This Week: Paulson Justifies Bailout To Foreign Companies
By Nicole Belle Saturday Sep 20, 2008 4:00pm
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
There are so many aspects of the proposed bailout that should send shivers down any thinking individual's spine that I hope each and every C&Ler take a few minutes to contact their representatives tomorrow to express their distrust of the bailout as written. From the ironically-labeled Section 8:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
to the announcement by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (oh hell, let's just call him President Paulson now, because he's effectively running the country) that the bailout would include foreign companies as well:
STEPHANOPOULOS: The original legislation we saw said that you would be buying up the mortgage-related assets from financial institutions having headquarters in the United States. Yet last night, the fact sheet put out by the Treasury seemed to expand that. It said only that the financial institutions have to have significant operations in the U.S., and that you could waive that at your discretion.
So, will foreign financial institutions be eligible to have their assets bought?
PAULSON: Yes, and they should, because as you think about this, if a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution.
That's a distinction without a difference to the American people. The key here is about protecting the system.[..]
But, remember, this is about protecting the American people and protecting the taxpayers. And the American people don't care who owns the financial institution. If a financial institution in this country has problems, it'll have the same impact...
What a giant, steaming load of bovine excrement. The LAST thing on Paulson's mind is protecting the taxpayers...we are financing his buddies' golden parachutes, with no oversight, no changes and no guarantees that we won't be IN THE EXACT SAME PLACE in a couple of months. Because if Paulson gave two bits about the American people, he would be in favor of the Democratic plan to give some relief to homeowners instead of making sure that he can hand cash over to foreign companies. Note the complete sidestep (shame on you, Stephanopoulos, for letting him get away with it) of what the taxpayers get back in return. Even conservative blogs are finding this bailout to be ridiculous:
We're setting precedents that will govern the behavior of the international business community for decades to come. Do we really want to signal that risks are public and rewards are private?
For that matter, do we really want such fundamental decisions being made by obscure, unaccountable men like Bernanke, Paulson, and SEC chair Chris Cox? Shouldn't Congress and the president be more than bit players?
Speaking of those who have forgotten history, dooming us all to repeat it, C&Ler Diane emailed me a link to this BBC-Radio4 documentary, Document, that has quite a few parallels to today's financial climate.
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The Socialist Republicans are for Socializing Wall Street and socializing the banks with your money. You, you're on your own.
This is exactly the kind of thing Naomi Klein warns against in Shock Doctrine. This is the perfect excuse to push through things no one in their right mind would accept.
My E-mails have been sent to Sens. Boxer and Feinstein as well as the generally useless Rep. Issa.
The phone calls will be made tomorrow.
Didn't help w/ FISA, but that won't stop me from trying.
This Federal Bailout: Another Patriot Act?
$700 Billion Bailout Plan Would Give Paulson Dictatorial Powers, Which CAN’T Be Reviewed by the Courts
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aZ2aFDx8_idM&refer=home
Bailout: Welcome to the final stages of the Coup…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/welcome-to-the-final-s...
We Have DAYS To Stop the $700 Billion Stick-Up (and Fascist Power Grab)
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/09/we-have-days-to-stop-700-b...
So there they sit . . . ultra rich Republican supporting, humanity raping pigs pontificating on why we should pay for this. And we have, what, 40 million without health care? People who can't eat? But they go on their talk shows and pat each other on the back over their brilliance. They own more houses and cars at once than most of us will ever own, cumulatively, in a lifetime. We can't even afford gas and we are supposed to pay for this. We will even get fined via interest if we don't pay enough in taxes. We are bending over; grabbing our ankles and saying, "go ahead". We are doing nothing. So it will be worse if we let them fail. Big damned deal. LET IT BE WORSE. Let the whole damned thing collapse so we can start again. But bailing these people out while people are starving and dying for want of health care exceeds inhuman. This country is morally bankrupt. It is also dangerous. Perhaps our only hope is that the rest of the world has had enough and does something about it before we take everyone down with us.
you can bet your last meal, which may be sooner
than you think, that the foreign corporations
this asswipe wants to cover, most do not pay
any taxes in America, because the rethuglicans
have made sure they don't. all this money is
reaching the pockets of bush/cheney and the rest
of the criminal gop bastards.
I DO NOT SUPPORT TAXING AVERAGE AMERICAN
CITIZENS TO GIVE TO CORPORATE WEALTH!!!!!!!!!!
Here's the Full Text of the Bailout Plan:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21draftcnd.html?_r=1&ref=busi...
