AMERICAblog: Socialized compensation for Wall Street high flyers
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
Prepare for the Landslide Punitive Election of 2008.
jr
· 1 year ago
We're being held hostage by the donor class
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
"we're showering them in even more money without even the slightest hitch. Are we nuts?"
Reward failure, transfer wealth from public to private hands, and create a risk free market for the elite. It's the Bush way!
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
Couldn't have said it better.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
Why thank you, Dave.
Not only is Bush responsible for the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, but I also think he is responsible for the greatest transfer of risk in the history of the world, given the flood of nobid contracts, protection of the courts, blind eye of the justice department, bail outs for businesses, exemptions for mercenary contractors in Iraq, and misuse of the U.S. military.
Big Business is getting all the profits; the People are assuming all the risks.
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
All the while doing nothing about global climate change.
SarainKC
· 1 year ago
None of this is by accident. If you'll note, all of "big business" isn't lumped into the tax payer largess. There is a pattern here. Please familiarize yourself with the Bilderger Group. Everything will make sense.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Bushonomics:
Privatized profits and socialized losses.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
Yes, exactly.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
I'd like to see the Landslide Punitive Election of 2008 have some REALLY LONG coat tails for congress!!
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
There's gonna be a reckoning.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
Dave, I expected you to say punitive elections "08"
Today the Los Angeles Times takes a look at the decision of U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien to dissolve his public integrity unit ....the office had one major investigation pending, looking into corruption allegations focusing on Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis of Redlands. O’Brien took a series of decisions immediately on his arrival to slow, and then stop that investigation. His decision to disband the unit that was handling it was the last in a series of maneuvers
the invesitigation of republicans will not be tolerated, it falls under national security, 'cus if they ever found out the true crimes against the nation, bushco's security will be comprimsed
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
Nice link!
Sanders
· 1 year ago
Socialism as a solution for Wall Street is just as damaging as the failed socialism that Billary tried to ram through in the health care system. As Democrats, it is our responsibility to renounce Shillary's socialist fantasies and her husband's lack of moral character. Let's not return to the nightmare of the 90's by nominating a divisive and hateful racist like Hillary. Obama and his message of positive unity are what we need.
SarainKC
· 1 year ago
at the risk of losing my rating status, please view The Endgame. You can find it at prisonplanet.com. I'm not sure I can subscribe to all of it, but about 80% makes everything that is happening now (Hillary and Bill actually destroying the Dems) make sense.
total contracts for 2003 to the top 100 33,965,070,000
total contracts for 2007 to the top 100 95,052,732,068
got inflation ??
SarainKC
· 1 year ago
Chris "we" aren't nuts, but "we" don't matter. If "we" get upset about it, all "we" have to know is Cheney says is "so"?. And apparently that's that. The troops have no say in how often the military can break their contract and send them repeatedly into war or the military can determine whether they are eligible for for health care after their too injured to fight, and we the lowly tax payers have no say in how they spend our money. It's pretty simple, really. Dear Leader knows best. Take a Xanax and you'll feel better about things.
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
YIKES, I see we have some new posting software to use!
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
It's a piece of cake, Polly.
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Hey Dave...I will take your word on that!
mirth
· 1 year ago
Polly, you made it this far! The rest is easy. Do you want help on loading your gravatar?
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Thanks Mirth, but I figured it out.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Yes PT....where is your gravatar??
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Hi there Bumpkis! I dunno where anything is at the moment. How on earth do you get the gravatar back now? I'm a little lost at the moment.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Its in your settings-profile page....
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Somehow PT I pictured you a little more "happy"....
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
LOL, well now you haven't had the day I had either!
unrepentant_expat
· 1 year ago
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others
George Orwell
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Well now, let's see if this works now
mirth
· 1 year ago
Ha! I just offered you help with the grav, but you don't need it. ^5
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
MIrth, I saw your other post, but I think I posted the gravatar at the same time you posted.
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Man, I have got to say that "SO FAR" I don't like this new venue. I guess it's just a matter to getting used to it...
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Its not bad once you get used to it...I wish it displayed the number of people on the board, and maybe refreshed when a new comment appeared...but otherwise, I think this will work out well.
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
I dunno, it's giving me a headache!
mirth
· 1 year ago
At first I hated Disqus, but in just one day I am liking it. Ditto the thread indenting and ditto liking it now.
bumpkis
· 1 year ago
Still quite a few regulars MIA still.....
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
Well I am not liking this, perhaps it will be better when the conversation goes along but right now this thing is not making me a happy camper.
Later folks!
