Inspired Idiot of the Week: The FDIC’s Swamp Man

If you want to understand the complete dysfunction of the federal government, look no further than the case of Marty Gruenberg.

At least for now– and hopefully not much longer– he is the petty tyrant in charge of the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation); he has served in that position for 10 out of the last 13 years and has been on the FDIC’s board since 2005.

In short, Gruenberg is the FDIC, and FDIC is Gruenberg.

This makes him extremely culpable for what a recent investigation into the FDIC describes as a destructive culture of “sexual harassment and interpersonal misconduct” that is “hostile, abusive, [and] unprofessional”.

For example, several FDIC meetings took place at strip clubs while female employees were openly rated on their looks… and expected to have sex with their male supervisors in exchange for promotions and higher ratings.

Senior bank examiners routinely sent dick pics to the women on their teams and spoke openly in the workplace about sex with their subordinates.

Complaints of sexual harassment at the FDIC are off the charts. Yet management seldom disciplined anyone. Quite often, in fact, agency executives ‘solved’ the sexual harassment problem by promoting serial offenders to higher positions, just to get them out of the field.

Meanwhile, black employees were told they were “token” hires to fill a quota. Gay employees were referred to as “little girls,” which led to several employees to pretend to be straight.

All of this occurred under the leadership of Gruenberg– a loyal lieutenant of the Biden-Obama- Lizzie Warren syndicate– all of whom claim to be champions of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and LGBTQ+ pride.

But as it turns out, these people stand for absolutely nothing. More on that in a moment.

If these findings weren’t damning enough, the investigation also revealed that Martin Gruenberg is just a terrible human being. He’s a horrific boss with a nasty personality and short temper.

Employees described Gruenberg as “aggressive,” “harsh,” “emotional,” “vitriol[ic],” “prosecutorial,” “disrespectful,” and having a “short fuse.” And it is their belief that it would be nearly impossible to have “a cultural transformation that prioritizes a more positive workplace culture” under Gruenberg.

The investigators also noted that employees across the FDIC had “a great reluctance to deliver bad news to Marty Gruenberg,” because he would explode, and “shoot the messenger” rather than focus on solving the problem.

Remember, the FDIC is the agency that oversees banks. And employees were terrified to tell the boss that banks were in trouble. Gee, what a surprise that a bunch of banks failed!

It’s worth mentioning that Gruenberg’s boss, President Biden, made a promise when he was elected:

“I’m not joking when I say this: If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No ifs or buts.”

Yet has Gruenberg been fired? Nope. Why is that?

Because if Biden fires Gruenberg, he’d have to nominate a replacement… who would then have to clear a risky Senate confirmation. And if that confirmation failed, the Vice Chairman of the FDIC would take over the agency.

And since the Vice Chairman is from the other party, Joe Biden is sticking with the swamp creature Marty Gruenberg.

This really just proves how these people stand for absolutely nothing. All they care about is their stupid party. They don’t care about the employees at the FDIC. They don’t care about the safety of the banking system. They don’t care about any of the principles they claim to support, i.e. #metoo, BLM, LGBTQ+, mental health, etc.

All they care about is their party.

Even Elizabeth Warren, who has been outspoken against Wall Street “boy’s clubs” and inappropriate work environments in the financial sector, has been defending Gruenberg and fighting to keep him in his job.

Almost no one is speaking out against the blatant misogyny, racism, and homophobia under Gruenberg’s watch.

Because, again, they don’t actually care. They only pay lip service to these ideas when it benefits them.

By the way, Gruenberg is far from the only case of an incompetent, destructive federal official keeping his/her job.

A recent Congressional investigation also found the FTC to be a “toxic work environment” and “beset by dysfunction and chaos stemming from poor leadership and ideological bullying of its Chair [Lina Khan]”. She, too, remains in her job.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the guy in charge of securing the overrun southern border as head of Homeland Security, also still has his job.

Rachelle Wolensky, who was in charge of the CDC during COVID, was so incompetent that even far-left news outlets wanted her resignation. You probably remember the CDC’s incomprehensible guidance regarding masks, vaccines, social distancing, and more. Plus she infamously tried to commandeer authority to take over the entire $10+ trillion US housing market… before being shot down by the Supreme Court.

She, too, was never fired.

And don’t even get me started on Tony Fauci, who was given a lush retirement with honor and distinction, not to mention a huge pension.

These are just a few of the bigger names which don’t even scratch the surface of countless career bureaucrats who should have been fired a long time ago.

Don’t get me wrong– there are so many amazing people who work for the government. But the bureaucracy has created a system where it’s easier to promote bad apples and keep them around than to fire them. No wonder so many hapless stooges rise to the top.

We talk so much about the trajectory of the US economy. And frankly, the complete dysfunction and lack of confidence in the federal government has a lot to do with it.

Fixing this is no mystery: a private company would eliminate the rot and bring in new leadership to change the culture.

But if the people in charge were going to change anything, they would have done it already. They simply don’t care.

They’d rather accept the incompetence and put the needs of their pathetic political party ahead of the country.

So even though America’s problems can be fixed, I’m not holding my breath. And that’s why it’s so important to have a Plan B.

Source

Simon Black is an international investor, entrepreneur and permanent traveler. His daily letter is both educational and entertaining, and we suggest that those who want unbiased, actionable information about global opportunities sign up for Sovereign Man’s free, actionable newsletter at http://www.SovereignMan.com.

From Simon Black of SovereignMan.com