Memories fade, but before dress stains and oral sex became the hot Washington topic, it seems there was discussion within the Clinton Administration about the need for regulation of Global Financial Markets. What a novel thought!
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That damned complicated stuff didn't titillate the way moral condemnation did.
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Why tax the brain, force one to actually do the hard work of THINKING, when sex is just so much easier to comprehend?
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And some of my contemporaries (the elderly dinosaurs) might even remember that the preceding fiscal catastrophe was the S&L Bailout that taxpayers funded. Wasn't that about deregulation as well? Well, never mind! You just paid the bill so don't have to understand, but you were mighty generous in allowing the already well-heeled to buy back those properties for pennies on the dollar. And many escaped prosecution, including a G.H.W. Bush son.
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But make sure to look up the Keating Scandal and the connection with Senator John McCain, and his wealthy in-laws. Not so squeaky clean! (An internet search provides some pretty damning information about the Presidential Candidate.) It just makes one warm and fuzzy to know he's suddenly for regulation now that taxpayers will foot the cleanup.
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This is curious timing as well:
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Lehman hires Jeb Bush as private equity advisor
Thu Aug 30, 2007
.Lehman hires Jeb Bush as private equity advisor
Thu Aug 30, 2007
NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers has hired Jeb Bush, brother of the President of the United States, as an advisor to its private equity business, a source familiar with the situation said. Lehman hired another relative of U.S Lehman hired another relative of U.S. President George W. Bush last year--George Walker, a second cousin, who heads up the bank's asset management business. Reuters
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Hmmm. Connection maybe?
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Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the biggest bankruptcy filing ever on Monday and said it was trying to sell off key business units. [Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old banking institution, survives the Industrial Revolution and two world wars... but not Bush.] yahoo
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Offered by William Greider in The Nation, excerpts below, but the entire article is worth the read:
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... Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher in New York, defined the sponsors of this stampede to action: "Let us be clear, it is not citizen groups, private investors, equity investors or institutional investors broadly who are calling for this government purchase fund. It is almost exclusively being lobbied for by precisely those institutions that believed they were 'smarter than the rest of us,' institutions who need to get those assets off their balance sheet at an inflated value lest they be at risk of large losses or worse."
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... Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher in New York, defined the sponsors of this stampede to action: "Let us be clear, it is not citizen groups, private investors, equity investors or institutional investors broadly who are calling for this government purchase fund. It is almost exclusively being lobbied for by precisely those institutions that believed they were 'smarter than the rest of us,' institutions who need to get those assets off their balance sheet at an inflated value lest they be at risk of large losses or worse."
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The agenda is staggering. The United States is ill equipped to deal with it smartly, not to mention wisely. We have a brain-dead lame duck in the White House. The two presidential candidates are trapped by events, trying to say something relevant without getting blamed for the disaster. The people should make themselves heard in Washington, even if only to share their outrage.
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And another perspective:
It's The Derivatives, Stupid! Why Fannie, Freddie, AIG Had To Be Bailed Out
By Ellen Brown20 September, 2008
By Ellen Brown20 September, 2008
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"I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men." – Sir Isaac Newton, after losing a fortune in the South Sea bubble
"I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men." – Sir Isaac Newton, after losing a fortune in the South Sea bubble
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Something extraordinary is going on with these government bailouts. In March 2008, the Federal Reserve extended a $55 billion loan to JPMorgan to "rescue" investment bank Bear Stearns from bankruptcy, a highly controversial move that tested the limits of the Federal Reserve Act. On September 7, 2008, the U.S. government seized private mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and imposed a conservatorship, a form of bankruptcy; but rather than let the bankruptcy court sort out the assets among the claimants, the Treasury extended an unlimited credit line to the insolvent corporations and said it would exercise its authority to buy their stock, effectively nationalizing them. Now the Federal Reserve has announced that it is giving an $85 billion loan to American International Group (AIG), the world’s largest insurance company, in exchange for a nearly 80% stake in the insurer . . . .
