Bail Out People Before Bankers

posted by Peter Rothberg on 09/23/2008 @ 7:03pm

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Economists are widely panning Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's bailout package for lacking appropriate regulatory mechanisms to prevent another future crisis; for not providing homeowner relief; for richly rewarding corporate executives for their failure and for neglecting to provide meaningful oversight over how the aid is distributed.

This whole mess has given lie to the free market and called into question virtually the entire basis of late capitalist economic organization. The Feds are propping up stock prices, directing buyouts, nationalizing private industries and subsidizing crooks and swindlers who already made a killing off the mortgage bubble.

The Fed and Treasury are right to take steps to avert this disaster but the use of taxpayer money to exclusively prop up and reward the rich while the needs of everyone else are written off as too costly is both morally unacceptable and, to quote conservative economist Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago School of Business, "will undermine the fundamental workings of the capitalist system."

While there is an urgency to put a bailout program in place, there are several important issues that Congress should address as part of the process. As economist Dean Baker has outlined on TPM, there are some very clear principles that could guide a bailout and a restructuring of the financial system.

A coalition of grassroots groups, including Credo Mobile, Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice and MoveOn.org are planning to express their opposition to Paulson's bailout plan and call for those clear principles this Thursday, September 25 in a rally and march at 4:00pm near Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

With the world famous financial district as the backdrop and the eyes of the national media watching, the organizers' aim is to make visible the anger and concern of so many people at the prospects of this bailout and to do so as Congress appears set to pass legislation by the end of the week before adjourning for the fall campaign season.

If you can't make it to this protest, you can still contact your elected reps and implore them to reject Paulson's plunder and enact a plan that bails out Main Street as well as Wall Street and provides for investment in a new productive economy.

Bonus Video Clip: Watch this new TPM video to see who's really to blame for the current economic crisis.

Comments (51)

I'll ck out Roubini. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by Peter Rothberg at 09/23/2008 @ 7:31pm
Ah, yes! Code Pink, that dazzling collection of Economic and Financial experts must surely have a comprehensive plan to save our economy.

Posted by sntauri at 09/23/2008 @ 7:53pm
I don't think we should bail out criminals. It's time to accept that our government is falling apart. Trade chickens for pigs. Our money will be worthless.

Posted by nursevic at 09/23/2008 @ 7:54pm
Just heard on boob tube that the FBI has launched investigations into Fannie and Freddie, Lehman and AIG. This ought to be interesting. Think we should wait to gather more information before the vote on bailout? Unbelievable.

Posted by OneVote at 09/23/2008 @ 7:57pm
Peter, the bailout represents an affirmation of collectivism in the United States. Next, the federal reserve government will take direct "ownership" of mortgage investments. This will be perceived as "saving main street."

You act like that's a bad thing?! Or are you just concerned that the fleecing is so overt that the public might begin to realize the crimes being committed against our fundamental liberties - a crime collectivists know must be committed in the interest of one world government?

I would think you and the rest of the editorial board of the Nation would be pouring champagne over current events.

Main Street doesn't understand what is being done. On purpose.

Posted by freiheit1 at 09/23/2008 @ 8:21pm
a crime collectivists know must be committed in the interest of one world government? ----Posted by freiheit1 at 09/23/2008 @ 8:21pm |

Okay, it's official.

FREIHEIT has become RESE.

Please...no 4000 word Cut & Pastes from www.jewishmindcontrol.org, 32 times a day, huh, FREI?

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 8:28pm
Trade chickens for pigs. Our money will be worthless.

Posted by nursevic at 09/23/2008 @ 7:54pm | warn this person

We raise chickens! If me and the old man buy a couple of hogs we could be the richest peasants in our village come January!!!!

As Sarah Palin would say, the new economics are sooooooo awesome!

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 9:01pm
Nouriel Roubini at RGE Monitor. He's been spot on about this mess for years, along with Baker.

Posted by Zero at 09/23/2008 @ 7:23pm

also check out mark thoma at:

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/

always has a good summary of various economic blogggggs.

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:22pm
you know something wrong is happening when economists become household names......

it's kinda like we now know the names of the provinces of iraq.

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:23pm
Posted by freiheit1 at 09/23/2008 @ 8:21pm

tranquilo, compadre.......

this is not a movement towards collectivism in any way.

it's a movement towards collecting!

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:26pm
As Sarah Palin would say, the new economics are sooooooo awesome!

