I was impressed by Warren Buffet’s generous contribution to Goldman Sachs this week. It seems that this is the time for other billionaires to step up to the plate to offer their emergency assistance in a time of need. As the Republicans say “Country First.” Well this act of generosity would most certainly be putting country first, and would ultimately also be putting the donors first as well with the profits they will make from any recent purchases in the past week while the market was low, as it will undoubtedly boost the confidence of the people and the stock market.

When I asked who would benefit from the bailout, my friend said, and I quote, “financial whores”, who would then in turn make potentially insurmountable profits down the line from “flipping” the houses after their cronies would do band-aid fix-ups for higher resale. When asked how the people whose houses were foreclosed would be affected, he said that the poor people always lose. “That’s just the way it is.”

When I asked who my friend meant when he said “financial whores”, he mentioned the names of two personal friends, one who is from a major law firm in New York and the other a retired CEO from one of the largest banks in the country. They have been doing real estate deals in a group for decades. Others in the group include other lawyers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, and construction workers, all of whom would make profits at every turn of the deals.

I recall a conversation from this summer with my friend, who is a retired Brooklyn litigation attorney, having practiced both as a prosecutor and defending attorney. He spoke with great facility and familiarity about corruption on all levels that drives the operation and economy of New York. He had mentioned that it was common for such consortiums to push through mortgages for potential home-owners who really could not afford their homes. “Default swapping”, another fancy term for betting, was certainly part of the motivating factor for pursuing these arrangements.