Now in little mid America there is a little dwindling ½ empty city called Cleveland.  

 

In Cleveland there are little nickel and dime public corruption deals, and a few million dollar public corruption deals, and one Billion dollar public corruption deal  named MEDCON.   

 

The FBI has fed enought dirt to the Justice Department that the Feds have leveled RICO charges against our local pol Mr. Dimora – who, for a TIKI HUT – is accused of using his influence to benefit a corrupt contractor.   Over 70 people have been indicted in little itty bitty Cleveland, O.

 

Cleveland is corruption Hicksville.   For amateurs.  Totally.

 

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The Big Money Boys play in the Big sandbox – Worldwide.  Wall Street.   DAX.  FTSE.  NIKKEI.  Totally.

 

Jon Corzine was playing in the Big sandbox.   He played in the BIG sandbox while he headed up Goldman Sachs in 1994. He played in the big sandbox with President Clinton and the Treasury Department.

 

Jon didn’t get along with Henry Paulson – another Goldman Sachs CEO and another BIG sandbox and US treasury player.

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But this is a report about Greek Bonds and Greek Democracy – democracy loves referenda!

 

So after last week’s Eurozone agreement endorsed by German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who would have thought that the bond market would be rocked by a referendum? 

 

Throwing all the BIG hedge fund bond bets and counterparty bets back into question. 

 

In the BIG sandbox, guys like Corzine go down like toy soldiers. 

 

  MF Global, Corzine’s bond company, had bought 6.3 Billion of Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Greek bonds, betting – apparently -  that those countries would get bailed.   MF Global knew how to use accounting techniques too. 

 

Then Ms. Merkel and Mssr. Sarkozy blew a huge hole in the Eurozone debt scene – a 50% “haircut” by the banks.   (Had the banks already taken the counter side in hedge bets? - so their "haircut" was public and their hedged positions private and profitable?)

 

The hedge funds that bet that the in debt countries would be forced to pay back their entire debt went way south. 

 

....Until the Greek referendum was announced by PM George Papandreou.

 

Then, today, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel had to meet with George Papandreou for nearly three hours of emergency talks in Cannes.

 

What do you think these folks discuss?

 

Keep in mind that the bailout is 1.4 Trillion Euros.

 

Jimmy Dimora went  for a TIKI HUT.

 

You don’t think it is entirely possible that the BIG boys in the bond sandbox aren’t offering a TIKI HUT too?

 

You think that, say, a piddling 50 million euros deposited in a secret Swiss bank account for one politician or another couldn’t be a sandbox move?

 

You think that maybe Mr. Papandreou decided on a referendum because someone from the sandbox called him? Made him an offer?   (Then again Democracy started right there in Greece!)

 

When there is this much money in play...no one’s cynical imagination is capable of anticipating the moves - of anticipating the corrupt moves, the tricks, the feints.

 

None of us cynics are smart enough.    And politics isn't really about money...

 

Only the Big Boys know these ropes....Only the 1%!

 

The rest of us have sand in our eyes.