Goldline to be Investigated by Congress - WHY!

O.K. I am a bit torn by this one. Conservative talk show hosts are fear mongering to sell gold coins at extremely inflated prices. If you've ever watched one their sales pitches you have heard the Obama fear-laced appeals that come along with the sale. If you're actually here at CoinTalk because you know something about coins, you know these coins are not now nor will they ever be worth what these Conservatives are claiming.

Here is my dilemma: Who are they actually ripping off here? Right! Dim-witted Conservatives naïve enough to buy the nonsense that these guys are spewing. Everyone has the right to be taken and the old saying that a fool and his money are soon parted seems an apt cliché in this situation. As a coin collector, I hate what they do but as a Democrat I love who they are doing it to. Such is my dilemma.


Rep. Anthony Weiner targets Glenn Beck and Goldline International


Talk show host Glenn Beck and Goldline International, a California-based gold retailer, have colluded to use fear mongering tactics to bilk investors, according to a stinging report issued Tuesday by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).
The report alleges that Goldline grossly overcharges for the gold coins that constitute the bulk of its business, uses misleading sales techniques and takes advantage of fears about President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the economy – which are stoked by its stable of paid conservative endorsers including Beck, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Fred Thompson – “to cheat consumers.”
Cont’d… http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37413.html

 

Yeah. They should protect the Democrats instead and go after the Payday Loan people.

 

If I'm not mistaken, these gold companies also sponsor lib shows, correct? Why would you only object to the conservative pitchmen, dr moe?

 

It must be just so painful to be a Republican these days. All that anger and hatred and their own party crumbling around them.

 

So are you and TomCorona one person now? Did he somehow assimilate you?

 

Are you suggesting that I'm not allowed to feel pity for someone without morphing into some type of hybrid siamese twin mutant? You may rest assured that I only speak for myself.

On this issue of Fox I'd just like to say that if I woke up one morning and turned Fox on and they reported that the sky was blue, and the sky had been blue every single morning in the past, I'd still go outside and look up. They're cheating their own viewers, they're presenting doctored video tapes "regularly", and you'd have to be a brain dead moron to believe anything that network ever reported. I'm sure we have several Fox watchers in this forum and they usually lie about not watching Fox. I'd probably consider lying about it if I watched Fox too. But their brain dead Fox talking points give them away every time. It's just hard to hide blatant stupidity from anyone actually looking for the clear signs of it.

 

Well I ain't one of them. I don't watch any news channels. Now you might think that makes me uninformed, but I think it ensures that I am not misinformed. My question to you is, why the hell do you watch that crap?

 

LOL have to admit that is a good question But on the subject of missleading sales I dont know about in the US but over here a company can be prosecuted under the trading standards act (and I think they need to be regardless of who's channel or show they are on)

 

What did I write that made you think I watch that crap? I have seen unedited clips of various Fox shows but every time I stop and the Fox channel, I last only about 20 or 30 seconds before I roll my eyes and keep clicking. My question to you is, where do you get your news from?

 

Tomoen…….yikes!

 

Forgive me, I thought that you would actually have watched the network before making sweeping criticisms about their content. I get my news from my local newspaper. It may not be completely accurate but I trust the content much more than the sensationalistic TV news channels who are slaves to ratings.

When my TV is on, I am either watching sports, movies, or some select reality shows like Deadliest Catch.

 

I've noticed Toe & Moe claim to know what FOX is reporting in nearly everyone of their posts yet neither one can explain how they know. One would think this sort of "knowledge" could only be gleaned from 'round the clock viewing......or another option- they have fallen prey to how MSNBC, Michael Moore, Bill Maher & folks of that ilk comment on FOX news. Hmmmm? Sounds a little hypocritical doesn't it?

 

Hypocrisy reigns on your side of the aisle. I guess you know it when you see it.

 

The brightest response I've seen to this thread thus far.

Now folks I am certainly NOT a fan of Glen Beck but IF you're going to go after Goldline and tie it to him the list of people/companies needs to grow by leaps and bounds and as Steve has pointed out it shouldn't matter who's show etc. you advertise on.

