Capitalizing on Crisis: Insurance Profiteers Demand Deregulation

posted by John Nichols on 09/20/2008 @ 9:44pm

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It is safe to say that there is no moment more dangerous for consumers – and citizens --than one of financial panic when the federal government is moving boldly to respond.

Regulatory frameworks are restructured, rules are rewritten and authority is shifted at lightning speed, with limited or no analysis of what business or special interest in profiteering on fear and uncertainty.

So it comes as no surprise that, as the Bush White House and Democrats leaders of the Congress are hustling to avert a meltdown of American financial systems that even cautious observers are suggesting could be the worst since the Great Depression, insurance-industry lobbyists are working this week to slip a radical rewrite of regulations that currently empower states to protect consumers.

How radical? Imagine purchasing auto insurance over the internet from a Belgian firm that advertises the best prices. Then imagine, after your car is wrecked in a crash, that your calls to Brussels go unanswered. You contact the office of your state insurance commissioner and its consumer protection agency only to learn that they have no authority to sanction the firm. They can't even warn other families against purchasing insurance from the Belgian company because that might represent an unfair restriction on trade.

That may sound like madness. But is a scenario that consumer protection groups and state insurance commissioners suggest could unfold if a fast-tracked proposal for financial services deregulation that was written to ease if not eliminate essential oversight of multi-national insurance and financial-service firms, the "Insurance Information Act of 2008" (H.R. 5840).

H.R. 5840 would effectively allow the Department of the Treasury to gut state regulation of some of the wealthiest and most powerful corporations in the country in order to assure that the U.S. complies with international agreements regarding insurance policy.

The bottom line with regard to this legislation, behind which the insurance industry has thrown all of its lobbying muscle, is summed up by one of the savviest of the state regulators, Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilwig. "(H.R. 5480) creates an unaccountable federal process that produces deregulation of the insurance industry to the detriment of consumers," says Dilwig.

Were H.R. 5840 to be enacted, state insurance commissioners – who have in recent years done a far better job than their federal counterparts of protecting consumers from the excesses of insurance companies that now fancy themselves to be "financial services" firms – would be disempowered. Tough state regulations would be gutted. Policing units would be told to go easy on consumer protection in order to assure that foreign firms that want to get into lucrative U.S. insurance markets -- and the managers of international trade agreements who advocate on their behalf – are satisfied.

This legislation, explains the National Conference of State Legislators, goes against basic democratic and public-service principles. "The determination as to whether or not a state insurance law is in violation of an international agreement or treaty should not be made by an unelected federal bureaucrat who holds no responsibility to the American consumer," explains the NCSL analysis of this dangerously-drawn legislation.

Yet, H.R. 5840 could become the law of the land this week – either as a hastily-passed resolution lost in the flurry of financial-services measures that will be considered or, more likely, as an attachment to an appropriations measure.

If this happens, the federal government will have begun a process of tearing up necessary layers of protection for insurance consumers at precisely the point when those protections are most needed.

And the overwhelming majority of Americans won't know that they have been rendered dramatically more vulnerable to fraud, abuse and the loss of the personal and financial security.

The secretive push to pass H.R. 5840 has earned little media attention, and even less congressional scrutiny. But state officials, who are often the last line of protection for families threatened by rapacious and often unaccountable out-of-state corporations, are horrified by its potential to eliminate basic safeguards for consumers.

Maine Superintendent of Insurance Mila Kofman warns in a letter also signed by Maine Attorney General G. Steven Rowe that H.R. 5840 threatens to "fundamentally erode" state insurance regulation. Maine Governor John Baldacci says, "H.R. 5840 would adversely impact and erode consumer protections currently provided by state insurance regulation."

Ohio Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson has told Congress that the H.R. 5840 fails to defend state-based insurance-regulation systems. "I am concerned that if we do not come together to find practical advocacy solutions that will protect consumers in all of our states -- right now -- we will merely be standing on the sidelines while states are stripped of their authority to oversee their insurance markets and protect their residents," she wrote.

Nevada Insurance Commissioner Alice Molasky-Arman says H.R. 5840, is it is currently written, has the potential to disrupt the insurance marketplace in his state and place the insurance consumers at risk.

