Want to see how our government really works? Read on:

Remember I made a comment about U.S. Treasury Sec Henry M. Paulson jr? Well follow this:

Stoneridge investment Partners LLC is a company that manages money by investing in the stock market. Stonebridge bought common stock in a company Charter Communications, Inc a cable company. Charter ran into a problem: Lack of enough money to meet Wall Streets expectations for cable subscriber growth and operating cash flow. This means that Charter's stock would go down and if it needed money by selling their stock they wouldn't be able to. What a fix to be in eh? The cure: Charter was supplying or selling cable converter boxes to its customers. They went to the companies that sold the boxes to them. The companies selling those boxes were Scientific Atlanta and Motorola: Charter asked these fellows to help them out. Charter needing money and fearing stock value would plummet asked Motorola and Scientic to help out by making a phony contract to fool Charter's own auditor into approving a financial statement that would show Wall Street the company was in great shape and thus save the day.(The contract provided that Charter would buy the boxes at an inflated price (over pay) and Motorola and Scientific would buy advertising at this overinflated price so it would balance out on their books (no profit no loss we call it a wash) Its sole purpose was to trick Charters own auditor into certifying the accounts showing Wall Street that its goals set for Charter were more than met which would in turn inflate the true value of the stock.

All these facts were admitted. They knew the contract was really a means to fool investors and Wall Street. All the boys in this transaction knew it and did it for the sole purpose of defrauding innocent investors. Well here comes a knight in shinning armour. A lawfirm representing investors who probably took a bath when ultimately it was shown that they inflated their revenue and cash flow by $17 MILLION DOLLARS sued Motorola and Scientific American for damages to recover what the actual value was of the stock as opposed to the inflated price paid for it. What does this mean to you and I. When a company does this trick, you, I, and your pension people will pay an inflated price for the stock based on a fraud. Its a con game or to put it another way a larceny by false pretense. Larceny by false pretense is tricking someone to get him or her to part with their money. (This is a simple lay definition.)

This case is somewhat involved but here goes:

The Courts take the view that in certain violations of the Securities Exchange Act you as a private individual can not hire a lawyer and sue to get back money taken from you by this kind of fraud. Only the SEC Commission is allowed to sue for such violations: The Joke in all this is that Congress holds the purse strings on all agencies. They have to go to Congress for their Budget. It means they have to get money for investigators, accountants, lawyers and support staff etc etc (get the picture) from CONGRESS, Guess what. Who are people with power? Those who hire lobbyists whose job it is to see to it that the SEC doesn't regulate their clients with the real full force of the Act. So what happens? 1) SEC does not get sufficient money to hire enough accountants, staff, attorneys etc to really "regulate" the stock market. 2) Guess who is in a powerful position to help, not the investors but the thieves. Fact: Henry Paulson Jr the Secretary of the Treasury was the former head of Goldman Sachs and here comes Henry to the rescue in this lawsuit. The SEC was divided as to whether or not to join in this case on behalf of the shareholders. The commissioners of the SEC voted 3 to 2 to take the side of the poor shareholders who were defrauded. What does Henry Do? He steps into a case that he has no business doing.After all he was the head of a company who was involved in cases with the SEC before he got the job as Secretary of Treasury. (A wolf in sheeps clothing?) Isn't it unethical to use your office to meddle in the affairs of an agency whose job it is to enforce the Rules and Regulaitons of the SEC. Oh by the way it was President Roosevelt who created this agency and he sought out the most knowledgble man who engaged in many practices that were outlawed by the rules to become head of the group of people whose job it was to provide rules and regulations to eliminate all kinds of swindles,John F. Kennedy's father. Put it this way. If you want to Burglar proof your home hire a reformed Burglar who will show you all the pitfalls you have and how to correct them. (See the movie with Tom Hanks about the great impersonator who now is straight and makes tons of money advising companies how to protect themselves from fraud.)

Getting back to Henry: Henry didn't want the SEC to side with the investors (Plaintiffs) so he goes to guess who? The BUSH Administration to prevent the SEC from siding with the Plaintiffs (the defrauded investors whom everyone agrees were defrauded.)All Federal Agencies must receive authorization from the solicitor general (who is an appointee by the Bush Administration) to file any briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court (This case was before the U.S. Supreme Court). Yeow: To make matters worse

Not only did Solicitor General Paul D. Clement refuse to ok the SEC's desire to file a brief in support of the Plaintiff's position but to give it the coup de grace (the bullet in the head) he got the justice department to enter the case on the side of the wrongdoers the defendants. Gosh what a revolting development this is! In Summary: Should Henry have entered this case? Should the Solicitor General have denied the SEC the right to file a brief? Should the Solicitor General have ordered the justice department to come to the defense of the thieves? Well ---------that's all folks. Chew on it.