Bailout Saga Proves That Elites Don’t Care What We Think
In mid-September, when it became clear to Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and George Bush that extraordinary measures were needed to address the mess that had built up in the financial markets during the past decade or so, their first instincts should have been to say:
- “We need to have a complete plan to deal with this.”
- “We need to make a case to Congress and the American people that our plan will work.”
They did neither of these things; nor did they even seem to consider whether what they wanted was even constitutional.
Instead, they in essence demanded that Congress and the American people give them a blank check, saying, “Do this, or else.” Last Sunday, I called it blackmail. I stand by that.
Of course, a large plurality of Congressmen and Senators, along with a majority of the American people, were repulsed. The wonder is that everyone wasn’t.
Among the repulsed were well over 150 economists from across the political spectrum, including three Nobel laureates, who signed a letter of protest (also carried here; bolds are mine):
As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:
1) Its fairness. The plan is a subsidy to investors at taxpayersÕ expense. Investors who took risks to earn profits must also bear the losses. Not every business failure carries systemic risk. The government can ensure a well-functioning financial industry, able to make new loans to creditworthy borrowers, without bailing out particular investors and institutions whose choices proved unwise.
2) Its ambiguity. Neither the mission of the new agency nor its oversight are clear. If taxpayers are to buy illiquid and opaque assets from troubled sellers, the terms, occasions, and methods of such purchases must be crystal clear ahead of time and carefully monitored afterwards.
3) Its long-term effects. If the plan is enacted, its effects will be with us for a generation. For all their recent troubles, America’s dynamic and innovative private capital markets have brought the nation unparalleled prosperity. Fundamentally weakening those markets in order to calm short-run disruptions is desperately short-sighted.
For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.
The monstrosity that became law yesterday (PDF-formatted first 250 pages here) does not begin to adequately address the group’s three key concerns.
The title of this opinion is probably the most pointed yet seen at PJM.
It’s also the most accurate. We’ve lost control of those who will now control us.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. The only way to manage these criminals is to try them, convict them, and dispose of them.
And that requires nonstop, hell-bent activism.
How do the people get the Supreme court to do
their duty? The court has been out of any
frays with the Congress for generations.
They must be able to have some opinion on this
non Constitutional power given without Constitutional authority.
The seperation of powers is now non existant!
Why do we need the judiciary if they do not
protect the people with the powers of the
Constitution.
Pelosi’s husband and Paulson have lost lots of
money in the too big to fail companies, this is
a direct conflict of interests.
How many other congress members have this conflict of interest and why is no one taking the peoples side and making the Congress liable for ethic violations?
McCain shot himself in the foot when he decided
that he declared his support against the people, he should of let Palin decide, she was against this tradjedy.
“I do not make jokes, I just watch the government and report the facts.” (Will Rogers)
Cheers, rfm
Section 110 of this step towards socialism reads thusly:(2) MODIFICATIONS.—In the case of a residential mortgage loan, modifications made under paragraph (1) may include—
(A) reduction in interest rates;
(B) reduction of loan principal; and
(C) other similar modifications.
Our leaders have just undercut another basic tenet of capitalism by allowing judges to set the price of a home instead of the marketplace.
We are so screwed…
Its SHORT-TERM effects are not clear yet.
Bailout 2.0 is already in discussion. House Republicans failed to hold their position. All McCain is doing is demoralizing his party.
Check the fine print in this bill to find other Orwellian bullshit. The revised bill also includes a “Mental Health Parity” provision, which would require health insurance companies to cover mental illness at parity with physical illness.
This rubbish runs parallel to Bush’s agreements to cooperate with the Democrat congress in its attempts to make mental health testing (and as also determined by our masters and keepers, psychoactive drugging) a precondition of State schooling.
Welcome to the stuff of your nightmares, sleeping subject of the State.
Section 110 – the Pandora’s Box and Final Nail in the Coffin of Housing
Good intentions gone awry.
There is no limits on this law.
No clause defining the mortgages that the law covers
(mortgages obtained during the “boom” that were in “bubble” markets).
No clause defining the amount principal can be reduced
(20% of original purchase price would have been good)
No clause defining the amount interest can be set
(2% over prime would have been good).
No clause defining the term of years one’s mortgage could be extended
(5 years, perhaps)
The result is that banks will not know “how far” the initial terms can be modified. Would you loan someone $200,000 at 6%, knowing a judge can modify the terms to $50,000 at 3%?
The result? A dry-up of the mortgage industry as banks can not estimate potential losses. Without mortgages, people will not be able to buy. No buyers means lower house values. Lower house values will mean more people will be “upside down” in their house payment, wanting to take advantage of Section 110. A vicious cycle of the “race to the bottom”
I strongly urge all to write our government to put some terms on Section 110. Terms that will help some struggling homeowners without causing money to leave the mortgage market.
