Congerss should shut off money to the fed and let this storm, as devastating and as mighty as it might be, pass without any more government money; otherwise, the Central Banks will play countries off one another further enslavuing the American taxpayer to foreign influence.
The Fed is an independant entity, it does NOT belong to the US Taxpayer. At this point the Fed can damn well do whatever it pleases and the US government is the one who will have to ask permission.
CPL
· 1 year ago
Unless the Congress passes legislation to get rid of the Fed, or put it under a Government entity forcing them to give accountability and oversight to Congress.
This has gone on for 95 years without no one in America hollering about it. The Fed was created by bankers to protect bankers and to bail out BANKERS.
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
"It may be that there is so much bad debt out there clogging our system"
It's not bad debt, dammit! It's some bad debt, but it's the pyramid scheme that was built up on top of it! It's not the debt, it's the g-damn pyramid. What we need is to do is get rid of it, on the backs of investors..
mf_roe
· 1 year ago
As I see it what happened is instead of dealing with problems as they developed they were just swept under the rug in the form of newly invented forms of financial instruments, old fashion cooking the books with new cosmetic features but the same old taste. This refusal to fix problems and the tactic of passing the cleanup to the new guy has only one possible end result.
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
Thanks for the comment, but I disagree. Rather than a 'problem not dealt with', this is a directly manufactured problem. Made and created by people who are very, very smart and knew exactly what they were doing. If you give very smart, very power-hungry people freedom to run amok in your economy, they will create something that will make them enormous amounts of money and damn the consequences. Nothing does that better than a pyramid scheme. They 'swept it under the rug' not b/c they were lazy or incompetent. It's b/c they were making alot of money and don't care about other people, ie, 'suckers'. You know the type, wall street is crawling with them.
tlsintx
· 1 year ago
OT- but just as scary as Bernanke controlling all those billions:
The FED has ALREADY USED UP THE 888 billion. Thats why the treasury had to "Print" and extra 140 billion these last 2 days. To need to keep the fed liquid. Lets do a little math here:
Fed reserve balance sheet= 0dollars AIG bailot= 90 billion and counting Fannie and Freddie= 20 billion plus+++ EACH MONTH each company Ford= wants 50 Billion GM=wants 50 billion Chrysler= wants 25 Billion Wamu= Holds 150 billion in insured FDIC deposits alone/FDIC has 40 billion FDIC= Has asked for a 500 billion dollar line of credit from FED and Treasury
Think of this then add in the price of the possible failures of Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, BanK of America, Downey Savings and Loan, Bank United, and a host of other unforseen TO BIG TO FAIL calamaties plus the cost of the Iraq war and sweet jesus the USA is FUCKING INSOLVENT. Don't be fooled about Lehman not beiong bailed out. The bailout was backdoor to the tune of 98 billion dollars. every institution bailed out will require tons of cash. Treasury and Dollar printing will indefinitely lead to a hyperinflationary clusterfuck!! Our creditors will put up with shit for not very long. ANy ideas on a way out that doesn't involve printing to oblivion!!!
mf_roe
· 1 year ago
Try this link on hyperinflation and you may really become upset
He's missing the boat. If I had control over $888 million, I'd wear a cape just like Superman's, better yet . . . Batman's!
rja4429
· 1 year ago
What's to control? $888 billion made up of what ? Are we to believe Bernanke has $888 billion in cash in the bank? If he did, he'd have lost it all during the past week.
CPL
· 1 year ago
That $888 billion is Monopoly money and just as worthless when China calls in their paper on us.
We will officially become THE UNITED STATES OF CHINA when that happens.
genevajoe
· 1 year ago
Tthe DOW gained 400 pts today. But what is missing from the story is that the DOW removed AIG from its list and replaced it with Kraft.
They did not replace AIG with another large company from the financial sector, but with a food sector company (Kraft) which has been doing well. They should now put an asterisk after the DOW.
gwpriester
· 1 year ago
Bush and the Republicans have turned the country into a socialist state. The very thing the conservatives have always feared the liberals would do.
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
no, no. Losses are socialized. Profilts are still private..
bill__free
· 1 year ago
It's sheer stupidity. The claim is that they will be paying back the money at a good interest rate (over 10%). That's a joke. Just a rational so the government can give out the money. What is going to happen when the government has all that bad paper and the likes of AIG can't pay the loan payment? Would the market go up on the new that these banks and insurers were going to get bailed out, only to repay the money at a hefty rate? The fix is in and all Wall Street knows it. The only ones that can't be helped are the people about to lose their home. Has anyone really looked at the numbers?
