Strapping on the Spines?
First Barney Frank, in response to former investment banker and current Bush SEC chair Henry Paulson’s whining about how unfaaaaair it was to impose any conditions on his efforts to bail out his buddies, gave Paulie Walnuts the Soprano treatment: “ ‘Hank says it’s a poison pill,’ Frank said. ‘I say I don’t think it’s very patriotic for someone to not give up his golden parachute when we’re trying to save the markets.’ ”
Then Barack Obama told Paulson what he could do with his proposed trillion-dollar payoff to bad bankers who rate Club Fed berths more than they do golden parachutes from the Treasury.
Now Nancy Pelosi’s joined in with a dope-slap to Paulson: “We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome. Democrats will act responsibly to insulate Main Street from Wall Street."
Spines are sprouting all over in the Democratic Party, it seems.
Heck, it looks like even the press is starting to show some evidence of calcium deposits in their bones. Check out the opening graf of this story on Paulson by McClatchy’s Kevin G. Hall: "Making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson repeatedly said today’s financial problems were long in the making. He should know. He was part of the Gold Rush that has brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse." Wow! The lede, for once, is front and center, as it should be.
In keeping with his tradition of following where Obama leads — and as a way to both put fake distance between himself and Bush as well as to bury news about things like his campaign manager Rick Davis’ getting $2 million over five years in lobbyist salary from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so that he’d convince McCain to go easy on them — McCain is now suddenly pretending he doesn’t like Paulson, either, by expressing "serious concerns" and calling for the formation, according to his campaign staff, of a "high-level oversight board" staffed with famous rich people. Um, John, we already have one of those, and it comes equipped with regulatory teeth. It’s called "Congress". McCain’s true attitude is shown in his utter refusal to admit that his longtime backing of deregulation wasn’t a factor in the financial fracas occurring now. Nice try, John, but thanks for playing! We have some lovely parting gifts for you.
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Spines!
Please digg this story!!
Holy crap! It is a spinal column!!!
Question is how long will they last.
Is that anything like a sidebar?
cajones
from your blog to the voters ears pw, oh man, me am starting to think we can save this country
Holding breath. Haven’t seen Pelosi & Reid exert their R influence on the D party yet.
I notice that McInsane is really trying to
bullypiss off his former base, the media. Has declared NYT & Politico persona non grata. Wonder how that will work for him.LOL Depends on how you look at it I suppose. *cleaning lenses* Still looks like a spinal column, though, if you tilt your head to the left it does appear to be a right sidebar. Huh.
so far the NYT editor says they aren’t backing off
Oh sure, lets see if the kept up. If ws get a cent we loose.
jo6pac
Everything is on schedule, please move along.
So why was W able to bully press but not McPain? Did the media get spinal transplants too?
Something happened because they (the press/McCain’s base) is getting a little cranky
Would the Dems response be the same if there were no election taking place
Krugman on KO
You’re moving way too fast, eCAHNomics. Even thinking the press has a spinal column would be too much for us to bear at this point. We have to take one spinal column at a time. LOL
Thanks PW.
digg
I would feel better if the dems said we’re not going to do anything until we get our minds around how big this is and we have a new administration.
I asked ian a couple of days ago, I don’t think he was around but I guess kucinich was around because he took up my lead (I like to take credit whether i’m responsible or not)
if we are going to bail out these companies, we need stock options, these stock options can be used to fund OUR retirement accounts
All it took was to hit them (Congress and the Media) squarely in their pockets…these people have a lot of money invested…Main Street…not so much…
Pat Buchanan used to say something about “lock and load” – seems to me the Dems just did and it’s about time. Good for Dodd and Barney and all the others who are stepping up to help the country.
but, perhaps we can get them to share one between them…it’s easier to get used to that way
Let’s hope they don’t give McInsane a club to beat Obama upside the head…can you say October surprise?
ecahn glad you’re here to ask, how would we structure stock options for each and every one of us in exchange for this buyout
where WE would have voting rights to every decision made and the books would be open to US
LMAO.
errr
not any more they don’t
Great advice. Perris too. ;-) All I know is I don’t much about the stock market but reading about it online in the last few days on here & everywhere, I’ve not read one post where good news was the conclusion. Not good.
Krugman is excellent.
That was Krugman on Olbermann.
Krugman…Maybe there was a mole in the Treasury Department…hahahaha
Krugman: “The Bush Administration can stay irrational longer than the world can stay solvent.”
