Margaret Thatcher

- Former prime minister of the United Kingdom!

- Daughter of a grocer!

- Closely allied with fellow idiot Ronald Reagan!

- Known for her arrogant dismissal of opinions contrary to her own!

- Bemoaned the changing racial composition of her country!

- Called anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela a terrorist!

- Abhorred government efforts to directly aid the poor and disadvantaged -- believing that self-interest and unfettered free markets are the answer to all of society's problems!

- Cut taxes, fought labor unions, and cut funding for education and housing!

- Actually said, "There no such thing as society" -- aloud!

- Privatized providers of public services -- giving the investor class a sweetheart deal on stock in the privatized enterprises!

- Deregulated British financial markets!

- Considered a hero by free marketeers the world over!

- Deeply disliked by less fortunate subjects of the British Crown!

- During her time in office, the gap between rich and poor Brits grew like never before!

- Thanks to the global economic crash, her economic philosophy has been revealed to be as sound as a subprime mortgage loan!

- Today suffers from dementia -- and so remains blissfully unaware of the carnage wrought by those inspired by her economic philosophy!

- Idiot!

Ayn Rand

- Russian-born writer -- and inventor of Objectivism, a simplistic philosophy beloved by 15-year-old social outcasts everywhere!

- Believed self-interest to be all good -- and altruism to be evil!

- Found the idea of volunteering to help the less fortunate to be offensive!

- Elevated a rapist to hero status in her novel The Fountainhead!

- Provided a pseudo-intellectual justification for narcissism and selfishness!

- Never really addressed what would happen to those who don't "make it" in her ideal, selfish society; presumably, they would be sent somewhere where they could starve in private!

- Favorite of CEOs, bankers, and others with excessively favorable opinions of themselves!

- Current acolytes include deep thinkers like TV "journalist" John Stossel -- and Rush drummer Neil Peart!

- Mentor to former Federal Reserve chairman (and fellow idiot) Alan Greenspan!

- Admired by anti-tax, anti-regulation free marketeers like Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan, Tom DeLay, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh!

- Rather than "going Galt" and refusing to participate in society, her followers tend to whine about government -- while continuing to drive on government-built and -maintained highways, use government-run postal services, and enjoy government-run police and fire protection!

- Some Randians even consider Somalia to be an ideal small-government nation!

- Idiot!

Stan O'Neal

- Former CEO of Merrill Lynch!

- Graduate of (wait for it...) Harvard Business School!

- Known for firing people who disagreed with him!

- Despised by Merrill's rank and file!

- Called "a mean person, a disrespectful person" who "drove out thousands of years of experience" by a former Merrill EVP!

- Bet the farm on subprime mortgage market growth!

- Acquired subprime lending junkie First Financial in 2006 -- the peak of the housing bubble!

- 2006 compensation: $48 million!

- Forecast a subprime-related loss of $3 billion for Q3 2007!

- Two weeks later, Merrill announced an actual writedown of $8 billion!

- While his bank's balance sheet was crumbling, somehow managed to squeeze in more than a few rounds of golf!

- 2007 compensation: $46 million!

- Relieved of his position after trying to sell Merrill to Wachovia -- without the approval of the Merrill board!

- Left with a $160 million golden parachute -- the biggest ever!

- In late 2008, a deeply distressed Merrill was acquired by Bank of America!

- Idiot!

Charles Prince

- Former Citigroup CEO!

- Goes by "Chuck" -- surely proof that he's just a regular guy!

- A lawyer by training, and an administrator by nature!

- Originally ran the bank in tandem with the COO, Robert Willumstad!

- When Willumstad left Citi, Prince somehow believed he could run the bank himself -- despite his lack of banking experience!

- Under Prince, Citi bet its future on rapid and ongoing growth in subprime mortgage markets -- amassing more than $40 billion in subprime investments in addition to making a mountain of residential mortgage loans of its own!

- Conducted little to no oversight or risk management of the bank's subprime investment portfolio!

- Forced to resign in November 2007 -- after Citi suffered losses and write-downs totalling more than $65 billion!

- Walked away from the mess he'd caused with a golden parachute worth $30 million!

- To date, Citi has been bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of $45 billion!

- Citi's stock price in 2006: in the 50s!

- Citi's stock price today: $3.42!

- Idiot!

Christopher Dodd

- United States Senator (D-CT)!

- Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs -- ground zero for Senate banking-oversight efforts!

- Regular recipient of massive campaign donations from the very financial institutions he's charged with regulating!