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and, to a lesser extent the Senate, have a responsibility to pull the brakes on any attempt to pass H.R. 5840. They should not allow it to be included in a package of financial-services industry "reforms." They cannot accept it as a compromise with industry lobbyists. And they must not allow this attack on consumers to be attached to any measure coming out of the House Appropriations Committee.

Appropriations Committee chair Dave Obey, D-Wisconsin, has a good track record as a defender of consumers and a smart critic of abusive free-trade measures. Along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and honest players on the Banking Committee, Obey needs to take the lead this week and say "no" – absolutely and unequivocally "no" – to any attack by the insurance industry on the state regulations that provide an essential line of defense for American families that have every reason to be terrified by churning markets and an unstable economy.

As Wisconsin's Dilwig explains, "The bill has the undesirable effect of empowering the U.S. Treasury with a unique preemption mechanism that allows federal policy statements arrived at without open debate to be substituted for insurance regulatory standards. This preemptive authority is not subject to oversight by Congress, does not include a meaningful say by state insurance policymakers, either executive or legislative, and is not subject to meaningful judicial review."

In other words, it is the ultimate blank check for the insurance industry.

Comments (57)

"Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and, to a lesser extent the Senate, have a responsibility to pull the breaks on any attempt to pass H.R. 5840."

Would that be "PUT the BRAKES on", Mr Nichols?

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/21/2008 @ 10:08am
ah yes...funny how the will to laissez faire leads to a return to soft core socialism!!!

set the fox to watching over the henhouse (and himself!) and then just wait til the henhouse collapses and then buy it up with taxpayer money!!!!

one after one, as the debt piles up, the public buys one greed choked business after another...

guess its better than bloody revolution...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 10:37am
I wonder if we can get a statement from "d-regulation McCain" on H.R. 5850?

McCain was against the oversight that led to the current financial crisis when he voted FOR the Gramm-Leachy-Bliley Act of 1999, so why not create another crisis in the insurance industry with more deregulation?

Posted by Metteyya at 09/21/2008 @ 10:37am
I'm sure if President Bush just fired the chair of the SEC all would be well.

Posted by onthehelm at 09/21/2008 @ 10:54am
Use this little crises to sign the mortgage on the future of my children and their children. Wipe out any hope of health care reform and watch the legislative geniuses pass the buck as they protect their special interests. greed and gluttony apparently has no particular party affiliation. the problem is that in "The Good Old Days" we use to borrow from each other. Now, we borrow from Europe, China and the Middle East. None, of whom like us very much. 'French Fries anyone". This little episode is going to make the 20's and the 30's look like a kinder garden recess. Sarah Palin and John McCain want to solve the problem like FDR and declare war on the world. Nuclear winter anyone. I hope she learns how to pronounce the word.

Posted by lachatte at 09/21/2008 @ 11:07am
30+ YEARS OF DISMANTLING THE NEW DEAL RESULT IN...

SAME CONSEQUENCES THE NEW DEAL WAS DESIGNED TO AVIOD!!!!

look, nothing wrong with a little supply side economics, but just remember...economics is all about supply AND demand...

for almost 40 years the average (median) income for the schmuk has been slipping, when all factors and variables were included...

yet until recently, the average schmuko spent more and more and more!!!

until recently...

how was this smoke and mirrors hat trick hook and ladder fumblerooskie con pulled off?

1. first schmuks ceased saving money. this was great in that they were blowing it all to live as well or better than their parents, but grasshoppering is a precarious way to live...

2. when it became obvious to the satano-aynrando demogod geniuses that the squeezing of the schmuk, while making him more nervous, fearfull, mean spirited and prone to fantasy and mesmerizing entertainment opiates, had its limits, they made a decision, and that decision meant the further enrichment of them and the debt peonage of all the schmuks they could indenture...CREDIT CREDIT CREDIT! FREE AND EASY!!!! JUST KEEP THAT SPENDING CLIMBING, SCHMUKS...WE'LL WORRY ABOUT THE BILL LATER...

ah, satano-aynrando capitalism!

so now the credit cards are all maxorcized and its time to elect some democrats to fix the mess...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 11:11am
its all so obvious now! how reality so resembles "librulizm"! well, most peer reviewed scientific academia are libruls since facts and findins what dont agree with satano-aynrando ideology must be...LIBROOL ELEET PROPUHGANDUH!

