Thread: Take Back America from Wall Street

Take Back America from Wall Street
Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
Sep 26, 2008 - 03:52 AM

By: Mike_Shedlock

It is time to take back America from Wall Street and return it to Main Street USA.

Treasury Secretary Paulson is attempting to ram down the throats of US taxpayers, a $700 billion bailout of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and other many other banks that participated in questionable if not fraudulent mortgage lending schemes.

Those corporations have padded their own pocketbooks and handed out billions of dollars in bonuses and stock options over the past few years, all based on mythical profits.

Now those same corporations are asking U.S. taxpayers to bail out their bad lending practices to the tune of $700 billion. No Deal!

Mad Rush To Judgment

This past week has been noting short of amazing. President Bush appeared before the nation stressing a sense of urgency. Paulson and Fed chairman Bernanke have done the same thing before Congress. Inquiring minds are asking "Why The Rush?"

The answer is simple: If people see the actual details of the proposal they will understand it is a bad deal for the taxpayer and a great deal for Wall Street.

It is the very same mad rush to judgment that kicked of the War in Iraq. Does anyone remember talk of "mushroom clouds"? Does anyone remember Dick Cheney saying "We know where they are"? This week we see the same action from Paulson and Bernanke.

The only difference is the message this time is about "financial mushroom clouds". The rush is needed because if anyone looked at the deal they could see taxpayers being left holding the bag.

Break In The Ranks

Tonight we see an unprecedented break in the ranks from current Fed Governor Richard Fisher who says Bank Rescue Plan Would Worsen Fiscal 'Chasm' .

It is not often a Fed governor tells the Fed chairman to go to hell. But that is what happened just tonight.

Former Fed Governor William Poole has stated "These are grand ideas that cannot be executed. There will be one stumbling block after another. I am very leery of jumping in with emergency measures like this."

190+ Economists Slam Bailout

Over 190 top economists in the country have slammed this bailout on grounds of fairness, ambiguity, and long term effects .

Bloomberg is reporting Hundreds of Economists Urge Congress Not to Rush on Rescue Plan .

More than 150 prominent U.S. economists, including three Nobel Prize winners, urged Congress to hold off on passing a $700 billion financial market rescue plan until it can be studied more closely.

In a letter yesterday to congressional leaders, 166 academic economists said they oppose Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan because it's a ``subsidy'' for business, it's ambiguous and it may have adverse market consequences in the long term. They also expressed alarm at the haste of lawmakers and the Bush administration to pass legislation.

David I. Levine, a professor of economics at University of California-Berkeley, says the current plan being discussed has the wrong structure.

Erik Brynjolfsson, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School, said his main objection "is the breathtaking amount of unchecked discretion it gives to the Secretary of the Treasury. It is unprecedented in a modern democracy."

"I suspect that part of what we're seeing in the freezing up of lending markets is strategic behavior on the part of big financial players who stand to benefit from the bailout," said David K. Levine, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis, who studies liquidity constraints and game theory.

Strategic Game Playing At Taxpayer Expense

Read that last paragraph above carefully. It is critical so I will repeat it " I suspect that part of what we're seeing in the freezing up of lending markets is strategic behavior on the part of big financial players who stand to benefit from the bailout, " said David K. Levine, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis, who studies liquidity constraints and game theory.

Tonight Washington Mutual went under. There have been 7 bank failures announce this year, all of them on a Friday. This one is on a Thursday. Game playing to create a sense of urgency? You tell me. What I will tell you is there is no need to rush into a $700 billion package when 190 economists, a current Fed governor, and a former Fed Governor all perceive the bailout for what it is: A bailout of Wall Street that will cost at a bare minimum $2,000 for every man woman and child in the United States.

Long Term Interest Rates Rise

Long term interest rates are already up a half point on news of this bill. They will rise more if it passes. Mortgages are tied to the 10 year treasury rate. You can already thank Paulson for your adjustable rate mortgage going up a half point if this bailout passes. Can you afford that?

Letter From Economists

Click here to see the Letter From Economists to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate. http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.coch ... rotest.htm

What is it that Paulson knows that 190+ economists don't? After all Paulson was telling us all how safe the US Banking system was just a few weeks ago.

I will tell you what Paulson knows: He knows the longer and closer the taxpayer looks at this bill the angrier the taxpayer will become.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Has sold You Down The River

Sadly, I must tell you that House Speaker Pelosi is standing behind Paulson and backing this absurd deal. See House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sells Out

Please let her know what you think. Everyone in the country should Email Nancy Pelosi: Email Nancy Pelosi . If that email bounces, please try this one Email Nancy Pelosi .

Heck, please do both. Let her know how you really feel about her sellout to corporate interests on the taxpayer's back. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. She should take all of American voters interests in mind. She is failing to do so. Let her know. After you Email her please call her up. Here is here phone number (202) 225-4965. You might also want to try her district number (415) 556-4862.

Tell her it is time to scrap the Paulson Plan and start all over.

Barney Frank Is Another Sellout

Barney Frank, as Democrat, is head of the House Financial Services Committee. Ironically he has been the biggest cheerleader over the years of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also happens to be the biggest cheerleader of the Paulson plan.

