Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein suggests two little words have been missing in all the warnings about what will happen if taxpayers don’t give up $700 billion to cover bad debt: “‘We’re sorry.’ As in, ‘We’re sorry that those of us who were supposed to be stewards of the world’s deepest and most trusted capital markets have violated that trust by putting our own interests ahead of those of our customers and the country.’” Pearlstein imagines what it would be like if the “heads of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley were to stand before the cameras in the Capitol rotunda, apologize for letting down their investors and their employees and voluntarily offer to suspend their extravagant compensation schemes until the crisis has passed and new regulations are in place.”
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210 Comments
Yes!
And stone the hedge fund managers whose bloody hands are filled with cash.
Get hedge funds OUT of media, retail and anywhere else these greedy bastards can hurt real people.
Angela Merkel is right. And we need a president who understands that.
Pearlstein is not picking on the worst offenders.
Why is that?
Perhaps due to the fact that:
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Countrywide
Lehman Brothers —
Were ALL liberal Democrat-controlled companies that gave huge amounts of money to Democrat causes and Democrat candidates?
He also leaves out Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, Democrats in Congress who blocked any attempt to reign in Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Come on perlstein. You know being a CON means never having to say you are sorry.
I think the Wall Street boys will say they are sorry for this mess about the same time bushco says they are sorry for lying us into the iraq war.
Or sorry for their miserable response to Katrian.
Or sorry for shredding the constitution and circumventing the FISA courts in order to spy on our own citizens.
Or sorry for using gay people and our lives as political pawns in a game with an even dumber electorate.
Yep. Being a con means NEVER having to say you are sorry.
Ask Obama to give back all of his campaign contributions, from the mortgage industry and from Wall Street.
Obama has far more campaign cash, from this industry, than McCain or any other Senator.
Paulie, you need to report back to your masters that the crap you are shoveling aint sticking. By a two to one margin, people are blaming republicans for this mess.
But we are amused, and we do encourage you to play again.
Hell, I think you got better traction with the “obama is 44% muslim” meme.
Hey Paulie – wasn’t McCain’s campaign manager one of those in with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac scandals taking money from them to fight against those nasty old regulations?
If you want to point fingers at just the Democrats, you might want to consider where the same finger can point to in just the same way.
Just wait – another few hours and you can go get your 30 pieces of silver from your paymaster.
Why would Phil Gramm say he is sorry? It was Gramm that said Americans are just whining about the economy. Now who is looking for the whining crybabies to bail his butt out!
Heh Mom. USB, where phil gramm is vice president, is a swiss bank that will be bailed out as part of paulsons’ proposal to give cash to foreign owned banks as well as domestic. Of COURSE he’s lined up at the trough.
“If you want to point fingers at just the Democrats, you might want to consider where the same finger can point to in just the same way.”
You mean like mcsame’s campaign manager rick davis being paid $15,000 PER MONTH by fannie and freddie up until this month?
Like that?
heheheheheheheheheh
Oops. I guess it was Freddie not Fannie that paid mcsame’s campaign manager cold, hard cash every month.
“The New York Times and Newsweek are reporting that McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was paid $15,000 a month by Freddie Mac as recently as last month, directly contradicting statements made by the entire campaign as late as Tuesday.
New York Times:
One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure contradicts a statement Sunday night by Mr. McCain that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had no involvement with the company for the last several years. Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae.”
You repukes might want to observe the first rule of holes on this issue.
Sorry? Yeah I’m sorry this suck @ss government is about to sink our country. That is bipartisan, shills. Both parties are fu.ck.ing this goat.
Sorry that my salary is about to be cut in half because the dollar will be worth about $0.50 each when the first bailout check is written.
Sorry that this fu.cked up government won’t let the market shred these dips.hits that invested poorly. So the next time some dumb@ss scheme comes along, they’ll be right back in it cause no one smacked their d1.cks the first time around.
Too big to fail? Sheeeeaaaaht. I’m too damn big to fail. If I fail, my family fails, we lose our house. Bail my shaggy @ss out. Hell I’m a discount too. A billion will do me just fine. Did you cut the check yet?
KFG
“Two to one margin”?
Bull, again.
Besides, regardless of fickle public opinion, Democrats are up to their necks in the mortgage problem.
Facts are facts.
The mortgage industry is controlled by Democrats, and the mortgage industry rewarded Democrats and Democrat causes, and employed high powere Democrats.
Something to think about:
Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008
Name Office Party/State Total
1. Dodd, Christopher J S D-CT $133,900
2. Kerry, John S D-MA $111,000
3. Obama, Barack S D-IL $105,849
4. Clinton, Hillary S D-NY $75,550
5. Kanjorski, Paul E H D-PA $65,500
6. Bennett, Robert F S R-UT $61,499
7. Johnson, Tim S D-SD $61,000
8. Conrad, Kent S D-ND $58,991
9. Davis, Tom H R-VA $55,499
10. Bond, Christopher S ‘Kit’ S R-MO $55,400
11. Bachus, Spencer H R-AL $55,300
12. Shelby, Richard C S R-AL $55,000
13. Emanuel, Rahm H D-IL $51,750
14. Reed, Jack S D-RI $50,750
15. Carper, Tom S D-DE $44,389
16. Frank, Barney H D-MA $40,100
17. Maloney, Carolyn B H D-NY $38,750
18. Bean, Melissa H D-IL $37,249
19. Blunt, Roy H R-MO $36,500
20. Pryce, Deborah H R-OH $34,750
21. Miller, Gary H R-CA $33,000
22. Pelosi, Nancy H D-CA $32,750
23. Reynolds, Tom H R-NY $32,700
24. Hoyer, Steny H H D-MD $30,500
25. Hooley, Darlene H D-OR $28,750
Includes contributions from PACs and individuals.
2008 cycle totals based on data downloaded from the
Federal Election Commission on June 30, 2008.
Let em’ burn.
mom
Stop believing the New York Times.
By the way, when the NYT goes bankrupt, I will be absolutely opposed to a bail out!
http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainreport/Read.aspx?guid=74063c9d-7cb5-47c9-acf6-53c0c2d88376
“Posted at 1:57 AM on 9/24/2008 by Michael Goldfarb
A Partisan Paper of Record
Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization. Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.
In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual — since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.
Further, and missing from the Times’ reporting, Mr. Davis has never — never — been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.
Though these facts are a matter of public record, the New York Times, in what can only be explained as a willful disregard of the truth, failed to research this story or present any semblance of a fairminded treatment of the facts closely at hand. The paper did manage to report one interesting but irrelevant fact: Mr. Davis did participate in a roundtable discussion on the political scene with…Paul Begala.
Again, let us be clear: The New York Times — in the absence of any supporting evidence — has insinuated some kind of impropriety on the part of Senator McCain and Rick Davis. But entirely missing from the story is any significant mention of Senator McCain’s long advocacy for, and co-sponsorship of legislation to enact, stricter oversight and regulation of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — dating back to 2006. Please see the attached floor statement on this issue by Senator McCain from 2006.
To the central point our campaign has made in the last 48 hours: The New York Times has never published a single investigative piece, factually correct or otherwise, examining the relationship between Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod, his consulting and lobbying clients, and Senator Obama. Likewise, the New York Times never published an investigative report, factually correct or otherwise, examining the relationship between Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson and Senator Obama, who appointed Johnson head of his VP search committee, until the writing was on the wall and Johnson was under fire following reports from actual news organizations that he had received preferential loans from predatory mortgage lender Countrywide.
Therefore this “report” from the New York Times must be evaluated in the context of its intent and purpose. It is a partisan attack falsely labeled as objective news. And its most serious allegations are based entirely on the claims of anonymous sources, a familiar yet regretful tactic for the paper.
We all understand that partisan attacks are part of the political process in this country. The debate that stems from these grand and sometimes unruly conversations is what makes this country so exceptional. Indeed, our nation has a long and proud tradition of news organizations that are ideological and partisan in nature, the Huffington Post and the New York Times being two such publications. We celebrate their contribution to the political fabric of America. But while the Huffington Post is utterly transparent, the New York Times obscures its true intentions — to undermine the candidacy of John McCain and boost the candidacy of Barack Obama — under the cloak of objective journalism.
The New York Times is trying to fill an ideological niche. It is a business decision, and one made under economic duress, as the New York Times is a failing business. But the paper’s reporting on Senator McCain, his campaign, and his staff should be clearly understood by the American people for what it is: a partisan assault aimed at promoting that paper’s preferred candidate, Barack Obama.
Statement by Senator John McCain, May 25, 2006:
Mr. President, this week Fannie Mae’s regulator reported that the company’s quarterly reports of profit growth over the past few years were “illusions deliberately and systematically created” by the company’s senior management, which resulted in a $10.6 billion accounting scandal.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight’s report goes on to say that Fannie Mae employees deliberately and intentionally manipulated financial reports to hit earnings targets in order to trigger bonuses for senior executives. In the case of Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s former chief executive officer, OFHEO’s report shows that over half of Mr. Raines’ compensation for the 6 years through 2003 was directly tied to meeting earnings targets. The report of financial misconduct at Fannie Mae echoes the deeply troubling $5 billion profit restatement at Freddie Mac.
The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator’s examination of the company’s accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.
For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac–known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs–and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO’s report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO’s report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.
I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.”
Party
Line
Take
It
In
The
A$s
C0ck
Suckers
PLTIITACS
Of course, nobody’s “sorry.”
This is what the corporatocracy does–make the rich vastly richer by making the rest of us poorer.
If they said they were sorry about the mortgage-backed financial crisis, they’d have to say they were sorry about the Iraq War (Halliburton, Bechtold, Raytheon, Blackwater etc.), and then say they were sorry about the Tech Bubble bursting, and then sorry about Enron and World Com and Tyco and Anderson Accounting, and sorry about NAFTA and offshoring 20 million manufacturing jobs, and then sorry about busting unions under Reagan . . . and on and on . . .