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 9:01pm

no, actually she says this:

"Well, you know, first, Fannie and Freddie, different because quasi-government agencies there where government had to step in because the adverse impacts all across our nation, especially with homeowners, is just too impacting. We had to step in there. I do not like the idea, though, of taxpayers being used to bail out these corporations. Today, with AIG, important call there, though, because of the construction bonds and the insurance carrier duties of AIG. But, first and foremost, taxpayers cannot be looked to as the bailout, as the solution to the problems on Wall Street."

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:28pm
Isn't Bush the guy who hurried us into Iraq? And is Congress going to roll over for him again to approve his proposed bailout for Wall Street? I imagine. And I imagine, too, that on some far off day there will be a candidate for President who, while campaigning, says, "Yes, I voted for the bailout scheme before I voted against it." Sterling Greenwood Aspen Free Press

Posted by AspenFreePress at 09/23/2008 @ 9:34pm
Frosty, she sounds just like Prince George, all the right words, but in no particular order.

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 9:36pm
Yo, Peter & Nation editors ...

Here's one for you to mull over, re demos.

What do you think of the US govt assigning a 3rd Infantry army batallion to US civil unrest duty as of this Oct.1 ?

Surely, you've heard.

Initially just a batallion, it will be under the Northern Command -- remember them? They were running a hijacked planes drill on 9/11 that prevented US air defence from moving against actual hijacked planes that day.

And remember, long before our time, when US army troops, under colonels Patton & Eisenhower, were let loose on US veterans demanding vet benefits?

Could be déja vu all over again in a few weeks?

Ah, history.

Who remembers?

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 9:38pm
Refresher, from Wiki ...

"President Hoover ordered the U.S. Army to effect the evacuation of the Bonus Army from Washington, D.C.

At 4:45 p.m., commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the 12th Infantry Regiment, Fort Howard, Maryland, and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, supported with six battle tanks commanded by Maj. George S. Patton, Fort Myer, Virginia, formed in Pennsylvania Avenue while thousands of Civil Service employees left work to line the street and watch the U.S. Army attack its own veterans. The Bonus Marchers, believing the display was in their honour, cheered the troops until Maj. Patton charged the cavalry against them -- to which action the Civil Service employee spectators yelled: "Shame! Shame!" against the charging cavalry."

It's said that Maj. Eisenhower had doubts about attacking the vets.

Any guesses as to what our current maximum leader has in mind for demonstrators?

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 9:50pm
The Bush Administration shouldn't expect action on its bailout proposal that is any faster than the action it provided in the wake of Katrina. Sterling Greenwood Aspen Free Press

Posted by AspenFreePress at 09/23/2008 @ 9:51pm
Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 9:38pm

Sloper....how many troops in a battalion?

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 9:55pm
I had a member of the American Legion in the office complaining that Obama had turned his back on the flag during the national anthem. He was a nice old gent so I suggested that since I too turned my back on the flag during the anthem when I knocked my purse off the bench at a Packer game(none of those wussy seats for us Cheeseheads)that the video he saw "with his own eyes!" might have been taken out of context.

I then gently suggested that since Obama was more inclined to support education than pre-emptive war, while McCain argued against educational benefits for vets because it might hurt retention the Legion membership should probably think long and hard about what was best for it's future members before November 4th.

I used to run old folks and the carless to the polls regardless of their political affiliation because I thought voting was too important for me to be partisan. Now I just try to discourage as many GOP voters as I can with everything short of out right lying in the hopes they will be so bummed they will stay home.

What Karl Rove and Lee Atwater(may he spend a thousand years in purgatory being chastised by Paul Wellstone)have done to my country just makes me sick.

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 9:55pm
how many troops in a battalion? Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 9:55pm

Depends.

Could be 5 companies of up to about 125 armed men each. In armed APCs.

Enough to cause many raised eyebrows, and dead bodies, against unarmed demonstrators.

Many more than Guard loosed on students at Kent State in '70.

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:04pm
Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:04pm

And what exactly is going to happen with those 600 men....and how many will they be facing?

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 10:18pm
I always tell NRA members they should be careful because when the jack booted thugs come looking for guns we libs will be the last people they will expect to have them.

BTW got into a 2nd Amend chew fest while on vacation. I explained my position to the crabby NRA member. I would support concealed carry as long as a)everyone who even THOUGHT they might want to shoot a gun had proper, thorough and practical safety training and b)the permitted concealed carry people were as well trained as the best of the best in law enforcement and willing to submit to background checks and psychological testing.

