SEIU Protest Against Goldman Sachs

... Uh huh ...

Goldman Sachs has been under attack for some time over its bonuses, remarks by top executives (God's work and Jesus and swine flu vaccine), and its trading practices (does anyone still remember about HFT - high-frequency trading - that SEC is supposed to be doing something about it?).

Now, Mr. Andy Stern, SEIU President, admonishes Mr. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's CEO.

SEIU, Service Employee International Union, gets on the Goldman-bashing bandwagon, and wants to bus its union members to Goldman Sachs to protest.

SEIU's Andy Stern to lead Goldman Sachs protest
(11/13/09 Politico)

"Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein may have had his tongue in his cheek when he said his bankers were doing “God’s work,” but the company’s critics aren’t laughing.

"In fact, a couple hundred of them — led by Service Unions International Union president Andy Stern — plan to gather outside of Goldman Sachs’ Washington offices Monday morning to protest the firm’s mega-bonuses, and demand the end of the "too big to fail" doctrine, according to a press release.

"The event will be held outside 101 Constitution Ave. N.W., an office building that’s home to many of the most powerful lobbyists and corporations in town, including Goldman. It’s also where you can find POLITICO’s Capitol Hill bureau (in the basement).

"Among their demands, the protesters will say that Goldman bankers should donate their reported $23 billion in bonuses to foreclosure prevention programs.

"Public Citizen will release a new report during the event analyzing how much the various bailout recipient like Goldman are spending lobbying on financial reform, which the groups say is aimed at squashing real reform."

Public Citizen is a non-profit, public advocacy group originally founded by Ralph Nader. Browsing the headlines on their website, it looks like it is highly supportive of the government intervention and regulation. Its website front page today has this headline: "Banksters Gave Heavily to Committees Debating Financial Reform".

Is this some kind of joke? What about SEIU's political donations and lobbying on all levels - from federal level all the way down to municipal and county level?

I don't know about you, but when I see SEIU organizing a bus tour to Goldman Sachs, just like they did with ACORN to AIG executives' homes, I fail to get excited about "wrongdoings" of "banksters" as defined by SEIU. (Yes, I am a contrarian both in trading and in the worldview.)

Besides, if Goldman Sachs is doing the government work (PPT) and/or they practically "own" the government as many allege, they must be doing the God's work. After all, "We are God's partners in matters of life and death" was what President Obama said to 1,000 Rabbis in a conference call back in August. (See my post.)

I'm sure it will be a wonderful addition to SEIU's photo library, along with photos of their AIG protest.

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