I’m a big McCain/Palin supporter. I don’t understand why McCain has been so silent about this bailout. There is still a lot of voter anger about the government doing this and McCain should be addressing this. What is going on?
Yes votes, contact info and potential challengers over here. Clip and save for November 4th.
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The Democrats own words are pretty damning is this matter. Frank, Dodd, Meeks, Waters, Rangel, Raines, and company must be hating YouTube about now. But with Pelosi and Reid at the helm they are probably still sleeping very well at night, knowing that their corruption will be handled as seriously as that of William Jefferson (D-LA).
Will any of these miscreants be held accountable? I doubt it. The political class will protect its own. I agree with the author. Congress – Democrats in particular – holds the American people in contempt.
Sometimes, though, you need the “elites” to not do what someone wants. If someone goes to the doctor with a spiky fever, nausea, and pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, all they may want is a demerol and to be left alone; if you don’t take out their appendix, though, they will probably die.
It may be worse than we have even dreamed possible. Lets just think about recent events within the last 6 -8 weeks. In mid August the House Republicans were hammering Democrats about the lack of action on new oil supplys. Remember “drill here, drill now?” Pump prices hovered around $4.00a gallon. The Dems took a recess and when they returned fuel prices began falling like a rock. Even with hurricanes the prices kept going down .How did that happen? Up till then a hiccup in Hoboken would cause a .10 c jump at the pump. But global crude markets plunged when there was no reason . They are still falling. No one has explained where that process has been hiding for 3-4 years .
In addition ,when the heat waned on the Democrats a real dilemma erupted. Their favorite charities began bleeding and screaming and the herd was rounded up for a fall stampede. So now we have a Democrat Congress taking bows on a financial sellout around a trillion dollars and Americans are being told , wow, that was a close one.
Excuse my lack of enthusiasm but the stench from this rotting corpse will linger for a long, long, an ever so long time.
Our great free enteprise Republic just took the arsenic death pill and its effect may take awhile . but it will eventually kill this country. The people no longer rule ,the power resides with the State.
The elites don’t care what we think EXCEPT JUST BEFORE AN ELECTION.
Two years ago, Republicans got disgusted with their representativves and voted in the Democrats. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Now, I think Barney Frank may lose his seat. I’ve already donated to John Murtha’s Republican opponent. Chris Dodd we’ll get to in two years.
I don’t think the American public has ever been angrier. Commercials are being cut which show HOW and WHY this all happened. The Democrat “hearings” won’t work. Fox and Fox Business Channel and Larry Kudlow on CNBC and Glenn Beck on Headline News are explaining in clear language the history and philosophy behind this debacle.
In plain language, there is no “civil right” to own a home. If you’re not employed and don’t have the money to buy a house, do what others do. RENT!
I see a philosophical tsunami rising which is going to drown he who walks on water.
Whether the issue be this humongous bill or drilling, remember we the people have great power to be heard that ends on November 4th and after that we have to wait for nearly two years before Congress will pay any attention to us again.
Electing ANY Republican no matter how lame will be better than electing any Democrat because as Rahm Emanuel figured out electing conservative “blue dog” democrats gave the Democrats control of the Congress and chairmanships etc.
Do you want four more years of Reid and Pelosi, who is two heartbeats away from the Presidency?
AAAAARGH!!!!
Sandra is right. Mike Thompson of California is or was a Blue Dog who switched his vote this week, even though he is not beholden to his neighbor Pelosi for his congressional seat. He could not possibly have read that huge bill in a fraction of a day. He will be re-elected next month, but not next time.
History records that politicians can do a poor job of actually doing what they are charged to do, i.e., doing nothing, so long as they gratify the people’s appetites.
In the coming years we will see a greater number of those who work having one thing on their mind:
T-A-X
I posted this at FauxNewS.Org earlier. This is my take.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The bailout was bad enough, but they just had to add all of the pork and make it worse.
The majority in Congress have no conception of the magnitude of money this represents. Our country was already in a deep hole. Now, I am afraid we are in too deep to recover. The problem is that we have too many lawyers in Congress and not enough business types. That is a deep, deep problem with only one solution. Fire the Lawyers and hire Business folk.
I have been out of the market except for a short position on the NASDAC 100, which is slowly gaining value. everything is taking a thrashing.
I plan on investing in Gold next week. Ticker: GLD. I made some money on the run up over the last couple years and cashed out. Now it is the only store of value I trust and I am getting back in. The dollar can only fall now. That means gold rises, priced in dollars.
I can now buy options to cover my risk. It is going to be the only game in town for a few years.
