MontanaWithKids.com

Tithing

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
November 18, 2009

Headline on page A1 in this morning’s New York Times reads “$500 Million and Apology From Goldman”. In the article, by Graham Bowley, he outlines the response to criticism over their planned year-end bonuses. Goldman Sachs said it was working with the billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett in a $500 million project to help 10,000 small businesses.

This charitable move by Goldman Sachs came a little more than a week after Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chairman and chief executive, was quoted as saying that they were “doing God’s work”. The $500 million represents only 3 percent of the $16.7 billion in bonuses set aside to pay its employees this year.

Mr. Brankfein apologized while making this charitable contribution, that Goldman had made mistakes in the past, and that it was sorry. “We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret”.

This mea culpa by Lloyd Blankfein was intended to divert attention from having to explain exactly for which mistakes he and his firm were sorry and now felt the urge to repay some of that money back to the public on whose back it was made.

Now truth be told most of their profits this year were made trading commodities specifically crude oil. In 2000 Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BP, Total, Shell, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale founded the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

ICE is an online commodities and futures marketplace and is outside the US jurisdiction and therefore operates free from the constraints of the Federal Trade Commission regulations. The exchange was set up to facilitate “dark pool” in the commodities markets. Billions of dollars are being placed on oil futures contracts at the ICE on which they are required to make delivery at any time as long as they can keep the scheme going.

Goldman Sachs ratcheted up the price of crude oil with leveraged speculation on money they can now borrow at 1% by having been approved as a bank holding company during last year’s financial crisis. By this method they have been able to increase the global cost of crude oil from $40 to $80 per barrel this year.

Mr. Blankfein should take the next step and take up the Bible to read about how to really go about doing God’s work. First of all he should tell us exactly for what sins he was apologizing, second tithing to the church by him and his firm would be considered a way of repaying for those digressions and third he should consider taking a vow of poverty by donating all of his worldly goods to the poor.

Bob van der Valk the Fuel-pricing Analyst with 4Refuel Inc. in Lynnwood, Washington and can be contacted at (406) 853-4251 or by email at tridemoil@aol.com. His viewpoints are at:
www.4vqp.com/ourconsultants/thegasguy.html