Lehman: More Socialized Losses For The Wealthy
Talks Continue in Effort to Rescue LehmanThe fate of Lehman Brothers, the beleaguered investment bank, hung in the balance on Sunday as Federal Reserve officials and the leaders of major financial institutions continued to gather in emergency meetings trying to complete a plan to rescue the stricken bank.
The talks took on even greater urgency on Sunday as government officials push for a deal to be completed before the markets open.
After weeks of agony, Lehman's fate appeared sealed by the end of last week, as its stock market value dropped 74% in a few days, after having lost more than 80% since the beginning of the year. That the Fed and Treasury have called an emergency meeting over the week-end ensures that things are over for the bank and it will either be bought over the week-end (with someone taking over its liabilities) or go bankrupt.
And the very reason the government took action over the week-end is also the one that ensures that it will not go bankrupt: it is considered too big to fall. As the WSJ notes:
A disorderly unwind of Lehman's derivatives trades is only one worry. Another worry is that if Lehman collapses, its distressed assets -- such as commercial real estate -- could suddenly hit Wall Street for sale, forcing prices even lower and potentially forcing other dealers to mark down once again the value of their own holdings.
With both Merrill Lynch and AIG seen as extremely weak (both lost more than 30% of their market value on Friday alone), a liquidation of Lehman could bring them, and others, down, in a collapsing house of cards. Read on...
So, with the precedents set of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bear Stearns, it's likely that we'll see a bailout...with large amounts of public cash committed today with huge liabilities to come. And yet these self-same financial whizzes are the ones that will denigrate 'socialism' as an evil. Funny, that.
I'm frist and we're fucked.
Lehmen, Merrill Lynch, Fannie, Freddie, and Bear Sterns are all a bunch of Whiners!!! Don't they know this economy is robust?
Y'all need to figure out the difference between a government bailout and guarantee.
Where does it stop?
Fuck these greedy bastards!
I don't get a bailout when I'm broke! Fuck all those Wall Street rich motherfuckers!
Just another reason not to let those companies get so fucking big in the first place. I'm no economist, but even I know that when our entire economy depends on a handful of companies, we're in big trouble.
fiscal conservatism=socialism with really late payments?
Really, I don't panic when I'm broke either. I just buy generic bologna instead of Boarhead cold cuts.
More debt to China for the rest of us to pay off the few, the proud, the brave American rich.
It's all Clinton's fault, so vote McCain, right?
Socialism for Fat Cats, in America, is in deep doo doo.
The stories of desperate investors jumping from skyscraper windows in the 1929 meltdown were much overstated.
They will be in the 2008 meltdown as well.
At this writing, seventy five minutes until Wall Street opens.
The crap is hitting the fan.
14All @ 6:
Keep in mind that governments technically are businesses, too, except they are just run "not for profit." Our entire economy depends on the actions of the largest NPO in the world, a.k.a. the US government.
Obama's new ad: McCain takes the low road
This one hits him in the balls. I'm donating again to keep these coming.
Alot of those people look down on people at the lower end of the earning latter. Now they will understand how the middle lower class and working poor have been feeling. Now maybe we can have a real talk about the country instead of lipstick on a pig.
Dept. of poor timing
Quite a day for an op-ed titled "Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line."
From Donald Luskin's attack-ad-ready piece: "Full disclosure: I'm an adviser to John McCain's campaign ..."
StirFry @ 11:
oops . wrong thread.
Can't Bush just issue them a pardon?
I bet they wish they were still regulated. This would not have happened if the Republicans had not deregulated the banks. Just think this all happened on the republican watch and who was in the white house Bush. I know they will some how blame the democarts.
Oh, shit.
Here comes the Second Great Depression. And guess what's gonna come out of the woodwork?
Our old "friends" from the Thirties....
Damn those assholes in Washington, they're killing this country!
Where are all the trolls damning government intervention?
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 9:
Oh Jesus, if this gets to 1929 levels...
not just our friends from the 30s will get stronger...
so will the theocrats.
Sic terra transit.
My response to little Donnie Luskin's "Blue Skies As Far As The Eye Can See" post in yesterday's WaPo:
~Nyc
When will "trickle down economics" die as a philosophy?
The fact is--money flows UP in a capitalist system. The poor spend nearly every dime that comes into their possession. They buy from people who have more than they do.
The money flows up to the producers of electricity, food, gasoline, clothing, shelter, entertainment. And drugs of abuse.