The free markets were starting to sort these things out. One of the consequences of being a capitalist country is the threat of bankruptcy. Without that stick, you get abuse. Certainly, Fannie and Freddie did not have that stick.
The problem with the bail out in my eyes is the lack of structure around it. How do they ensure that the mess doesn’t happen again? How does this bail out do anything for the interbank credit market?
I only see investment banks getting bad debts lifted off their balance sheets. We don’t know the price that they will be sold to the government at.
The way to sort this thing out is to use a centralized clearing operation, like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange clearing house, to eliminate the counter party risk that exists today. This, along with the lack of transparency is what has gummed up the credit market.
I understand the motive of any Congressman that voted for the bill. They felt like they had to do something-and they were under time pressure. Paulsen and Bernancke said things were dire. Why didn’t they say this last year in August when the crisis manifested itself? Paulsen tried a mini-bail out before with the SIV package, and it did nothing. Why is this going to work?
Enron and MCIron = jailtime
Fan and Fredron = pats on the back blame for Bush and a long draught on a big govt tit.Lovely
RECALL THEM ALL !!!!!
I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat but a true Independent who believes in facts and really believes in learning the lessons of our history.
So here is a simple fact for America -
1) During Ronald Reagan’s Presidency of 2 terms, between 1981-1989, we were at our economic best in a quarter of a century. We made the right choice in these 8 years as a country.
2) During George H. W. Bush Sr.’s Presidency of 1 term, between 1989-1993, we were at our economic worst in a quarter of a century. We made a huge mistake as a country but corrected it by keeping him in office for only 1 term.
3) During Bill Clinton’s Presidency of 2 terms, between 1993-2001, we were again at our economic best in a quarter of a century, even better than Reagan’s era. We made the right choice again in these 8 years as a country, despite his personal scandals.
4) Now, during George W. Bush Jr.’s Presidency of 2 terms, between 2001-this coming January 20, 2009; we have been at our economic worst in a quarter of a century, even worst than Bush Sr.’s era. We really made a huge mistake as a country on this one by not realizing that the apple really doesn’t fall very far from the tree. Yet we chose this apple again the second time around.
Now, really let this simple fact sink in America and take your time to think carefully this time around about how you want the direction of this country to go.
We made history with Reagan. We then made a mistake with Bush Sr. but corrected history by allowing him to only serve 1 term. We then made history again with Clinton, despite his personal scandals. Now, we have made 2 mistakes with Bush Jr. by allowing him to serve not once, but twice. So my last question to America is, guess which candidate shares the interests of both, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.? I will let America answer this one. We are much, much smarter as a country to want to make history rather than make mistakes and to suffer yet again from our own mistakes by not using objectivity as our first and foremost agenda.
Calling people that don’t agree with you “elite” doesn’t necessarily make it so. I think it has much less to do with liberal idealists and more to do with Bush helping the rich stay rich – all in the name of the “free market” – one of the most widely misunderstood concepts in economics.
All this good news … hmm … and the best is yet to come: boomers starting to hit the Social Security ATM machine, those living on credit with no access to home mortgage lines applying for additional credit cards to keep the cash flow going, the various states lining up at the trough to declare insolvency and request bailout, etc. Maybe I can still apply for Irish citizenship.
It is very possible that the stock market fall on last Monday is speculative. The House Republicans, though, were frightened by that straw. And their votes became ridiculous. They rejected a bailout, then they accepted the very same bailout plus pork. They’re essentially saying they know damn nothing about the whole mess. OK, not all of them, but those changed votes.
At this moment, it’s not clear if the bailout will help interbank loans. A few key index do not pointing that way at the moment.
Calling people that don’t agree with you “elite” doesn’t necessarily make it so.
They’re “elite” because of two things. First, they ARE the upper-class. Second, they scare and refuse or unable to explain. That’s what the word means. And that’s what those people are doing.
Sometimes, though, you need the “elites” to not do what someone wants. If someone goes to the doctor with a spiky fever, nausea, and pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, all they may want is a demerol and to be left alone; if you don’t take out their appendix, though, they will probably die.
Exactly. So the question becomes: is it a problem with the appendix or not? And: are they the capable doctors?
When McCain said the fundamentals of the economy is sound. He’s clearly suggesting the financial turmoil is not a threating problem to the whole US economy outside the financial sector. And Democrats and the media mocked him for no particular evidence. Now, with their scaring, the stock market has become volatile and very speculative in last week. The House voted NO on Monday because of popular cry in the wild, then they voted YES because of popular cry on DJIA. Where do you have evidence those people have any sense what they are doing?
Someone75
Last time I check , the rich are supporting the Democratic party more than the Republican Party since the time of the Clinton administration . Heck , didn’t Obama had a nice fund raising event a few months ago at Billionaire’s row last April and he garnered more contributions from the elite in both coasts than McCain can ever do in his lifetime .