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
what happens is the rating companies downgrade us treasuries and then we are really cooked..
munjoyfan
· 1 year ago
Follow the money. All that money that the banks sucked from the little guy in the form of credit obligations that can't be met was sucked into the waiting hands of wall st employees (oh those bonuses), real estate interests who benefited mightily throughout the greater NY area from those bonuses (watch what happens to the economy when NY real estate tanks,) , all the contractors who benefit from the boom, from landscapers, appliance stores, and interior decorators, to fancy car and boat dealers, the travel industry, restaurants, etc etc etc.
The only reason the media is finally at smart attention is that its revenues are threatened with oblivion and it suddenly realizes that it had better get in play with the election. There is too much cocktail party incest in both NY and Washington--the media coverage of wall st is really not serving the interests of the general public (what's an investment bank, anyhow?)
We must end the volatility and wide variation in sales, indices, and profits and loss, and the only way to do that is with regulation. Will it stifle opportunity for some? Yes. But the welfare of the many must gain greater priority; the few have benefited for too long and caused us great harm.
Let Obama remember that the boomers--a VERY large voting block--are near or in retirement and this has been a horrendous year for them.
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
it's not 'cocktail party incest' imo. It's direct corportate control of media in what used to be a democray ,but is now a corporatocracy.
jimfromthefoothills
· 1 year ago
bush is destroying this country. Or maybe I should say destroyed.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Destroyed.
He's an idiot.
Scottsdalian
· 1 year ago
"He's an idiot."
Not necessarily. If this was the plan from Day One.....then he might actually be a genius. All depends on what the plan was.
Busboy
· 1 year ago
You didn't get the e-mail??
rja4429
· 1 year ago
$888 billion made up of what, other than hot air? Are we to believe that Bernanke has $888 billion in real money in the bank? Hell, if he did, he'd have lost it all during the past week.
Kansaskitty
· 1 year ago
They keep injecting more money into the system like more liquidity is going to help. The problem isn't a need for liquidity - the problem is insolvency. The balance sheets of these investment banks must be unbelievable. All the toxic paper they've been keeping off their balance sheets will end up in the fed's portfolio (duh...and the taxpayers get stuck with it). All that debt doesn't just disappear. Someone has to pay off all this crap. These Wall St. titans are insolvent and shortly the US will be, too, including the taxpayers. Why should we bail them out? They made their bed, now sleep in it.
Scottsdalian
· 1 year ago
Hey gang - I just got my new TinFoil Hat (Version 6.0) and thought I'd take this bad boy out for a spin! Since the financial markets are melting down, I would like to put forward this concept:
WaMu (assets $310 Billion) will be taken over by FDIC; since recent bank closures have cost the FDIC 10-15% (per the FDIC), this means the resulting $30 - $45 Billion hit on the Insurance Fund will all but wipe out the FDIC. This will cause great financial difficulties - perhaps even a "Catastrophic Emergency". Bush then puts into effect NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05...), which allows him to cancel the General Election, shit-can Congress and the Supreme Court and do whatever any other Tin Pot Dictator would do in these situations. And he will, of course, agree to lift this SPD 51 as soon as possible - as soon as the financial markets have stabilized. Which, as we all learned with the Iraq situation, will be never! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
So.....how do you guys like my new Tin Foil Hat (Version 6.0) - pretty awesome, huh???
Busboy
· 1 year ago
I think bush wants to be cutting brush with a DR trimmer by january.
lucky hussein
· 1 year ago
very, very nice.. ;) october surprise anyone?
Scottsdalian
· 1 year ago
Oh, to be clear - "Catasrophic Emergency" is clearly defined in SPD 51 as follows:
"(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions; "
Note the "economy" and "government functions" parts.
LawMichigander
· 1 year ago
Less Regulations = Self Regulation. That means the one subject to the regulation must be trustworthy (credit worthy) and actually be capable of self regulation. Also it means a shift of underlying power from the Government (Citizens) to the Corporations (Rich folks).
Ferdiad
· 1 year ago
Chris, John, whoever, if you read one post please read this. I am very scared. This is how the fascists and secret government types work. They swoop in during crisis times and do things while people aren't looking. The government is consolidating control over financial sectors and creating a more controlled monetary system. We need to stop this now.
Nylund
· 1 year ago
Bernanke had no part in these problems being created. He now has to deal with them. As an economist, I am very happy I do not have his job. I think he is doing the best he can to ward of a terrible depression. If he did any less, people would jump all over him for not doing what he could.
What if he didn't bail out AIG, and the contagion caused the next great depression? Would that really be so much better? I doubt even the most liberal of economists out there would suggest that the best thing for this country was to watch the entire financial system crumble. Of course I'd rather we never got into this mess and I think it could have been avoided (and have warned against it for years to other economists), but now that we are here, I'd rather, as a tax payer, see us all pony up a little bit, than watch so many people lose all their savings and lose their jobs. Its the lesser of two horrible evils.