If they were really sorry, they’d have to change entirely the way they do business.
Uh . . . thanks for “raising the level of discourse” there, Sol . . .
I make my share of typos, but the name of the company one of you libs cited, above is UBS, not USB.
Also, the NYT story was FALSE! Davis was never, every, ever a lobbyist for Freddie Mac.
Davis is seperated, completely, from his former firm. Even when employed there, Davis NEVER was a lobbyist for Fannie or Freddie.
The NYT is going to go bankrupt, but it is of their own doing.
Nobody with any brains trusts anything that the NYT says, anymore.
Why are the CEO’s of these companies not being blamed? They do control the operations of the company, right?
Anti
The vast majority of CEO’s, at these firms, are Democrats.
The vast majority of the campaign contributions, from these firms, went to Democrats.
However, Liberals want to blame President Bush and Republicans for this problem — even though Bush and the Republicans have been warning about these problems for years!
If Obama wins, there will be NO Congressional investigations of the mortgage issue. There are too many Democrats at fault.
oops! a monkey just flew out of my ass….
sorry america….
Funny how the Republicans want us to fork over $700 billion in cash, with no oversight or questions on how the money will be spent, right before Bush’s term ends. I’m sure we can trust them again. After all, they said they want to bail out foreign banks. Makes sense, Americans bail out foreign banks in order to protect the rich peoples foreign investments.
Just another last ditch effort for the Republicans to fleece the American people. No surprise the Republicans made a huge uproar when the Democrats made the suggestion that CEOs who are bailed out shouldn’t keep on receiving billions in bonuses. The Republicans know who they work for.
“Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 1:23 pm | Permalink
mom
Stop believing the New York Times.”
Good point Paul. They helped your boy Bush sell his war.
Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 1:39 pm | Permalink
Anti
The vast majority of CEO’s, at these firms, are Democrats.
The vast majority of the campaign contributions, from these firms, went to Democrats.
However, Liberals want to blame President Bush and Republicans for this problem — even though Bush and the Republicans have been warning about these problems for years!
If Obama wins, there will be NO Congressional investigations of the mortgage issue. There are too many Democrats at fault.
=========
This may sound crazy, but just follow me. If the CEO’s in control of the operations of a company and that company fails due to poor choices….shouldn’t the controller(s) of that company be at fault?
If Johnny gives me a pistol and I shoot my neighbor, Johnny isn’t guilty of murder….I am.
Sheesh Anti, you sounds like those libs who blame the terrorists for 9/11. Don’t you know it’s the fault of the gays and the ACLU?
Obama is to blame for the bank mess, just like he’s to blame for the oil prices, and why it hurts when I pee.
Maggotpunk
Posted September 24, 2008 at 1:47 pm | Permalink
Sheesh Anti, you sounds like those libs who blame the terrorists for 9/11. Don’t you know it’s the fault of the gays and the ACLU?
Obama is to blame for the bank mess, just like he’s to blame for the oil prices, and why it hurts when I pee.
=======
As opposed to the libs that blame Bush for 9/11, the bank crisis, and why it hurts for you to pee?
It’s the blame game don’t blame me blame the other person. I think the news media are biased on how they report the information wanting to blame anybody except the dems.
It’s grimly hilarious to watch the resident Republicans point to corporate cash flowing to Democrats, like this a revelation or something.
It avoid the obvious, mainly, that even the most bought-and-sold corporate Democrats at least talked up a good populist game. and voted for one when the proles were watching.
The conservative Republicans were CHEERING ON this destruction. The holiness of the market was unquestioned, regulation was bad, and anytime someone was making money, it was a good thing. Period. Any suggestion that it might be a rigged game was met with cries of “Socialism!” Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Sure, there were rumblings of unease. The Hagel bill, introduced in 2003 (the one McCain supported in 2005) would have created a new oversight agency over Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. The Obama-Durbin Stop Mortage Fraud Act was designed to do, well, exactly that.
They both went nowhere. All hail unrestrained capitalism!
And, as we’ve seen, when Michael Oxley (of Sabarnes-oxley fame) tried to mind the store he from the White House (his words) “the one-finger salute”).
Centrally-planned economies don’t work (and, in spite insistent rhethoric about “SOCIALISM!” here, no one has advocated such a thing). You know what?: nregulated capitalism doesn’t work either.
“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.”
Thomas Jefferson
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasjeff135362.html
P.S. An apology is the first step to. . . a successful civil suit. These types will apologies when they are feasting up our charred flesh (”sorry about the barbecue sauce!”).
As opposed to the libs that blame Bush for 9/11,
9-11 was not completely Bush’s fault, but he did ignore several warnings about Bin-laden (including the infamous daily briefing), he did let the violent situation in Israel fester out of control.
And it’s beyond dispute that his buddies in the Project for a New American Century, were hoping something like 9-11 would happen.
Most people saw it as a terrible tragedy. BushCo saw it as a political opportunity, one in which they could debut a transpently insane idea, mainly, a non-stop war against no one in particular, dubbed “the war on terrorism.”
Even today, otherwise sane use that phrase as if it doesn’t denote something utterly insane.
So, yeah, in all the respects that matter in 2008, you’re damn right Bush, aka President 9-11, gets the blame for 9-11!
Okay, y’all, discuss this. It’s an email a friend passed on.
Here is a REAL Stimulus Package!!!!! I think this would really boost our economy!!!
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in
a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000
bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000 .00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of trickling out
a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Wasn’t the last 28 years enough time for McCain to “focus on the economy”? Why should the debates be postponed? Let’s hear what they have to say about it now.
Sorry? What do they have to be sorry about? They did exactly what they intended to; they screwed the American public out of everything they had or ever will for generations to come. They aren’t apologizing, they’re awarding themselves yet another bonus and regilding their parachutes while they work on plans to steal the rest of the world’s wealth!
Phluffer- Let’s hear what they have to say about it now.
————————————-
Can’t wait for the ONe to go first….
hahahahhahahah!!!!!!!!!!
no tele-prompter.
uh…er….mccain…uh wants….ur…my…change…uh…palin….er pig…
hahahahahah!!!!!!!!
back in line sheeple!!!
biased1 – McCain is no better even with a teleprompter. It’s pretty bad when one can watch McCain’s eyes go back and forth when he is reading the teleprompter. But is really just sad when McCain stops in mid-sentence and then goes back to the beginning of the sentence and restarts!
Mccain says he’s suspending his campaign, calling for a meeting of political leaders to discuss bailout, wanting to cancel friday’s debate(after the ass whupin he got from biden today, who can blame him).
Politics, or Crisis-You decide.
Oh yea, comparing the financial crisis to the 9/11 crisis and asking for bi-partisanship.
I forgot to mention McCain’s evil looking grin he gets after he thinks he has been clever. His handlers really do need to tell him to stop that grinning – it makes him look like a little dictator.
“So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00″
Actually it equals $425.
“This lowering of prices brings the economy back into balance, equalizing supply and demand. This economic adjustment means, however that there are some winners — in this case, those who can again find affordable housing without the need for creative mortgage products, and some losers — builders and other sectors connected to real estate that suffer setbacks.
The government doesn’t like this, however, and undertakes measures to keep prices artificially inflated. This was why the Great Depression was as long and drawn out in this country as it was.
I am afraid that policymakers today have not learned the lesson that prices must adjust to economic reality. The bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the purchase of AIG, and the latest multi-hundred billion dollar Treasury scheme all have one thing in common: They seek to prevent the liquidation of bad debt and worthless assets at market prices, and instead try to prop up those markets and keep those assets trading at prices far in excess of what any buyer would be willing to pay.
Additionally, the government’s actions encourage moral hazard of the worst sort. Now that the precedent has been set, the likelihood of financial institutions to engage in riskier investment schemes is increased, because they now know that an investment position so overextended as to threaten the stability of the financial system will result in a government bailout and purchase of worthless, illiquid assets.
Using trillions of dollars of taxpayer money to purchase illusory short-term security, the government is actually ensuring even greater instability in the financial system in the long term.
The solution to the problem is to end government meddling in the market. Government intervention leads to distortions in the market, and government reacts to each distortion by enacting new laws and regulations, which create their own distortions, and so on ad infinitum.
It is time this process is put to an end. But the government cannot just sit back idly and let the bust occur. It must actively roll back stifling laws and regulations that allowed the boom to form in the first place.
The government must divorce itself of the albatross of Fannie and Freddie, balance and drastically decrease the size of the federal budget, and reduce onerous regulations on banks and credit unions that lead to structural rigidity in the financial sector.
Until the big-government apologists realize the error of their ways, and until vocal free-market advocates act in a manner which buttresses their rhetoric, I am afraid we are headed for a rough ride.”
Ron Paul
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/paul.bailout/index.html?iref=newssearch
Mccain says he’s suspending his campaign, calling for a meeting of political leaders to discuss bailout, wanting to cancel friday’s debate(after the ass whupin he got from biden today, who can blame him).
Politics, or Crisis-You decide.
Sounds like he made the right choice. Obama, not so much.
You know Ben, you are a real effing downer!!! :)
The bailout business stinks.
However, we need to understand that the government ALREADY is on the hook, where many financial firms are concerned.
FDIC, SIPC etc, mean that there are liabilities if we do nothing.
Should we do nothing, and take what comes?
How will the economy, in general, react, if Washington does not become more proactive, on this issue?
Don’t forget, “Deficits are caused by periodic recessions” as JFK taught us.
Federal Revenue will take a nose dive, if we go into a true recession.