Beck may use "fear tactics" as a motivator. Good for him - I sincerely doubt he's the only one pitching gold as an investment this way.
Here's the bottom line to me. If people are SO stupid that they just start tossing cash down then they deserve it.

I am well aware that there is a lot of "snipping" at one another going on here instead of real discussion or debate. However, if I'm not mistaken, most of us here have an interest in numismatics as well.

Now, as numismitists do you just buy a coin because a dealer says it's a great price and says it is a hedge against whatever? OR do you know what you want and do your homework?
As a fellow numismitist I sure hope you guys do your homework. Know what you want and what you're willing to pay. Should gold be any different?

As many of you know I work in a coin shop. We buy and sell gold every day. We have folks come in that may listen to Glen Beck religiously and hear the Goldline ads. It piques there curiosity shall we say.
At this point many of these people have decided they want to buy gold. That's great for us we want to sell gold.

We will offer our opinions. We will answer questions as best we can.
My favorite question is "what do you think gold and silver are going to do". My response is "if I knew that I wouldn't have to work".
My boss is terrified of President Obama and takes everything he hears hook, line and sinker. To an extent he is guilty of pushing fear as well. Should he be "investigated" for this? Nope.

Why not? - because even though he may share some of the views of a Glen Beck he charges what he charges. Doesn't matter who you are if you have the money we'll sell.
Premiums do fluctuate of course but I'm willing to bet that we'll sell a one ounce Gold Eagle MUCH cheaper than a company like Goldline. The smart shopper/investor figures this out while others get burned of their own volition.

I"ve seen this enough times at the shop folks. Someone comes in with stuff they bought from a major dealer as an investment and the goods are worth a fraction of what they paid.

We were talking about this just the other day. My co worker was telling me that well before I worked at the shop a guy came in with stuff he had paid around $20,000 for from a MAJOR dealer with a well known name.
Working on tight resale margins my boss could barely pay him 25% of what the guy had originally paid. This happens everyday somewhere.

We sell to some of these folks as well. People I have absolutely NO respect for because I know what will happen once they get it. Huge markup and lots of hype often involving big ads in coin magazines and thousands of ebay listings.
Why do we sell to them? Simple, the ones we deal with on occasion will often pay OVER bid and sometimes higher than our retail and they pay us fast. If we don't sell to them someone else will.

I'm obviously not naming names here but believe me when I say a lot of you have seen the names I'm "speaking" of.

Caveat Emptor

 

Let me make sure I am reading this right. You are saying that it makes a difference whose ox is getting gored as to whether or not you think this is right. Correct? Now I think I have an understanding how your logic runs.

 

Maybe you've just forgotten which ox farm you live on. The people I see as the main victims of this "alleged" scam are the same people that regularly vote away their own best interests by buying into the lies from the Right. I have regularly railed at this group for voting away their own best interests by supporting Republicans and voting away my best interests as a member of the middle class at the same time. Now you expect me to be compassionate towards their stupidity because Republicans are now ripping them off more directly which doesn't affect me in the least???? What kind of logic would that be?

BTW Who said anything about oxen?

 

Moen. Goldline advertises on Cointalk as well. Are they corrupted Blackguards too? Youre beating a dead horse. The talk shows on Fox lean more towards conservatives. Is this the scoop of the decade? If you dont like Fox.......click.

 

Did you read the article? It's more than just advertising a product like is done on CoinTalk.
"....Goldline grossly overcharges for the gold coins that constitute the bulk of its business, uses misleading sales techniques and takes advantage of fears about President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the economy – which are stoked by its stable of paid conservative endorsers including Beck, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Fred Thompson – “to cheat consumers.”
Fear mongering people into making bad investments IS illegal.

 

Is that really how they are advertising their goods? What are they doing...standing up and saying..."Buy Gold! Obama is ruining the economy!" Or are they using the same themes during this major recession that they do during any uncertain times, especially economic uncertainty? Pre-Y2K, Post Sept 11th come readily to mind.

The precious metals and coin industry is mostly just sleaze and has been long before this current situation.

 

Who's ox is being gored is an old adage to indicate you opinion/feelings go with the winning/losing like/dislike side depending on which side you want to win/lose. In your writings here have opinions freely change depending on who you want to lose rather than on a consistent opinion regardless of who wins/loses.