Now if we can set up a Muslim Ponzi scheme with tons of wealthy Saudi kings and OPEC emirs. Maybe Condi can start one since she is being gifted by all these Arabs leaders before she leaves.
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/us_world/NATL-Bling-Kings-Shower-Condi-with-Jewels.html

californiascreaming on December 26, 2008 at 6:43 pm

It would be nice if the aclu had to go out of business over this. They’re one of the biggest threats to the American way of life.

pitter43 on December 26, 2008 at 7:23 pm

Maybe I’m too pessimistic, but I’m afraid we the taxpayers will be the ones holding the bag for Madoff. If any of the larger organizations affected by Madoff (I’m not talking about smaller investors or foundations) are in serious financial jeopardy, I am sure they will go to their friends in Congress & the WH, and make a pitch for federal bailout money — they may call it something else, but that is what it will be. Groups like the ACLU think they have a right to this money anyway; they are so much more noble than the rest of us.

c f on December 26, 2008 at 8:21 pm

Perhaps there were a number of groups that lost money that you don’t agree with, but so did a lot of good people who wrongly trusted their money to Madoff.
I know you noted this at the top of your article, but it’s simply wrong to characterize these groups philanthropy as too “left.” To me, charity is almost always a good thing when it is for humanitarian purposes.
For example, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro foundation (145 million lost), which supports hospitals and cultural events in Boston and Florida. Or The Gift of Life registry (which lost 15 million), and which keeps track of possible Jewish bone marrow donors.
Rather than mean-spirited attacks on some groups who lost money, let’s be supportive of efforts to help people in the future by improving our over-burdened federal regulatory system.
Here’s a story about the Jewish philanthropy losses:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98348258

Haberdasher on December 26, 2008 at 11:07 pm

Please insert the laugh that Tom Hanks does after the bath tub falls through the floor in the movie “The Money Pit”.

samurai on December 27, 2008 at 12:05 am

I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but let’s face it.
Investors are ultimately responsible for the fate of the money that they invest. While there are professionals who invest money for them, the investor has the ultimate responsibility, just as a patient has the ultimate responsibility for ultimately assessing the care and medical approach of a physician. I am not a doctor, but I have taken enough responsibility for my medical care that I have from time to time switched doctors when I considered their approaches either non-responsive, or, after careful review, wrong.
Many of Madoff’s victims never took that approach. Interestingly enough, the UJA was not directly affected by Madoff, even though he was in an influential position in that organization. They have a system of checks and balances governing their investments, and did not consider Madoff’s investments to be transparent enough for them to participate.
That degree of oversight was available to all large investors. Those to whom it wasn’t available didn’t follow the cardinal rule of good investing that if you don’t understand an investment, don’t invest in it.
They were enthralled by the 10-12% returns that they got every year, and didn’t ask questions. Just like the NASDAQ and Real Estate bubbles, people were entranced by their greed. None of these people ever said that their very high returns, year after year, should be shared with less fortunate investors or other people, and I can see no reason why any of the more cautious investors, or taxpayers should now share their good fortune with the greedy losers, whether directly, or indirectly, through Government handouts.
Haberdasher’s remarks about the federal regulatory system are just naive. There is conscious design not to improve the system. How can someone be serious about this when almost $400 billion of bailout money has been handed out with virtually no oversight, either written, or on a day-to-day practice. Banks and the investment industry have tremendous lobbying resources. There were no meaningful reforms after Enron, and there won’t be any now. It’s just like illegal immigration. No meaningful oversight or enforcement (except for isolated raids when they serve what DoJ thinks is a useful political purpose). Where is the increased bank regulation? Where is the increased regulation over the investment vehicles that have caused these hundreds of billions of losses? We all know that a few years from now, they will just come up with more ‘innovative’ investment vehicles.
I hope that the taxpayers are not forced to suffering handouts of their money to organizations on the basis of whether their activities are “good” or not. Yes, possibly a few of the groups performed valuable actitivities, but they abdicated on their responsibility to exercise due diligence over their funds.