Share the spinal column the Dems have with the press? They just got it for crying out loud!!!! Let’s see what they do with it. If they start to shake it off because it feels weird, then yes…let’s split in half and give it to the media! LOL
Will withhold judgement until final draft of bill
Barney Frank with a strap-on… spine!
Maybe they’ve decided that living in a total feudal society is not going to be any fun.
It would be nice if Democrats would start talking about “individual responsibility,” and how the GOP intends to pay for this.
Ding.
lets just hope they’re not using blanks
I don’t know. Seems this administration has always acted without thinking and now is not the time to shoot from the hip. How you can come up with a plan so quickly is just disturbing and then to have these asshole lobbying to cover all bad assets and foreign banks is just a rape of the american taxpayers
I found George Bush’s integrity! It’s the dried up frog on the side of the road up the street from my house!
Chest thumping and posturing But will they prevail in the end?
Carville said that McCain’s remarks about the economy being fundamentally sound were McCain’s swan song. If Carville (Mr. Matalin) is sticking his own neck out like this, its a very good sign.
I am wondering what is going on in the minds of bush/Cheney/ and their puppeteers (no, Cheney is a marionette not a puppeteer, he is a moron who has failed at everything but destroying this country)
are the sitting around;
[bush]…soooo…what say everyone, all is well, right?…my legacy is still intact isn’t it?…I AM a war president, right?
[Cheney] there is no doubt your legacy is safe (*now to catch first plane to Saudi Arabia*)
[puppeteer] EVERYTHING is going according to plan guys, sit tight! *holy shit, the jig is up, can we get these guys to take the fall?*
How about they just arrest the whole lot of them for fraud, theft, breach of fiduciary duty, RICO…then add on the war crimes, etc.
Lock em up and throw away the key…give them some of their own medicine.
Clearly, Paulson is protecting his cronies.
No, it can be like the Three Weird Sisters, passing the eye around so that they can all see…that way, everyone gets a bit of spine when they need it..can’t you see it..Harry says to Nancy, “No, I need it now..you can have it in a minute…” and then Dodd says, “No, I’m OK…Conyers can have my turn,” and then they alternate with various members of the media..except for KO, who will claim that he has TWO spines and Rachel has THREE, so they can share around too.
Where is he on, the Mickey Mouse Club?
Clearly. Paulson is to Goldman Sachs as Cheney is to Haliburton.
Bring your own rape kits
Paulson always looks…like a moose in the headlights.
By calling everything an emergency (or yelling “fire!” in a packed building), Georgie gets what HE wants, but what he’s finding out is the American people don’t move anymore. Some do, but we as a whole don’t. I think it would make sense to drag this out until after the election. Let the assholes lose more of what they’ve invested in the stock market. Let them all suffer or send the little Boy King a bill he will either be forced to sign against the whores on Wall Street or one where he will veto and will show Americans once again who the republic party is today.
No, but you’re close. Tweety put the quote up in big letters on his Friday show (though Carville was not present).
Way too microeconomic Q for my pay grade.
A general observation though: the more people who are responsible, the less responsibility each takes.
That against the “agency problem,” economists’ jargon for paying some expert to do something for you (your agent), while forgetting that that person has his own utility function (economists’ jargon for “his own needs & desires”) that may make him a less than effective agent.
Not solvable. In this case, I would see no practical out except to endow an agent of the voters with decision making power. It’s the construct of the agent that is important. Certainly not Paulson with NO accountability. Govt agency will probably be the path chosen.
Hillary suggested something like HOLC this afternoon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOLC
What about my boat…what about my summer house…what about my wife, she’s gonna be really pissed off when she finds out she can’t buy what she wants…
Wahhhhhh, wahhhhhh
Whiners.
The House & Senate need a Spine Greeter just like Wal-Mart has. As our elected officials come into the building, they’ll get a spine and a lollipop if they’re being good.
get him on a hunt with palen and her clone donor, cheney
Only a little off topic as I watch Olbermann followed by Rachael
from Democracy Now
Army Unit to Deploy in October for Domestic Operations
Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.
Bush: Bugga, bugga…Dorothy are you out there??? I said Bugga, Bugga!!!
Honestly, the story of the Wizard of Oz is the story of America.
Might have to tap that secret Bahamian bank account
When is a Republican gonna come on teevee and use the phrase “Floats All Boats”? I love that one. “Ownership Society” – haven’t heard that one in a while either.
or lipo, tuck or lift what she wants
Pretty scarey, huh? Whatever happened to posse comitatus?
“endow an agent of the voters with decision making power”
Ummm…like the president?
I’m Back, I’m Back, Snoopy Dance!
