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 withis 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.

6 comments

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    • jamess on October 17, 2009 at 05:14
      Author

    my new slogan:

    Beware of the Billionaires!

    How many Billions for one family,

    is “enough” anyways?

  1. Alms.  I used to be a billionaire, now I’m only a multimillionaire.  

    • Inky99 on October 18, 2009 at 06:32

    This is a serious question.

    Why do we need any billionaires at all?

    It used to be we had this thing called “taxes”.   When people made just shitloads of money, an obscene amount, they were taxed, so that the wealth could be shared, and programs for those who weren’t so freaking lucky could be financed.

    It was all about the common good.

    The rich were still rich.   You tax a billionaire, and he’s still wealthy as all get-out.

    Yet today, we let these rich fucks keep all their loot.  For what?  

    It does nothing for the Common Good, and the Common Good should prevail in any kind of society.

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