Like we needed more proof that welfare programs for the rich, by the rich, are far more numerous and expensive than making sure everyone in our country can eat. The first thought I had on hearing of this was corporate welfare on a grand scale.
Second, like our nation needs to be $700,000,000,000 more in debt to China. Kinda of ironic that they want our country to take out a loan to fix the problems caused by bad loans. It's like a never ending right-wing blunder.
Last, do we really want the federal government to basically own almost a trillion dollars worth of home loans? Me wonders what kind of loop holes they will find to use the control of these loans to enter peoples homes without a warrant with the excuse that the government owns the home....
fin
Call it what it is, a RIP OFF for the Fat Cats.
And they don't even need to be American Fat Cats.
The toothpaste is out of the tube.
IT IS A COLOSSAL SWINDLE.
THIS BAILOUT IN CRIMINAL!!! Contact your congressman NOW. The Federal Reserve must NOT be aloud to usurp the financial powers of Congress to push this through on their own terms or our democratic system of government is LOST. Congress MUST demand guarantees and protections for the American people and MUST NOT ACCEPT a strings-free blank-check bailout for these predatory investment firms!!
And what will the American taxpayers in this generation as well as countless future generations get for their kind generosity? In Serbian the answer is GOVNO! In Italian we say MERDA! In English we say...well you can figure it out for yourselves.
As a middle class taxpayer, I'm used to getting screwed, but in this case, at least offer buy me dinner.
Whoa!
Time for 2 million citizens carrying torches and pitchforks to march on D.C. and reclaim the country for the People.
Fuck Paulson and the horse he rode in on.
These people aren't loyal to Americans or America. They are loyal to the multi-national corporations that back them. They are best understood by researching such groups as the Council on Foreign Relations, The Bilderberg Group, and The Tri-lateral Commission. I hate to say it but we are being deceived by globalist power brokers. Notice the sales of our infrastructure to foreign countries and companies. Maybe you remember the ports that were almost leased to Dubai or some other country. Notice how the Constitution is just a "god damn piece of paper" to these elites. George Bush's grandpa was named Prescott and he was charged by FDR as trying to take over the country and for trading with the enemy.
"Document uncovers details of a planned coup in the USA in 1933 by right-wing American businessmen
The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression.
Mike Thomson investigates why so little is known about this biggest ever peacetime threat to American democracy."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml
Wake up and face the facts. Put a little effort into some investigative research. Connect a few dots and facts.
So, let me see if I have the right-wing agenda down: it's wrong to help / give welfare to undocumented foreigners... but it's ok to give away .7 trillion dollars to foreign companies who don't know how to run a business / prey on the poor of our nation?
I sure hope whoever loans us the money to do all this gives us better lending terms than these companies gave their victims.
Wash Post headline says it all
http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/wash-post-headline-says-it-all.html
Where are all the free market trollees.
Why are they not up in arms.
Those socialist bastards.
We need Nader in the debates so someone can ask the tough questions. So there is some of reality check.
See Nader's website here.
This from a Nader email about the bailout:
"The costs of doing nothing are far worse"--Paulson, on the AIG takeover. "The costs of doing something are not worth it"--American people on the latest transfer of wealth and political power.
Study the Monetary Policy of this country and the private Federal Reserve System:
47 Minute Documentary on the Fed ~ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1693084887024293324
3 Hour Long Historical Masterpiece ~ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936
Great Documentary on the income tax ~ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173
Yeah, Gramm lobbies for UBS.
They call Paulson, Mr. China.
When they socialize car and airlines, we will have Chinese socialism.
It is like we lost a war with China.
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world - no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.”
— U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, a few years after authorizing the creation of the “Federal” Reserve
Have all the Republicans turned into Commie Pinkos over night?
What is the rush? If these banks are insolvent then let them go under. Remember sell high, buy low? Might as well buy low and save taxpayer dollars. Save the rest to pump up the FDIC and protect Americans.
Come to think of it, this is not even really Bush’s problem to solve. Bush is a lame duck. It’s for the next President to fix. Let’s not handcuff Obama with some piece of $hit legislation rushed through in the middle of the night. We’ve had too much of that crap already.
Screw Paulson - let the Fed absorb the bad debt if they’re in such a bloody rush.
As someone who went bankrupt on credit cards and paid the consequences, I don't see why we should give relief to homeowners either. Let their houses be foreclosed and they can become renters like the rest of us schlubs who played by the rules.