Something extraordinary is going on with these government bailouts. In March 2008, the Federal Reserve extended a $55 billion loan to JPMorgan to "rescue" investment bank Bear Stearns from bankruptcy, a highly controversial move that tested the limits of the Federal Reserve Act. On September 7, 2008, the U.S. government seized private mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and imposed a conservatorship, a form of bankruptcy; but rather than let the bankruptcy court sort out the assets among the claimants, the Treasury extended an unlimited credit line to the insolvent corporations and said it would exercise its authority to buy their stock, effectively nationalizing them. Now the Federal Reserve has announced that it is giving an $85 billion loan to American International Group (AIG), the world’s largest insurance company, in exchange for a nearly 80% stake in the insurer . . . .
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The Fed is buying an insurance company? Where exactly is that covered in the Federal Reserve Act? The Associated Press calls it a "government takeover," but this is not your ordinary "nationalization" like the purchase of Fannie/Freddie stock by the U.S. Treasury. The Federal Reserve has the power to print the national money supply, but it is not actually a part of the U.S. government. It is a private banking corporation owned by a consortium of private banks. The banking industry just bought the world’s largest insurance company, and they used federal money to do it. Yahoo Finance reported on September 17:
The Fed is buying an insurance company? Where exactly is that covered in the Federal Reserve Act? The Associated Press calls it a "government takeover," but this is not your ordinary "nationalization" like the purchase of Fannie/Freddie stock by the U.S. Treasury. The Federal Reserve has the power to print the national money supply, but it is not actually a part of the U.S. government. It is a private banking corporation owned by a consortium of private banks. The banking industry just bought the world’s largest insurance company, and they used federal money to do it. Yahoo Finance reported on September 17:
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"The Treasury is setting up a temporary financing program at the Fed’s request. The program will auction Treasury bills to raise cash for the Fed’s use. The initiative aims to help the Fed manage its balance sheet following its efforts to enhance its liquidity facilities over the previous few quarters."
"The Treasury is setting up a temporary financing program at the Fed’s request. The program will auction Treasury bills to raise cash for the Fed’s use. The initiative aims to help the Fed manage its balance sheet following its efforts to enhance its liquidity facilities over the previous few quarters."
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The Progress Report:
BUSINESS AS USUAL: The Bush administration's initial attempt to railroad anyone skeptical of the Paulson plan is reminiscent of some of its previous legislative initiatives. The Bush administration has a long track record of using times of crisis to demand -- and then mismanage -- unprecedented amounts of power and money. Just as troubling, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that lobbyists for Wall Street firms have launched an aggressive campaign to ensure that the terms of the Treasury's proposed bailout are as favorable to the finance industry as possible.
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Our current location was predictable -- it was predicted based on risky loans, with ballooning payments, inflated property values that kept a false economy perking along and some pretty creative packaging.
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Folks, ordinary Americans are loosing their homes, yet the bailouts are aimed at saving the wealthy.
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Neighborhoods are blighted with boarded up or vandalized homes. Animal shelters are overwhelmed with abandoned pets surrendered or just abandoned by owners overwhelmed at the prospect of being homeless and panicked for shelter for their children. A local suicide is but one tragic reminder.
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Before we sit back and foot the bill for the gambling problems of the wealthy and greedy, and the lack of regulation, time for consideration is needed.
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Bankruptcy laws allow a judge to adjust loan payments for cars, boats, credit cards and second homes, but prohibit changes to mortgage payments for the primary residence. Changes need to be included to keep families in their homes and prevent abandoned neighborhoods.
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Congressional action requires more than slapdash legislation, prepared in a panic.
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The last time Congress acted in panic, we invaded 2 countries. How did that turn out?
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This needs to be debated, publicized and fully understood before we give Paulson the keys to the Treasury, with unregulated controls to bailout those he should have been regulating. The Fox guarding the hen house comes to mind.
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