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TechnoratiGoldman Sachs Socialism
Wall Street put a gun to the head of the politicians and said, Give us the money--right now--or take the blame for whatever follows. The audacity of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout proposal is reflected in what it refuses to say: no explanations of how the bailout will work, no demands on the bankers in exchange for the public's money. The Treasury's opaque, three-page summary of plan includes this chilling statement:
"Section 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." In other words, no lawsuits allowed by aggrieved investors or American taxpayers. No complaints later from ignorant pols who didn't know what they voted for. Take it or leave it, suckers.
Both political parties may submit to this extortion because they don't have a clue what else to do and bending over for Wall Street instruction, their usual posture, seems less risky than taking responsibility. Paulson and Bernanke evoked intimidating pressure for two reasons. The previous efforts to restore investor confidence had all failed as their slapdash interventions worsened the global panic. Besides, the Federal Reserve was running out of money. Nearly three-fifths of the Fed's $800 billion portfolio is now loaded down with junk--the mortgage securities and other rotten assets it took off Wall Street balance sheets. The imperious central bank is fast approaching its own historic disgrace--potentially as discredited as it was after the 1929 crash.
Despite its size, the gargantuan bailout is still designed for the narrow purpose of relieving the major banks and investment houses of their grief, then hoping this restores regular order to economic life. There are lots of reasons to think it may fail. The big boys are acting, as usual, in self-interested ways since the government allows them to do so. Washington's money might pull firms back from the brink--at least the leaders of the Wall Street Club--but that does not guarantee the banks will resume normal lending, much less capital investing. The financial guys may well hunker down, scavenge the wreckage for cheap profits and wait for the real economy to get well. Likewise, global investors--China, Japan and other major creditors--have been burned and may step back from pumping more capital in the wobbly house of US finance.
Secrecy and opacity are crucial to achieve Wall Street's purposes. It could allow Paulson to overpay his old pals for near-worthless assets and slyly recapitalize the damaged banks while telling public and politicians the money is to save the system. To achieve this, Wall Street needs to keep control of the process whoever is elected president (the Wall Street Journal recommends John Thain, ex-chief of the New York Stock Exchange to succeed Paulson). Not everyone will be saved, of course, but high on the list of endangered nameplates is Goldman Sachs, Paulson's old firm. The high-flying investment house looks doomed by these events. The Fed quickly agreed to convert Goldman and Morgan Stanley into banks. Think of Paulson's solution as Goldman Sachs socialism.
The most hopeful comment I heard from an astute economist was by Nouriel Roubini of NYU, who has been darkly prescient during this crisis. The bailout should help, he told the Times. "The recession train has left the station, but it's going to be 18 months, instead of five years," he said. Hope he's right, but voters are unlikely to regard this as fair return on their $700 billion. The bandits will be back in business and partying, while the victims are still gasping for air.
If Paulson's gamble fails--just as possible--then maybe government will finally undertake forceful intervention rather than friendly solicitude for Wall Street. Washington should literally take control of the banking and finance sector and employ its emergency powers to oversee and direct these private, profit-making enterprises. If any bankers do not wish to play, cut them off from any public assistance (and wish them good luck). Then government can exercise temporary supervisory powers that force banking to cooperate with economic recovery by sustaining lending and investment to the real economy. Washington can put profit on hold.
Order full stop to the many financial gimmicks and accounting illusions that led to inflated lending and falsified asset valuations. Unwind the complicated time bombs known as credit derivatives and shut down this lucrative line of business. Meanwhile, instead of throwing millions of homeowners and debtors out of their homes and into bankruptcy, hold them harmless temporarily so people can work out reasonable terms for recovery. Finally, force-feed new life into the real economy with government spending on public projects and capital formation. How much spending? Rescuing America from irresponsible Wall Street is worth whatever it costs to save the bloodied bankers.
81 Comments so far
Show AllLet's all stop paying our mortgages, stock up on canned goods and ammunition then say " BRING IT ON!!!!"
I stand with Ralph Nadar and ask, "Why bailout at all? What is the bailout for? It doesn't remotely help those small homeowners whose homes arebeing fzoreclosed. It's pure and simple an economic 9/11 and the hoi polloi's (Bush, McCain, Obama, Pelosi, Rubin, Gramm et al) are asking to swallow the same nonsense they feed us during the original 9/11 charade when we were told we had to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
We musn'tsd a.low ourselves tobe herded again into another ill-thoughtout, snap decision b ased on fear and panic.
I say No bailout unless thebailout directly provides relief to those whose homes have been foreclosed, to those who have lost their jobs to offshore NAFTA agreements.
In the real world, if Main Street conducted its economic business in the same caeless, crooked, illegal way that Wall Street and its Washingtron insider lackeys have done we would have to file for bankrupcy with no relief and would probably be doing a lot of hard time in prison. Obama and McCain both voted to limit what Main Street folks could do in regard to claiming bankruptcy and tort cases against big corporations. Let them both likewise vote to do the same to big corporations. Instead of limiting how mjuch money the big CEO's are personally going to realize form this economic 9/11 bailout, Congress, Bush, Obama, McCain should be saying they are going to see to it that a whole parcel of these CEO's should also expect to do hard time whether the bailout happens or not.
The correct solution is to relieve Wall Street of its mortgages – the negative equity inciting panic behavior – and let this be the only “bailout” they receive. They are demanding to be paid in full for mortgages they cannot carry in order to recapitalize themselves with public funding. We should give them nothing and put out the mortgage fires as they occur. The economic meltdown will not occur, instead the economy will purge itself of useless financial parasites.
Hear! Hear!
Alan MacDonald
During the Great Depression, FDR "saved capitalism from itself" ---- once is enough!
FDR "saved capitalism from itself" because he didn't know any better. He did not know that capitalism has a flaw so big that it can not be saved unless it is fundamentally changed --- just as a cancer patient can not be saved unless the cancer can be fundamentally changed, so that its 'destructive' (as opposed to constructive) growth stops.
FDR should not feel too bad about not realizing the penultimate 'flaw' in capitalism (that can pervert its growth destructively instead of constructively), because it was also not known by Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, or many others ---- but it was recently understood by Wall Street.
The deadly flaw of capitalism (or its 'market failure', as modern economists say) is "negative externalization of costs".
Wall Street fully understood this fatal 'market failure' of capitalism --- and instead of avoiding it, Wall Street 'gamed' this known market failure for its gain and our loss.
The proof that Wall Street fully understood the catastrophic potential of this 'market failure' of 'negative externality' cost displacement is contained in the following February 2007 article about deep research by three Wall Street CORPORATIONS; Citi, Lehman, UBS:
http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2237.html
The following paragraphs of the article make it very clear that these Wall Street pros fully knew that the 'market failure' of negative externalization costs was massive, widespread, potentially catastrophic to society and the markets ---- and yet they choose to keep on playing (and even expanding) their own destructive, but profitable 'game'.
"The UBS and Lehman Brothers reports concur that climate change represents a classic market failure where company valuations neglect to take into account negative externalizations--in this case, predominantly the emission of carbon dioxide CO2, the primary greenhouse gas (GHG)."
"Therefore, free markets underestimate the future costs to society that would arise if the climate experienced a drastic transformation: a result which many scientists now predict will happen if there is no change to influence free market outcomes," it continues."
"If climate change, one of the most studied environmental phenomena, represents a market failure, one can only wonder to what degree the legion of lesser-studied environmental and social externalities are not being priced into corporate valuations."
These corporations (and others on the financial side of the 'corporatist Empire' that controls our global political economy behind the facade of their two-party 'Vichy' government) knowingly decided to do what CORPORATIONS ALWAYS DO when faced with any decision about societal vs. private issues of right and wrong, profit and loss ---- they 'gamed' the system in favor of private (corporate) gain and public loss!
Now this entire "financial crisis" that Bush, Paulson, McCain, Obama, Dodd, and everyone else in our two-party 'Vichy' charade of a government is yelling and rushing to 'bailout' is caused by nothing other than the modern financial extension of the dirty olf trick of 'gaming' the market failure of 'negative externalization' from the industrial level --- and "taking their game one level up" to the financial Ponzi crooks.
I explained how it works and would inevitably lead to a collapse in this Jan 2008 Alternet post to a great Chalmers Johnson article on 'Empire' --- which BTW is the singualr malovent actor against democracy in all of this:
http://www.alternet.org/story/74620/
"Mirroring the cheating of industrial corporations which used the well known
market failure of negative externality cost displacement to dump pollutants
like cigarette smoke in their customers' lungs, these new financial cheaters expanded the negative externality dumping scam to include the more sophisticated financial negative externalities of CDOs, SIVs, credit swaps, and other 'debt bombs' which they dumped in our country's financial lungs."
In summary, we are not just facing a 'financial crisis' requiring a 'bailout' --- what we are facing is one word: Empire.
A 'corporatist financial Empire' now controls all of the economic sphere of our indivisible political economy (our whole society, if you will), and that Empire that same Empire already controls the two-party 'Vichy' facade of crooked politicians --- but now the Empire is frantically trying to expand its control to 'lockdown' control of the political sphere because they are scared shitless that the American people will use the last vestages of our 'voting rights' to overthrow their Empire and install 'democracy' throughout our indivisible political economy --- as the original genius of the American Revolution intended democracy to prevail over BOTH the political and economic spheres of self-governance when they kicked out the political AND economic tyranny of the British EMPIRE.
This is not about 'bailout' --- it's about democracy vs. Empire
Brilliantly put, amacd. We can either have empire or we can have democracy. We can't have both. So far, we're investing in absolutely nothing but empire. Meanwhile, we have Blackwater and its clones standing by in case we have any big ideas about democracy.
keep going, amacd! But I would like to add that this particular incidence (bailout) of defense of empire probably falls under the specific subset "cover up of massive bribery, influence peddling, insider trading, etc, etc " on a bipartisan basis which is why you won't see either side UNcovering it.
Just in case any one here is interested in a authentic progressive view:
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=613&Itemid=1
If they continue the practices that got them in this mess, then how could they not fail? The question is if they aren't taking measures to correct course, why are we throwing vast amounts of money their way?
AMERICA IS SO SCREWED UP. It doesn't even follow its own rules when it comes to banking. I can't see it ever being fixed again after this.
This is theft. Even the President blamed the people not the companies giving the money away.
What a stunt by McCain. Figured he really wasn't up to debating anyway. Hell yes, let Nader take his place and we'll see something worth watching.
The End times disaster capitalism model is not quite right though--because government isn't destroyed to reemerge like the phoenix into some Milton Friedman fairytale with a happy ending- instead Government's role remains intact, but altered and the citizenry only exist to serve the corporate ruling class.
For deeper analysis and commentary read www.financialsense.com
For example: http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/2008/0923.html
Enough talk about corporate socialism, I'm glad some people are calling it what it really is "fascism."
The bailout: Just Say No.
Under Bush leadership, Rice was 'caught offguard' back in 2001.
Under Bush leadership, Powell was played back in 2002.
Under Bush leadership, Gonzales .....you get the drift.
Under Bush leadership, Paulson would like to join the roles.
And go down in history as warning us 'the tax payer is already on the hook'.
I can't wait to vote Nader/Gonzales
wild ;)
DON'T even think about cashing in your instruments.....hold em till they are worth more.
hold on for the bailout crusaders!
wild ;)
Long Live the International Socialist Revolution!!
FREE AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY
Section 8 was a sacrificial pawn within a sacrificial pawn. The issue isn't Section 8, and it isn't a bailout. It's about putting this administration out to pasture. And Congress is either too corrupt (most likely) or to easily co-opted/extorted and so it falls into the administration's framing trap.
When the Army starts firing on Americans in American Streets, all of America will erupt in revolution. If Congress approves this bailout it will spark the fuse to revolution. Congress would be well advised to place the bailout on hold and return home to face the people.
Bullshit. When the army starts firing on bankers, the revolution begins.
Er... (In)Conveniently the Army are away, busying themselves distributing Pentagon largess to any who'll take it.
They'll be back, and they'll be irritated. Let's just make sure the wedge is drawn at the correct point. The Jane Fondas and others whose job is to create a wedge between veterans and progressive movements can go home.
Every disaster this disgusting criminal administration creates, TWO things happen. First, some Bush/Cheney crony gets filthy rich exploiting it. Second, some precedent is set somewhere for the curtailment of our freedoms, the violation of some aspect of our constitutional rights. Every time. Even Katrina, even 9-11. We're beyond impeachment now. People need to be mounting the gallows, on national television as far as I'm concerned.
Go here and sign this asap - to all outraged
http://sanders.senate.gov/petitions/?petition=Financial_Crisis_1
Alan MacDonald
Greider is precisely right that this is about more than just a financial 'bailout' ---- this is about the corporatist financial Empire putting a gun to the head of the thin facade of democracy that remains in our once proud country.
The good news is that this empire using economic power to also absorb all political power in our indivisible political economy --- our society, is 'a bridge too far' and which the American people will not take laying down.
"Now is the Time" to restart and complete the American Revolution!!
In today’s Washington Post George Will quotes Rep. Barney Frank who said, "No one in a democracy, unelected, should have $800 billion to spend as he sees fit. . . . That's not the way to run a democracy." ---- but then ‘economic royalist’ Will goes on to use the scare of socialism, communism, etc. to argue that democracy should prevail in only the 'political' sphere of our indivisible political economy, while economic Empire should rule the economic sphere.
This is NOT what the American Revolution taught about expunging the whole of the combined political AND economic tyranny of the British Empire --- and this overreaching ruling-elite 'corporate/financial Empire', which has now almost killed our democracy by hiding behind the facade of its two-party, 'Vichy' government, is going to rue the day it tried to attack "a bridge too far" ---- just as the Red Coats did at Concord!
The latest mass protests in Boston (and coming to NYC this week) against the Bush/Paulson “corporate financial Empire’s” demands on the people are lighting a fire that this empire will live to regret.
The news of mass protests from Boston is not a second Boston T(reasury) Party, but a continuation of the "outrage" against Empire that started the original Boston Tea Party!
This "outrage" in Boston is a new 'shot heard round the world' against a complete political economic empire (like the political AND economic British Empire) that allows a ruling-elite 'corporate/financial Empire' to metastasize from the economic realm and take-over the political realm.
We patriots need to now continue and culminate the American Revolution, that allows America's world-changing concept of 'democracy' to freely spread from the political realm to the whole of our indivisible political economy.
'Free market democracy' is a myth --- a lie that never existed and was made up by the ruling-elite's 'corporatist Empire' to make their economic take-over of our waning political democracy sound more friendly than the truthful term; 'fascism'.
What we're facing is a far bigger battle than just the fleecing of this supposed 'bailout'.
What we are facing is the final showdown between the economic empire of ruling-elite financial royalists against the very concept of America's most innovative contribution to the world: democracy --- vs. the chance, with our courage, to finally complete the American Revolution against the rule of empire in all aspects of our lives and liberty.
Today we have the opportunity of finally achieving the successful completion of the American Revolution; where the triumph of real democracy, rather than empire, in how men govern themselves, addresses the inexorably combined power of our indivisible political economy.
The good news of this epic crisis is that the real American innovation of democracy will finally (after 232 years) be applied to both the realms of political and economic self-governance, rather than only to the political sphere --- because empire, left alone in the economic sphere, has been perverting and trying to overthrow democracy since 1776.
This is not a choice between 'free market democracy' (which is only a PR lie told by the 'corporatist Empire' behind the facade of their two-party 'Vichy' government) and the scare term of 'socialism' --- but rather the long-delayed, final battle of the American Revolution, between democratic self-governance in the unified political economy of our country, or an economic empire of their corporatist/fascist elite metastasizing from the economic realm to the political realm and the whole of our society.
The continuation of the American Revolution in Boston and New York this week is being started 'by the people' not by the governors, senators, fake president and others beholding to the Corporatist Empire --- just as the original American Revolution was stated 'by the people' in Boston, Lexington, and Concord, and NOT by King George's appointed governors and 'political tools' in the colonies.
Economic Empire will always subsume and destroy the indivisible political economy of any people if empire is expunged only from the political sphere and allowed to fester and grow like a cancer spreading from the economic sphere of a hidden royalist ruling-elite.
As Professor Rick Wolff of the University of Massachusetts notes: “The egalitarian… society envisioned by social democracy (across the indivisible spectrum of BOTH political and economic self-governance) cannot be secured so long as it leaves in place a group of people with incentives and means to prevent that.”
That's why the American Revolutionary army drove the economic royalists all the way out of our country --- and kicked their asses from Castine Maine to St. Andrews!!!
No traitors, loyal to economic empire, can be allowed to stay in any nation that wants full democracy and self-governance ‘by the people’ over their indivisible political economic life blood and society.
Our founding fathers well knew in their genius of democracy that only democracy must prevail throughout their lives, society, and nation. That’s why corporations operating through the British Empire, like the British East India CORORATION were so hated and excised beginning at the Boston Tea Party.
You know, the more I read this post, the more I like it.
Though realizing that the oligarchy's unlimited resources makes it possible, it is still somewhat amazing to see how easily they are able to manipulate even progressives.
The oligarchy has managed to make us blame corporate entities for all our woes instead of blaming those who own corpoations and banks. They've managed to deflect blame and distract us from the real perps, the oligarchs and their system that is bleeding us to death.
Progs have so come to hate corporations that the solution, incorporating We the People, giving equal shares of non-transferable stock in and dividends from lease or sale of our public treasure to every American citizen is viewed with suspicion, dismissed and ignored.
We are nationalizing corporations but not receiving any benefits from it. We are allowing the perps to make the rules and keep everything instead of making the rules ourselves direct democratically and profiting from it.
And after members of Congress called for the president to act like a President and go before the American people and tell them what this 700 billion bailout would accomplish, and to reassure them, what does he do? Scares the hell out of them with dire predictions of all the things that will happen in their lives if the bill isn't passed, including the banks with their money in them collapsing.
If people aren't already lining up at the ATMs, and hit the banks first thing in the morning to pull their money out, it'll be miracle.
.
http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/09/24/postponed/
Statement from Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Bob Barr on McCain's Call to Delay Debates:
The fact that a candidate can call for changing the date of the debate only two days before it is scheduled indicates how easy it would be for the candidates to also call for the inclusion of the leading third party and independent candidates, which would bring fresh ideas to the table on how our country can truly tackle this heavy challenge.
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Nader should volunteer to take his place, noting that Ralph has learned how to multi-task.
Joe
It's a shame that only the Republicans and Democrats can allow the 3rd parties into the debates these days. These debates were meaningless anyway before Mccain even went into postponing mode given that there were no 3rd parties to include. I guess 1992 really did scare the establishment big time.
.
http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/09/24/stunt/
NADER CALLS MCCAIN'S MOVE TO POSTPONE DEBATE 'POLITICAL STUNT;' SAYS MCCAIN TO BLAME FOR FINANCIAL CRISIS
Senator John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign and participation in the first presidential debate is pure and simple showboating. The Washington DC bailout by Bush and his Congressional allies of the Wall Street crooks and speculators is not dependent on Senator McCain's return to Washington.
He has been an advocate of the deregulation that caused this debacle and offers nothing significant to address it. However, tens of millions of Americans depended on Senator McCain to show up at Friday's debate in Old Mississippi.
They expected him to do so and have arranged their plans to watch him interact with Barack Obama. By turning his back on at least 50 million American voters anticipating Friday's debate, he has dishonored his commitment and undermined the respect which he hoped the American people would accord him during his presidential campaign.
I urge him to restore his honor and self-respect by ending this political stunt and maturely fulfilling his commitment on the presidential debate stage this Friday.
Should he choose to maintain his present, impulsive course and leave an empty chair on the stage, I would be most pleased to take his place as the number three Presidential candidate in the race.
.
.
I’ll say it again…
We needed Ralph Nader as President in 2000.
We needed Ralph Nader as President in 2004.
We NEED Ralph Nader as President in 2008.
Never before as we do now
http://www.votenader.org/index.html
.
You voted for Nader in 2000 and got Bush.
You voted for Nader in 2004 and got Bush.
You're gonna vote for Nader in 2008 and get McBush.
You don't learn from experience.
ctrl-z September 25th, 2008 1:36 am
"You voted for Nader in 2000 and got Bush."
Bush cheated in 2000 and the Democrats did nothing.
"You voted for Nader in 2004 and got Bush."
Bush cheated in 2004 and the Democrats did nothing
"You're gonna vote for Nader in 2008 and get McBush."
McBush may well cheat in 2008 and the Democrats will do nothing.
"You don't learn from experience."
The Democrats are the ones that don't learn
Lobo Gris
Lobo Gris
While I think that Nader voters have not learned that protest votes just help the worst candidate, I've got to grant you that the Dems have twice failed to act on the theft of the Presidential election through fraud.
Nicely done.
ctrl-z:
I object to characterization of a vote for Nader as a "protest vote" - I voted for the guy because he was the best candidate.
Although the claim that Nader cost Gore in '00 is pretty silly, no one really claims he cost Kerry in '04; too many people, cowed by those claims re '00, chickened out in '04, and he threatened Kerry nowhere that I know of.
To me the purpose of voting is to elect someone. Voting for a candidate who has no chance of being elected isn't an attempt to get someone elected, it's using your vote to register a protest.
.
‘I would rather vote for what I want ... and not get it,
than vote for what I don’t want ... and get it.’
Eugene Debs
.
That's a good quote but is it good enough to carry you through four years of a McCain presidency?
US state supported corporate terrorism at work.
Wall Street put a gun to the head of the politicians and said, Give us the money--right now--or take the blame for whatever follows. The audacity of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's bailout proposal is reflected in what it refuses to say: no explanations of how the bailout will work, no demands on the bankers in exchange for the public's money. The Treasury's opaque, three-page summary of the plan includes this chilling statement:
"Section 8. Review. Under the sterling and cunning leadership of Secretary Paulson, all $700,000,000,000 will be stolen by a select few individuals whose names are contained in a list currently locked in the man-sized safe in the office of Vice President Cheesedick Cheney. The VP's name is first on the list and failure to give him his cut will result in your slow, violent, bloody death. So no matter how much you may be tempted, don't try to pull a fast one or you'll wind up in some back alley with a meat stamp on you. All those getting a cut must attend a mandatory workshop given by Henry Kissinger and Jack Abramoff on how to launder your cut and make it disappear offshore. Failure to attend this workshop will result in your slow, violent and bloody death. As soon as the screwheads in the congress pass the bill and the president signs it (Cheney is cutting Bush out but don't tell anyone else) you can start buying all the castles and luxury cars you want. REMEMBER: what you have makes you who you are and soon you will all be living, breathing gods.
I wish the people who write these articles would get this right. This is not "Goldman Sachs Socialism". This is Fascism.
There is No Social Good whatsover. A Corporation is NOT a Social being.
This scheme has been planned for a long time by the fascist-corporate right wing think tanks. What do you think they do all day, day after day? They scheme, plan and devise ways to enrich and keep their corporate overlords in power. This is their job. Is it a coincidence that all this just happened to coicide with the last month of Republican rule? The vampires are draining the lifeblood out of the country because they know and fear that soon hispanics, blacks, immigrants, etc. will outnumber them and they're gonna suck the country dry before it happens. So what that some poor whites get hurt in the process, they're just collateral damage. The object is to wipe out and totally decimate the poor non-whites before they become too powerful.
us army martial law units comming 1 oct. 2008.
you asked for it and you got the govt. you deserve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYxTzDFofZQ
spinwing
Doesn't anyone see the similarity with this "Section 8" and the authority given to J. Paul Bremmer, as proconsul in Iraq. What did the Bushies do, just cut and paste the 'rules of engagement?" Merde.
kw
you could not get this rip-off passed in any European country, people would revolt on the streets, but in mind-washed US it all seems possible. First they cash in on your dreams, cheating you into loans they know will never be paid, cashing in huge bonuses and then they go at the money you have left. This is a gigantic criminal scheme. Paulson is trying to bail out his amigos, nothing else and he pretends to pursue the interests of the American citizens.
Just FYI, from the CounterPunch website:
When Ralph Blew the Whistle
Will Nader's Warning be Acknowledged in the Presidential Debates?
By STEVE CONN
There was a time when a good citizen, who blew the whistle on an impending crime, or a crime in progress, would get a bit of public praise and recognition, perhaps, a picture in the paper or an interview, a handshake from a public official, and a chance to say why he or she had seen a crime coming which others had missed and had been impelled to speak out.
Last July 2nd, in Counterpunch, Ralph Nader described a robbery about to happen and blew the whistle. In “Economic Domino Theory, Greed without Accountability,” Nader warned readers that Americans were about to be robbed of the future value of their dollars by financial institutions, corporations, both unregulated and out of control. Here is an excerpt:
For more go to http://www.counterpunch.org/conn09242008.html
Thanx! Great link!
And we will hang em high,,,,, Run MFers!
Coffeelover,,,,,,,,,,
taxpayers should not buy the toxic waste of these co's. if any co. wants to participate in the bailout that is sure to come then the taxpayers should aquire an ownership aspect of the co. and the bad deals remain on their books. if the capitalisation turns the co. around then the taxpayers would share in the profits. otherwise the co.s will not sell the toxic waste bellow market value and there is no reason for us to bail them out. the current offer has no upshot for taxpayers, but will our elected officials let down their corporate constituents?
Siouxrose, you are getting kookier every day. seems you have delegated yourself as post mediator/judge/cheerleader as well. i think you need a larger audience...about the size of rush limbaugh's. perhaps, then, i could listen to the astrological phases while i am at work. both pontificators would occupy the same relevance in my life.
There are some posters here that I always make a point of reading. Siouxrose is one of them. I enjoy the heart in her pieces. On the other hand, I don't recall ever seeing you here before. Do you always post under lastdregs?
Truth in advertising I would say.....I ,too, am a fan of Rose's posts.....
We see things, not as they are, but as we are.
Anais Nin
Souixrose is a thoughtfu and thinking poster. Sure, she may have some ideas others may not comprehend, but don't we all at some point? As far as making commentary about other's posts, she has always been complimentary, at least from what I have seen.
Keep it up Souixrose. You put your soul into your posts and you write very well!
Ditto
Let us now consider what the real intent of the Bush proposal of putting social security funds into the stock market has been all along. One must concede that this proposed 700 billion dollar bailout is a proposed transaction that would be almost an equivalency to putting some of the social security money into the stock market. The rationale given for putting the social security money into the market was to "save" social security and that it was in the best interests of social security. The rationale for putting the 700 billion of the bailout money effectively into the stock market is to prevent the stock markets from an economic collapse which could be on the scale of a deep rececession or even reach the level of a depression.
So, might we conclude that the real reason that an attempt to put social security money into the stock market was to prevent the stock markets from an economic collapse which could be on the scale of a deep rececession or even reach the level of a depression?
Another thing to consider now is how is the republican strategy of cutting taxes further going to help alleviate this crisis? Obviously, that strategy makes even less sense now than it ever did.
I would like to see Paulson or Bernacke asked these questions. If you read this and have any political contacts that might be able to "get er done", please send them an email on this.
I would like to see Paulson and Bernacke either: 1. Hung up by their testicles or
2. relieved of their millions and forced to live on 25,000 per year the rest of their miserable lives.
In order to hang someone by their testicles, they must first possess a pair. Scrath item one. Relieved of their millions and forced to live on 25k per year. That would be ok, but since these guys hate any kind of welfare (except corporate that benefits them) they may not receive food stamps or medicaid health insurance. Let them learn that without these programs, they will learn, as many Americans already know, what a pinched gut feels like at night when there is no food to put on the table.
McCain has suspended his campaign. Bush speaks to the nation tonight. This is how coups look in their early stages. This is how bourgeois democracies die. Prepare to resist. Talk before the internet goes down.
Sioux Rose
Mercury is the planet that represents communications, deals, and mercantilism. Three times a year it enters a very tricky retrograde phase, and one began last night. Astrologers have watched the synchronicity between the big cosmic equation and events here on earth for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. Retrograde Mercury decisions are never complete, they require endless revisions. I had a client come to me and her husband was scheduled for a surgery that was to prevent a condition in his brain from getting worse. I begged her to change the date, but she/he did not. The man went into a coma and died. I could give lots of examples, but in terms of applying the influence of this retrograde Mercury to any agreement congress now makes... it will NOT solve the problem, and you can bet this is only the beginning of trickle UP economics, and the trickle is the last drops left in the public spicket. It is absolutely outrageous that those that played fast and loose are to be covered for losses but those they stole from at the onset. Can you imagine how the world views these events? Probably see it as just karma to US citizens for allowing Bush the serial killer to have gotten away with murder all this time.
For multiple generations, Wall Street has waged Class War on working and middleclass Americans, and more recently on the whole world. Now it comes demanding to be bailedout by the very people it's waged this protracted war against. The People MUST answewr very firmly--NO WAY. The concentration of financial and political power in Wall Street is unraveling, and the opportunity exists to decentralize and democratize the whole financial system, from banks to insurers. We citizens for once enjoy leverage as this crisis is so close to elections. This leverage MUST be used to defeat ANY bailout--not one penny for Wall Street. Its comuppance time as they MUST endure bankruptcy procedings, which will likely unveil their criminal manipulations of the financial markets that created this crisis in the first place.
And remember that Wall Street and Big War are one and the same. It's time for both to die.
its ok, they can just print much, much more Reichsmarks, um, i meant to say dollars
http://www.VoteNoBailOut.org
actually September 24th, 2008 2:58 pm
Thanks for the link. Doubt it will do any good, especially with my Repub senator, but wrote my own message and sent it anyway.
Lobo Gris
Maybe the Treasury can use this blank check to finance the end-game of the corporatist (fascist) coup in progress. Paulson is a thug, and this talk of "one man at the helm" is too creepy to believe. This is the most massive swindle in history, and it must be stopped.
Thank you William Greider. Straight and to the point. No wavering. No capitulation.
The answer is NO! We need to adopt this as our mantra and repeat it loudly... often... and for as long as it takes. Do NOT gamble your future on the lies of those who worship at the alter of corporate greed. They will suck you dry and then turn to your children. They are sociopathic monsters.
We are at a democratic America tipping point.
And now we hear that Warren Buffet has bought into Goldman Sachs for $5bn -- a very clever move and Buffet is no fool. With Goldman Sachs' Paulson to be in full gov't control of the whole banking financial system to invest $5bn in a risk free gov't supported private bank is a better bet than in the low interest Treasury Bonds. Look how Halliburton's profits went up with their man as Vice-President. And also, any possible FBI investigation of the GS bank will be quickly quashed. Great business in this time of "save-yourself" banking; the Gov't will allways save the winners.
.
Just to add a few more tidbits:
- GS is one of the major contributors to both McCain and Obama's campaigns
- Rubin, who, as Tres. Sec. under Clinton was a major proponent of financial deregulation including the repeal of Glass-Steagall, is a major economic advisor to Obama, and is also out of Goldman.
- Buffett jumped in almost immediatly after it became publicly known GS was being allowed to reinvent itself (what did he know and when did he know it?)
- GS stocks bumped up 2 hours BEFORE Buffett went public raising eyebrows as to ?insider trading (who was the insider?)
I do believe both parties are in this up to their hemorrhoids and this "bipartisan" solution to "our" problem is a bipartisan cover-up for bribery and corruption on a massive scale.
"...If Paulson's gamble fails--just as possible--then maybe government will finally undertake forceful intervention rather than friendly solicitude for Wall Street..."
- I'm not sure in what sense Greider means that Paulson's gamble might "fail." He might mean that Paulson gets the $700 billion, but that the bailout fails to help the economy. Or he might mean that Paulson might not get the $700 billion.
In either case, there's zero chance that "government will finally undertake forceful intervention rather than friendly solicitude for Wall Street." In fact, there is zero chance of Congress not giving Paulson 99% of what he's demanding. To give themselves political cover, they may stick a toothless provision on it that superficially pretends to protect the interests of taxpayers, & perhaps of some at-risk homeowners. But we can be reasonably certain that both parties will fully capitulate to Paulson's extortion, without any serious resistance. This is the only possible outcome, when there are only 2 parties -- and both are wholly subservient to Wall Street.
This capitulation will be a watershed event in US history, fully on a par with the Supreme Court's appointing Bush president in 2000; & with the invasion of Iraq. There will be no turning back, once this step is taken -- and it's going to be taken, within the next few days.
Don't yanks shoot back when a robber says 'your money or your life?'
Whatever happened to the 'home of the brave?'
mr greider is the man
mui simpatico
but, like many Americans he does not seem to see the dark approach of fascism in America
read naiomi wolf’s article on palin here on cd to get a taste of that thread
americans have not followed any of the economic terrorism that has been brought against them over the last 20 years – by people like paulson,- goldman’s 500 million dollar man – and others
the public has not followed the ever growing and ever more murderous incursions from the military into country after country, year after year
the public let bushco get away with 9/11
it’s the old nazi terror creep all over again
maybe when they are looking out of the bars of the fema prisons they will get a better clue
paulson is an economic terrorist – he should be thrown in jail for this fascist bullshit he is propagating with himself cast as the new emperor
the american public is so stupid
here's a newsflash - paulson couldn't give one sweet shit about you
iamagine how much he hates you when he pulls a stunt like this
it is cynicism to the max
as rove said: we - the gop - create reality and the liberals spend their time trying to figure out what we have done - meanwhile we go on to a new reality
and we know how much contempt he has for you all
cheers, b
sierra7
Folks, we have to remember our history; Carter got the ball rolling to de-regulate the airline and trucking industry (accomplishing two things, setting up of the crushing of organized labor in both); Reagan escalated the deal exponentially with the Air Traffic Controllers (England also joined the club by crushing the coal miners after a year long strike).
De-regulation continued thru the banking disaster of the early '90s....the signing of the dismantling of the Glass/Steagal Act put in place for just the reasons we are seeing the results of now (separation of financial from savings banks) by President Clinton on the advice of just the same crooks that are in charge of the economic advice to both candidates for president...namely Robert Rubin, Phil Gramm (and his also infamous wife, Elaine Chao), Larry Summers, Hank Paulson and others of the "Chicago School of Economics who dismantled Russia and gave rise to the kleptocracy there).....Clinton essentially gave away to Wall Street the around $2 Trillion surplus we had....and the result was the .com bubble segueing into the housing one and of course the mess today.
Both parties are to blame.....All the present occupiers of our government who have not been elected in the last round should be booted out; those that were elected should just resign.
We are in big trouble.....but it is our politicians, and a "distracted by fear" public that are to blame......let alone the criminal administration we have at present.
Good points, but I would say there is no "approach" of fascism. It's already here. The U.S. military is being readied to start patrolling the streets of U.S. cities starting on October 1st. ("The Army Times")
Can you give more specifics please? Thanks.
Joe
Army Times reference, please.
Army Times website, September 8, 2008/ INFOWARS, Sept. 24, 'o8, article by Paul Joseph Watson
bryanD--You need to read Greider's Who Will Tell The People to understand he fully and early saw the creep of fascism, and his other works are all about trying to educate average joes and janes about things the Propaganda and Indoctrination Systems don't want people to know.
karlof1: point taken - i will check that out
cheers, b
That sure goes to show that there's no fucking honor code on Wall $treet no matter how they try to claim otherwise. If you're not prepared on the day of the test, then just fail and learn. Don't cheat !
By the way, why isn't the author calling for Obama to drop his Goldman Sachs's hacks and connections? Fine article and all but don't expect Obama to be taken seriously either.