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The Administration has put a corporate-led bailout on the table with the threat that Congress pass it as is or face a worldwide economic catastrophe. We've seen this kind of shock and awe, do it our way or else, fear mongering before. Yes, action is needed, but that action must be smart, just and effective. Action must ensure that this taxpayer-funded rescue doesn't reward the very people on Wall Street who created this mess while shafting the needs of Main Street. The President, the Federal Reserve, SEC and Congressional committees responsible for regulation and oversight failed to act in the public or national interest and allowed this economic meltdown to reach crisis proportions. It's ironic that the same people and firms that preached free-market capitalism are the ones now demanding a speedy taxpayer bailout.
This bailout should be seized as an opportunity to start addressing the real economic crisis--the one on Main Street--where the struggle to make ends meet is increasingly more dire in an economy marked by job losses, crumbling infrastructure, the lowest levels of personal savings since the 1920s, Gilded Age inequality and the highest level of foreclosed homes since the Great Depression.
Attention must be paid to restoring people's opportunities and hope and addressing America's investment deficit, as Harold Meyerson laid out in a recent Washington Post op-ed:
Someone needs to invest in the United States of America. For the past decade and, in a broader sense, for the entire duration of the Reagan era, both government and Wall Street have opted not to.
So where is the commitment to reinvesting in America and its people? While billions or even trillions of taxpayer dollars are being proposed for the benefit of banks and big corporations, we also need to ensure accountability and oversight and protect taxpayers from being ripped off in a rushed, blank-check, no-strings-attached Wall Street bailout.
Economist Robert Kuttner offers some strong, common sense demands in a post today, and also describes Treasury Secretary Paulson as "playing this more as the investment banker that he used to be, than as a steward of the public interest." He notes that House Financial Services Chairman Rep. Barney Frank articulated a good start to reworking Paulson's bailout:
An economic stimulus to go with the Wall Street bailout; more refinancing help for borrowers; and some limits on windfall gains to corporate executives.
Regarding Frank's last point, the Institute for Policy Studies is recommending to Congressional allies that in order to qualify for bailout assistance, firms should be required to adopt a policy that no executive will be compensated at a rate greater than twenty-five times the lowest-paid employee. Also, there should be no multi-million dollar golden parachute severance packages for fired executives who "led" their companies down a failed road.
Congressman Frank and his fellow progressive Democrats would be wise to take an extra step over to the people's side of the aisle and listen to those, like Kuttner, who argue that this bailout--if there is any justice--must include provisions to re-regulate financial institutions; government equity in any company that is proportional to the amount of money the company receives from the Fed bailout; authorization to take a controlling interest in some companies as happens when an FDIC-insured bank goes broke; a portion of the $700 billion to be used for mortgage refinancing and putting people back in homes; and at least $200 billion of new economic stimulus "for infrastructure rebuilding, more generous unemployment and retraining benefits, and green investment."
Don't think for a second that Wall Street has been humbled by its colossal collapse. Secretary Paulson is warning that he needs a "clean deal." Industry lobbyists are threatening that changes are "deal breakers." Against all odds, these people still believe they are the smartest guys in the room and masters of the universe. And they have plenty of apologists and enablers on the Hill to keep them in business, such as House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, who was still peddling the conservative and a historical gospel that "providing $25 billion worth of infrastructure spending [is] not stimulative and everyone knows that."
Sure, Mel. Rebuilding crumbling bridges, modernizing our energy grid, improving our schools and roads - and paying people to do these jobs so that they, in turn, can house their families, feed their kids and put clothes on their backs--that doesn't do diddly for the economy, right? But redistributing wealth upward, that does? Actually, savvy economists estimate that an additional $40 billion in infrastructure investment could create as many as one million new jobs. Smart and targeted public investment such as the kind called for in the Apollo Alliance plan for energy independence is what we truly need. Supported by scores of business leaders, labor unions and environmental groups, the Apollo Alliance has provided a blueprint to promote the renewable energy industry with a $300 billion investment over the next ten years, creating 3.3 million jobs, leading to economic growth, more tax revenues, and energy independence.