Here are the phone numbers for Barney Frank.
Washington, DC 20515
tel: (202) 225-5931
fax: (202) 225-0182

Newton, MA 02458
tel: (617) 332-3920
fax: (617) 332-2822

tel: (50 999-6462
fax: (50 999-6468

Taunton, MA 02780
tel: (50 822-4796
fax: (50 822-8186

Please do yourself and the United States of America a big favor. All you have to do is pick up the phone. Tell him how disgusted you are with his sellout of America. Tell him it is time to scrap the Paulson Plan and start all over.

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill Weighs In

ABC News Is reporting O'Neill: Bush Doesn't Get Financial Crisis, 'It Shows'

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said today that our nation's leaders -- especially President Bush -- are "in a panic" and haven't thought through the $700 billion bailout plan in a rush to pass it by the end of the week.

"I don't think he understands or knows much about any of this and it shows," O'Neill said.

O'Neill, who served as Bush's first treasury secretary until being fired over diverging views with the president about tax cuts and other issues, didn't have favorable things to say about the economic policies of either presidential candidate, Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain.

"I think most of what has been said by both campaigns about economic stuff is ill-informed and ill-advised," he said. Asked for specific problems, O'Neill said: "Everything."

"It is possible to re-liquefy the credit system without 'We the People' owning $700 billion worth of homes," he said.

CEO of BB&T Bank Weighs In

If you are not convinced by now what a taxpayer ripoff the Pasulson Plan is, then this should clinch the deal.

Bloomberg is reporting Paulson Plan Aimed at Helping 'Poorly Run' Banks, BB&T Says .

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's proposed $700 billion bank rescue aims to help "poorly run" companies and the primary beneficiaries would be Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, said BB&T Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Allison in a critique of the plan.

Treasury "is totally dominated by Wall Street investment bankers" and "cannot be relied on to objectively assess" the impact of government policy on the financial industry, Allison wrote in a Sept. 23 letter to Congress. The letter was verified by Bob Denham, a spokesman for BB&T, North Carolina's third- largest bank.

Allison, 60, said Congress should "hear from well-run financial institutions" as lawmakers consider the plan, which seeks to ease the credit crunch by buying troubled mortgage- related assets. Under Allison, Winston-Salem, North Carolina- based BB&T avoided the subprime mortgage market, whose collapse led to the credit crisis. BB&T has risen 26 percent this year, the best showing in the 24-company KBW Bank Index.

History In The Making!

Your voice is being heard, possibly for the first time ever.

Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, has received nearly 17,000 e-mail messages, nearly all opposed to the bailout, her office said. More than 2,000 constituents called Ms. Boxer's California office on Tuesday alone; just 40 favored the bailout. Her Washington office received 918 calls. Just one supported the rescue plan.

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said he had been getting 2,000 e-mail messages and telephone calls a day, roughly 95 percent opposed. When Senator Bernard Sanders, the Vermont independent who votes with Democrats, posted a petition on his Web site asking Mr. Paulson to require that taxpayers receive an equity stake in the bailed-out companies, more than 20,000 people signed.

“We certainly have never brought in 20,000 names in a day and a half,â€

I have no comment one way or the other on this topic, at least not for this forum. My comment is that I think ALIPAC should steer clear of this legislation. We do what we do well, and I support it a hundred percent, but we should limit our issues to Immigration.

I know that there are illegals who are "victims" of this, and there we have an issue, but not with the overall question.

this revolves around Illegal Immigration

Subprime loans were given to Illegal Aliens
Loans given to Illegal aliens
Student Loans given to Illegal Aliens
Auto Loans were given to Illegal Aliens
Credit Cards were given to Illegal Aliens

Welcome, ShadowTwo! Glad to have you!
I also agree that ALIPAC should steer clear of the issue except for the portion of defaulted mortgages and all loans to illegals that are any portion of these bundled finance packages.
The injection of liquidity into the credit and stock markets will probably come from foreign sovereign wealth funds, as the euro has been losing value against the dollar. Foreigners realize our real estate and infrastructure are the underlying value of the dollar, and just watch a few billion being thrown at Wall Street from these foreigners to take over the real property underlying the defaulted mortgages for pennies on the dollar, either that or taking over the banks themselves. Either way, they are buying a lot of assets that will only make them richer, while my mortgage payment is going to support the excess of Saudi princes, while I can barely get or afford fuel to get to work to pay my mortgage or even go to the grocery store.
Unfortunately, we are in a New World Order, financially at least, whether we like it or not. Worse is that everything here is for sale and has been for a very long time.

The banks and the builders could not have done this without Illegal alien
labor to make the huge profits, bring in millions of IAs who also needed
housing and Wall street joining the feeding frenzy.

AirborneSapper7 wrote:

this revolves around Illegal Immigration
Subprime loans were given to Illegal Aliens
Loans given to Illegal aliens
Student Loans given to Illegal Aliens
Auto Loans were given to Illegal Aliens
Credit Cards were given to Illegal Aliens

And I`m sure the ILLEGALS loved it. It`s free money to them, just max all of it out, throw away your fake identity, and buy a new identity on the streets for 150$. It`s that easy

Bush is a bold face liar and has bullied and blackmailed congress members into going along with him on other fiascos that have hurt the American people.

The 700 Million Bailout is Bush's way of paying back promises he gave to his pals for putting him in in the White House. AND IT IS SUCH A RUSH BECAUSE HIS TIME IN THE WHITE HOUSE IS COMING TO AN END. OR IS IT?????

TAXAYERS ARE MAD AS HELL! I know I am!