Lehman's Fuld: Where was our bailout?

[Dover]

Source: Reuters

By Rachelle Younglai and Kim Dixon
1 hour, 55 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Richard Fuld, the disgraced head of Lehman Brothers (LEHMQ.PK), said he would wonder "until they put me in the ground" why the U.S. government did not rescue the 158-year-old Wall Street firm and claimed regulators knew the full scale of its condition far before its collapse.

Fuld said he took full responsibility for his actions ahead of the downfall of Lehman, but said U.S. regulators were aware of everything at the firm and knew how it was pricing its distressed assets in the months prior to its bankruptcy.

Despite his acceptance of his role before the collapse, U.S. lawmakers expressed outrage to Fuld about Lehman on Monday, saying that Fuld, board members, regulators and Congress all shared blame for its downfall.

"I want to be very clear. I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took based on the information that we had at the time," Fuld told a congressional panel. "I feel horrible about what has happened to the company and its effects on so many."

Fuld said he did not know why the U.S. government chose to help other financial companies, but not Lehman as it hurtled toward disaster.

Several lawmakers asked why the government stepped in to help insurance company American International Group (AIG.N)....>


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081006/bs_nm/us_financial_lehman

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Lehman CEO Punched At Gym

“From two very senior sources – one incredibly senior source – that he went to the gym after … Lehman was announced as going under. He was on a treadmill with a heart monitor on. Someone was in the corner, pumping iron and he walked over and he knocked him out cold. And frankly after having watched this, I’d have done the same too.” ...>

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081006150152.aspx

[LisaM]

1. Who has a vested interest in AIG....oh, let me see now...

is it PAULSON?

[Dover]

2. Musical Chairs....and Bernanke is playing the music...n/t

[CountAllVotes]

6. I can hear it ...

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[Faygo Kid]

3. Put him in the ground now. Why wait?

Gee, I feel so sorry for him. :sarcasm:

[Dover]

4. Lehman CEO Punched at Gym

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081006150152.aspx

[Chemical Bill]

7. Interesting article, thanks. n/t

[KeepItReal]

5. Someone said that "Goldman Sachs *is* Wall Street".

If any firm is gonna get looked after, it's gonna be them.

[JDPriestly]

8. Bail outs are discriminatory.

They cannot be done without discrimination. That is one of the reasons I am opposed to bailing out any of these companies. The bad loans should have been bought by the government and new, payable loans should have been issued to those capable of paying them. The market would take care of the rest. And I am not a free market fanatic. But we have a system that is essentially free enterprise. It has a downside, but in the end it encourages creativity. The problem over the past 26 years is that we have not had the kind of rule of law that encourages trust along with the creativity that free enterprise encourages. We need a balance.

These bail-outs are knee-jerk reactions at the precipice of disaster. Very stupid. You can't expect much of Republicans. They are stupid, blind, fearful and driven by ideology. Democrats in Congress, however, should have started changing things in 2007 as soon as they took office. Of course, we need more Democrats in Congress, but, we also need the Democrats we do elect to be honest and level with the American people -- and courageous in the face of corruption and abuses of power.

[soothsayer]

9. They aren't bailouts. They're robbery, consolidation of power, and hostile takeovers.

They're alot of things, but they're not bailouts or rescues---at least, not for the U.S. or her citizens.

[JDPriestly]

11. I agree with you, soothsayer.

[harmonicon]

10. he takes responsibility?

If so, I'd like to see him liquidate his assets and divvy up the money proportionally, and pay it out to those who lost what they had when he ran his company into the group. I mean everything - houses, cars, any and all investments, kids' college funds, down to the silverware in his drawers and and the shit off his back.

[Canuckistanian]

12. Yes, responsibility means taking action

Not simply acknowledging that you made a mistake then waltzing into the sunset with your millions.

Restitution and compensation to the people who are suffering for HIS decisions is only fair.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Translation: We want a free spa weekend too!

[gratuitous]

14. Fuld claims regulators were aware of "everything" at Lehman?

And yet, in the weeks before it went belly up, this same Fuld was saying all was well. So were you lying before Lehman crashed, or were you lying in your testimony?