This news needs to go viral, because it is an ominous sign of what they are planning.
thx
Caroline’s Spine “Sullivan’s”
Where are these troops to be based ,not in Washington by any chance?
That’s Posse Comititus. It used to be illegal. Probably made legal by the Patriot Act.
Has declared NYT & Politico persona non grata.
Politico? Seriously? WTF is he thinking?
And who will daytime MSNBC now turn to for pro-McCrazy commentary all day, every fucking day?
Did you read what I said immediately after that sentence?
…and some are now saying Sarah Palin is Delores Umbridge in the last Harry Potter movie/book. Personally, I still think Laura Bush could pass for Delores.
Quick, while they are temporarily en-spined, lets get them to re-visit FISA!
Yes, Politico, according to KO tonight. Have no link.
I thought that used to be illegal too.
I think we should put Louise Epstein in charge of the whole mess. Give her a billion dollars and let her have at it.
Inc Magazine:
Louise Epstein has two credit cards, Visa and American Express. Although it sounds almost un-American, she pays both off in full every month. “I hate debt,” the 41-year-old Epstein says, meaning her own.
Other people’s debt is a different story.
Americans’ credit-card profligacy–U.S. consumer debt hit a record $1.3 trillion last year–is to Epstein what drunken driving is to a tow-truck owner. Her company, Charge-Off Clearinghouse LLC, based in Austin, acquires portfolios of charged-off consumer debt, from credit cards and consumer loans in arrears for six months. Epstein buys the debt from department stores and banks and other financial institutions, paying less than 10¢ on the dollar. Along with five contract employees who work virtually, she weeds out dead and bankrupt debtors and packages the debt for resale to collection lawyers and collection agencies. Her markup is minimal, but the volume is enormous: last year she handled debt with a face value of $550 million.
http://www.inc.com/magazine/19991001/13730.html
I don’t believe this debt package mess can’t be sorted out by someone. Attach faces and names to the stuff and proceed from there. Wall Street is throwing up its hands way too soon. Let the Louise Epsteins of this country have a go at a solution.
Sounds like they are going to make “reality” of that “opinion” that talked about using the military domestically. The OLC opinion that they wouldn’t show Congress…
I copied the whole lttle blurb from Democracy Now
Yes, and you are right..I just thought the concept that we need something that we already are supposed to have was..ironic. Just joking around.
How I WISH we could count on those spines remaining in place! But I am skeptical. We have to convince congressional leaders to stand strong in opposition to ANY blank check for the Bush administration as it seeks authority to bail out Wall Street. If we don’t — there is no telling what they will end up supporting. Let’s be honest: we have seen them cave before.
Progressive Future has a great online action where you can send an email directly to Pelosi telling her that, if we are going to hand over $700 billion, we need to demand:
* Better oversight and regulation of financial markets.
* Help for the people who are struggling to stay in their homes.
* No “golden parachutes” for the CEOs of failed corporations that benefit from the bailout.
You can find the online action here – it’s quick and simple.
Please sign it and send a message today. Don’t let them push this massive, historic bailout through without the consideration it deserves and the changes that must be made to safeguard the interests of the American people.
laws?? what are those??
My thoughts, too, wobbly.
They’re a little to eager to get this ridiculous bill signed, sealed, and delivered…
and googled it. Lots of hits, needs to be looked at.
Jokes fine. Sometimes don’t come across in typed comments. But in this case, need a new one, hopefully with accountability. (Sometimes I don’t know why I say such silly things.)
I read this from “liberal and proud” over and crooks and liars and had to post here for all, this is great stuff and all his posts are pasionate and well verseed
from here
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..secretary/
LOL…I know, sometimes the tone is lost…just assume 90% of what I say is either stupid or I’m being snarky…I never mean to offend anyone. *g*
Here’s the link to the Democracy Now piece about the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/22/headlines
(you have to scroll down…it’s basically the same paragraph posted above)
My serious gene is pretty strong. But then, so is my snark gene. I’ll try to keep your caveat in mind. *g*
It’s not over yet by a long shot but it sure is nice to see some Dems not wet their pants when BushCo whips out the only trick in their book, the Fear card, for once.
I think Paulson was within an inch of getting his blank check until someone pointed out there would be ZERO oversight available after he got it signedI would personally like to see this get drug out a bit to inflict maximum damage to these crooks before they give them one red cent.
I also want to see grown men crying on my television.
The ones responsible for this disaster, after they find out their Golden Parachute is actually a cast iron anvil.
I just hope we can send em all packing!
ack. has anyone here read dodd’s proposal? it’s not as batshit crazy as paulson’s – but we need more, a lot more.
is there any dem with a proposal that includes genuine transparency, accountability and effective regulation – or even attempts to?
damn.
