Where Bernie Went Wrong

Michael Moore has a piece for Time this week, explaining the error of Madoff's ways--targeting the rich:

The rules of the money game on Park Avenue and Wall Street are comprised of things like charging the public 29% credit card interest, tricking people into taking out a second mortgage they can't afford, and concocting a student loan system that has graduates in hock for the next 20 years. Now that's smart business! And it's legal. That's where Bernie went wrong — his scheming, his trickery was an outrage both because it was illegal and because he preyed on his side of the tracks.

Makes sense to me. I'll never forget being absolutely broke after buying our house and walking into a Rent-A-Center, or whatever those places are called. We needed a new washer and dryer and I couldn't help but calculate they wanted to charge us several times what we'd have paid anywhere else. They made the 29% credit-card rate look like a bargain.

Now that's a real money maker. Bernie could've owned a whole chain of them and never broken the law.