Trouble in Bank Land II
Mon, 2008-09-22 00:14
#1
Trouble in Bank Land II
Mon, 2008-09-22 00:14
#2
a continuation of [url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=13&t=004261]this thread[/url]
[url=http://www.gnn.tv/articles/3838/Our_Financial_9_11_Can_They_Save_the_Sys... 9/11: Can They Save the System?[/url]
quote:
NEW YORK — The world is holding its breath.Many know and the rest of us are just finding out that in this turbulent month of September, the U.S. is experiencing a financial 9/11, probably worse than the one in 2001, as a series of cataclysmic developments rock our economic system which is, in turn, entangled with others worldwide. Terms like “Armageddon” are now being used in polite company[b]. . .[/b]
Barack Obama has so far supported this major intervention into saving the markets that may cost taxpayers a trillion dollars or more although he wants to consult with other countries on what to do.
Much of our media has ignored international fears as this crisis ripples globally. China has already called the crisis a “financial tsunami” and called for a new non-US based currency system[b]. . .[/b]
This crisis is hardly over.
Listen to economist Nouriel Roubini who has been on target in most of his forecasts,
He predicts, according to financial writer Felix Salmon, [b]“Credit losses of $2 trillion, half the US banking system nationalized, municipal defaults, house price declines accelerating, a sudden stop in consumer spending, global contagion, stagflation, you name it.”[/b]
Mon, 2008-09-22 03:32
#3
Thanks for failing, here's $2.5 billion!
quote:
Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (Ј1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.The revelation sparked fury among the workers' former colleagues, Lehman's 5,000 staff based in London, who currently have no idea how long they will go on receiving even their basic salaries, let alone any bonus payments. It also prompted a renewed backlash over the compensation culture in global finance, with critics claiming that many bankers receive pay and rewards that bore no relation to the job they had done.
[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/fury-at-25bn-bonus-for-l... wish I were so well-compensated for screwing up, I'd make mistakes on purpose![/url]
Mon, 2008-09-22 06:35
#4
I wonder what these unfettered powers might be?
Quote: "Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress, began to swap proposals with the
Treasury, including suggested checks on the nearly unfettered power the administration sought for the Treasury secretary.
"Democrats believe a responsible solution should include independent oversight, protections for homeowners, and constraints on excessive executive compensation," said California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives."
Taken from this news item:
[url=http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080922/n_business_reuters/business_fi...
Mon, 2008-09-22 06:45
#5
ElizaQ
They referring to Section 8 of Bush and Co.'s proposed bill.
quote:
Sec. 8. Review.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
Which translates into giving one guy the SEC, total and absolute power to distribute the money whatever way he wants with no oversight from anyone, legal or elected.
It's a total and unabashed power grab by the neo-cons.
Mon, 2008-09-22 11:02
#6
News for Obama: this so called crisis is a scam!
Let the banks go belly up!
Spend the $700 billion on health care, education and
guaranteed incomes for all Americans. Build those wind farms in the coastal waters which could generate three times the US' total energy requirement, replace all of the internal combustion engines with electric motors and batteries, populate our cities with podcars...
All this and much, more urgently needed right now could be done with a fraction of what they "leaders" of America are currently proposing to pay the hedgefund operators...
It's a collossal , suicidal joke...
[ 22 September 2008: Message edited by: blackhand9 ]
Mon, 2008-09-22 11:13
#7
ElizaQ
[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/dirty-secret-of-the-bailo_n_128... Secret of the Bailout: Thirty two words that none dare utter.[/url]
quote:
A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that's so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one's hair on fire.