- In sum, has received $13.2 in contributions from Wall Street since 1989!

- Received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other legislator!

- Ignored warnings about dangers to Fannie and Freddie resulting from their aggressive subprime lending -- and fought efforts to regulate them more closely!

- In July 2008, said of Fannie and Freddie, "These are viable, strong institutions"!

- In September 2008, Fannie and Freddie collapsed and were taken over by the government -- at a cost to taxpayers of $200 billion!

- As a "Friend of Angelo", received sweetheart mortgage from Countrywide Financial!

- Pushed housing bailout bill that would have benefited Countrywide to the tune of $25 billion!

- Has received nearly $300,000 in contributions from AIG since 1998!

- Premier idiot Joe Cassano personally solicited contributions to Dodd from his employees!

- To date, the AIG bailout has cost taxpayers $170 billion!

- Amended the original bailout bill to allow the payment of AIG bonuses totaling $165 million -- but claimed to have no idea how the amendment got into the bill when public outcry ensued!

- Current approval rating among his constituents? A whopping 33 percent!

- Idiot!

Maurice Greenberg

- Former CEO of insurance giant AIG!

- Instead of going by a snooty French name, goes by "Hank" -- after baseball great Hammerin' Hank Greenberg!

- Still manages to be described as "brusque" and "arrogant"!

- Board member of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1988 to 1995!

- Forced out as CEO of AIG in 2005 -- the result of an accounting-fraud investigation!

- Oversaw the creation of AIG's Financial Products Group!

- Set up the Financial Products Group such that it wasn't subject to the oversight of the AIG board of directors!

- As the largest insurer in the world, AIG depended on limiting its risk exposure!

- Instead, via the Financial Products Group's complex credit default swap (CDS) transactions, the insurer took on massive but uncertain amounts of risk!

- Because AIG was traditionally a very staid, conservative business, its securities were AAA-rated!

- As a result of that high rating, AIG didn't have to put up collateral on CDSs!

- The Financial Products Group also invested in billions of dollars of "toxic" subprime mortgage-backed securities!

- When the housing market crashed, so did the value of AIG's toxic assets!

- When AIG's capital reserves decreased as a result, its credit rating was lowered, CDS counter parties demanded $100 billion in collateral -- and the insurer cratered!

- To date, AIG has been bailed out by taxpayers out to the tune of $180 billion!

- The main beneficiaries of the AIG bailout? CDS counterparties like (wait for it...) Goldman Sachs -- which were paid 100 cents on the dollar of what they were owed!

- Greenberg refuses to accept any blame for AIG's destruction!

- According to Forbes, though, "In the end, Greenberg's legacy will be shabby"!

- Idiot!

Herb and Marion Sandler

- Co-CEOs of Golden West Financial, parent company of World Savings Bank -- a major subprime lender!

- The first housing lender to offer adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) -- one of the easy-credit products that ending up cratering the housing market!

- Also did big business in "liar's loans" -- which require no proof of income from the borrower!

- Made a regular practice of issuing illegal, predatory loans!

- Cashed out of the housing market in 2006, just as it was starting to teeter -- selling Golden West to Wachovia and making $2.4 billion in the process!

- Because of World Savings' extensive subprime portfolio, in 2008 the housing crash devastated Wachovia -- resulting in massive layoffs and the acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo at a fire-sale price!

- Described as people who deserve to be shot by Saturday Nite Live!

- Now claim they're being "unfairly tarred" by accusations of their wrongdoing!

- Idiots!

Lawrence Summers

- Goes by "Larry"!

- One of the "best and brightest" acting as advisers to Barack Obama -- and former Clinton administration Treasury Secretary!

- Matriculated at MIT -- when he was 16!

- Free market ideologue!

- As chief economist at the World Bank, wrote, "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that ... I've always thought that under-populated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted"!

- Under Clinton, helped ensure that derivatives like those that destroyed the global financial system in 2008 would remain unregulated!

- During the 2000 energy crisis in California, accompanied Enron CEO Ken Lay to a meeting with Governor Gray Davis -- to argue that the problem wasn't manipulation of energy markets by corporations, but rather state regulation!

- Key supporter of the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act, which overturned the Glass-Steagall Act and opened the door for financial institutions to grow too big to fail!

- Paid $5.2 million by hedge fund D.E. Shaw in 2008 -- for a one-day-a-week job!

- Also received $2.7 million for speaking appearances at Wall Street banks (like Goldman Sachs)!

