I do not recall the US taxpayers bailing out ENRON investors. Madoff ran a private club of investors and not just anybody or everybody had an opportunity to invest.
And given that liberals want their sticky fingers on all 401ks and solvent pension funds..... those that invested with Madoff should not get another advantage off US taxpayers.
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These comments are particularly relevant b/c Madoff's investors are itching for the goverment (THAT'S US---THE TAXPAYERS) to step in.
They say the SEC played a big role in not detecting the fraud. And that the US tax code should be changed so that Madoff victims can recoup taxes they paid on profits that turned out to be illusory — no matter how far in the past those taxes were paid (there is currently a 3-year limit to apply for IRS overpayment).
The investors want to increase Securities Investor Protection Corporation payouts----(SIPC is funded by the securities indistry to compensate investors whose firms have gone under)......gives $500,000 maximum.....SIPC also has access to the US Treasury.
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Note well that the SEC received complaints only from Madoff's competitors. Not one Madoff investor ever filed a complaint.
The legal principle of “condonation” --- meaning implied forgiveness for certain behavior should foreclose any ideas that taxpayers are gonna bailout these mega-millionaires (who most assuredly have money stashed offshore).
Investors implicitly “condoned” Madoff’s actions over a period of time--sometimes for decades---- willingly acquiescing to Madoff's activities in several ways:
(1) Sending Madoff enormous sums of money, sums that were spread out over time (some families invested for generations), even AFTER they had the opportunity to assess their investments;
(2) Referring other investors to Madoff (if the investment was so bad, why did they bring in other investors?);
(3) Taking profits out of the investment, rolling it over, or putting more money in;
(4) Writing PERSONAL checks to Madoff's subrosa spinoff vehicle that was not listed on the SEC (which could be construed as a tax evasion--money laundering scheme).
If/since no trades were made, and the investors were being paid dividends of other investors’ money
the investors may be limited to claiming and recovering the actual cash they put in
if they were collecting 15-20-40% dividends for years, they may already have tapped out their claim for redress. if accounting shows they already were paid more than they put in. It would not be the long time investors who lose - the last guys in the Ponzi scheme, who didn't get any returns or only a fraction of what they put in, are the only ones who really lose