------------------
n short, the so-called "mother of all bailouts," which will transfer $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distressed assets of several failed financial institutions, will be conducted in a manner unchallengeable by courts and ungovernable by the People's duly sworn representatives. All decision-making power will be consolidated into the Executive Branch - who, we remind you, will have the incentive to act upon this privilege as quickly as possible, before they leave office. The measure will run up the budget deficit by a significant amount, with no guarantee of recouping the outlay, and no fundamental means of holding those who fail to do so accountable.Is this starting to sound familiar? Robert Kuttner cuts through much of the gloss in an article in today's American Prospect:
The deal proposed by Paulson is nothing short of outrageous. It includes no oversight of his own closed-door operations. It merely gives congressional blessing and funding to what he has already been doing, ad hoc. He plans to retain Wall Street firms as advisors to decide just how to cut deals to value and mop up Wall Street's dubious paper. There are to be no limits on executive compensation for the firms that get relief, and no equity share for the government in exchange for this massive infusion of capital. Both Obama and McCain have opposed the provision denying any judicial review of decisions made by Paulson -- a provision that evokes the Bush administration's suspension of normal constitutional safeguards in its conduct of foreign policy and national security. [...]
The differences between this proposed bailout and the three closest historical equivalents are immense. When the Reconstruction Finance Corporation of the 1930s pumped a total of $35 billion into U.S. corporations and financial institutions, there was close government supervision and quid pro quos at every step of the way. Much of the time, the RFC became a preferred shareholder, and often appointed board members. The Home Owners Loan Corporation, which eventually refinanced one in five mortgage loans, did not operate to bail out banks but to save homeowners. And the Resolution Trust Corporation of the 1980s, created to mop up the damage of the first speculative mortgage meltdown, the S&L collapse, did not pump in money to rescue bad investments; it sorted out good assets from bad after the fact, and made sure to purge bad executives as well as bad loans. And all three of these historic cases of public recapitalization were done without suspending judicial review.
Mon, 2008-09-22 12:24
#8
ElizaQ
[url=http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3932/the_700_billion_questions/]Using the Shock Doctrine:Wall Street and Washington’s wrecking crew aim to get the most expensive free lunch in American history[/url]
quote:
If a museum in the next superpower nation ever commemorates the decline of the last great superpower, it will make the two-and-a-half page bill introduced this week the center of the display.Just as they do today at the National Archives’ Declaration of Independence exhibit, tourists in the future—perhaps in Beijing, perhaps somewhere else—will line up to see a framed draft of this week’s White House legislation demanding Congress surrender its power of the purse, and give an unelected appointee—in this case, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson—the power to hand over $700 billion of taxpayer money to “any financial institution,” “without limitation…on such terms and conditions as determined by [him].” In a nation priding itself on separating powers between the branches of government, the bill explicitly states that decisions by Paulson may not even “be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”
Whether the bill passes or not, the drafting of it—even the mere thinking of it—is the single most clear sign that all of the major tenets of American democracy are on the auction block these days: from constitutional checks and balances, to legislative and judicial oversight to electoral accountability itself.
In the immediate aftermath of what could be the starting gun of a second Great Depression, the public this week will face a wave of propaganda from Washington. Using the same playbook that succeeded in passing the Patriot Act and the Iraq War authorization with almost no questions, politicians will inevitably invoke love of country, fear, loathing and red-alert emergency—all designed to ram this bill into law as fast as possible, with as little scrutiny as possible. Put in book terms, we will see Thomas Frank’s wrecking crew using Naomi Klein’s shock doctrine to justify a bigger free lunch than David Cay Johnston ever imagined.
Mon, 2008-09-22 12:30
#9
Could there have been a general repetition of the current multi-billion grab nine months ago in South Korea. Read what [url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/55a/043.html]Fred Goldstein[/url] wrote at the time:
quote:
Behind their sudden switch: World capitalists buy time
By Fred Goldstein, Workers World, 15 January 1998A funny thing happened in south Korea on the way to the "free market" as 1997 turned into 1998.
A mighty crowd of free-market oracles—on a journey to crush the south Korean government’s sinful, anti-free-market coddling of conglomerates and protection of workers from mass layoffs—took a slight detour. Suddenly they veered down the perilous road of "statism."
