Did you hear the Joke about the Wall Street Banker?

Robert Reich being interviewed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, snuck in a pretty good one-liner, I thought might be worth sharing:

ROBERT REICH, PUBLIC POLICY, UNI, OF CALIFORNIA: I wish I could say, Ali, that there were a lot of lessons learned on Wall Street. There don’t seem to be. […]

And yet the public is now out almost $600 billion, having cushioned the blow of the last round of risky ventures that Wall Street entered into. So, I wish I could be more optimistic and upbeat about where Wall Street has come to, but I don’t think they’ve learned a thing.

ALI MOORE: Why is it? Why haven’t the lessons been learned? Why is it that nothing has changed?

ROBERT REICH: A word with five letters: it’s greed.

[Here’s the one-liner]

If you take the greed out of Wall Street, all you’re really left with — is Pavement!

Transcript Broadcast: 15/09/2009

(h/t to Thom Hartmann)

Good one!

In the spirit of a Good Laugh, and finding the “Kernel of Truth”, in every laugh, here are a few more yuks:

Yes, it’s true that the Chinese have been selling us toxic toothpaste, toxic pet food, toys with toxic lead paint – but all the while we were selling them toxic investments.

Wall Street Jokes, Please

Stephen J. Dubner – Sept 24, 2008

Jay Leno:

“Earlier this week the Senate voted 97-to-0 for tougher regulations. For example, when corporations buy a senator, they must now get a receipt.”

http://politicalhumor.about.co…

oww!  that last one, is a bit too true!

Here’s another bit of trivia that is both somewhat funny and mostly scary, both at the same time, from those good folks at Rich-Bastards.com, The Who’s Who of Billionaires!

The World’s Billionaires

Luisa Kroll, Matthew Miller and Tatiana Serafin

11 March 2009

It’s been a tough year for the richest people in the world. Last year [2008] there were 1,125 Billionaires. This year there are just 793

[which is] a 30% decline from a year ago.

Bill Gates lost $18 billion but regained his title as the world’s richest man. Warren Buffett, last year’s No. 1, saw his fortune decline $25 billion as shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50% in 12 months, but he still managed to slip just one spot to No. 2.

A tough year for Billionaires, indeed!  Poor Babies.

With all the rampant unemployment, who’s pockets are they going to pick now?

Rich-Bastards.com has some Billionaire humor too, a bit on the esoteric side. This joke is quite good, if you don’t mind the St Peter motif:

50cents To Heaven

A billionaire died and arrived at the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter asked him, “What have you done to merit entrance into Heaven?”

The billionaire thought a moment, then said, “A week ago, I gave a quarter to a homeless person on the street.”

Saint Peter asked Gabriel to check this out in the records, and after a moment Gabriel affirmed that it was true. Saint Peter said, “Well , that’s fine, but it’s not really quite enough to get you into Heaven.”

The billionaire said, “Wait, wait! There’s more! Three years ago, I also gave a homeless person a quarter.” Saint Peter nodded to Gabriel, who, after a moment, nodded back to affirm that it was true.

Saint Peter then whispered to Gabriel, “Well, what do you suggest we do with this fellow?” Gabriel gave the billionaire a sidelong glance, then said to Saint Peter, “Let’s give him back his 50 cents and tell him to go to Hell.”

http://www.rich-bastards.com/

Woah!     If Only!

All in good time, my friends, all in good time.

Remember, to take time to laugh, people,

Humor is the path to many a hidden truth.