In contrast to Congressman Blunt, Sen. Bernie Sanders is someone who understands the need to view this bailout in the context of the real economy and its impact on people's lives. He writes in an op-ed that "any proposal must protect middle income and working families from bearing the burden of this bailout." Sanders' plan includes "a five-year, 10 percent surtax on the income of individuals above $500,000 a year, and $1 million a year for couples; a requirement that the price the government pays for any mortgage assets are discounted appropriately so that government can recover the amount it paid for them; and, finally, the government should receive equity in the companies it bails out so that when the stock of these companies rises after the bailout, taxpayers also have the opportunity to share in the resulting windfall."
How is it that this Administration and too many in Congress--which haven't tried to find the resources to, say, invest in the nation's healthcare system or to repair bridges and tunnels--can now be ready to come up with $700 billion plus to rescue banks by taking on their toxic assets? Remember when we couldn't give kids healthcare because $35 billion for S-CHIP was too expensive?
As Secretary Paulson and a herd of lobbyists try to rush through a one-sided deal that once again shafts the American people after they were already shafted by deregulation--insisting that the abyss is the only alternative to this deal-- consider this levelheaded observation from Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz:
Wall Street has always been quick to overstate systemic risk--take, for example, the 1994 Mexican financial crisis-- but loath to allow examination of their own dealings.
Not this time. Not this crisis.
This time, let's insist on a fair shake that protects and revitalizes the people of Main Street, rather than the bankers of Wall Street. This time, there needs to be proper accountability and oversight, and a review and renewal of the deal every three months to see if it is indeed serving the people's long-term interests.
Contact your Senators and Representatives today. Express your outrage that the current proposal lacks accountability for Wall Street. Tell them it needs to put the interests of Main Street first. Corporations led us into this mess with their greed and shortsightedness. Let's not allow them to dig us into a deeper hole with more of the same.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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>>>Don't think for a second that Wall Street has been humbled by its colossal collapse. Secretary Paulson is warning that he needs a "clean deal." Industry lobbyists are threatening that changes are "deal breakers."<<<
Deal breakers?
Paulson is on crack!
Rebups have absolutely NO LEVERAGE on this one as it was THEIR PASSAGE of the Gram-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 that created this mess. The Republicans will go down the tubes in November for sure unless they accept OUR DEAL on OUR TERMS!
In fact, if the Dems just drag this out 30 days or so to get the RIGHT DEAL, this will be the biggest landslide victory by the Democrats in the party's history!
Paulson/Bush/Cheney/McCain/Rove have got this twisted!
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 6:48pm
>>>Bottom line: Everybody loses except those who clearly saw all this and converted to CASH a year ago in July!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm<<<
Wrong!
I shorted the hell out of Countrywide last year, and was riding Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley downhill as well.
Shorting the stock of the idiots who caused this mess is a GOOD INVESTMENT STRATEGY!
Was up 89% last year!
HAP, why do you only question the wisdom of the free market when it hurts elitist Wall Street insiders?
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 7:09pm
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
Soooo. You're actually saying that the reason this happened is because of too MANY regulations?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/22/2008 @ 7:20pm
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
I think she means you are redistributing tax payer dollars to save a few rich peoples companies.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/22/2008 @ 7:22pm
Soooooo happy ....
isn't that how you call in the hogs?
A sane society does not lend money to people who can't pay it back. It doesn't stucture mortgages so that, a few years in, your house is worth less than what you paid for it.
People who do things like that are called criminals. Trouble is, there's no law against it around here any more. But it's still good old fashioned crime.
I keep watching the news and waiting for anyone to admit that this is bullshit. We're paying protection money to a bunch of hoodlums.