Would the cost of FDIC and SIPC insurance, plus the loss to the IRS, due to a true recession, be even more money than the price of this bail out?
I do not know that answer.
What I do know is that we should avoid “moral hazard” — no matter what we do, the government should NOT encourage stupid decisions, in the future.
How do we protect the innocent, guard against a financial panic, and protect the taxpayer all at once?
McCain needs those photo ops with Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson. Chris Cox too, no matter McCain called for his firing during this crisis.
Doors were shut on McCain because of his statements, not being part of Bush’s Republican party. That’s what he’s reading on the teleprompters.
McCain suspends his campaign, yawn. Not a good week to win Republican political points in Friday’s scheduled debate that McCain wants to postpone.
Obama, Biden and McCain can vote on this American lifestyle changing moment.
Gov. Sarah Palin has nothing to offer.
To help mortgage holders or suffers today, fix it! Feds should suspend adjustable rates in mortgages immediately.
Mortgage fraud is entrenched, landlords, slumlords all of that crime, states have to do a better job investigating and charging those criminals.
This Fed bailout is amazing and we haven’t seen all the corporations yet that will have their hand out.
I am amazed with hands out needing taxpayer money, corp executives still want the big checks.
“Don’t forget, “Deficits are caused by periodic recessions” ”
So does that mean that we have been in recession ever since Bush took office?
Looks like mccain playin politics again (Today we are all Georgians), Obama called mccain said the should issue a joint statement on the bail out, Mccain agreed, then later, said no, we should suspend the campaign and go back to Washington.
Then he jumped out front trying to look like a ‘take charge’ kind of guy, and unilaterally made his statement, and challenged Obama to do likewise.
Republicans, they have no shame!
Actually it equals $425.
LOL I suspected the numbers were off. If it sounds to good to be true, it is.
Ben
The point, of course, is that recessions reduce Federal Tax Revenue.
Mrage
Tony Rezco, the most famous slum lord, is going to prison. Rezco made Obama’s political career possible.
McCain does not want to debate.
The GOP (Paulson, Bernanke, Bush) do not want to debate the bailout – “take it or leave it”
At least they are consistent.
Don’t ya just hate it when there are four sources of this. (franklin, don’t bother: nobodies reading):
The Times article at issue Wednesday reported that Freddie Mac had been paying $15,000 per month to the consulting firm owned by Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, from 2005 until last month. In exchange for the payments, Freddie Mac apparently expected little from Davis other than his continued place in McCain’s inner circle.
News of the payments also appeared in Newsweek, the Washington Post and Roll Call Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, but it was the Times McCain’s campaign singled out.
Paul – I took econ too – it was a requirement for my MBA. Yes, I know about recessions and deficits. I also know that the CORRECT application of Keynesian economics includes running SURPLUSES during good times. That is where I differ from your borrow-and-spend GOP crowd.
bth
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:14 pm | Permalink
McCain does not want to debate.The GOP (Paulson, Bernanke, Bush) do not want to debate the bailout – “take it or leave it”
At least they are consistent.
*********************
And Obama wants to have a debate,rather than return to his friggin jog as a senator and work on the problem. At least he is consistent.
House Republicans met in am: Just 4 members support Paulson plan…
Speaking of corruption Paul:
“On the stump, Sen. John McCain often cites his work tackling the excesses of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff as evidence of his sturdy ethical compass.
A little-known document, however, shows that McCain may have taken steps to protect his Republican colleagues from the scope of his investigation.
In the 2006 Senate report concerning Abramoff’s activities, which McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff’s influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November 2002, and was reelected in 2006.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/25/mccain-withheld-controver_n_88304.html
Some of the ones they did catch:
Lawmakers, lobbyists, Bush administration officials, congressional staffers and businessmen caught up in the Jack Abramoff public corruption probe:[51]
Adam Kidan (former Abramoff business partner), was sentenced in Florida in March 2006 to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud in the 2000 purchase of the Fort Lauderdale-based SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.
Bob Ney, (former Rep.) R-Ohio, sentenced in January to 2 1/2 years in prison, acknowledged taking bribes from Abramoff. Ney was in the traveling party on an Abramoff-sponsored golfing trip to Scotland at the heart of the case against Safavian.
David Safavian, (former White House official), the Bush administration’s former top procurement official, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2006 after he was found guilty of covering up his dealings with Abramoff. Safavian is appealing his conviction.
Italia Federici, co-founder of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of a Senate investigation into Abramoff’s relationship with officials at the Department of Interior.
Mark Zachares, former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, pled guilty to conspiracy. He acknowledged accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and a golf trip to Scotland from Abramoff’s team in exchange for official acts on the lobbyist’s behalf.
Michael Scanlon, a former Abramoff business partner and DeLay aide, pled guilty in November 2005 to conspiring to bribe public officials in connection with his lobbying work on behalf of Indian tribes and casino issues. He is cooperating with investigators.
Neil Volz, a former chief of staff to Ney who left government to work for Abramoff, pled guilty in May 2006 to conspiring to corrupt Ney and others with trips and other aid.
Roger Stillwell, a former Interior Department official, was sentenced to two years on probation in January after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for not reporting hundreds of dollars worth of sports and concert tickets he received from Abramoff.
Steven Griles, (former Deputy Interior Secretary) the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the scandal, pled guilty to obstruction of justice. He admitted lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles’ intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.
Tony Rudy, lobbyist and one-time aide to DeLay, pled guilty in March 2006 to conspiring with Abramoff. He is cooperating with investigators.
William Heaton, former chief of staff for Ney, pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge involving a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping Abramoff’s clients.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff#People_convicted_in_Abramoff_probe_.28as_of_June_9.2C_2007.29
Franklin,
Voters elected Obama to represent them.
Remember Enron jets flying Texas Governor Bush all over the place. Enron got federal protection to attack state utilities to make their profits. Enron got fraudulent Wall Street help to keep going.
Wall Street helped Enron because it had Federal protection. Karl Rove sent his little buddy Ralph Reed to work for Enron.
You bring up Rezko? He goes to jail, Ralph Reed doesn’t?
Vote for suspends his campaign McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin plays no part party. Be happy with your decision.
And with Bush
Access to the Bush Administration
Jack Abramoff was a member of the Bush Administration’s 2001 Transition Advisory Team assigned to the Department of the Interior.[35] Abramoff befriended the incoming Deputy Secretary of the Interior, J. Steven Griles.
The draft report of the House Government Reform Committee said the documents — largely Abramoff’s billing records and e-mails — listed 485 lobbying contacts with White House officials over three years, including 10 with top Bush aide Karl Rove. The report said that of the 485 contacts listed, 345 were described as meetings or other in-person contacts; 71 were described as phone conversations and 69 were e-mail exchanges.[36]
In the first 10 months of 2001, the Abramoff lobbying team logged almost 200 contacts with the Bush Administration.[35] He may have used these senior level contacts to assist in his lobbying for Indian tribes concerning tribal gaming. The Department of the Interior has Federal regulatory authority over tribal affairs such as tribal recognition and gaming. From 2000 to 2003, six Indian tribes paid Abramoff over $80 million in lobbying fees.[6]
Possible foreknowledge of the Iraq War
Jack Abramoff has indicated that he knew that the US would invade Iraq before the American public did. On March 18, 2002, Abramoff told a friend, that “I was sitting with Karl Rove, Bush’s top advisor, at the NCAA basketball game, discussing Israel when [your] email came in. I showed it to him. It seems that the President was very sad to have to come out negatively regarding Israel but that they needed to mollify the Arabs for the upcoming war on Iraq. That did not seem to work anyway. Bush seems to love Sharon and Israel, and thinks Arafat [sic] is nothing but a liar. I thought I’d pass that on.”[48] This was written before the Downing Street memo, the Bush-Blair memo, and Niger uranium documents forgery were written. This was also before the Office of Special Plans and the White House Iraq Group were created, and before Congress authorized Bush the authority to invade Iraq with the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.
JM
Again, you are a moron.
The NYT came up with this fraudulent lie.
The other publications simply reprinted the NYT.
Rick Davis has NEVER been a lobbiest for Fannie or Freddie.
Rick Davis has received NO income, from his former employer, for several years.
Rick Davis has not been a registered lobbyist, in several years.
And, JM, you are a liar.
I know that you read what I post. So does everyone else. That is apparent by all the “corrections” you libs try to make, to what I say.
Mad Maverick, had already talked with bush before his announcement, I’m willing to bet if Obama says no, bush will call for just such a meeting toninght.
Repubs. they have no shame!
Funny, at the same time Paulson is wanting a ‘clean bailout’ or financial leaders might not agree to sell troubled assets (if they have that luxury, should we be buying them in the first place), Time has suddenly becomoe of the essence. (It’s legal terminology, Paulie).
“Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:24 pm | Permalink
JM
Again, you are a moron.”
Of course, Paul NEVER talks down to people.
Enron gave lots of money to Democrat and Green organizations.
Enron was a major player in the whole, fraudulent “carbon credit” scheme.
Is Rick Davis suing for slander?
“becomoe”? OK, what does that legal term mean? lol
Newsweek:
“”Boomerang Effect” currently bedeviling John McCain’s presidential bid: “First, McCain chastises Obama for committing a sin that he himself has committed. Then Obama points this out, distracting voters from his own foibles and refocusing the spotlight on McCain. For Obama, the impact of the attack is immediately negated. But for McCain it’s doubled: he ends up looking both a) guilty of whatever he accused Obama of and b) totally hypocritical.”