So, look who are the big fat cats who keep getting rich: energy companies of all sorts; Wal-Mart and its ilk with their "superstores" that supply cheap food and cheap but presentable clothing; cable TV and movie rental companies and nasty escapist entertainment.
Put McCain and the Republicans back in office.
They created this mess, let them deal with it.
The American public deserve consistency in their leadership.
Nancy @ 21:
"The masses of the people require two things, bread and circuses," noted Juvenal in the 1st Century. 400 years later his city was sacked by the Visigoths.
We won't have that happen, but we're moving into the Principate 100 years before I thought we would if this gets much worse...
It's not socialism...not if it exclusively benefits rich plutocrats whose only role in society is to parsitize the wealth of all other Americans. No, no, no, no, noes.....it's Sound Fiscal Management©®™. There's a difference.
The locally owned salon where I have gotten my hair trimmed for years went out of business a few weeks back. They just couldn't make it in today's economy. People are cutting back on expenses and hair and nail appointments are one of the first things a woman cuts back on. Those people who worked in the salon are out of a job. The owner of the place is in deep financial trouble. Where's their bail out? Who gives a damn about them? They played by the rules and now they are fu*ked. Does anyone in the govt. care?
Remember it was the GOP that pushed and pushed for deregulation and for the creation of 401kss and mutual funds, etc...as a way to "offset" Social Security, which they then felt could be scrapped. Giving the "little guy" access to Wall Street would enrich the middle class and protect their retirement.
Of course, it made the fat cats on Wall Street richer, and whenever there were losses they ran to....wait for it...waaaaaaait for it...the Federal government. Oh yeah, some firms didn't get bailed out...like Global Crossing, Enron, Penn...etc...but that was simply politiics. There was obvious lawbreaking involved in those circumstances...so...the politicians stayed away.
And the GOP STILL is pushing to privatize Social Security. Yeah...THERE'S a good idea.
Yeah, if we ask the Government for a little help it's fucking "welfare" and we're shamed. When these greedy sons of bitches need assistance the lying whores in DC fall over themselves to wipe their rich dumb fuck asses!
Republican investors are probably targeting Lehman for a 'hit'. Just like the Mafia, criminal Republicans will try to eliminate any 'compitition' in the financials markets they are not invested in.
The Clenis endorsed and "proudly" signed the GOPuke bill which "modernized" the Glass-Steagal Act in 1999...Dims also voted for it.
Wonder why?
"pissed off patricia Says: The locally owned salon where I have gotten my hair trimmed for years went out of business a few weeks back. They just couldn’t make it in today’s economy. People are cutting back on expenses and hair and nail appointments are one of the first things a woman cuts back on. Those people who worked in the salon are out of a job. The owner of the place is in deep financial trouble. Where’s their bail out? Who gives a damn about them? They played by the rules and now they are fu*ked. Does anyone in the govt. care?"
POP, when the GOP talks about the engine of our economy being small business owners...again...the public simply swallows it. But it is ALL bullshit. The fact is that small business in this country has been decimated by the "Home Depot" model. Walmart, Blockbuster and all the other "big carton" and "white box" businesses destroyed thousands of small businesses across America. All in the name of "economic growth" and "progress".
I'm afraid that this is just the start. I've been watching this develope all weekend. Once Barclays bailed on a Lehman deal and then Bank of America followed suit I knew it was all over. There was no way Lehman was going to get a buyout before the Asian markets opened. Then, Bank of America bought out Merril Lynch because their share prices were expected to collapse as soon as the markets open in the U.S. Then next to watch in my opinon are Washington Mutual and AIG. The short sellers smell blood and they will be driving them, along with all other financial stocks down. Already we are seeing it before the U.S. market opening. All indexes are down at least 3%. This could, as some describe it be another Black Monday, stock market crash.
Joe O. @ 31:
And I'll keep giving my response to the thought of another black Monday crash:
Sic transit mundus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwyrGwM4a7M
"woody, tokin librul Says: The Clenis endorsed and “proudly” signed the GOPuke bill which “modernized” the Glass-Steagal Act in 1999…Dims also voted for it.
Wonder why?"
Because Bill Clinton won the White House by running for President as "Republican Lite".
You will hear many TRUE conservatives say that Bill Clinton was the best Republican President in the last 20 years.
One knowledgeable commenter said this morning that the whole worldwide banking system depends on trust.
Another said there could well be a run on retail banks by election day.
Who benefits politically if there's a total banking system catastrophe?
