Good Morning Elliot.

I was playing the Wall Street Station on Friday evening and although there was a huge collective sigh of relief, it doesn’t take a street musician to know that this is far from over.

I watched Naomi Klein of “Real Time” and she was quite right that this is a disaster capitalist’s wet dream.

Good Morning Elliot -

Tuesday The Woodward One will be here for Book Salon

wow! that is incredible. it speaks volumes of the work accomplished behind the curtain here at the Lake – that the cocktail weenie King his own self deigns to grace us with his presence.

Bravo All !

Mornin’, Elliott -

Well, isn’t this just super preachy keen……..big gumment going after p*rno preacher. Just what the doctor ordered to further gin up the fundies: “They’re out to get us!!!!!!!!! Vote palin/mccain to SOP (save our preachers).”

Since tin foil is never out of fashion, wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t start scheduling him later Monday. :-(

Good morning everyone! Will Kevin Hassett talk this morning on C-SPAN John McCain & Phil Gramm’s role in America’s financial collapse?

Bah hahahahahahahaha! Who the hell am I fooling?

Buenos dias, or something like that.

Well I sure hope there’s call for the sigh of relief but I’m not so sure. And the more I hear about this AIG bailout, the more I think Bush gets to call the tune once again and the rest of us will be payin’ the piper.

The PBS segment on To The Contrary regarding Sarah Palin’s charging rape victims for their forensic exams is DYNAMITE!

Speaking of Lionel, here’s an excerpt of my appearance on his radio call-in radio program Thursday.

Hassert just admitted to Pedro that he is “Not an expert on financial regulation”.

So, why is he there speaking to it?

Does ANYONE in the McCain campaign know shit from shinola?

I’ve been writing my questions out all ready, cbl. Want to make sure I’m properly polite and all.

Waccamaw, what porno preacher are you talking about?

ET, you are up early, another interview?

We should be talking about this, not Sarah Palin.

It’s a clusterfuck. This is working out perfectly for the Bushies’ plan to create a permanent underclass. And the Dems are all falling in line obediently.

I’ve been looking around the left blogosphere. Glennzilla has weighed in, as well as Krugman and Josh Marshall.

We should be trying to stop this. Everyone needs to quit obsessing about Sarah Palin.

I finally watched the Bill Moyers show last night and I was really pissed that the guy he had on last (can’t remember his name) Blamed this whole thing on deregulation on Bill Clinton. Did not even ention Phil Gramms part in the whole mess and Bill didn’t ask him about it. I was really disappointed. I can’t watch the crap on TV talking heads today. too darned depressing and a bunch of bull. That is my take on this, we are now led like sheep. Sickening.

Does ANYONE in the McCain campaign know shit from shinola?

No. This has been another installment of short answers…

Does ANYONE in the McCain campaign know shit from shinola?

no

here’s your coke.

Jeez, Hassett’s spewing it, isn’t he?

Irish National Radio – just finished up their noon program. It is NOT noon here, though…

and the guys putting the fire out shouldn’t be the ones who started it. Let’s get Stiglitz and Krugman up there, for starters.

We should be trying to stop this. Everyone needs to quit obsessing about Sarah Palin.

Couldn’t gree more, but I live in Wasilla, Alaska, so it is impossible to get away from that.

We’re hosting Sidney Blumenthal’s son, Max, who is investigating the witch hunting Kenyan preacher whose rituals might be controlling Palin’s thoughts and deeds.

Keven Phillips’s released a book about the financial crisis months ago. His comments about the Clinton administration and deregulation and bail outs were correct. That is not to say that his tax structure and job plans were excellent. He did say that the Bush policies were far worse than anyone before him.

One out in Arkansas, iirc. CNN’s been running it, seems like every five minutes. That’s all we’ll hear about for the next three weeks…..convenient, huh? :-(

You are up late!

Mornin’ ET,

would love to hear Blumenthal elaborate on Land and Dobson’s involvement in the “vetting process”

A little shameless rumormongering with breakfast? Someone sent Yves Smith an e-mail that says:

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that, behind closed doors, Paulson describes the plan differently. He explicitly says that it will buy assets at above market prices (although he still claims that they are undervalued) because the holders won’t sell at market prices. Anna Eshoo pressed him on how the government can compel the holders to sell, and he basically dodged the question. I think that’s because he didn’t want to admit that the government would just keep offering more and more.

Yves gives the underscore:

[T]his program is going to swing into action with the clear but not honestly disclosed intent of buying assets at above market prices when future markets and the analysts with the best track records on forecasting this decline […] believe it has considerably further to fall.

My emph. Those with memories of what seems like past lives might recall that back in the spring, Ben issued a couple of calls for those holding mortgages to begin the process of marking them down and taking the losses; one such call was on Bear Stearns Friday in a speech to community lenders, as I recall. If no one seems to have heard this then (I heard the jabberers on cnbc laughing at the very idea) it might be because they figured good ol’ Hank would craft something for them.

Great news!

What an interesting house guest.
Uncanny how you were positioned for the Palin story, ET, really lucky for US to have you there.

has anyone read Pravda lately?

Max Blumenthal is so interesting. Second weekend in a row we’re feeding Outside reporters our Copper River Sockeye salmon.

I can see why you have an interest in Palin, and I find that story entertaining too. Who wouldn’t? But it’s counterproductive– it’s not helping the Dems win because most people love her and they don’t care about seemingly minor scandals like Troopergate.

People all over the world love her because she’s a Miss Congeniality-style tomboyish beauty queen. You should have seen the puff piece on her at the BBC News website. People are only going to rally around her and attacking her only makes it worse.

We should be focusing on how stupid and phony McCain is and how the Republics are ripping off working people.

before the show, i said i hope Sullivan let’s the talk (i thought krugman was going to be on the panel). Didn’t think he would. Maher should stop having him or have him on the video link. him.

The Times of London did a puff piece? That’s why i asked about Pravda. It had a piece on her too.

http://english.pravda.ru/opini…..lindevil-0

Except they werer attached to another large spending bill and the Repugs controlled the congress and house.

HENRY PAULSON. Then Sen. Chris Dodd

I am hoping some of the authors here at the lake can get in touch with dodd, he really needs to read ians post on how the buyout must be regulated

will get the best link and post back

While you’re serving the meal, why don’t you mention that if palin has her way, there ain’t gonna *be* any of them left? Don’t know whether that’s true or not, but it sounds like a good “line”. *g*

Couldn’t agree more on McCain. Couldn’t agree less with you on Palin, though.

In eleven days, national polling on her has gone from having her plus seventeen (+52 / -35) to minus eight (+40 / -48). That’s nationwide. Perhaps more than any other element in McCain’s campaign, she has the potential of bringing the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Your right. I do think that he was harder on the democrats because he expected more of them. Like us all!

People all over the world love her because she’s a Miss Congeniality-style tomboyish beauty queen.

If they’re equally as stoopid as a large number of ‘Muricans’, they’re going to “love” WWIII even more.

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09…..ust-banks/

that dodd needs to be armed with, and this from ian

No one has any oversight over him, and he can pay any price he wants to, including face amount of the debt.
Courts cannot review his decisions, not can any regulators. He has to report to Congress once every six months.

is it possible for the lake to get that ammo out to the progressive guests?

mucho importante

One of the stations I play at is at Rector Street, around the corner from the AMEX. Commuter traffic through there is 1/3 of what it was just two years ago. There are literally more tourists than commuters. There have been 14,000 layoffs south of Worth Street since January, and these jobs were the highest paying in the State.

The collective sigh of relief on Friday was merely an appreciation that they actually made it through the week without a complete meltdown.

On another note from the “It doesn’t take a street musician” files, I notice that no one seems to have thought of adding a freeze on foreclosures to this bailout when they stopped the short selling.

I was saying in August of 07 that the seed corn was gone…

Reisz,

Ted Stevens’ trial jury selection begins monday in DC. The Alaska bloggers are getting ready to feed every image we have of her sitting or standing next to Ted during their short June-July love fest. She was a couple days away from endorsing Stevens when he was indicted.

Just now seeing Obama Econ Adviser Eugene Sperling on CSpan -

has he answered any questions about Paulson’s proposalEdict ?!?!?

Scary, isn’t it? This guy is employed by the biggest Bank Industry deregulator and he knows zippo about the topic? Wow! What the hell kind of brainwashing classes do the neocons give those around them? They must use torture techniques to get their cohorts to lie without blinking and to forget any facts they might know about McCain or anyone else in the Good Ole Boys Network?

see my 29. the Russians aren’t exactly enamored.

Exactly Beerfart Liberal. The world doesn’t like the idea of a republican being back in the White House after 8 years of insanity & having to rear up like a spider to protect themselves, so I highly doubt the world is fooled by Palin’s looks by thinking she is just, pure, and good.

Here’s what one Canadian woman thinks of Sarah Palin:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story…..llick.html

Is it going to stop at 700 billion dollars or is that just the starting point?

Too bad for the good guys she *didn’t* do it but pictures will work quite nicely, thank you very much, given the gnat attention span of most people in this country coupled with an emphasis on visuals. :-)

ET -

Do you see any way this stevens business is going someplace in a hurry? When are they gonna scream that the trial should be suspended simply because the election is coming up? That always works well for republics; interestingly, never dems. And how easy is it to buy off jurors in your neck of the woods?

The more I hear about this bailout, the seems like Dems are getting rolled again.

Well, considering the 1980’s S&L scandals cost taxpayers over a trillion dollars, I’m sure we’re going to have to invent a new word for what comes after a trillion:

http://www.inthe80s.com/sandl.shtml

Maybe a “bazillion” dollars?

Her polls have dropped after the honeymoon ended but I’m pretty sure they’re going to level off now. Meanwhile she’s served her purpose– we’re talking about her instead of the issues. That’s exactly what the Republics want.

Obviously we Dems should be talking about issues, not personality. If the election turns on personality we’re going to lose, trust me.

I believe it’s “quadrillion”.

Thank you. Email the taxpayers please! ;-)

Designed so you don’t have to choose!!

Actually in the proposal leaked last night, the $700B would be the size of the fund to the Treasury, but if they sell off some of their purchases, a thought that really makes me growl thinking about the old Milken junk bond parking scams, then they can make new purchases of the equivalent amount.

IIRC, the net taxpayer cost of the S&L crisis was around $125 billion. The real time estimates were $400 billion, but the govt held onto some assets long enough to sell them at a profit.

In the current case, considering the leverage and derivatives, many of the so-called assets are probably completely worthless.

Read Attaturk’s take on this

Moving right along with what DeDurkheim said below, the fact is that what Bush wants is a $700 billion blank check.

1. He’s gotten those before, and look how that has worked out?

2. This will be the last straw before Congress becomes the Senate under the Caesars.

3. There is NO WAY the following group of individuals should NOT be punished for their malfeasance and allowed to have their stupid, if not criminal, decisions with your money, be saved by well, your money …more

haven’t turned my tv on in months. but i’m going to in a few minutes – no democracy now! on a sunday morning, and i want to hear what paulson, dodd and frank are going to say.

this is going to take extra coffee. and maybe even some chocolate.

will this bailout “unclog” the markets?

Meanwhile she’s served her purpose– we’re talking about her instead of the issues.

ding!

exactly. been freaking me out a bit, but ian was all over the issues yesterday, and hopefully that is just the begining.

oh definitely chocolate time, selise,

Which would probably be considered a trillion dollars today. At any rate, George Bush has made sure his cronies don’t have to foot the bill. Makes you wonder if these Savings & Loan scandals are just a technique the right wingers use to raise taxes without actually saying it? ;-)

You may even need this.

Stevens’ lawyers first screamed to hurry the trial. Then, when the Feds laid out their cards in discovery, Ted’s team blanched. Since then, they’ve tried to have his trial delayed or set aside. No luck. It begins Monday, and will make national headlines.

Obama’s surrogates need to be all over this, as soon as jury selection (in DC, not Alaska, Waccamaw) is over and the trial itself begins – probably in nine days.

OT…

Folks here know that for a little over a year I’ve been experimenting with Cardiofeedback, beta testing the Heart Tuner Gizmo. Learning Heart Wave Coherence in this way, as opposed to meditation and other exercises, is going to present wonderful opportunities for humanity, as well as challenges to the current paradigm.

For example, what happens to Religion in the world when an interactive video game can teach just about anyone how to locate their Eternal selves?

Click my name and scroll a bit for the latest.

Have any of the reality based overnight Posts addressed the issue of succession ???

based on what appears to be the dictatorial nature of Paulson’s plan, is it airtight ? can it be undone by an Obama White House ?

this is going to take extra coffee. and maybe even some chocolateBaileys. :D

No way for someone outside the inner circle to know that.

But there’s also no reason to give Paulson a blank check.

I have a Q. Treas Sec has complete discretion. Has to report 2X a year. What happens when the admin changes in 4 months? Paulson keeps the power? Next Treas Sec gets it? Paulson does not have to write a report because he was in charge for less than 6 months? Etc etc.

The package as proposed by W is a disaster, as commenters here are on top of. It might fool financial markets though. Only way to tell is tuning into CNBC tomorrow morning to see if they pick up on the lack of accountability.

Another Pravda Palin...http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/14-09-2008/106355-sarahworthless-0

can it be undone by an Obama White House ?

i know i’m asking for trouble with this…. but i’m still asking if an Obama White House will want to.

*** massive disclaimers: this does not mean i don’t think Bushco is worse. it’s just that is a very low bar. ducking to get coffee and chocolate and see if my tv still works.

Are you saying we’re just a series of tubes? LOL

Let’s hope Pelosi & Reid stick to their guns:

http://afp.google.com/article/…..RSD58hSrIw

I hope after it’s all said and done, they send a bill to George Bush that regulates the players on Wall Street heavily and helps the middle class in this country only for George Bush to veto it prior to the election. This will send a clear message to Americans who the republic party is today (as if we couldn’t figure it out, but there are some who just can’t see what we see), especially when John McCain applauds Bush’s action.

OT: Judge orders Cheney to preserve records of administration.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Judge_orders_Cheney_to_preserve_records_0920.html

tv still works.

twolf1 – OMG. i do believe – there is a heaven.

cbl2 – no baileys in the house. i’m thinking maybe some of the chocolate chip whole wheat pancakes that i made a few months ago when inspired by folks here… i’m not sure i remember how i made them, but iirc, i posted the recipe i used.

Let’s hope Pelosi & Reid stick to their guns

That’ll be the day.

Morning all,
This clock is ticking on this bailout thingy. Once it happens I don’t think we will be allowed any buyers remorse. Need to see what Paulson says this am and then prepare to scream before it is to late. The hype machine is in full operation and is not even allowing for someone to step back and get a handle on what is being done to us. Seems like they have refined their tactics since they swept us into Iraq.

Just wonderin’…how much of the trillion dollars that is being given to the bankers will feed the poor? OOps..another stupid rhetorical question. Bankers will not pay any taxes on their free money..to unAmerican.

Oh, shoot! Forgot about the D. C. part of it. If that’s nine *business* days just to get the jury impaneled, that leaves less than a month for any spit to hit the fan. OTOH, sometimes late arriving spit does the most damage. Seems like the Dems can’t really start using it until *after* the trial is finished…………..countdown……………

It’s Ds job to cave. Greenwald sez it best.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/g…..index.html

prolly moot now,
think back to the shredder truck that sat outside his house — and there was that fire in his office
hmm was he burning records?

how reassuring.

we are so screwed.

gawd! You been poppin’ optimism pills this morning? *g*

Haven’t been this depressed about the U.S. ever, and that’s saying something as I’ve been plenty depressed over the past 8 years.

Don’t forget the war in Pakistan too.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that the Dem Leadership is on the same line as the Clintons:

http://www.news.com.au/heralds…..09,00.html

http://www.npr.org/blogs/polit…..palin.html

Praising Sarah Palin is the first clue! One thing Barack Obama has done unintentionally is expose the asses of our party. ;-)

When you see Hank Paulson’s lips move, remember he is speaking on behalf of David Rockefeller, the Master Of The Universe.

Paulson’s insistence on unlimited control is in fact made on behalf of David Rockefeller, KING DAVID, to be precise.

Stop ignoring the role of David Rockefeller. He’s the culprit.

Is anyone watching This Week. It does not start here until 11 but I know that it starts in some areas at nine. I’m curious what type of questions Steph.. will ask him.

LOL

What would it get us if the whole Democratic Party right now went after the Democratic Party? A McCain/Palin win! No thanks.

Someone said last night that Schumer said it was a good plan. Put me in a funk. Just found this quote which gives me more hope.

This is a good foundation of a plan that can stabilize markets quickly,” Schumer said in a statement released by his office. “But it includes no visible protection for taxpayers or for homeowners. We look forward to talking to Treasury to see what, if anything, they have in mind in these two areas.”

maybe time to think of putting pressure on the Ds instead of ignoring their bad acts so as to help get them elected? i know it’s a sucky choice no one wants to have to make. but the stakes are too high not to consider all options.

I could be confused however it seems there was a time in our history when the Tories collected money from the common people and dispersed it among the rich and King George and the common people refused to go along with such a stupid idea and took up arms against the idiot Tories and cast them into the Atlantic Ocean with the help of the French who still believe in democracy and such. Ahh….how we long for the good ol days.

Actually, my experiments are the equal and opposite of the CERN Collider. They are searching for the God Particle. I’m looking for the God Wave. Wish I had their funding. LOL!

The human heart emits a subtle electromagnetic field of under 200 millivolts per second. Although my experiments are still in their very early stages, it appears that this electromagnetic field is conscious. Whereas things like Transcendental Meditation use a repeated “mantra,” I simply listen to rhythmic music and watch my heart dance to the beat, right on the screen. When the song changes, my heart instantly adjusts to the new rhythm. In a short while, the Coherence just comes naturally.

Don’t forget the war in Pakistan too.

Check out this picture my neighbor showed me.
I can’t even imagine it.

me too. and i haven’t.

Not to mention that the deal w/ N Korea has collapsed

I’m late, I’m late, for this very important date, no time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.

Been running wild this morning before diving down the rabbit hole. Been distracted lately, so missed the Palin forensic exam piece. I have my own version of morning sickness going on the heels of that. WTF????

yeah, he vouched for Mukasey too

Then there’s this. All from Politico:

Later in the afternoon, Schumer, who is Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and sits on the banking committee in the Senate and had previously floated a plan where the federal government would boost capital stocks by purchasing equity instead of taking on debt, was somewhat more assertive. At a news conference, he said that steps must be taken to ensure that “taxpayers who gave the money will be put ahead of the stockholders, bondholders and others.’

Paul Krugman, the Princeton economist and liberal columnist for The New York Times who had until now been cautiously supportive of Paulson’s and Bernanke’s efforts to prop up the system, wrote that the new plan would be a taxpayer rip-off. “I hate to say this, but looking at the plan as leaked, I have to say no deal,” he wrote on his blog at 4:46 PM. “Not unless Treasury explains, very clearly, why this is supposed to work, other than through having taxpayers pay premium prices for lousy assets.”

How are the “outraged” Democrats in this country doing to oust Nancy Pelosi from her position by supporting Cindy Sheehan? Not many. Online I witnessed this outrage against Pelosi & Reid, but no one wants to change a damn thing.

One guy is outraged though:

http://www.opednews.com/articl…..0-359.html

Similarly, prosecutions of Wall Street CEOs are well indicated by present circumstances. In conclusion, I denounce and condemn this Wall Street bailout, and I am also taking this occasion to make a provisional and contingent endorsement of Cindy Sheehan for Congress. If Nancy Pelosi is “in on” promulgating this bailout, then Sheehan has my endorsement in her candidacy and campaign to unseat Nancy Pelosi in California’s 8th district (San Francisco).

Maybe some Democrats in our nation just like to bitch and moan and by fixing these things would give them nothing to bitch about? Could be. The republic party does the same thing. When given the chance to fix what they bitch about (liberals in general), they do nothing, because if they did, they would have nothing to bitch about!

;-)

Yes, DPRK had been W’s only foreign policy “success.” Haven’t heard Rice or the State Dep negotiator being about it by the MSM. Not holding my breath.

When I was performing at Wall Street on Friday, I was reminded of the Harry Chapin song, “Dance Band on the Titanic.”

Those were the days…

jpl, it hasn’t started here yet
we do have FOX now. (oh joy.)

dodd on abc:

the cause of this issue is bad lending practices.

we can’t just deal with the issue optically.

we have to do more than help paulson get rid of the toxic debt that is clogging up the system.

wtf – did i hear that correctly?

Secret Societies
Major Media Articles on Secret Societies of the Power Elite

Dear friends,

Below are riveting one-paragraph excerpts from 12 of the most revealing news articles on secret societies ever published in the major media.

http://www.wanttoknow.info/070219secretsocieties

JFK warned of them, and was shot for it.

Paulson is their mouthpiece today.

and torture.

Speaking of sheep…

True and I’ll work and vote this fall but if Dems cave on this financial business (on top of everything else) and I’m still alive four years from now, it may be the last time. Sorry to be do down but sunshine is in short supply these days.

I don’t get your point.

dodd:

talking about how startling the message was to congress. it’s not only the usa, it’s the world

wtf isn’t he asking if he’s being played?

……

boehner:

the most serious economic crisis the world has ever seen.

Let’s hope Pelosi & Reid stick to their guns:

WHAT GUNS?!

how fitting for this particular Sunday morning.

we have to do more than help paulson get rid of the toxic debt that is clogging up the system.

i don’t think we should be doing MORE – that implies that paulson get’s his blank check and dictatorial powers, and the dems just tack on a few things to distract us.

i think we should be doing something DIFFERENT.

but maybe i heard incorrectly?

Oh, I *miss* Chapin! Got to see him perform once (iirc, his son was with) and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended (being in the boonies doesn’t provide a lot of opportunity). *g*

YOU ARE DECEIVED! Nothing in our world today is as you think it is!

This ‘war on the middleclass’ is well documented!

Here is a direct quote from page 405 of David Rockefeller’s memoirs: “For more than a century, ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as “internationalists” and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure – one world, if you will. If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it”. -David Rockefeller.

At a Bilderberg conference in 1991 in Baden-Baden, Germany, David Rockefeller gloatingly said: “We’re grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the bright lights of publicity during those years. But the world is now more sophisticated and prepared to march towards a world government. The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.”

The reason you don’t hear about these things in the mainstream media is due to the ownership of the media is part of the ‘cabal’ and their suppression of the news is intentional.

New World Order And Christianity

Rockefeller told you exactly what he was going to do – and he’s done it.

But let’s not admit it, or discuss it.

i’m not waiting another four years. if the dems support more wars, a police state – and economic insanity? no way.

Here’s some sunshine for ya….

Harry Reid asked Barack Obama for some money recently and Barack said ‘no’:

http://www.politico.com/news/s…..13485.html

See? The only way to send a clear message to the Democratic Party is to not help them financially. Our money should be going to Barack & Moveon.org as far as I’m concerned.

When Fiorini said that presidents and vps couldn’t run a corporation she was speaking power to sheep especially DeeCee sheep

‘Tis. I have a vision of a rally somewhere featuring this very oratorio segment. In keeping with Dear Leader’s exhortation to transcend bipartisanship in these tough times (aaaaack — more morning sickness!), a choir, gathered on the Washington Mall (and other places all across the country), singing “All We Like Sheep” to America.

Probably already told y’all this, but there was a major grassroots movement afoot here to hold a “Minnesota Women Reject Palin” rally when Barbie and her boy toy came to the Twin Cities Friday. An echo of the very successful rally in Anchorage, and model for future rallies. But Obama people squashed the idea and held a nothing-in-particular rally in downtown Minneapolis, a kezillion miles from where the dynamic duo was appearing. We let this happen. We are f’ing sheep. Yeah, we are, across the board, all issues. And yeah, I woke up on the cranky side of the bed this morning. {{{SNARL}}}

2006:
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Wall Street workers took home nearly $300,000 on average last year as profits from trading and merger advising fueled record earnings, New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said.Wall Street compensation averaged $289,664 per person, 5.1 times the average $56,634 for workers citywide, the comptroller said in a study released Tuesday. The highest-paid bankers and traders can command eight-figure pay packages.

I DON’T WANT TO BAIL THESE PEOPLE OUT!

Thank goodness Bob Geiger is back
editorial cartoons and then some

Here’s the infuriating part from TPM:

House Republican staffers met with roughly 15 lobbyists Friday afternoon, whose message to lawmakers was clear: Don’t load the legislation up with provisions not directly related to the crisis, or regulatory measures the industry has long opposed.
“We’re opposed to adding provisions that will affect [or] undermine the deal substantively,” said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable, whose members include the nation’s largest banks, securities firms and insurers.

A deal killer for the group: a proposal that would grant bankruptcy judges new powers to lower the principal, interest rate or both on a mortgage as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.

Somewhere I read that it’s like someone going to the bank, asking for a million dollar loan and then telling the bank what terms are acceptable. Really, where do they get the chutzpah?

here’s my contribution to help with this morning’s gloom. found the recipe for my whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat white (not red) flour
2 teas baking powder
pinch salt
1 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls cinammon

separate 3 eggs

mix egg yolks with:
1 1/2 cups milk
4 Tbls melted butter (add last after mixing egg yolks and milk)

combine wet and dry ingredients with minimal strokes (just enough to make a lumpy batter)

beat egg whites until med. stiff and fold into batter.

spoon batter on to buttered pan and sprinkle some bittersweet choc. pieces (fair trade!) on the top of the batter.

take care of the melted chocolate and enjoy with a bit of maple syrup and a strong coffee.

That to me sounds like someone saying we’ll trade you your freedom to pump overpriced paper and keep your buddies from having to take their losses (marking to a pumped-up market is so fun!) for some sops to throw to the masses, the quieting of whom is our special role in this social structure of ours.

But that’s just what 25 years of this stuff have done to me.

Frankly, I think that if Congress is submitted the bill that was leaked or its equivalent, they should just put it on a fast track to an immediate vote-down, and then consider a reasonable bill from a fresh start, if there’s really any reason to do so.

One day I was performing at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, and I was playing “Mail Order Annie.” As the train came into the station this guy walked up, put a $20 in my case and said “That’s my Father’s song.” It was Josh Chapin. He has Harry’s deep blue eyes, and he was almost in tears.

A cherished memory.

this is exactly what i’ve been trying to say (not very well, i guess) – the corporate lobbyists are telling the administration and our congress what they want them to do, if we don’t provide counter pressure we will be letting them have their moment of control via the shock doctrine.

“They hate us for our freedoms.”

Who does?

“The Terrorists do.”

Who are the terrorists, really?

“Whatever the price of the Chinese Revolution, it has obviously succeeded not only in producing more efficient and dedicated administration, but also in fostering high morale and community of purpose. The social experiment in China under Chairman Mao’s leadership is one of the most important and successful in human history.”

David Rockefeller, statement in 1973 about Mao Tse-tung in the New York Times, August 10, 1973

- From Rockefeller’s “Memoirs”, (p.405).

He continues with an even more revealing passage:

“The anti-Rockefeller focus of these otherwise incompatible political positions owes much to Populism. ‘Populists’ believe in conspiracies, and one of the most enduring is that a secret group of international bankers and capitalists, and their minions, control the world’s economy. Because of my name and prominence as the head of the Chase for many years, I have earned the distinction of ‘conspirator in chief’ from some of these people.

“Populists and isolationists ignore the tangible benefits that have resulted from our active international role during the past half-century. Not only was the very real threat posed by Soviet Communism overcome, but there have been fundamental improvements in societies around the world, particularly in the United States, as a result of global trade, improved communications, and the heightened interaction of people from different cultures. Populists rarely mention these positive consequences, nor can they cogently explain how they would have sustained American economic growth and the expansion of our political power without them.”

You will notice that he does not deny it. If anything he has confirmed that their is a “secret group of international bankers and capitalists, and their minions, [who] control the world’s economy”.

What more is there to say? Conspiracy confirmed. He openly admits to Treason, knowing no one can touch him. And what is the name of his office building in Manhattan? “The Tower Of Power.”

If it’s happening in America, it’s because David Rockefeller wants it to.

Frankly, I think that if Congress is submitted the bill that was leaked or its equivalent, they should just put it on a fast track to an immediate vote-down, and then consider a reasonable bill from a fresh start, if there’s really any reason to do so.

dodd, i think, just said that reid and pelosi have the votes to pass it. not clear what “it” was.

Naomi Klein has material for a sequel.

some Kossack made a simple but oh so tasty observation

Pelosi/Reid/Leadership have nothing to lose by stalling – either Paulson’s super dire predictions come true And The Republicans Own It or they string him out and get true mortgage holder relief and some EFFING OVERSIGHT

suddenly I’m all in favor of a Do Nothing Congress :D

Eh, sissy stuff. I’m gonna go get me some raw road kill. Bye.

Contact Nancy Pelosi:

(202) 225-0100

Contact Harry Reid:

(202) 224-3542

Thanks needed that

Everything has to be done in a hurry with BushCo. Never any time to debate and come up with real solutions. Always a crisis. I’m so damn tired of it.

Excellent news!

Yesterdays attack of a Marriott Hotel in Pakistan was merely a preamble to what Dick Cheney has in store for us here at home in the coming days. Blaming “Al Qaeda” for the bombing is done to precondition you to believe that an enemy from outside the country actually exists, and is coming here to attack us before the elections – guaranteed to facilitate the closing of the stock market, the banks, and the implementation of Martial Law.

The enemy is within.

Fly the National Guard back home, urgently, where they are most needed.

Well I doubt it’s an impeachment resolution.

I wish I could agree with that. It would be true if our media was honest. But FoxNews and Rush will be blasting around thec clock that the dems are stalling and responsible for a market collapse.

Meaning you’re not going to vote period this year or not for the top Dem ticket?

Since mccain gets to “re-do” his comments, I’ll give it a try. *g* Kinda sorta what I mean is……with a republic in the WH, I figure there isn’t gonna be a country to vote in in four years (and not because I plan to immigrate).

I’m gonna go away now; no need to spread more of my gloom. bbl

All good stuff plunger…I guess our arguments don’t just fall on deaf ears alone, the fall on a lot of stupid ears, such is life.

Senator Dodd appears to be our only hope at sanity at this point

his main DC office:
FAX (202) 224-1083 (h/t Jim White)

everyone here (yes lurkers, I’m looking at you! :D)should be faxing the good senator – urging him to do right by taxpayers and Oversight.

let him know you have his back in standing up to Paulson

The Globalist Banksters figured out how to take Congress completely out of the oversight function of the US Government.

Congress was said to have “The Power Of The Purse.”

Rumsfeld and Zakheim depleted the Pentagon’s budget of $2.3 TRILLION – with Rummy announcing it less than 24 hours before the 9/11 attacks.

This meant that Congress would have no choice but to dump in a massive amount of money to fight the BOGUS WAR ON TERROR, which Rumsfeld himself created along with his Zionist Co-Conspirators.

Well prior to that time – prior to the Iran Contra Scandal, The INTELLIGENCE Complex figured out that that could completely circumvent Congress and accomplish any goal they chose by trafficking in cocaine and heroine – and using the profits to fund their operations.

A Shadow Government was created with these funds – with its own objectives – in concert with Israel and the Crown.

Congress is essentially powerless as long as the funding for the Shadow Government’s Operations comes from drug sale headed by one GHW Bush.

CNN — SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT
November 17, 1991

In the United States of America there is a hidden government about which YOU KNOW NOTHING.

Tom Golden, Chief of Counter Intelligence Strategic Defense Command: “It is highly classified and the largest program of it’s kind that I had ever become involved in”

In the United States Federal Government there is a super-secret agency which controls this Shadow Government.

http://www.sweetliberty.org/is…..omsday.htm

“There exists a shadowy government with its own Air Force, its own Navy,its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself.”

— Senator Daniel K. Inouye at the Iran Contra Hearings

This is being implemented by executive decisions; intrusive, unconstitutional laws being passed at the state and local levels of government; and a shadow government (the Doomsday Plan – Continuity of Government) of non-elected people that we’re told was implemented by the president on the day of infamy. . . 9-11-01.

In fact, it is NOT a plan for the Continuity of Government. It is a plan for the Continuity of the Executive Office — one branch of government.

http://www.sweetliberty.org/is…..aseiii.htm

protest vote for potus is my plan. but if obama takes a real stand now and attempts to force good economic legislation – i will rethink that position.

*smooch*

Now there’s a piece of sunshine! Glad I checked back upthread before heading out.

Exactly. This is why I’ve always believed “al-Qaida” is the The Base of the Bush Crime Family and/or the republic Party. ;-)

how long has george will been such an idiot?

populism is always the opposite of leadership?

There is no “Osama Bin Laden.” He does not exist.

Dear Hank and Ben,

Thanks, but no thanks to using my tax dollars in your criminal operation.

Sincerely,

Main Street

I just read an article saying that Pelosi and Kerry own lots of stock in AIG. As do 56 other Senators and Reps. Factor that in.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..=worldwide

Yeah, I had that feeling of dread that there was something much worse coming down the line–that Bush wasn’t done wreaking havoc.

And now we have *it*. Pelosi missed this. Bigtime. Now our country is more vulnerable than ever.

And if Bush/Cheney had been impeached, they wouldn’t now be in charge of fixing what they helped create.

The only thing protecting the Bush Administration from serious prosecution, is the fence around the White House. They have no incentive to leave.

I know, and I know what I must sound like.

But – they have BO as their Human Shield. If they delay, and it doesn’t work out for them, they can blame him.

further, these aristocrats are no doubt looking at the 5 pt national swing in polls last Monday night – it tells them, correction, their consultants that there is a chance they can get over on Paulson and get away with it

yeah I know, I’ll be out here on the driveway, pounding my skull X~o

You had to be a moron to own any financial stocks since the housing crisis began (mid-2006?). JMO. Hope I didn’t offend the portfolio of anyone here.

There is no “Osama Bin Laden.” He does not exist.

Well, not any more…

I do think he existed, but my feeling is that he’s been dead for quite some time now.

Sounds like an outline for a good book,martial law declared, elections cancelled,national guard troops surround Washington. Bush declares it’s God’s will,Cheney hunkers down in his underground bunker with his finger on “the” button.

Fact or fiction ,you tell me!!

AIG used to be in the Dow Jones average (till this week), so they’re pretty widely held, so much so that it might be hard to find an effect.

It’d be more interesting to know how AIG spent their lobbying money, how their employees made political donations, who went on AIG-sponsored junkets —things like that that can be controlled by the CEO or people in the firm with agendas, and that only involve a select set.

Benazir Bhutto said as much in her interview on the BBC.

Want Equal Pay? Lilly Ledbetter In New Obama Ad
upstairs.

Listening to Paulson has me in a fetal position.
This is a stick-up

I’m not watching, but based on what I heard him say yesterday, I would take that to mean that the system has to be reregulated. Yesterday, it was a qualifier to the “anything you say, sir” spirit which otherwise seemed to prevail.

I call BULLSHIT, Hank! What collateral is being offered? You dodge that question from Brokejaw. The Heist is complete.

thanks

Paulson resists calls for added help in bailout

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is resisting a Democratic push to add additional help for households to the $700 billion bailout bill.

Paulson said Sunday that because financial markets remain under severe stress there is an urgent need for Congress to act quickly without adding other measures that could slow down passage.

“We need this to be clean and to be quick,” Paulson said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

AP

Pelosi missed this.

I wish I could believe it was that simple a tragedy. But the mortgage crisis that triggered this whole fiasco was visible by the kind of people who talk to leading members of Congress for well over two years now, and just that part always smelled bad enough that it should have called the financial reg people on the congressional carpet immediately, and the investigating would likely not have stopped there.

Speaker Pelosi assumed office in 1987, well-timed to see the meatiest parts of the S&L scandals up close, which were heavily investigated out of the San Francisco branch of the Federal Home Loan Bank system (the lead S&L reg at the time).

spent some time scratching my head when I read Carlyle Group went in to the CDO biz as late as 7/07 –

mr cbl pointed out someone somewhere told them ‘don’t worry, someone will be along any minute to “re-value” your holdings’

tin foil city dahlin’s

Hank is just pained, pained he says, to see the taxpayer in this position; that the alternative is much worse. What alternative, Hank? The investment banks actually take responsibility for their criminal enterprise? Yeah that alternative is much worse…worse for the ‘haves’. Fuck you!

(I could have used a better choice of words.)

They screwed up–I mean Congress. And now they’re in charge of fixing it.

[sigh]

I guess, then, the legislation is not as imperitive as he thought.

nope

Give me Stiglitz, Krugman, Scarecrow, & Ian!

Here’s my grade school analysis for Meet the Press. It’s “Trust Daddy” Paulson. Trust him. Give him the tools he needs. Stop the partisan niggling (as if this weren’t supposed to be a democracy, where adversarial haggling works best, as John Dean might say ), especially all you democrats who might want some accountability. Because “we’re in a time of crisis” and we “need to move fast.” /snark.
It’s worrying, because I see a parade of congress critters and characters including Dodd who like they might just act in the same way they acted when Chimpy asked for authorization to go to war with Iraq. (Great emergency, time is of the essence, code red) It was generous of Brokaw to bring up that concerns that some of us little people might have about giving the Chimpo administration too much leeway. Too bad it was pooh-poohed away. I honestly don’t know exactly what I think of Bloomberg’s “take” on the situation, except I do not see him as a total fount of wisdom.

You heard, you heard. It’s “trust Daddy” all over again, IMHO.

Sorry guys, I break out in hives when i look at paulson. I’ll await the read. Is it true that he’s been dunked in botox head to toe?

Is there anything about Dodd that we can still trust in?

Hey, ET. Wassilly sounds like a rugged, brutal ‘burb. You be careful out there. Ya’hear?!

Is concealed carry allowed at hockey games up that-a-way?
If so, no wonder she wears those baggy pants and a bunny hairdo.

We used to have season tickets to a local semi-pro team in Saskatchewan. They gave away pork pies to some lucky ticket holder every game.

Can’t imagine what the freebies would be in Wasilla. never mind. It’ll be a nice place again, soon’s fellas like you get the place polished up a bit, ET. Take care. You have a cheering section in Ohio.
Hey. Both our kids are musicians and played in community band way back when. I kid u not! ;->

now c’mon. u don’t want ‘im losin’ the fambly farm in Nantucket!?! Surely u caint be that cruel.

To the lawmaker who wrote this, thank you:

I’m not voting for a blank check for $700 billion for those mother fuckers.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8374

.. and we’ll be dancing (or just dangling) on the end of the jig string. Urk~! (:>

I apologize for the totally unedited parts of @164.

Adie@167. Would it be callous for me to say there’s no room left in my heart for someone who’s in peril of losing his or her third or fourth summer home? What with Iraqis with no homes, New Orleans citizens with no homes . . . (feel free to fill in the blanks).

Reveal the identity and let the magic mojo flow!