HUH?

is it not staggering the human capacity to decieve? and you know who the biggest liar you will ever meet is? the most dangerous, insidious, and wicked liar by whom you will ever be decieved is...

not ol' satan...

but yourself!

ever do those who engage in wickedness try to decieve themselves in order to deny the ugly reality in which they engage. they adopt wickedness whitewashing mental lie scaffolding, like an ideology, and adopt its jargon and archetypal symbology and use it to make good bad, bad good, wise foolish and foolish wise and thereby escape the personal responsibility of the reality of their actions, mental, verbal, and physical...

so these wall street swamis shat out, ate up, and spewed forth this constant inundation of satano-aynrando demigod bullshit and compounded bad with worse and screwed over the entire country, economically as a result of their (inordinate) greed, pride, gluttony, envy, sloth, rage, and luxury.

man...am i ALWAYS effin right????

lol...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 11:30am
i remember wondering if all them college courses i had taken in history, economics, international relations, psychology, biology, physical, and military science and if all the shit i had read in reputable media was all wrong...

it seemed that every aspect of franklin rooseveldt's reforms were being dismantled. satano-aynrando lie scaffolding said it cvould never happen again. or did it say it never happened in the first place?

sadam hussein was in cahoots with islamic fundamentalists, no government regulation was ever good, the earth was made 6000 years ago and girls who get genital warts deserve them!!!!

satano-aynrando/christofascist lie scaffolding!!!!!

WE'RE JUST WAITIN' AROUND FER THUH RAPTURE ANYWAY, LIBRULLS...

oh well...time for this nightmare to end. click three times saying "there's no place like home" and wake up in november in kansas?

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 11:48am
Isn't this rather formulaic?

Allow a major crisis, reduce individual rights/safety net/income, increase one branch of governments control, shift wealth to an increasing few corporations.

Posted by hsuBfools at 09/21/2008 @ 12:05pm
oh yeah!!!!

and librul was treasonous traitors!!!

while the satano-aynrando government flailed about like an arrogantly stupid giant stanislawlemesque robot...torturing people, starting needless land wars in asia, presiding over the biggest irresponsible fleecing of schmukamerika ever...

we libroolz was stoopid, treezonus traitorz!!!!

just waitin' fer the rapture over here...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 12:08pm
Below is a new section that I have drafted to add to the legislation presently being considered concerning the mortgage crisis entitled : "Sec. 13. Homeowner Foreclosure Relief". I have also attached a copy of the draft presented by President Bush to Congress; my proposed amendents are in italics.

Bill Crain

(4) Foreclosure.-- The term "Foreclosure" means the legal process by which an owner's right to a property is terminated, whether by forced sale of the property at public auction or otherwise.

(5) Home.-- The term "Home" means a principle residence owned by a natural person.

(6) Homeowner.-- The term "Homeowner" means a natural person who owns a dwelling that is his or her primary residence. The term "Homeowner" does not include a corporation.

(7) Mortgagee.-- The term "Mortgagee" means both (a) a person, corporation, or other legal entity to whom property is mortgaged and (b) any person, corporation, or other legal entity who claims a legal right to prosecute a foreclosure proceeding.

(8) Mortgagor.-- The term "Mortgagor" means a person who mortgages property.

(9) Mortagee Registry.-- The term "Mortgagee Registry" means a Registry, which will be a public record that is readily and immediately available at all times in both written and electronic form on the World Wide Web that will contain two separate and distinct lists as follows containing the name, address, telephone number, web site and e-mail address of

(a) each mortgagee who has been a beneficiary of the Act;

(b) each mortgagee who has executed, under oath, a statement that said mortgagee, and any person, corporation or other entity to whom it may subsequently assign any right regarding a home mortgage irrevocably waives and forfeits all rights to benefit from any of th

Posted by WilliamCrain at 09/21/2008 @ 12:41pm
Posted by Zero at 09/21/2008 @ 12:20pm | ignore this person | warn this person

those mattress comercials about the trust fund wonders and gold diggers (the parasitical aristocratic plutocrats) are a sign of the times...lol...

those, compounded by the $100,000,000 self paying D- executive class...

man! git ya a credit card, schmuko, and make me richer!!!! oh oh oh! no credit? how bout...

a car title loan!?!?