My head says Obama, my gut says McCain.
Today from Obama: "This country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy"
“This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street.
“The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.
“The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
“I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.
“Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.
“This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy. For years, I have consistently called for modernizing the rules of the road to suit a 21st century market – rules that would protect American investors and consumers. And I’ve called for policies that grow our economy and our middle-class together. That is the change I am calling for in this campaign, and that is the change I will bring as President,” said Senator Barack Obama.
Liberal and Proud@22
Totally right in theory....the repukes should pick up this gigantic pile of shit they left us. But trust me Liberal, Grandpa and his henchwoman will MAKE THIS HORRIBLE SITUATION MUCH WORSE!
VietVet8666 @ 35:
Who benefits?
Nobody, because a large-scale economic collapse will literally revert everything back to pre-Industrial levels.
Lehman people donating to Obama:
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=&state=&zip=&employ=le...
Lehman people donating to McCain:
http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?name=&state=&zip=&employ=le...
It's 3:1 Obama over McCain. :)
Please...we need the wisdom and new ideas of grandpa to save us.
Only the American Cadaver can save the American Cadaver.
fastfeat @ 33:
I believe it was you who said you got the dvd in your paper yesterday. Today I got mine in the Palm Beach Post.
General_Rennenkampf @ 38:
We'd be a third world country overnight...I don't think anyone would benefit from that for quite some time...except maybe the undertakers.
"Left&Left Says: Liberal and Proud@22
Totally right in theory….the repukes should pick up this gigantic pile of shit they left us. But trust me Liberal, Grandpa and his henchwoman will MAKE THIS HORRIBLE SITUATION MUCH WORSE!"
Want to know something...I don't CARE. If the country puts the Cadaver and the Android in the White House, then the country deserves all the pain it will feel.
From what I'm understanding this morning, Bank of America is buying out Merrill Lynch and Lehman has filed for bankruptcy. It's early and my brain is not in full gear so I could be wrong.
I wonder if the people who were so supportive of bush's idea to privatize social security are thinking twice about that idea today.
It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.
when does mere dissembling become a con job?
right about now..."It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years."
No. for about the last 50 fuukong years.
And EVERYBODY--in the BOTH right wings of the Party of Property--supported it.
Was it Greenspan that said earlier this summer that we may have already bottomed out and we should see some return to growth by the end of the year?
Looks like this may be the "September surprise": the climax of the long, slow collapse of the financial industry.
This news is obviously sobering to many of us who worry about our economic future. Which is exactly why the Obama campaign needs to take this golden opportunity to bludgeon McCain into submission over the economy. Republican corruption and greed set the financial system up for this disaster, with McCain's senior economic advisor Phil Gramm at the helm (Remember him? the guy that said the economy is great and we're all a bunch of whiners?), and they must be punished for it. Bring on the TV spots! If the Obama campaign doesn't capitalize on this immediately, it will be the missed opportunity of the century.
Here it comes.
Oil 96 a barrel. Stock Market : they say it's going to drop under 11,000 today. I'm surprised it hasn't already.
Bailouts and more bailouts and even more Bailouts. And this is just the beginning. I suspect we won't see the whole picture until Boosh leaves office. Then the next admin will be in for a surprise. I don't envy the next Prez. I hope it's Obama, but I already feel sorry for him. Being saddled with one of the worst financial disasters ever to hit this country won't be easy to fix.
Obama is right when he says " It's going to take sacrifice".
The GOP is going to try to blame the Democratic Congress for this mess.
The FACTS are that this is the result of 28 years of Republican Congresses and Presidents. This is the result of 28 years of deregulation and big business and rich people totally having it THEIR way. This is 28 years of belief in a now thrice failed economic theory that was written on the back of napkin by a man who had NO credibility in his field.
peaceful easy feeling @ 39:
Looks like they wised up, but too late.
The CEO of Lehman's Brothers will get a $214 million bonus when he leaves. 21,400 people could get by for a few extra months if he were to give that up and take care of the employees he screwed.
LOLOL! I love that, Rusy.
The guys at Lehman must be walking around saying..."We're all Liberals now!"
Why do these things always happen during the darkness of the weekends and behind closed doors? Is it to keep people from grabbing their money out of these financial institutions before the shit hits the fan?
Obama is right when he says ” It’s going to take sacrifice”.
From whom?
Why, you and me, of course.
There's not gonna be any sacrifices in the boardrooms. Those futhermockers won't fee a thing...