Why You Should Hate the Treasury Bailout Proposal
One thing is of special concern if you think about it a bit. How could the Bush administration have had even the arrogance to put this clause in the draft in the first place? If you think this is some poor wording or just overreach by Henry Paulson you have not been paying attention to current events for the past eight years.
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.
If this proposal passes, we need to vote out all Republicans and the Democratic leadership, and anyone who votes for this, in the November elections.
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle..."
Edmund Burke
Time to step back, out of the day to day push and pull of arguments, fears, petty jealousy, prejudice, complacency, sloth, greed and envy. Time to take a stand, to do something. This applies equally to America and to the rest of the world.
As in past moments of history, ultimately there will be no bystanders.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 17:
Nader is correct, as usual.
Thanks for this post.
Thank you Nicole. Great write up. I hope it works to wake up enough people to the situation we are facing. I don't know the answers, but I know an educated populace is the only hope. Peace.
Whether or not you can be persuaded to vote for Nader is less important than having him in the Debates. Both Obama and McCain have taken big money from Wall Street.
Without Nader, and to be absolutely fair, Barr and McKinney, there will be no program or position except for the Corporate position.
Hello Bailout, goodbye Country.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 17:
"Illiquid Assets."
Don't you just love the '1984' Newspeak???
-Freedom is Slavery
-War is Peace
-illiquid Assets are Valuble
One thing regarding regulation. If a company like AIG is too big to fail then it is too big. Think about it.
They are saying that there are 799 financial institutions that cannot be sold short on the stock exchange. Somebody should go through each and every name and figure out what would happen if they failed. If it is determined that they would have to be bailed out then they should be broken up to a size that can fail without the government stepping in. Otherwise we will end up with a situation like the one we have now. If they are too big to fail then they are too big!
superdude @ 23:
That's a separate issue that has absolutely nothing to do with this problem. Pelosi and Reid and the rest of the Dems who supported deregulation in 2000 are using that to calm the masses because supporting the bailout without throwing us a bone would be political suicide.
isn't one of the major arguments wing-nuts use against universal health care that it would be too large and complex for the government to run?
Exclusive: Foreign banks may get help
By: Mike Allen
September 21, 2008 12:13 PM EST
In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.
The theory, according to a participant in the negotiations, is that if the goal is to solve a liquidity crisis, it makes no sense to exclude banks that do a lot of lending in the United States.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed the change on ABC's "This Week," telling George Stephanopoulos that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."
"If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution," Paulson said.
"That's a distinction without a difference to the American people. The key here is protecting the system. ... We have a global financial system, and we are talking very aggressively with other countries around the world and encouraging them to do similar things, and I believe a number of them will. But, remember, this is about protecting the American people and protecting the taxpayers. and the American people don't care who owns the financial institution. If the financial institution in this country has problems, it'll have the same impact whether it's the U.S. or foreign."
The legislative outline that went to Capitol Hill at 1:30 a.m. Saturday had said that an eligible financial institution had to have “its headquarters in the United States.” That would exclude foreign-based institutions with big U.S. operations, such as Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.
But a Treasury “Fact Sheet” released at 7:15 Saturday night sought to give the administration more flexibility, with an expanded definition that could include all of those banks: “Participating financial institutions must have significant operations in the U.S., unless the Secretary makes a determination, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, that broader eligibility is necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets.”
McCain and Obama mum on bailout
Campaign advisers helped create mess
Franken helps craft McCain 'SNL' skit
The major change in the suggested eligibility requirements is the biggest change that Treasury publicly made after a day of briefings and conversations with Capitol Hill, and is likely the first of many.
Aspects of the $700 billion, two-year proposal that are still under negotiation include what, if anything, will be added to the administration’s simple but sweeping proposal. And the parliamentary route, such as what committees or hearings might be involved, has not been finalized.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has a hearing scheduled for Wednesday that is likely to focus on the proposal.
Under what congressional officials called a likely scenario, the measure could go to the House floor on Thursday, with passage expected the same day.
The Senate could take the package up as soon as Friday and send it to President Bush for his signature, although the Senate schedule is less predictable and had not been determined.
Officials expect passage by huge margins in both chambers because Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have told congressional leaders the country’s financial stability depends on it.
House Democrats plan to insist on adding protections for homeowners facing foreclosure. They also want to add a measure to help homeowners facing bankruptcy and an executive compensation restriction designed to prevent golden parachutes for the heads of troubled institutions.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was supportive of the bailout concept in a statement released Friday, believes that “whatever gets done in Congress has to protect Main Street,” senior adviser Stephanie Cutter said on MSNBC on Saturday.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Paulson told Chris Wallace that he would resist the Democrats' desired limits on executive compensation.