They found a way for the south Korean government to intervene in the economy after all: It should guarantee that the imperialist banks will be repaid the tens of billions of dollars they have loaned to south Korean banks.
United States Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Federal Reserve Board Chair Alan Greenspan, International Monetary Fund President Michel Camdessus—free marketeers all—and the commercial and investment bankers they serve were staring a south Korean default in the face. Some $15 billion in debt repayment was due by the beginning of January. Some $80 billion more is due later this year.
The banks decided they had no choice but to roll over some of these short-term loans, which could not be paid anyway. But at a price. They told the south Korean government it would have to convert all the south Korean bank’s private debt into government debt and guarantee repayment.
Now the south Korean capitalist government can sweat the debt out of the hides of the south Korean masses, through taxes.
So much for the free market.(...)
[ 22 September 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]
Mon, 2008-09-22 12:31
#10
Is it just me or does Paulson look like Dr. Evil of Austin Powers movie fame?
Mon, 2008-09-22 12:51
#11
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]Is it just me or does Paulson look like Dr. Evil of Austin Powers movie fame?[/b]
Yes!
Interesting tidbit about Paulson that I picked up elsenet.
1. Paulson was Goldman Sachs-CEO, before he became US-Secretary of the Treasury.
2. Goldman Sachs is the only invesment-bank, which not only SURVIVED last week's bloodshed, but THRIVED on it. (Question: What did GS know to thrive, while others faltered - something, that other Investment Banks apparently didn't know - and HOW AND WHEN EXACTLY did they get to know this?)
3. Paulson now suggests that the USA shall unconditionally buy toxic debt from the remaining Banks and Investment Banks - aka Goldman Sachs.
4. If that law would pass, Goldman Sachs could shed all remaining toxic debt and sell it unconditionally to the taxpayer - while only keeping the good, profitable debt in her portfolio, and thus become the Shining Star on an otherwise very dim sky.
5. Paulson had $632,000,000 in Goldman Sachs stock when he left.
And no that's not saying that dozens of others both Dems and Rebubs don't have their own connections and portfolios at stake either.
Mon, 2008-09-22 14:21
#12
ElizaQ
And now Republicans are coming out in opposition to the bailout, citing many of the same reasons that the Democrats have stated.
[url=http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/demint-opposes-wall-street-bailout-2... Opposes Bill[/url]
quote:
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said he opposes the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street investment firms, a move that could threaten swift passage of the emergency legislation.In a statement announcing his objections, DeMint did not say whether he planned to filibuster the proposal.
“After reviewing the administration's proposed bailout plan, I believe it is completely unacceptable,” DeMint, chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, said in the statement. “This plan does nothing to address the misguided government policies that created this mess and it could make matters much worse by socializing an entire sector of the U.S. economy.”
“This plan fails to oversee or regulate the government failures that led to this crisis,” DeMint added.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has pressured congressional leaders to approve the bailout as soon as possible to prevent panic from spreading across the U.S. and world financial markets.
But Paulson’s ambitious schedule may become derailed because of growing opposition from conservative Republicans and rank-and-file Democrats.
Other generally Republican voices such a Newt Gingrich and other pundits are saying the same thing and railing about it.
So basically the worlds going crazy as suddenly opposing sides are actually agreeing with each other, smack dab in the middle of an election. (Not quite together on who caused it though of course)
Interesting times..
Mon, 2008-09-22 19:11
#13
Yay for DeMint.
[url=http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10302]We Can Stop Paulson's Plunder[/url] says Dave Swanson
quote:
There does not seem to be any way we are going to avoid shelling out a major amount of money to save banks from the unregulated greed of bankers. Dean Baker and Doug Henwood and every person with any economic expertise whom I find credible predicts disaster if we don't.But, as Baker pointed out on Democracy Now! this morning, the bailout can punish those responsible rather than rewarding them. It can also be done without creating new dictatorial powers for the executive branch of our government.