I thought that used to be illegal too.
Posse Comitatus died with the passage of the John Warner (something or other) Act of 2006.
Very few people noticed at the time.
Are regular workers going to get a golden parachute at the same proportion to their wages as the WallStreet fat cats.
Given that lower wage workers probably have more necessary expense (food, shelter, etc) in relation to income than WallStreeters I’m guessing they need the cash more.
WallStreeters can just downsize their expenses move to a smaller home, buy a Prius, eat at McDonalds instead of, instead of (fill in the blank of where WallStreeters eat and what prices they pay).
Thank our friend Yoo:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstrok…..e-mem.html
LMAO!
errr
what was that directive that gives this president the power to declare the consitution suspended?
errr
tin foil hat is now in place
Also a great move by Dodd to throw that “Patriotic” shit right back in their faces.
we are in desperate need of a counter proposal that makes sense. otherwise, i fear this is not spine, it is kabuki.
kay, my quote didn’t work, that is a cut and paste from the link you provided, thanx for it…scary stuff
Directive 51
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N….._Directive
And it includes economic emergency…
found it:
John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007
Oh my, got a link on that one?
it us unpatriotic to export our jobs over seas
it is unpatriotic to use false data and abuse the armed forces of this nation
it is unpatriotic to ignore the constitution when you are the president of the united states
it is unpatriotic to give middle class assets to your friends
it is unpatriotic to be president bush
I could go on I think
http://www.democracynow.com
Where were you?
I believe it incudes ANY “emergency” the president choses to call an “emergency”
me starting to wonder again, because it surely looks like mkkkain has no shot
Yoonitary Treasurer Paulson has not revealed his payments from Goldfinger Sachs. He is almost a billionaire. So all his financial assets should be released. There could be possible conflicts of interests,when he buys troubled assets.
But this is troubling. Paulson sold his $500 million dollar without having to pay any federal taxes. KKKarl has also been using this tax loophole. Anyone getting mad yet?
Much less enough information to help anyone consider this whole shell game to be slightly helpful.
I believe the directive is worded so that if the president sneezes he can call that sneeze a national emergency and suspend our constitution
http://www.govtrack.us/congres…..=h109-5122
Just the one above, From Democracy Now.
In the first line of the post, Paulson is the Secretary of the Treasury. Christopher Cox is the chairman of the SEC.
At TPM. Sorry, didn’t find it in a quick lookie.
My cable company broadstripe does not update their IP address that often so I could not get on. The Lurking Mod has called Broadstripe and the lady their could not get ob FDL either.
So I changed IP addresses.
Hey, folks, Marcy has some new thready goodness on how the Chinese decided that NOW is the time to call in their markers…for Taiwan.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake……e-demands/
called and e-mailed my congresspeople today in opposition to the Paulson plan and in support of the Obama plan
stand up, Democrats
Dugg
Think about it . If we’re going to hand out 2/3/4 trillion someone takes in that same 2/3/4 trillion AKA bush’s have’s and have mores. He’s peeing his pants cause they are about to lose the value of the loot they squirreled away off shore. The middle and lower classes will survive better using these AMERICAN funds to go moon shoot crazy on solar which denies them there greasy oil stream of revenue. That’s what they’re out to stop here. We can cut consumption by 60/70 % with that kind of research money.
I know Ron Paul is kind of wacky sometimes but in this clip I think he says something that is true.
The prices have to come down. Propping up prices at an unsustainable level does nothing. That is what Japan did. Their economy stayed in the crapper for 15 years or so. I don’t want to go there.
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/63149
Oy, LS, I completely missed the point of your comment. Yes, the prez is the perfect example of the agency problem.
You like that little violation of Posse Comitatus, eh? Well, who do you think will enforce NPSD-51, the Canadians…? Oops, that’s right, Norcom can draw on the Canucks too… Never mind, carry on…
McCain is a posturing hypocrite
Yeah Wallstreet is stealing money from the troops. Imagine if we could afford someone else rather than cheap showers that electrify our troops. Imagine if we could have afforded GM making armored humvees I’m sure Detroit could have built them quick enough for our troops.
Heck getting rid of Bush friends who get fat contracts and can’t get our troops bullet proof vests on time could have saved lots of lives and money.
Patriotism in war should mean a 5% profit margin if not doing the job at cost.
I believe posse comitatus has been rescinded by law..>I don’t have a link
Imagine if we had NO troops.
and what an awful posture he has, he looks like a cross between steve martin and don rickles
I think you are correct. They have been planning for something…
After Katrina..I recall they made it easier/possible for the feds to take control of the national guard without states permission…
Wonder what they think is going to happen? What they are planning?
I’ll remember that stunning mental picture & convey it to my wingnut son, who is going to vote for McPain, at the appropriate moment.
Your right, I believe it was part of the act establishing the Dept. of Homeland Security and Norcom(Northern Command)… 8-(
Keep Digging!!
Even George Will has turned on McCain and the Bushco theft scheme.
Newt Gingrich too.
So Democratic Politicians are evolving, growing vertebrates, so we can’t consider them jellyfish any longer?
not so mun planning but preparing
preparing for a democratic win, if that happens the shit hits the fan, these bigots did not amass all this power for a black man to inherit
I had been saying that for some time however I thought public opinion would prevent them from pulling anything off…after reading that military preparation for domestic activity, now my fear has returned
More Ian upstairs…!
not so fast matt, remember it looked like they grew some spines in the fisa bill…then they caved anyway
and they’ve caved every time on getting our children back home
let’s find out if they cave or not on this before we give them credit they have yet to earn
Good idea no troops in Iraq equals less expense maybe then we could afford this bailout.
Paulson wants no review at all for 6 months, which is conveniently 2 months after the Bush administration ends. Thus he can set up enormously profitable sweetheart deals with prospective employers on Wall Street, where he once worked.
A Willie Sutton once said, you steal where the money is.
I think they are preparing for an uprising when they steal the election.
Holy Moly. Is that Arlen Spector standing behind McCane with Lieberman?
I’m convinced by Kos/Digby’s argument that the Dems need to move very carefully here to avoid making the Repubs look like the populist reformers.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..465/606678
I am shocked! It is raining corporate lobbyists. Their latest fraud is, surprise, Cash for Trash. Except these moneygrubbers want $1.4 trillion dollars.
Well, now isn’t this interesting:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/…..requested/
Yeah, and he’s embarrassed and barely clapping.
I thought HoJo had gone on vacation from the McC campaign. I guess we will continue to see his droopy face.
Hahaha
T.B. Pickins is turning on the Repubs too:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/pickens-gop/
Under Paulson, Goldman cashed in earnings of 5.6 billion in 2005…and he personally made 38 million that year.
Hellllooooo!!!
Actually, I believe Paulson’s original proposal was for an initial review in 2 or 3 months and all subsequent reviews to be in six month increments.
The October surprise is here a bit early.
Let’s see if these bobblehaeds roll over or rise up.
If the American people want to get serious about this then have a national sick call in, until we get what they want. Don’t recommend rallies and alike, not with this president-too dangerous.
Use the internet to inform MSM and they can get word out to the general public. There’s enough pissed off public right now, that the idea might really catch on.
Medical people, service personal and alike need to be told to go to work – don’t want the repubs saying we are killing out fellow man by asking the fireman to stay home and fake a sick call in, or some kind of sick garbage that seem to always come from their mouths.
GOD, let the people ONCE AND FOR ALL TIMES COME TO KNOW THE EVIL THAT president bush IS. WE ARE THE COUNTRY, WE ARE IT’S PEOPLE.
Elements of the PATRIOT Act had floated around for some time, but somehow appeared together as one bill just when they felt they could ram it through.
Do you think the Bush bailout plan just materialized yesterday?
Dems have some material to work with, but it’s still going to take a bit of time to get all the good parts together in one bill.
Oh no, not you too. Why, I read recently of a fellow who was going to have to do the hardest thing he’d ever done…give up his personal jet.
These ARE hard times. heh
They’re chasing Habeas Corpus.
We’ve got a bunch of ‘em. Some are pretty capable. I’m betting there will be a battle between something based on Dodd’s bill and something by Hillary (& friends). There will probably be a lot of overlap too.
They might even agree to a core of some things which must be present in both, so all Dems can be happy to that extent.
Where others can come in is to look over these basic bills and try to add a few bells & whistles such as you point to.
It ought to be a very interesting debate.
So, all Bush has to do is CAUSE an economic emergency to become dictator?
Gee, I don’t remember the Liberal Press putting that on the front page of every paper in America. Do you?
Somehow I feel certain Justice Scalia has already written the brief supporting Bush. After all, where in the Constitution is it written…
This is all so serious and scary. Can’t we bring back Sarah Palin now?
One online commentator — sorry, I’ve been jumping around so much I forget which one — pointed out that W’s press bullying techniques work pretty well when you actually have power. When you’re only trying to get power, like McCain, not so much.