AH MAMMON! KING OF GREED, SLOTH, AND LUXURY!!!!

satanoaynrando capitalism!!!!

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 12:42pm
like naomi klein said friday night: "it's like christmas morning" for the capitalists....

so true.

Posted by darladoon at 09/21/2008 @ 12:42pm
(continued)

(b) each mortgagee who has executed, under oath, a statement that said mortgagee, and any person, corporation or other entity to whom it may subsequently assign any right regarding a home mortgage irrevocably waives and forfeits all rights to benefit from any of the provisions of the Act.

(10) Unpaid Principal and Reasonable Interest.-- The term "Unpaid Principal and Reasonable Interest" means the total of the original loan principal amount plus six (6) per cent annual interest less all monies paid, regardless of how such payments were described or designated, by the homeowner to the mortgagee or any predecessor in interest.

Sec. 13. Homeowner Foreclosure Relief.

(a) Effective on the date of the enactment of this Act, and for two years thereafter, all homeowner foreclosure proceeding shall be stayed, and no further proceedings in any such foreclosure proceedings may continue, including, but not limited to, any sale, auction or other action that would affect the homeowner's rights to continue to own or occupy their residence, unless and until the mortgagee

(1) proves that both it and any other person, corporation or other entity through which the mortgagee claims the legal right to prosecute the homeowner foreclosure proceeding have not been a beneficiary of this Act, and it has filed a statement with the Mortgagee Registry that said mortgagee irrevocably waives and forfeits all rights to benefit from any of the provisions of the Act and

(2) the Court in which the homeowner foreclosure proceeding is pending issues an order, after notice and hearing to the parties to the foreclosure, that the mortgagee has complied with all the requirements of the Section 13 of the Act.

(b) In any homeowner foreclosure proceedings

Posted by WilliamCrain at 09/21/2008 @ 12:44pm
Posted by WilliamCrain at 09/21/2008 @ 12:41pm | ignore this person | warn this person

no italics here...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 12:44pm
(Last section)

b) In any homeowner foreclosure proceedings subject to this Act, the following shall apply:

(1) The mortgagee may only asset claims against the mortgagor for unpaid principal and reasonable interest as defined in Section 12(10).

(2) The mortgagee may not assert any claim for points, fees and costs of any kind (including, without limitation, redemption, court, collection and attorneys fees), interest in excess of six (6) per cent or other charge or fee whatsoever.

(3) All payments made by the homeowner to the mortgagee, regardless of their designation or characterization, shall be credited to the homeowner as a payment against the unpaid principal and reasonable interest.

(4) The homeowner may elect, at his or her sole discretion, to have the court reform the mortgage as follows:

(a) The mortgage term may be extended so that the remaining term of the mortgage shall up to twenty (20) years.

(b) The interest rate of the mortgage would be a fixed rate of interest equal to the lessor of six (6) per cent per annum, the prevailing fixed rate of mortgage interest at the time the mortgage is reformed, or the lowest rate of fixed mortgage interest offered by the mortgagee at the time the mortgage is reformed.

(c) As long as the present value total of principal and interest payments by the homeowner is unchanged, the homeowner may request that the court set a specific payment schedule for the duration of the mortgage, which shall be granted unless the court determines that the requested schedule would create an unreasonable risk that the mortgage would not be repaid in a timely manner.

Posted by WilliamCrain at 09/21/2008 @ 12:46pm
H.R. 5840... brought to you by... the same folks who want(ed) to privatize Social Security!

This is a fine example of 'lame duck' political maneuvering... authorize and push through legislation that could easily invade the next administration like a trojan horse... cover and despoil the old rules with new loopholes... and effectively change the subject because the 'heat' is getting rightfully high.

They've nothing to lose and everything to gain by it's passage...

And the American people... once again... have everything to lose and nothing to gain...

...unless you believe that unfettered investment activity should always take precedent over safe prosperous and predictable family economics.