Nobody going out windows, sadly.
Gee Tim, the Lehman CEO makes Carly Fiorina look like a slacker.
She only got $40 million for wrecking Hewlett Packard.
I guess your bonus is based on whether or not your company closes down COMPLETELY.
Greenspan:
"...a recent study of the relationship between financial behavior and financial outcomes revealed that comprehension of the general principles of sound financial behavior, such as budgeting and saving, is actually more beneficial in producing successful financial results over time than specific and detailed information on financial transactions."
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2001/20010406/default.htm
A lot of people on Wall Street don't seen to understand principles of sound financial behavior, such as budgeting and saving.
"pissed off patricia Says: Why do these things always happen during the darkness of the weekends and behind closed doors? Is it to keep people from grabbing their money out of these financial institutions before the shit hits the fan?"
Yes POP.
The Bear Stearns deal was completed over a weekend, and it was heavily in doubt right up till Monday morning. If the deal hadn't been done, the Federal Reserve was going to declare a bank holiday on that Monday, to calm down the market.
What I found amazing is that the stock market bounced right up as soon as Fannie and Freddie were gonna get a taxpayer bailout. So much for supporting free market capitalism. It would make sense that when you've been guaranteed zero risk, its a good thing for Wall Street. Just shows that Neo-Corporatism is alive and well in America.
Liberal AND Proud @ 18:
Their grandparents, who lived through the Depression and own the house/basements in which the trolls reside, have sent them out to stand in the long lines at the ATMs and withdraw as much cash as they can.
Relax,...this is just more of Wallstreet's hangover, right?
I guess we won't be going to war with Russia now.
I'm sure the Chinese won't be giving us any more allowance to go out and buy more toys.
Yeah Rollo, everytime Wall Street catches a cold...the American People get pneumonia.
Paul @ 24:
Nancy @ 21:
Turn this land the real red, first the people seize the state, then the people use the state to seize the banks & energy corporations, then the workers manage themselves as the state become less & less necessary.
[had to clean up your grammar a bit there Paul, hope you don't mind]
This whole thing adds a whole different dimension to the term crooks and liars. But this time the crooks and liars rewarded themselves before crying foul. Then the govt comes to the rescue and the crooks and liars walk away stuffed with money and a smile on their face.
Someone said this morning that a financial crisis would make the country turn to McCain for a feeling of security. WTF? It was his party that lit the fuse, why would anyone turn to him for safety. Maverick my ass!
Too big to fail?
How about too big to not fail.
BigTallMatt @ 47:
Yep, not exactly the "surprise" (timing or otherwise) the Rethugs wanted. All the more reason to be wary of a "military crisis" next month to take our eyes off this mess and make "us" even more "afraid"... Boo!
Is FOX Business and the GOP calling for more deregulation to fix this mess?
pissed off patricia @ 64:
It won't make the Dems and the Republicans the source of safety, I expect we'll have revivals of ideologies that are better-off dead than alive if we go to another depression.
@ 61, Liberal AND Proud Says:
I guess we won’t be going to war with Russia now.
Why would you think that?
War has traditionally been used by failing oligarchs to distract the peons from the failures.
And the Regime is gonna need a "late September/early October Surprise."
fastfeat @ 66:
Uh, oh. Another war is exactly what is not needed now.
I hope the pro-capitalists are enjoying their economic system today. It has always been a house of cards balanced by pigs.
Next month is the trick or treat month, guess it bumped up a month this year. The American people were financially tricked and the big financial institutions are getting all the treats.
Has anyone asked Governor Palin how she would fix this mess.
She has all that executive experience ya know...making sure that the town's 6 street lights stay on, and that the library is upto date on collecting late book return fees.
Governor Palin once took a flight that passed over Wall Street. That makes her a financial genius.
POP, don't sound so concerned.
The MAVERICK wil save us.
StirFry@7
StirFry, and any other person who wants to understand what repub trolls and moles are up to when the come here to engage. Take a look at my exchange with Dennis in the vote registration post.
He fancies himself a tactical pilot in the mold of McCain that can engage and confuse liberal and progressive posters. Take a look at his links. He tried to preach to me "Physician, heal thyself." Look at the link to Capernaum in Wikipedia. It describes to a "T" the types that can see what is real but reject for the false promises the so want to hold on to. The link about Linda Carter is veiled racism to boot!
OODAl loop my foot!
Liberal AND Proud @ 52:
They've learned the hard way that conservative economic principles inevitably fail. They may be slow, but they ain't stupid.
