Connecting the Dots (Update)

Interesting array of stories this morning.

First, Romney is set to announce his VP choice this morning. It's been leaked that it's going to be Paul Ryan (R-Purina), a/k/a "The Republican Death Wish." (Not my line -- I've seen it at least two other places this morning.)

If it is Ryan, the Ryan Budget just became the central campaign issue.

"Death wish" seems an understatement.

(PS -- Paul Ryan is a good match for Romney on gay rights -- he has a 0% score from HRC, 90% from FRC, a recognized anti-gay hate group.)

I get the feeling that Romney is still running a primary campaign.

Next was this story, about some guerrilla billboards in Las Vegas:

Note how the Fox News commentators are very carefully calling these signs "vandalism." How is this related to Romney and Ryan? Think "vulture capitalist." Think slashing programs that support the poor and middle class (which are rapidly becoming indistinguishable). Think the ticket for the 1%. And lest you think this is purely an anti-Romney post, get a load of this article at C&L:

After a yearlong investigation, the Justice Department said Thursday that it won't bring charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or any of its employees for financial fraud related to the mortgage crisis.

 In a statement, the Justice Department said "the burden of proof" couldn't be met to prosecute Goldman criminally based on claims made in an extensive report prepared by a U.S. Senate panel that investigated the financial crisis.

"Based on the law and evidence as they exist at this time, there is not a viable basis to bring a criminal prosecution with respect to Goldman Sachs or its employees in regard to the allegations set forth in the report," the statement read.

The Justice Department reserved the right to bring charges in the future if new evidence emerges.

In a statement Thursday, Goldman said: "We are pleased that this matter is behind us."

In April 2011, the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations published a scathing report on the financial crisis, highlighting Goldman as a culprit. Lawmakers accused the firm of breeding a greedy culture and running conflict-ridden businesses, and they said Goldman put its own interest ahead of clients.

Sen. Carl Levin, D., Mich., chairman of the Senate's subcommittee, said Goldman executives lied to Congress about the firm's bets against the housing market. The accusation triggered a Justice Department probe of possible perjury.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Levin's office didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The report concluded that even as securities firms flooded the market with securitized mortgages and advised clients to buy them, firms privately used words like "crap" and "flying pig" to describe the financial instruments. The department's probe was launched when Goldman's reputation already had been battered by civil-fraud charges filed against the New York company by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC accused Goldman of fraud related to a mortgage-bond deal called Abacus 2007-AC1.

Goldman was accused of failing to inform investors that hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co. had helped choose underlying securities in the deal and was betting against it.

Goldman agreed to pay $550 million to end the SEC's civil-fraud suit. The company said marketing materials for the Abacus deal contained "incomplete information."

For a change, the talking heads are right -- both sides do it. Update: It's Ryan, and the left-wing blogs -- even some of the not-so-left-wing blogs -- are creaming in their pants. Watch Obama's people fumble it.