Someone 75 , read this , it explains what free market is really all about . http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/FreeMarket.html
Sometimes, though, you need the “elites” to not do what someone wants. If someone goes to the doctor with a spiky fever, nausea, and pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, all they may want is a demerol and to be left alone; if you don’t take out their appendix, though, they will probably die.
The best and only place or institution where the elites can constructively disagree with the public is the Free Market. In other words, play with your own money! Why is it so so hard to understand?
Looking back the history, that’s the only way those elites contributed to society. Play with your own money.
After reading this.
I have reached a decision that the safest job in America will not be a slick talking senator, congressman/woman, or even the president. I often thought people working in the food or clothing business had the safest jobs.
The safest job in America will be the man or woman running a dollar printing press. According to my estimates he or she will have to print 47 trillion dollars over the next 70 years. We will have paid for his/her house, their children’s college education and health insurance. Not to mention their social security and pension.
Does anyone know how I can get a job at the United States Treasury dept via The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing?
P. J. O’Rourke wrote the book ” A Parliament of Whores” many years ago. You saw it in action last week. A bad bill, rejected, then filled with pork and then accepted. The only representatives who are for America voted no twice. The ones who switched votes from no to yes are the worst because they were clearly bribed, nothing more.
And the guys who brought you here? Barney Frank and company will be reelected. No end to mischief going forward with a democratic congress and president.
This is yet another Bush conspiracy. Make the republicans so vulnerable that the US elects Obama who will undoubtedly replace Bush as the worse president yet. Smart way to save your legacy.
Jeff – I laugh when I read your last post: you have posted the exact same commentary at least 2x on this site. Guess you feel you need to repeat yourself in order to be heard. If people voted only on the economy maybe your comments would carry more weight but they don’t. A true “independent” analysis would have considered other factors as to why or why not, the obvious “failed” Bush economic policies (your implied conclusion) did not carry more weight with voters. But you didn’t, which tells us what kind of “Independent” you really are…
Will Rogers said “There is no problem so large that government can’t make it worse.”
The events of last week will once again prove him right.
Doesn’t the US Constitution provide for “…the equal protection of the laws”?
How do I apply for my personal bailout? I’m certainly as entitled to a bailout as any applicant for a “liar loan” and my judgment was never as bad as anyone who decided to fund a “ninja” loan or a “no doc” loan. I don’t see why the government would be able to bailout liars and fools and refuse the same benefits to those who chose not to lie or those who chose to act cautiously. To deny me my bailout would represent a moral inversion and would be every bit as much in the public interest as Paulson’s $700 billion scheme.
I want a bailout too. So do you.
The Democrats are just as responsible for sticking us with Bush as the Republicans are. If they would field an American for a candidate once and a while, we might have a choice,,, we could ignore the rich dynastic Bush family. But noooooo … Democrats field an insane caricature of an American every year, and leave everyone with no choice at all. Worse or Worst. bad or disaaster.
We heard for 2 weeks how “Main St.” just didn’t understand what was going on. I found this elitism offensive. We understood very well what was going on.
The Democrats without shame or conscience have steered us (purposely, I believe) towards a manufactured economic crisis for political gain, and as an ideological mechanism to nationalize the financial structure of the U.S. The Republicans in Congress, being “moderate” (i.e. feckless) didn’t have the guts to stand up to them and their Media organs. The few Conservatives left in Congress couldn’t convince their linguini-spined peers to stand up against the assault despite their repeated warnings. The Media created an alternate reality narrative to protect this economic coup, then their Trojan Horse Treasury Secretary 6 weeks before the election as McCain is surging orchestrates an economic panic and convinces an emasculated center-left lame duck president that his legacy will be a second Great Depression if he doesn’t succumb to his blackmail.
This Obama-Bush Wall St. Bailout Bill will have two immediate outcomes: 1. It will set the stage for der Fuhrer Obama to socialize the entire economy of the U.S., and 2. It will do nothing to ease the self-inflicted “credit crisis” but will throw another $850 billion after the previous $900 billion already yacked this year that had no effect.
All of this is foreshadowing the Obama economy that started after the election of ’06. At that time, businesses and productive citizens (i.e. taxpayers) started preparing for the coming oppressive regulation and high taxation; hence, the reason a vibrant economy had the breaks put on by the Democrats and Media.
Since we are heading for an economic collapse anyway – unemployment, inflation (or deflation), and lack of liquidity – this bill should have been rejected to forestall this leftist coup. At least until the rest of America has a chance to vote on whether we retake or surrender our future. We understand only to well; hence, the reason to rush this vote to preempt the one in November.
Could you put up a pdf that works, please?
