Steel, Robert GSachs

see ANN pharma neg ad dark $ fuckerybankster tarp $ goldman sachs mafiatax dodge: <table class="DataTable datadisplay dataTable no-footer" id="990" role="grid" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-top-style: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: small; border-spacing: 0px; background: rgb(201, 201, 201); width: 574px; clear: both; box-sizing: content-box;"><tbody><tr role="row" class="even" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; background-color: rgb(240, 243, 246);"><td style="padding: 8px 10px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: top; box-sizing: content-box;">Robert K Steel Family Foundation <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/435321-robert-k-steele-family-foundation.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; background: transparent;"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets2.opensecrets.org/resources/img/text-file-icon.png" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" /></a></td><td class="number" style="padding: 8px 10px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: top; box-sizing: content-box;">04/30/10</td><td class="number" style="padding: 8px 10px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: top; box-sizing: content-box;">$50,000</td><td style="padding: 8px 10px; margin: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: top; box-sizing: content-box;">American Action Forum (03)</td></tr></tbody></table>
=Three Stooges Ads In early July, the American Action Network began running ads throughout California and New York, targeting Democratic congressmen in both states for supporting the 2010 affordable care act, sections of which were recently defined as a tax increase by the supreme court. The ads attacked congressmen Bill Owens, Tim Bishop, and Louis Slaughter in New York, and Lois Capps, John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney in California. These ads were ostensibly "issue ads" and their cost was never reported. Both ads feature the congressmen and shots from old "Three Stooges" films....more ads]}}<h2>Leadership</h2>Although the American Action Network is not required to disclose the corporations and individuals who provide its funding, its board includes billionaire Republicans who have bankrolled many GOP campaigns, and who are affiliated with some of the wealthiest corporations in the country. Some of the board members include:<h3>Robert Steel</h3><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel" title="Robert Steel" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Robert Steel</a> was Vice Chairman of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Goldman Sachs</a> for 30 years, then served with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Henry Paulson</a> at the U.S. treasury and mismanaged the financial crisis, then headed to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wachovia" title="Wachovia" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Wachovia</a>, where he used his Treasury connections to negotiate a sweet merger with Wells Fargo, who then accepted $25 Billion in taxpayer-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=TARP" title="TARP" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">TARP</a> dollars. He was called one of "America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists" by AlterNet.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-9" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[10]</a><ul><li>While at Goldman Sachs, Steel co-headed the firm’s equities and trading business with Goldman CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, who sold securities designed to fail (and will still receive a $100 million bonus this year).</li></ul>For more information on the role Goldman Sachs has played in the financial disaster, check out our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Goldman Sachs</a> entry.<ul><li>Steel served as co-chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anti-regulation crusade before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Henry Paulson</a> in George W. Bush's Treasury Department, where he served from 2006-2008. Paulson and Steel had a "Batman-and-Robin-like relationship," according to the Washington Post.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-10" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[11]</a></li></ul><ul><li>Steel departed from Treasury just before the Wall Street meltdown, and took the helm at Wachovia. As Wachovia was failing, Steel used his connections at Treasury to negotiate a merger with Wells Fargo, which then was bailed out by taxpayers, taking $25 Billion in TARP funds. Steel served on the board of Wells Fargo until July 2010, when he headed off for a post with the city of New York.</li></ul>For more information about Robert Steel and his illicit dealings, please see our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel" title="Robert Steel" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Robert Steel</a> entry.<a name="Fred_Malek" id="Fred_Malek" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"> </a><h3>Fred Malek</h3>AAN Chair <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fred_Malek" title="Fred Malek" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Fred Malek</a> was President Richard Nixon's White House personnel chief during the Watergate scandal, "and helped dispense patronage for major Nixon donors as well as serving as deputy director of CREEP" (the Committee to Re-Elect the President). <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-11" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[12]</a> CREEP employed money laundering in its political activities, and was directly and actively involved in the Watergate scandal.