"If we design it so it's punitive and institutions aren't going to participate, this won't work the way we need it to work," Paulson said. "Let's talk executive salaries: There have been excesses there. I agree with the American people. Pay should be for performance, not for failure. We've got work to do in that regard. We need to do that work. But we need this system to work. And so reforms need to come afterwards. My whole objective with the plan we have is to give us the maximum ability to make it work.”
And the secretary told NBC’s Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press” that he doesn’t want new regulations simultaneously: “That's not doable to do that immediately. But we very much need new regulations.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) told Stephanopoulos on ABC: “If we’re going to spend taxpayer money to get rid of bad debt in these places, what is the reciprocal obligation … from the firms? … I think there’s going to be a strong interest to deal with the Main Street aspects.”
Appearing with him, House Republican Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio retorted: “We’ve already dealt with that, when we had the housing bill last summer. I didn’t vote for it, because it’s $300 billion bailout for scam artists and speculators and others around the housing industry. But there are a lot of tools in there to help the Federal Housing Administration deal with the foreclosure problem that’s out there. We need to rise above partisan politics … and deal with this as adults.”
If I were one of the rich, powerful evil fucks who ultimately pulled the strings of power, my goal would be to gain control of the U.S. military -- not just the U.S. printing presses.
My feeling, FWIW (which may not be much), is that 4 years from now Americans will call this period of time the good old days.
A scant 2 months ago Paulson said the financial system was sound. McSame says the economy is fundamentally sound.
Suddenly, we are on the brink of total collapse.
Paulson, Bernanke, Bush, McSame...liars all.
Goes to show how INCOMPETENT Paulson and Helicopter Ben are. Par for the course for this dictator...er..administration, however.
Now that we'll help foreign banks, where's our cut?
VietVet8666 @ 33:
The last "good old day" was Monday, October 28, 1929.
The problem is, if rich people pay, they will no longer be rich. But, if poor people pay for it, they will still be poor.
VietVet8666 @ 33:
Well if you control the money you control the military... Pretty said the US people don't control US money...
The dems have to step up. Bush/Cheney are not to be trusted. They are the reason we are in this mess. Republicans want to bleed the middle class one more time. Last chance to milk America in a big way. Republican/evangelicals will make it political of course. The usual bs about it has to happen now on our terms or you are unpatriotic. I wouldn't trust anyone in that administration with a penny. Take back our country. Say no to Bush/Cheney.
Now that we have started another cold war with Russia, lets see if they suddenly call in their notes. Look, folks, China, Russia, Europe are VERY distrustful of American government and business. China is especially burned. After capitulating to USA pressure to open markets, they are holding a massive amount of debt in US equities and notes. None of which have much value these days. There is open talk in China that the USA tricked them with junk notes. For sure, I am starting to think the people running this country are not American citizens. They behave like they are immune from not only US law but any law. They steal, cheat, lie, kill, and generally answer only to themselves. Yet there's McCain yelling about spreading more democracy in latin America- Bad timing, McDick. I think the rest of the world is starting to catch on to the shell game you guys are playing.
Just wait until President Baby Maker and her husband get into office. This will happen unless the DNC cranks up the attacks on McCain and Palin. McCain is looking so pale these days he might not last until November. Republicans are sure their disastrous tenure over the last 8 years was only because they weren't extreme enough. They are winding up to beat this dead horse even harder. Just wait till the supreme court turns over. Alito will look like the good witch next to what's coming.
I bet $700 billion (which is surely a low-ball number) would go a long way toward eliminating homeowner mortgage debt, especially debt marked to market value.
Screw Paulson. The American People are being sold a load of shit.
Is this really "socialism"-- government control of business? Or is it it fascism? ie, business control of government?
I think we're at the point where we need a new word.
B
Paulson "it pains me" that this is falling in the lap of the American taxpayers. But it will be worse later. He wants this bailout to happen "quickly". Paulson would not agree to accountability for the banking thugs. No accountability.
Paulson is the inside banking thug with a gun to our Reps and the American taxpayers heads and he holds the keys to the treasury. WTF
Donna Brazille was the only one to say "whoa what's the rush"
First time I have almost seen George Will and Donna Brazille agree.
