By now, everyone has heard of the SEC suit against Goldman, Sachs, alleging that they set up mortgage funds that were designed to fail so their preferred customers, including politicians and bankers betting against their own banks, could bet against these mortgage pools and be sure to win big.  What we have not yet heard about is how these investments were used to lock in the loyalty of those who profited from these off-book and off-shore hedge-funds, hedge funds with only token research staff, able to take huge bets from abroad on United States assets. Thousands of such funds have been traded on foreign exchanges. They invested not in other funds, but in funds of funds, and boasted about record performance as the housing bubble collapsed in 2007. These funds bet from broad on how well those who placed the first round of bets on mortgages here in the United States. It was like betting on how well poker players did in a tournament. The hedge-fund clients walked away with fortunes, insulated not only from those who lost their homes, but from any loss entirely, because whichever way the market moved, they were set up with a winning bet. And they could bet anonymously by betting twice-removed. The old saying that "money talks" will ring through this story when word gets out of who bet and won big betting on those who bet against these rigged mortgage pools, bets that were placed against every American. You heard it here first.