Congress must reject Paulson's Plunder and enact a plan with these progressive principles from the Backbone Campaign [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img] see the several point plan), including [b]C. C. Include Main Street in the bailout and invest in a new productive economy[/b]
Service-shmervice economy. This isn't quite 1985 Chile after los Chicago boys demolished that economy, but it's close. The U.S. still has a good deal of socialism in place to absorb some of the shock. How far will they fall though?
Tue, 2008-09-23 11:24
#14
quote:
Originally posted by ElizaQ:
[b]Yes!
Interesting tidbit about Paulson that I picked up elsenet.
1. Paulson was Goldman Sachs-CEO, before he became US-Secretary of the Treasury.
2. Goldman Sachs is the only invesment-bank, which not only SURVIVED last week's bloodshed, but THRIVED on it. (Question: What did GS know to thrive, while others faltered - something, that other Investment Banks apparently didn't know - and HOW AND WHEN EXACTLY did they get to know this?)
3. Paulson now suggests that the USA shall unconditionally buy toxic debt from the remaining Banks and Investment Banks - aka Goldman Sachs.
4. If that law would pass, Goldman Sachs could shed all remaining toxic debt and sell it unconditionally to the taxpayer - while only keeping the good, profitable debt in her portfolio, and thus become the Shining Star on an otherwise very dim sky.
5. Paulson had $632,000,000 in Goldman Sachs stock when he left.
And no that's not saying that dozens of others both Dems and Rebubs don't have their own connections and portfolios at stake either.[/b]
Wow ! Good research.
I have had a feeling since Bush came into power that they are playing "as if there's no tomorrow". For example, Cheney and his "deficits don't matter statement".
One more piece of the puzzle - the Non-Borrowed Reserves graph. In order to meet reserve requirements, the banks are borrowing more, and more, and more money.
[url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BOGNONBR]http://research.stl...
[img]http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/BOGNONBR_Max_630_378.png[/img]
![http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/BOGNONBR_Max_630_378.png[/img]](http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/BOGNONBR_Max_630_378.png[/img]){kind=link}
I can see a silver lining in this. The US loses its ability to make war. Right now the ability of the US to make war partially depends on the rest of the world's willingness to loan money to the US.
What if the rest of the world said, "if US bonds are such a good deal, why don't you Americans buy them ? We've decided to take a breather on loaning you guys money."
Tue, 2008-09-23 17:15
#15
Why economists? Why not cartoonists. This plan is just another big scam to impoverish government and make the banks rich...
[img]http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/images/s03284u-th.jpg[/img]
![http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/images/s03284u-th.jpg[/img]](http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/images/s03284u-th.jpg[/img]){kind=link}
Reagan is widely lionized in the media aa the great communicator - what absurdity!
he was a total fraud and consummate liar - and like his Republican successors - he didn't care if he was caught.
[ 23 September 2008: Message edited by: blackhand9 ]
Tue, 2008-09-23 19:36
#16
[url=http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=798161]U. S. gets busy printing money[/url]
quote:
The U. S. Treasury cranked up its printing press yesterday to help the Federal Reserve extend an US$85-billion loan to American International Group Inc., the latest in hundreds and billions of dollars of government assistance that will undoubtedly end up in the lap of U. S. taxpayers.But while anxiety is rising over the United States' ability to foot the gargantuan bill for the credit crisis, analysts say the US$14-trillion U. S. economy should be able to absorb the shock.
The key risk is the threat to inflation posed by the seemingly endless expansion of the government's balance sheet if several more financial institutions go belly up.
"Clearly this will widen the deficit by quite a bit," Nariman Behravesh, chief economist of Global Insight, said at a presentation in Toronto yesterday.
"But let's be honest, the U. S. is a very, very rich country."
Translation:
Honest! Believe us! It's not really a problem if we slap an extra few hundred billion extra dollars unbacked by any need for it into the US economy!
