America's Greediest: The 2008 Too Much Top Ten

[marmar]

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:



America's Greediest:
The 2008 Too Much Top Ten
Has any year ever showcased greed as dramatically as 2008? We sift through the avarice to bring you the highlights and lowlights — and a little hope for a less greedy 2009.

December 22, 2008

By Sam Pizzigati


This time of year always seems to bring a never-ending barrage of “top ten” lists. The year’s top ten movies, the top ten books, the top ten news stories, and on and on. Here at Too Much we’ve decided to join in on the action — with our very own list of America’s top ten greediest.

We probably couldn’t have picked a better year than 2008 to so “honor” our most avaricious. This year’s stunning economic meltdown has fixed the attention of our entire nation — and world — on the grasping antics of those who yearn for ever more than they could rationally ever need.

But this year also presents enormous challenges for anyone bold enough to rank the greedy. With so much greed out there, how could we possibly limit our list to a mere ten?

The latest greed explosion to hit the headlines — the $50 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme — illustrates just how difficult a task ranking the greedy can be.

To whom in this scandal should we award the most greed points? Bernie Madoff himself, the 70-year-old who scammed his wealthy friends and charities to keep up his credentials as a Wall Street investing “genius”— and maintain a $6 million pad in Manhattan, a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, and a weekend getaway on Long Island?

Or should those greed points go instead to the ever-so-sophisticated hedge fund “middlemen” like Walter Noel, who built a five-manse fortune by steering clients to Madoff and charging them tens of millions in “due diligence” fees for the steering.

Or should the greed points go to Madoff’s investors themselves, the swells who pay $250,000 a year for the privilege of belonging to a swanky country club? ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.toomuchonline.org/articlenew2008/dec22a.html

[hobbit709]

1. I especially like the number 1 winner

That bastard should be hung out to dry.

[KamaAina]

2. Money quote from #8 post-Katrina

"We couldn't do anything about public housing in New Orleans, but God did." :grr: :banghead: :nuke:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Those poor people

who think money buys wealth. They are indeed impoverished in what really counts.