Liberal AND Proud @ 74:
It was later revealed that flight was actually over Idaho. She does have a picture of Wall Street, shouldn't that be enough?
"I don't know as much about the economy as I should." - John McCain
But...but...he's a war hero! Let's elect HIM!!
chicano2nd @ 76:
Chicano, click on the link at my name. It goes to a post on MsJoanne's blog. Read it and you'll never take lil' dennis seriously again. He's a clown.
Liberal AND Proud @ 74:
I was just going to ask if Palin could see a bank from her house. If she can, why the fu*k is she not all over this financial dog fu*k?
Has Bush come on tv yet to announce that "the economy is essentially sound"?
Now we have McCain is speaking and promising his "friends" that American will never go through this again? How, exactly, does someone guarantee that? The only thing he is proposing is to make the US one of the biggest financial markets in the world. He must think we're dumb enough to believe big = infallible.
Latest news I can find is reporting there will be no government bailouts this time around.
woody, tokin librul @ 54:
Maybe with a little shove?
The only way to get these tweekers to pay up is by Taxes. Make them pay. Hear them scream and howl.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 9:
I don't think we're going to see bankers jumping from windows. In the 1929 crash, those investment bankers were personally liable for losses, and jumped from buildings because they assumed (probably correctly) that angry mobs would tear them apart. We don't have any accountability trail, and appear to actually be *rewarding* the people who are doing this. Check out the lovely 300 million dollar golden parachute we gave to the CEO of Bear Stearns.
pissed off patricia @ 41:
That was someone else who got it in his/her Sunday paper. I was going to buy a copy of The Miami Herald (or el Nuevo Herald for a Spanish version of it??), but I didn't yet.
I was actually thinking there might be a pile of them on the floor at 7-11, like used to be the case with all the freebie AOL CDs they passed out.
Will check today.
woody, tokin librul @ 45:
No. This is the "philosophy" that caused not only the S&L crash in the 1980s but also the great depression of the 1930s and the panic in the 1870s.
It's long waves built into the system.
Boom and Bust, a cycle of desperation irrationality disappointment despair.
"pissed off patricia Says: Liberal AND Proud @ 74:
Governor Palin once took a flight that passed over Wall Street. That makes her a financial genius.
I was just going to ask if Palin could see a bank from her house. If she can, why the fu*k is she not all over this financial dog fu*k?"
Was that a sexist remark, POP? The GOP gonna getcha!!
Bush and the Repugs thought they could squeak by, but Karma has a way of kicking ass. How they would loved to dump this on the next president. And I noticed how MSM is clamoring to Obama and McCain what they are going to do about it. Hello? We HAVE a president. Bush IS responsalbe for this mess! So now look what Bush and his co-horts have reaped. Now we the middle class, are going to suffer.
Rusty Shackleford@80:
Read it this weekend. Bookmarked for later "complete digestion." Obama is coming here today! I am one that says, get him elected, then use political processes to get to to remain on middle-class progressive issues. I say, if you don't want to vote for Obama, then vote against the republicans!
darn, now the "trickle" in the trickle down will tricke even less.
"Gretchen the aspiring elitist Says: Now we have McCain is speaking and promising his “friends” that American will never go through this again? How, exactly, does someone guarantee that? The only thing he is proposing is to make the US one of the biggest financial markets in the world. He must think we’re dumb enough to believe big = infallible.
Latest news I can find is reporting there will be no government bailouts this time around."
Gretchen, the Administration will say that there are no bailouts because they believe in the "free market". That will be a LIE.
The fact is...there is simply no more money. The government cannot issue enough money to handle this crisis without completely undermining the dollar, destroying all world financial confidence in the dollar, and leading to the collapse of all equity in this country.
However, that may wind up happening anyway. The bottom line is that the losses that are being realized by these firms are simply to big to write off, the value of the assets behind the loans and investments is not properly reflected on the books of these firms (they are SIGNIFICANTLY lower) and once they are marked to market and written off, it will lead to a collapse in equity (primarily real estate in this instance) unprecedented since the 1930s.
I just had a look at the LEHMAN Bros. 2007 Annual Report.They certainly had a lot of Vice Chairman's . Maybe that's the problem.
Anyway. The federal debt would have hit $ 10 trillion by Jan 2009. Add on an extra $ 1 trillion for Fannie/Freddie and another $ 1 trillion for Lehman .Last week GM was asking for $ 25 billion from Washington . I guess GM is out of luck.