Cokie Reberts "these CEO's should be marched down Wall street in burlap sacks"
CALL YOUR REPS TOMORROW. NO NO NO TO BLANK CHECKS
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new article up at Newsweek about the bailouts
The Captain of the Street
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160119
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Obama On Bailout: "No Blank Check" (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/obama-on-bailout-this-pla_n_128...
First, there must be no blank check when American taxpayers are on the hook for this much money.
Second, taxpayers shouldn't be spending a dime to reward CEOs on Wall Street.
Third, taxpayers should be protected and should be able to recoup this investment.
Fourth, this plan has to help homeowners stay in their homes.
Fifth, this is a global crisis, and the United States must insist that other nations join us in helping secure the financial markets.
Sixth, we need to start putting in place the rules of the road I've been calling for for years to prevent this from ever happening again.
And finally, this plan can't just be a plan for Wall Street, it has to be a plan for Main Street.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/obama-on-bailout-this-pla_n_128...
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larisa-alexandrovna/welcome-to-the-final-s...
The Last Stages of the Coup
"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."
Glen @ 22:
No, not communists. Fascists. Fascists. Fascists.
now i understand what bush meant when he said that he would be the "ceo president"! he was promising to be greedy, corrupt, arrogant, and contemptuous of ordinary, hard working americans
Just remember we're going to be bombarded with banking bull$hit all next week.
Apply some common sense:
Are they proposing something that would be illegal for me to do with my personal budget? Then don't do it.
Would I personally loan money to these banks without a clear understanding of their financial statement? Then don't do it.
Are they giving us the bum's rush? Then stall till the next President shows up.
Does it seem like I'm getting nothing for my money? Then don't do it.
Write your Senator and Congressperson - no stupid, back door, bum's rush, midnight deals with a lame duck President.
Secretary of the Treasury the inside banking man with a gun held to the head of our Reps and the American Taxpayers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson
Paulson was Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at The Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.[5] He then worked for the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon, serving as assistant to John Ehrlichman from 1972 to 1973.
He joined Goldman Sachs in 1974, working in the firm's Chicago office. He became a partner in 1982. From 1983 until 1988, Paulson led the Investment Banking group for the Midwest Region, and became managing partner of the Chicago office in 1988. From 1990 to November 1994, he was co-head of Investment Banking, then, Chief Operating Officer from December 1994 to June 1998;[7] eventually succeeding Jon Corzine (now Governor of New Jersey) as its chief executive. His compensation package, according to reports, was US$37 million in 2005, and US$16.4 million projected for 2006.[8] His net worth has been estimated at over $700 million.[8] Paulson has personally built close relations with China during his career. In July 2008 it was reported by The Daily Telegraph that: "Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has intimate relations with the Chinese elite, dating from his days at Goldman Sachs when he visited the country over 70 times."[9]
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Paulson is the guy who does not want to hold any of these CEO's accountable. Look at what his net worth is. Lott at this compensation package. This is the guy with the key to the U.S. Treasury. He wants you to go along with bailing out his pals.
Glen @ 45:
Yes, the MSM is going to do the administration's job for them, try to sell Americans on how good this bailout is for them and the disaster it would have been if they didn't have a blank check.
There is only one bright spot in all of this. We're going to be too poor to wage a bunch of sabre-rattling wars around the world. Shhh...don't tell John McCain. He'll be so disappointed.
Dear Mr. Paulson.....It pains the shit out of me that your still walking around causing untold damage to the future of this country. You and rev up the printing presses Bernanke should be thrown out on your asses and those in D.C. voting in the afirmative on your bailout plan should follow you out the door as well.
Ahh, he had me at "clogged with illiquid assets".
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 17:
nader doesn't say much of substance in that email...to my surprise...
if nader opposes the bailout, and would refuse what bush is demanding by friday, then he'd get my vote....
i've been with obama since he joined the primary contest, and have been on the ground canvassing....but if obama does not put up a good fight against the proposal bush put forth this weekend, my vote might go to daffy duck
The U.S. Treasury is about to be robbed and Paulson is the inside gun man. Look at that guys net worth.
In the New World Order, the good old boys network knows no national boundaries. Their lack of patriotism exposed at last!
This is the point in time where the faithful stop waiting for the wealth to trickle down and watch it all get sucked up.
Oh, well. There are too many poor people in the world already, all adding to the pollution. Feed them and they only reproduce.
Maybe the meltdown is all part of a master plan to get rid of pollution and global warming with no profit loss on the part of Exxon. Then the profiteers can breathe freely and the human race can move forward.