My major example was McCain’s attacks on Obama for associating with former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson. The problem? McCain’s own campaign is swarming with 26 advisers or fundraisers who have lobbied or are currently lobbying for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac–including campaign manager Rick Davis. When the New York Times reported Monday that Freddie Mac had previously paid an advocacy group run by Davis $30,000 a month until the end of 2005, the McCain campaign vehemently denied that Davis still had ties to the mortgage giant. In fact, Davis told reporters during a conference call that “it’s been over three years since there’s been any activity in this area and since I had any contact with those folks.”
Unfortunately, that’s not quite accurate. As NEWSWEEK’s tireless investigative ace Mike Isikoff reports this morning, Freddie Mac also paid Davis’s consulting and lobbying firm Davis Manafort a consulting fee of $15,000 a month starting in 2005–before Davis took a leave of absence to work on the McCain campaign–and ending only last month, when the U.S. government acquired the firm. (The New York Times has also posted a story on the payments.) Davis is still a partner and equity-holder in Davis Manafort, so he continues to benefit from its income. So far, Team McCain has attacked the messengers–as usual–but they haven’t disputed the allegations, except to say Davis isn’t profiting personally from Freddie Mac and therefore doesn’t have, according to the Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, a “direct financial conflict of interest in helping McCain develop policy.” But that ignores the larger issue: whether Freddie put Davis’s firm on retainer–at Davis’s request–because of Davis’s relationship with McCain. “The story’s not about profit,” writes Ambinder. “It’s about influence buying.”
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/24/on-davis-s-ties-to-freddie-mac-mccain-gets-boomeranged.aspx
Rick Davis, McCain’s Campaign Manager, Benefited As Unregistered Lobbyist
Sorting out the lobbying entanglements of his campaign advisers is proving to be a messy business for Senator John McCain….
In 2005, Mr. Davis was registered as a lobbyist for corporate clients like the telecommunications company Verizon. Under the campaign’s new rules, issued by Mr. Davis on Thursday, lobbyists who are currently registered either for American companies or for foreign governments or businesses cannot be employed by the campaign. They must also disclose their lobbying work even if they are working for Mr. McCain on a part-time, voluntary basis.
But while Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis Manafort in 2006, the company has developed a specialty in recent years in a type of lobbying for which firms do not have to register — namely, representing the interests abroad of foreign politicians and businessmen.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/20/rick-davis-mccains-campai_n_102714.html
Phantom
Public officials must prove “malice” in any libel or slander lawsuit.
That means actual knowledge that the information was false, prior to printing it anyway.
That makes it nearly impossible to win.
However, if the NYT does not water down or retract what they have lied about, now that they have been confronted with the truth, that should matter.
Pressure play by the repubs. to push through a very flawed bailout. Hope America isn’t buying. Mccain is desperate.
Paul – I think JM indicated that Davis was a Lobbyist – not that he had registered.
Is this too hard for you all to fathom? Is it too hard to realize that all of this is being engineered. And not your Obamagod or your McCain demagogy will change a thing. We will be one-worlders, like it or not. Me? I don’t like it and will fight.
mommy-
Posted September 24, 2008 at 2:48 pm | Permalink
biased1 – McCain is no better even with a teleprompter. It’s pretty bad when one can watch McCain’s eyes go back and forth when he is reading the teleprompter. But is really just sad when McCain stops in mid-sentence and then goes back to the beginning of the sentence and restarts!
—————————————
You have obviously never watch him unprompted. He is Very good in a “town hall” atmosphere.
A man with true ideas and convictions he doesn’t stammer and pause to think of the most politically expedient answer like the One….
uh…er….mccain…uh wants….ur…my…change…uh…palin….er pig…err…..57 states…uhh..washington…
Bahhhhhhhhh……….
bahhhhhhhhh……….
back in line sheeple!!!
As Ben pointed out Predestined, your math was a bit off.
However, if you can come with about 850,000,000,000,000 (That’s 850 trillion dollars) from somewhere, I’d be willing to participate as a test subject. :D
Mirage-
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:07 pm | Permalink
McCain needs those photo ops with Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson. Chris Cox too, no matter McCain called for his firing during this crisis.
Doors were shut on McCain because of his statements, not being part of Bush’s Republican party. That’s what he’s reading on the teleprompters.
McCain suspends his campaign, yawn. Not a good week to win Republican political points in Friday’s scheduled debate that McCain wants to postpone.
Obama, Biden and McCain can vote on this American lifestyle changing moment.
————————————————-
So no Rosa Parks stamp this week?
darn…
Libs
Lets start with some basic logic. Please rank the following, in terms of seriousness:
1.) Being a lobbyist for Fannie or Freddie, and then working for Obama or McCain?
2.) Being a CEO for Fannie or Freddie, and looting those companies for millions of dollars, and then advising Obama or McCain?
3.) Taking huge amounts of political contributions, more than any other candidates, from Fannie and Freddie, as well as Countrywide and Lehman Brothers.
Obama is guilty of all THREE!
Rick Davis has NOT been paid by his firm, since he took his leave to work on the McCain campaign.
Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:39 pm | Permalink
Libs
Lets start with some basic logic.
—————————————–
Went wrong from the get go frank, should of asked the ‘tards how they felt about the One being guilty of all three…..
Two to One says, no logic in the response…
Shouldn;t Raines be in jail for cooking the books?
Shouldn;t Raines be in jail for cooking the books?
Aha! I’ve figured out where you get your thoughts biass.
Michelle Malkin! And what company you keep. She be a kuntt.
And Obama wants to have a debate,rather than return to his friggin jog as a senator and work on the problem. At least he is consistent.
From the looks of things, Obama jogs more than McCain. :)
It’s a nice political stunt for McCain to pull, but Obama can easily one-up him: ” Okay, I’m catching the next plane; see you in Washington.”
“Oh, and see you in Oxford Friday night–can we both agree to start late in the event of flight delays?”
Obama didn’t take the bait, look for bush to call for just such a meeting (tacit admission he’s a weak lame duck, can he do it?)
Rage
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:46 pm | Permalink
And Obama wants to have a debate,rather than return to his friggin jog as a senator and work on the problem. At least he is consistent.
From the looks of things, Obama jogs more than McCain. :)
=========================
How can Obama jog with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth?
While their campaigns were working on their joint statements, Mccain came out and made his own!
Pluffer
Posted September 24, 2008 at 3:44 pm | Permalink
Aha! I’ve figured out where you get your thoughts biass.
Michelle Malkin! And what company you keep. She be a kuntt
——————————–
Michelle Malkin? The little asian pitbull?
Hahahahaha!!!!!!!!! too funny!!!!
watch out there pluffer, your racist, sexist side is showing……
Michelle Malkin? The little asian pitbull?
His “racist, sexist” side?
O. . .kay.
“It’s a nice political stunt for McCain to pull, but Obama can easily one-up him: ” Okay, I’m catching the next plane; see you in Washington.””
That would be nice. I predict he’ll do it once the polls show people think he should go back and do his damn job.
Rags=Chas=bigot
Jesus H Christ you people absolutley flippin amaze me! Instead of saying this country is in one hell of a shape and we need to see what we can do to get it straightend out you are too busy pointing the finger of blame at each other. It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference whose fault it is,and there is plenty of blame to go around,so let’s stop the crap and get this country back on track.
Oh and for those who don’t agree with this I’ve got a finger for ya
littlejane- That would be nice. I predict he’ll do it once the polls show people think he should go back and do his damn job.
——————————————–
A man with ideals and convictions of his own, wouldn’t have to wait for a poll.
But Freebird-
There is an election to win, we must first fix the blame. THen maybe the problem will just go away. Standard rule of politics.
biased1-
Why do you insist on changing my nic?
Well, here’s Obama’s response.
“Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time,” said the senator from Illinois
So, while Obama says he and his campaign will work with the McCain camp to advance a proposal by the Democrat to have the two campaigns develop a joint statement on how the crisis can and should be resolved, he still wants to debate.
“I think we should continue to have the debate,” Obama told reporters in Florida, arguing that, “It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who in 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess.”
Noting that he was in constant contact with Democrats and Republicans in Washington — including Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, with who he says he has spoken twice today — Obama said he was more than willing to go to Washington if it might help advance negotiations on a bipartisan plan.
But, Obama added, both he and McCain have campaign planes that can get to Washington and still make it to Oxford, Mississippi, in time for Friday night’s debate.
Indeed, he suggested, if the candidates do go to Washington in order to encourage negotiators, it’s probably good for them to leave.
“What I think is important is that we don’t suddenly infuse Capitol Hill with presidential politics,” said Obama, offering a viewpoint with which few Americans would argue.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/364011/obama_wants_to_debate
Obama’s answer
“I want my three days to prepare for the debate. My staff can work on the rest.”
GO home to Washington Sentator, do your damn job.
Because you, and McCain, and the rest of the bass turds that take up oxygen in Washington DC, this country is in a hell of a mess. Go home and fix it!
I agree that it’s pointless to affix blame just for sake of affixing, or for partisan political reasons. But that’s way different from pointing out the type of thinking got us in this mess in the first place, as it’s crucial to avoid that kind of approach to governance in the future.
You and that other dicchead “Franklin” are hopeless. I anxiously await the day when McCain is voted in, the market still collapses and you both get fu.ked hard. And don’t try and get all “PC” with me, dumbass, you belong to the party that abhors that sh.it, remember? That bitch, Malkin, might as well be blonde haired and blue eyed.
And yeah, Franklin, I just saw your comment about how “I’m an idiot and should be ignored”…well ignore me then. Don’t say another word about me or to me. Hell, you ignore everything else REAL going on in America, why should my little FACTS be any different?
Believe whatever you want dude, it’s a free country.
Go home and fix it!
And what exactly should these two United States senators, neither of whom is on the Banking Committee, do when they get there?
It’s a question.