This is quite an ending to the Bush years.
The troops will be coming home earlier than expected.
pissed off patricia @ 64:
Yeah, I'd feel safer with a Pres McCane who lived through the Depression and whose only lesson learned was to hire Phil Gramm as his "financial advisor"...
General_Rennenkampf @ 70:
Precisely why I'd anticipate one from the Rethugs.
Check this out...guilty conscience? Or just guilty?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/15/04734/6475/925/599123
P.D. @ 89:
I believe Bush fully intended the house of cards to fall on the next president. No - amend that to read "Bush's handlers" because I can't believe he's smart enough to come up with a plot like this on his own. The problem is the shit hit the fan a bit too early.
Where is the shrub's statement on this mess? We've already heard from McCain and Obama. So far the only word coming from Washington is there will be no bailout.
Dont worry folks, McCain will save us with his savvy understanding of economics!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=iqKaU2fZkAc
With news like this, when does the revolution start? In other countries, the citizens would be lining the streets with bricks and bottles.
But in America, people are so ensconced into what Brittany, Miley, Paris and Sarah will do that they won't notice this disaster and many others by the Bush Administration.
And of course, "Dancing With the Stars" is coming up. We just can't miss that, can we?
It surely all goes back to Reagan and his freak followers.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem"
Phil Gramm and his surrogate John McCain propagated that myth.
One thing what Reagan said was correct: "Government is the problem". It is the problem for not regulating certain businesses, among them are primarily financial and insurance businesses. They don't take into accout the greed of some people, turns out most, if not almost all of them republicans who can think of nothing alse but 'I want to keep it all in my own paocket' and anything else is 'income redistribution'. They talk of never-ending tax cuts, and none, on either side of the political spectrum ever mentions who will pay for running the government, whose responsiility is to provide for the welfare of its citizens.
Financial and insurance companies hire and fire CEO, CFOs and such, paying them hundreds of millions in salary, and discharging them with golden parachutes. The 'trickle down economy' favored by the Reaganites works only to the CEO level, not much trickles down past them, increasing the salary difference between them and the average worker from a ratio of 20:1 in the 60's to more than 300:1 (not even counting fringe benefits such as stock options) currently. Imagine that a CEO earns in 1 day what the worker earns in an entire year. Income redistribution is certainly called for giving more to those who actually produce the product, not those well connected to be hired at the top.
Insurance company executives should not be in the business of becoming multi-millionaires in the span of one year on the back of the infirm and the dying who can't afford insurance. Insurance should be either run by the government very much like they run Medicare, or be operated by a non-profit organization with salaries equivalent to those paid government officials.
More on this later
Rick Street @ 91:
Actually, I expect unemployed brokers to flood NYC streets, offering tricks at severely discounted rates.
I'll bet local streetwalkers will protest, attempt to unionize.
chicano2nd @ 90:
I'm with you, chicano!
pissed off patricia @ 53:
Why, yes.
SCHRODINGER'S CAT @ 93:
Lots of golf partners who purposely lose to make the CEO look like Tiger Woods...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJmTCYmo9g+
humorous angle how this all came about
Tim in Japan @ 51:
I'll never understand how someone who ran a company into the ground... to the point it has to be bailed out by the American people it's ripped off... gets to have a bonus. WTF?! That ba$tard should be working for those people for free the rest of his or her crappy life!
Gretchen...the only statement coming from Bush will be "the economy is essentially sound".
Obama's campaign needs to hit hard on this right away while it is still fresh in people's minds before the next Palin wonderful or not debate, or whatever dumb shit story the MSM focuses on.
Obama should tie McCain and HIS party, the Republicans who he has voted for 85-95% of the time, to this economic mess. He could also remind voters that McCain admitted he doesn't know much about economics, "Do you want HIM to steer us out of this mess?".
In addition Obama can site McCain's experience as an ORIGINAL Keating Five member, "Is that the kind of experience we want to gamble on to get us out of this mess?'' Membership that gave common US taxpayer a multi-BILLION $$$ bailout benefit.
right on!, it's the FREE MARKET.
Free for the rich...everyone else pays retail.
With stuff like this, it makes you wish that the rich suddenly becomes poor beyond compare.
Thanks to the Repubicans, they just finally solidified that no one will ever get above the poverty line. They have cemented the poor underclass for years to come.
With that news, will people stop the "American Dream" crap? It doesn't work anymore.