c f on December 27, 2008 at 5:15 am

Hi Debbie.
I’ll have you know that I’m a “card-carrying member of the ACLU”. Surprised? Here! Look!
http://flickr.com/photos/thereisnosantaclaus/1246468316/
Friends like you who know me often times ask me whey I am a member. Let me explain.
I am a member of the ACLU for the same reason you cover yourself from head to toe and visit Detroit area mosques. For the $20 it costs me to join, they spend at least that much mailing me their propaganda. I can discuss ACLU issues knowing truth from fiction.
Also, I must tell you! It gives me great pleasure when they call me on the phone soliciting money. It is my chance to tell the phone soliciter: “NOT ONE DIME!” And of course, I tell them why.
Plus, since the ACLU doesn’t make any money off of me, I have one more pleasant reason for joining which I love to tell their phone soliciters. Like the Islamo-Fascists, I am not a member to support “our civil liberties” or “your civil liberties”. I’m a member to support MY civil liberties.
I wish more conservatives would join the ACLU. Maybe we could overturn the ultra-LIB leadership of that organization.
I think the ACLU is a reprehensible organization. That being said, I don’t mind sending them $20 a year to remain a member.
And here’s something I also love making a point of: many of my liberal aquaintences berate me. Most of them do NOT belong to the ACLU. I love telling these people that I voted for Clinton twice; voted for Gore; voted for Kerry and am a card carrying member of the ACLU. Yet in spite of all these LIB credentials, I’m never liberal ENOUGH. Do you know why? I’ll tell you: I don’t hate ISRAEL.
After 20 years, I finally voted for a Repubublican for President. It was my great pleasure to tell all my liberal friends and family that this was PAYBACK for being berated for not being liberal ENOUGH.
I probably don’t have to tell you this, Debbie but I shall anyway for the benefit of your readers. LIBS aren’t interested in civil liberties and freedom of speech. They want conformity.
Look at Cindy Sheehan! She was the LIB darling when she camped out at President Bush’s Crawford, Texas ranch. But when she ran for Congress against Nancy Pelosi, the news media didn’t cover her campaign at all. Moreover, her campaign headquarters was ransacked once possibly twice during the campaign. This too was ignored by the LIB media. Moreover, you never heard one peep out of Nancy Pelosi complaining against this kind of behavior. More than likely, it was Pelosi supporters who did this.
For the ACLU and the extreme left, it’s not about getting out of Iraq. It’s not about freedom of speech. It’s about POWER and the ability to force people to conform to liberal orthodoxy.
I can tell you this from personal experience and my membership in the ACLU is part of that personal experience.
Oh! The stories I could tell!

There is NO Santa Claus on December 27, 2008 at 10:20 pm

Deb:
On another note, you may have forgotten to post a comment I made to you in my earlier email. For all those “Jewish organizations” who lost money investing in Madoff’s ponzi scheme, the thought occured to me: why the heck didn’t they invest in Israel Bonds?
Check that email I sent you. I’m pretty sure I made that comment.
The State of Israel has never defaulted on a loan. With all the banks crashing and sucking up to the U.S. Treasury for bailout money, the State of Israel, for all its shortcomings has NEVER defaulted on its loans. Why didn’t these “Jewish organizations” buy Israeli bonds? Aren’t they supposed to be supporting Israel? Don’t they know that Israel hasn never defaulted on loans?
As 501C3 charities, I gotta think the earnings from Israel bonds is tax-free.
What were they thinkin’????

There is NO Santa Claus on December 27, 2008 at 10:26 pm

I hope they all get what they deserve!!!!! Our Country is being destroyed by all these idiots!!!

sfcgal on December 29, 2008 at 2:20 pm

But there are people who were conned by Madoff, who are honorable, and Madoff is UNFORGIVABLE for conning them, one of the unfortunates conned by Bernie Madoff is a good man, a Pollard supporter, a man who has survived the Holocaust, one of the worst genocides in World History, a Nobel Prize Winner (who actually deserves the prize-by the way), a very charitable soul, Elie Wiesal, who has suffered so much when he was young, and was conned by a fellow Jew, and THAT’S why I will never forgive Madoff! He’s in Butner Prison now, which annoys me because 1. Guess what’s on the news. Yup more Pollard bashing articles that pretend that Pollard is “friends with Madoff! 2. He and Pollard shouldn’t be breathing the same AIR, much less being in the same building together! Pollard>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Madoff-and that’s an understatement!

Robyn on October 11, 2015 at 11:36 am