Posted by MyParadigm at 09/22/2008 @ 7:22pm
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
I get it. We need to deregulate these systems even more so they can commit even more shady dealings, screw millions of people, destroy more of their companies and get bailed out by the government again.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/22/2008 @ 7:26pm
Of course Happy. You chose typical Republican form on this one. If anything goes wrong blame the Democrats. Just like the first financial problem under Bushes rule was Clinton's fault, then the next one you guys argued that a President's actions have no real effect on the economy forgetting that you had just blamed a recession on Clinton, now you are blaming over-regulation by Demo's because a bunch of companies swindled some people are now paying for their choices and there were too many regulations in place to stop them from doing even more shady dealings. Blame the Demo's. It's like a Republican rallying call. Blame the Demo's. Let's not admit that our party has done anything wrong, just blame the Demo's.
Too bad. Remember when Republican's were saying that a recession would never come. That the market was strong. Looks like that tune turned real quick.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/22/2008 @ 7:38pm
I want to call the administration's bluff.
DO NOTHING !!!
Remember WMD??
So a few families making 100K a year lose their 1.5-million dollar house. They couldn't afford it anyway! Dumbasses. Take a freakin' math class!
A 700 sq.ft $hitbox ain't worth 2 million just because you can see the glow of San Francisco from your driveway.
This country needs an enema, cutting a few inflated egos and bloated payrolls might be just the fix.
Yeah call your senators and representatives alright... Tell them NO NO NO NO ..... NO BAILOUT!
Let the mother&^%# CRASH!!!
Posted by bleedingheart at 09/22/2008 @ 8:07pm
Bottom line: Everybody loses except those who clearly saw all this and converted to CASH a year ago in July!--------Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
So, HAPP, did YOU do that?
If not, why not?
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 8:16pm
Why dont we have 1st a taxpayer strike,let say just one day,on a national level, just to show the politicos, that actually ,we are not completely sedated.. Dont bother calling your senators, just show up at their door, and scare the hell out of them for a while.
Posted by pachonegro at 09/22/2008 @ 8:24pm
Some gazillionnares are too big to fail, too big to be accountable.
Some politicians are too big to admit failure, too big to be accountable.
700 billion... Oh yeah! Gotta love Cheney-McCain bankruptcy reform.
700 billion... Oh yeah! Just don't use the word "tax" in any form. Don't call it a tax increase, delayed tax, burden on taxpayers.
Posted by winyahn at 09/22/2008 @ 8:44pm
The once "sane society" has been screwed by the Liberal pooch! Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 8:48pm
Blame the Demos!!!!
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/22/2008 @ 8:53pm
>>>The once "sane society" has been screwed by the Liberal pooch!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 8:48pm<<<
Wrong, Again!
The vast majority of the poor are RENTERS, not buyers, and it was the FHA - NOT Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - that was the principal agency that "subsidized" (NOT SECURITIZED) loans for low income buyers.
The "securitization" scheme was created by REPUBLICANS, who wanted their Wall Street pals to make money off subprime mortgages that wre used by real estate speculators to flip mortgages in a scheme to boost property values.
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 8:58pm
>>>If you want to play the stock genius game w/me, I'll challenge you to put up!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 8:54pm <<<
I never give forward looking stock advice, especially on blogs.
And your idiot "free-market" Republican pals are trying to frustrate those who want to short their favorite stocks by "barring the downside" of the stock game.
Changing the rules in the middle of the game is not what anyone who respects the free market would engage in, and this shows the true colors of these elitist Republicans who only care about protecting THEIR money at the expense of everyone else!
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 9:03pm
>>>IF you don't "give forward looking advice", then don't give us backward looking 20-20 hindsight!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 9:09pm <<<
You are not going to bait me into disclosing any information that could be used against me.
I shorted several stocks regularly that were responsible for the subprime mess and made a bundle.
You can accept this or not - I really don't care.
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 9:13pm
>>>When they had no personal money in the deal, why is it a surprise they default when any of life's difficulties arise...say a Downs syndrome kid?
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 9:04pm<<<
You are changing the subject, HAP.
