You're right Tizdoom, it's always about we the people, always will be.
Thus I do something, I work, spend money, raise my kids with my wife and have a good time.
Balance my friend, you'll be fine.
and this isn't about we the people
fed seemingly decided to do this not elected officials nor us the taxpayer
this is still a developing story we don't know any details other than they are "considering"
FNM/FRE government voted on it
AIG and this "repository of debt" decided by the fed
the fed owns us they own this country
its up to us to take it back
fed seemingly decided to do this not elected officials nor us the taxpayer
this is still a developing story we don't know any details other than they are "considering"
FNM/FRE government voted on it
AIG and this "repository of debt" decided by the fed
the fed owns us they own this country
its up to us to take it back
i like how i'm arguing with two "conservatives" here on this issue
still some hope left in america at least a few people left in washington that are ready to say enough is enough
----------------------------
House Republicans Criticize U.S. Action on Crisis (Update2)
By Brian Faler
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A group of House Republicans criticized the Bush administration's response to the turmoil in financial markets as ``bailout mania.''
``Enough is enough,'' said Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas. ``It's time to bail out the American taxpayers from bailout mania.''
He said the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 100 self-described conservative lawmakers, plan to release a letter that asks Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to ``refrain from conducting any additional government-financed bailouts for large financial firms.''
``These massive federal bailouts have exposed taxpayers to literally tens of billions of dollars of new risk,'' and created a ``moral hazard where companies are absolved, not punished, for excessive risk taking,'' the letter says.
The criticism of President George W. Bush by members of his own party just six weeks before a national election suggests a growing backlash in Congress and the president's increasing isolation as his term draws to a close. Some have questioned whether Bernanke has too much power.
Bush, in comments today at the White House, said the administration will continue in its current course.
Stabilizing Markets
``The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence,'' Bush said.
Separately, Republican presidential nominee John McCain called for the firing of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, saying he ``has betrayed the public's trust'' by failing to adequately police Wall Street. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Cox ``has the president's confidence.''
The furor over bailouts was triggered by a series of recent actions. The Federal Reserve Board, with support of the U.S. Treasury, invoked emergency powers to lend as much as $85 billion to American International Group Inc. to save the insurance giant from collapse. At the start of the week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. That followed the bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. in March, and the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, declined today to ``second-guess'' the policy makers' decision to take over AIG, saying ``history will show'' whether they made the right call. Boehner said he and other lawmakers are frustrated though that they haven't received more consultation on the decisions from the administration.
Seeking Information
``I am and all my colleagues here on the Hill are concerned about the lack of information, the lack of consultation that has occurred,'' he told reporters today. ``We are a separate branch of our government. Members are entitled to information.''
He said the administration ``refused'' to send someone to Capitol Hill today to meet with Hensarling's group. Asked whether Bernanke is going too far in using public money to shore up private companies, Boehner said: ``I have concerns as do all of my colleagues.''
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, expressed concern that Bernanke may have too much power to decide how to spend public dollars.
``I think Chairman Bernanke is a responsible and thoughtful person,'' said Frank. ``But no one in a democracy, unelected, should have $800 billion to dispense as he sees fit,'' he said. ``He can make any loan he wants under any terms to any entity or individual in America.''
still some hope left in america at least a few people left in washington that are ready to say enough is enough
----------------------------
House Republicans Criticize U.S. Action on Crisis (Update2)
By Brian Faler
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- A group of House Republicans criticized the Bush administration's response to the turmoil in financial markets as ``bailout mania.''
``Enough is enough,'' said Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas. ``It's time to bail out the American taxpayers from bailout mania.''
He said the Republican Study Committee, a group of more than 100 self-described conservative lawmakers, plan to release a letter that asks Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to ``refrain from conducting any additional government-financed bailouts for large financial firms.''
``These massive federal bailouts have exposed taxpayers to literally tens of billions of dollars of new risk,'' and created a ``moral hazard where companies are absolved, not punished, for excessive risk taking,'' the letter says.
The criticism of President George W. Bush by members of his own party just six weeks before a national election suggests a growing backlash in Congress and the president's increasing isolation as his term draws to a close. Some have questioned whether Bernanke has too much power.
Bush, in comments today at the White House, said the administration will continue in its current course.
Stabilizing Markets
``The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence,'' Bush said.
Separately, Republican presidential nominee John McCain called for the firing of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, saying he ``has betrayed the public's trust'' by failing to adequately police Wall Street. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Cox ``has the president's confidence.''
The furor over bailouts was triggered by a series of recent actions. The Federal Reserve Board, with support of the U.S. Treasury, invoked emergency powers to lend as much as $85 billion to American International Group Inc. to save the insurance giant from collapse. At the start of the week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy. That followed the bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. in March, and the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, declined today to ``second-guess'' the policy makers' decision to take over AIG, saying ``history will show'' whether they made the right call. Boehner said he and other lawmakers are frustrated though that they haven't received more consultation on the decisions from the administration.
Seeking Information
``I am and all my colleagues here on the Hill are concerned about the lack of information, the lack of consultation that has occurred,'' he told reporters today. ``We are a separate branch of our government. Members are entitled to information.''
He said the administration ``refused'' to send someone to Capitol Hill today to meet with Hensarling's group. Asked whether Bernanke is going too far in using public money to shore up private companies, Boehner said: ``I have concerns as do all of my colleagues.''
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, expressed concern that Bernanke may have too much power to decide how to spend public dollars.
``I think Chairman Bernanke is a responsible and thoughtful person,'' said Frank. ``But no one in a democracy, unelected, should have $800 billion to dispense as he sees fit,'' he said. ``He can make any loan he wants under any terms to any entity or individual in America.''
hno:
Hey U.S., welcome to the Third World!
It's been a quick slide from economic superpower to economic basket case.
Rosa Brooks
September 18, 2008
Dear United States, Welcome to the Third World!
It's not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance. As you spiral into a catastrophic financial meltdown, we are delighted to respond to your Treasury Department's request that we undertake a joint stability assessment of your financial sector. In these turbulent times, we can provide services ranging from subsidized loans to expert advisors willing to perform an emergency overhaul of your entire government.
As you know, some outside intervention in your economy is overdue. Last week -- even before Wall Street's latest collapse -- 13 former finance ministers convened at the University of Virginia and agreed that you must fix your "broken financial system." Australia's Peter Costello noted that lately you've been "exporting instability" in world markets, and Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister of India, concluded, "The time has come. The U.S. should accept some monitoring by the IMF."
We hope you won't feel embarrassed as we assess the stability of your economy and suggest needed changes. Remember, many other countries have been in your shoes. We've bailed out the economies of Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. But whether our work is in Sudan, Bangladesh or now the United States, our experts are committed to intervening in national economies with care and sensitivity.
We thus want to acknowledge the progress you have made in your evolution from economic superpower to economic basket case. Normally, such a process might take 100 years or more. With your oscillation between free-market extremism and nationalization of private companies, however, you have successfully achieved, in a few short years, many of the key hallmarks of Third World economies.
Your policies of irresponsible government deregulation in critical sectors allowed you to rapidly develop an energy crisis, a housing crisis, a credit crisis and a financial market crisis, all at once, and accompanied (and partly caused) by impressive levels of corruption and speculation. Meanwhile, those of your political leaders charged with oversight were either napping or in bed with corporate lobbyists.
Take John McCain, your Republican presidential nominee, whose senior staff includes half a dozen prominent former lobbyists. As he recently put it, "I was chairman of the [Senate] Commerce Committee that oversights every part of the economy." No question about it: Your leaders' failure to notice the damage done by irresponsible deregulation was indeed an oversight of epic proportions.
Now you are facing the consequences. Income inequality has increased, as the rich have gotten windfalls while the middle class has seen incomes stagnate. Fewer and fewer of your citizens have access to affordable housing, healthcare or security in retirement. Even life expectancy has dropped. And when your economic woes went from chronic to acute, you responded -- like so many Third World states have -- with an extensive program of nationalizing private companies and assets. Your mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now state owned and controlled, and this week your reinsurance giant AIG was effectively nationalized, with the Federal Reserve Board seizing an 80% equity stake in the flailing company.
