Remember how Obama summoned the top banksters to Washington so he could pretend to lecture them on their responsibilities to the taxpayers who had just saved their miserable asses? Nothing the least bit substantive, of course. Just a little kabuki to shore up his tanking approval ratings.
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Well, I guess Very Important People like that don't have time for charades.
Three top bankers invited to the White House on Monday will not be able to attend in person because their flight was delayed due to bad weather but will participate by phone, the White House said.
The three are: Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs); John Mack, chairman and CEO, Morgan Stanley; and Dick Parsons, chairman, Citigroup.
http://www.reuters.com/... (via)
We've always had plutocrats, of course. But it seems to me that they used to be at least a little more circumspect about it. The Great TARP Looting seems to have emboldened them. They're not even bothering to hide their contempt any more.
If there's a better illustration than this news item of who really runs the country - and Obama's bootlicking subservience to them - it doesn't come to mind.