Posted by ttr at 09/21/2008 @ 12:54pm
Yes, Happy... I'm sure...

The original bill was gutted...

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2008 -- Proposed legislation that started out as a bill to create an insurance information office has been changed to enable federal regulation of insurance, according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).

In a speech in April to the Maine Insurance Agents Association, Auerbach said that despite the arguments advanced by advocates of federal insurance regulation, what is really underway is a competition for market share by major players.

"Federal involvement is being marketed as a way of making insurance regulation more efficient, but the subprime mortgage meltdown occurred under federal regulation," Auerbach said. "All at the same time that the insurance industry -- which is under state regulation -- remained on a firm financial footing, achieving record profits and lower prices for consumers."

"So our question is, why would it be more efficient for the one sector of financial services that has prudently conducted its business to be subsumed into a federal regulatory structure that has failed in the supervision of banking and securities?" he said.

http://www.pianet.com/NewsCenter/PressReleases/7-28-08.htm

Posted by ttr at 09/21/2008 @ 1:37pm
"SS Privatization should be much more like the fund management business with huge $$ volumes and low expense ratios of around 1.0%"

This almost sounds like Blackwater, and wow, wouldn't they love a private SS.

Posted by onthehelm at 09/21/2008 @ 2:45pm
typical ... an idea which is good initially is put forth by the left with some GOP support. The GOP insists on rewriting massive sections such that the original bill is no longer recognizable. Then when the crap hits the rotating air-mover, the GOP says this messy bill is the Dems idea.

In the meantime I still hear the bleating of deregulators saying "the free market will fix it"

Posted by leftofcenter at 09/21/2008 @ 3:38pm
--In the meantime I still hear the bleating of deregulators saying "the free market will fix it"--

Posted by leftofcenter at 09/21/2008 @ 3:38pm...

The free market has no empathy or concern for human quality of life issues... or the environment... or economic stability... or spirituality for that matter.

Problem is... markets are inherently unstable... and the biggest profits to be made are dependent on this potential uncertainty... and investors exasperate the boom-bust cycle to further their own ends... at the expense of national and world-wide peace of mind for all of us 'regular people'.

Every time new legislation draws up a new variance of trading rules and laws... the players are presented with another 'safe' to crack... as a new set of loopholes is sought out and exploited.

One of government's main jobs is to safeguard the public from such despotic investment practices...

...and it is not at all clear that ours has any interest in doing so at this time because of the force and sway wielded over it by the business interests that distribute influence through their various lobbying 'methods'.

Posted by ttr at 09/21/2008 @ 4:06pm
Good call, Happy and Lvl...

It looks like non partisanship can wield the mighty sword of 'class warfare' without compromising the power and accuracy of its blows...

Posted by ttr at 09/21/2008 @ 4:16pm
Enough! Enough of this assault on the citizens of this country by the corporate sector.

I am so sick of this, here we are on the brink of a possible depression and the insurance industry is trying to make yet more money out of us by having a bill passed that would create nightmares for people when they need it the most.

All lobbing should be made illegal, I realize that some good lobbyist will be thrown out with this kind of action, but I for one have had enough is this.

If this bill passes in light of what has been happening this past week the entire Congress should fired.

We need a velvet revolution, not reforms and empty bromides from politicians.

Posted by jeffe at 09/21/2008 @ 5:02pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 09/21/2008 @ 3:23pm

I love that Happy and LVL thinks that just because a bill is being pushed by Demo's that somehow means that we should HAVE to agree with it and aren't allowed to disagree with what it says.

Posted by Cccomfo1 at 09/21/2008 @ 5:30pm
http://www.insurereinsure.com/BlogHome.aspx?entry=976

House Removes H.R. 5840 from Consideration; Passes NARAB

September 19, 2008

On September 17, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) removed H.R. 5840 from the legislative calendar. As previously discussed here, the legislation would establish a federal Office of Insurance Information. Given the fact that Congress is adjourning at the end of September, it is unlikely that H.R. 5840 will be passed this Congressional session. Pelosi pulled the bill from the calendar after a fellow Californian lawmaker raised concerns about how the legislation would affect California insurance rate regulation. Interestingly, on the same day H.R. 5840 was pulled from consideration, the American Council of Life Insurers suggested in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the Bush Administration unilaterally establish an Office of Insurance Information based on its executive authority. The Treasury Department has yet to issue a response to the letter.