- Central to the decision to bail out AIG and pay off counter parties to credit default swaps (like Goldman Sachs) -- to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar!

- To date, U.S. taxpayers are on the hook for $1 trillion in bank bailout money!

- Despite the global economic disaster -- and the central role market breakdowns played in creating it -- still believes that markets are "self-equilibrating"!

- Key backer of the Geithner Plan, which gives hedge funds a virtually risk-free chance to make trillions of dollars -- while costing taxpayers big-time should "toxic asset" prices remain in the dumps!

- Idiot!

Sandy Weill

- In 1998, merged his Travelers insurance business with commercial banking giant Citicorp to create Citigroup -- the biggest financial services company in the world!

- Completed the Citi-Travelers merger even though the Glass-Steagall Act mandated the separation of banks and insurance companies!

- Pressed politicians to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act, keeping Citigroup intact -- and setting the stage for other institutions to get "too big to fail"!

- Introduced to Citi an aggressive take-no-prisoners corporate culture!

- Under his leadership, Citi aggressively grew its subprime mortgage lending operation -- and was repeatedly accused of predatory lending practices!

- Said to consider himself an old-fashioned, Gilded Age business tycoon -- like Andrew Carnegie!

- Since the failure of Lehman Brothers and the crash of the global financial system in 2008, propping up other too-big-to-fail institutions has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars in bailouts and guarantees!

- The cost to bail out Citigroup? $350 billion -- or $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States!

- That $1,000 that used to be yours? It belongs to the same bankers who destroyed the global economy!

- The cost of the crash to society? Well, in the past year, 6 million people have lost their jobs!

- Citi's contribution to that number? 53,000 people!

- As the bank he created was being bailed out by taxpayers, took a private Citi jet -- one of the perks of his $3 million-per-year retirement package -- to Cabo San Lucas, where he and his family vacationed at a $10,000-a-night hotel!

- Saw his net worth tumble by more than a quarter in 2008 -- all the way down to $1.3 billion!

- Idiot!

Myron Scholes

- Nobel Prize-winning economist, and co-creator of the Black-Scholes equation for derivatives pricing!

- Known as the intellectual godfather of credit-default swaps -- perhaps the biggest culprit in the worst global economic crash since the Great Depression!

- Believes that all good things come from fewer rules and freer markets -- and that all bad things come from government!

- Apparently hasn't spent much time with government-employed cops ... or soldiers ... or firefighters ... or schoolteachers!

- Believes financial speculation is a good thing -- making markets more liquid and more efficient!

- The Black-Scholes equation claimed to be able to price complex derivative products -- scientifically!

- Black Scholes allowed investors to believe they could accurately measure the risk implicit in complex derivative products!

- Principal of the Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) hedge fund -- which made big bets on complex derivative products!

- LTCM employed 25 PhDs!

- In 1998, LTCM's formulas stopped working, and the fund's investment portfolio collapsed -- losing $4.6 billion in value in just four months!

- Because an LTCM bankruptcy might have caused seizures in global markets, the fund was bailed out -- to the tune of $3.6 billion!

- Busted by the government for illegal LTCM tax shelter shenanigans!

- Said, under oath, that he wasn't a legal expert -- then was confronted with a textbook he wrote, which indicated his detailed understanding of why those shenanigans were illegal!

- After the utter failure of LTCM, somehow continued to convince investors to hand over their cash -- this time to his Platinum Grove Asset Management hedge fund!

- Same old story: In October 2008, down 38 percent on the year, Platinum Grove suspended fund withdrawals!

- Idiot!

Lloyd Blankfein

- CEO of Goldman Sachs -- current or former employer of Hall of Idiots inductees including Hank Paulson, Robert Rubin, and John Thain!

- Goldman is known as the gold standard of investment banks!

- In May 2009, Goldman agreed to pay $60 million to settle charges that it had promoted unfair lending in Massachusetts -- to feed the appetite for fresh mortgages of its mortgage securitization business!

- Goldman issued $33 billion of mortgage-backed securities from 2005 through 2007 -- flooding mortgage lenders with capital, and leading to increasingly risky and aggressive lending practices!

- Goldman engaged in the same uber-risky practices as other big banks, but made it through the crash in one piece -- no small thanks to its many friends in high places!

- An AIG bankruptcy may well have capsized Goldman, because the insurer owed the bank $12 billion on credit default swaps!

- After a meeting at which Blankfein was the only Wall Street CEO, the government decided to bail out AIG rather than letting it go bankruptcy -- to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar!

