morning Christy
the GRAND HEIST is on,no gamble at all

And then there is this guy too:

(Bloomberg) — The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation’s financial crisis.

Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month, when the federal government took over both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Newly available congressional records show Timmons’s firm received $260,000 this year before its lobbying activities were barred under terms of the government rescue of the failed mortgage giant. Timmons, 77, is listed as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac on the company’s midyear financial-disclosure form.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..r=politics

found via TPM

Yes, Mr. Timmons has been a busy man through the years working for all sorts of lovely folks. Nice of him to help out with the transition placement for McCain should he win. I’m sure his corporate client rolodex has nothing whatsoever to do with his work in that regard… *cough*

they could not get the PONZI SCHEME they originally wanted, to privatize SS,so lets do smash and grab ingeniuos these villans

And, frankly, I just wanted an excuse to post the creepy party hat again. That picture cracks me up. *g*

and the goopers still need to shore up the cronies

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
GOP support for CEO pay is sticking point on bailout. Make them vote for it publicly.
Joe Sudbay (DC)

Today’s NY Times gives an update on the state of negotiations on the bailout package — the $700 billion bailout package for which the lame duck president who got us into this mess wants his package and nothing else:
But lawmakers in both parties voiced anger over the steep cost and even skepticism about the plan’s chances of success.

As heated debate began on Capitol Hill, Congress and the administration remained at odds over the demands of some lawmakers, including limits on the pay of top executives whose firms seek help, and new authority to allow bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage payments for borrowers facing foreclosure.
Yes. The GOP is fighting for the Carly Fiorinas of the world. Republicans are trying to protect those poor CEOs who have no one else to watch for them. Dana Milbank documented the GOP concern for the CEOs:

oopsie! just saw and posted that downstairs

Mornin’ Christy and Firedogs

Christy….I had that exact thought..Thank you for finding another reason to run that picture….makes my day. What a doofus.

Has anyone figured out what is on the hat? Could it be stacks of (recently emptied) cups? For that matter, what’s on Keating’s forehead?

how long before Schmidt calls Bloomberg “a pro Obama advocacy organization, not by any standard a journalistic organization” ????

.

a $62 trillion market

62 trillion market uh just what is the whole world’s economy worth?
I think Phil Gramm is playing with imaginary numbers?

Digg is open. With the proper illustration, of course.

Yep
That picture is so good it needs no excuse

FWIW, that info has been available for anyone who searched the public lobbying databases — which is how I got it on Timmons a while back…

That picture does a better job tieing McCain to the failed fratboy policies than a dozen Paul Krugmans.
(And I love Krugman)

CNBC is talking like we have been talking about the bad homeloans for months things must be bad for reality to set in?

Maybe McCain can fill grandma in on why he and Gramm helped promote offshore accounts for corporate cronies to evade their taxes instead of protecting her investments against unregulated greedy gambles.

this is so huge, I wonder if kucinich would consider re-proposing articles of impeachment

I guaranteee those articles will be recieved much better then in the past

That picture is so good it needs no excuse

That hat looks like a sex toy for a moose.

I think it looks like those cone boob bra tops that Madonna used to wear back in her Gaultier phase.

It is good to be King. Paulson did not pay taxes on his GS stock sale worth $500 million.
———————
from below

apropos of the video

slam the pukes for NOT paying taxes

we should discuss this further. *g*

According the NY Sun (and when Steve Schmidt proclaims them in the tank, the election is truly over) McCain has only begun to throw mud:

The McCain campaign is gearing up to criticize Senator Obama for his past associations with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and a former Weather Underground operative, William Ayers, in the home stretch of the presidential race.

We’re going to be using a LOT of the McCain/Keating picture.

…and the one of McCain on the party boat with Anne Hathaway’s former boyfriend.

This article includes a list of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP), the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. The GDP dollar estimates presented here are calculated at market or government official exchange rates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L…..es_by_GDP_(nominal)

They got a few charts maybe I’ve been up to long but I really don’t see how world GDP equals or even comes close to 62 trillion. When you invest money you don’t have thats still a Ponzi scheme right?

my brain recognized the name . . .and now I know why :D

ps – stumbled across Muckety couple weeks back . . .wondered at the time about “Homeownership Alliance” but didn’t check further X~(

a handy little site

I have a question;

suppose we managed to impeach the good president bush and cheney along with him, pelosi would probably be president

wouldn’t the republicans be able to mount a successful campaign laying this at the democrats door?

and we would therefore not have won the office this election

could it be nancy has been genious taking impeachment off the table?

perhaps

That hat looks like a sex toy for a moose.

Heard tell of a mighty Moose Hunter

ROFLOL

The one who pretended to be the Pope’s banker? I would love to see if Cindy invested with that conman we need Cindy’s trust and business records.

Behold, the Madonna/Gaultier cone boob corset. See if it doesn’t remind you of McCain’s Keating junket hat…

Cronies First

nah, no genius award for taking Impeachment off the table.

Not sure I should I say this here but it looks like the head of a cobra

The GOP is blaming us for this anyway I’m sure McCain will try and blame this on Obama’s Fannie Mae person.

good bring on KEATING 5…druggy cindy lou and the coverup,and WITCHHUNTER from WASILL ….”g”

It looks like a the top of a saguaro cactus from an enhanced view in Photoshop.

So I guess one could say he’s Prickly Headed.

The GOP is also blaming poor people and minorities but somehow they always forget to blame the hedge funds who bought the loans with 20 to 1 and more margin loans provided to the hedge funds from the very banks selling the bad home lone debt.

hes prolly shittfaced too

CSPAN 3 link
for Senate banking Committee with
Paulson
Bernanke
Cox
Lockhart (FHFA)

it’s also on CSPAN 1 until 10:00 am

Davis lobbied his butt off for Bad loans to minnorities

hmmm – very good.

