You want to know what's happening to the economy?

[Subdivisions]

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/">Denninger!

And, while you're there, http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/783-Obama-The-Market-Is-Issuing-You-A-WARNING.html">read this entry...EVERY FUCKING WORD OF IT!!!

We've been had and our new President may be either in on it or unwilling to do what needs to be done to fix it!

[varelse]

1. Thank you for the link

I've bookmarked his site for future reading :)

[Subdivisions]

2. I'm glad, but try to go back and read some of what's already there too... n/t

[CountAllVotes]

10. thanks for the links and info.!!

and, I couldn't agree more!!!

:dem: :kick: & recommend!!

[fascisthunter]

3. very poignant

problem is, too many fellow Democrats will become very defensive at the implication that their dear leader may not be as he's been promoted. In the end, actions matter more than just words. Hopefully he will get rid of the Friedman fanatics and replace them with people who aren't as purposefully blind.

[Subdivisions]

4. I don't care anymore! The Deniers can flame me at will.

He's NOT fixing things and he hired the same assholes that got us into this mess.

Anyone about to flame me for daring to criticize this President can go back and see that my support and admiration for this man is documented time and time again on this site. It's my DUTY as a citizen, just as with Bush, to call President Obama out when I feel he deserves it. And, by God, he deserves it!!!

WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE HERE!

BIG TROUBLE!

THE TIME FOR DENIAL IS OVER!!!

[fascisthunter]

6. I Hear Ya, Sir

I shouldn't even have mentioned that but instead just stated that this is very poignant and we really need to deal with this without blinders. There is way too much to lose...

You are what Obama asked for... he needs us to push him in the direction we want him to. Corporate America has corrupted the whole system and it's time the people rise up and put them in their place.

[Subdivisions]

7. Thank you. n/t

[TWiley]

13. what .... he hired the same assholes? When did he hire shrub and cheney?

Quote: He's NOT fixing things and he hired the same assholes that got us into this mess. End Quote

jesus h christ dude, get a grip on yourself. bush, cheney, and virtually his whole administration has been put out to pasture. those who caused this mess have been replaced.

instead of shouting stupidly, why not offer some fact?

[Selatius]

15. He's referring to Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers. Two Clinton-era hitters.

They're institutional players, especially with regards to bank deregulation.

[Subdivisions]

17. Yeah, TWiley is the stupid one. Not only was I talking about

Geithner and Summers, et. al., but Geithner is a fucking tax cheat and ex-Goldman Saks (think Henry Paulson) and ex head of the NY Fed (part of the cause of this mess), and Summers:

Italicized and bolded emphasis mine...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Summers

-snip-

Summers resigned as Harvard's president in the wake of controversy over a talk in which he speculated that women may have lesser aptitude for work in the highest levels of math and science. Summers has been criticized by some liberals for the centrist economic policies he advocated as Treasury Secretary and in later writings.

-snip-

Summers was on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan from 1982-1983. (Anyone see vision of Reaganomics?)

-snip-

Summers left Harvard in 1991 and served as Chief Economist for the World Bank until 1993. In December 1991, while at the World Bank, Summers signed a memo written by staff economist Lant Pritchett. The memo apparently argued that free trade would not necessarily benefit the environment in developing countries. An aside to the memo, leaked to the press, said that "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that . . . I've always thought that under-populated countries in Africa are vastly underpolluted. (Where do I even begin with this?...)

-snip-

In 1993 Summers was appointed Undersecretary for International Affairs and later in the United States Department of the Treasury under the Clinton administration. In 1995, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury under his long-time political mentor Robert Rubin (another cause of this mess!!!). In 1999, he succeeded Rubin as Secretary of the Treasury.

-snip-

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation.<8> Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets. (HOOOOOOLLLLLY FUCK!!!)

-snip-

Upon the death of his hero, libertarian economist Milton Friedman, Summers wrote an Op-Ed in The New York Times entitled "The Great Liberator" arguing that "any honest Democrat will admit that we are now all Friedmanites." Summers wrote that while Friedman made real contributions to monetary policy, his real contribution was "in convincing people of the importance of allowing free markets to operate." (THIS ENTIRE DOCTRINE IS AN EPIC FAIL!!!)

Henry Kissinger once said that Larry Summers should "be given a White House post in which he was charged with shooting down or fixing bad ideas." (Kiss of death!)