These people have less shame than used car salespeople.
Tue, 2008-09-23 21:42
#17
M. Spector
[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-klein/now-is-the-time-to-resist_b_12... of the Shock Doctrine[/url]
quote:
The best summary of how the right plans to use the economic crisis to push through their policy wish list comes from Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich. On Sunday, Gingrich laid out [url=http://solutionsday2008.com/blog/2008/09/get-the-politicians-out-of-the-... policy prescriptions[/url] for Congress to take in order to "return to a Reagan-Thatcher policy of economic growth through fundamental reforms." In the midst of this economic crisis, he is actually demanding the repeal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which would lead to further deregulation of the financial industry. Gingrich is also calling for reforming the education system to allow "competition" (a.k.a. vouchers), strengthening border enforcement, cutting corporate taxes and his signature move: allowing offshore drilling.It would be a grave mistake to underestimate the right's ability to use this crisis -- created by deregulation and privatization -- to demand more of the same.
- Naomi Klein
Tue, 2008-09-23 21:53
#18
M. Spector
[url=http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1463341016/bctid1812185685... communism[/url] (a video)
Tue, 2008-09-23 22:57
#19
M. Spector
quote:
The Bush Administration's "anything goes, just don't get caught" attitude has set the tone for what we are witnessing today. To be sure these problems didn't start in January of 2001, but they sure were allowed to accelerate during the George W. Bush Administration.For example, what tone was set when the Administration shipped $12 billion to Paul Bremer's provisional government in Iraq in cash on wooden pallets for Iraq reconstruction? No wonder $9 billion of it was "lost." What I'm constantly reminded of is that the money didn't just vanish, somebody got it. Now it's up to us to find out who!
However, the Administration's blatant disregard for good governance, the rule of law, standards of moral and ethical conduct, and even etiquette, when coupled with a laissez-faire, "go-along-to-get-along" attitude from Congress meant that no holes were barred and no hands were on the deck--a sure prescription for disaster.
[url=http://votetruth08.com/index.php/learn/mckinney-messages/263-seizethetim... McKinney[/url]
Wed, 2008-09-24 03:52
#20
I love McKinney.
Good link, y'all.
Wed, 2008-09-24 09:12
#21
quote:
These people have less shame than used car salespeople.
If our lives are now dependent on hyper-capitalists' sense of shame, I am buying Ramen noodles by the gross.
Wed, 2008-09-24 09:15
#22
quote:
The relatively tony city of Santa Barbara has given over a parking lot to people who sleep in cars and vans.The city of Fresno, Calif., is trying to manage several proliferating tent cities, including an encampment where people have made shelters out of scrap wood.
In Portland, Ore., and Seattle, homeless advocacy groups have paired with nonprofits or faith-based groups to manage tent cities as outdoor shelters.
Other cities where tent cities have either appeared or expanded include include Chattanooga, Tenn., San Diego, and Columbus, Ohio.
[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26776283/]Nobody's bailing out the tent city people![/url]
Wed, 2008-09-24 09:17
#23
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by martin dufresne:
[b] If our lives are now dependent on hyper-capitalists' sense of shame, I am buying Ramen noodles by the gross.[/b]
I'd start stocking up. In hearings yesterday Paulson's response was the whole bailout thing was that it's 'embarassing but necessary...'
Yep Paulson, feel that shame...
Wed, 2008-09-24 09:30
#24
It's like the Depression all over again with those tent cities. [img]frown.gif" border="0[/img]
Wed, 2008-09-24 09:31
#25
M. Spector
Buying ramen noodles as a political strategy? [img]eek.gif" border="0[/img]
Even buying ramen noodles as a survival strategy is pointless - they have almost zero nutritional value.
