[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 428]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     ECONOMIC INJUSTICE IN AMERICA

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, here is something that will grab you. It was 
reported this month that Goldman Sachs, the favored Wall Street firm 
that has way too much special access in this city and that got bailed 
out by the American people to the tune of billions and is now handing 
those over in bonuses to their executives, has paid a net effective tax 
rate of 1 percent. You heard me right--1 percent, Goldman Sachs.
  When most small businesses and corporations in this country are 
paying at a 35 percent tax rate, Wall Street's elites still don't carry 
their fair share. Imagine that secretaries, nurses, firefighters, 
cleaning crews--the middle class of this country--pay at a higher rate 
than Goldman Sachs.
  Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, Mr. Lloyd 
Blankfein, harvested over $140 million in salary as head of that firm. 
When he was asked, Well, isn't this a bit too much? His answer was that 
he's doing God's work. I call that blasphemy.
  This is fundamental economic injustice in America, and the American 
people know it. They're voting their frustration. They expect Congress 
to listen to them, not to continue to reward Wall Street's 
overprivileged scions at their expense.

                          Bill Moyers Journal

                            (By Bill Moyers)

       The ancient Romans had a proverb: ``Monday is like sea 
     water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become.'' That 
     adage finds particular meaning today on Wall Street, which 
     began this New Year riding a tidal wave of bonuses in a 
     surging ocean of greed.
       Thanks to taxpayers like you who generously bailed banking 
     from the financial shipwreck it created for itself and for 
     us, by the end of 2009 the industry's compensation pool 
     reached nearly $200 billion. And despite windfall profits, 
     the banks will claim almost $80 billion in tax deductions. 
     And nearly $20 billion of those deductions will go to just 
     three institutions--Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and 
     Goldman Sachs.
       Ah, yes--Goldman Sachs, that paragon of profit and 
     probity--which bet big on the housing bubble and when it 
     popped--presto!--converted itself from an investment firm 
     into a bank so it could get your bailout money. Now consider 
     this: In 2008, Goldman Sachs paid an effective tax rate of 
     just one percent. I'm not making that up--one percent!--while 
     their CEO Lloyd Blankfein pulled down over $40 million. 
     That's God's work, if you can get it. And, believe me, Wall 
     Street bankers know how to get it.

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