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-Nixon_library-12" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[13]</a> "Malek is perhaps most famous for his central role in responding to Nixon's request for a count of Jews employed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-13" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[14]</a><ul><li>Malek engineered Nixon's "Responsiveness Program," which aimed to politicize the executive branch and take advantage of the power of the incumbency to direct federal resources towards ensuring Nixon's re-election.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-14" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[15]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-Nixon_library-12" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[13]</a> This included The "Responsiveness Program" was censured by the Senate Watergate Committee. The committee found that the program was aimed at influencing decisions concerning government "grants, contracts, loans, subsidies, procurement and construction projects," decisions regarding "legal and regulatory actions," and even personnel decisions that affected protected "career positions" -- all to advance Nixon's reelection.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-King_Wash_Post-15" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[16]</a></li></ul><ul><li>In 1971, the Washington Post reported that Malek had ordered the FBI to conduct an investigation of then-veteran CBS correspondent and Nixon critic Daniel Schorr. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-King_Wash_Post-15" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[16]</a></li></ul><ul><li>Malek was known as "the hatchet" in the Nixon administration "because of his alleged ruthlessness in paring the workforce and ousting those deemed disloyal to the Nixon administration."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-King_Wash_Post-15" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[16]</a></li></ul><ul><li>"Malek is perhaps most famous for his central role in responding to Nixon's request for a count of Jews employed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-16" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[17]</a> "Less than two months later, two senior BLS officials who were Jewish were moved out of their jobs to less visible posts. Malek acknowledges carrying out the disgusting hunt for Jews, but he denies having anything to do with the transfers."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-King_Wash_Post-15" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[16]</a> However, a <a href="http://img.slate.com/media/21/19710908_Malek_To_Haldeman.pdf" class="external text" title="http://img.slate.com/media/21/19710908_Malek_To_Haldeman.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">recently released memo</a> suggests that he may be lying.</li></ul><ul><li>Malek was nominated to govern the U.S. Post Office by Ronald Reagan in 1982, but failed to achieve Senate confirmation not only because of his role in the Responsiveness Program, but also because he made conflicting statements under oath about his role in the program. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-King_Wash_Post-15" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[16]</a></li></ul><ul><li>George H.W. Bush appointed Malek to head the Republican National Committee in 1988, but he was forced to resign after Bob Woodward followed up on his Watergate reporting and reminded America about Malek's BLS "jew-count." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-17" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[18]</a></li></ul><ul><li>Malek's net worth is reportedly $250 million.</li></ul><ul><li>Malek paid a $100,000 fine to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Securities_and_Exchange_Commission" title="Securities and Exchange Commission" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Securities and Exchange Commission</a> in a case involving a fraudulent pension fund scheme. He was John McCain's National Finance Committee co-chair in the 2008 election. He served as a director of Fannie Mae during the period in which CEO <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Franklin_Raines" title="Franklin Raines" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Franklin Raines</a> was forced out by regulators and when Raines left the federal mortgage guarantor with a pension worth over $100,000 a month and over $5 million in stock options. Malek made his initial fortune as CEO of Marriott Hotels and is part of the Carlyle Group. He is also a George W. Bush crony who was part of the syndicate that bought the Texas Rangers, one of Bush's failed businesses. His reputation has been tainted by evidence he carried out some of President Nixon's dirty work in identifying Jewish federal employees, resulting in his resignation as Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, even though he was George H.W. Bush's pick for that post back in 1988.</li></ul><a name="Kenneth_G.Langone" id="Kenneth_G.Langone" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"> </a><h3>Kenneth G. Langone</h3><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Langone" title="Kenneth Langone" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Kenneth Langone</a> is worth $1 billion, is listed as the 347th richest man in the U.S, and is affiliated with a number of corporations that have influenced or interfered with elections.<ul><li>Langone co-founded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ChoicePoint" title="ChoicePoint" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">ChoicePoint</a>, a "'data-mining" company that collects personal information it then sells to the government and businesses. Among other scandals, ChoicePoint was embroiled in the 2000 Presidential election debacle in Florida-- a ChoicePoint subsidiary ("DBT Online") provided Florida with a list of felons for the state to drop from the election rolls; however, 8000 of those names (most of whom were African-American and Hispanic, and likely Democratic voters) were not actually felons, and were thus prohibited from exercising their legal right to vote. The names were provided under a $4 million no-bid contract to Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who also declared <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">George W. Bush</a> the winner of Florida by 1,784 votes. Bush officially became president after five conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the vote recount-- a couple thousand voters turned away could have been the difference, even without the flawed butterfly ballot that added up for Pat Buchanan.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-18" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[19]</a> The U.S. Department of Justice <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Civil_Rights_Division" title="Civil Rights Division" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Civil Rights Division</a> identified problems with ChoicePoint's methodology in its report on the 2000 elections. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-19" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[20]</a></li></ul><ul><li>Langone also co-founded the home-remodeling store Home Depot, which was rewarded by Bush/Cheney for its top employees' big donations to the GOP. Home Depot got a $48 million tax break in the Bush/Cheney energy bill (lifting a tariff on Chinese-made ceiling fans), and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">George W. Bush</a> used the store as the PR backdrop for a speech about the economy.</li></ul><a name="C.Boyden_Gray" id="C.Boyden_Gray" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"> </a><h3>C. Boyden Gray</h3><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=C.Boyden_Gray" title="C. Boyden Gray" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">C. Boyden Gray</a>, an heir to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=R.J.Reynolds" title="R.J. Reynolds" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">R.J. Reynolds</a> Tobacco Company fortune, has played a key role in many right-wing groups like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" title="Citizens for a Sound Economy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>, which was founded by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Koch Brothers</a>, and is on the Board of Directors of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=FreedomWorks" title="FreedomWorks" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">FreedomWorks</a>, the beltway group behind the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tax_Day_Tea_Party" title="Tax Day Tea Party" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Tea Party</a> movement.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-20" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[21]</a> Gray has helped orchestrate everything from the big business attack on the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=EPA" title="EPA" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">EPA</a>'s regulation of air quality standards to the effort to pack the courts with right-wing ideologues through his attack machine, the "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Committee_for_Justice" title="Committee for Justice" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Committee for Justice</a>."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-21" title="" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">[22]</a><a name="Board" id="Board" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"> </a><h2>Board</h2><ul><li>Fred Malek, Chairman, Network Board, and Chairman, Thayer Capital Partners</li><li>Senator Norm Coleman, CEO, American Action Network and Forum</li><li>Senator George Allen, President, George Allen Strategies, LLC.</li><li>Isaac Applbaum, founding General Partner, Opus Capital</li><li>Maria Cino, Vice President of Government Affairs, Pfizer Inc.</li><li>Dylan Glenn, Senior Vice President, Guggenheim Advisors</li><li>Ambassador Boyden Gray, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union</li><li>B. Wayne Hughes, Jr., Founder and Senior Vice President of American Commercial Equities Inc.</li><li>Ken Langone, Founder and Chairman, Invemed Associates LLC</li><li>Senator Mel Martinez, Chairman of Florida, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, JPMorgan Chase</li><li>Congressman Jim Nussle, President and CEO, The Nussle Group</li><li>Congressman Tom Reynolds, Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, Nixon Peabody</li><li>Ambassador Gregory Slayton, President and CEO, NRX Global</li><li>Congressman Vin Weber, Managing Partner, Clark and Weinstock</li></ul>=Dan ConstonPresident of American Action Network
Board Members of the American Action NetworkNorm ColemanSenator Norm ColemanChairman, American Action Network and Of Counsel, Hogan Lovells US LLP