Wed, 2008-09-24 10:01
#26
Political schmolitical... I am talking disaster strategy.
quote:
(...)On October 23, 2004, a big earthquake occurred in Niigata prefecture, northwest Japan. Many people suffered as a result of the devastating earthquake, many people lost their homes and provisions were in short supply. After watching news of the quake on television, the owner of Mennya Musashi, a ramen restaurant in Tokyo, took his staff to Niigata and offered his ramen to the people there. Ramen has since been considered as an emergency food source for disasters such as this. (Wikipedia)
Wed, 2008-09-24 10:30
#27
quote:
Originally posted by M. Spector:
[b]Buying ramen noodles as a political strategy? [img]eek.gif" border="0[/img]Even buying ramen noodles as a survival strategy is pointless - they have almost zero nutritional value.[/b]
Also, I'm pretty sure white rice and peanut butter have a higher calorie to unit currency ratio.
Wed, 2008-09-24 10:36
#28
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by 500_Apples:
[b]Also, I'm pretty sure white rice and peanut butter have a higher calorie to unit currency ratio.[/b]
Real ramen noodles aren't the same as the crappy Mr. Noodles you by in the store. Same idea with bread, crappy white bread vs real bread.
Wed, 2008-09-24 10:45
#29
I was suggesting that wheat, rice and peanut butter - not to mention fresh produce - might stop being as readily available and affordable when things get really rough and bank withdrawals become a cherished memory. (Sorry for the apparent thread drift.)
[ 24 September 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]
Wed, 2008-09-24 10:53
#30
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by martin dufresne:
[b]I was suggesting that wheat, rice and peanut butter - not to mention fresh produce - might stop being as readily available and affordable when things get really rough and bank withdrawals become a cherished memory. (Sorry for the apparent thread drift.)[ 24 September 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ][/b]
Yeah it is a bit of a drift but I'd say it does have a small connection at least. If the bank go down and the economy tanks even more I can't see how food prices aren't going to go up even more then they are now.
Wed, 2008-09-24 16:44
#31
quote:
Originally posted by Farmpunk:
[b]I love McKinney.[/b]
me too. i'd like to see a President Obama put her in charge of something major. like Attorney General, investigating the fraud that led to the current bank problems.
quote:
Originally posted by martin dufresne:
[b] If our lives are now dependent on hyper-capitalists' sense of shame, I am buying Ramen noodles by the gross.[/b]
On a dare, I ate earthworms after a friend talked about "eating leaves, worms, and dirt" in the situation of a major economic contraction. they're really not that bad. of course, i used a spoonful of honey to help wash them down.
In retrospect, what I did seems cruel. I took a class in composting and happened to have a colony of redworms & a colony of earthworms on the patio.
Wed, 2008-09-24 17:11
#32
George Bush is sounding more pathetic than usual tonight.
Wed, 2008-09-24 17:16
#33
From the last link in the Wall Street Socialism thread...
quote:
At the regulatory level, financial enterprises are granted the privilege, and not the right, to practice banking and financial intermediation. Their license should be revocable if they indulge in unsafe banking. This implies that many financial innovations and contracts, specifically those which are not fully understood by regulators and customers, should not be allowed. [b]Speculation should be strictly controlled both in stock, commodities, and housing markets; its main cause, namely excessive and uncontrolled credit expansion should be eliminated.[/b] Without fundamental reforms, financial instability is here to stay and economic agony will persist.
Truest words ever written, and by US standards, positively revolutionary!
Wed, 2008-09-24 17:39
#34
Frustrated Mess
I'm sure most have you have seen this by now, but it is hilarious and even made the [url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/23/mocking_the_bailou... Post[/url] in its entirety.
quote:
Dear American:I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to [email protected] so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
Wed, 2008-09-24 17:43
#35
quote:
Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
[b]I'm sure most have you have seen this by now, but it is hilarious and even made the [url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/23/mocking_the_bailou... Post[/url] in its entirety.
[/b]
That's very clever [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Wed, 2008-09-24 18:38
#36
ElizaQ
Bush speech was beyond pathetic. Waiting for a transcript to come up.