He said that was ridiculous because even he couldn't meet those criteria.

Sometimes folks just crack me up.

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 10:20pm
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 10:18pm

How many will they be facing?

Who knows.

Depends upon the demo.

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:20pm
Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:20pm

Well, let's be real wide-ranging and say it's a major demonstration of the kind we saw in the early days of the Iraq War....

250,000 people on the Mall in D.C.

So that would be about 20,000 demonstrators for every platoon of 50 soldiers.

What exactly do you expect those 50 guys to DO to 20,000 people each????

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 10:29pm
A wide ranging demo would draw a wide ranging response.

But it would also requite permits which would in all likelihood, under this admin, never be granted.

So yr questions & calculations are moot.

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:53pm
Also, please note that the Washington Mall is no longer a "free speech zone."

No permits may be issued for demos there. By law.

The 3rd Infantry's battalion is being assigned, as of Oct.1, to control domestic civil unrest, not to police demos.

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:59pm
Permits? What difference does that make? The whole freakin' country is in peril and we law abiding fools are worried about permits?

If this election is legit, fine, I'll live with the results and pray for John Mccain's continued good health if he wins. But if there is even a hint that once again the Republican machine has lied, cheated and stolen this election... I love my country enough to fight for it. Massive protests are the only way to speak truth to power in a voice loud enough to be heard and it usually is not pretty.

Bed, sleep, goodnight.

Posted by Pogge at 09/23/2008 @ 11:22pm
uh, make that 7 hundred and 13 billion:

$13 Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted Or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says

A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through elaborate fraud schemes.

Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, an arm of the Democratic caucus, that an Iraqi auditing bureau "could not properly account for" the money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte

nt/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202053.html

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 11:30pm
I think that there must be more creative ways of dealing with this economic crisis than what Paulson has rolled out. Why would we trust anyone from this administration or wall street to fix this mess in a way that would be most advantageous to "main street"? It is clear that for decades "main street" hasn't been important for anything other than using it to make profits. And now we come to the end. Main street has been used up. Main street has to wake up now and start taking the reins back. I hope lots of people write to your Representatives and Senators and make your voices heard. After all, they are still our elected officials and now is the time to hold their feet to the fire. The people responsible for this must be held accountable and prosecuted. We cannot continue to give up our power. We are the People, and this is our country! If there is any bailout it needs to start at Main Street. So chuck the banks, give us the assets and let us fix it. No bank should ever be so big and so powerful that they cannot be allowed to fail if they screw up. Write down mortgages so people can stay in their houses, sell the bad ones to people who can afford them, or rent them out. If there are tons of empty houses out there, put the homeless in them!! For goodness sakes, if PEOPLE don't matter then what are we here for???

Posted by Unbelievabl at 09/24/2008 @ 01:22am
Why couldn't Congress allot enough funds to keep the lights on and the water running until election day in Nov. and Put the bailout on the ballot. This is still a democracy.

Posted by koroviev at 09/24/2008 @ 01:43am
What do you think of the US govt assigning a 3rd Infantry army batallion to US civil unrest duty as of this Oct.1 ?

Posted by sloper

I think the soldiers are being deployed to keep an angry mob of unwashed citizenry from tar and feathering a few bankers.

Posted by koroviev at 09/24/2008 @ 02:29am
I think the soldiers are being deployed to keep an angry mob of unwashed citizenry from tar and feathering a few bankers. Posted by koroviev at 09/24/2008 @ 02:29am

Sounds about right. What better use could our soldiers possibly have. The salvaged bankers might even toss them a few coins of gratitude when the bloody day is done.

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 02:34am
Oops, it seems it won't be just a battalion but an entire brigade, i.e. several battalions from the 3rd Infantry Division, that will be deployed as of Oct.1 under Northern Command to control civil unrest within the US.

A 1st in US history ... if we don't count the Civil War. And the wars against Native Americans.

So why now??

Lucky bankers. All those hundreds of billions & all that military protection as well.

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 02:58am
The 3rd Infantry's battalion is being assigned, as of Oct.1, to control domestic civil unrest, not to police demos.----Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:59pm

There are 300 MILLION people in the United States....

how does a battalion of 1500 soldiers control them?

THAT calculation is ONE soldier for every 200,000 people or FIVE guys trying to "control civil unrest" in a city the size of Richmond, VA or Indianapolis!

Or ONE guy trying to control Baton Rouge!

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/24/2008 @ 08:51am
It's a brigade, i.e. several battalions, and they'll be flown into wherever there's sufficient trouble after Oct.1.

