While Occupy Wall Street protesters dig in and the public decries income inequality, Jon Stewart on Tuesday tried to unravel the government’s complex relationship with the financial sector.
“Wall Street executives become government officials tasked with regulating Wall Street companies that they will soon be hired to lobby for,” Stewart said. “It’s confusing. If only one man could embody the corporate-industrial-government complex in all its cluster fuck-tude.”
That man is former Goldman-Sachs-CEO-turned-New-Jersey-governer-turned-MF-Global-CEO Jon Corzine. As a politician, Corzine argued for tougher regulations to prevent another financial meltdown like the collapse in 2008. But his own financial firm took on a few risky bets, and MF Global filed for bankruptcy in late October.
“You bet it all on risky European debt, and you lost,” Stewart said. “Surprise. It’s like playing roulette and putting all your money on purple.”
“Corzine just couldn’t resist the sweet nectar o’ the private sector,” Stewart added.
Watch the video:
David Taintor
David Taintor is TPM’s News Editor. He contributes to TPM’s Livewire coverage, among other areas. David is from Chanhassen, Minnesota, where, yes, it gets very cold. Reach him at taintor [at] talkingpointsmemo.com
Disqus Conversations
Click here to read the Disqus Commenting FAQ.