Gasparino Deconstructs Buffett's Hypocrisy

Today's rating agency hearing was a total farce: the only useful thing that could come out of it is if someone comes out with potentially perjurious information, as there were a few shaky answers provided by the Oracle of Omaha which could easily explain not only his reticence at testifying in Congress but doing so under oath. If that were to happen, the octogenarian would have to respond to both potential criminality and hypocrisy. As it stands, the only item to be covered is the latter, and Charlie Gasparino does a pretty good job at blowing apart Buffett's hypocrisy. "He believes [the rating agencies are] a sleazy business and he's gonna own it. Well that takes Warren Buffett down three notches in my book... If Moody's had a superior product, investors like Warren Buffett, who does not use the ratings, would be buying them one at a time. They do not have an effective product. They have a deformed product, a product that basically was at the forefront of the mess in 2008 and 2007. Warren Buffett who opines about politics all the time, constantly opines about right and wrong, defends wrong because it was a good investment. He is defending the indefensible. Rating agencies are not defensible at this. He is Mr. Do Good, yet he is defending the most corrupt business model in corporate America." At least one mainstream journalist out there is not afraid to call it like it is. Of course, we get the feeling that Becky Quick is no danger of losing her leathery wrinkled seat on the next NetJets trip to China.

 

 

Watch the latest business video at <a href="http://video.foxbusiness.com/" mce_href="http://video.foxbusiness.com/">video.foxbusiness.com</a> 4.857145 Your rating: None Average: 4.9 (7 votes) » Login or register to post comments Printer-friendly version Send to friend by homersimpson on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:43#390736

I still think Buffett is a good dealmaker. Unfortunately, the past year is showing he's probably as corrupt as anyone on Wall Street.

Login or register to post comments by Conrad Murray on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:55#390846

Warren Buffett is Moodys' business model personified.  Junk level slime spun into AAA steak, to be gulped down by eager-to-be-ignorant stooges.

Login or register to post comments by RemixTrades on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:44#390737

I disagree with Charlie in regard to the "sleezy business" comment, where he implies that owning Moody's is a "bad thing."

 

If he's going to follow that logic, he better not be owning a lot of things.

 

Energy companies.... that pollute the environment (i.e. lots of oil and coal companies)

 

Finance companies... that intentionally sell you bad products? or say, use your information to front-run trades, and... (refer to the dozens of ZH articles for more examples)

 

Car companies....that suck and end up sucking (:p) tax payer money. Is that evil?

 

I can go on and on...

Login or register to post comments by Cheeky Bastard on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:47#390741

There is no good and evil; only beneficial or non-beneficial acts. 

Login or register to post comments by Hephasteus on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:55#390749

There is no holy and unholy. Only people striving to be viewed as so good and worthy of responsibility that it enables them to treat people with severe disrepect. Even denying them the right to live, the right to speak and hear the truth. The right to love and be loved. The right to support only what supports it and not force people to support something that harms them.

Login or register to post comments by knukles on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:07#390769

Right or Wrong, Good or Evil but Becky loosing her seat on the Wrinkled Leather What? 

But let's not forget, whilst Grandpa talks the talk about Doing Good (Doing God's Work?) his stated investment philosophy makes no reference to such.  He invests in entities with strong, superior, leadership franchises, oft characterized by oligopolistic strangle-hold pricing power, proprietary technology, high barriers to entry, etc. advantages, not all of which are derived from purely competitive, free market forces. 

Don't sound too kindly, altruistic to me none.

Login or register to post comments by Hephasteus on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:25#390796

Pillars of piety are impossible to build. So they just pile up some sticks and stones so at least they got something to throw while the people come to evict them from the building.

Login or register to post comments by strannick on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:15#390780

A marine oil volcano might be beneficial to BP shorts, but not to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Login or register to post comments by breezer1 on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:18#390786

last good read for me on the subject, ' without conscience'. highly recommended  

Login or register to post comments by geopol on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:11#390805

Situation ethics!!