(Ed. – the link is fixed, thanks for pointing it out…)
wpb:
I never claimed to be an independent here or at anytime in my life.
Did not imply Bush’s policies failed. In total they did fail. Thought the tax cuts were great and the ballooning tax revenues showed that to be the case. He should have campaigned hard to have fixed Freddy and Fannie years ago, he let it slide. He didn’t control spending so despite the record tax collections we had record deficits. He didn’t stop that either. He never used his veto power.
If you don’t like my thoughts just don’t read em.
PJM is right… this bill is a mess and it’s a costly mess.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/18a65768-9170-11dd-b5cd-0000779fd18c.html
Everyone found to be guilty of causing this mess should be tried for treason and shot. Their executions should be shown on C.N.N. to set a public example of how we will not take the sell out of our society any longer. They will also serve as a grim reminder to the media that we want truth, not spin and lies!
SAF:would like to salute 2 Representatives here in my area(Memphis,TN)who voted “No” twice…Travis Childers(D-Mississippi)and Marsha Blackburn(R-Tennessee)
Here ’s a quick look into the 3 former Fannie Mae executives who brought down Wall Street and where they are now.
Franklin Raines was a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae . Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae’s accounting activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted, ” Raines, who long defended the company’s accounting despite mounting evidence that it wasn’t proper, issued a statement late Tuesday conceding that “mistakes were made” and saying he would assume responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its management in the wake of findings that the company’s books ran afoul of generally accepted accounting principles for four years.” Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.
Raines left with a “golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits. The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the accounting scandal became clear. http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ The Government noted, “The 101 charges reveal how the individuals improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls, misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and unsound manner.” These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.
Tim Howard – Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard “was a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would ensure a “stable pattern of earnings” at Fannie. In everyday English – he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that, “Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,”
On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied manipulating the mortgage-finance giant’s income statement to achieve management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the company’s board of directors since concluded that management did manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned under pressure in late 2004.
Tim Howard’s Golden Parachute to soften his landing from leaving Fannie Mae was estimated at $20 Million!
Jim Johnson – A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s May 2006 report on mismanagement and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you’ll see some interesting things about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a substantial amount of Johnson’s 1998 compensation from the public, reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it was $21 million.” Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.
Johnson’s Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.
As importantly–
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
FRANKLIN RAINES? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor
TIM HOWARD? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama
JIM JOHNSON? Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was selected to run Obama’s Vice Presidential Search Committee
Marsouin: I think that’s the most important information in this entire thread. Obama’s involvement with the entire fiasco, starting with his involvement with ACORN, should be the biggest story in the campaign. But it’s not. Oddly enough.
“We” eventually got Mike Synar, Tom Foley, etc. We’ll eventually get the rest of these bastards. If we will ever just wake up.
I suspect that Bernake, Bush, and paulson realized that the bill would become a pork alden exercise in Congressional politicis. Their response to that was to attempt to rush Congress into a relatively clean bill as soon as possible.
Then do what had to be done.
The fact that they failed ib the first instance was not the fault of the executive but of the legislative. Pelosi knew it woule fail and if she did not, then she does not have the pilitical savvy to be Speaker.
This is politics as usual in DC.
One issue (that can kill lots of republicans) was McCain’s mishandling of the “bail out.” Sort’a like watching him pull the rip cord. And, now he’s complaining that his “plane” disappeared. Yes. He could hit the ground HARD!
And, he had Rudy Guiliani in his camp!
Rudy Guiliani made his reputation as a prosecutor going after Michael Milken. (In the current bailout scheme, one of Milken’s henchmen from Drexel Bernham is the head guy at AIG! And, even though he doesn’t have the information, yet, on how to spend his 85-BILLION … he’s sent most of it to China. And, some of it to other European capitals.)
Too bad McCain didn’t see this one coming! Can the republicans lose seats in congress now, too? You bet! And, all they had to do was hang together. And, vote NO on the bailout. Talk of suits that have no respect for the voters they depend on! (And, ya know what else? Besides Palin, there’s no one out there who can even raise money!) Lots of pocketbooks snapped shut, again.
What could McCain have done? He could have let the democrats commit suicide. Instead of the republicans. And,then? He could have promised THE FIRST 100 DAYS … as chock full of Guiliani’s approach to this theft. Plenty of blame to go around. But even if the congress critters think they’re free? The lobbyists are NOT FREE. They could go to jail.
And, McCain? He could have promised TO NAME NAMES.
Instead? He wants to call Obama Black. And, radical. Forgetting that those votes aren’t gonna come his way. While he’s done enough to scare half the independents in this country away from the whole GOP ticket. Go figa.
Just because he was nominated, doesn’t mean he’s competent.
For years, the DOW generally fluctuated less than 1% per day. Any movement was slow, gradual, whether to the upside or downside.