The synopsis though. Crisis, crisis, calamity, fear, fear, must act now, fear, fear and oh by the way the people at fault here are all the homeowners that got loans they couldn't afford, they broke America...Give me..er I mean us money so we can fix their mistake.
I don't think he even used the words 'wall street.'
Wed, 2008-09-24 18:46
#37
The Russians are reporting that President Bush will declare an economic emergency the week of Oct.5. He will then tell the American people that the presidential election has been suspended indefinitely.
Wed, 2008-09-24 19:40
#38
Source please.
Wed, 2008-09-24 19:54
#39
I read this on thecrit.com/2008/09/24 russians leak secret bush report.
Democracy Now (Amy Goodman) is reporting that the U.S. army is mobilizing the 3rd infantry for 'domestic emergencies' on Oct. 1.
Wed, 2008-09-24 20:22
#40
ElizaQ
I've come across a couple of stories of them being recalled.
[url=http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/]Army Times[/url]
quote:
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.
But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.
Thu, 2008-09-25 00:05
#41
[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2445677020080924]Canada PM rejects Merrill housing-market warning[/url]
Right. And so exactly why are we having an election, Steve Harper?
Thu, 2008-09-25 05:18
#42
I have nothing to ad to what the writer of this letter to the editor said.
[url=http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/503888]http://www.thestar.com/com...
quote:
LETTER TO THE EDITORSep 23, 2008
Re:Bush lays out $700 billion rescue plan
Sept. 21What we have on Wall Street now is the death of a religion called free-market capitalism. Now Adam Smith's "invisible hand" is picking the public pocket and making off with the public purse. There is no talk of "getting government out of the way." Far from it. Government is going to stand guard on private enterprise for many years to come. Far from being free, these enterprises have cost the public more than the Iraq war. The real terrorists, as it turns out, are on Wall St.
Michael Callaghan, Toronto
[ 25 September 2008: Message edited by: mahmud ]
Thu, 2008-09-25 06:32
#43
M. Spector
quote:
Originally posted by Farmpunk:
[b]I love McKinney.[/b]
quote:
Originally posted by SwimmingLee:
[b]me too. i'd like to see a President Obama put her in charge of something major. like Attorney General, investigating the fraud that led to the current bank problems.[/b]
Me, too. I'd like to see a President McKinney put Obama in charge of something major. Like the cleanup of US nuclear waste sites.
Thu, 2008-09-25 08:17
#44
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b]a continuation of [url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=13&t=004261]this thread[/url][url=http://www.gnn.tv/articles/3838/Our_Financial_9_11_Can_They_Save_the_Sys... 9/11: Can They Save the System?[/url]
[/b]
Given that the US is so often a Bad Neighbor, maybe there is a silver lining, that will come at a terrible cost - the "System" won't be saved, and the US will have to start closing down military bases.
Thu, 2008-09-25 10:44
#45
quote:
Originally posted by SwimmingLee:
[b]Given that the US is so often a Bad Neighbor, maybe there is a silver lining, that will come at a terrible cost - the "System" won't be saved, and the US will have to start closing down military bases.[/b]
It makes me wonder. Since the 1970's regime of floating exchange rates and petro/U.S. dollar recycling, the rest of the world has essentially financed U.S. debt and U.S. imperialism. That system could be in trouble now with China and Saudis balking at buying more U.S. debt or investing in minority shares of U.S. banks and dollars. Their largest budget expenditure every year is military. They need massive amounts of oil and fuel to keep the imperial armadas and squadrons of bombers and jets in motion, and massive amounts of other imports to keep the whole false and unsustainable ecomomy rolling along. What cannot go on forever will not, as someone once said. The financial system is predatory and requires a beefed-up military to enforce the imperialist system. Would some other country(EU nations? Russia?) simply takeover the duties as imperial enforcer nation and centre of world finance? Or will it become a multi-polar world with no one country the dominant economic or miltary power?
