Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is set to tell a House committee he has no idea what happened to customer money that went missing when his brokerage firm, MF Global, went bankrupt in October. In testimony prepared for his appearance before the House Agriculture Committee later today, Mr. Corzine said, “I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date.” Read More
Mayor Bloomberg said he doesn’t want to “second-guess” Governor Cuomo’s tax plan.
Bill Clinton said his wife, Hillary, has no plans to run for office again. “She wants to stay in one place for two or three days and get a good night’s sleep for a week or two.”
Occupy Albany protesters got a permit that will allow them to stay in Academy Park for two more weeks. Read More
Senator Chuck Schumer said he thinks the Democrats can pick up Senate seats in 2012.
The chief of staff for Embattled Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. was arrested on bribery and conspiracy charges.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wants to pass a bill prohibiting insider trading by members of Congress, their families and staff.
Rick Perry said he thinks Senator Gillibrand’s bill will actually make it harder to prosecute insider traders. Read More
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman talked about how he earned a reputation as “Sheriff of Wall Street” and gave his thoughts on the Occupy movements during an appearance on the public radio “Marketplace” broadcast today. Attorney General Schneiderman said he thinks many Americans share the concerns expressed by Occupy Wall Street and the other protests it inspired. Read More
During an appearance on “Live from the State Capitol” this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo told radio host Fred Dicker the situation with the state budget is “grim.” He blamed the situation on tough times on Wall Street and described the current backlash against the financial industry as “hyperbole” fueled by “extremist groups on steroids.” Read More
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is demanding President Obama return $500,000 in campaign contributions Jon Corzine raised on his behalf now that the FBI is reportedly investigating the collapse of Mr. Corzine’s hedge fund brokerage, MF Global. Read More
After his company announced hundreds of millions in losses yesterday morning, Blackstone Group chairman and co-founder Steven A. Schwarzman did his best Henny Youngman impression with a political roast routine at last night’s annual Al Smith dinner. Mr. Schwarzman’s schmaltzy speech at the Waldorf Astoria white tie bash included zingers about Occupy Wall Street, the News Corporation phone hacking scandal and New York Senator Chuck Schumer. Hey-O! Read More
A new report from New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says 10,000 Wall Street workers will lose their jobs by the end of next year due to lower earnings in the second half of 2011. Mr. DiNapoli said the bad times ahead on Wall Street will have major consequences for the entire Empire State. Read More
Here’s a roundup of chatter about the A.G.’s probe of three major banks, and how their mortgage-backed securities may have contributed to the epic financial meltdown that we’re not entirely out of yet.
Schneiderman’s investigation is being heralded on the left as meaningful intervention by a regulator who is going after an industry that brought the country to the brink of disaster and got, in return, a taxpayer bailout. Politically, it’s a continuation of the tradition of making the New York attorney general a key watchdog of Wall Street — something first started by Eliot Spitzer.
Eliot Spitzer: “I bet there will be bombshells awaiting us.”
New York Times: “At long last, there is a serious investigation into the mortgage mess.”
Dylan Ratigan: “Promising move. Instead of waiting for federal, state and civil suites to shake out, Schneiderman is going it solo…If we wait to see if the attorney general, [Eric] Holder, files charges we may all die and roll over.” Read More
Here’s a 2-minute video featuring Councilwoman Tish James of Brooklyn and others explaining why they are rallying against Wall Street today and pushing the mayor to roll back service cuts he proposed in his budget.
“It’s time that we march on Wall Street,” said James, who referred to them as “the people who were responsible for this recession.”
Councilwoman Debi Rose said, “We are not going to allow the mayor to break the unions,” and “they are going to feel the wrath of working people in New York City.”
Video after the jump. Read More