Andrew
· 1 year ago
“The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” - Ernest Hemingway
Let’s use some logic. The Bear Sterns financial deterioration was so rapid that it threatened a daisy chain of major bank failures. This is because a fire sale of Bear derivatives in illiquid markets would have required other institutions to mark their derivatives to a newly discovered market price considerably below their mark-to-model price. On a Sunday afternoon the situation was so desperate a shot gun wedding was hastily arranged at 94% discount to the previous Friday closing price. If you receive such a pittance for your shares of Bear Sterns it is the same as the company going bankrupt as far as the shareholders are concerned. So clearly the rescue was NOT for the shareholders, but there was a burning urgency to do it before Monday morning. They were staring into the abyss again! The rescue was similar to the LTCM bail-out in that there was a looming systemic risk. I am also wondering if there wasn’t another similarity such as a very large gold short position? Now if the game of the Central Bankers is truly to stabilize markets and prevent systemic failure then you would think that in the aftermath of coming back from the abyss they would want a tranquil mill-pond environment in the markets. Any major dislocation could have unwanted consequences and again threaten to collapse the system. So what is happening in the precious metals and the commodity markets? We know that the massive sell off in gold and silver was NOT small investors thinking that the Bear bail-out had made the world so safe that they could now jettison their gold! The sell off was induced by the shorts and the ring leader of the shorts is the Gold Cartel. The Cartel is the agent of the Federal Reserve and the US Government. Why would they want to induce a massive market dislocation instead of low volatility when the system has just been on the edge of collapse? They know the highly leveraged hedge funds on the long side of precious metals and commodities could go belly up and set off another string of bankruptcies. The only logical conclusion is that they have no choice. They are now more concerned about saving themselves than saving the system! Take a deep breath and absorb that statement. If I am right the consequences are profound. It means that this induced sell off is a last ditch attempt for the Banking Cartel to cover as much as possible of their short position. They do not give a damn what the consequences are. They of course can not cover all their shorts but they are trying to defuse as many bombs as possible. The implications are huge and will mean that by the very nature of the operation it will not last long because there is a lot of competition for the long side as they are not the only ones who realize the extent of the systemic problem.
GrantinHouston
· 1 year ago
CNN and John King tonight still showing the Rev. Wright snippets with Bay Buchanan talking about how Wright "hates America" and "hates people". Bay said that any "good American" who heard Rev. Wright's sermons would get get up and walk right out of that church. So while some in the MSM are moving on, CNN and Fox are still beating this horse. Why does CNN and MSNBC love Bay and Pat Buchanan so damned much and give them so much air time.
Coming Undone
· 1 year ago
There are regulars still missing like Hulk and Zen and other posters. I actually like this new posting system, the one thing that I don't like is when I see that the number of comments has increased but the first comment that I see will say something like 10 minutes ago, so I have to scroll through the entire thread searching for the newest post.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
Click on "Options" at the top of the thread. Choose "oldest first" or "newest first."
I'm getting used to it. :)
Coming Undone
· 1 year ago
Thanks Jump, I changed my options, I put it on oldest first, this is better.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Hi Jump :)
I like the newset on top. I read the thread from bottom to top, then newer comments are easier to keep track of.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
I just switched to that order.
I really appreciate that this community has always been so willing to share how to make the technology work. It's a good thing. :)
mirth
· 1 year ago
Coming Undone. Following your comments and replies to them is easy...see what I wrote just below. Commenters we miss might be having the trouble I had in getting setup with Dusqus. It seems to be more difficult for IE users than for Firefox users. If they email John, he can help them.
Coming Undone
· 1 year ago
Mirth, I had more difficulty with this on my desktop, when I did this on my laptop I had no problems, but my desktop is a few years old. Now I just have to see if I can do this on my phone.
Joshau Norton
· 1 year ago
This has been going on for the last hundred years and is as ingrained in the financial culture as usuary. Check the collapse of the Knickerbocker Trust in New York in 1907 that prompted the founding of the Federal Reserve in the first place. At least that bank president had the good grace to commit suicide because he couldn't take the scandal that his greed caused. This current group laughs all the way to the next bank.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
Hi, Jump mirth.
scottinsf
· 1 year ago
Hey you! How goes it dear?
mirth
· 1 year ago
Het Ms. Karol. Are you adjusting to Disqus?
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
I am working on it, mirth. I have to use firefox. IE will not allow me to log in. It doesn't even give me the log in textboxes to add my name and password.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Gawsalmighty, I cannot type tonight!
*Hey
mirth
· 1 year ago
See?
*Gawdalmighty
BLOGGING BITCH!
· 1 year ago
According to Bush, we could give all the currency to 5 people and the other 290,000,000 will have it made!
