Goldman Sachs needs me; The Item's newsroom staff

By GRAHAM OSTEEN
Editor-At-Large
graham@theitem.com

Reducing the pay of bailed out bankers makes great political theater, but it still doesn't pass the smell test.

All week I've been following this story and wondering how the government is going to ferret out the complex, secret deals people at the top of the world financial food chain have secured for themselves in the wake of the meltdown. Remember that Bernie Madoff was right in front of government regulators and whistleblowers for years, and they did nothing until the scheme collapsed. There are so many fraudulent players coming to light now that it's impossible to keep up with them all. The Galleon Group guy – Raj Rajaratnam – is just the latest in a long line of financial villains.

If you watched the PBS "Frontline" show called "The Warning" this week, then you'll know that a remarkable woman named Brooksley Born began more than 10 years ago blowing the whistle on the shadowy world of derivatives and questioning the wisdom of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his acolytes Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers. Yet the recklessness and greed that heated up during the Clinton administration continued unabated through the Bush II years and into the present.

Where are they now?

Greenspan got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Rubin made $110 million while running Citigroup into the ground, and Summers is director of the White House's National Economic Council for President Barack Obama. Only in America.

You can see the "Frontline" report online, and the reader comments on it from former financial industry professionals are riveting. Everyone apparently knew what was going on, and that it was just a matter of time before the bubble burst.

Clearly we're still figuring out what's coming down the economic pipeline as more and more people lose their jobs and it's harder than ever to get loans.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Goldman Sachs rules the world, but Google is gaining ground fast.





Back to our corner of the real world: Just when you thought things were looking bad for the future, out comes Saturday's edition of The Sumter Daily Item.

Staff writer Belton White introduced our readers to Christopher F. Sumpter Jr., a 17-year-old senior at Crestwood High School who is the president of South Carolina 4-H and class president at Crestwood.

He wants to attend Clemson or Wofford and study pre-law with a minor in agribusiness. He has political aspirations, "And one of my main focuses is to do something within the education industry of South Carolina to make it a whole lot better than where it's standing now, and of course, enhance the agriculture industry."

He goes on to say that he'd like to get a law degree, but only to enhance his ability to make good political decisions.

"So, those are just my intentions, just to make South Carolina, as well as the U.S., a whole lot better than where it's standing now," he said.

What a great story. I hope he stays focused on his dream and doesn't become an investment banker.

While I'm in the business of pointing out good work by Sumter native Belton, let me note how proud we are of our entire staff here at The Item for all the good work they do every day in the midst of the worst and most stressful economic climate in modern history.

Speaking only of the newsroom for the purposes of this column, Belton is one of several extremely talented young journalists on staff, including reporter Gina Vasselli and copy editors Melanie Byer and Kimi Timmers.

Just this week, Melanie and Kimi calmly worked through a very serious server failure with IT veteran Neil Hunt in order to get the paper out.

The younger folks are getting great experience working with our more seasoned veterans, including Chip Chase, Rhonda Barrick, Jason Wermers, Randy Burns, Sandra Holbert, Ivy Moore, Beverly Nelson, Joe Perry, Annabelle Robertson, Jessica Stephens, Dennis Brunson, Patrick Enzor, Trevor Zion-Bauknight and the one and only Sammy Way, who has brought a whole new dimension to our newsroom in terms of appreciating Sumter's rich and interesting history. Our staff is as strong as any newspaper in South Carolina.

The first issue of our special and ongoing publication, "Reflections," is in the final stages, and the work of Sammy and graphic designer Cary Johnson is going to astonish our readers. It's one of the best publications we've ever done, and we're looking forward to building a franchise of local historical publications around this premier issue.

Graham Osteen is co-president of Osteen Publishing Co. and Editor-At-Large of The Item. Contact him at The Item, 20 North Magnolia St., Sumter, S.C., 29150; graham@theitem.com, or call 803-774-1352.

LINKS:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703573604574491352851002752.html