“It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis,” the mayor said. “It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and to give mortgages to people who were on the cusp.” It was Congress, he continued, that “pushed Fannie and Freddie to make a bunch of loans that were imprudent; they were the ones that pushed the banks to loan to everybody.”…Mr. Koch, a Democrat, praised Mr. Bloomberg’s business acumen but said he differed with him on the question of the financial crisis and the protests. “I’m Jewish, not Catholic, but I believe in punishment,” he said. Referring to the settlements paid by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to resolve claims by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Koch said they were just “the cost of doing business” in the view of the banks. “What do you think they got fined for — schmutz on the sidewalk?” Mr. Koch said. “They got fined because they abused their relationship with their clientele. And I want to see somebody — I want to see one of them, of a major corporation, punished criminally.” [NYT]
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"'I’m Jewish, not Catholic, but I believe in punishment,' he said."
Eh? I'm fairly confident that there's at least something written about punishment in, like, Deuteronomy and Leviticus . . . and then, there's, you know, pretty much all of the Book of Jeremiah.
- Not a Jew, but Has Read the Bible, Including the Jewish Part and "Newer Additions" by Non-Jews
I'm hoping our friend of Jewish heritage, that is prone to bouts of anxiety, will weigh in on how he feels about this comment from Koch
Way to Shtup your own people. Douche
The government, Mayor Koch, is utterly infallible, and you sir are going to hell for ever mentioning that our sainted elected officials, especially democrats, have ever made a single misstep in discharging the otherworldly power of the holy collective.
- Nancy Pelosi
oy vey
and the current mayor suggested the former mayor should quit complaining and go get laid.
Where are the customers' punishments?
I think the Koch's are just upset about that Bloomberg magazine article, and Ed's firing back.
Lynn T has some schmutz, but it is not on the sidewalk
For the love of god tell me this is a joke…
Schmutzing on the sidewalk is the NKI
-Lloyd B
WTF is schmutz? please help me.
- confused gentile
Dirt, garbage, general filth…
dirt, you putz.
You have obvious expertise in the Book of Moronicus.
The stuff we hire gentiles to clean up
Smegma you schmuck
Hey!
-Jamie Dimon
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!
Mayor: All right, all right! I get the point!
We've been schmutzing on the sidewalk for six weeks now.
-OWS
''These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. 'The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''
-Barney Frank (NYT 09/11/03)
Snooki wants some schmush schmush!
Bloomberg: What if you're wrong?
Koch: If I'm wrong, nothing happens! Things go on – peacefully, quietly. We'll enjoy bagels! But if I'm *right*, and we *can* find the schmutz … Bloomy, you will have fulfilled the dreams of millions of hippy protesters.
Worst comment this week. Fucking awful.
Amen
The NHF
- Bawney Fwank (NYT 09/11/03)
There, I fixed if for you
"Vote for Cuomo…"
She's going to get schtupped in the tuchus instead.
Schmutz & Wollensky
Wait a second, so is he inferring that Blomberg is Catholic? I always thought Bloomberg was a Jewish name.
Yeah but, see, uh, those books were all written . . . so he was saying . . . um, nevermind.
I emitted a large guffaw.
So the current financial crisis?
Like the former governor
If anything, the abusive god of the Old Testament confirms how tolerant Jews are.
You're dissing on Fannie and Freddie!? WTF guys!? We already completely debunked them having any impact on the crisis. Despite them owning more than half the entire market for mortgages and serving essentially the same role as banks they are not responsible at all because they only chose the best loans! They had ZERO impact on pricing and none of the government subsidies, implied or otherwise, had any role in the creation of the housing bubble.
- P. Krugman
'general filth' = Lynn Tilton?
GHSCdf Hey, thanks for the article post. Cool.
Thanks for the article post.Thanks Again. Keep writing.