- Tried to hide massive losses in Q4 2008 from investors -- using legal but ethically dubious accounting trickery!

- In April 2009, told Congress that bankers needed to stop making so much money that they look "self-serving and greedy"!

- Days later, set aside $4.7 billion for Goldman compensation in Q1 2009 -- or about $675,000 per employee on an annualized basis!

- Blankfein's 2006 compensation: $53 million!

- His 2007 compensation: $70 million!

- Idiot!

Ronald Reagan

- Fortieth President of the United States!

- Began his career as a New Deal-supporting Democrat -- but later became the darling of the Republican Party!

- President of the Screen Actors Guild during the late-1940s Red Scare -- during which he provided the names of "communist sympathizers" in Hollywood to the FBI!

- Opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- and the Voting Rights Act of 1965!

- Held an extreme right-wing economic philosophy known as "supply-side" economics -- which held that lowering taxes more than pays for itself in economic growth!

- Supply-side philosophy was famously derided as "voodoo economics" -- by Reagan's very own Vice President, George H.W. Bush!

- Lowered taxes during his time in office, but had to pay for government somehow -- and so raised the national debt from $700 billion to $3 trillion!

- Signed an early version of NAFTA -- which made it easier for businesses to exploit workers in the relentless pursuit of bigger profits!

- Fired striking air traffic control workers -- but reduced business regulation!

= Opposed giving health care to all Americans!

- Believed in unregulated free markets as the best way to address all of society's problems -- saying, "Government is not the solution to our problem -- government is the problem"!

- Actually believed AIDS might be God's punishment on those with sinful lifestyles!

- Cut housing subsidies by three-quarters -- causing an explosion in the American homeless population!

- Provided the philosophical underpinning for the practices and policies that would lead to global financial meltdown in 2008!

- Idiot!

Bill Clinton

- Husband of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton!

- From a town called Hope!

- Before having heart surgery in 2004, known to enjoy the occasional cigar!

- Nickname: Slick Willie!

- Key supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- which made it easier for businesses to exploit workers in the hunt for ever-bigger profits!

- Signed welfare reform legislation, making life more difficult for millions of Americans!

- Fostered the inflation of the 1990s dot-com bubble, dress rehearsal for the economic meltdown of 2008 -- and product of the same free-market ideology!

- Pushed to expand subprime mortgage lending!

- Ramped up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac leverage levels to finance subprime mortgages!

- Repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, which kept investment and commercial banks and insurance companies separate -- paving the way for the creation of too-big-to-fail financial institutions!

- Signed the Commodities Futures Modernization Act -- ensuring that the risky derivatives that would topple the global financial system remained exempt from regulation!

- Since leaving government, has made some $75 million writing books and giving speeches!

- Made millions more selling his Rolodex of Middle Eastern royals to the investment firm of Ron Burkle -- a billionaire buddy and political contributor!

- Is he an idiot? Depends on what the meaning of "is" is!

Kerry Killinger

- CEO of Washington Mutual -- the biggest failed bank in history when it was seized by the FDIC on September 8, 2008!

- Took home more than $100 million in compensation while at WaMu!

- Dreamed of making WaMu the Wal-Mart of banking!

- Called WaMu branch offices "stores"!

- Made the bank a big player in subprime lending!

- Managed WaMu in such a way that the bank was repeatedly accused of illegal, predatory lending practices!

- Under Killinger, WaMu "pressured appraisers to provide inflated property values that made loans appear less risky" -- and "pressed sales agents to pump out loans while disregarding borrowers' incomes and assets"!

- 2003 WaMu ad campaign: "The Power of Yes"!

- Received compensation of more than $14 million in 2007, even as the housing market crashed, foreclosures soared -- and WaMu's stock price fell by 70%!

- 2008 WaMu ad campaign: "WaMu - Whoo Hoo!"

- In July 2008, then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warned Killinger to sell WaMu -- before it collapsed!

- In 2003, predicted that in five years, thanks to that massive growth, WaMu would no longer be considered a bank -- and was correct!

- Left WaMu with a $44 million golden parachute!

- Idiot!

Franklin Raines

- CEO of mortgage underwriting behemoth Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2004!

- Middle name: Delano!

- Son of a Seattle janitor!

- Harvard grad and Rhodes scholar!

- First African-American Fortune 500 CEO!

- Called "the Jackie Robinson of corporate America" by the head of the National Urban League!

- Formerly an investment banker and Clinton White House budget director!

