When accounting goes unaccounted for
“If you go to HR and tell them you have a drinking problem, they’ll give you hotlines and help. If you say you have a porn problem, they’ll get security to throw you out.”
~ Michael Leahy, the author of “Porn @Work” and “Porn Nation” on porn addiction, which may be rampant at the SEC.
“I suspect he takes much more pleasure in baiting opponents than he does in running a company. The evidence he is good at baiting is much clearer than the evidence he is good at managing.”
~ Floyd Norris, New York Times Columnist on the Farmville obsessed, Segway Cowboy Patrick Byrne.
“[A]t Deloitte we began planning for the downturn and beyond in 2006. Not having a crystal ball, we didn’t anticipate such a violent contraction.”
~ Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte.
“Even in Washington, where we throw around trillions of dollars as if they were Hershey’s Kisses at Halloween, these numbers take your breath away.”
~ Howard Gleckman, editor of TaxVox, on the numbers in President Obama’s 2011 budget.
“High speed and commuter rail are a key part of growing our economy here in Florida, and today’s announcement couldn’t come at a more important time for our state”
~ Alex Sink, Chief Financial Officer for the State of Florida and cost-saving guru on her state receiving $1.25 billion in federal funding for a high speed rail system.
“Bernanke fiddled while our markets burned”
~ Richard Shelby, Republican Senator from Alabama during the Senate debate on Ben’s second term as Fed Chairman.
“You give lame excuses then, and you’re giving lame excuses now.”
~ Representative John L. Mica, Republican of Florida to Tim Geithner on his role in the bailout of AIG.
“The problem with dumping him at this stage is that it won’t really get to the heart of the matter, which is that he’s just one of a cast of characters who need to be ousted. The problem is the ensemble. I think it’s a bit like you’re not liking the cast of Seinfeld, and just getting rid of Elaine.”
~ Gary Weiss on Ben Bernanke, et al.
“An auditor’s report tells less about a public company’s health than a doctor’s report tells about an individual – in scope, detail and precision. And if investors and other financial information users are not happy, they are doing nothing to make their dissatisfactions effectively known.”
~ Jim Peterson, from his post “Medical Check-Ups and Annual Audits: What if Your Doctor Reported Like Your Accountant?” at Re:Balance.
“They’re never afraid to print rumor and innuendo. They’re keeping accountants and auditors honest, never afraid to write about the idiocy frequently displayed by finance professionals and executives.”
~ Tracy Coenen, of BloggingSuits and Fraud Files Blog on a certain website
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“It is self-debasing greed. It is avarice of the corrupted soul.”
~ Professor David Albrecht, Concordia College on those who will profit from a switch to IFRS from U.S. GAAP.
“But Byrne is evil. I’ll stand by that. More than evil, he’s soul-less evil. That said, I hope you understand that I don’t have anything against Byrne per se. I have things I want, and he stands in the way, so I now I’m removing him. At the same time, there’s no reason we can’t co-exist under specific circumstances.
~ William K. Wolfrum, on Farmville junkie and Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
“The White House should take note from the Massachusetts Senate election that making life harder for small and medium-size businesses is not the right answer.”
~ Dean Zerbe, National Managing Director of alliantgroup on the Obama Administration’s urging of Congress to crack down on corporate tax cheats.