It was the FHA that helped low income borrowers. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae helped Wall Street and wealthy property owners by securitizing subprime "no-income-qualifier" loans which were the instrument of choice of real estate speculators that flipped houses to boost property values.
Get your federal agencies straight!
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 9:19pm
The question I would like answered. "Why in the Hell aren't we in the streets with pitchforks and torches"? Are we so stuck in some sort of opium induced fantasy that we don't even know when it is time to put our shit kicking boots on and protest?
If this was France there would be riots and overturned cars burning. There would be confrontation of epic proportions. But no, we Americans have been castrated by indifference, ignorance and cowardice. No longer are we willing to die for anything. Disgusting. We are sick little worms who curl up in our own defacate and suck our thumbs. While the wolves nip at our flesh.
Posted by chaoszen at 09/22/2008 @ 9:45pm
Gotta forgive HAPP...
he's got Bush pushing for a domestic spending plan that out-rivals ANYTHING Ted Kennedy or Dennis Kucinich could come up with...
McCain talking like a "New Dealer" and throwing away all his old "I'm fundamentally a de-regulator" talk and trying to sound like Joe Biden...
ALL chance of more tax cuts or making the Bush ones permanant just evaporated...
So between Dubya and Maverick John, they've nailed the final nail in the coffin of the "Reagan Revolution".
Except for "Let's try blaming the Democrats, maybe somebody outside OUR base will believe that"....they've got nothing left.
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 9:47pm
Give Main Street a Fair Shake
oh, main street's being shaken, alright.
flipped upside down and shaken, that is.
gotta get every last dime out of their pockets, you know.
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 9:50pm
Bottom line: Everybody loses except those who clearly saw all this and converted to CASH a year ago in July!
•• well, if the dollar crumbles... i think turnips is a better investment.
Hey, one bit of good news today....oil bounced back to a respectable, environmentally-friendly level :~))))
•• looks like the dollar's recrubling....
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 9:57pm
m
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 9:57pm
I couldn't agree anymore. You reap what you sow. That goes for Americans too.
Posted by madlib at 09/22/2008 @ 8:12pm
wait a second.
we get sucked down that drain, too.
fix this mess.
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:00pm
and it's now hitting $116~$120.
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 8:54pm
actually, oil's the same price.
the dollar's gotten real squishy.
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:02pm
Posted by Metteyya at 09/22/2008 @ 8:58pm
thanks.
saved me some typin'
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:04pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 9:57pm
Curious if HAPP has me on Ignore...
or doesn't want to answer my question on whether HE was smart enough to "clearly saw all this and converted to CASH a year ago in July!"????
If he did, there would be a few posts back in July or August, no?
If he didn't, then he's as dumb as everybody else, despite his claims to speculative genius!
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 10:04pm
all you've got is hindsight....just like a typical Lib/Demo!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 9:29pm
The economy is chugging along ok nonsense, is fantasy, sucker, bullshit.
Posted by V 01/06/2008 @ 10:58pm
Bull shit economy??? You monitor that and gets paid? And, able to blog while `on the clock'? Guess you must have a ?bull shit? job that pays well?
Posted by Happy at 01/07/2008 @ 12:01am
•
Wall Street's securitization machine, is dead. Posted by V at 01/07/2008 @ 01:36am Goodby, dead! Didn't know your job involved GW Bullshit! Nail in your coffin! Posted by Happy at 01/07/2008 @ 11:33am
• Just trying to help....for the benefits of all the economic retards! Posted by Happy at 01/06/2008 @ 12:56am
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:06pm
"This situation is what you'd call an exorbitant privilege," says Menzie Chinn, a University of Wisconsin economist. "We've gotten a pretty good deal so far."
NO ONE KNOWS WHEN THIS BONANZA MIGHT END,......