The last few weeks are weird – market fluctuations of 2,3,5,9% (+ & -)are now showing up. Sometimes within hours. That’s not a market-reflecting reasonable response to events. It’s a market in turmoil without an anchor in the real world.
IMHO – watch out. Tomorrow is a day to watch for trends. Watch the futures.
Bottom line – nobody trusts the folks at the wheel (i.e., the Fed, Treasury, Congress, Presidency, yadda, yadda) to handle this crisis that is so complex it transcends prior experience, but also starts to breach economic sovereign borders. This sucks.
What flips me off – this problem was identified years ago. But nobody listened. The lesson learned – if you didn’t go with the flow, you got canned if you were a hedge fund.
Now the bill is due.
The conservatives should have stood up and said, “NO!” They don’t support McCain, so McCain knows he has no influence with them. Besides, he was trying to “do the right thing” and “reach across the aisle” to solve things. This was his campaign promise in action. Unfortunately, it worked against his other promise of being anti-pork and fiscal conservatism.
If the stupid Pubs (I am one) had had their act together, they’d've put forward their own alternative plan, and it would’ve passed sans pork. It was a game-changing moment. Had they done this, they could’ve reestablished their party’s credentials with the public.
They’d've been able to smash the Dems in the elections on this issue (and on drilling). Then, they could’ve investigated in the Congress and the Senate, impeached a few, and then had them prosecuted.
Instead, we have this massive pork project, and a forthcoming large Dem ascendancy in all of government. One-Party rule. Nice job, guys! Thanks a heap! Dumbasses!
This isn’t blackmail. It’s extortion.
It’s just as easy to get these things right, you know.
Well, we just had our economic bubble “burst.” And, now the GOP is seen splitting into conservatives, and all the other voters who were gonna pick McCain. Until McCain BLEW IT!
I couldn’t understand why he got up while at Bush’s meeting. I mean, he just stood up and left the room. And, finally PANIC broke out among the dems!
McCain? He wasn’t heading for victory; though it was on his actions that defeat would and will blossom.
I’m going to guess that McCain actually has a personality disorder. Since he knew when he cancelled first debate that he had entered into a “problem.” He solved it by going.
Then? He remains MUM. Doesn’t bring up what all of us know!
Now, why did McCain do this? Is he really the Manchurian Candidate? And, some Chi-Com operative calls him on the telephone and blows a whistle? So he “shoots his own team members?”
No, it didn’t help that a porked-up bail out … got republican senators to join and vote for this dog. But now? There seems to be some statistical evidence that the crap has hit the fan. And, some of these members might not get re-elected on 11/4. I’ve even read a list long enough, that in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell has seen his own race “tighten.”
Odd, how these Southern fellas are counting on racial hatred to pull their coals out of the fire. Need they be reminded of the last “Southern strategy?”
I don’t know who is gonna win, here! None of us have crystal balls. BUT IF OBAMA pulls this off … And, IF the Congress is in the hands of the democrats, WITH a 60 to 60+ majority in the senate … What do you think happens next?
How many people will want to spend their own money “halping” GOP “outsiders” get elected to Congress? 2010 will be your year? Really?
You can’t envision an Obama FIRST HUNDRED DAYS that sweeps towards the center. And, then? When “victims” of the crimes of taking money from lobby-ists … goes to those who lost their seats … Don’t you think that could be fun?
Why didn’t McCain go IMMEDIATELY to Rudy Guiliani. He had the time! He cancelled the first debate; before he flip-flopped back into it.
And, now? You think if McCain gets “mean” he wins? Let me tell ya about “mean.” More Americans who own homes; and are watching their equity erode, are in no mood for McCain right now! No matter how exercised he gets! He’s not selling “Obama the Radical.” It’s as if McCain has blinders on. And, totally missed the one opportunity his own behaviors created! He turned his back on Bush. Who was chairing the meeting. When it all fell apart. And, the democrats, in panic, headed into the windowless Roosevelt room. For a “pow-wow.” Oh, and Paulson going down on bending knee; begging Pelosi “not to ruin” this sweet deal.
We came so close … where Paulson wouldn’t be invited to any banksters holidays. If the GOP had been led better. Now? We just can watch stuff going down in flames.
For a bon-mot, can you imagine Al Franken becoming a senator?
No, we’re not in 2000, anymore. What you call close is still the plane landing and bouncing up like a dead cat.
Of course, we can wait until Tuesday night. What will we say then? “Thanks for the memories?”
Heck, Americans LOVED Ed Sullivan! Ed Sullivan was stiff! But he knew how to bring on the entertainers.
And, ya know what else? McCain’s gonna blame the press!