Isaac ApplbaumFounding General Partner, Opus Capital

Rick BergReal Estate EntrepreneurGovernor Luis FortuñoFormer Governor of Puerto Rico, Partner of Steptoe, Member of the Corporate, Securities & Finance Group and the Government Affairs and Public Policy Group
Dylan GlennManaging Director, Guggenheim Advisors
Barry JacksonStrategic Advisor, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Jeff LarsonCEO, Roosevelt Group
Thomas ReynoldsCongressman Tom ReynoldsSenior Strategic Advisor, Holland and Knight LLP
Congressman Vin WeberPartner, Mercury
===<a target="self" title="reference on Robert Steel" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel">Robert Steel</a>, former Vice Chairman of <a target="self" title="reference on Goldman Sachs" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> and former co-head of the firm’s equities and trading business with <a target="self" title="reference on Lloyd C. Blankfein" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lloyd_C.Blankfein">Lloyd C. Blankfein</a>, Goldman's CEO who <a target="_blank" title="reference on sold securities designed to fail" href="http://www.banksterusa.org/content/banking-lighter-note">sold securities designed to fail</a> (and yet Blankfein is poised to receive up to a $100 million bonus this year).

Steel also served as co-chair of the U.S. <a target="self" title="reference on Chamber of Commerce" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chamber_of_Commerce">Chamber of Commerce</a> anti-regulation crusade before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under Henry Paulson in George W. Bush's Treasury Department. He bailed out right before the Wall Street meltdown. He then took the helm at Wachovia which was then consumed as it was failing by Wells Fargo, which then took $371.5 million in TARP funds to be bailed out by taxpayers. And then he headed off for a post with the city of New York. (For more information on the role <a target="self" title="reference on Goldman Sachs" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> has played in the financial disaster, check out our articles on the firm in SourceWatch.)

http://www.prwatch.org/node/9407

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<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Robert Steel</h3>

<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel" title="Robert Steel">Robert Steel</a> was Vice Chairman of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> for 30 years, then served with <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect">Henry Paulson</a> at the U.S. treasury and mismanaged the financial crisis, then headed to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wachovia" title="Wachovia">Wachovia</a>, where he used his Treasury connections to negotiate a sweet merger with Wells Fargo, who then accepted $25 Billion in taxpayer-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=TARP" title="TARP" class="mw-redirect">TARP</a>dollars. He was called one of "America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists" by AlterNet.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-9" title="">[10]</a>

<li>While at Goldman Sachs, Steel co-headed the firm’s equities and trading business with Goldman CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, who sold securities designed to fail (and will still receive a $100 million bonus this year).</li>

</ul>

<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">For more information on the role Goldman Sachs has played in the financial disaster, check out our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="">Goldman Sachs</a> entry.

<li>Steel served as co-chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce anti-regulation crusade before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect">Henry Paulson</a> in George W. Bush's Treasury Department, where he served from 2006-2008. Paulson and Steel had a "Batman-and-Robin-like relationship," according to the Washington Post.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network#cite_note-10" title="">[11]</a></li>

</ul>

<li>Steel departed from Treasury just before the Wall Street meltdown, and took the helm at Wachovia. As Wachovia was failing, Steel used his connections at Treasury to negotiate a merger with Wells Fargo, which then was bailed out by taxpayers, taking $25 Billion in TARP funds. Steel served on the board of Wells Fargo until July 2010, when he headed off for a post with the city of New York.</li>

</ul>

<p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">For more information about Robert Steel and his illicit dealings, please see our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel" title="Robert Steel">Robert Steel</a> entry.

===

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel

Robert Steel was Vice Chairman of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Goldman Sachs</a> for 30 years, then helped <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Henry Paulson</a> mismanage the financial crisis at the U.S. treasury, then headed to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wachovia" title="Wachovia" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wachovia</a>, where he used his Treasury connections to negotiate a sweet merger with Wells Fargo, who then accepted $25 billion in taxpayer-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=TARP" title="TARP" class="mw-redirect" style="">TARP</a> dollars. Steel served on the board of Wells Fargo until July 2010, when he headed for a post with the city of New York. He was called one of "America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists" by AlterNet.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-Alternet-0" title="">[1]</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#Goldman_Sachs_.281976-2004.29">1 Goldman Sachs (1976-2004)</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#U.S._Chamber_of_Commerce_and_Bush.27s_Treasury">2 U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Bush's Treasury</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#Wachovia.2C_Wells_Fargo.2C_and_the_Taxpayer-Funded_.22Stealth.22_Bailout">3 Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and the Taxpayer-Funded "Stealth" Bailout</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#CBS_Evening_News_on_Wachovia.27s_.22Stealth.22_Bailout">3.1 CBS Evening News on Wachovia's "Stealth" Bailout</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#Zach_Carter_of_AlterNet.27s_Take_on_Steel.27s_Corrupt_Role_in_the_Bailout">3.2 Zach Carter of AlterNet's Take on Steel's Corrupt Role in the Bailout</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#Wachovia.27s_Loan_to_the_NRCC_in_the_Midst_of_the_Crash">3.3 Wachovia's Loan to the NRCC in the Midst of the Crash</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#Related_Sourcewatch">4 Related Sourcewatch</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#External_resources">5 External resources</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#References">5.1 References</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h4 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Goldman Sachs (1976-2004)</h4>

Steel spent nearly 30 years at Goldman Sachs, rising to vice chair. He also co-headed the firm’s equities and trading business with Goldman CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, who sold securities designed to fail (and will still receive a $100 million bonus this year).

