Sen. Claire McCaskill is continuing to push her Goldman-as-casino analogy at today’s governmental affairs hearing, telling Goldman Sachs executives this afternoon that “you all are the house. You’re the bookie.”
“People are booking their bets with you,” she continued. “That’s what they’re doing. That’s what a synthetic CDO is. I don’t know why we need to dress it up. It’s just a bet.”
McCaskill fist introduced this analogy in her opening statement this morning, when she said: “It’s gambling, pure and simple, raw gambling. They’re called synthetic because there’s nothing there but the gamble, but the bet.”
But that’s not all!
McCaskill kept the heat on Goldman Sachs later in the hearing, asking Goldman executives what their “vig” is on these bets. A “vig” is the fee a bookie gets for setting the line and taking and managing bets.
“What’s your vig, Mr. Sparks, on these deals?” McCaskill asked ex-Goldman partner Dan Sparks.
Sparks didn’t offer up his “vig,” but asked that McCaskill not use the bookie analogy.
Watch:
