Shock Doctrine: MIHOP or LIHOP, take your pick. Follow the money.

[BelgianMadCow]

The Shock Doctrine: you exploit a crisis that comes by, or you manufacture one. Once the crisis is under way, you use the terrified state of the people to pass all kinds of deals they would not agree to under normal circumstances. There have been many historic examples, 9/11 and the Patriot Act being the most obvious one.

During the Lehman Brothers weekend, when all these insiders (Paulson being Goldman Sachs' former CEO :crazy:) are discussing what to do, they full well know that a huge part of the banking system is shady, unregulated and over-leveraged, in other words, a bubble. Please take a look at Krugman's explanation of "marble", classic banks versus the shadow banks, it's not this radical lefty making stuff up.

Still, they decide to puncture it.

Afterwards, they get to turn open the spigot on the US Treasury, to the tune of 8+ trillion already. Only a small part passes via the legislature, the 700 million bailout that we can all bicker about till kingdom come. Meanwhile, the majority of the money bleeds out through all kinds of emergency programs unknown to most and without congressional oversight. Check the Stock Market Watch threads in LBN, I'm not making this up either. Ooh, and on edit, let's not forget the nice little perk of massive layoffs during these unsuspected times. Hmm, try to break some unions and shed some pension plans too.

8+ trillion DWARFS any kind of government program EVER. (can't find the great graphic comparison I saw on DU :-() Anyone thinking this bank robbery is merely an accident should think again. If and when we go into a deflationary depression, guess who will make the most money? Those who have the cash to buy assets when they are ultra-cheap, in other words the ruling elite. Hmmm, now who do we have getting truckloads of money and hoarding (NOT lending) it, merging with the lesser gods and talking about using the money for expansion?

Flame at will, I'm :tinfoil: covered.


edit: added link for Krugman.

[Swamp Rat]

1. k&r

[BelgianMadCow]

3. Stick 'em up punks, it's the dough loving criminals

always the right graphic for the occasion :D I like the Bond-like style of this one...

:hi: Swamp Rat! Good to see ya

[AndyTiedye]

2. Paulson Made Congress an Offer They Couldn't Refuse

"Either gives us all the money or we crash the economy hard and impose martial law.
(Which will allow us to take everything anyway)."

[leftstreet]

4. Sen. Inhofe R-OK spills the beans in this Tulsa radio interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlQVHT95M2Q

[BelgianMadCow]

6. I didn't know it was confirmed this clearly. Thanks!

300-something views of a radiostation clip - feels just like the admission "WMD were the one reason we could all get behind" to start a war, in Cigar Afficionado by Paul Wolfowitz if memory serves...

[malaise]

5. It was the biggest robbery in history

but from what what I'm reading both China and Germany were on to them faster than white on rice. So how much did Paulsen have to give them?

[BelgianMadCow]

9. A very, no I mean VERY important question

The details of where the money goes do not have to be disclosed and aid to foreign entities is allowed, so the preconditions are fulfilled.

What are you reading? I am still trying to grasp it all and try to keep some perspective. See my journal for some thoughts on the chinese.

There is a new world order in the making, we do live in interesting times.

My terribly realist economist brother said 2 things over the WE:
If the world decides to stop supporting the US debt, they will shown to be bankrupt as they are.
BUT they still have by far the largest military.

[thecrow]

7. 700 million bailout?

I thought it was $700 BILLION.....?

[BelgianMadCow]

11. My Bad! You're right of course, 700 Billion

who talks about millions these days.

The numbers finally got to me :crazy:

Thanks, will try to edit...

[FraDon]

17. • I thought it was $840 Billion !

Didn't the Senate sweeten it with another $140 Billion after the House first voted down the original $700? • Do you remember how ecstatic the folks in the arrow manufacturing sector were? • What's another $140 Billion among friends?

[Joanne98]

8. MIHOP It's the second time this happened. Remember the S&L crisis?

Bush 41! The Bush family is just STEALING AGAIN! This time it's more!

[BelgianMadCow]

13. Well I'm too young (must go to bed now ;-)) for the S&L crisis

I only read about it here.

BFEE hell yeah

[UpInArms]

15. here's a good link on a part of the S&L bailout crap

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFD61F3EF936A25753C1A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Don Adam was Neil Bush's subsequent employer after he bankrupted Silverado Savings and Loan.

The day after the Silverado story broke, Poppy invaded Iraq the first time - guess how long the Silverado story stayed front page?

:eyes:

[HamdenRice]

10. "unknown to most"-- I think you mean unknown to most who don't or won't use Google

If you are willing to use Google, you can account for almost all of it. And, btw, most of it is short term purchases of commercial paper and credit facilities with the central banks of Europe and Asia -- all of which is at least scheduled to be paid back, and therefore is not an expenditure, but a socialization of the financial sector.

[BelgianMadCow]

12. I know it isn't hidden, just below most people's radars

Who knows they should google "TARP"?

So the US gets credit facilities and buys commercial paper, and in turn lends / gives to corporations. I am not doubting the US is scheduled to pay back these credits. But will the corporations pay back the US government or will the taxpayer be left holding the debt?

I don't understand what you mean with socialization of the financial sector - or more accurately, how that follows from the mechanics you explained.

A true socialization would be nationalizing banks, as in owning them, getting equity. To some extent, this has happened indeed and I welcome that.

I think I have seen you argue against panic and black/white caracterisations of the bailout - and I welcome that too - but my feeling stays the same. Cui bono?

[Pharaoh]

14. Yes Well David Icke

was saying this all along..............but I know he's batshit crazy :eyes:

http://www.consciousmedianetwork.com/members/dicke5.htm

[judasdisney]

16. K & R

[illuminaughty]

18. Flame? I don't think so.

MIHOP...absolutely. The Great Bank Robbery. With the banks doing the robbing.

[TexasObserver]

19. The Shock Doctrine is simply a catchy new name for an old practice.

Very, very old practice.

It's certainly getting a lot play these days, but the term merely describes the way the powerful have retained power throughout human history. They herd the public through fear.

[BelgianMadCow]

21. For those of us with the correct historical perspective, I guess it's that evident

sadly, history was the one course I disliked way back when. So for me much of the historical examples were rather new.

Herding the public (to accomplish political-economical goals) through fear = terrorism...

Bush*co took this form of terrorism to a whole new level I'd say. Less blatant maybe than Nazism, but not smaller in scale.

[TexasObserver]

22. I love history and have for many years.

I hated it until I joined the military in 1968. After getting sent to Southeast Asia, I got the history bug. I wanted to understand the history of Asia, of the US, and of the world's wars. I ended up getting a degree in History after getting out of the military. If I thought I could have gotten a job teaching History, I'd have stuck with it, but I didn't, so headed to law school.

I only wanted to point out that the themes of manipulating humans by the powerful are recurring ones. They create a bogey man and use it to herd the masses.

[BelgianMadCow]

23. I hear you

the history bug that bit you after your Southeast-asian service bit me too, when Bush stole office in 2000. It really was something of an awakening - I could NOT understand what happened, so you start to ask questions - which is the start of it all :-)

Who said the only thing you need to coax a people (herd the herd) into submission is a common enemy - and if you don't have one, you create it? I thought Goebbels, but can't find the quote...

[seemslikeadream]

20. WHAT YOU SAID

[BelgianMadCow]

25. what you read n/t

[lonestarnot]

24. In November 2000, I didn't have a name for it, but I knew it was coming.

We were in for a fucking.

[Gin]

26. have any new regulations been put in place since the bailout?

[lonestarnot]

27. Nope not that I am aware of, just bidness as usual, the "more theft agenda."