Posted by ttr at 09/21/2008 @ 5:43pm
"And why is a Democrat bill the fault of Republicans?"

there are only two types of people who would use the term "democrat" instead of "democratic": those who are intentionally insulting the democratic party; and those unintentionally (these people might be worse than the already despicable first category, as they are just unconsciously going along with their Leaders).

Posted by darladoon at 09/21/2008 @ 6:09pm
Darin_the_troll... I was referring to this bill H.R. 5840. I am not being led by false statements nor am I gullible.Which you spelled wrong... I resent your accusations but hey your a self proclaimed troll.

Seems your the only one who thinks this will be a cake walk in the entire country.

You think this huge bailout will not cost the tax payers any money you don't know your history. Look the S & L fiasco from the 80's, it cost the tax payers of this country about $124.6 billion. Are you suggesting that this wont happen?

You think it's fine for the large corporations to have as much access to our government as they see fit. That it's fine that they can write bills to favor their industries. I don't, I want all lobbing banned, as it is in other countries such as Germany. We need regulations and we need them now, as I said enough of this BS.

If you think regulations impede growth, well this is a lie put forth by those who want to keep the status quo. Germany has a lot of regulations and strong unions, and their economy has grown more than ours in recent years. Why is that?

They have a national health system, while we have a market.

If the events of the past week prove anything is that our system is broken, this is not some small recession. It might not be a depression, that is defined by about a third of the work force being on the dole. Or 30 to 35% unemployment. We are at 7% to 9% right now, the government says 6% but it's always higher.

We shall see, if the foreclosures go up, which some economist say might be end being as high as 40% of all home owners in the country then we are getting pretty close to a very serious downturn.

Posted by jeffe at 09/21/2008 @ 10:00pm
So Mr. Troll chew on this for a while and as your rereading Animal Farm remember "mission accomplished" and "hell of a job Browny" speaking of the ability to swindle gullible people into believing preposterous lies.

Posted by jeffe at 09/21/2008 @ 10:03pm
The dems should give Bush an award.

Just think about what he's accomplished in eight short years.

-Have gave the senate and the house to the dems. -He and his administration have screwed-up every decision that confronted them so badly that a buffoon can win the presidency purely on his public speaking ability. -And the creme de la creme, he engineered the government takeover of wallstreet.

No democrat could have done all that!

Posted by bleedingheart at 09/21/2008 @ 10:31pm
If you think regulations impede growth, well this is a lie put forth by those who want to keep the status quo.-----------Posted by jeffe at 09/21/2008 @ 10:00pm |

I'm not sure there's anybody that MATTERS that still believes in de-regulation, jeffe.

McCain knows it's a loser politically and has suddenly started sounding like a New Dealer to win in November.

The "let the markets work it out" are mostly a few die-hard Righties....and those who DON'T want to bail out investors and CEOs on some of these new ideas.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/21/2008 @ 10:43pm
Posted by bleedingheart at 09/21/2008 @ 10:31pm

Are you saying Bush is, at heart, a SOCIALIST???

Posted by yutsano at 09/21/2008 @ 10:45pm
Big men think big and alike; small guys think small and also alike: What does Obama a community organizer know about govt finances? Well, $700 billion is big for his Chicago's South end, but not for this biggest economy in the world.

-----------

Obama calls financial bailout price tag "staggering" Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:30pm John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday called the $700 billion price tag for a financial market bailout "staggering" and said the final product must protect U.S. taxpayers and include a commitment to new regulatory reforms.

At a rally in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, Obama laid the blame for the Wall Street crisis on Republican economic policies favored by John McCain, his rival in the November 4 presidential election.

Posted by HelenDAO at 09/21/2008 @ 10:46pm
RE: Capitalizing on ...

Big men think big and alike; small guys think small and also alike: What does Obama a community organizer know about govt finances? Well, $700 billion is big for his Chicago's South end, but not for this biggest economy in the world.

-----------

Obama calls financial bailout price tag "staggering" Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:30pm John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday called the $700 billion price tag for a financial market bailout "staggering" and said the final product must protect U.S. taxpayers and include a commitment to new regulatory reforms.