- Railed against unethical corporate behavior during the Enron scandal!

- Received $3 million in sweetheart loans from Countrywide Financial while Fannie CEO -- a clear conflict of interest, since Fannie was one the biggest buyers of Countrywide mortgages!

- Cooked the books at Fannie -- and got $90 million in compensation as a result!

- Forced out as Fannie CEO when the SEC started investigating the "accounting irregularities" that benefited him so handsomely!

- Left Fannie with a $19 million golden parachute -- proving that cheating does pay, at least occasionally!

- Paid a paltry $2 million fine for his accounting fraud!

- Insists he's innocent of any wrongdoing!

- Started Fannie's focus on buying subprime mortgages in 2004 -- supercharging the inflation of the housing bubble!

- Purchased a luxury DC condo for $4.9 million in 2008 -- a year that saw a record three million home foreclosures!

- Idiot!

David Lereah

- Chief economist of the National Association of Realtors from 2001 to 2007!

- In 2000, published a book called The Rules for Growing Rich: Making Money in the New Information Economy -- which, just before the tech bust, advised investing in tech stocks!

- When that didn't work out, switched his writerly focus to real estate, penning the 2005 book Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom? -- in 2006 retitled Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust!

- Relentless spin-meister for the real estate industry!

- Known in the real estate industry as "Baghdad Dave," after Mohammed "Baghdad Bob" al-Sahaf, Iraqi Information Minister -- the Saddam Hussein propagandist who claimed that Iraqi troops were defeating American troops as the U.S. invaded the country in 2003!

- In October 2005, derided those who suggested real estate prices might be too high -- calling them "Chicken Littles"!

- When the real estate slowdown became too big to ignore, predicted it would be a "soft landing"!

- In January 2007, said regarding housing prices, "It appears we have established a bottom"!

- As of April 2009, observers are still on the lookout for a true market bottom!

- Has started his own business, but isn't yet making the big bucks again -- causing his wife to whine, "We have an expensive lifestyle: a big house, a housekeeper once a week, college tuitions, the country club"!

- Idiot!

John Thain

- The last CEO of famed investment bank Merrill Lynch -- before its balance sheet collapsed and it was auctioned off to Bank of America in 2008!

- Lives on a $10 million estate in leafy, exclusive Rye, New York.

- Before joining Merrill, served as CEO of the New York Stock Exchange -- and president, COO, and CFO of (you guessed it) Goldman Sachs!

- At Goldman, proved he was CEO material by forcing out his mentor, Jon Corzine!

- One of the highest paid CEOs in corporate America in 2007, "earning" $83 million as Merrill CEO!

- In January 2008, told the Wall Street Journal that yes, Merrill had been affected by subprime investments -- but that the crisis "is for the most part behind us"!

- That same month, began a $1.2 million redecoration of his office -- with purchases including a $35,000 commode and a $1,400 waste paper basket!

- Claimed it would have been "very difficult" for him to work in the prior CEO's office without making the renovations!

- Apparently let the pressure get to him that summer -- when he blew up during a meeting, and threw a chair through a glass panel!

- With the bank facing a liquidity crisis due to subprime exposure, sold Merrill to Bank of America in late 2008!

- To date, BofA has received $45 billion in federal bailout funds!

- During negotiations with BofA, failed to reveal the full extent of the weakness in Merrill's investment portfolio!

- After agreeing to the BofA takeover, accelerated bonuses totaling $4 billion to senior Merrill execs -- to get the bonuses paid out before the BofA transaction became official!

- In December 2008, while the BofA deal was being finalized and Merrill's financial weakness was becoming more apparent, went skiing in Vail!

- Forced out of his position when Q4 2008 results became clear -- and showed Merrill losses in the quarter totaling $15.3 billion! (Yes, "billion" with a "b"!)

- Claimed he deserved a 2008 bonus of $10 million -- since the bank's sale to BofA "saved" Merrill!

- Drove one of Wall Street's oldest, most prestigious banks off a cliff -- but was still compensated to the tune of $15 million in 2008!

- Idiot!

Jimmy Cayne

- From 1993 to 2008, CEO of Bear Stearns -- before it collapsed in 2008, one of Wall Street's Big 5 investment banks!

- World-class bridge player -- and noted pothead!

- As a teenager, disliked school and wanted to be a bookie!

- Hired as a stockbroker by Bear Stearns in 1969 -- when Bear CEO Ace Greenberg met him at a bridge tournament!

- Made Fortune magazine's 2005 list of the 400 richest Americans -- with a net worth estimated at $900 million!