I will tell you what. Every frickin scrap that comes out of committee, examine it themselves, not read a summary from their staff. Meet in the hallwayss and bars with the other senators, of both parties, where the real work is done, and hammer out a compromise. Jointly Tell the Heads of the parties that they are going to suspend the Democrat/Republic crap and try and fix this ship. (intentional) . There are only 100 of them They think that they are smart enough, and have enough leadership to be POTUS, let them show it now. T
That’s just a start
I will tell you what. Every frickin scrap that comes out of committee, examine it themselves, not read a summary from their staff. Meet in the hallwayss and bars with the other senators, of both parties, where the real work is done, and hammer out a compromise. Jointly Tell the Heads of the parties that they are going to suspend the Democrat/Republic crap and try and fix this ship. (intentional) . There are only 100 of them They think that they are smart enough, and have enough leadership to be POTUS, let them show it now. T
That’s just a start
I am sorry. I don;t know how the double post thing keeps happening. It is not intentional.
The choice is clear, Dream Team, or Drama Queen &Beauty Queen. You Decide.
or Drama Queen &Beauty Queen
========
Biden isn’t that purdy…
What does that mean?
Phantom
Posted September 24, 2008 at 4:26 pm | Permalink
The choice is clear, Dream Team, or Drama Queen &Beauty Queen. You Decide.
=======================================
I could say
“The choice is clear. The Debate Team, or the on the job team. You decide.”
Just as snarky, and just as meaningless
Newsflash for Mccain, there is such a thing as teleconferencing. Your physical presence is not required.
I say send Sarah in, she can dress a moose, she can dress the republicans.
Wonder what the people sponsoring the debates will do, carry on with out the drama queen, or drive on. Mccain must be like Sarah is reported to be, can’t address more than one issue at a time.
“say send Sarah in, she can dress a moose, she can dress the republicans.”
Another useful comment and idea. right.
I say BIden better have his ass there and working on the problem. The answere will not come easy, or get accepted easy. I do know we better have everyone working on it.
Sure, there are other pressing matters, other official business that must be attended to. Hey, I have an idea, let’s teleconference the debate, physical prescence really is not needed. Their butts in Washington are.
That last suggestion could work too, but mccain would probably jump up and claim he’s urgently needed in the oval office, and walk out.
Actually, mccain and obama injecting themselves into the negotiations might cause more problems than it solves.
Actually, mccain and obama injecting themselves into the negotiations might cause more problems than it solves.
Their agreement to put aside partisan, electioneering politics and actually work on the damn problem might cause some real head turns, and show some leadership too. Damn, we don;t want that.
Anyway, my argument is not with you, really. It is the way the parties (both) have screwed us all, and gotten us to blame each other as they walk away with a smirk on their faces. Bass turds all.
Outta here for now.
So if I dont respond,it is because I am gone. not just rude.
I for one expect mccain (if he’s a no show at the debate) to stick to principal and remain in Washington until a deal is reached, and to refrain from campaigning.
I think both the repubs. and dems. are having problems with the power grab, and plans to distribute the bucks. Haven’t seen partianship on that issue, until now.
Humiliation is all the Eagle cares about.
Hang the guilty out to dry.
But wait, ya forgot to do one thing Eagle.
DO SOME INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING to determine WHO THE GUILTY ARE!
You assume certain CEO’s are to blame, when you haven’t even dug down 1 inch to investigate the root causes of this mess.
Don’t worry, be happy, and carry on like the mindless idiots you are.
Austrian Economics finally gets its day in the sun. They have been telling us this for years. They have even offered solutions that the powers that be will not listen to.
Do not be mislead when you read that the free-market caused this.
America is not a free-market. It is a centrally controlled economy, and it is about to get even more consolidated if this bailout happens.
Do not allow this power grab to occur. We must let the market correct itself, restore sound money, live within our means, and abolish the federal reserve.
The answers are so simple to fix this. The four things I just listed are what we need. Sometimes people want complicated answers to complicated problems. That is not necessary in this case.
It is time for all Americans to come together to restore the Republic. All petty differences must be put aside. America is more important.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
at Harvard Class Day Afternoon Exercises,
Thursday, June 8, 1978
Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html
“Don’t worry, be happy, and carry on like the mindless idiots you are.”
Wasn’t that the Ronald Reagan theme song?
MaxGrobnik
Posted September 24, 2008 at 4:53 pm | Permalink
Humiliation is all the Eagle cares about.
Hang the guilty out to dry.
But wait, ya forgot to do one thing Eagle.
DO SOME INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING to determine WHO THE GUILTY ARE!
You assume certain CEO’s are to blame, when you haven’t even dug down 1 inch to investigate the root causes of this mess.
Don’t worry, be happy, and carry on like the mindless idiots you are.
________________________________________________
So true. They may sell more papers and not be in financial trouble if they actually did some tough reporting. I’d like to see them stop slanting stories towards public favor and just present the facts.
It may be too much to ask though. I’m not sure if Eagle writers have the knowledge or background for such a task. I’m not saying they couldn’t learn, but it is obvious to the masses that they are just as lost as we are.
All they report is perpetuating lies brought about by the people who caused the problem in the first place.
Heck, I could write a sweet piece on Austrian Economics and help the public become better aware of our school of thought.
I’m not a baby, I can understand the difficult subjects that go into this mess. Put it out there for Wichitans to see.
The best teachers are those that can take a difficult subject and simplify it for those who don’t understand it yet.
That speaks to character of the man, when you’re holding private talks with the other party, then suddenly give your response by calling a press conference. Contemptible. Something Palin would do (is she behind these theatrics?)
They will all gather together (in complete secrecy) and devise ways to save their own fortunes. There will be ZERO transparency and no one (minus the janitor) will be prosecuted for any of this. We are usless eaters to these people (read “Global 2000 Report to the President”, written for the illustrious James Carter) and will be treated as such. These same people have sold America a looong time ago, this is just the payday. They are and will continue consolidating just like in 1929. They are buying up (Warren Buffet for one) shares of these banks for pennies on the dollar and thus grabbing REAL wealth. Paulson protects his people and says that no one can review (Congress or a justice alike) what he is exactly doing, so what will McCain or Obama do anyway?
I see the jokes on here and I kinda understand them, cause if we don’t laugh about it, we’ll all be bawling. But this blog is just a microcosm of politics throughout this country. There will never be a coming together (other than the soon-to-be breadline) in this country. To many fingers pointing the other way, when they rightfully should be pointed back upon ourselves.
To many people who are so sure that they are “right”, to many faux divisions that have been laid upon us when it all should come back to the Constitution and a live and let live philosophy. But that’ll never happen with all of the manufactured agenda’s and the crummy no-win battles for “morality”.
MaxGrobnik
Posted September 24, 2008 at 4:57 pm | Permalink
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
at Harvard Class Day Afternoon Exercises,
Thursday, June 8, 1978
Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic disease of the 20th century and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press. In-depth analysis of a problem is anathema to the press. It stops at sensational formulas.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html
_______________________________________________
Very nice read. That speech was written in 1978. If we do not learn from our past mistakes, we are destined to repeat them.
History is so distorted now, that I must rely on my own due-dilligence to find a proper book.
Our public schools have deceived us with progressive lies so much, that we don’t even question some of the most important historical eras of our young country.
It is a shame. As long as I’m here on earth, I will fight to make sure the facts of the past don’t become clouded by popular opinion.
Pleefer
Posted September 24, 2008 at 5:07 pm | Permalink
They will all gather together (in complete secrecy) and devise ways to save their own fortunes. There will be ZERO transparency and no one (minus the janitor) will be prosecuted for any of this. We are usless eaters to these people (read “Global 2000 Report to the President”, written for the illustrious James Carter) and will be treated as such. These same people have sold America a looong time ago, this is just the payday. They are and will continue consolidating just like in 1929. They are buying up (Warren Buffet for one) shares of these banks for pennies on the dollar and thus grabbing REAL wealth. Paulson protects his people and says that no one can review (Congress or a justice alike) what he is exactly doing, so what will McCain or Obama do anyway?
I see the jokes on here and I kinda understand them, cause if we don’t laugh about it, we’ll all be bawling. But this blog is just a microcosm of politics throughout this country. There will never be a coming together (other than the soon-to-be breadline) in this country. To many fingers pointing the other way, when they rightfully should be pointed back upon ourselves.
To many people who are so sure that they are “right”, to many faux divisions that have been laid upon us when it all should come back to the Constitution and a live and let live philosophy. But that’ll never happen with all of the manufactured agenda’s and the crummy no-win battles for “morality”.
_______________________________________________
Revolution brother. If we don’t come together as a nation, we will fall.
United we stand, divided we fall.
There is a greater power out there folks. They are laughing at us while we fight over technicalities of the same issue.
I feel sorrow for our fore fathers that died to give us this great country. We spit in their face with each day of apathy that entrenches our souls.
The Leviathan state is here. What are we going to do about it?
Mr. Chairman, I believe that our economy faces a bleak future, particularly if the latest $700 billion bailout plan ends up passing. We risk committing the same errors that prolonged the misery of the Great Depression, namely keeping prices from falling. Instead of allowing overvalued financial assets to take a hit and trade on the market at a more realistic value, the government seeks to purchase overvalued or worthless assets and hold them in the unrealistic hope that at some point in the next few decades, someone might be willing to purchase them.
One of the perverse effects of this bailout proposal is that the worst-performing firms, and those who interjected themselves most deeply into mortgage-backed securities, credit default swaps, and special investment vehicles will be those who benefit the most from this bailout. As with the bailout of airlines in the aftermath of 9/11, those businesses who were the least efficient, least productive, and least concerned with serving consumers are those who will be rewarded for their mismanagement with a government handout, rather than the failure of their company that is proper to the market. This creates a dangerous moral hazard, as the precedent of bailing out reckless lending will lead to even more reckless lending and irresponsible behavior on the part of financial firms in the future.
