The cartoonist Tom Toles makes the point that a main difference between Bernard Madoff and other Wall Street “charlatans” is that he’s admitting guilt.

CHUCK COLLINS
Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, is co-author of “Paying For a Strong Economy: Seven New Revenue Sources That Can Revitalize America and Reduce Financial Speculation.”

He said today: “Madoff is just one of thousands of Wall Street Ponzi artists that misrepresented the earnings and financial health of their companies. Most walk free after having taken billions in excessive compensation and bonuses. We should tax the speculators and, for those who recklessly ignored the data, require them to pay back (‘legally disgorge’) what doesn’t belong to them.”
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MAX FRAAD WOLFF
Wolff, an instructor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University, is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post and Asia Times. He said today: “Madoff the man has become the proxy for a Madoff economy and the risk of a Madoff misadventure with government spending.”
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RUSSELL MOKHIBER
Editor of Corporate Crime Reporter, Mokhiber said today: “If we were talking homicide, Madoff would be the guy who took out the gun and shot his victims point blank. The other Wall Street executives got into their cars drunk, drove off and killed innocents along the way. Madoff is in jail. The others are free to roam. And to join Obama’s administration. It’s a matter of degree.”
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For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167