AMERICAblog: Questions loom over use of Treasury bailout money
SCLiberal
· 10 months ago
We all know what they are NOT doing with it: loaning money.
paulbot5
· 10 months ago
if these bailouts cause a loss of confidence in the dollar were gonna have a much bigger problem
Gef
· 10 months ago
2 years. The Dems are in control and that's how long they get until the next vote. 2 years to show their policies can work. I'm holding my breath....
Bush_Bites
· 10 months ago
Not that it makes a huge difference, but I thought $350 billion has been handed out so far, and the other $350 billion is on ice for the time being?
Anybody?
nicho
· 10 months ago
You're so cute John -- still believing that this was anything other than a looting of the treasury before Bush left office. I'm guessing you still leave teeth under your pillow too.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
you mean the $700 bil that they asked for to prop up housing, but instead just pocketed it? and nobody knows what it went towards because there was no oversite? people feel like that got stolen?
truebluecoondog
· 10 months ago
I'm pretty sure that's considered FRAUD.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
remember, it's not illegal when the government does it.
scottinsf
· 10 months ago
Absolutely! If you ask me, congress should open up investigations into this.
sullivan
· 10 months ago
I agree and we liberal blogs should shout loud and clear that we want an investigation and we want it now!!!
scottinsf
· 10 months ago
Does anybody hear us though? When I say congress should open up investigations I'm deadly serious, but at the same time it's a twisted, snarky joke because we know nothing of substance or of consequence will happen to the thieves that have looted this country right in front of our eyes.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
i don't see congress investigating a crime that they were complicit in.
nicho
· 10 months ago
Breaking: Blagojevich has been impeached, according to CNN
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
what people forget is how that money helped the american toy arrow makers in their hour of darkness.
truebluecoondog
· 10 months ago
What do you mean, "they REFUSE to disclose"???? Then the fed should demand that they disclose or give back the $$$. Period.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
Question, and it might be naive but why doesn't the Obama Administration cut checks to everyone like the last stimulus instead of a tax cut that averages out to $19.00 per person? By the time it gets to the taxpayer its $19.00 and thats not much stimulus.
Indigo
· 10 months ago
We could sponsor a mass mailing. Send the White House a $20.00 bill . . . and a shoe.
Bush_Bites
· 10 months ago
I'm not clear on that either.
I think people who don't pay taxes will get checks, but the rest of us will just see a bump in our paychecks throughout the year..... or something.
Putting aside the argument over whether it's a good idea at all, I would think separate checks would be more likely to be spent than extra money in your paycheck every couple weeks.
But I don't know much about the psychology of saving. One of Obama's advisors (Alan Goolsbee) is allegedly an expert on the topic, so I assume they considered it.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
You can bet if checks aren't cut you won't see much of a bump in your paycheck. It'll get eatin' up before you see it. $19.00 IS all the average taxpayer will see if a CHECK is not cut for each taxpayer like the last stimulus. Tax rebates just don't cut it. If its going to happen, it needs to be send DIRECT in a separate government issued check or not at all.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
I've seen war profiteering first hand... If we are looking at getting our nation back on track then I suggest going after the war profiteers. I have relatives who have paid off their mortgages with bloated salaries from Bu$hco's adventure while their military neighbors live on food stamps. THAT is totally unacceptable. They didn't do anything more, and actually their lives were in LESS danger than their military counterparts and they are paying off MILLION to HALF MILLION dollar mortgages?!!? Wow, that is screwed up.
Indigo
· 10 months ago
Iran is showing remarkable restraint over Israel's little foray into Gaza. I wonder if they know something we don't? LIke . . . the western banking system really has collapsed? What we have now is what we'll have fifty years from now, but no longer shiny and new. Swell. We're the new Cuba. No wonder Iran is standing back and watching.
devlzadvocate
· 10 months ago
Or the money might still headed for Iraq (Iran-Contra style).
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
Can't we identify the war profiteers and tax the hell out of them? I mean they got money to burn while their military counterparts they sent to fight and die barely make ends meet.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
but it's all good! our debt is like ice cream to china, and if we ever do run short of cash, we can print more!