'(For more information on the role Goldman Sachs has played in the financial disaster, check out our <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a> entry.)

<h4 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Bush's Treasury</h4>

Steel served as co-chair of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce "committee on capital market regulations"-- the powerful lobbying group's anti-regulatory crusade-- <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-1" title="">[2]</a> before being appointed Under Secretary for Domestic Finance under <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson" title="Henry Paulson" class="mw-redirect">Henry Paulson</a> in George W. Bush's Treasury Department, where he served from 2006-2008. Paulson and Steel had a "Batman-and-Robin-like relationship," according to the Washington Post.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-2" title="">[3]</a>

<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and the Taxpayer-Funded "Stealth" Bailout</h2>

Steel departed from Treasury just before the Wall Street meltdown, then took the helm at Wachovia. As Wachovia was failing, "the FDIC wanted to put the company through receivership—shutting it down and wiping out its shareholders. But Steel's buddies at Treasury and the Fed intervened, and instead of closing Wachovia, they arranged a merger with Wells Fargo at $7 a share—saving Steel himself $7 million."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-Alternet-0" title="">[1]</a> Wells Fargo accepted $25 Billion in taxpayer-funded TARP bailout dollars, and Steel sat on Wells Fargo's board until July 2010.

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CBS Evening News on Wachovia's "Stealth" Bailout</h3>

In February 2009, CBS Evening News made the following report:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-3" title="">[4]</a>

<dd>Troubled Wachovia has been bought out by Wells Fargo for $12.7 billion, creating the nation's second-largest bank in terms of deposits. But it might not have happened without the generous support of the federal government and your tax dollars.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>Here's how. Last fall, in the span of just six days, Wells Fargo flip-flopped: first rejecting then accepting a deal to buy Wachovia.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>What changed so drastically in less than a week? Two things.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>First, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson quietly issued a document revising the tax code, giving enormous benefits to some banks that buy other banks. For Wells Fargo, it could be worth up to $25 billion.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>Then, Congress passed the giant bailout that would provide $25 billion in direct funds to Wells Fargo.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>The very same day the bailout passed, Wells Fargo announced the surprise turnaround to investors: It would buy Wachovia after all.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>On a call, Richard Kovacevich, the chairman of Wells Fargo, said: "This is of course a very exciting moment in the long history of Wachovia and Wells Fargo."</dd>

</dl>

<dd>Wells Fargo became one of nine banks to receive bailout money and quickly close deals with other banks. The takeovers are so politically dicey that a Wells Fargo executive assured Congress his company did not use bailout funds to buy Wachovia.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>"We completed our own capital raise to assure that we have the appropriate levels of capital to complete that transaction," said Jon Campbell, the CEO of the Minnesota region of Wells Fargo bank.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>But nobody from Wells Fargo would explain how that squares with their press release from two weeks earlier. It says money raised by issuing stock and "the capital investment from the government" - that's the taxpayer bailout - "will enable us to finance the Wachovia acquisition."</dd>

</dl>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Zach Carter of AlterNet's Take on Steel's Corrupt Role in the Bailout</h3>

Zach Carter, AlterNet economics editor and fellow at Campaign For America's Future, reported on Robert Steel's testimony in front of Congress' Wachovia and Lehman Brothers hearing on September 1, 2010. He stated the following:<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-4" title="">[5]</a>

<dd>I need to say a few words about Bob Steel, Wachovia's CEO at the time the bank went under. Steel joined Wachovia in the summer of 2008, with the financial crisis in full swing, but well before its peak in the Lehman aftermath. When Wachovia picked Steel, he was doing upper-level work at Treasury, and had even been involved in the Bear Steans bailout. I was working in a financial newsroom at the time, and everybody who covered banking was amazed. The revolving door between Wall Street and Washington has been a huge problem for years, but picking Treasury's bailout negotiator as your CEO in the middle of a financial crisis was a pretty shameless move. Nobody in the newsroom could prove corruption, so it didn't get much coverage, but everybody knew what was going on.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>Steel just told the FCIC that he does not know how much money Wells Fargo saved under the special tax deal the IRS arranged for the merger. That means that Steel is either lying or completely incompetent. He served on the Wells Fargo board after the merger. This was the largest transaction in the history of the bank. He has to know what it cost and where those costs came from. He also said that he had never heard of any discussion about the tax code for bank mergers when he worked at Treasury (IRS is a division of Treasury).</dd>

