Revelations that ultra-Conservative, laissez-faire capitalist brothers in arms, KOA talk show host Mike Rosen and former Congressmen Tom Tancredo lost potentially millions in the meltdown of Agile Group are possibly a source of Schadenfreude, (a German word meaning shameful joy or guilty pleasure) for some. More properly they ought to be object lessons for the rest of us, as well as a call to arms to begin to address the policies that have led to the sputtering of the American economic engine.
Listeners to Rosen's show may remember his advertisements for an investment firm called Agile Group that catered to "high worth investors." A lot of listeners, such as myself, might be forgiven for little more than irritation at the ads, which appealed to a demographic to which many of us aspire to, but few achieve. Agile has just notified its investors that their accounts are frozen until 2010 and that investors could expect no better than a 10% return of their capital, if any at all.
It turns out that Agile Group handled accounts for both Rosen and Tancredo, The Denver Post, reporting that during Tancredo's ill-fated Presidential bid, he filed papers stating that he had up to $1.1 million invested with the firm.
At least part of the blame for the losses are blamed on the $50 billion "Ponzi scheme" of Bernard Madoff, with whom Agile clients were informed had received an undisclosed amount of Agile cash.
While schadenfreude may be running somewhat rampant, especially in terms of Rosen's troubles, it appears that the undeniably intelligent talk show host still fails to entirely grasp the lessons of Agile's demise. On his radio show Rosen stated that he placed the blame primarily at the door of Madoff and other "crooks." Certainly Rosen's definition of laissez-faire never extended to fraud. What he has apparently failed to grasp, however, is that there were more than one Ponzi scheme at work in the demise of Agile Group and Madoff's investment group.
The creation of securities based on a theory that housing prices would never stop rising, even while the fundamental underpinnings of the American economy were looted might well be looked at as a Ponzi scheme of the highest order. Betting that housing prices would rise to infinity and that loosening of credit requirements to allow almost every American to make a home purchase would ensure that never ending upward spiral, even while basic American industries and, therefore, jobs were shipped overseas, certainly seems like a bad idea in hindsight. That that problem might have been and still might be addressed by changing the Tax Code to encourage multinationals to invest in job creation in the United States was and undoubtedly still would be looked at as "protectionism," by both Rosen and Tancredo. This, despite the fact that such a policy might well have saved Agile and others.
If, as seems unlikely, Rosen suddenly begins to question the wisdom of things such as the Foreign Investment Tax Credit, a position that Rosen would no doubt regard as completely in opposition to his laissez-faire absolutism, the first signs of a sea change that might begin to bring back American pre-eminence will emerge, giving the Agile Group collapse more meaning than as a temporary source of schadenfreude.
Comments
Was Agile SIPC insured? We can't enjoy proper schadenfreude while the possibility remains that Tancredo will recoup most of his losses by simply sucking the government teat we have so cruelly provided him against his will.
Schadenfreude, (a German word meaning shameful joy or guilty pleasure) Not true! Schadenfreude is but the glee you experience when justice was served.
Idiots, Madoff is the criminal, and a major Democratic donor. Just like the rest of the tax dodgers and liars that have destroyed the free market.
To NotSor: tax "dodging" is normally referred to as tax "planning" and is standard operating procedure for most if not all multinationals.
To Brad: funny. To Friedolin: funnier
I hate to break it to you Richard, but your buddies seem to be the ones who have not been paying their taxes (Rangel, Geithner, Daschle, Caroline Kennedy and William Jefferson). If you really think loosing ones life savings to Democratic swindlers is a great thing, you have just elected a whole gaggle of them. We will see who is lauging in the long run.
The free market will ultimately prevail, until then, you keep smirking.
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Madoff and Company Spent Nearly $1 Million on Washington Influence
Published by Lindsay Renick Mayer on December 15, 2008 5:51 PM
The man behind a $50 billion Ponzi scheme that has roiled Wall Street and shaken up the nonprofit world was also a long-time contributor to Democrats, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found. Bernard Madoff was arrested last Thursday and charged with operating a fraudulent money-management business with which he advised investors, hedge funds and institutions, including charitable foundations. Madoff made a fortune, and he played politics with some of that money. In total, he and his wife, Ruth, have given $238,200 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1991, with Democrats getting 88 percent of that. Overall, Madoff and other individuals at his company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, gave $372,100 in campaign contributions since 1991, with 89 percent to Democrats. The firm spent $590,000 on lobbying in the last 11 years, all but $10,000 of it with the lobbying firm of Lent, Scrivner & Roth. A search for funds with "Madoff" in their title in lawmakers' personal investments did not find any members of Congress with their own funds invested with him.
The following party committees, PACs and current members of Congress have received contributions from Madoff and his wife since the 1992 election cycle:
Name
Party
Total
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte
D
$102,000
Securities Industry Assn
$31,000
Wyden, Ron
D
$13,000
Schumer, Charles E
D
$12,000
Markey, Edward J
D
$10,000
Securities Industry & Financial Mkt Assn
$10,000
Lautenberg, Frank R
D
$8,600
Merkley, Jeff
D
$2,300
Clinton, Hillary
D
$2,000
Rangel, Charles B
D
$2,000
Towns, Edolphus
D
$2,000
Dodd, Christopher J
D
$1,500
Ackerman, Gary
D
$1,200
Dingell, John D
D
$1,000
Obey, David R
D
$1,000
Matheson, Jim
D
$250
National Abortion Rights Action League
$250
Now I am buddies with all the Democrats? When I did the article about Peter Boyles holding on to the Obama birth certificate controversy I was almost universally accused of being a right-wing hack. I don't think you can put a label on me, (even more so than Boyles) but please keep trying.
Dick you missed the point I am neither shameful nor guilty for the unspeakable joy that this brings me- proudly!
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