Posted by Happy at 10/24/2007 @ 9:31pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:08pm
On stocks and finance, all you've got is hindsight....just like a typical Lib/Demo!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 9:29pm
¢¢¢¢¢¢¢
Posted by HAPPY 09/11/2007 @ 12:48pm
house of cards
FROM DETROIT WEATHER OFFICE:
Condition: Cloudy
Temperature: 18.2°C
Pressure / Tendency: 100.8 kPa / rising
Visibility: 24 km
Humidity: 62%
Dew Point: 10.8°C
Wind Speed: HEADING TO RECESSION/GUSTS UP TO DEPRESSION
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/11/2007 @ 1:46pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:10pm
But no, we Americans have been castrated by indifference, ignorance and cowardice.
Posted by chaoszen at 09/22/2008 @ 9:45pm
shut up!
farve is on monday night football!
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:12pm
If he did, there would be a few posts back in July or August, no?
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 10:04pm
there certainly would.....
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:15pm
BTW, McCain reveals his new economic plan--
http://www.theonion.com/ content/video/ mccain_s_economic_plan_for_nation
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 10:21pm
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 10:21pm
Well, as long as you still have the $100 on November 5th.
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 10:31pm
Curious if HAPP has me on Ignore...
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/22/2008 @ 10:04pm
Not according to a recent past post which I can't find because it no longer frickin exists.
Posted by Benchrest at 09/22/2008 @ 10:50pm
oops.
Never mind.
Posted by Benchrest at 09/22/2008 @ 10:54pm
FZ, you just made that (?and others?) up, right? Since the original HAPPY was scrubbed by The Nation a long time ago. I'm not going to spend time Googling!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 10:27pm
nope.
you said it.
hahaha!
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:56pm
In 3 trading days, oil has gone up like 20~25% and the dollar weakened by a tenth of that!
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 10:30pm
speculators are speculating.....
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:58pm
TOO FUNNY!
THIS IS THE VERY FIRST POST I JUST FOUND:
I just don't see it! I see MASK having spent his youth watching TV/HBO/Showtime....as he hit teen-hood, he started archiving all sorts of show talks, first with cassette tapes, then with CDs, now he is adding DVDs.......another word, he's sort of a nerd, a sometimes overly helpful librarian today whose desk has a photo of him w/Hillary at the library's grand opening....his wife looks like one of them dogs Michael Vick keeps (but not for long) :-)
Posted by Happy at 10/11/2007 @ 12:17am
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 11:31pm
ARRAY(0xec39d0)
Posted by ttr at 09/22/2008 @ 11:34pm
10.) Recreating and reinventing US based industrial infrastructure will require significant capital outlays... accurate market assessment... and appropriate technological application... all of which can be significantly encouraged by government placed incentives and initial investment seeding at low interest. No bail-out initiative should be allowed to pre-empt this... and care must be taken to not make these two potential initiatives mutually exclusive.
11.) Investment in middle class America is crucial to the integrity of the US economy... and backing up potentially solvent mortgages would enable working families to regain toehold and their pride... raising neighborhood property values... improving the value of mortgages... and paying down their loans. This will strengthen their lenders in many ways.
Patriotic Economics 101
Posted by ttr at 09/22/2008 @ 11:34pm
ARRAY(0xec39d0)
Posted by ttr at 09/22/2008 @ 11:36pm
KVH... opening hearts and minds!
1.) It's a HUGE amount of money... and the administrator can not be held accountable.
2.) The problems are not categorized and defined in the bill...
3.) The push to make a sudden decision on such an all encompassing and potentially shameful legislation... is sheer madness, and should be inspected very clearly for transparency, integrity, and accountability.
4.) The sub-prime melt down has occurred in part because the economy has been cleared of blue collar industrial careers... as the manufacturing of real goods has largely gone overseas.
5.) Speculators do not actually drive the economy. They are placing side bets while gambling on predictions. Most stock trading of tangible goods has no bearing on the company whatsoever.
6.) Stock trading should be considered to be a voluntary luxury class activity... not on the same level as food, clothing, housing, fuel... and work.
7.) Middle class America has in economic terms been at a stand still for 25 years ... and is shrinking steadily as a percentage demographic. This eventually affects property prices negatively.