Zorba
· 10 months ago
Yes, well, China may be starting to lose its taste for ice cream. Bloomberg.com, quoting Fitch Ratings Ltd., reported yesterday that China will be cutting its purchases of US debt.
wearing out my F key
· 10 months ago
i saw that, too. it's not good. if they ever ask for thier money back, we're toast.
cowboyneok
· 10 months ago
Michael Moore called it, as usual. He said the whole bailouts were Bu$hco and friends looting the treasury on their way out the door after they effectively destroyed our economy. It was a money grab, plain and simple. As much crap as the Right Wingers love to give Michael Moore they can't ever come up with ONE THING he hasn't been correct about. They just don't like he is a truth teller.
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
$350B hasn't been distributed yet, although they're talking about it. Put restrictions on that money...do not distribute it until Bush has left office and they've gotten rid of Paulson.
Hell, use it as part of the infrastructure plan to provide jobs. At least the taxpayers would get it then.
gary
· 10 months ago
I believe they are attempting to avoid repeating history. We know that a run on the banks would be catastrophic. Banks did not have the cash flow to survive the run that was about to occur with the recent market collapse. The sudden " I need 700 billion no questions asked" and the subsequent delivery of same is a clear indication of how very fragile and weak the economy really is. Leveling with the public is sure disaster. It is much less risky be non-transparent. Dangerous as well, but less risky.
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
No one is leveling with the public, esp. about the credit default swaps of which there is something like $45-50 Trillion out there in paper value, with only $15.7 Trillion in corporate bonds covering the spread. This alone would prevent banks from loaning to the general public. And since all investment banks now have been bought out by federally chartered banks or have been converted to bank holding companies themselves, they're hedging their bets on the CDS--which also covers the majority of mortgages. Your home mortgage has been so sliced and diced that your mortgage servicing company has no idea where the money goes, either...they just pass it on after taking their commission. And good luck with getting your mortgage reduced to match your house's value. This is the real reason banks and other mortgage holders are reluctant or unwilling to change the terms of so many mortgages.
lynchie
· 10 months ago
The other issue looming large on the horizon is property taxes. Where I live in western Pa. I estimate i have lost at least 25% of the value of my house and property. I have written to the taxation office and asked for a tax collector to come by and give me a re-assessment based on current values. I got a call back and they advised me that this wasn't possible because the current fiscal budget was based on the existing assessment. i reminded them that if my house had gone up 25% in value you would have immediately re-assessed and asked for more. Funny how things never even out for us schmoos. The local governments will buckle and fall apart since there is less and less money flowing from State and Federal governments.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 10 months ago
you can't win. they will just change the rates. they have to.
gary
· 10 months ago
Let's not forget commercial defaults. Little attention is given to how great these numbers are likely to be.
KarenMrsLloydRichards
· 10 months ago
The Great Con: making people think $700 biliion ("we just wanted a really big number") will do anything to fix a $55 TRILLION pyramid of junk.
Older_Wiser
· 10 months ago
Banks no longer get MY money...which only consists of a SS check. I only deal in cash now.
Jeez, they could have given me a million and then I could pay off my student loans and car. :P
michael cook
· 10 months ago
"First $350 BILLION stolen?" Well, there needs to be an investigation, and bring criminal charges against anyone in these banks who may be pocketed, defrauded the U.S. taxpayers! Start issuing subpoenas to these banks demanding explanation of what the money is used for - or demand the money be repaid now! I want to see criminal charges brought on anyone who defies an order to explain where this money is! That will get them moving! No way will I sit back and say "oh well" some fat cats stole my $350 BILLION tax dollars! Demand accountability to the last detail or demand it be repaid, or criminal charges!
All Comments
Anybody?
I think people who don't pay taxes will get checks, but the rest of us will just see a bump in our paychecks throughout the year..... or something.
Putting aside the argument over whether it's a good idea at all, I would think separate checks would be more likely to be spent than extra money in your paycheck every couple weeks.
But I don't know much about the psychology of saving. One of Obama's advisors (Alan Goolsbee) is allegedly an expert on the topic, so I assume they considered it.
Hell, use it as part of the infrastructure plan to provide jobs. At least the taxpayers would get it then.
The local governments will buckle and fall apart since there is less and less money flowing from State and Federal governments.
Anybody need a monkey?