Gosh, this is really gonna hit the Lamborghini, Porsche and McClaren companies hard!
Gretchen the aspiring elitist @ 97:
Sadly, the chimp is expected to speak shortly. Expect his usual obfuscation and brutalization of the English language...Fuck it, he'll just LIE...
Ceci, the Rovian spin will be..."the American Dream" is overrated. We need to return to a "simpler time of family values and eating by candle light".
right on! @ 106:
As Bob Dylan says:
"Steal a little, they throw you in jail.
Steal a lot, they make you king."
Poor George Bush, only a few more months and he could have escaped all responsibility.
Oh well...reality sucks.
Liberal AND Proud @ 113:
Yes, I can hear the propganda from the GOP right now. Of course, they have no idea what it means for the average family to survive despite high gas and grocery prices while they are living paycheck to paycheck. There are no extra funds to spend in this economy as it stands. And while that happens their house is going into foreclosure.
Like I said before, this is the type of stuff that makes the masses furious in other countries.
In these tough times we must remember that we need to support the war and fight against those who would take away our freedoms...and of course...we need to SING!! Gawwwwwwd Bless...A. Merrr..i...caaaaaa...Laaaaaaaaand....that I looooove....
Liberal AND Proud @ 107:
Yeah, because we're all a bunch of "whiners" according to the republicans, didn't you know?
Hugo Hackenbush @ 85:
You missed the point entirely, in 1929, the investment bankers DID NOT jump from windows. That is a myth.
Many of them did lose everything and wind up in hobo villes.
Today we will have new myths. Probably ones about poor poor Fat Cats that DIDN'T get bailed out.
Now ya'll know why Haliburton built the camps.
When the Depression hits full bloom, Martial Law
will be declared to quell the looters and riots
that will take place. People hafta eat ya know.
"Liberal AND Proud & # 110"
' this is going to hit the Lamborghini, Porsche and McClaren companies hard"
Those cars are a bit too expensive but the price of BMW's and MERCEDES should drop . Soon everyone will be driving BMW's and/or MERCEDES.
I just read that Jeb Bush joined LEHMAN as a consultant/advisor in August 2007. What do you expect.
Why isn't Phil Graham in prison being somebody's be-atch right now!
Deregulation is to blame for all of this and Graham is the one who led the charge!
Regulations were put in place after the crash of 1929 because of the utter greed of the Korporate bankers that caused the crash.
This is what happens when you let greedy, ruthless, money grubbing Korporations make their own rules.
Phil Graham and others like him should be stripped of their wealth and spend the rest of their lives in prison! Their Companies should be liquidated and the assets dispersed among all the people they screwed on their way to becoming wealthy.....AKA us!
Korporate welfare is a hallmark of republican rule. They hate the people and spout about the evils of socialism all the while giving out billions of dollars in Korporate welfare, bailouts and subsidies! Wake up you Repugs! Your Korporate leaders don't give a sh*t about you, your'e not like them you are citizens they are Korporate! They will take your last nickel if they can figure a way to get it!
Where is the outrage and anger about the people that have deliberately done this to us?
SCHRODINGER'S CAT @ 121:
It's amazing that the Bushes are rich at all knowing their track record with businesses.
McCain is a POW, so he'll save us from this mess.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 116:
Indeed...were this ANY other countries...there would be riots.
liberalNmoderation @ 125:
umm....that would be COUNTRY....not countries...sorry...
Expect to see lots of "golden parachutes" floating around now that Wall St. phoney baloney/funny money flim flam is seeing the reality of real world again.
WashingtonDC has been going along on with this Wall St. binge/exuberance cycle and it looks like Bush/Cheney WH is going to get another big taste of it's own inept and incompetent reign of error before the gig is up in Jan.2009.
Why does the GOP want to be in government and govern when it hates good government and good governance? Really--why? McCain/Palin anyone?
In the way of a suggestion--
Could we not just stop with this business of Wall St. pocketing all the profits and gains and off loading the red ink on the American taxpayer? Make the risks real and the consequences real. Moral hazards over fantasy based make money schemes need to be felt. Otherwise the Wall St. lizards will just run off and do more of it.
Same idea would be in order regarding Bush/Cheney WH and that mess they created in Iraq for direct benefit of Big Petro. Make Big Petro pay half(two thirds?) of costs for Bush/Cheney WH War/Occupation For Oil in Iraq. We know full well they really like the idea of American taxpayers footing the bill in blood and money for the costs of American Empire and then turning around and walking away with the profits for which they demand to keep because that is "good capitalism".
