as usual, john crudele of the new york post is right on the money. i won't hold my breath waiting for anyone to get to the bottom of the corruption in washington and new york, but at least he has the right idea.

Now, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is asking the inspector general of the US Treasury to investigate whether some government officials who formerly worked at Goldman let their "relationships" cloud their judgment during the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia.

In case you aren't up on the Goldman-to-govern ment express train, cur rent Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is a for mer Goldman chairman, as was Robert Rubin who headed the department during Bill Clinton's presidency.

And more Goldman execs are being mentioned for the Treasury job in President-elect Barack Obama's administration.

Specifically, Grassley is concerned about a tax code change that paved the way for the acquisition of Wachovia by Wells Fargo. An ex-Goldman executive was leading Wachovia at the time of that deal.

Here's the answer he'll get from Treasury and Paulson: these are dangerous times and anything that was done was for the good of the country. In other words, they'll drag out the old national security argument.

Grassley will become a minnow in the next Democrat-controlled Congress. But the Democrats need to take up the baton, turn it into a club and see just what Paulson has been up to.

As I've written before, Paulson has admitted that part of his job was to keep in touch with "market participants." Calling his friends on Wall Street - and especially at Goldman - would be an odd extension of the role of Treasury secretary and I certainly would like to know what he felt compelled to tell these folks.

Like - did Paulson leak to Wall Street last August the fact that the Federal Reserve was about to begin interest-rate cuts?

All Grassley or the Democrats need to do is subpoena Paulson's phone records and meeting minutes of his secretive President's Working Group on Financial Markets. But I don't think anyone in Washington has the nerve.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11182008...