This bailout is a slipshod proposal, slapped together haphazardly and forced on an unwilling Congress with the threat that not passing it will lead to the collapse of the financial system. Some of the proposed alternatives are no better, for instance those which propose a government equity share in bailed-out companies. That we have come to a point where outright purchases of private sector companies is not only proposed but accepted by many who claim to be defenders of free markets bodes ill for the future of American society.
As with many other government proposals, the opportunity cost of this bailout goes unmentioned. $700 billion tied up in illiquid assets is $700 billion that is not put to productive use. That amount of money in the private sector could be used to research new technologies, start small business that create thousands of jobs, or upgrade vital infrastructure. Instead, that money will be siphoned off into unproductive assets which may burden the government for years to come. The great French economist Frederic Bastiat is famous for explaining the difference between what is seen and what is unseen. In this case the bailout’s proponents see the alleged benefits, while they fail to see the jobs, businesses, and technologies not created due to this utter waste of money.
The housing bubble has burst, unemployment is on the rise, and the dollar weakens every day. Unfortunately our leaders have failed to learn from the mistakes of previous generations and continue to lead us down the road toward economic ruin.
-Ron Paul
The FBI should be looking into Goldman’s Sachs too.
“Paulson, himself a former Goldman Sachs (GS.N) boss who built a $700 million fortune on Wall Street, tried to downplay the cost of the rescue. ”
And, from a different article:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – An unusual surge in Goldman Sachs’ share price in the last 10 minutes of trading on Tuesday raised eyebrows on Wall Street, as it came two hours before news of Warren Buffett’s big investment in the bank.
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Goldman Sachs (GS.N) shares rose more than $5 heading into the close of trading even as the rest of the market tumbled, leaving traders suspicious that inside information was used to make a profit.
“Obviously
Good to have a friend in the bus.
Is McCain relevant at all to Bush and the GOP? It seems he’s chopped liver when it comes the negotiations over the Bush Bailout Plan.
Speaking of relics, what’s Tom DeLay aka “The Hammer” doing these days?
Bet they trace the Goldman buys back to one Cindy Mccain, she made money on the last crisis.
After bush talks tonight, there’ll probably be a mass exodust to the last refuge in Alaska!
Austrian Economist,
You, are a shining beacon of reason on here. Thanks. And oh yeah, “Common Sense” and “The Age of Reason” are two of my read and re-reads. I buy cheap copies at Book-a-Holic to give away.
It’s taken McCain exactly ten days to go from the economy is strong to we’re heading into the Great Depression and must postpone the democratic process.
I was laughed at earlier this week for saying this, but the correct term is “Greater Depression”. We’re going to go into a world-wide greater depression. But don’t you worry your purty lil’ heads, Obama, Biden, Kerry, McCain, Paulson…will be alright. And they’ll be thinking of us and also, musn’t forget! They’ll be praying for us too, since they’re all “Godly” and all.
Mr. Austrian, tell me:
How exactly do you propose the remedy the excessive degree of power that corporations have over our daily lives, both through manipulating government and the market economy? In my experience, libertarians are bears when it comes to get government out of business, but any truly free market must include getting business out of government. Right?
And Of course there is no such as thing as a truly free market. Abolishing the federal reserve will not change that (by the way, did you know, at one time, FDR considered buying the federal reserve banks?–he was talked out of it).
Enough generalistic rhetoric. Dr. Paul and I are in essential agreement as to how bad this sucks. We agree the so-called bailout sucks.
I’m still mulling things over. What’s your plan?
The first thing to do is publicly try all of the players in this thing for treason and tell them we don’t owe a dime of this and we’re not paying for it. Then eliminate PAID lobbyists from the Washington nomenclature , it’s our right as CITIZENS to petition and lobby government to change and create laws. No more free stuff, kind of like what they are doing to pharmacuetical companies giving post-it notes away to doctors. Transparency and accountability in all parts of government, including cases of “National Security”. As that term is the vice they use to lie and hide from us. Eliminate the CIA and start ending these asinine social “wars” that help bankrupt us. Obsolete the Fed and its thug collection agency, the IRS. We can coin our own money (interest free) thank you very much. Completely obliterate the income tax and don’t rename it with some rediculous “fair tax” b.s. Bring manufacturing BACK to us and make craftsmanship a priority, not expediency with a bunch of Wal-Mart crap.
We need to kill the USAPatriot Act and any legislation that has followed it under the guise of a “War on Terror”.
The Age of Excess, is a good read too, about the Robber Barons.
Ahh yes, the Robber Barons…but wait…that’s just another conspiracy theory. They didn’t really exist.
Last time I checked, Warren Buffet was a Democrat.
Folks, the mortgage mess was CAUSED by government. Ordinarily, the government should not be in the business of bailing out companies.
However, since we now have a credit crises, caused by the mortgage problem, and since all businesses and individuals will suffer, from said credit crises, and since government got us into this mess, in the first place, government should now be part of the solution.
I would prefer that Uncle Sam did NOT take possession of bad loans or bad property. I would rather have the Fed provide financing to individual banks and other financial firms, and order those firms to renegotiate their problem loans as a condition for any federal help.
All help should be in the form of loans, which must be paid back.
The draw back here is the obvious unfairness that will result. Those who have paid their mortgages on time will not be able to qualify for any “help” but those who have defaulted will.
Will this cause some to go into default, on purpose, simply to qualify for reworking their mortgage terms?
I do not think Congress should be too specific in any such plan, as far as HOW to get rid of the bad debts. However, if lenders are willing to take renegotiate terms of loans, and lenders are allowed to decide, themselves, which loans to work with, and which should be evicted, and we work with broad percentages within each firm, to measure progress? I don’t know, but it might work.
The one problem with this idea? (Which is NOT my idea, but one I have heard) — We don’t have “local lenders” really, the actual legal authority, in charge of foreclosures, evictions, renegotiations, etc is often far, far away from the property in question.
There is one idea that should also be looked into:
The “mark to market” rules should be relaxed. There are banks that CAN meet cash flow requirements but CAN’T meet balance sheet requirements. We should not push any company into FDIC or financial firm bankruptcy, if they can still pay their bills.
What people fail to get is that …ehem… the old pirates and privateers that raped and pillaged and all of that ended up hiding here. They had lots of booty to use and soon became “Pillars” of society. What with a shower and a shave they could fool those silly, simple Christian folks that were already here. They even created Ive League colleges. I’ve always wondered why all of a sudden, little girls are wearing pretty pink shirts with…skulls and bones on them. But then I know of the shenanigans of the British East India Co. oh wait sorry, the Honourable East India Co. They were America’s first mobsters and drug dealers and boy did they leave a legacy! And here we are now, the same people who bring the drugs in our country also prosecute those who use them. It’s a win-win situation! And here we are now…
Behind every great family fortune, Pleefer, is a scandal.
Just look at the Bush’s. They sold guns to Nazis and traded with the Chinese Communists after Tiananmen Square.
Government has done enough damage, you’re delusional. And also, who gives a flying fu.ck what political party Warren Buffet lives in? What does that have to do with anything? He’s got the flow to buy up these firms for pennies on our useless dollar and he is doing just that. And I’m the “idiot”? You wrote that whole thing and said nothing. Just like Obama and just like McCain, you should run for President!
Listen to Franklin, the paid shill: “Folks, the mortgage mess was CAUSED by government.”
That’s why it happened in 1930 when we had weak government regulation–and DIDN’T happen for 70 years with high government regulation–and then happened again with weak government regulation.
Yeah, I guess if you think Bush is a great president, “up is really down” makes perfect sense to you . . .
And the time is up for these scandalous families. We all need to take it back. Surely this is eye opening enough for us to SERIOUSLY march on Washington. Everyone, take a week or two off and drive, fly…whatever and take Washington back.
This is it folks, endgame, do or die, all of the cliche’s.
Either we take it back or we’ll be fighting the whole world, who may just want a little payback.
Pretty good move by McCain. He rides into Washington on a white horse and brokers the bailout, and Obama stays in seclusion, selfishly preparing for a debate that probably won’t happen.
Genius. Or close.
Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 7:15 pm | Permalink
Last time I checked, Warren Buffet was a Democrat.
And I definitely trust him a lot more than I do Republic Paulson or PaulTheShill.
Selfishly preparing to speak to us. I don’t like Obama at all, but he’s got the right idea, let the citizenry hear what they have to say about this disaster. No McCain wants to showboat and be a …er…hero. He’ll not only do nothing, he can’t do anything. What a creep. What a devil. Playing Americas ignorant population like the skin flutes they are.
Capn
This IS a government created problem.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are GOVERMENT SPONSORED ENTITIES!
All of the mortgage problems can be traced to Fannie and Freddie.
Fannie and Freddie pushed the politicians to allow risky loans.
Fannie and Freddie purchased those risky loans, from lenders, until Fannie and Freddie both got into trouble.
Then, other firms got into trouble, as well.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were Democrat controlled patronage machines, part of the Democrat political machine.
Fannie and Freddie got the laws that they wanted, and then Fannie and Freddie abused those laws.
“I do not think Congress should be too specific in any such plan, as far as HOW to get rid of the bad debts”
Yea – leave absolute total unquestioned unsupervised power to Paulson.
I hear McCain talking, “Bwack buk buk BWAAK BWAAK buk bwaak.”
That’s chicken for “I’m scared spitless.”
He’s using any pretext to duck out of the debates, and who can blame him.
Actually, I think Paulsen might be Democrat as well.
Ben
Try to read a bit, would you?
I said that I would prefer something BESIDES the Paulsen plan.
