They’re opportunists. That’s how they’ve made their fortunes. Being an opportunist isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it means being willing and able to see an opportunity and take advantage of it by maximising its benefits. But in this case, being an opportunist is not a good thing. Not that they ever stopped, but it seems those “greedy bastards” are at it again.

Who are the greedy bastards? How about Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs. And Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase. And James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley. And various Bain Capital bigwigs.

Along with other high-profile CEOs and business leaders of the Fiscal Leadership Council of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, this group of knights of the round table wants to, as do many others, have its say about the federal deficit.

What are they demanding? That the government should address the sizable federal deficit by making severe cuts to social safety programs such as Social Security and Medicaid. Some may see that as fair given the amount of money that supports social programs but here’s where the Council gets greedy: the CEOs want to ensure that tax reform which would allow their companies an additional $134 billion in tax savings is off the negotiating table.

Remember the book “ Greedy Bastards: How We Can Stop Corporate Communists, Banksters, and Other Vampires from Sucking America Dry ?” In his book, financial journalist Dylan Ratigan presented the case that those who caused the greatest financial disaster in the history of America since the Great Depression are really just a bunch of greedy, self-serving opportunists who must be reined in through re-regulation and elimination of the many breaks they receive because, without stripping them of some of their power, the middle class will continue to suffer the adverse financial consequences of their actions.

The CEOs are attempting to impose their will — much as they did at the onset of the economic recession when they hauled in bailout money with far too few conditions attached. But now, by stating that the fate of the nation rests upon achieving fiscal stability and demanding that fiscal sanity is restored on the backs of the poor and middle class –all while they’re using loopholes, government tax breaks, corporate welfare and government contracts to bilk the system — the “greedy bastards” prove that their objective is their own bottom line, not that of the nation…the same nation to which many corporations do not pay taxes, and the same nation that is supported by the middle class engine that is running out of financial steam.

Wall Street before Main Street.

What else is new?