Yes-- I am calling BS.
liberalNmoderation @ 125:
That's why I think in anyone else's book, this would be the call for revolution.
America must house masochists because this is certainly under the lines of enough being enough.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 123:
Running their businesses into the ground while making sure that their executive positions are immune from loss is HOW they become rich.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 119:
Whether or not the rumors were true doesn't change that the accountability which was there in the 20s isn't there now. I don't think most people know who holds their mortgages, and even less about who controls their investments.
Likely that we'll see a bailout?
Doesn't FDIC insured deposits mean that will happen with virtually every bank?
Am I missing something?
Wasn't it Marx who said the end of capitalism was when there was more and more money in fewer and fewer hands? Hmmmmm.
shootthatarrow @ 127:
Great, even stiffer competition for those McDonalds jobs...
fastfeat @ 129:
I would also add that it also makes them immune from criminal indictment as well.
Because they are crooks, rich and walking free, it makes one wonder what Jesus would do in a situation like this?
Any one asked Gov. Hockey Mom yet?
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 128:
Masochists? HA! Don't be so generous....America houses complacent morons.
As long as they have their tv, and their AC and microwavable foods...they could give a shit about anything going on outside their doors.
"Korry Says: Likely that we’ll see a bailout?
Doesn’t FDIC insured deposits mean that will happen with virtually every bank?
Am I missing something?"
Investment banks are not covered by the FDIC. Investments bear risk and that risk is outlined in the prospectuses you receive before you invest.
Also, it is SUPPOSED to be the job of the SEC to regulate Wall Street. Heh...of course that institution was neutered a decade ago.
The wolves were guarding the henhouse.
Lehman isn't getting bought out. They're just going under.
Expect the market to go under 11000 this week.
Hugo Hackenbush @ 130:
I call bullshit. Accountability in the 1920s might have well prevented the situation leading to the Depression. It didn't exist, and so we got breadlines and Hoovervilles.
fastfeat @ 129:
Goddammit!
I hate me some motherfucking Bush family right now.
With all this bad news. You would think Obama should be getting a bump in the polls.
Hugo, the fact of the matter is that the GOP has spent the last 30 years fighting on behalf of Wall Street lobbyists to remove the financial safeguards that were put in place after the Great Crash.
The removal of those safeguards are DIRECTLY responsible for the creation of essentially the same type of financial crisis all over again.
I guess in your view...the rape victim "wanted it".
Liberal AND Proud @ 141:
Yeah...and those fat cats nearly got the Commies or the Fascies in power.
This shit happens again, welcome to the new USSA or the GNE.
liberalNmoderation @ 135:
Oh yes, the GOP-backed "bread and circuses" bit.
But, when they can't afford their TV, AC and microwavable foods, then there will be hell to pay. The "Bread and Circuses" thing doesn't last forever--especially in this economy.
And, I agree. Masochism is too nice a word for the sheeple who are watching the country crumble and not doing anything about it.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 143:
Dammit...I'm getting ulcers from this shit...
When will “trickle down economics” die as a philosophy?
The fact is–money flows UP in a capitalist system. The poor spend nearly every dime that comes into their possession. They buy from people who have more than they do.
As soon as the wealthy feel they no longer need to piss on the poor....
What makes me so angry is that we (people on the left) have been trying to warn Americans this was going to happen but no one would listen.
I just hope that the Dems will now use this to prove to the people that Con economics don't fucking work. De-regulation doesn't work. Trusting the assholes at the top in big business to police themselves doesn't work!!
If the Dem "leaders" can't use this to prove that Cons can't govern, then I'm done with them once and for all.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 143:
And if you people think that we might not see Stalin, Mk. 2 in such a situation...
The last time a tyrant used death on a grand scale in North America was Montezuma I. We get our own idiot like that...
Remember, kiddies, this is not the Monty that met Cortez. This is his ancestor.
mudshark @ 48:
i've been sacrificing for 45 years. i'm ready to see some new-money moguls sacrificing...or sacrificed, whichever the case may be...
.
.
And the ones hurt the most............?
Those who are invested in the market via 401k, fortunately privatized Social Security died in Congress
Babushka Blue @ 124:
This is how John McCain will deal with this mess:
"Well... my friends, for five long a half years... I did not have access to my bank account. So what if your money is all gone now, at least them VietCong are not poking and torturing you, so stop whining. Now shut up and get back to work for minimum wage..."
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