8.) Substituting a securities based economy for an industrial based economy... if possible... takes a great deal of oversight, social welfare, and foresight... and these qualities are not implicit in a strict market economy.
9.) $700 billion added to the national debt at one time is unprecedented in US history... probably human history if looking at it in relative terms. It will probably devalue the dollar... and will certainly significantly increase our dependence on foreign investment... making the US more vulnerable.
10.) Recreating US based industrial infrastructure will require significant ca
Posted by ttr at 09/22/2008 @ 11:37pm
Overall, I'd NOT want any GOP Nominee to take a hard anti-Abortion stand since IMHO, it will lose more votes than gain. Conversely, a GOP Nominee that takes a strong pro-abortion stand, again IMHO, will gain more votes than lose.
Posted by Happy at 10/17/2007 @ 11:34pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 11:45pm
BERMAN: ....Obama...."If we end up winning Iowa we will win the rest of the sates and I'll be the nominee,... Winning the first one is a great start....like winning the jump ball at the beginning of a b-ball game or scoring first.....but, does anyone go w/Big-O's here? (rhetorical)
Posted by Happy at 10/04/2007 @ 11:35am
oops. wrong one above. old post karma.....
;+]
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 11:46pm
oops...
Sorry about that... I archived the first part because I ran out of space... and it didn't post properly... and it didn't 'save' my corrections...
But the gist is reasonably approximated.
Posted by ttr at 09/22/2008 @ 11:54pm
Why doesn't the Fed. Govt. just ignore the failing companies and invest that 700 billion into gold? Gold is going through the roof because investors are switching from stocks to tangible assets. If the market continues to tank, the price of gold will only continue to rise.
An absurd idea. But is it so much worse than buying 700 billion of bad debt?
Also, oil is up today due to Oct. contracts ending. Nov. starts tomorrow and price should go down again.
Posted by koroviev at 09/23/2008 @ 01:06am
IF AMERICANS WILL NOT INVEST IN AMERICA, BELIVE SAUDI ARABIA WILL AND RUSSIA AND CHINA. SO BE AGAINST OUR TAX DOLLARS BEING SPENT HERE AND WATCH THE 75% OF OUR COUNTRY THAT WE DO OWN, WHITTLE AWAY TO DUST. FINE DO NOTHING KEEP ARGUEING ABOUT NONSENSE. AMERICA IS AND HAS BEEN FOR SALE FOR AT LEAST 8 YEARS AND THEY DO NOT EVEN CARE WHO THEY SELL IT TO.
Posted by MJTAYLOR22 at 09/23/2008 @ 10:30am
Happy-When the economy was going well you referred to it as the Bush economy.What that means is that you made Bush responsible for the economy, even when it goes bad.
Posted by i'm nobody at 09/23/2008 @ 11:18am
IF AMERICANS WILL NOT INVEST IN AMERICA, BELIVE SAUDI ARABIA WILL AND RUSSIA AND CHINA. SO BE AGAINST OUR TAX DOLLARS BEING SPENT HERE AND WATCH THE 75% OF OUR COUNTRY THAT WE DO OWN, WHITTLE AWAY TO DUST. FINE DO NOTHING KEEP ARGUEING ABOUT NONSENSE. AMERICA IS AND HAS BEEN FOR SALE FOR AT LEAST 8 YEARS AND THEY DO NOT EVEN CARE WHO THEY SELL IT TO.
Posted by MJTAYLOR22 at 09/23/2008 @ 10:30am | ignore this person | warn this person
An argument can be made that a foreign equity stake in domestic assets may be better than leveraging domestic assets to sell debt. This "crisis" has much of its genesis in sale of junk debt to overseas investors including China, Russia, Europe, etc. China has been threatening to pull the plug on financing our government spending for awhile. Many argue that this bailout was fabricated to assuage overseas debt holders. Chinese are watching our government's refusal to take any meaningufl action to reduce debt and deficits, and are rightfully worried. Devaluation of the dollar is inevitable. Physical assets look better than intangible paper assets. Look at the snap back rise in gold and oil, and other commodities recently. Seems like we really don't have a choice....damned if we do sell ourselves off.....damned if we don't.