 

Let's listen to what America has to offer!! In music...How sad when all dissipates..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AH5Zvzu2I&feature=fvw

Let the whole thing play brother... Ignore the adds!!

Login or register to post comments by Mercury on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:29#390806

There is no good and evil; only beneficial or non-beneficial acts.

Maybe for machines but I don't think humans can escape or wish away good and evil. I doubt ZH would be so popular or get it's reader so worked up if everyone were opperating on your premise.

Login or register to post comments by aldousd on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:43#390897

to whom? for whom? from whom? at whose expense? which is the benefit and which is the cost?

Login or register to post comments by arnoldsimage on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 21:13#390948

wrong again.

Login or register to post comments by DaveyJones on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 21:17#390954

same goes with insects

(the garden kind, not the financial)

Login or register to post comments by hound dog vigilante on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:14#390777

No.  Charlie is correct. 

Owning equity in polluters/front-running financiers/GM is not necessarily "evil" but it is hypocritical if you are also Sierra Club/SEC/US citizen, respectively.

 

The old excuse that good "investors" must ignore such conflicts is absolute bunk... it's EXACTLY the mentality that has brought the entire system to it's knees. 

Do as I say, not as I do... what a cop-out.  Buffet is a hack... his reputation has been shot to pieces over the past 4 years, and rightfully so.

 

Login or register to post comments by nmewn on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:08#390871

There is a difference between ethics (manmade) and the spiritual realm of good & evil.

An agnostic cannot be convinced of what they cannot see, touch, prove, disprove, taste, etc. Most have made a valid attempt at discovery because they are analytical in nature.

An atheist flatly denies any higher being than themselves at all.

IMHO, soon to be challenged no doubt...LOL...an agnostic must have "faith" that there is not God...it requires "faith" and I might add, a "belief" that there are NO unknowns to be discovered...for if there are no unknowns to them, they could, in fact, be defined as a god...which is against their "belief".

Atheist's assert...flatly...that there is no deities...no God. One is naturally led to...how can they know??? Are they proclaiming themselves to know everything there is to know and therefore godlike themselves??? Seems rather contradictory to me also.

If one believes there is evil in the world, then there must also be good in the world, for evil to be even defined.

 

 

 

Login or register to post comments by Mactheknife on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:45#390738

The last time "Uncle Warren" sat in front of a committee on the hill, he was strongly in favor of keeping the estate tax intact. He forgot to mention during his "testimony" the fact that most of the sixty some odd companies that Berkshire has bought over the years were private, family owned and were sold to good ole Uncle Warren because the surviving families couldn't pay (wait for it)..... ..the ESTATE TAXES. Go figure.

 

 

Login or register to post comments by Hephasteus on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:50#390743

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucqdt2PK6Kw&feature=fvw

Friends and "Family" bitches!!!!

Login or register to post comments by Cheeky Bastard on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:48#390739

Dis guy eh !! Dis fuckin guy !! He aint no Nono. Hey, oh !!

-The Chazonator Goombah, Jersey Shore NJ

Login or register to post comments by Sqworl on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:53#390908

lmao

Login or register to post comments by Privatus on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:49#390742

The Anacle of Omaha.

Login or register to post comments by Monkey Craig on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:54#390748

Ratings Agencies = another great example of our flawed corporatocracy

Login or register to post comments by bada boom on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:14#390774

Exactly.  Warren said this in another article, “They succumbed to the same mania that prevailed throughout the investment world”

Well, if that statement is true they have no purpose existing at all.  They should only exist to be prudent and to be independent, regardless of what the masses do.  If they only echo what people foolishly believe, they do more harm then good.

 

Login or register to post comments by Rick64 on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:57#390751

At worst he is a hypocrite. He invests and makes money, what do you expect. Our own politicians lie, cheat, steal, take bribes, ect... and we pay them. We found out that he is like all the rest, so what. How in the hell are you going to hold him accountable for what Moodys does? He is an investor.

Login or register to post comments by Bay of Pigs on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 18:58#390756

Sad to see someone who is/was very respected look so completely out of touch. His testimony was laughable. 