What a sad situation this is. Worse than watching The Perils of Pauline. You waiting for Tuesday’s installment? What’s your PLAN B?
Am I allowed another bite of the apple?
McCain’s off-but-on-again debate with Obama had the classic: “I have a bracelet,” line. Obama upped the bet: He had a bracelet. And, the taxpayers all have nose rings.
Didn’t Ronald Reagan teach the first rule of getting elected: Don’t be mean.
Mean isn’t gonna get you much. And, up ahead, it may become known as the “failed Southern Strategy, again.”
As to the markets, once this PORK bill got friendly ascent from the senate; there were few no’s left standing. Gosh, that PORK must smell better than BBQ.
And, no, folks. We’re not watching the failures of the Capitalist market place. Instead? Those congress critters signed into law, an expensive notice on banks. If you “red line” … and give loans only to people with a good credit history and JOBS. Plus, who’ve saved a 20% down payment … We’ll “put you out of business with legislation.” That was the poison pill! That banks began trafficking in this stuff? You’re surprised? As long as the housing market inflated no one saw the problem.
Today? At least anyone with a 401K plan (who hasn’t figured out the government already steals it! So that when you die, if you’ve left a balance, the IRS takes 80%. It does not go to your beneficiaries. Unless you think the IRS is beneficiary #1.) But those are games that get individuals. How many people die in any given year? Not enough to expose this racket!
As to homeowners? Those who had equity in their properties are now watching the banks, not just tossing their worst loans and the highest prices to taxpayers … They’re holding back lending out any money right now. Because they smell fire-sale prices ahead. Which means? Taking equity from those who have some. And, giving this ALL to a few bankers.
If you want to call this “the market place” go ahead. But it’s as much a realistic, self correcting market place … as a whore house is to a home.
Oh, and Lincoln was right. You can’t fool all the Americans.
And, maybe, the one’s who are really, really fooled are in love with Obama?
McCain? His charisma is lacking. While if you go and look at the other team? They’ve got just as many happy campers as Palin generates. Ordinary folk. Some thrilled for the first time in their lives, that Obama is “their candidate.” And, I mean more that one person. I mean more than Oprah. And, Gwen Ifil.
Don’t discount it, when people get happy with the person on top! Reagan saw lots of democrats crossing over. Glad to do so! (People who just hate Blacks are not happy people. So they’ll vote for McCain. But they’d also vote for David Duke.)
Can’t win much if that’s all ya can attract. A store like this doesn’t have “location, location, location.” And, then? It makes people happier to really screw ya! Reagan never brought that headache onto the heads of GOP voters.
I even think it’s a mistake to turn Palin mean. As a matter of fact, right now there are happy contestants who didn’t win McCain’s prize. And, there’s Jindal! He’s thrilled Palin got picked.
You have no idea the costs of losing, here. (Though, yes, people who’d vote for McCain anyway, and are hoping he wins) wants him to die of melanoma as quickly as possible after 1/20/2009.
How many of you remember that Dubya nearly choked on a peanut? well, too bad he didn’t!
Things are going to get much worse. Cities will go bankrupt. States will have huge layoffs. In panic, the Feds will fund public “make work” infrastructure projects. We simply cannot meet the obligations our leadership has signed us up for. There will be a money grab with interest groups effectively rolling in the streets fighting over way too littly real wealth to go around.
In my home state of Pennsylvania, our lawmakers staged an enormous, midnight pay raise. This bumped them up to the second highest paid lawmakers in the US, right behind California, except Cali didn’t have near the number of lawmakers per capita that Penn had, or the number of aides per lawmaker, or paid auto and other gold plated perks that make the Pennsylvania legislature the most expensive in the nation. Needless to say, this cheezed off the voters a bit and they hooped and hollered and took it out on all of the incumbents that voted for the raise. Eventually the raise was rescinded.
Maybe, if we keep fussing and fuming and vote out EVERY SINGLE SENATOR AND CONGRESSMAN THAT VOTED FOR THIS, then they will overturn it in January.
How can you not fall in love with a bill entitled:
“The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007″
I love that kind of legislation, and that legislation loves loving me.
bc – You’re right, they’ll be fighting for too little, except they won’t get anything, because the government will get it all. That’s what happened under that idiot FDR. The federal government raised taxes and spent for various public programs. They spent more than all of the States’ budgets combined. This led to deflation, dooming us to a Great Depression.
I wonder if this year’s federal budget is greater than all the States’ budgets combined? Probably not, as many States are spending like drunken sailors, too.
Wil: I have a great understanding of the free market, but thanks for the article anyway.
Yes, Obama has some rich donors. There’s a big difference between having some wealthy donors and “elitism”, especially the way the term is being thrown around here. And to say that Obama is getting more donations of this type than McCain will ever see in his lifetime is an exaggeration. Wasn’t the swift boat ad campaign funded entirely by two or three wealthy donors? Clearly, there are rich people on both sides.
