Mayor Bloomberg's Detachment

On Wednesday, Greg Smith, an employee of Goldman Sachs, publicly announced his resignation from the firm through an op-ed piece in the New York Times. He made it clear that he no longer reconcile his conscience with his employment at the firm. He called the corporate culture "toxic" and said it was the norm for employees to refer to their clients as "muppets" and to worry more about how much money they made off their clients, rather than the other way around. This link will take you to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/opinion/why-i-am-leaving-goldman-sachs.html

What was Mayor Bloomberg's reaction? He demonstrated his detachment from reality by visiting GS to show his solidarity with the firm and said it was his job to protect the corporate patrons of New York City since they provide so much tax revenue.

This brings up many questions. Isn't it the Mayor's job to protect the best interests of the citizens of New York City. Didn't Mr. Smith's letter of resignation show that GS is clearly not concerned with the best interests of its clients? Isn't this the same GS that marketed securities as high quality when they knew they were not and then bet against them? Isn't this the same Goldman Sachs that was never prosecuted for perpetrating such a fraud?

Of course it's no secret that Mr. Bloomberg's machines are considered standard equipment in Wall St. firms and that GS uses many of them in its operations.

I guess my last three questions are: How much money could GS have made for its clients if they really cared about them? Is it any wonder that the Occupy movement was born on Wall St.? How much money did GS contribute to the Mayor's last election?

I know its commonplace but it's always sad to see money trump one's sense of compassion. It would have been nice if the Mayor was immune to the pollution money causes, but he's only human too.

Without prosecution, the toxic environment that forced Mr. Smith to resign will never be eradicated.