I would prefer that the Fed provide financing to firms who would be responsibile for cleaning up their own debts. Ratios and percentages of bad debt to good debt should be the basis for working out these problems. The FIRMS themselves, and not the government, should be in charge of working out the renegotiation of any debt, or the foreclosure option.
This would mean that Paulsen would NOT be in charge, would it not?
Again, Ben, read before you respond, ok?
Actually, I think Paulsen might be a member of the Bush administration.
Capn
The fact is, McCain cleaned Obama’s clock at the Saddleback event.
The fact is, McCain has asked for SEVERAL “town hall” type formats. Obama at first agreed and then backed out.
Obama sucks without a teleprompter.
Ben
Republicans were upset, recently, when Paulsen was caught briefing Obama and not McCain, on some issues.
Republicans are well aware of the Democrat loyalties that Paulsen has shown, in the past.
What Democrat was president during the years 1970-1973?
“Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Paulson was a member of the White House Domestic Council, serving as Staff Assistant to the President from 1972 to 1973, and as Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.”
http://www.ustreas.gov/organization/bios/paulson-e.html
Yes Paul, I am aware that Paulsen has shown flashes of fairness and that, of course, upsets Republics.
“Paulson’s three immediate predecessors as CEO of Goldman Sachs — Jon Corzine, Stephen Friedman, and Robert Rubin — each left the company to serve in government: Corzine as a U.S. Senator (later Governor of New Jersey), Friedman as chairman of the National Economic Council (later chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board), and Rubin as both chairman of the NEC and later Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton.[18]”
Wiki
Hey, I am only saying that Paulson is hardly a partisan Republican. Paulson believes in man made global warming and is a huge contributor to the “Nature Conservency”
The thing needs to crash. Let those market manipulator’s taste a little of the sh.it sandwich too. If this bank heist happens, I hope American’s get REAL pissed off. And I mean REAL PISSED OFF.
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.”
Now McCain is suggesting this Friday’s presidential debate be postponed to — WAIT FOR IT — next Thursday, Oct. 2nd, when the VP debate was previously scheduled.
Does that tell you how ill prepared ONE of the VP candidates is for that debate?
Kills two birds with one stone! Keeps both the Republican candidates McCain and Palin) from showing how inept they are as quickly as previously scheduled.
We must remember McCain doesn’t know how to use technology that allows the rest of the world to conduct business from wherever they are.
And, the last name is spelled Paulson, it appears, we are all spelling it different ways.
Yeah, Paulson must be a viking.
Linda
You are turning into a predictable lying hag.
McCain uses the internet frequently. McCain’s war injuries prevent McCain from using the keyboard. McCain has his wife, Cindy, or his staff, use the keyboard for him.
http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/John_McCain_Technology.htm
Obama will just demagogue like McCain is “getting prepared” to do. This, again, is engineered. They create the problem, we are reacting and they will have a solution. Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis or problem-reaction-solution (it works every time).
But we’ve only begun to have to react enough for them to unveil the solution. Which, mark my words, will be a NAU, complete with a common currency. And there goes “our way of life”. Now the elite on the other hand, will carry on somehow…
But this is just the tip o’ the iceberg.
I’ll start building the gallows.
McCain’s pullin’ on yer ol’ heart strings there…how sweet.
“Hey, I am only saying that Paulson is hardly a partisan Republican”
“Actually, I think Paulsen might be Democrat as well.”
FLIP
FLOP
“Paulson believes in man made global warming”
As does McCain. Yes, Paul, there ARE a few Republicans who believe in science.
“The FIRMS themselves, and not the government, should be in charge of working out the renegotiation of any debt, or the foreclosure option.”
GREAT! The morns who caused it all get to keep control. Not with MY money!
McCain’s evil father was complicit in covering up Johnson’s treasonous act of letting Israel attack the USS Liberty. Here, have a look. But research it for yourself, go to the web site that the survivor’s have put together. Treachery runs in the family. So, to keep it simple, John McCain is no hero, he’s a piece of corn in Audie Murphy’s or Ira Hayes’ sh.it.
morns = morons
Lousy typing.
Ben
You are a very petty man, sometimes.
I recalled a complaint, from Republicans, concerning Paulson being too friendly with Dems.
Many of the former CEO’s from Paulson’s firm are elected Democrats.
I said he Might be a Democrat, I do not know his affiliation.
He is, to say the least, a liberal.
I did not flip flop, I made clear that the charges, on this Blog, that Paulson was some kind of right wing Republican were ridiculous.
Ben
The “MORONS WHO CAUSED IT ALL”?
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “caused” this, and they were Democrat dominated companies, which provided Democrat patronage jobs, and lavished huge campaign contributions on Democrats.
Fannie and Freddie CAUSED it, and the stockholders of Fannie and Freddie are not being rewarded, in any way.
Ben,
Are you a little jealous? You are only petty, and then only sometimes. I am a predictable lying hag!
Linda
You have been told, before, that the charge that McCain does not use the internet is a lie.
You repeat that claim, and you then deserve to be insulted.
You are a liar.
You have no basis on which to make your claim, which has been proven wrong.
You made your claim anyway.
Blah, blah, blah…he’s a greedy bastard that sold us. But maybe he did it with feeling and a care for climate change (a lib) or maybe he did through cunning and qualified expertise(a con).
Lipstick on a boar.
“You are a very petty man, sometimes”
And PaulTheShrillShill – YOU are a very petty man ALL the time!
:)
Yea, Linda, I am jealous! ;)
An observation: FDIC REGULATED banks are doing MUCH better through all this than the UNREGULATED Wall Street non-banks. Even with IndyMac FDIC is staying above water.
This reminds me of the big arguments over the “cronyism” involving Enron. Silly. It’s all the same, but this time they all got caught and there’s no one but us to condemn and sell out. Ken Lay is already dead.
Sorry? What do the rich cats have to be SORRY about?
They aren’t taking our money to bail them out:
CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT ARE!!!
That’s who’s sorry and should be sorry.
And what difference does sorry make – except in a touchy feely society?
I wonder if they’ll blow up another building that houses SEC documents??? Hmmm? They always have Al Qaeda to blame. That’s it! Blame Al Qaeda for this crises! Damn, I’m running for President!
If the rich financial CEO’s are found guilty of a crime, which led to the downfall – then put their butts in jail.
I don’t care if they are sorry.
Who cares if they ARE sorry? What is that?
I guess you don’t call them bleeding hearts for nothing.
“McCain Sets ‘Em Up, Knocks ‘Em Down
PoliticsSat, Sep 13, 2008 at 12:47:49 pm PST
Maybe I’m cynical, but I can’t help suspecting that the Obama campaign was set up by John McCain’s self-deprecating statements about not “getting” the Internet. Here’s a Forbes article from 2000, and it’s clear that McCain is nowhere near as clueless as Obama would like to portray him: Forbes.com – Net Vs. Norm.
In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate’s savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. “She’s a whiz on the keyboard, and I’m so laborious,” McCain admits.
If it was a setup, Obama fell right into the trap.”
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31248_McCain_Sets_Em_Up_Knocks_Em_Down
How can they be “found guilty” if they will never be investigated or tried?
Oh sure, the FBI says they are “investigating” but, like prior to 9-11, the lower good guys will find hard evidence and then the upper’s will silence them and bury it as usual. Then Bush will fly them all out of the country. Works like a charm.
We already know that Democrat Franklin Raines “cooked the books” — he was forced out of Fannie for doing just that.
There seems to be some question about Raines “guilt”:
“Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines
Don’t blame him for the mortgage giant’s scandal
The simplest, and most conspiratorial, is that the Fannie investigation represents a Republican payback for Enron and Halliburton.
Given Raines’ track record, it seems unlikely that, as OFHEO argues, Fannie “pervasively and willfully” misapplied accounting rules. It’s possible, of course, but another scenario seems more likely: Raines and the company believed that their choices were ethical, and the alleged wrongdoing is a matter of interpretation.
True to character, Raines has taken responsibility for Fannie’s decisions, and, true to character, if the SEC decides that those decisions were intentionally improper, he will probably fall on his sword. In the meantime, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.”
http://www.slate.com/id/2107894
Paul – has Raines been convicted in a Court of Law?
He lost his job over it.
That was not my question.
“The simplest, and most conspiratorial, is that the Fannie investigation represents a Republican payback for Enron and Halliburton. Conservatives are delighting in the gutting of Raines and Fannie Mae”
enron was a very liberal firm
Was Ken Lay a liberal too?……………………………………………………………….Haw haw haw.
oh yeah, I’m ignored…sory.
Yea Paul, right. Everything is always the Democrats’ fault. The Democrats eveb caused K-State to lose to Louisville.
WS Raines even convicted of a crime in a Court of Law? Or just a Republic sub-committee?
you ignored me so much, you didn’t see me leave out the other r in sorry.
Franklin Raines AGREED to his guilt, in a COURT OF LAW:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004358433_webraines18.html
Friday, April 18, 2008 – Page updated at 01:45 PM
Franklin Raines to pay $24.7 million to settle Fannie Mae lawsuit
By MARCY GORDON
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Former Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines and two other top executives have agreed to a $31.4 million settlement with the government announced today over their roles in a 2004 accounting scandal.
Raines, former Fannie chief financial officer Timothy Howard and former controller Leanne Spencer were accused in a civil lawsuit in December 2006 with manipulating earnings over a six-year period at the company, the largest U.S. financer and guarantor of home mortgages.
Raines, a Seattle native and prominent Washington figure who was President Clinton’s budget director, is relinquishing company stock options, proceeds from stock sales and other benefits. His part of the settlement is worth $24.7 million,
The stock options were valued at $15.6 million at the time they were issued to Raines, allowing him to buy shares at $77.10 and higher. Fannie Mae shares have been battered by the turbulence in the housing market — making the options that Raines was returning of negligible value, people familiar with the settlement said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not publicly wish to criticize the accord.
