tyke.