Wall St., the GOP, regulating agencies, rating agencies, etc. all messed up big, but now the question is, do you want to get kicked in the groin, or stabbed in the heart?
And inflation isn't a risk anymore. CPI went down last month. Money is disappearing left and right, the commodity bubble seems to be popping, asset prices are deflating. I think deflation is more a concern now than inflation.
All Comments
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/18/173...
This has gone on for 95 years without no one in America hollering about it. The Fed was created by bankers to protect bankers and to bail out BANKERS.
It's not bad debt, dammit! It's some bad debt, but it's the pyramid scheme that was built up on top of it! It's not the debt, it's the g-damn pyramid. What we need is to do is get rid of it, on the backs of investors..
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/...
Fed reserve balance sheet= 0dollars
AIG bailot= 90 billion and counting
Fannie and Freddie= 20 billion plus+++ EACH MONTH each company
Ford= wants 50 Billion
GM=wants 50 billion
Chrysler= wants 25 Billion
Wamu= Holds 150 billion in insured FDIC deposits alone/FDIC has 40 billion
FDIC= Has asked for a 500 billion dollar line of credit from FED and Treasury
Think of this then add in the price of the possible failures of Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, BanK of America, Downey Savings and Loan, Bank United, and a host of other unforseen TO BIG TO FAIL calamaties plus the cost of the Iraq war and sweet jesus the USA is FUCKING INSOLVENT. Don't be fooled about Lehman not beiong bailed out. The bailout was backdoor to the tune of 98 billion dollars. every institution bailed out will require tons of cash. Treasury and Dollar printing will indefinitely lead to a hyperinflationary clusterfuck!! Our creditors will put up with shit for not very long. ANy ideas on a way out that doesn't involve printing to oblivion!!!
http://www.shadowstats.com/article/292
We will officially become THE UNITED STATES OF CHINA when that happens.
They did not replace AIG with another large company from the financial sector, but with a food sector company (Kraft) which has been doing well. They should now put an asterisk after the DOW.
Would the market go up on the new that these banks and insurers were going to get bailed out, only to repay the money at a hefty rate? The fix is in and all Wall Street knows it. The only ones that can't be helped are the people about to lose their home.
Has anyone really looked at the numbers?
The only reason the media is finally at smart attention is that its revenues are threatened with oblivion and it suddenly realizes that it had better get in play with the election. There is too much cocktail party incest in both NY and Washington--the media coverage of wall st is really not serving the interests of the general public (what's an investment bank, anyhow?)
We must end the volatility and wide variation in sales, indices, and profits and loss, and the only way to do that is with regulation. Will it stifle opportunity for some? Yes. But the welfare of the many must gain greater priority; the few have benefited for too long and caused us great harm.
Let Obama remember that the boomers--a VERY large voting block--are near or in retirement and this has been a horrendous year for them.
He's an idiot.
Not necessarily. If this was the plan from Day One.....then he might actually be a genius. All depends on what the plan was.
WaMu (assets $310 Billion) will be taken over by FDIC; since recent bank closures have cost the FDIC 10-15% (per the FDIC), this means the resulting $30 - $45 Billion hit on the Insurance Fund will all but wipe out the FDIC. This will cause great financial difficulties - perhaps even a "Catastrophic Emergency". Bush then puts into effect NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05...), which allows him to cancel the General Election, shit-can Congress and the Supreme Court and do whatever any other Tin Pot Dictator would do in these situations. And he will, of course, agree to lift this SPD 51 as soon as possible - as soon as the financial markets have stabilized. Which, as we all learned with the Iraq situation, will be never! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
So.....how do you guys like my new Tin Foil Hat (Version 6.0) - pretty awesome, huh???
"(b) "Catastrophic Emergency" means any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions; "
Note the "economy" and "government functions" parts.
What if he didn't bail out AIG, and the contagion caused the next great depression? Would that really be so much better? I doubt even the most liberal of economists out there would suggest that the best thing for this country was to watch the entire financial system crumble. Of course I'd rather we never got into this mess and I think it could have been avoided (and have warned against it for years to other economists), but now that we are here, I'd rather, as a tax payer, see us all pony up a little bit, than watch so many people lose all their savings and lose their jobs. Its the lesser of two horrible evils.
Wall St., the GOP, regulating agencies, rating agencies, etc. all messed up big, but now the question is, do you want to get kicked in the groin, or stabbed in the heart?
And inflation isn't a risk anymore. CPI went down last month. Money is disappearing left and right, the commodity bubble seems to be popping, asset prices are deflating. I think deflation is more a concern now than inflation.