I know the buzz is loud regarding the interview between The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and CNBC’s Jim Cramer that aired last week.  I’m sure many are thinking to themselves or even saying out loud, “Finally!”  Maybe it’s because the whole financial crisis is so overwhelming and changes so fast, it becomes difficult to keep it in perspective.  All the stimulus packages - the ones that passed, the ones that didn’t - combined with the bailouts of major companies, some that have criminals at the mast and others that are so close to being criminals, it’s just a matter of dotting the “i”s and crossing the “t”s.   Million dollar bonuses, billion dollar losses - ugh!  It’s to the point many of us are steering clear of conversing about these topics because we

Jon Stewart

don’t know how old our knowledge is.  Even news that broke an hour ago has a short shelf life.  So when questions are asked and an interviewee begins sweating, it gives us all pause.  We settle in to see where the blood and dust settles.  This time, the one in the hot seat found himself stumbling over his past conversations, predictions and arrogant approach to all things financial. 

Jon Stewart was relentless and determined to bring Cramer down a notch or two.  He demanded to know exactly who holds him accountable, who at CNBC determines the legalities of many across the board statements regarding Bear Sterns and AIG; and Stewart finally says what the rest of us are feeling:

“And they burned the X@# house down with our money and walked away rich as hell and you guys knew that was going on.”

Cramer sees this is an opportunity to plop himself on some pedestal and declare he has a wall of shame and he keeps banana cream pies expressly to throw into CEOs faces.  He says the media is often lied to, and then says they unknowingly report the lies.  That one still has me wondering what planet he lives on. 

He defends his decision to go to bat for Bear Sterns, only to see it crash just one day later.  He said he was as surprised as anyone.  Keep in mind, he’s a financial heavyweight for CNBC and up until recently, a well-respected financial journalist.  He mentions several times of the trust he had in all of these folks who’ve since been exposed as thieves and that he was as disheartened as the rest of the country, even though he refers to most of them as his “friends”.

Honestly, it was painful to watch….yet I’ve watched it a few times this weekend. I especially got a kick out of Stewart’s analogy of Cramer’s insistence of a market for fast money.  Stewart retorts with, “Yeah, but there’s a market for cocaine and hookers too.” 

There’s still talk of charges being filed on many of these company heavyweights who have benfited from bail out money, although it doesn’t appear likely, at least in the immediate future.  And from the headlines this weekend, it may never come full circle with criminal or civil charges since AIG has announced, yet again, even more bonuses for the higher-ups.

If you’d like to see the edited video, click here.  If, however, you want the full effect, complete with expletives, click here.

Lawyer, Lawyers, and Attorneys related to Business Law at Lawyer Ahead

We’ve arrived at the last day of this eventful and historical year.  In hindsight, we realize we’ve witnessed much history and have seen things we never dreamed possible.  The country’s largest companies have found themselves struggling just to keep their doors open, political leaders in new scandals from everything from marital affairs to placing price tags on political vacancies and the unbelievable audacity of one businessman’s belief he could get away with the theft of fifty billion dollars.  Below you’ll find a few more newsworthy events from the last half of 2008. The first half can be found here and here.

July 15 - A woman calls 911 to report her granddaughter has been missing for thirty one days. Caylee Anthony, who was two years old when she disappeared, has since been found murdered less than one half mile from her home.  Her own mother, Casey Anthony, was indicted on October 14 for the murder.  Her trial is set to begin in early 2009.

July 23 - Hurricane Dolly makes landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the U.S.-Mexico border.

August 29 - Republican presidential candidate John McCain announces his running mate.  AK Governor Sarah Palin comes in with a bang and shakes up the entire election.  She’s well-received and

Anne Pressly

quickly gains a solid following from those not only from her home state, but from the country as a whole.

September 13 -  This is the day most analysts agree was day the chains come unhinged as Lehman Brothers announced it was near bankruptcy, AIG announced it was in hot water because of its underwriting practices and the mortgage crisis finally comes into full light and Americans realized just how bad things were on the economic front.