Ludicrous to suggest 300M people will be engaging simultaneously in civil disobedience, reductio ad absurdum, a worthless premise.

But a brigade could certainly inflict serious injury & arrest several thousand unwashed citizenry objecting to the latest govt outrage.

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 09:02am
Looks like old Warren Bufett's trying to be the JP Morgan of the 21st Century. Good for him.

Posted by CHIP THORNTON at 09/24/2008 @ 09:40am
From the Army Times re 1st ever assignment of combat units (1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Div. spent 35 of last 60 months fighting Iraqi insurgents) domestically under US Northern Command:

"They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control ...

"Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart ...

The 1st BCT's soldiers also will learn how to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

"It's a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they're fielding. They've been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we're undertaking we were the first to get it."

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets."

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 09:57am
Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 09:02am

You been watching too much "Seven Days In May", slope.

As well as not thinking very rationally about this.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/24/2008 @ 10:19am
The 3rd Infantry's battalion is being assigned, as of Oct.1, to control domestic civil unrest, not to police demos.

Posted by sloper at 09/23/2008 @ 10:59pm

Wow. That's got to be the best job ever. Fuck up to the point that Americans get screwed(with no grease) as well as the world and get a little take home pay.

I read an article yesterday that mentioned how CEO's were losing their jobs too. I was thinking," And??!!" Unlike the average American, the CEO's made 5+ million last year. I think they'll survive during their time of unemployment.

Posted by k330k at 09/24/2008 @ 10:26am
>>>Main Street doesn't understand what is being done. On purpose.

Posted by freiheit1 at 09/23/2008 @ 8:21pm<<<

Well, you got that right.

Real estate values have been INFLATED by the subprime scheme, so buying these mortgage-backed securities is a loser, as the value of these assets will continue to slide regardless of the availability of credit.

The problem with real estate is not that buyers are unable to get loans, it is that real estate is still far too expensive for the average homebuyer given current wages.

The solution is to let these values drop to levels where more buyers can afford to buy rather than futile attempts to create a "false bottom" in the real estate market. This may be unwelcome news for some homeowners, but the reality of "any" market is that values go up AND down, and buying non-performing loans from banks will not change this reality.

If banks bought inflated assets, that is THEIR problem, not the taxpayers', and therefore these banks should be allowed to fail and replaced with banks who have much better oversight and management.

The idea that a Harvard MBA "guarantees" good management at investment banks is a fallacy, and this fallacy should be exposed not covered up with a government bailout!

Posted by Metteyya at 09/24/2008 @ 10:29am
Good summary of how the Swedes approached a similar crisis in '92:

www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/worldbusiness/23krona.html?em

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 10:33am
Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 09:02am

You been watching too much "Seven Days In May", slope.

As well as not thinking very rationally about this.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/24/2008 @ 10:19am | ignore this person | warn this person

Hmmmmmm.....George Bush said that his administration would never give a bailout to the private sector.....hmmmmmm..........Paulson just days before the "crisis" says that the financial sector is doing just fine...hmmmm.......crazies and moonbats predict financial crisis for September 2008.......secret sessions of Congress.......defense contractors get millions for development of microwave emitting crowd control armored vehicles....see Raytheon.....must admit that the threshold of surreal keeps getting lower and lower and lower....listen up!

Posted by OneVote at 09/24/2008 @ 11:57am
The 1st BCT's soldiers also will learn how to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

"It's a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they're fielding. They've been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we're undertaking we were the first to get it."

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets."

Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 09:57am | warn this person

Check out Raytheon's microwave emitting armoured vehicles....they can focus a microwave beam on a small target from hundreds of yards away and the target extreme discomfort until the target takes cover. Pretty cool.....and you can't see it coming and leaves no evidence......pretesting indicates that these suckers do the job real good.

Posted by OneVote at 09/24/2008 @ 12:04pm
slope, OneVote....you guys are both late to the Paranoia Party-

"Time is up. World War III starts Friday – and it will coincide with conditions inside the US that lead to Martial Law, through either an Anthrax attack or a phony Bird Flu Outbreak. They are doing this to SAVE THEIR OWN HIDES from the imminent disclosure of their own criminality, including their direct role in 9/11 to serve as the pretext for everything that has resulted.

STOP THEM!

TODAY!