At a rally in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, Obama laid the blame for the Wall Street crisis on Republican economic policies favored by John McCain, his rival in the November 4 presidential election.

Posted by HelenDAO at 09/21/2008 @ 10:48pm
*The "let the markets work it out" are mostly a few die-hard Righties....and those who DON'T want to bail out investors and CEOs on some of these new ideas.

Posted by Maskdelta at 09/21/2008 @ 10:43pm*

I'll accept a bail-out, but there had better be some pretty damn strict restricitions on where that money can go (i.e. actual asset expenditure vs. CEO pay) or else it's just flushing it into some rich CEO's pocket who already made a fortune off getting us where we are in the first place. I also saw an intriguing idea: seizing all tangible assets of a corporation until the balance is paid off (you know, collateral for a loan?) and if the company defaults, the asset gets sold and the Treasury for certain gets paid back. I think there needs to be much more careful decision making on this matter rather than just handing Hammerin' Hank a blank check.

Posted by yutsano at 09/21/2008 @ 10:59pm
Posted by Zero at 09/21/2008 @ 11:00pm

I iggied her after she stopped being a cute H.T.O.T.D.

BTW how's the weather?

Posted by yutsano at 09/21/2008 @ 11:02pm
Ugly Obama crowd's gone so low as to harm themselves. They haven't produced a meaningful policy proposal, instead they keep lying about big Mc and Palin all the time. Go prove big Mc took people money and bought his cars. It's said, as a vet in the past 30 yrs McCain's been receiving around $30k per annum as compensation for his war injuries. You do the math and I'm not suprised if McCainis a millionaire by now. In this country only the fools and the welfare types living on the working people's back do not do well.

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

September 21, 2008 Dems seize on McCain's 13 cars Posted: 08:50 PM ET From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Democrats are seizing on a report the McCains own at least 13 cars. (CNN) -- Democrats eager to portray John McCain as out of touch with average Americans and as a flip-flopper seized on a report Sunday the Arizona senator and his wife, Cindy, own more than a dozen cars -- including several foreign-made automobiles.

A Newsweek article published on the magazine's Web Site Sunday said registration records show the McCains currently own 13 cars -- two of which are foreign-made: a Honda and a Volkswagen. That appears to contradict the Republican presidential nominee's past statements he only buys cars made in America. (Cindy McCain also drives a Lexus and daughter Meghan owns a Toyota Prius, but neither are registered to the McCains.)

Posted by HelenDAO at 09/21/2008 @ 11:35pm
I would prefer that the investment banks, etc., as a matter of course, have been frozen midway in their death spiral, in order to have some form on citizen representation, some form of public opinion, guiding the bail-out decisions.

Posted by winyahn at 09/22/2008 @ 01:01am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
wait a second........

"McCain's plan proposal is to undermine state health insurance regulations by allowing consumers to buy insurance from sellers anywhere in the country. So a requirement in one state that insurers cover, for example, vaccinations, or annual physicals, or breast examinations, would essentially be meaningless"

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:47am
repeat the truth

enough times

and it just may become

the truth.......

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 03:48am
What could possibly go wrong?

The "Free Market" will correct any problems, with $700,000,000,000 from the "nanny state" when needed.

Yep, socialism is fine for those making over a mil a year, but it will ruin the country if we apply it to Joseph Bud-Lite.

Posted by crabwalk at 09/22/2008 @ 07:35am
As a socialist this sequence of events is not how I envisioned my dream. I hadn't completely considered the possibilty of a twisted sick perversion into National Socialist Fascism.

This could well give healthy Social Democracy advocates like myself a bad dream. And the entire movement a bad name.

I dare not go to sleep. I may wake up as one of THEM. (As I look for gellatinous pods beneath my bed, closet and garage).

Posted by chaoszen at 09/22/2008 @ 08:01am
set the fox to watching over the henhouse (and himself!) and then just wait til the henhouse collapses and then buy it up with taxpayer money!!!!

one after one, as the debt piles up, the public buys one greed choked business after another...

guess its better than bloody revolution...