Proceeds from Raines’ sale of his company stock, valued at $1.8 million, will be donated to programs that help homeowners facing foreclosure or other initiatives designed to boost homeownership. For Howard, stock sale proceeds of $200,000 will go to such programs.
“While I long ago accepted managerial accountability for any errors committed by subordinates while I was CEO, it is a very different matter to suggest that I was legally culpable in any way,” Raines said in a statement. “I was not. This settlement is not an acknowledgment of wrongdoing on my part, because I did not break any laws or rules while leading Fannie Mae. At most, this is an agreement to disagree.”
Howard is settling for a total $6.4 million, including stock options valued at $5.2 million when issued, and Spencer $275,000.
The deal was announced by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big government-sponsored mortgage finance companies.
“OFHEO’s mission is to ensure that (Fannie and Freddie) operate in a safe and sound manner,” the agency’s director, James Lockhart, said in a statement. “That cannot occur without corporate management providing prudent and responsible leadership and setting the appropriate ethical and overall ‘tone at the top’.”
Fannie and Freddie both had multibillion-dollar accounting scandals that stunned Wall Street and brought record civil fines against them in settlements with the government.
The amounts that Raines, Howard and Spencer are paying under the settlement are far less than what the government was seeking when it sued them in December 2006. OFHEO sought fines of around $100 million against the three and restitution totaling more than $115 million in bonus money tied to an improper accounting scheme.
The regulators alleged an accounting fraud at Washington-based Fannie Mae that included manipulations to reach quarterly earnings targets so that Raines, Howard, Spencer and other company executives could pocket hundreds of millions in bonuses from 1998 to 2004.
The three executives had disputed the charges and pegged them as politically motivated. Raines’ attorney called Lockhart “a fatally biased regulator” and asked a federal appeals court to remove him from the case.
Spencer “was recognized as an outstanding controller for Fannie Mae where she conducted her duties with the highest integrity,” her attorney, David Krakoff, said in a statement. “Ms. Spencer maintained throughout this action that the OFHEO reports and allegations had no merit.”
Raines and Howard were swept out of office in December 2004 in the accounting fiasco at Fannie Mae. Two years later, the company announced a restatement for 2001 through June 30, 2004, that erased $6.3 billion in previously reported profit.
Raines’ total compensation from 1998 through 2004 was $91.1 million, including some $52.6 million in bonuses, according to OFHEO. Howard earned $30.8 million during the period, including $16.8 million in bonuses; Spencer received $7.3 million, of which some $3.5 million was bonus money.
Fannie Mae paid a record $400 million civil fine in a settlement with OFHEO and the Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2006. It also agreed to make top-to-bottom changes in its corporate culture, accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.
Last November, Freddie Mac’s former chief executive, Leland Brendsel, agreed in a settlement with OFHEO to pay $2.5 million in fines to the government, give back $10.5 million in salary and bonuses to the company and waive claims against the company for compensation worth $3.4 million.
Freddie’s accounting scandal erupted in June 2003 when the McLean, Va.-based company said it had misstated earnings by $5 billion between 2000 and 2002 — artificially inflating results in some periods, while reducing them in others.
Raines, the first black CEO of a Fortune 500 company, has been trying to restore his reputation and challenge shareholder suits. Raised in a Seattle family that relied on welfare checks, Raines broke through racial barriers to become an adviser to President Carter and head of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget from 1996 to 1998 under Clinton.
Raines said in court filings that the White House spread rumors to undermine Fannie Mae’s share price and persuaded OFHEO to condemn the company.
Fannie Mae paid a record $400 million civil fine in a settlement with OFHEO and the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also agreed to make top-to-bottom changes in its corporate culture, accounting procedures and ways of managing risk.
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Why did the Democrats lose my kids’ cell phone? WHY????
Sounds like some behind-the-scenes tit for tat going on. Well well well, lo’ and behold time’s up for all of them. Pretty soon we’re going to see some he said-she said all over the political and financial map. If it were those pesky Frenchies dealing with this, it’d be funny to watch. But…
“he will probably fall on his sword”
In order to save Fannie from more disruptions he settled. That is not the same as a guilty plea.
Pleefer – they hate kids, didn’t you know that?
And what happened at Fannie AFTER Raines left? The company collapsed. Four years AFTER.
My mistake. I’m a simple drummer and design engineer.
Acknowledgment recognized Pleefer. You just have to get caught up on the Democrat-bashing talking points.
“has Raines been convicted in a Court of Law?”
You mean like Palin’s conviction in Alaska on
any role in the firing of state employees?
Or maybe her banning books?
Hmmmmmmmmmmm?
ben
If Franklin Raines had gone to court for a full blown trial, Franklin Raines would have LOST!
So he settled.
And paid back a part of his ill-gotten gains.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
And maybe Palin should be subjected to the kind of opposition grilling Raines got. So far she has been able to avoid that.
g’night all – morning comes all too early …
But, I must say that regardless of what hatred I carry for the current administration and all of their talking heads in the various media (Neo-Conservatives), I’m a “paleo-conservative”, I’m a “classical liberal”. Words have changed their meanings (by design) that I can’t even honestly say “what” I am. Sheeoot, I’m probably a “Constitutionalist”.
This 1984-style Newspeak is so confusing.
I can smell 5 a.m coming myself.
Ben
A Mr Mudd took over, after Raines.
Mr. Mudd, son of the TV reporter, is the one who called Obama, and the Congressional Black Caucus, “The Conscience of Fannie Mae”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvG-s_Ssb0
O.K., I’m sorry. I admit to being the mastermind of my failed corporation. I admit to screwing as many people as possible to grab as many greedy profits as I can. I admit to sliding as much money into the coffers of as many politicians from both sides as is humanely possible.
I apologize.
Now as I stand before you today looking, oh so sad, glum, and remorseful, I am sorry.
So just give me my balloon payment of 50 million dollars and I will walk off stage looking very very sad. Hanging my head low.
And all the politicians can point to me and say “SEE!” we made him say he was sorry.
Pat us on the back and
Vote for us!!!!
hahahaha, poignant.
#
Franklin
Posted September 24, 2008 at 9:29 pm | Permalink
ben
If Franklin Raines had gone to court for a full blown trial, Franklin Raines would have LOST!
So he settled.
And paid back a part of his ill-gotten gains.
=====================================================
Wow . . . judge and jury all rolled into one! You gotta be the smartest man in the whole universe. You need to run for office. What’s that? You did and lost? Got kicked out of the republican party for boring stupidity? Gosh, gee . . . they must not have known what they had, huh?
I have no idea who this guy is, but I like his plan:
I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.
Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in
a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000
bona fide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman
and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a
We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – it’ll be there
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks
who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company
that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it…instead of
trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by
one of our candidates for President.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S
Citizen 18+!
As for AIG – liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.
Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion
We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5
Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ah…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic
As Ben pointed out Predestined, your math was a bit off.
Regular,
If you’d go back and re-read my post, it wasn’t MY math. In fact, I didn’t DO the math, just copy & pasted the entire email. If the person who wrote it didn’t do HIS math, it isn’t my fault.
But even $425 coming to me is better than me paying out $7000. Or is that math wrong, too?
Back to the various “bail out” ideas.
It has been said, by some, that the RTC or Resolution Trust Company actually made a “profit” —(if you count the benefits to the taxpayers, for having the RTC, as opposed to not having the RTC, the benefits were huge).
Of course, the Resolution Trust Corporation took over the failed Savings and Loans.
My concerns with the current situation?
1.) Moral Hazard : are we going to encourage MORE bad personal and decisions, with this plan?
2.) Unintended Consequences: will we over-react, and do things in this plan that actually hurt competition and hurt the economy?
If a way to help lenders work out their own loans is found, will such a method encourage good debt to go bad, in order to qualify? This would be “moral hazard”.
If the plan encourages lenders to keep doing what they have been doing, and keep approving risky loans, that TOO would be “moral hazard”.
Also, Sarbanes-Oxlye is part of our problem. The “unintended consequence” of “mark to market” rules, in that law, means that some companies who can PAY their bills are still, technically, “broke” if they must list assets (Like mortgages and CMO’s) at “0″ simply because they can not sell those assets, in TODAY’s market.
In other words, the laws we put in place after past financial problems have helped to make this financial problem worse, forcing “insolvency” on institutions that don’t deserve that label.
JM
Nobody ever kicked me out of anything.
I disagreed with Party leadership, and I went my own way, on my own, at that time.
Lost an election? So what?
So has Ben, on this Blog.
So has Bill Clinton.
So has Hillary Clinton.
You are a petty, small man to always resort to personal attacks. I notice that you are pretty weak, when it comes to actually using facts and logic, so it is clear why you prefer to go personal.
“You are a petty, small man to always resort to personal attacks.”
Like calling people morons? Second-rate minds? Idiots?
Pot, meet kettle.
Ben
If you are willing to quit making personal attacks, towards me, I will do the same.
I doubt that you can keep that deal.
Yes, when someone talks down to me, and tells me things that I know are false, and insults me at the same time, I will often respond in kind.
You seem to be defending others that have insulted me frequently, in the past.
I reserve the right to deal with them, individually, as I see fit.
But? If you are willing to stop the personal stuff, with me, I will do the same, with you.
Lets see how long this lasts —
“I doubt that you can keep that deal.”
Well, with my second-rate mind and all …
All the more reason NOT to allow the CEOs who created this mess handle the taxpayers’ money:
“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.”
— Albert Einstein
Pall,
“You have been told, before, that the charge that McCain does not use the internet is a lie.”
Yeah, just the other day it was reported that some hacker broke into his PonyExpress account.