Posted by OneVote at 09/23/2008 @ 11:44am
The "implicit" guarantee that collaterialized mortgage debt would be backed by the full faith and credit of the US Treasury is only so good as the Treasury's ability to pay.
Posted by OneVote at 09/23/2008 @ 11:48am
"Obama may scale back promises Mike Allen 2 hours, 35 minutes ago - Politco
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said in an interview aired Tuesday that the cost of the mortgage bailout plan may have to rein in his ambitious plans for health care, energy, education and infrastructure.
Obama's comments reflect the possible new constraints on the next president's ability to expand or start programs or cut taxes. The series of government financial bailouts over this month could cost more than $1 trillion.
Obama told NBC's Matt Lauer on the "Today" show that he doesn't expect the plan to cost the full $700 billion right away, and all the money won't be lost. But he said
"Does that mean that I can do everything that I've called for in this campaign right away?" Obama said. "Probably not. I think we're going to have to phase it in. And a lot of it's going to depend on what our tax revenues look like." ........."
So Katrina, where do you think MainStreet in going to end up on this one really? I think "on the street."
Posted by OneVote at 09/23/2008 @ 12:03pm
OK everybody's been e-mailed. Tried the phones, but they're all busy. Watching the hearings right now. Talked 5 young people into voting last week, for either the Greens, or the Dems. Got to find a few independents now and push them over the fence. Wish me better luck next week.
(Hey Mollie! Are we making enough noise yet)
Posted by Freewheelin_Franklin at 09/23/2008 @ 12:24pm
Without a doubt the root cause of this economic crisis is the expanding income gap and shrinking middle-class. Credit and home equity have been used to fuel a middle-class lifestyle while real wages for all but the top 5% have fallen. It would be a real shame if Obama's programs (health care, education, alternative energy incentives…) are delayed to bail out the credit industry and the credit insurance industry. Our greatest economic period was between 1948 and 1962 and that was also the time when we had the highest percent of our population within the middle-class. While access to credit is necessary for a healthy economy so is a solid foundation of workers with true buying power and Obama's programs are focused on expanding that class of workers, the middle-class.
Posted by Al4Music at 09/23/2008 @ 2:08pm
Secretary Paulson is warning that he needs a "clean deal." Industry lobbyists are threatening that changes are "deal breakers."
i didn't know that handouts were negotiable. this is extortion, plain and simple. give us your tax money or the economy gets it! if i were paulson i would tell them, in no uncertain terms, to go fuck themself.
Posted by palehorse67 at 09/23/2008 @ 4:07pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 11:31pm |
Yes, saved that one myself...in case HAPP caught a case of the "self-righteousness" and like Darin started saying "Only LIBS say bad things about people's families".
(BTW, he of course chickened out when he found out it was saved and claimed "It was a joke...no sense of humor?" Limbaugh rationalization if ever there was one!)
Posted by Maskdelta at 09/23/2008 @ 4:43pm
Lest a week go by without a Finland update:
Finland enjoys a strong tradition of hunting and has a high proportion of gun ownership, with 2 million firearms owned in a nation of 5 million people.
Posted by sntauri at 09/23/2008 @ 6:59pm
Posted by koroviev at 09/23/2008 @ 01:06am
maybe if the money were worth gold (or like substances) in the first place.......
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:46pm
maybe if the money were worth gold (or like substances) in the first place.......
Posted by frosty zoom at 09/23/2008 @ 9:46pm
"The Bretton Woods System, enacted in 1946 created a system of fixed exchange rates that allowed governments to sell their gold to the United States treasury at the price of $35/ounce. "The Bretton Woods system ended on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon ended trading of gold at the fixed price of $35/ounce. At that point for the first time in history, formal links between the major world currencies and real commodities were severed". The gold standard has not been used in any major economy since that time."
Thank Dick.