Posted by PLUNGER 03/28/2007 @ 7:46pm

BLOG | Posted 04/12/2007 @ 1:36pm White House "Lost" Political E-mails About US Attorneys by John Nichols

China will not stand by and watch Bush bomb Iran next week without responding - regardless of the manufactured false flag pretext.

Posted by PLUNGER 04/13/2007 @ 03:04am

BLOG | Posted 07/11/2007 @ 11:49pm Comments for "Bush's Royal Edict: Don't Cooperate With Congress" by John Nichols

There will be no Dem in the White House.

In fact, there will be no elections at all.

No Constitution either.

Posted by PLUNGER 07/12/2007 @ 09:47am

When, say, March-ish, maybe April 2008 rolls around and it becomes legislatively, much less politically, IMPOSSIBLE to impeach Bush and Cheney and they are inevitably going to finish out their 2nd terms and leave on Inauguration Day January 2009.....

what are you going to say about them and why will it matter? ----Posted by MASK 01/26/2007 @ 08:44am

"By then then will have Nuked and invaded Iran. The Draft will be in operation, probably Martial law too and no body will be able to say anthing against them, because all openents will be classified enemy combatants and shipped to work in the New Reich concentration camps" ----Posted by RESE 01/26/2007 @ 1:18pm

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/24/2008 @ 12:27pm
Posted by sloper at 09/24/2008 @ 10:33am

Even demanding equity in banks by the government must be well managed.

25 cents on the dollar should be the "maximum" paid for these non-performing mortgaged backed securities.

Shares issued must be "preferred" shares with a "guaranteed" rate of return (10% minimum) like the Warren Buffet deal with Goldman Sachs. These shares must be convertible to common stock at a "good" price, AND board seats must be given to "bi-partisan" representatives of the government to prevent these golden parachutes for executives who mismanaged the banks, and to oversee the US investment.

It also must be STRESSED that these investment banks have absolutely NO leverage, and Paulson is merely "posturing" on their behalf.

Shove the above deal back in their face and give THEM a 5-day deadline to sign on to the deal!

Posted by Metteyya at 09/24/2008 @ 12:35pm
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/24/2008 @ 12:27pm | ignore this person | warn this person

LOL......okay, looks like our elected representatives are pushing back against the coup a little harder......maybe this is "jumping the gun" a wee bit......but remember the Bohemian Grove....

Posted by OneVote at 09/24/2008 @ 1:03pm
"I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered," said Cloutier, describing the experience as "your worst muscle cramp ever -- times 10 throughout your whole body.

"I'm not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds ... it put me on my knees in seconds."

The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced "sea-smurf").

"I can't think of a more noble mission than this," said Cloutier, who took command in July. "We've been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you're going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones."

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/24/2008 @ 1:08pm
With this bailout, Wall Street becomes "nationalized," a practice which is condemned across the board by the free marketers in the US when developing countries do it. Hypocrisy is alive and well in the financial sector.

I saw Senator Jim DeMint (R- South Carolina) on one of the cable financial shows a couple of days ago. He was opposed to the bailout. Of course, along with his vehement diatribe against the government's gift of over $700 billion to the failed corporations, he also expressed his dismay at the government's "excessive regulation and interference that led to the problem." In his view, regulation actually caused the greed, and if the government just stepped aside, the market would take care of itself and the greed would stop. Oh. My. God. But at least he is consistent.

It's great (I believe) that the wingnuts are also fighting the bailout, but the notion that this is just more government interference increasing the problem of too much regulation rather than seeing deregulation as a huge factor is disconcerting.

Posted by LeeAnnG at 09/24/2008 @ 1:22pm
"SIGNING STATEMENTS"

No matter what bailout package we get watch out for the "SIGNING STATEMENTS" that W loves to write.

Posted by Latinoman at 09/24/2008 @ 2:26pm
There are about 300 million men, women, and children in America. We would get off a lot cheaper if we just sent a tax free check in the amount of one million dollars to every citizen in the USA instead of signing a blank check over to the same crooks who got us into this mess. Anyone in management for any of the companies involved in the bailout would be ineligible for the million dollar "main street bailout check". Talk about stimulating the economy!

Posted by aljstl at 09/24/2008 @ 4:15pm
Are you gonna just talk? If thats the case then at least do it to your congressperson: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml#ga

Posted by Markfromatlanta at 09/25/2008 @ 02:44am
The potential good news is that the 30 year T-Bill may soon have junk bond status. People will be able to buy them knowing for sure they are priced at rock bottom.

Posted by camphatt at 09/25/2008 @ 11:02am