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
BB, the top is really narrow. With the greed of this administration and its crooks, the money is going into some pretty deep pockets.
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
Darn, I am having a hard time with this Disqus? thing. I tried what Jump said about options but still I don't get it. For instance, it shows Mirth had a comment 13 minutes ago and right underneath Coming undone had a comment 5 minutes ago, followed by American Karol at 9 minutes ago.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
The indented comments are responses to the individual comment they come under.
Be patient and stick with it. It gets better, and a lot faster than I had imagined. :)
(And hi.)
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
Hi Jump
Okay , I should have noticed the indentation. Duh! Thanks. I am still not sure I like this. It seems like free flow is cut off. I am out of town so this is really the first night I have tried it.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Jinx!
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
HI Mirth
I take it you were going to say the same thing as Jump. Thanks to both of you. :)
mirth
· 1 year ago
Yep, same thing, aquarius, but she's a faster typist. :) Remember the trick of hovering your cursor over your avatar and then clicking View Full Profile on the popup. There you can see all of your comments, where they are on the threads, and any replies to them. This makes it easy to follow everything.
Seven Years In Tibet is loaded at Netflix and ready for me to watch. Enjoy your evening, everyone.
BLOGGING BITCH!
· 1 year ago
I'm not very intelligent, but I've learned that you have to fill in the right side of the sign-in page...then go back and do the left side as well as the right...then it seems to work. It's as fucked up as a soup sandwich.
mirth
· 1 year ago
Major stress getting setup with Disqus. It took all day and some help from John before I could do it.
mirth
· 1 year ago
The difference in comment times is because some are singular comments and some are replies to comments by others.
BLOGGING BITCH!
· 1 year ago
Boehner ever going to explain how the Republicans are going to take over Congress again in November? Just doesn't seem fair that he would tell a bigger lie than what really happened on 9/11.....you know, the day before the put-options at United Airlines took a dive. I'm sure it's nothing.
Jump to the Left
· 1 year ago
Hi, Karol. :D
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
Hi, sweetie. So, we have a new toy to play with. lol
BLOGGING BITCH!
· 1 year ago
Disqus makes me wanna drink and then go on an expedition clubbing baby seals.
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
May I join you? This is really frustrating.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
Welcome, aquarius
ndtovent
· 1 year ago
LOL! ditto that! it not only doesn't work w/my I.E. but freezes up the whole damn browser!
ndtovent
· 1 year ago
maybe it should change it's name to 'dick us'
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
Oh, no!!!!!
mirth
· 1 year ago
That's the way I felt yesterday! :) Today, much better.
An_American_Karol
· 1 year ago
New thread ^
aquarius2
· 1 year ago
Hi Karol :)
Richardini
· 1 year ago
We just never learn. We sit in awe as the huge investment banks chalk up millions, pay their CEO's incredible amounts, almost as much as basketball and baseball players. Our priorities are always out of kilter in the country. At this point we have another risk of financial collapse. What happens, the Feds come to the rescue, bail us out and on and on doing the same thing over. How in God's name do we expect ever to get out of the hole that Bush has driven us into, the Chinese bleed us to death with the loans they have given us, everything we buy is made in China or some other far away place, we check our flights and talk to people in Mexico, or Phillipines, or Mumbay. What the hell kind of world are we living in? Our budget is in the trillions, the war is killing us literally and our idiot president says don't worry, we are winning. Give me a friggin break. We are going down the toilet.
mirth
· 1 year ago
OT:
Here's a trick I just learned:
To follow any replies to your comments, which can be a little difficult with the indenting and lots of threads, hover your cursor over your Gravatar and then click 'view full profile.' There you will see all of your comments, where they are located on the thread, and any replies to them.
Probably everyone but me already knew this. :-)
Polly_Tics
· 1 year ago
LOL I just saw that one too! Hey am I the only one who is new to this? I haven't been posting online much lately.
mirth
· 1 year ago
While I'm confessing to my non-techness, here's another tip: Refresh comments by clicking the green arrows Refresh on the top screen toolbar (I use IE) (f5 works, too) and return to the Homepage by clicking the Americablog logo.
All Comments
Reward failure, transfer wealth from public to private hands, and create a risk free market for the elite. It's the Bush way!
Not only is Bush responsible for the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the world, but I also think he is responsible for the greatest transfer of risk in the history of the world, given the flood of nobid contracts, protection of the courts, blind eye of the justice department, bail outs for businesses, exemptions for mercenary contractors in Iraq, and misuse of the U.S. military.
Big Business is getting all the profits; the People are assuming all the risks.
