What a Pretty Picture

(Photo: nj.com)

Allow me to put this picture into context a bit. To the left is Barack Obama, current U.S. president. To the right is Jon Corzine. Not a very well known figure, especially out of the U.S., but his name seemed to keep popping up in the past few weeks, so I did a bit of digging.

I did not have to dig very hard nor deep to find out a few interesting facts. Here is his track record:
-Godman Sachs Chairman & CEO 1994-1999
-Earned an estimated $400 million in Goldman's IPO after his departure
-Presidential Comission for Bill Clinton, Chairman
-U.S. Treasury Department's borrowing comittee
-Participant in the Bilderberg Group meetings
-Elected to U.S. Senate in 2000
-Spent over $62 million of his own money on his campaign, the most expensive Senate campaign in U.S. history
-Co-authored Sarbanes-Oxley, a U.S. federal law which regulates the financial industry
-Elected New Jersey governor in 2005
-Named Chairman and CEO of MF Global, a financial services firm, in March 2010
-Hosted a fundraiser for Obama in April 2011
-One of 41 donors who bundled more than $500,000 last year for Obama's re-election
-Directly contributed (along with his first and second wives) $917,000 to Democratic committees and candidates in the past 20 years

MF Global filed for bankruptcy in October 2011 and Corzine resigned November 4th. In this bankruptcy, $1.2 billion (that's $1,200 million) customer funds went "missing".

Now take another look at the picture. Pretty, innit?

On the question of the role of government in society, Corzine calls for universal health care, universal gun registration, mandatory public preschool, more taxpayer funding for college education etc.

Where do you stand on those questions?

Find sources here and here.