Some might deride this as socialism. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Admittedly, your transition to Third World status is far from over, and it won't be painless. At first, for instance, you may find it hard to get used to the shantytowns that will replace the exurban sprawl of McMansions that helped fuel the real estate speculation bubble. But in time, such shantytowns will simply become part of the landscape. Similarly, as unemployment rates continue to rise, you will initially struggle to find a use for the expanding pool of angry, jobless young men. But you will gradually realize that you can recruit them to fight in a ceaseless round of armed conflicts, a solution that has been utilized by many other Third World states before you. Indeed, with your wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you are off to an excellent start.
Perhaps this letter comes as a surprise to you, and you feel you're not fully ready to join the Third World. Don't let this feeling concern you. Though you may never have realized it, you've been preparing for this moment for years.
It's been a quick slide from economic superpower to economic basket case.
Rosa Brooks
September 18, 2008
Dear United States, Welcome to the Third World!
It's not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance. As you spiral into a catastrophic financial meltdown, we are delighted to respond to your Treasury Department's request that we undertake a joint stability assessment of your financial sector. In these turbulent times, we can provide services ranging from subsidized loans to expert advisors willing to perform an emergency overhaul of your entire government.
As you know, some outside intervention in your economy is overdue. Last week -- even before Wall Street's latest collapse -- 13 former finance ministers convened at the University of Virginia and agreed that you must fix your "broken financial system." Australia's Peter Costello noted that lately you've been "exporting instability" in world markets, and Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister of India, concluded, "The time has come. The U.S. should accept some monitoring by the IMF."
We hope you won't feel embarrassed as we assess the stability of your economy and suggest needed changes. Remember, many other countries have been in your shoes. We've bailed out the economies of Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea. But whether our work is in Sudan, Bangladesh or now the United States, our experts are committed to intervening in national economies with care and sensitivity.
We thus want to acknowledge the progress you have made in your evolution from economic superpower to economic basket case. Normally, such a process might take 100 years or more. With your oscillation between free-market extremism and nationalization of private companies, however, you have successfully achieved, in a few short years, many of the key hallmarks of Third World economies.
Your policies of irresponsible government deregulation in critical sectors allowed you to rapidly develop an energy crisis, a housing crisis, a credit crisis and a financial market crisis, all at once, and accompanied (and partly caused) by impressive levels of corruption and speculation. Meanwhile, those of your political leaders charged with oversight were either napping or in bed with corporate lobbyists.
Take John McCain, your Republican presidential nominee, whose senior staff includes half a dozen prominent former lobbyists. As he recently put it, "I was chairman of the [Senate] Commerce Committee that oversights every part of the economy." No question about it: Your leaders' failure to notice the damage done by irresponsible deregulation was indeed an oversight of epic proportions.
Now you are facing the consequences. Income inequality has increased, as the rich have gotten windfalls while the middle class has seen incomes stagnate. Fewer and fewer of your citizens have access to affordable housing, healthcare or security in retirement. Even life expectancy has dropped. And when your economic woes went from chronic to acute, you responded -- like so many Third World states have -- with an extensive program of nationalizing private companies and assets. Your mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now state owned and controlled, and this week your reinsurance giant AIG was effectively nationalized, with the Federal Reserve Board seizing an 80% equity stake in the flailing company.
Some might deride this as socialism. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
Admittedly, your transition to Third World status is far from over, and it won't be painless. At first, for instance, you may find it hard to get used to the shantytowns that will replace the exurban sprawl of McMansions that helped fuel the real estate speculation bubble. But in time, such shantytowns will simply become part of the landscape. Similarly, as unemployment rates continue to rise, you will initially struggle to find a use for the expanding pool of angry, jobless young men. But you will gradually realize that you can recruit them to fight in a ceaseless round of armed conflicts, a solution that has been utilized by many other Third World states before you. Indeed, with your wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you are off to an excellent start.
Perhaps this letter comes as a surprise to you, and you feel you're not fully ready to join the Third World. Don't let this feeling concern you. Though you may never have realized it, you've been preparing for this moment for years.