Posted by Benchrest at 09/24/2008 @ 12:59am
Dear Katrina,
I like you, but sorry, got some tough love for you. You and a zillion other knuckleheads do NOT represent my progressive viewpoint on this survival of the Republic issue.
It's a complete non sequitar to use a greed-craven Fascist looting the last gasp of credibility from the U.S. Treasury in the midst of a titanic crisis as the rationale for a Main Street rebuilding project that has little bearing on the nature of the crisis except that mainstream lefties keep repeating it as a safe right-thing-to, do-no-harm answer to every economic question whether it fits or not. IT DOESN'T FIT HERE!
AS IF a MUST PASS NOW proposal cooked up over the weekend by the same blazingly brilliant Bush Administration officials who gave us Iraq and led us into this financial mess would have any merit at ALL. AS IF the $700 billion is not really, with interest, $2.5 trillion, and AS IF it's YOUR money and not MY KIDS future earnings spent without their permission or my consent. AS IF your multi-billion dollar infrastructure scheme will do ANYTHING MORE to forestall the eventual consequence of fifty years of credit-card political economics than the last stimulus package i.e. the not so ancient $20 billion tax rebate to give the economy a boost ALSO now on my kids tab. Did it help? NO, but, Katrina is an editor at The Nation so let's give stimulus another try!
I do not have enough characters left here to do so, Katrina, so YOU should start a movement by making the proper progressive case against this latest apoplexy of arrogance and hyperbolically hypocritical swine-induced slopfest which is: NO!
Instead of piling more debt on top of debt to solve debt, why don't we try something American, like SACRIFICE AND HARD WORK to clean up this VERY un-American mess?
Posted by srbeckman at 09/24/2008 @ 01:45am
I don't hear anyone talking about the real problem that has led to this mess. After decades of declining real wages we are now at the point where the average American family with an average American income can't afford to buy the average American house. We don't create any real jobs anymore and barely manufacture anything. Our entire economy is based on credit. The only way to grow this economy seems to be to expand the availability of credit. In our saner days to qualify for a mortgage you needed a down payment and had to be able to pay no more than 25% of your income for the home loan. When these qualifications became too restrictive to "growing" our credit-based economy, they just lowered the bar. This has developed into a credit market where all standards for loans fly out the window because the people doing the loans know that they won't hold onto the paper. Why care if the loan is bogus when you won't be around to clean up the mess? It's been bundled up with all the other bad loans and sold as an investment claimed to be "good as cash".
Posted by aljstl at 09/24/2008 @ 02:47am
How's this for an idea. Instead of bailing wallstreet out with 700 billion dollars, why don't we invest 700 billion dollars into a national high speed railway system. 1) It would create jobs here in the U.S. and would be owned by us tax payers. 2) It would provide interstate travel and possibly help at a minimum the saging tourism industries in most states. 3) It would certainly lesson our dependence upon foreign oil.
Hey, we spent more than this on Iraq. Screw wallstreet. Let them stew in their own juice. Selling out to foreign interests in not the answer which is all this bailout is doing. W and Paulson want to sweeten the pot for foreign investors...since there aren't many U.S. citizens who can afford to invest in anything. Why don't we invest in our ourselves for a change and tell the world markets to go eff themsevles.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/24/2008 @ 09:45am
Hey, one bit of good news today....oil bounced back to a respectable, environmentally-friendly level :~))))
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 6:55pm
Go screw yourself Happy.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/24/2008 @ 09:47am
Posted by SooHAPPY at 09/22/2008 @ 10:30pm
Happy, Get off your lazy ass, and get a real job. Quit making money off other peoples' labor. Work man.
There's nothing evil nor degrading about actually working for a living. The same can not be said of siphoning money off other peoples' sweat. I believe a people living strictly off investments are akin to blood suckers.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/24/2008 @ 09:54am
Great article. Very much on target. Harold Meyerson's piece also very well-researched. *****
Posted by diogenes2 at 09/26/2008 @ 5:05pm