- Estimates of Cayne's wealth reached $1.6 billion in 2007!

- In 1998, while other banks were chipping in billions of dollars to save the global financial system in the wake of the crash of the hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, refused to chip in Bear Stearns money -- saying, "Let them fail"!

- Under Cayne's watch, Bear Stearns took on massive risk -- vastly increasing leverage, and betting heavily on "toxic" subprime mortgage-backed securities!

- In the month of June 2007, as two Bear hedge funds collapsed after making big-time bets on subprime mortgage markets, spent 10 of 21 workdays out of the office -- golfing and playing bridge!

- Boasted of paying $140 apiece for Cuban cigars -- which he kept in a humidor in his office!

- In 2008, purchased a couple of condo units in Manhattan's luxe Plaza Hotel -- for $27 million!

- On the day Bear agreed to be acquired by JP Morgan, was out of the office -- at a bridge tournament in Detroit!

- In 2008, as Bear was tanking, sold all his stock in the company -- which had been worth as much as a billion dollars a couple of years before -- for $61 million!

- Blamed a "conspiracy" for bringing down Bear -- not the gaping holes in the bank's balance sheet!

- When the Fed refused to come to Bear's aid as the bank collapsed, said of NY Fed chairman Tim Geithner, "This guy thinks he's got a big dick. He's got nothing -- except maybe a boyfriend"!

- Reportedly is now "concerned about his legacy"!

- Idiot!

Robert Rubin

- Goldman Sachs alum -- like practically everyone else central to the destruction of the world economy!

- Ran the Treasury Department under President Bill Clinton -- who called him "the greatest secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton"!

- In his autobiography, noted that many investors don't understand the risks of derivatives -- yet as Treasury Secretary, fiercely opposed derivatives regulation!

- In 2008, unregulated subprime-mortgage derivatives deals caused the collapse of credit markets -- pulling the global economy into a downward spiral worse than any since the Great Depression!

- Joined the Citigroup board in 1999!

- In 2001, used his influence at Treasury to pressure ratings agencies not to downgrade Enron's credit rating!

- Received $126 million in compensation from Citi, while overseeing the bank's extensive subprime lending -- and its $80 billion investment in risky "toxic" derivatives!

- Under Rubin's watch, in 2008, Citi's stock price declined by more than 90%!

- To date, Citi has received $45 billion in federal bailout money!

- Rubin refuses to take any responsibility for Citi's collapse -- or the collapse of the global economy!

- In 2009, named by Marketwatch as one of the ten most unethical people in business!

- Rewarded for his "accomplishments" by President Barack Obama, who tapped Rubin to advise on economic policy!

- With Rubin's help, the Obama team has come up with a plan to get "toxic" assets off banks' books by giving hedge funds the opportunity to make mountains of money == while taxpayers shoulder all of the (hundreds of billions of dollars of) risk!

- Idiot!

Christopher Cox

- Named chairman of the SEC in 2005 -- by President George W. Bush!

- Longtime supporter of securities deregulation who actually believed that markets are better off regulating themselves voluntarily!

- Described by Forbes magazine as having "the air of a well-scrubbed, mischievous schoolboy" -- and "the retro good looks of a square-jawed astronaut"!

- In 1980, appeared as a contestant on the NBC game show Password Plus -- winning more than $5,000!

- 17-year Republican member of Congress -- representing sunny Orange County, California!

- Also served on the White House staff of Ronald Reagan, whose voodoo economics set the stage for the current global financial meltdown!

- Yet another of the best and brightest who got a Harvard MBA before going on to destroy the economy!

- According to one former SEC employee, the business community felt that the agency "was too tough on corporate America and Wall Street" -- and "Cox was brought in to chill it out"!

- Shifted SEC enforcement efforts from major investigations of big Wall Street banks to smaller-time investigations -- essentially looking the other way while Wall Street looted the economy!

- Watered down the SEC's risk-assessment program -- designed to prevent financial crises!

- Under Cox, SEC fines fell from $1.5 billion in 2005 to just $500 million in 2008!

- Also under Cox, the SEC failed to stop Bernie Madoff's $65 billion Ponzi scheme -- despite having been warned that Madoff was up to no good for years!

- Did nothing while banks' subprime-backed securities holdings grew and capital ratios shrank, leading to the demise of Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers -- three of the five major investment banks on Wall Street!

- Finally got a grip on reality in September 2008, saying, "Voluntary regulation does not work"!

- Idiot!