Welcome to Bizarro Amerika!

Goldline, a company that used endorsements from Glenn Beck and other conservative icons to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold to consumers, has been charged with theft and fraud in a 19-count criminal complaint filed Tuesday by local officials in California.
 
The criminal complaint filed Tuesday by the Santa Monica City Attorney's consumer protection unit marks the latest in a series of allegations it has leveled against the gold dealer, which pioneered the practice of weaving its sales pitches into broadcasts by popular conservative political personalities -- including two former presidential candidates -- to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold every year.
 
The complaint alleges that Goldline "runs a bait and switch operation in which customers, seeking to invest in gold bullion, are switched to highly overpriced coins by using false and misleading claims," according to a statement released by the consumer affairs division of the Santa Monica City Attorney's office.
 

Conservative talker-endorsed precious metal retailer Goldline International agreed to a court order this week to repay defrauded customers $4.5 million and overhaul its business practices. The injunction, handed down by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, was obtained by the City Attorney of Santa Monica, California — where the company is based — who had filed 19 criminal counts of fraud and theft against the company last year. Those charges have now been dismissed.

Goldline’s entire business model was essentially a scam, the city attorney found. It was a bait-and-switch: Consumers wanted to buy gold bullion, but salespeople preyed on their fears — including falsely claiming that the government could seize bullion — and misled them into buying vastly overpriced gold coins instead. Consumers typically paid more than 55 percent above the actual value of the coins, which are much harder to sell down the road, instantly wiping out a large portion of their savings.

At the time, Goldline called the charges “preposterous” and vowed to fight them. But in addition to the $4.5 million, the court order requires Goldline to put $800,000 into a fund for future claims, and submit to a court-appointed monitor who will have full access to company’s operations, at Goldline’s expense. In addition, it will have to disclose its actual markups and stop misleading customers.

The company is best known for its ties to conservative talk radio hosts like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin, who were central to the company’s marketing model. Two former GOP presidential candidates — Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson — have even endorsed the gold retailer.

who was it on muche who would argue that there was nothing wrong with Goldline? was it Gordo?

This pessimism is what's wrong with the country today.

Yes, and I was always saying Beckerhead was a crook. Beckerhead is one of the many talking heads that have no credibility.


My new favorite is Judge Napolitano, but Fox dropped his ass for not following party lines.


 

http://a4cgr.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/10-440/
Watch the video. He gets it, the two party system is a sham and the sad part is 90% of the people voting don't get it. If he would have ended his rant with Obama and Pelosi are killing God and my country, he might still have his job.

No, greed and lobbyists are what is wrong with this country.

The fine levied on the banks, is the government getting their taste of the cut.
Shit the Florida AG can fire 2 attornies because they were getting close to exposing some real fraud and nobody fucking cares. It ran for a couple days in the paper and it is back to business as usual.

The lack of accountablity leads to pessimism.