Thu, 2008-09-25 11:01
#46
I think Merrill is more likely to be correct.
I had a surreal conversation with a financial advisor a couple of months ago.
I was winding up things with him and we got to talking about how much shares and housing prices would drop.
I said I thought houses would drop 10 or 15%
He seemed to think they would drop a lot more.
Lots of people have used their houses as a source of funds to finance their daily lives and I guess the financial advisors see how naked people are in their giant houses.
They might have big houses but little equity left!
Now bambi and all his offspring are coming home to roost.
The merril report says that we are in as bad or a worse position than those in the US.
I see no reason to disbelieve them.
Harper is probably trying to hold off the truth till after the election when he will have dictatorial powers.
quote:
Originally posted by Fidel:
[b][url=http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2445677020080924]Canada PM rejects Merrill housing-market warning[/url]Right. And so exactly why are we having an election, Steve Harper?[/b]
Thu, 2008-09-25 11:19
#47
Here goes [url=http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USPEK16693720080925]nothin....
quote:
China banks told to halt lending to US banks-SCMP
Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:52pm EDTBEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions to prevent possible losses during the financial crisis, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.
The Hong Kong newspaper cited unidentified industry sources as saying the instruction from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) applied to interbank lending of all currencies to U.S. banks but not to banks from other countries.
"The decree appears to be Beijing's first attempt to erect defences against the deepening U.S. financial meltdown after the mainland's major lenders reported billions of U.S. dollars in exposure to the credit crisis," the SCMP said.
A spokesman for the CBRC had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Alan Wheatley and Langi Chiang; editing by Ken Wills)
[ 25 September 2008: Message edited by: martin dufresne ]
Thu, 2008-09-25 11:34
#48
ElizaQ
Martin, after that Reuters story came out there were a couple of others that appeared where the Chinese actually denied it.
I'm trying to find the links.
In discussion around it there is speculation that that the Chinese may be applying 'diplomatic' pressure to get the bailout passed and 'leaking' different info to various news sources.
edited to add link:
[url=http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE48O2PZ20080925]China denies it[/url]
[ 25 September 2008: Message edited by: ElizaQ ]
Thu, 2008-09-25 12:23
#49
Boom Boom
McCain is getting hammered by the pundits on CNN for "playing politics with the nation's deepening financial crisis", and last night Letterman tore McCain a new one. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2008-09-25 13:31
#50
Boom Boom
Breaking news from CNN at the White House meeting: a conservative Republican study group has proposed rejecting this $700 billion bailout using taxpayer's money, and instead using $700 billion of [b]private[/b] money, because there are profits to be made from American's misery. And McCain appears to be supporting this 11th hour proposal. Bush, Obama, Pelosi, and others, are said to be flabbergasted at this turn of events. Secretary Paulson hasn't seen the proposal yet so can not comment. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img]
Thu, 2008-09-25 13:32
#51
ElizaQ
quote:
Originally posted by Boom Boom:
[b]McCain is getting hammered by the pundits on CNN for "playing politics with the nation's deepening financial crisis", and last night Letterman tore McCain a new one. [img]biggrin.gif" border="0[/img] [/b]
Yep Letterman is a classic. Well worth the watch
[url=http://beltwayblips.com/video/letterman_mccain_s_no_show/]Letterman No-show[/url]
For those that can't watch the video basically McCain cancelled at the very last minute citing the economic crisis, that he was suspend his campaign how he had to run back to Washington.
Then during the taping Letterman found out that no actually he lied about going to Washington.
some quotes:
"In the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview where McCain was getting his makeup put on and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"
Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."
"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?"
"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"
Oh and also the whole "I'm suspending my campaign" is bogus. Some ads were pulled and a couple of events cancelled but that is it. Both he and Palin did campaign stuff today,his surrogates were on the air on all the nettworks doing their thing and all the campaign offices open.