October 2008 - OJ Simpson is finally found guilty of one of his crimes.  A jury determined he was guilty of several felonies committed during a Las Vegas hotel room break-in.  He’s accused of stealing, at gunpoint, sports memorabilia and other momentos.  He’s facing thirty-three years in prison as a result of this guilty verdict.

October 20 - Anne Pressly, an admired Arkansas news anchor, was found murdered in her home.  A suspect has since been arrested and is awaiting trial.

October 24 - Jennifer Hudson’s family, including her mother and brother, are found murdered in their Chicago home.  A few days later, her nephew is found murdered in an abandoned vehicle.  An ex-husband of her sister is now charged with these murders. 

October 2008 - New legal provisions are passed that require insurance companies to provide the same coverage for mental health as they do physical health.  For twelve years, advocates have worked to ensure this law is passed.

November 4 - National history is made as Barack Obama becomes the first black president ever elected and will be the first U.S. president to enter office during wartime. 

Jennifer Hudson

November 2008 - The pregnant man (who is biologically a woman) announces a second pregnancy.  Thomas Beatie, a transgender who has undergone testosterone therapy but still has the reproductive organs of a woman, gave birth for the first time in March of this year.

December 9 - IL Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for attempting to sell the vacancy left by President-elect Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate.  He’s also been accused of a number of other illegal and unethical activities.  Attempts are now being made to have him impeached from office.

As we head into a new year, we do so in a recession but also with hopes of effective solutions to these problems and with sincere attempts to leave the “one step forward and two steps back” way of doing things behind.

As the government continues to provide monies for corporations to bail themselves out of financial ruin, and AIG officials tackle their personal grooming habits with retreats to California at the country’s most expensive spa, spending nearly $900,000 on, among other things, manicures and pedicures, cities are reporting record numbers of homeless families who have lost their homes due to foreclosures.  As if 49 million uninsured Americans weren’t bad enough, families - with children - are finding themselves on the streets with no idea where to find the solutions.  Cities like Atlanta, New York and Seattle are seeing record-breaking numbers of homeless people.  It’s been said a combination of job losses, the high number of foreclosures and rising food and fuel costs have contributed to this crisis.  Up until this year, the numbers had been declining.  Some cities had reported as much as a 12% decrease of people living on the streets.  Now, though, the city of New York had less than 2,100 homeless families this time last year.  One year later, the number is at 2,750.  These numbers reflect the number of families - not individuals. 

I remember thinking after Katrina how much we take for granted.  No electricity for a week was tough, but this?  It’s a whole new ballgame.  At least in the days after the storm, we knew the power companies would be appearing any second to restore power - and air conditioning, specifically.  August in the South - you’ve never known a hot day until you’ve experienced 100% humidity with heat indexes above 100 degrees.  I have a feeling that a few hot days are nothing compared to what some of these people are facing with winter knocking at our doors. 

So while the American Big Businesses are clawing their way to the money tree, mothers are clawing their way to the nearest food banks and shelters in their efforts to ensure their little ones are warm and fed.  There’s something insanely wrong with this picture.   Even with the new federal law that’s providing nearly four billion dollars for cities and communities to buy foreclosed properties to house the homeless, it’s of little comfort to those who don’t even know it exists.  My guess is with no roof over their heads and no food in the pantry, they’re not likely to have access to CNN or Fox News or any other media that announced this new law. 

Are representatives from local Social Service agencies setting up tables at the food banks and shelters to notify people that help is out there?  Is the right information being funneled to the right people in the right departments?  We all know the evils of the red tape.   And if AIG officials have enough free time for a week long manicure, perhaps they could find a little time to volunteer at a food bank.  A little perspective is good for the soul.  Better still, perhaps a good use for their hands might be to pick up a hammer with Habitat for Humanity instead of picking their hands up and out of the cuticle conditioner.    It might serve as a reminder the very ones they need as customers for their insurance and other financial offerings are the ones who are most betrayed.