Soon the survivors will fight each other with private armies to see who wins the final game of Monopoly. What then? Redestribute the worthless toy money and start again?
Does anyone think this will work? Does anyone think we aren't going to crash after this move?
Glenn Greenwald on the bailout (lots of updates)
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/20/bailout/index.html
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAILOUT!
This is the Bushies final FU to the American people. I don't envy Obama. He's going to inherit a real nightmare.
This guy has it all settled. He's told us, the American people, what we think, and he says we don't care, so he gets his blank check. I'm glad that's settled.
Watch This Weeks round table discussion.
Donna Brazille only person saying "what's the rush"
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek
Have to say I laugh at the 1960s radicals, whom I saw.
They thought their enemies were Johnson, his cabal of advisers, Nixon, Kissinger.
How innocent they were.
They did not grasp that all these people were front men for evil, powerful, corporate fucks.
RIP all the protests of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Maf54 @ 36:
lol
here's a very good column by robert reich on this bailout....
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/21/what_wall_street_should_...
if the democrats settle for anything less than what reich is suggesting here, then obama is toast.... i'm surprised that so many democrats like dodd and reid are jumping right into bush's lap with one little whistle....and yapping about the meltdown bush has promised, as if they really believe it...it's true this time....
i'm somewhat encouraged by what obama said today about the plan....a bit vague, but certainly not licking face like schumer and dodd and the rest of the idiots.....more in line w/sanders
i picked up this link last night. i highly recommend it. it's
interview with u of md law professor,michael greenberger
on npr.he explains very well what's been going on. he explains what's called the 'shadow financial system' complex derivative,mortgage backed securities. it basically comes down to as he puts it 'betting'.he explains phil gramm's part in this deregulation from the legislation he backed the
Commidity&Futures Modernization Act in dec. 2000.
again i highly recommend it....you won't hear this on t.v.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89338743
what would happen if in protest, every person decided not to pay taxes next april....could they toss us all in prison?
Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 63:
Uncle Joe,
It doesn't work that way. Everyone who is employed by an employer has taxes withheld from his or her paycheck.
Only independent contractors and self-employed persons are in a position to refuse to pay taxes.
These immune criminals are taking giant steps to ruin this country. We have everyday, common, ordinary, masses of people, that see the light. Yet, they are doing exactly the opposite of what the people WANT, all for their own benefit.
Has voting smartly to gain a majority rule and phone calls really worked so far?
It is a P$UEDO-DEMOCRACY, right here.
Now go check the mail to see if your "rising" insurance bill came.
Orangutan. @ 13:
I wonder why Northcom is bringing back a battalion from the U.S. Army the end of Sept. to be available in case of a "natural or MAN-MADE disaster...such as CIVIL UNREST.":
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/
Kathy in St. louis @ 48:
Ahhhhh were that only the case. Helicopter Ben has the printing presses he can use 24/7. Besides, war is always a good way to rev up the economy and keep the masses attention turned away from a collapsing political and economic system. McSame is going to love this.....
Kathleen @ 42:
Ok, wait a minute. The fact is that Obama supports the Paulsen version of the bailout despite the faux populist rhetoric. You still think he's the second coming of FDR?
Look no further than Robert Rubin (former Clinton Treasury Sec. and former CitiGroup "Senior Counselor) who is now Obama's senior econmic advisor. Rubin is the guy who urged Bubba to sign the CFMA in 2000 and was instrumental in pushing the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which garnered CitiGroup billions in profits during Rubin's reign from those shorted dirivitives that are melting down the economy right now. Plus, Obama has received about 9 million in donations from the investment banking sector.
So spare me the "Obama's on our side" meme...That won't fly.
Kathleen @ 52:
and i love how nobody questions the obvious conflict of interest here....paulson had to sell 500 million dollars worth of goldman sachs stock when he took the job as treas. secretary,
lehman and merrill can go belly up, no problem...but when it comes time for goldman to bite the dust, being next in line (as they were, check the stock price), suddenly the taxpayer has to bail out the firm that made this guy a billionaire....
and george stephy doesn't even ask if maybe its a bit awkward for paulson to ask the taxpayer to bail out the firm that made him what he is today...
furthermore, bushs chief of staff, bolten, is also a goldman boy, and was likely losing tens of millions of dollars last week (if not hundreds), as goldman shares fell from roughly 150 to 90.....
but ya see, that's the nice thing about working in the whitehouse....
astonishing
http://www.marketwatch.com/Ne