Privatized profits and socialized losses.
OT
http://harpers.org/archive/2008/03/hbc-90002705
Today the Los Angeles Times takes a look at the decision of U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien to dissolve his public integrity unit ....the office had one major investigation pending, looking into corruption allegations focusing on Republican Congressman Jerry Lewis of Redlands. O’Brien took a series of decisions immediately on his arrival to slow, and then stop that investigation. His decision to disband the unit that was handling it was the last in a series of maneuvers
the invesitigation of republicans will not be tolerated, it falls under national security, 'cus if they ever found out the true crimes against the nation, bushco's security will be comprimsed
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2003/
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2004/
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2005/
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2006/
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/top-100/2007/
33,965,070,000
total contracts for 2007 to the top 100
95,052,732,068
got inflation ??
George Orwell
Later folks!
Let’s use some logic. The Bear Sterns financial deterioration was so rapid that it threatened a daisy chain of major bank failures. This is because a fire sale of Bear derivatives in illiquid markets would have required other institutions to mark their derivatives to a newly discovered market price considerably below their mark-to-model price. On a Sunday afternoon the situation was so desperate a shot gun wedding was hastily arranged at 94% discount to the previous Friday closing price. If you receive such a pittance for your shares of Bear Sterns it is the same as the company going bankrupt as far as the shareholders are concerned. So clearly the rescue was NOT for the shareholders, but there was a burning urgency to do it before Monday morning. They were staring into the abyss again!
The rescue was similar to the LTCM bail-out in that there was a looming systemic risk. I am also wondering if there wasn’t another similarity such as a very large gold short position? Now if the game of the Central Bankers is truly to stabilize markets and prevent systemic failure then you would think that in the aftermath of coming back from the abyss they would want a tranquil mill-pond environment in the markets. Any major dislocation could have unwanted consequences and again threaten to collapse the system.
So what is happening in the precious metals and the commodity markets? We know that the massive sell off in gold and silver was NOT small investors thinking that the Bear bail-out had made the world so safe that they could now jettison their gold! The sell off was induced by the shorts and the ring leader of the shorts is the Gold Cartel. The Cartel is the agent of the Federal Reserve and the US Government. Why would they want to induce a massive market dislocation instead of low volatility when the system has just been on the edge of collapse? They know the highly leveraged hedge funds on the long side of precious metals and commodities could go belly up and set off another string of bankruptcies. The only logical conclusion is that they have no choice. They are now more concerned about saving themselves than saving the system!
Take a deep breath and absorb that statement. If I am right the consequences are profound. It means that this induced sell off is a last ditch attempt for the Banking Cartel to cover as much as possible of their short position. They do not give a damn what the consequences are. They of course can not cover all their shorts but they are trying to defuse as many bombs as possible.
The implications are huge and will mean that by the very nature of the operation it will not last long because there is a lot of competition for the long side as they are not the only ones who realize the extent of the systemic problem.
I'm getting used to it. :)
I like the newset on top. I read the thread from bottom to top, then newer comments are easier to keep track of.
I really appreciate that this community has always been so willing to share how to make the technology work. It's a good thing.
:)
Following your comments and replies to them is easy...see what I wrote just below.
Commenters we miss might be having the trouble I had in getting setup with Dusqus. It seems to be more difficult for IE users than for Firefox users. If they email John, he can help them.
mirth.
Are you adjusting to Disqus?
*Hey
*Gawdalmighty
Be patient and stick with it. It gets better, and a lot faster than I had imagined.
:)
(And hi.)
Okay , I should have noticed the indentation. Duh! Thanks. I am still not sure I like this. It seems like free flow is cut off. I am out of town so this is really the first night I have tried it.
I take it you were going to say the same thing as Jump. Thanks to both of you. :)
Remember the trick of hovering your cursor over your avatar and then clicking View Full Profile on the popup. There you can see all of your comments, where they are on the threads, and any replies to them. This makes it easy to follow everything.
Seven Years In Tibet is loaded at Netflix and ready for me to watch. Enjoy your evening, everyone.
:D
we check our flights and talk to people in Mexico, or Phillipines, or Mumbay. What the hell kind of world are we living in? Our budget is in the trillions, the war is killing us literally and our idiot president says don't worry, we are winning. Give me a friggin break. We are going down the toilet.
Here's a trick I just learned:
To follow any replies to your comments, which can be a little difficult with the indenting and lots of threads, hover your cursor over your Gravatar and then click 'view full profile.' There you will see all of your comments, where they are located on the thread, and any replies to them.
Probably everyone but me already knew this. :-)
:)