They frankly own the place

This should enrage you.

The events preceding Goldman Sachs' new "blowout profits"

ABC News, September 26, 2008: As a group, Goldman Sachs bankers have been the country's top political campaign contributors this year and have given $29.5 million in contributions since 1989, according to the Center.

"They are almost in a class by themselves," said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director for the Center for Responsive Politics

...

USA Today, January 27, 2009: WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner picked a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist as a top aide Tuesday, the same day he announced rules aimed at reducing the role of lobbyists in agency decisions.

Mark Patterson will serve as Geithner's chief of staff at Treasury, which oversees the government's $700 billion financial bailout program.

...

Reuters, March 16, 2009: The approval of Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, clears the way for a Senate vote putting him in charge of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He was approved by a roll-call vote.

...

On and on the corruption and good ole boy network goes. Read the entire article HERE (and linked atop) by Glenn Greenwald. But I'll quote Glenn one last time...

...blurted out in April by the number two Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Dick Durbin:

And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.

That was nice and blunt. That same week, it was announced that the newly-hired top lobbyist for Goldman Sachs, Michael Paese, was -- immediately prior to his hiring -- the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank.