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.

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...

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!!!!!!!!!!

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

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!!

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.

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.

Where are all the free market trollees.

Why are they not up in arms.

Those socialist bastards.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"Illiquid Assets."

Don't you just love the '1984' Newspeak???

-Freedom is Slavery
-War is Peace
-illiquid Assets are Valuble

superdude @ 23:

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.

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.

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.”

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?

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.

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.

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.

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
--------------------------------------------------------------
new article up at Newsweek about the bailouts
The Captain of the Street
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160119
----------------------------------------------------------------

Please wait, your request is processed...
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...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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."

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

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]

--------------------------------------------------------------

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.

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.

Ahh, he had me at "clogged with illiquid assets".

The U.S. Treasury is about to be robbed and Paulson is the inside gun man. Look at that guys net worth.

Does anyone think this will work? Does anyone think we aren't going to crash after this move?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAILOUT!

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.

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.

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

Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 63:

what would happen if in protest, every person decided not to pay taxes next april....could they toss us all in prison?

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.

Orangutan. @ 13:

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.

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/

Kathleen @ 42:

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.

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.

"If you've got nothing to hide..."

This should all be extremely transparent, and with pre-condtions on salary caps, retirement packages, and any other perks and bonuses. If you want a hand-out here is our list of cost-cutting measures you must comply with, or no deal. This should be published in newspapers, just as stockholders get company reports.

As it is, it's a GIFT to the bankers, to keep it up.

In addition to Paulson having sole control over where our money goes, the number of 700 Billion is not a hard number, meanng it is not written in the language of the bill anywhere that the limit is 700 billion. It reads as though each incident or crisis, (to be determined and (unreviewable), by Paulson alone has a maximum of 700 billion, but leaves open the possibility that there could be additional incidents or crisis that Paulson may determine tax payer money (up to 700 billion) is warranted.

This is the mother of all money grabs by the thugs that have been stealing from us for 8 years. They are going to line their pockets as much as they can on t heir way out the door and leave Obama with a debt that will prohibit any of his (our) policiy proposals. Forget healthcare, social security, medicare etc. We will be paying for these thieves lucrative retirement for generations if it doesn't finally kill our country.

here's a easy one page read: foreclosure phil in mother jones.
it offers some explaination on what phil gramm pulled here.
i find it interesting that the administration has to move this quickly.
i believe phil gramm should be revealed more. so that media
realizes we know more about this then they think. personally i
feel it's more politicization.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html

VietVet8666 @ 60:

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.

I don't know that I would laugh at them. You might still be in Vietnam now. You know for 100 years, with a fortrees embassy in Hanoi.

Johnny2Bad @ 68:

Kathleen @ 42:

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.

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.

false-- obama does not support the paulson bailout....you are making stuff up like mccain....

Friday, he said he'd wait and see;, and today he said he doesn't support it as it was presented (in 3 pages)

don't tell me j2b you've gone from supporting an adultering liberal hillbilly to an adultering traiterous liar like mccain?

you can't just make stuff up about obama because you just don't like the guy, and think he sat through all those sermons you watched on fox....

yeah, rubins is on his team, as well as a couple other guys that shouldn't be, and were complicit..... that doesn't make him pro-paulson, and my defending him against your lies doesn't mean i think he's the second coming of anything...

Have all the Republicans turned into Commie Pinkos over night?

------------------

No, they have gone into money laundering, using the tax payer for cover.

ohio progressive @ 78:

Johnny2Bad @ 68:

Kathleen @ 42:

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.

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.

false-- obama does not support the paulson bailout....you are making stuff up like mccain....

Friday, he said he'd wait and see;, and today he said he doesn't support it as it was presented (in 3 pages)

don't tell me j2b you've gone from supporting an adultering liberal hillbilly to an adultering traiterous liar like mccain?

you can't just make stuff up about obama because you just don't like the guy, and think he sat through all those sermons you watched on fox....

yeah, rubins is on his team, as well as a couple other guys that shouldn't be, and were complicit..... that doesn't make him pro-paulson, and my defending him against your lies doesn't mean i think he's the second coming of anything...

My "lies"? "...make stuff up..."??

Paleeze.

"Calling the market upheaval one of the most serious in the nation’s history, Barack Obama said Friday that the Treasury and the Federal Reserve must receive “as broad authority as necessary” to restore stability to the financial system. Following a meeting with economic advisers here, Obama said he supports efforts by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke to work with Congress on a rescue plan."

Next.

Ron.j @ 80:

Have all the Republicans turned into Commie Pinkos over night?

------------------

No, they have gone into money laundering, using the tax payer for cover.

i think a lot of folks, including many in congress, were overinvested, and just want to see their stocks go back up, and they'll do whatever they're told as long as there's promise that stocks might rally...

pelosi lost half a million on AIG alone

Kerry lost 2 million in AIG

they were probably losing lots more......

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSEtGBXG0C0s&refer=w...

Uncle Joe Mccarthy @ 63:

what would happen if in protest, every person decided not to pay taxes next april....could they toss us all in prison?

that's exactly what i was thinking. and as a market crash soon - maybe that's why the are pushing this " get er done" quick meme - they now the shit hasnt hit the fan yet and want every lil thing they can get the hands on now -

and all the facts about prescott and that bunch is some scary, scary shit. GOD - maybe the whole election process is a total farce and they put sara in there knowing we'd all be distracted and playing their game while behind closed doors they are planning the distruction of us all. you know they have bunkers somewhere they will put the "elite" to what it out - they'll just sit and wait. MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!! we need national walk out day on fucking wednesday - we cant wait till friday. we got 2 more days people to get the message out - NATIONAL WALK OUT/NO WORK DAY SEPTEMBER 24th and CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE

ohio progressive @ 69:

Kathleen @ 52:

The U.S. Treasury is about to be robbed and Paulson is the inside gun man. Look at that guys net worth.

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/News/Story/43xRFhd1RRlnqg1H1BkmTP4?siteid=google&dist=TNMostMailed

Perfect example of the two biggest problems with the U.S. right now:

1) The revolving door between public and private.

One day, you're the VP, the day you leave office, you're back to running the energy company you were helping finance while you were in office. Or you're running a defense company, then you're a general choosing who gets military contracts. It's wrong.

2) The complicit, ineffectual media.

Do you think anybody on the Board of Disney might have a few mil tied up in Goldman or any of the other banks? Forget the broader market, which their own stock price is buoyed by. Boy, you wouldn't want investors pulling their money out fo Disney. And Disney doesn't have military contracts at stake, but most of the handful of media conglomerates do, so they have a vested interest in not reporting or debating the war. Were these conglomerates busted up, and reporters more independent (OR FOR GOD'S SAKE, PUBLIC MEDIA WAS STRONG), we might actually get some facts, like the ones you just reported in a blog that 100 people might read.

Johnny2Bad @ 82:

ohio progressive @ 78:

Johnny2Bad @ 68:

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.

false-- obama does not support the paulson bailout....you are making stuff up like mccain....

Friday, he said he'd wait and see;, and today he said he doesn't support it as it was presented (in 3 pages)

don't tell me j2b you've gone from supporting an adultering liberal hillbilly to an adultering traiterous liar like mccain?

you can't just make stuff up about obama because you just don't like the guy, and think he sat through all those sermons you watched on fox....

yeah, rubins is on his team, as well as a couple other guys that shouldn't be, and were complicit..... that doesn't make him pro-paulson, and my defending him against your lies doesn't mean i think he's the second coming of anything...

My "lies"? "...make stuff up..."??

Paleeze.

"Calling the market upheaval one of the most serious in the nation’s history, Barack Obama said Friday that the Treasury and the Federal Reserve must receive “as broad authority as necessary” to restore stability to the financial system. Following a meeting with economic advisers here, Obama said he supports efforts by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke to work with Congress on a rescue plan."

Next.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/21/obama-on-bailout-this-Pla_n_128072.html

Maybe if we try this again you will actually read the article and learn the real truth. Go vote for Nader or Harold Stassen if you hate Obama so much.

Obana Senior Economic Advisor Robert Rubin in late January 2008:

What Meltdown?...Its just cyclical.

"A lending catastrophe has consumed homeowners, mortgage companies, and the financial system, but Robert Rubin, Citigroup's director and executive committee chair, doesn't seem particularly alarmed. He told a small crowd...that the problems now roiling the markets and forcing the Federal Reserve into a defensive posture are "all part of a cycle of periodic excess leading to periodic disruption," and that we are not in fact on the verge of a financial meltdown.

Nice prognostication, Bob.

REWRITE—Per the Rule-of-Law & God given Common-Sense—Treasury's Wall St. BAILOUT PLAN to:

Include CONTINUOUS ONGOING BICAMERAL SPECIAL COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT.

INSTALL A BIPARTISON FUND GOVERNING BOARD, preferably headed by Paul Volcker, responsible to sign off and limit each major Bailout Expenditure Initiative to be undertaken by the Treasury Secretary.

PREREQUISITE TAXPAYER EQUITY/CONTINGENT-PROFIT STAKE in exchange for EVERY Bailout purchase of tainted equities. (With Executive Summary Analysis, signed under penalty of perjury, by Treasury Secretary, declaring prospects for taxpayer profit or loss.

PROVIDE FOR APPROPRIATE COURT JURISDICTION, perhaps by Special DC Appellate Panel, with reasonable restrictions on actions in equity, consistent with the time critical, emergency nature of the Bailout Initiative.

REQUIREMENT for CORPORATE PARTICIPATION being a supplemental tax on future profits (broadly defined) until all taxpayer losses are repaid with prime rate+ interest.

Requirement any preferential treatment, which might be provided American Headquartered companies, tied with long term (10 year minimum) requirement that primary headquarters remain in U.S.

SIGNIFICANT LONG TERM ALTERNATE MINIMUM TAX requirement on all firms provided assistance.

Bipartisan Commission solely comprised of every willing Nobel Laureate Economists charged with the mission of reregulating corporate accounting standards--given that this entire meltdown is wholly traceable to instruments created for the primary purpose fictionally eliminate liabilities, thus creating fictional profits (e.g. credit default swaps).

bmw 528 @ 90:

Go vote for Nader or Harold Stassen if you hate Obama so much.

Obama voted for

1.)...patriot act re-authorization

2.)...violent radicalization homegrown terror act (hr 1955)

3.)...plenty of war money for Bush

4.)...telecom immunity

...and will probly vote for this shit too!

ohio progressive @ 51:

Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 17:

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:

William Greider put it best yesterday when he called Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's upcoming bailout of Wall Street: "All sugar for the villains, lasting pain and damage for the victims."

"As I have been saying for several months, this crisis has the potential to bring down one or both political parties, take your choice," Greider said.

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

Here is an article on Nader's position.

From that article his ten point plan:

In his prepared remarks for New York Times editors in its Washington Bureau, Nader stated: "Given the contrast between the 'free market' ideology of the Republicans and the corporate or state socialism that is their increasing practice, the time is ripe for full Congressional hearings next year on the organized power, greed and lack of regulation that is shaking the foundations of Wall Street."

Nader added, "What we need to do now is find a just way to deal with the millions of homeowners facing foreclosure and make sure that this level of financial market manipulation does not happen again."

He elaborated a 10-point plan to cool off the financial markets meltdown:

1. No bailouts without conditions and reciprocity in the form of stock warrants.

2. No more lobbying for any company that is bailed out.

3. No golden parachutes and get out of jail free cards for guilty executives.

4. No bailouts without public hearings.

5. Reduce the moral hazard in U.S. mortgage markets by introducing covered bonds for the majority of mortgage products as they do in Western Europe. That gives institutions that finance mortgages an incentive to be prudent, because they cannot just unload them and wipe their hands clean of the liability, but are instead on the hook if the homeowner defaults.

6. Maintain neighborhood stability and housing security by passing a law with a sunset clause allowing below median-value homeowners facing foreclosure the right to rent-to-own their homes at fair market value rates.

7. Avoid future housing bubbles by removing implicit government guarantees for new mortgages that exceed thresholds of greater than 15-20 times the annual fair market rent value of the home.

8. Make the Federal Reserve a Cabinet Position, so it is accountable to Congress, as well as making sure all Federal Reserve Bank presidents are appointed by the President and answerable to congress.

9. Reduce conflicts of interest by taking away power for auditor and rating agency selection from companies and placing it in the hands of the SEC to be administered on random assignment.

10. Implement a securities speculation tax, starting with derivatives to deter casino-style capitalism.

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 doesn't scare you then you are an idiot!

As the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, Barack Obama needs to present his alternative bail-out plan tomorrow.

He needs to tell the Democratic leadership in Congress what he, as our next president, requires on the first day in office, not what the lame-duck, criminal Republican President Bush wants.

We already know that Bush's plan will bail-out the few at the expense of the rest of us, with no guarantees put in place (regulations) that might just stop this from happening again.

So, Barack Obama, if he doesn't want to be handed a pig in the poke after being inaugurated in January, needs to make quite clear what specific "Main Street" provisions MUST be in any bail-out bill up for consideration.

Furthermore, by offering his own bail-out proposal tomorrow, Barack Obama would be showing that he isn't "just another George W. Bush." Which would make John McCain highly uncomfortable especially if McCain doesn't offer his own bail-out proposal tomorrow, showing that McCain IS "just another George W. Bush."

Barack Obama isn't just running against McCain and the corrupt Republican machine, he's running against the last eight years of the most corrupt and criminal administration in American history, the Bush/Cheney administration.

By offering his own "Main Street" bail-out proposal, Barack Obama can take the initiative away from the criminal Republicans while painting McCain and Palin into a corner, along with all the other criminal Republicans who've done so much damage to our democracy.

And the Democratic leadership will have a choice: either side with Barack Obama, backing his "Main Street" bail-out proposal, which will still help the scofflaws on Wall Street, but without giving away our nation's bank to them, and the future of our nation's children...or side with the criminal Bush proposal (which no doubt John McCain and Sarah Palin support, no questions asked).

And a suggested new campaign slogan for Democrats:

F**k the Republicans before the Republicans f**k all of us again, including our nation's children.

On TV today someone said that the bailout was needed to be rid of the bad morgages. SO someone answer this for me. We, the taxpayer is going to reimburse the banks and insurance companies for the morgages that people defaulted on.

What I want to know is who then will own the houses in default? Will they go back to the bank. Remember, we the people have paid off those morgages with this bailout. Will the companies be able to resell them and gain more money. This is what I can't understand. I realize that if all the banks crash we will have pretty bad trouble. But it does not see fair that the bank gets the money and gets to keep the houses also.

In our area there is a website that lists houses sold. Well I did not check them all but there were 25 houses worth from about 50,000 to about 150,000 sold to someone for 500 dollars each. We went and checked the homes and some were gorgeous. HOW CAN THE BE SOLD FOR THAT AND WHO IS ALLOWED TO BUY THEM AND NO ONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

They are still screwing the public and our elected officials are letting them get away with it.

"Many of the same economists and opinion-makers who'd provided a bipartisan sheen of consensus to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's previous moves have quickly began casting doubts on the wisdom of a policy that would allow Treasury to purchase without oversight hundreds of billions of dollars of difficult-to-price assets from financial institutions." 9/22

Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 98:

ohio progressive @ 51:

Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 17:

We need Nader in the debates so someone can ask the tough questions. So there is some of reality check.

Here is an article on Nader's position.

He elaborated a 10-point plan to cool off the financial markets meltdown:

1. No bailouts without conditions and reciprocity in the form of stock warrants.

2. No more lobbying for any company that is bailed out.

3. No golden parachutes and get out of jail free cards for guilty executives.

4. No bailouts without public hearings.

5. Reduce the moral hazard in U.S. mortgage markets by introducing covered bonds for the majority of mortgage products as they do in Western Europe. That gives institutions that finance mortgages an incentive to be prudent, because they cannot just unload them and wipe their hands clean of the liability, but are instead on the hook if the homeowner defaults.

6. Maintain neighborhood stability and housing security by passing a law with a sunset clause allowing below median-value homeowners facing foreclosure the right to rent-to-own their homes at fair market value rates.

7. Avoid future housing bubbles by removing implicit government guarantees for new mortgages that exceed thresholds of greater than 15-20 times the annual fair market rent value of the home.

8. Make the Federal Reserve a Cabinet Position, so it is accountable to Congress, as well as making sure all Federal Reserve Bank presidents are appointed by the President and answerable to congress.

9. Reduce conflicts of interest by taking away power for auditor and rating agency selection from companies and placing it in the hands of the SEC to be administered on random assignment.

10. Implement a securities speculation tax, starting with derivatives to deter casino-style capitalism.

I like that plan. Robert Reich had a few of those points in his column. I don't like the new tax idea (speculators did not get us into this mess, but that's another thread)

I expect the democrats to adopt most of it, and am hopeful they will.

If they don't, perhaps this will be Nader's shining moment, and Obama's undoing (Maybe obama'll live up to your rewrite on his name)....i don't think he will....

should be a very interesting week, (if you're not long stocks and keep your money out of money markets)

Is the Wall Street Bailout Plan Another GOP Ripoff of American Working Families? What Difference do Tax Breaks Make, When Working Families Will Pay Out More than $7,000 Each to Bail Out Wealthy Financial Entities and Share Holders Who Blew It and Should Pay the Consequences?

Paulson Plays the Economic Shock Doctrine Card to Try and Enrich Wall Street at the Expense of Average Americans. If the Bush Admininstration Didn't See this Coming and It Only Became a Trillion Dollar Crisis This Past Week, the Entire Administration Should Resign Due to Malfeasance. 9/22

ConcernedCanuck @ 108:

milquetoast @ 96:

bmw 528 @ 90:

Go vote for Nader or Harold Stassen if you hate Obama so much.

Obama voted for

1.)...patriot act re-authorization

2.)...violent radicalization homegrown terror act (hr 1955)

3.)...plenty of war money for Bush

4.)...telecom immunity

...and will probly vote for this shit too!

He has already publicly stated he supports this. So has Plastic Barbie Pelosi.

Not so, not so...

indeed, obama has already stated he OPPOSES the plan as put forth by paulson yesterday, but will work together with congress on a compromise.

as Nader has done, obama needs to put forth his own plan very fast....more stringent than the one he laid out today (in opposition, i repeat, to paulsons plan)

even Nader agrees that something needs to be done.

beautiful chart in the NYT business section, mid page on this link, says multimedia "The Shareholders at the Top", with a graph of all these rich jerks the taxpayers are supposed to bail out to save themselves.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html

You are all being robbed. It doesnt matter repug or demo. The gangsters will not listen to you. They don`t take their orders from you. Please stop kidding yourselves.

I have seen this movie before.

It was called "Caved".

They will protest, get the lobbyist money and cave.

Its a done deal in the Senate.

Lobbyists will be spending big on this one. There was no oversight due to lobbyist influence.

Funny, we know they are the problem but nobody proposes to ban them.

Until then "Caved" will be the only movie playing in Washigton over and over again.

"Protect the system"???

If it's the wrong system, why protect it?

What if the American people don't want to protect the system. What then?

I am strongly opposed to the Treasury’s financial bailout proposal; in fact, I AM OUTRAGED. Read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine to understand what our government is doing to its citizens.

The American taxpayer should not bear the burden of saving mortgage lenders and Wall Street financial institutions. Increasing our federal debt by $700B to bail out these institutions and their billionaire CEO’s and millionaire managers is not a responsible government action. As the proposal is written, there is no limit on their current or future salaries, stock options and bonuses. They need to be held responsible and not rewarded for their greed. A good starting point for a financial recovery plan would be to rescind their bonuses for the past five years.

Section 8 of the proposal reads…”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.” This is unconstitutional. It is granting unimaginable powers to the Bush administration. We heard a similar plea and it led us into the war in Iraq. The American people have already seen the incompetent abuse of power by this Administration. Now, they are asking for sweeping domestic power. Impeachment is a better option for what the Bush administration had done to our Constitution.

One must ask how this $700B bailout proposal is going make a stronger, more competitive America. It appears the Treasury Department is going to buy risky mortgage from the debt-ridden financial institutions and later sell them at a profit. Many of these mortgages are upside-down now due to financial greed and the real estate bubble. Haven’t we got better options for $700B of national debt including capital to develop a world-leading renewable energy economy or retooling Detroit and holding them responsible to producing the next generation of cars that average 40 mpg. Both of these options will create jobs and help in solving our energy crisis.

Paulsen doesn't care about the American taxpayer!

Apparently, after the bail out, the bogus plan gives the devalued property and notes to Government to sell off to recoup some of the money. Oh yeah, I am sure that will be all done on the up and up. Another boondoggle because probably the same fucks will handle that operation at massive bureaucratic costs. Fire sale prices for friends and family who just happen to have an unlimited credit line all of a sudden. Remember the terror tactic is to implant the fear that Social Security and all the rest is in jeopardy if you do not sign on the dotted line. Fuck-em call their bluff, let them go under.

Ruthless People @ 1:

The Socialist Republicans are for Socializing Wall Street and socializing the banks with your money. You, you're on your own.

Now that's bumper sticker material!

Both the DJIA and the price of gold skyrocketed late last week... or, did the value of the US dollar plummet?

Time for a Constitutional Convention

If Congress approves anything remotely resembling this package, we need to pursue means for peaceful revolution that our Constitution gives us that are more radical than biennial elections throwing out the bums. The bums have figured out how to game the system already in place to give themselves better security against being thrown out than the Politburo under Soviet Communism ever attained to. We need to change the system out from under them.

Yes, 2/3 of them would have to agree to get the ball rolling. But if they'll agree to a $700billion blank check, won't they thereby have already abdicated? Will it really require much public pressure to get them to just take the smal further step and abdicate in name as well as in fact? We'll give them the Baby Doc treatment. They can get on a plane for the Riviera. But they have to get on that plane, all of them (with exceptions only as approved by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with voting for this relief package, or either AUMF, or the USA Patriot Act, or the MCA, or FISA "reform", putting reprieve beyond even the Commission), and never return to this country that they have raped, pillaged, burned, and now, intend to urinate all over.

But, oh my God, shouldn't we be in mortal terror of a runaway convention? This is what we always hear against the convention method of amending the Constitution, that such a convention could rip up the founding document, and run off in who knows what direction, untrammeled by any checks or balances. Well, guess what! That's exactly what we're seeing right now, but without even the acknowledgement that this relief package is the extra-constitutional measure that it clearly is. We could pick a thousand names at random out of the phonebook to make up this convention and have them run the country free of checks and balances, and that would be far preferable to letting the Great God Paulson, or any of this group of proven fools and knaves, have their unchecked way with us any longer.

It's like that class warfare the Right is always accusing us of wanting to wage, when actually we have disarmed and they're the ones who have been waging unanswered class war on us for a generation. The revolution began two generations ago, from the Right. No one likes to call it that, and we have got by until now without being forced to admit that we're not a republic anymore, by pretending that secret government, emergency government, presidential government, all these bypasses of Congressional supremacy and public governence, only applied to the military, or intelligence gathering, or, well, yes, foreign affairs as a whole. But domestically, domestically, that's different. For domestic policy and the budget, Congress is in charge. We will have government of, by, and for the people, and conduct the people's business in public by the collective decision of the people's representatives -- for domestic affairs. Except now we see that you can't really compartmentalize the two. A financial crisis presents the same temptation to let the president's men handle it all behind closed doors. Give in to that temptation, and we've reached a point where we're not even pretending anymore to conduct even domestic policy in public, for the publc, by the people's representatives. This is just the final step in that revolution that has, bloodlessly (well, yes, plenty of people have died to make the national security state happen -- but mostly foreigners!), replaced a highly imperfect, but at least functional, republic, with an elected dictatorship. We're not getting our republic back without fighting back against this revolution, without reversing it with a counter-revolution.

Paulson is a lying sack of shit. You watch, we are not going to get any protection, the higher cost of goods will crush us, the dollar is worth nothing. How the hell is that protecting us?

All that Paulson and company did is blame people for wanting a house. It's the borrowers' faults that they wanted a home of their own. I fear that this is a coup. The executive branch is getting more powers again.

Hey why not ? There's plenty of money to go around , just borrow more from China ! What's the problem ? Let's see if the Dems are going to make a stand and insist that the F'ers who caused this mess pay or if as usual we " peasants and commoners " get the bill ! Ironic isn't it ? The USSR is now capitalist Russia and we are about to become the USSA , socialists . Absolutely incredible that this election is close and that even now there are so many supporting the Republicans , McCain and Sarah the Moose Hunter , absolute IDIOTS ! It may already be too late and beyond remedy at this point but if McCain some how wins , God help us . Bin Laden can retire and Kick back and watch now , he has the Republicans and a whole lot of ignorant dumb ass Americans working for him ( Bill Clinton did his part too ) .

Let it burn. We will build something better in its place.

The financial people do not live in a reality-based world, despite their frothing protestations to the contrary. We don't need them. We don't pay attention to the lessons of history, every now and then we need a refresher course on what is important and how to be productive members of society. Just like the addicts sitting around the gaming tables at a casino, the Wall Street people SWEAR that they understand the game better than the house does and they have a secret method no one else has figured out that makes it a snap to win the game, and all they need to hit it big is just another $20. The solution is always just one more chance, just another $20, it HAS to work this time, I promise!

NO. You need help. You are addicted to a fantasy of shuffling imaginary numbers around, and thinking something real will come out the other side. Stop it. You sound exactly like a World of Warcraft addict talking about gold farming and 'leveling up' your Dwarf Mage Hermaphrodite so you can be ready for that big raid everyone has been talking about...

Paulson is trying to grab the money and give it to his ilk as fast as possible, just like Bush and his neocon handlers rushed the country into an unnecessary war, becuse he doesn't have much time left (unless McCain wins).

All of what has transpired in the last eight years is what one would expect to happen with morally bankrupt people in charge of the country. And what will unfold in the next four years, if McCain wins, will be what one would expect from secretive and vindictive con artists, trying to convince the country that they are something they are not (a regulator and reformer). And this is coming from someone who voted for Reagan (once) and Bush's father (once).

I say let 'em fail. Once the bailout happens, dubya owns us lock, stock and barrell. What American can be proud of this country?

TERM LIMITS FOR EVERYBODY...THEY ALL GO AT THE END OF 4 YEARS.If they only had 4 years they would have to do the peoples work and not mess around trying to get re elected.

And another thing...why are we the taxpayers going to give these people who are the cause of this mess their million dollar plus salaries. I think we ought to take what they have, sell it and add it to the pot.

Paulson is the fox guarding the hen house. The American taxpayers are about to be plucked

The takeover of our democratic republic is now complete and overt. You have your shadow government before you in these central bankers. The need no congressional approval....they are the law. Its over folks. Sheeple unite...bahhh bahhh bahhh.