Corzine to Street: Get real

“Take what's on the table and run,” he said in a speech at the Investment Company Institute's meeting last week. “There are more good things in this bill than bad.” Specifically, Mr. Corzine warned that if another crisis hits the financial services industry, there will only be more regulation. “There is a need for reform,” he said. “To not make changes would be a mistake.” Mr. Corzine also came to the defense of his old employer, The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. “I still continue to believe that Goldman Sachs is an outstanding institution,” said Mr. Corzine, who was a chairman and senior partner during his 25 years at Goldman. “It is very hard to see how you can turn that into a legal case.” Mr. Corzine defended Goldman, saying many firms got caught up in the housing bubble and that Goldman is being singled out. “Because Goldman has been as successful as it has been, it has become a proxy for this,” he said. “It doesn't mean that there isn't room for correction.”