-snip-

In January 2009, as the Obama Administration tried to pass a fiscal stimulus bill, Oregon Democratic Representative Peter DeFazio criticized Summers, saying that he thought that President Obama is "ill-advised by Larry Summers. Larry Summers hates infrastructure." <25>. DeFazio, along with liberal economists including Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, has argued that more of the stimulus should be spent on infrastructure,<26> while Summers has supported tax cuts.

Relations between Summers, President Obama's top economic adviser, and former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker have also been strained recently, as Volcker has accused Summers of delaying the effort to organize a panel of outside economic advisers, and has cut Volcker out of White House meetings and has not shown interest in collaborating on policy solutions to the current economic crisis.

Summers has recently come under fire for accepting perks from Citigroup, including free rides on its corporate Jet last summer.<28> According to the Wall Street Journal, Larry Summers called Chris Dodd asking him to remove caps on executive pay at firms who have received stimulus money, including Citigroup.

(God fucking damn it!!!)

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. These are FACTS:

Robert Gates: Bush Admin.
Tim Geithner: Bush Administration, 2nd in command at Treasurey, protogee of Paulson at Treasure AND Goldman Sachs.
Our new SEC chief came from the SEC Division that was supposed to notice Madeoff and Stanford.

[Subdivisions]

19. Read my post #17 on Summers. And, thanks for those facts. n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

27. "those who caused this mess have been replaced". Not only Epic, but HISTORIC fail.

Blind Faith is nothing more than a name for a failed 80's rock band. It's NOT a philosophy for success.

Most of the people who got us into this mess weren't employed by the government at the time they practiced the greed that made them and their friends rich.

"virtually his whole administration has been put out to pasture". Virtually? Not ALL? Your post reminds me of Chuckie Schumer saying that the American public didn't "care" about the pork that was inserted into the "stimulus" package via amendments.

[burythehatchet]

69. you'll be here all week? should I try the veal?

[jpak]

29. Sniff - how I now long and pine for the Bush Years

:cry:

Years of plenty and freedom Freedom FREEDOM!!!!11111

:rofl:

[KakistocracyHater]

48. I read how they removed limits on leveraging

& tunneled under & around State regulations. How about municipalizing local banks? I don't want an "institution", I want something that local people group-own, & I don't want it to be purely for profit but I don't know if a non-profit finance entity exists except for 'Foundations'. Is it possible for Governors to do this? Or Mayors? Lots of the 'debt' is in interest alone-why destroy yourself for an abstraction on paper? I don't get why they haven't lowered the interst on this debt.

Also you can't throw hundreds of billions of dollars & euros at banks on a planetary scale & the banksters still use the $ to party-hardly the behavior of a bank in trouble. & now industrial production is being muffled & tamped down, also on a planetary scale. I think the Banksters intend on shutting down all democratic Nation/States, so they will be richest of all & so much better than all of us.

Anyone agree?

[Double T]

5. The current economic situation will not be resolved by those that have perpetrated it.

To believe differently is to be in total denial. Economic and political situations such as ours are only resolved through revolution. Great articles, thank you!

[leftchick]

22. we need more than a revolution

I am thinking Bastille Day revolts. Torches and pitchforks anyone?

[Subdivisions]

24. I'm with you. n/t

[leftchick]

25. this whole article is just fucking infuriating!

:banghead:


If you have an interest in having a successful Presidency (not to mention any chance of a second term or even a stable, sound America to be President of) you must immediately do all of the following:

* Revoke ALL of the so-called "23A Exemptions." Bernanke issued them, you need to direct him to revoke them. Safety and soundness of the banking system must come before any one firm or group of firms. There are literally hundreds of banks that are perfectly sound. There are also a bunch of big campaign contributing banks that are bankrupt and have been for the last eighteen months. Americans know this - the secret is out and its time to quit LYING.
* Send in the examiners. Yeah, I know, you're talking about "stress tests". Uh huh. Let's have those examinations now and forevermore in the future be public information. If a bank wants to operate under our laws and have the privilege of fractional reserve banking, they can open their books and examinations at all times to the public. Period.
* No more conduits, no more SIVs, no more games. If your "assets" are worth 20 cents on the dollar today that is their price. If that makes you insolvent then you are - period. We have an FDIC and we have the authority to "cram down" failed institutions for a reason. Use it.
* Send in the cops. The actions of major institutions up and down the line since this crisis began in mid 2007 and in the years leading up to it is at best grossly negligent and at worst felonious. We the people are done with being the patsies of a handful of thieves and frauds enabled by the 535 crooks in our Capitol. STOP IT NOW and start jailing the crooks or be judged as one of the felons. Your choice.

We are approaching yet another market implosion just like the one in September and October.

While it may come today or tomorrow, I wouldn't take that bet. In fact I expect that people will "rejoice" that you didn't wipe every common stockholder's equity stake in firms like Citibank, Bank America and Goldman Sachs - even though you should. Because I expected you to do the wrong thing, I actually bought some Citibank stock a short while ago. Were you to do the right thing my position would be worthless. It should be worthless. I'll bet its not - at least not immediately (and that I'll make a profit as a consequence of your idiocy.)

[Double T]

43. I'll take a dozen of each; pitchforks and torches. My catapult kit should be here next week.

Start gathering large field stones so we can get started.

[Coyote_Bandit]

8. I'm not sure which is worse

the economy or the utter waste of tax dollars band-aid effort to fix it.

I voted for Obama because he was the better of the two alternatives. I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Hasn't happened yet.

[TWiley]

9. I think your comment about "our new President" is barking mad.

However, there is a huge crisis brewing in the 401k industry. I recently rolled over an old 401k to my brokerage, and I did not get a detailed statement from them even after I requested one several times. All I got was the amount of the check which I would have known anyway.

I was expecting a statement that showed beginning balance, shares sold at what price, ending balance, minus fees. I got jack shit from them. It looks like they knicked me for 5% as well.

[Celebration]

11. he's not "in" on it.........

He's just too timid, and he is too willing to listen to his "experts." Mainly, though, he is risk averse himself. Really fixing this problem will involve quite a bit of risk taking, and unfortunately, that is not his style.

[bahrbearian]

12. He must be complacent then.

[SammyWinstonJack]

23. !

:thumbsup:

[Celebration]

28. I don't think that's the right word for it

He's more of an "incrementalist". I think he has way more knowledge about how the economy works than he gives himself credit for. When he ran, he never expected these problems. He doesn't want a truly "kick butt" approach for the economy because he doesn't know how it will end. Frankly, I don't either. But it is worth the risk to find out. I would have picked an entirely different economic team than he did, but I think the differences have to do with style. However, I don't think he is in on it, and I don't think he is complacent. He is just not making the choices I would make.

[natrat]

40. please, that rahm emanuel is a turd of the highest degree-they all know what's up

[No.23]

55. An excellent observation,

Someone who wants to be seen as a uniter (AKA bipartisan), and talks like one... may really be reflecting a personal aversion to taking significant risks.

A most excellent observation indeed.

If I'm afraid of confronting you because of the perceived risks involved, I just may make a strong effort to befriend you to avoid those risks.

How long have you had your shingle?

[Runcible Spoon]

14. Very scary but prophetic stuff.

And yes the deniers will flame you...but it's worth it to get these pieces out there.

[Subdivisions]

18. So far, so good on the flaming. All anyone has to do is WAKE UP!

We've been had.

[Runcible Spoon]

21. We took a LOT of heat when we were apalled at the neoliberal slant of the economic team

And yeah, what do we get? Posts with pics of LARRY FUCKING SUMMERS and ohhh how magnificent and happy he looks up there with Obama! :puke:

Have people forgotten that this pig was busted at Harvard for blatant sexism? :shrug: I had to write a few looooooooong ass posts explaining why his belief that women are inherently inferior to men in certain fields is totally relevant to his socially Darwinistic economic philisophy.

[leftchick]

20. he is fucking complicit

no one twisted his arm to hire all of the same criminals involved in this fucking mess to "solve" it. Summers? Rubin? Geitner? I knew this would happen. :argh:


<snip>

You continue to pretend that these firms "need some help" and "need a backstop." Increasingly it is becoming clear to market observers such as Nouriel Roubini, FT's Wolf, myself and others that the fact is that these firms are and have been bankrupt and you are conspiring with others to intentionally deceive the public by refusing to demand that regulators and examiners to go in, do their jobs, and report the true capital levels of these companies - an act that would result in their immediate seizure by the FDIC.

You believe you can pull the wool over Americans' eyes with your new "TARP II" and "TALF" programs. The truth is that you intend to use Treasury and Fed credit to allow hedge funds to make obscene profits while essentially all risk of loss is born by the taxpayer, shifting off these bankrupt firm's liabilities TO US while the executives and firms continue to operate!

This is yet another outrage and is nothing more than an attempt to shift the liabilities of BANKRUPT institutions that have become insolvent by their own hand and acts to The American Taxpayer.

Now let me explain what is almost certain to happen if you are foolish enough to let Taxcheat Timmy pull this garbage.

See, these assets really are trash. Yeah, right now they are kicking off cash flow. For now. But they're impaired and while their coupon will pay for a while they will ultimately default on their face value and recovery is pennies (and in the case of synthetics, zero) when they do.

[Thickasabrick]

26. Bwahahahah....."Taxcheat Timmah!" eom

[ozu]

30. excellent post

The system needs to deleverage and that's never going to happen if we keep pretending these institutions are solvent.

Geithner, Rubin, and all the other institutional crooks should be jailed.

[AdHocSolver]

31. Reality Check! Obama is trying to move a mountain with a teaspoon.

You wrote:

"We've been had and our new President may be either in on it or unwilling to do what needs to be done to fix it!"

You are wrong on both counts. Obama is NOT "in on it". Bush, Cheney, and many Republican Congress critters were "in on it".

Obama is NOT "unwilling to do what needs to be done to fix it!". He is UNABLE to do what needs to be done fast enough to satisfy the likes of you.

Real power in the U.S. is wielded by only a few hundred people. Many of these people are unknown to the general public. Of the people with real power who are known to the public, we do not know them from those in power in the public eye who are merely lackeys of the real power brokers.

Reagan was a front man. George W. Bush was a front man. It is unclear whether Dick Cheney was a "front" man or a real power broker, but I suspect he was a front man, as well. I would suspect that some real power brokers attended Dick Cheney's secret meeting on energy policy. That is why it was so secret.

The real power brokers had enough of leadership like Bush and Cheney. Those two were killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. The unending Iraq war (which was becoming more and more unpopular), and the scams leading to a freefall in the U.S. economy were too much for them. When "maverick" McCain picked "maverick" Palin to be his running mate, that guaranteed that the real powers would prefer any Democrat for the presidency.

However, that does not mean that the real powers are going to allow Obama to implement all of the policies he promoted during the campaign. If you are realistic, you will see that many of Obama's choices were made for him by the powers that be. If you don't understand that, then you understand nothing.

I am sure that Obama's heart is in the right place. He is a pragmatist and will try to get as much as he can for the people. However, Obama is not working in a vacuum. The powers that gave us Bush and Cheney are still very much in control. Stop vilifying Obama for actions and decisions that are, in reality, beyond his control. Of all those who were running, he is the best President we could get.

[Karenina]

32. Thank You!

:applause:

[Subdivisions]

33. Oh, here we go, an NWO conspiracist. n/t

[Thickasabrick]

35. Ok...so does President Obama know who the real control people

are? Why wouldn't something like this come out? I've always had a theory that when they created the Fed at that clandestine island meeting that those were the people that controlled everything....not a silly elected official.

[Baikonour]

53. You mean the meeting on Jekyll Island.

The men that met on that island called themselves the Jekyll Island Club. It included JP Morgan, Nelson Aldrich, Paul Warburg and others.

Read Edward Griffin's "The Creature From Jekyll Island" for the whole story. Or just watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYZM58dulPE

[natrat]

42. um so the government implodes soon and the hedge funds get fat and we just shrug? fuck that

[BelgianMadCow]

34. Please o please DU minds riddle me this

If I read the piece by Denninger (and other posts of his, as they seem equally worthwhile) correctly, the end result is a huge inflation of the amount of money in the system. (my triggers were set off, on DU, years ago when the M3 number was no longer published. DU is so often ahead of the curve. At times off the track, too ;-))

Consequently, the money you have sitting in an account, or the wage you earn, buys you less and less goods.

On the other hand, it is by now obvious that the only situation we can refer to, is the great Depression. It does feel out there as if the self-reinforcing deflationary cycle has started. In such a cycle, money sitting in an account (or under a bed) is worth more and more as each day passes, since the prices decrease to lure unwilling consumers. Which is an additional reason for people not to spend it, hence the self-fulfilling prophecy of this cycle.

For over a year now, I have been in doubt to either spend savings now that they still BUY something, or to sit on them as their value will increase.

Maybe both things are true, or maybe gonna happen at different times, or maybe are true for different parts of the economy or the world (for example the US going into hyperinflation with a total dollar crash, and the rest of the world going into deflation).
For example, goods we DON'T really need such as cars and hometheatres and the like, could be deflating while essential goods like food will be either deflating but no longer accessible (who cares what "the price" is if there is no stock) or will see heavy inflation.

Which leads me to believe, if I want "wants" I should wait as long as possible (which is, forever, really ;-)), but the things I need I should get (or the means to get them) ASAP.

Please share your ideas, I and probably many DUers would benefit from them.

regards
bmc

on edit: as an afterthought - the fact that ultimately the consumer throws the keg in the machine, is sad as it has a negative impact on the standard of living. But I can't help it, I am rejoicing at the fact that CONSUMERS stop CONSUMING so blindly. A DU post about "the century of the self" and Friedman consumerism was an eye-opener.

[slipslidingaway]

41. Interesting thoughts/questions and I do not have the answers....

but these are things we should be thinking about, in trying to avoid deflation will we cause a period of hyper-inflation???

The great bond market crash of 2009 (Asia Times)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=401160&mesg_id=401160


Schiff was right in 2006 about the housing collapse leading to the economic collapse, let's hope he is wrong this time.

Peter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to "Unmitigated Disaster"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cRsP7_90go

[Thickasabrick]

36. Who are the "Deniers"? eom

[Subdivisions]

37. If you have to ask, you haven't been paying attention. Besides,

it's against DU rules to call anyone out. Which is a good thing too, cause there's a few from the 911 Dungeon I'd like to call out.

[leftchick]

38. truth hurts

K&R!

[Subdivisions]

39. KICKING. Denninger has made a video. They're usually worth

watching for the economic/financial knowledge and understanding he imparts, if not for his politics, which is usually refreshingly trans-partisan, though he leans decidedly to the right.

Edited: Ok, I've just watched the video and for some DUers it's probably not going to go over too well. He's actually read the plan the the Obama Administration has put forth and he claims that Santelli has also. Essentially, the plan does not require a test to determine which bad mortgages were originally affordable to the borrower or whether or not the loaner and the borrower engaged in fraudulent loan practices. He also states that there were indeed people who borrowed beyond their means and are now being targeted for relief from the Obama plan. This is essentially the reason for Santelli's now infamous rant where he calls for his Chicago Tea Party revolt. Funny thing too about that. Seems the Chicago Tea Party rant http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5102005&mesg_id=5102005">was planned six months ago.

[slipslidingaway]

44. Agree that the video will not go over well with DUers...

and I do believe he went too far in a few areas. That being said he does point out the difference in regulated and unregulated derivatives and the fact that there are people who bought during the height of the speculation.

I do think that Gibbs was hoping people do not know the difference or maybe he does not know, which I find hard to believe.

People hear derivatives helped cause the housing crisis, Santelli is a derivatives trader (though not OTC, but it sounds good to those who do not know) and helped create the mess and does not want homeowners to be helped. You are left believing that he was for the bank bailout.

I surely do not remember Santelli being in favor of the bank bailout, if anything I would say he opposed it, but that is not the impression one is left with when listening to Gibbs.

Some people can afford to refinance and stay in their homes, others might be better off not having the large debt hanging over their heads for years to come and starting fresh.

[Subdivisions]

47. Also what he is saying is that those people who DID take out loans

knowing they didn't qualify are guilty of fraud as well as the loan officers who enabled the loans and that they should be tried and jailed for committing that fraud.

I'm actually quite surprised that this post isn't engulfed in flames. Says to me that, even if DUers may not agree with Denninger and Santelli on who's at fault, namely those who bought houses they knew they couldn't afford, they are witholding their vitriol.

[slipslidingaway]

58. Yes some people are guilty of fraud, there is some truth and

misinformation on both sides of this story.


Single-payer HC anyone

:shrug:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/20/gibbs-v-santelli-he-shoul_n_168645.html

"But the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgage, stay in their jobs, pay their bills to send their kids to school, and to hope that they don't get sick or somebody they care for gets sick that sends them into bankruptcy. I think we left a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader, that it was good for main street. I think the verdict is in on that."

[Cowpunk]

45. Why isn't that guy on CNBC?

He's friggin' hysterical!

I just watched the video at the site to which you linked. He sure did bitchslap Gibbs, not to mention all those diabolical Walmart cashiers with their Escalades and Hummers.

[GeorgeGist]

46. Yes I do ...

profit is consuming it, like cancer consumes it's host; unless the cancer is killed first.

If President Obama was a medical doctor he'd be roundly condemned as a quack for trying to save the cancer.

[readmoreoften]

49. Link doesn't work now.

[Subdivisions]

50. NEW LINKS:

http://market-ticker.org/archives/783-Obama-The-Market-Is-Issuing-You-A-WARNING.html

http://market-ticker.org/

[Political Heretic]

52. He's wrong about the stimulus bill - I don't know about the other stuff.

The stimulus bill is not "pork and BS." That's a dismissive generalization for a bill that triples federal spending on education, a progressives dream.

Here's how the Coalition on Human Needs breaks down the final version of the stimulus bill. Go sourcewatch Coaltion on Human needs - they are a wonderful organization:

http://chn.org/pdf/2009/ConfEconRecoveryChart21709.pdf

I disagree strongly with characterizing that as "pork" or calling the bill BS. The things listed there represent the largest and most progressive spending bill of my life time. Perhaps it could have been more, I don't know, but I'm pretty thrilled with what's coming.

As for the rest of it - I really don't know. I have some concerns about Obama and how he will handle the economy, but I'm not sure they are the same concerns that this guy has.

[Political Heretic]

51. 404 not found

[Subdivisions]

54. NEW LINKS:

http://market-ticker.org/archives/783-Obama-The-Market-Is-Issuing-You-A-WARNING.html

http://market-ticker.org/

[Baikonour]

56. "He's not fixing things!"

It's been one fucking month. Relax.

[Subdivisions]

57. READ MY FINGERTIPS...

HE HIRED THE SAME CRIMINALS THAT CREATED THIS MESS TO PRESIDE OVER "FIXING" IT!

[slipslidingaway]

59. Senator Dorgan and Senator Harkin speaking on Geithner confirmation

Harkin

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=8922441

"...Unfortunately, on another point, Mr. Geithner has been equally unwilling to accept responsibility with regard to his role in the current financial meltdown. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mr. Geithner was a key regulator of the large, mostly New York-based financial institutions that have been at the center of this meltdown. Their reckless practices--reckless practices--have brought America's financial system to its knees, pitching our economy into what could be the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression..."


Dorgan

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=8922449

"...I stood here on the floor of the Senate 10 years ago and said: Mark my words, within a decade, we are going to see massive taxpayer bailouts if we pass that bill. I have no pride in being right. But I said at the same time, if you want to gamble, go to Las Vegas....


....I have to say--and I have told the President this--that I worry some folks coming into this town now were part of the chorus supporting all of that deregulation in what was called modernization--the Financial Modernization Act and a couple of other pieces of legislation that occurred thereafter. So I am going to watch like a hawk the folks who show up around here who were part of the supporters back in 1999 who have taken apart the protections that had existed since the Great Depression. I am going to watch this like a hawk.

We have to fix this, but you can't fix it by tightening a few bolts here and there. We need financial reform. We need to ask basic questions: Was it ever in the public interest to begin securitizing everything and passing risk up the line and allowing the most unbelievable mortgages to be written--no documentation of income, you don't have to pay any principal at first or you don't have to pay interest for 12 months. All this sort of thing. And by the way, if you have a bankruptcy in your background,
come to us, we want to give you a loan. If you are slow in paying, have bad credit, or a bankruptcy, come to us, we will give you a loan. That is the way it was advertised. Unbelievable.

This was a carnival of greed that has now toppled the financial structure of this country..."

[Subdivisions]

60. THANK YOU! Some people just don't get it!!! n/t

[slipslidingaway]

62. My pleasure :) n/t

[Myrina]

68. I wish I could K&R your post!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[SlowDownFast]

63. Amen, bro. Thanks for speaking Truth to Power.

It's really pretty easy to understand.

[SlowDownFast]

61. Big K&R. n/t

[SOS]

64. The Bear Stearns rescue was the work of Bernanke

Bear was not eligible to back their dump truck up to the Fed window because they were an investment bank.
Paulson wanted to let his former rival fail, as he later did with Lehman.
Bernanke made the decision to bail out Bear through JP Morgan.

Does the author really think that Geithner had the power to halt this chain of events?

[lib2DaBone]

65. Summer of Hell.. 2009

From what I can gather.. this summer is going to be very bad. (TSHTF) The shit is going to hit the fan.

Working class and middle class people are fed up.. no more patience for Bankster/Gangsters.

The Republicans will spin, Fox News will spin, Rush will spin and Hannity will wave the flag until it is tattered.... but people are not buying it anymore...

Even the Fundies will be hard pressed to make their case once the SHTF.

[deaniac21]

66. I couldn't agree more.

[SlowDownFast]

67. Kick.

250pts down on the Dow today.

More to come.