In *theory*, the market can self-regulate. In *theory* communism could work without becoming a dictatorship that ruins societies. A lot of things would work in theory, but not in practice. Individual greed is going to ruin things periodically, as we have just seen.
Here’s a question: Do any of the middle class people who regularly visit PJMedia think the economy is working for them? I’m seriously asking this, because from my end, it’s not working for me. Nor is it for my friends. I’d appreciate any feedback on this, because I really want to know.
Someone75 – Yes, it’s working for me and all my friends. Of course, all my friends are educated, and white or oriental, and mostly Pub. I live in Washington State. You?
If you live in a Blue State, it probably isn’t working for you, because they tax your a$$ off. Search for an article called Red States vs. Blue States. It’s very enlightening. Also, the worst of the big cities are run entirely by Dems, like Chicago and Detroit. Contrast that with NY, which have gone Pub with Giuliani and Bloomberg. Oh, gee, what a turnaround.
During the Bush administration, 5.5M jobs were created, and that doesn’t count the jobs filled by illegals. During this time, unemployment in MI went UP! Other Blue States did poorly, too. A great portion of the jobs went to AZ, TX, FL. Why? Taxes. Right-to-work. Fiscal responsibility.
My personal take on this is that, not coincidentally, those worst cities also have a huge urban black contingent. I can’t figure if they cause the Dems, or the Dems cause them. Regardless, since they earn less on average, they have a higher cost-to-benefit ratio. They also end up in court more, so the cost is higher yet.
To those who will charge racism, shut up. You can’t fix a problem by burying your head in the sand. Right now, black females outnumber black males in college 3:1, which means they’re often faced with staying single, supporting some guy, or marrying across racial lines. 90% of black children are born out of wedlock. 50% of black men have spent some time in jail, and 1/3 are IN jail. Something’s broken.
I just ran across this and couldn’t help but comments. Apologies if my comments echo anyone else’s previously stated ideas.
My theory, based on the information I have gathered to date, is the rush was based in part on their – meaning Bush, Congress, other guilty members of the government lining their pockets with some portion of the proceeds – are all complicit in the enormity of this problem. They have all watched this problem grow bigger and bigger, probably hoping that they had one more day, one more week, to deal with. But instead, got so bogged down with so many wars and multi-front assaults that they forgot to deal with this little gem proactively when they had the chance.
Now, they are in panic mode, and once again, the American taxpayer is not only going to pay the bill in lost wages, both before and after tax, but also in lost freedoms, lost democracy, lost free markets, etc. Because, as you noted, nobody but us “crazy conservatives” seems to think anything is wrong with what is being done.
Sure, accentuate the negative. What a downer.
You forget to mention the good stuff, like how we’ve now set up this huge pre-loaded fund that Congress – heck, that individual politicians, appointees, hangers-on, and their relatives, most likely – can quietly and without an Act of Congress dip into during those times when they need the BIG piles of money but don’t need the big piles of openness that gets so annoying.
You forget to mention that, buried within that 400-page-plus literary bonanza, there still exists the mechanism with which Congress can quietly re-route all of that ACORN money back to ACORN, probably very shortly after the election. (And we were all so disappointed when that was “taken out” of the bill! All that winking we saw the day before the bill passed? I thought a terrible case of pinkeye was going around in Washington that day. Guess not!)
You forget to mention that Paulson won’t be there long, and that the next occupant of that office is going to be very, very grateful to have been appointed as America’s new Largesse Czar. (Of course, he’ll be appointed as the new Bendover Czar simultaneously, so those of us with advance knowledge can start stroking the possible candidates now. Gawd, I love this country!)
And finally, you just barely touch on one of the best parts. When you re-fi your house, what’s the most fun part? Yeah, it’s buying the new TV, and dishwasher, and car stereo, and DVD players for ALL the rooms, and the new watch and the new set of kitchen cabinets, and then sticking all of those bills right back into your mortgage, so it’s like you get all that stuff for free! What a great way to get that $150B worth of stuff that we’d probably never spring for otherwise! I mean, c’mon – would we have tacked $7500 tax credits for electric cars onto any real spending bill, where we had to pay for it? No way!
See? Win/win!
The American Taxpayer could undo all this by simply refusing to pay their mortgages beginning 12/1/2008.
On full display? Too whom?
Most people are clueless. They have been taught that Washington is God. Washington will fix it.
Add to that the seemingly contradictory yeah, all politicians are corrupt. Who cares as long as I get what I want.
Nobody but blog geeks like us care about the details.
Amphipolis – What’s that: frog city? Really good post, but watch whom you’re calling a blog geek!