</dl>

<dd>Whether Steel is lying to the Commission-- and whether he's guilty of criminal corruption -- is almost immaterial. There's a very clear perception of corruption in Steel's move between Treasury and Wachovia. A financial system cannot operate effectively or efficiently under the conditions where some firms are perceived to have special perks that are not available to others. Banks will be able to raise money more cheaply and investors will be willing to take bigger risks when companies are viewed as having a direct line to taxpayers.</dd>

</dl>

<dd>There's been a lot of talk about breaking up the big banks, and it is very important that we do so, whatever the inclinations on Capitol Hill. But it's equally important to crack down on the revolving door. Officials shouldn't be able to move from Wall Street to Washington, or the other way around, without a very long waiting period. So long as top officials can shift from Treasury to a bank, or vice-versa, investors will expect bailouts, and the system won't work.</dd>

</dl>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wachovia's Loan to the NRCC in the Midst of the Crash</h3>

In the midst of Wachovia's failure, while it was freezing customer's assets and refusing credit to small businesses, it extended an $8 million loan to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=National_Republican_Congressional_Committee" title="National Republican Congressional Committee">National Republican Congressional Committee</a> to help out House Republican candidates in the final weeks of the 2008 elections.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_note-5" title="">[6]</a>

<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Related Sourcewatch</h2>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Action_Network" title="American Action Network">American Action Network</a></li>

</ul>

<h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">External resources</h2>

<h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">References</h3>

<li id="cite_note-Alternet-0">↑ <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-Alternet_0-0" title="">1.0</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-Alternet_0-1" title="">1.1</a> <a href="http://www.alternet.org/economy/146819/america%27s_ten_most_corrupt_capitalists/?page=entire" class="external text" title="http://www.alternet.org/economy/146819/america's_ten_most_corrupt_capitalists/?page=entire" rel="nofollow">America's Ten Most Corrupt Capitalists</a>, Alternet.Org, May 21, 2010, accessed September 20, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-1" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.futuresindustry.org/fi-magazine-home.asp?iss=170&a=1163" class="external text" title="http://www.futuresindustry.org/fi-magazine-home.asp?iss=170&a=1163" rel="nofollow">"Prominent People"</a>, Futures Industry, accessed September 20, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-2" title="">↑</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021102915_pf.html" class="external text" title="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021102915_pf.html" rel="nofollow">In Times of Crisis, Treasury's No. 2 Plays a Pivotal Role</a>, David Cho, Washington Post, Feb. 12, 2008.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-3" title="">↑</a> Sharyl Attkisson, <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/09/eveningnews/main4788018.shtml" class="external text" title="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/09/eveningnews/main4788018.shtml" rel="nofollow">Following the Bailout Money to Wells Fargo</a>, CBS Evening News, Feb. 9, 2009, accessed September 20, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-4" title="">↑</a> Zach Carter, Sept. 1, 2010, <a href="http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010093501/liveblogging-wachovia-and-leman-brothers-hearing" class="external text" title="http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010093501/liveblogging-wachovia-and-leman-brothers-hearing" rel="nofollow">Liveblogging the Wachovia and Lehman Brothers Hearing</a> (at 10:50), Campaign For America's Future website, accessed September 20, 2010.</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Steel#cite_ref-5" title="">↑</a> Chris Kromm, <a href="http://southernstudies.org/2008/10/investigation-how-did-republicans-get-8.html" class="external text" title="http://southernstudies.org/2008/10/investigation-how-did-republicans-get-8.html" rel="nofollow">Investigation: Wachovia's $8 million bailout to the GOP</a>, Institute for Southern Studies, Oct. 9, 2008, accessed September 20, 2010.</li>

</ol>

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Steel, Robert GSachs

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