Login or register to post comments by AccreditedEYE on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:09#390873

He's desperately trying to save his empire. When your entire life's work revolves around the market you'll say anything. BRKA/B will suffer greatly from what is to come. Let's see what his derivatives holdings do to him on the next violent wave down.

Login or register to post comments by Rusty_Shackleford on W

I still think Buffett is a good dealmaker. Unfortunately, the past year is showing he's probably as corrupt as anyone on Wall Street.

Warren Buffett is Moodys' business model personified.  Junk level slime spun into AAA steak, to be gulped down by eager-to-be-ignorant stooges.

I disagree with Charlie in regard to the "sleezy business" comment, where he implies that owning Moody's is a "bad thing."

 

If he's going to follow that logic, he better not be owning a lot of things.

 

Energy companies.... that pollute the environment (i.e. lots of oil and coal companies)

 

Finance companies... that intentionally sell you bad products? or say, use your information to front-run trades, and... (refer to the dozens of ZH articles for more examples)

 

Car companies....that suck and end up sucking (:p) tax payer money. Is that evil?

 

I can go on and on...

There is no good and evil; only beneficial or non-beneficial acts. 

There is no holy and unholy. Only people striving to be viewed as so good and worthy of responsibility that it enables them to treat people with severe disrepect. Even denying them the right to live, the right to speak and hear the truth. The right to love and be loved. The right to support only what supports it and not force people to support something that harms them.

Right or Wrong, Good or Evil but Becky loosing her seat on the Wrinkled Leather What? 

But let's not forget, whilst Grandpa talks the talk about Doing Good (Doing God's Work?) his stated investment philosophy makes no reference to such.  He invests in entities with strong, superior, leadership franchises, oft characterized by oligopolistic strangle-hold pricing power, proprietary technology, high barriers to entry, etc. advantages, not all of which are derived from purely competitive, free market forces. 

Don't sound too kindly, altruistic to me none.

Pillars of piety are impossible to build. So they just pile up some sticks and stones so at least they got something to throw while the people come to evict them from the building.

A marine oil volcano might be beneficial to BP shorts, but not to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

last good read for me on the subject, ' without conscience'. highly recommended  

Situation ethics!!

 

Let's listen to what America has to offer!! In music...How sad when all dissipates..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AH5Zvzu2I&feature=fvw

Let the whole thing play brother... Ignore the adds!!

There is no good and evil; only beneficial or non-beneficial acts.

Maybe for machines but I don't think humans can escape or wish away good and evil. I doubt ZH would be so popular or get it's reader so worked up if everyone were opperating on your premise.

to whom? for whom? from whom? at whose expense? which is the benefit and which is the cost?

wrong again.

same goes with insects

(the garden kind, not the financial)

No.  Charlie is correct. 

Owning equity in polluters/front-running financiers/GM is not necessarily "evil" but it is hypocritical if you are also Sierra Club/SEC/US citizen, respectively.

 

The old excuse that good "investors" must ignore such conflicts is absolute bunk... it's EXACTLY the mentality that has brought the entire system to it's knees. 

Do as I say, not as I do... what a cop-out.  Buffet is a hack... his reputation has been shot to pieces over the past 4 years, and rightfully so.

 

There is a difference between ethics (manmade) and the spiritual realm of good & evil.

An agnostic cannot be convinced of what they cannot see, touch, prove, disprove, taste, etc. Most have made a valid attempt at discovery because they are analytical in nature.

An atheist flatly denies any higher being than themselves at all.

IMHO, soon to be challenged no doubt...LOL...an agnostic must have "faith" that there is not God...it requires "faith" and I might add, a "belief" that there are NO unknowns to be discovered...for if there are no unknowns to them, they could, in fact, be defined as a god...which is against their "belief".

Atheist's assert...flatly...that there is no deities...no God. One is naturally led to...how can they know??? Are they proclaiming themselves to know everything there is to know and therefore godlike themselves??? Seems rather contradictory to me also.

If one believes there is evil in the world, then there must also be good in the world, for evil to be even defined.

 

 

 

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