No matter how bad you think the Republicans are, they can always surprise you by being even worse. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over regulatory affairs, including of the financial services sector of the economy. He has actually hired a former Goldman Sachs vice-president to work on his staff. That, by itself, would be worrisome. But the man is actually working under an assumed name. When he worked at Goldman Sachs he was known as Peter Simonyi. But, as he was leaving Goldman Sachs in 2009, he adopted his mother’s maiden name. Why would someone do that? Why would a grown man change his name?
Initially, he went to work for the law/lobbying firm Brickfield Burchette Ritts & Stone, but as soon as the Republicans retook the House, he was hired to work on Darrell Issa’s staff. In that capacity, Peter Simonyi, now known as Peter Haller, began lobbying against new financial regulations concerning collateral requirements for firms who trade in derivatives. One of those firms is Goldman Sachs.
So, in a nutshell, after helping to blow up the global economy and cause mass joblessness and home loss, Goldman Sachs sent a vice-president under an assumed name to work as a lowly congressional staffer on a committee that has oversight of the departments that regulate Goldman Sachs.
Don’t tell me that you thought they could be this unethical.