Posted by dexter666 at 09/21/2008 @ 10:37am

Naomi Klein's book, "The Shock Doctrine" applies quite readily to this scenario. Once again, people are in shock about the turmoil in the markets, and before the "we the people" have a chance to sort this out, a preconceived system benefitting the ultra wealthy will replace the old system.

The "shock doctrine" is applicable to pretty much anything. All the powers that be have to do is have a plan to go at any notice. In this case, however, they caused the market mess in the first place, and now get to cash in quadruple on the government bailouts on top of the new systems that will further protect their asses and screw the rest of us.

Democracy in action my ass.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/22/2008 @ 09:42am
I find it quite interesing that the Rothschild family is backing McIdiot and Paidforlin. Let's see. The Rothschilds family owns the lionshare of gold in the world.....and a crash of the U.S. economy would dramatically increase the worth of their gold as the world financial markets come tumbling down. Considering the Rothschilds family is British and has not a care in the world about the U.S. economy nor it's citizens should make one question why they are backing McIdiot.

Democracy my ass, we're heading back to the days of feudalism with Star Spangled Banner playing and parades of bible thuming morons falling quite nicely into the plans of the world's super rich.

Posted by Wolfgang1 at 09/22/2008 @ 09:53am
Apparently, AIG was so troubled over the issue of corrupt fundraising activities that they loaded in as one of the top VIP donors in McCain's nonprofit think-tank, whose website lists AIG in the "over $50,000" donor category--although exactly how much over that $50,000 is still unclear. Nor is it clear why AIG had any business donating so much money to a think tank whose work in no way overlapped with the insurance company's--unless, of course, that money was just meant to gain access to McCain.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/ames

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 10:33am
I guess my question to Darin would be:

why doesn't "the market" buy up the assets if the return is guarenteed? why does the evil guvt have to step in? I thought you guys wanted the guvt to keep it's hand off?

Posted by crabwalk at 09/22/2008 @ 12:17pm
Stop Bush's power grab and protect the citizen's interests. Insist that congress use the bailout to take ownership of the investment firms and raise taxes on the wealthy to pay the costs. Contact your rep: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

Posted by Markfromatlanta at 09/22/2008 @ 12:17pm
for darin:

Raleigh, N.C. – With concern over the economy at an all time high, Barack Obama has pulled into a tie with John McCain in North Carolina for the first time in a Public Policy Polling survey. Each candidate has 46%, with Libertarian Bob Barr picking up 5%.

Posted by frosty zoom at 09/22/2008 @ 1:04pm
Wow. Now We The People are supposed to SOCIALIZE BANKS?

We don't have to do that at all. FDR already did that in the 30s, to end the First Great Depression that these pigs plunged America into. Just reassert those regulations--the ones that would have protected us all from this meltdown--and this time, tie them to a Financial Crimes Department.

Because if you're not breaking the law, where's the crime??? That's what Roosevelt understood. That's why these depredators (Republicans) moved to 'deregulate' the banking industry. The word 'deregulation' should be henceforth tied to the Depression that it produced--not once but, now, twice.

All those lending institutions which participated in the massive mortgage fraud that sucked in many Americans with its promise of 'homeownership' (aka Bush's 'Ownership society') should be given a 700 billion dollar pass? What are we, NUTS?

Let's reward all these creeps with jail time, for having engineered the biggest heist of all time:

GRAND THEFT AMERICA

(That's what this mortgage fraud scheme should be looked at, as)

Let's start by Nancy Dearest either impeaching Bush/Cheney or stepping down. Impeachment, after all, is only the LISTING OF THEIR CRIMES. Then they have to PAY FOR IT.

Including Pelosi--who, by giving these authors of Grand Theft America a pass, became complicit in their depredations against America.

And for God's sake--IMMEDIATELY (over the next 3 months TOPS) bring the troops home from Iraq AND Afghanistan. The Russians broke their teeth on Afghanistaqn--and now we're about to do the same, when we couldn't even bring Iraq to a standstill?!

Just BRING THE TROOPS HOME. THAT will indemnify all these toxic mortgage-ees right away. Don't let this other crooked scheme,(Iraq)go on ANY MORE

Posted by jvaljon1 at 09/26/2008 @ 2:15pm