Remember the movie Michael? (John Travolta played an angel. complete with wings). There was a scene where Travolta challenged a bull. Travolta lowered his head -the bull lowered its head – and both charged, colliding head on.

Now, imagine the hat on Travolta’s head, and the bull is now a moose. Travolta charges, but the moose is… facing the other direction.

heh.

can i bear all the lying?

Today’s retirees have less money in savings, longer life expectancies and greater exposure to market risk than any retirees since World War II. Even before the last week of turmoil, 39 percent of retirees said they expected to outlive their savings…

Quite frankly, IMHO, we need to legalize euthanasia. My spouse and I DO talk about what is going to happen when we run out of the ability to survive. We have no children, we do not have sufficient funds to cover nursing home care, If one of us gets sick we are both done for and will be sleeping under the overpass. This intentional “crisis”, but really a rip off, has serious and grave consequences for millions of people like my spouse and myself. Better start saving sleeping pills now, you never know when you will need them

Forgot to mention that I’m going to be on Rachel Maddow’s Air America show this afternoon…

Did someone give MSNBC a spine? I’m hearing some almost sane stuff…wait Pat Buchanan just showed.

Why/How He’s Allowed To Do It

I think we need to bring on Dr. Kirk

never watch but this morn boob tube was on morning SCARS and Joe has turned ugly on McSame…..ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Congratulations. FDL should have a media alert box at the top of the home page so we don’t miss things like that.

ooh, that oughta be fun….

CNN – Dodd’s Ctte on live

looks to me like some Villagers lost a little of their nest egg these past few months . . .jes sayin’

that is precisely why SS was pushed so hard by FDR…repukes HATED him forever aafter

I’m hearing some almost sane stuff…wait Pat Buchanan just showed.

I think even the repukkklicans know the only party that can save our economy is the democratic party

they want to get solvent again, they want us in office too

the grownups are gonna be in the HOUSE

Great video here as Austin Gooslbee, Economic Advier to Obama shreds an concern troll about oversight.

Bad loans to minorities is what percentage of the bad loans? Lets subtract loans where minorities were charged more than whites with similar credit histories because those loans had more reason than average to go under.
Again another point the MSM hacks are not talking about.

see my 52

George Will — Off with their heads theme re McCain

Good Morning,

general question for ya – a firm already under liquidation can not benefit from Paulson’s Money Bomb can they ?

No that could explain it

Well where are the Clintons on the cash for trash? Nowhere because these are their cronies.

and if the dollar goes down anymore,the will be on salmon roe instead of BELUGA/OSSETRA…………….heheehehehehehe

ah huh!

As I understand it, if he gets his way Paulson can do whatever he wants with the money. Looks like he won’t get what he wants, though, so the A to your Q will depend on what the final plan is. Probably no, would be my guess.

for some reason those always reminded me of meringue topping on a tartlet of some sort… kinda crusty and squishy at the same time.

I guess even having imagined that makes me weird.

;)

Linky.

High-flying business executives almost always endure financial sacrifice when they make a detour into public service. Paulson is no different: The Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS – news – people ) boss will see his annual paycheck shrink from last year’s $38 million to a paltry $183,500 once he takes over the job of Treasury secretary.

It is so sad they have to endure sacrifices, when trying to institute the New World Order.

The tax break was designed to ensure that the wealthy are not deterred from taking posts in government because they fear a big tax hit. But it amounts to a significant perk of public office.

Imaginary violin playing for the wealthy.

Plenty of wealthy public servants, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, have taken advantage of the tax break since it was introduced in 1989 under the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove has obtained a certificate of divestiture for stock sales in 23 companies since he joined the administration.

KKKarl had stock in 23 companies. It is good to be evil

Wow thats like an alky hitting rock bottom and finally trying to get help, still lots of reality therapy is needed. I’m still hearing too much blame the poor blame the minorities blame anyone but me for MY PROBLEMS crap.
But that is to be expected. I give you the gold for best news of the day:)

didist thou see this?

POPPY.BABs AND ALL THE BUSHIES will buy your house

Posted at 4:48 PM ET, 09/22/2008
Carlyle Chief Ready To Go Bargain-Hunting
David Rubenstein, managing director of Washington’s Carlyle Group private-equity giant, said firms such as his would play a big role in eventually buying back from the government those private assets it is poised to bail out.

In an interview moments ago on CNBC, Rubenstein said the coming transaction between the federal government and private buyers will be “one of the largest wealth transfers in the history of the country.”

Rubenstein would not specify which assets Carlyle might buy, but did not rule out the purchase of the risky mortgage-backed securities that launched the current crisis.

So far this year, Rubenstein said Carlyle has invested more money outside the United States than inside, though he expects that to change as he bargain-hunts in the coming sales.

Rubenstein predicted he will be joined by overseas money, seeking good deals in the U.S., including sovereign wealth funds, and “we shouldn’t discourage that,” he said.

– Frank Ahrens

Hillary made an appearance on CNBC yesterday after meeting with NYFRB prez. Said no to Paulson plan, except maybe temporarily, with oversight. Mentioned doing something like HOLC in the lame duck session.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOLC

posted this last night (courtesy Sadly No!)

they are attempting to use Community Reinvestment Act as dogwhistle fodder – ‘the Dems gave all that money to the shiftless !’

* CRA loans constituted only 23% of all loans and 9.2% of high-cost loans.

* CRA loans were twice as likely to be retained in the originating bank’s portfolio than loans made by other institutions.

* CRA loans were less likely to be foreclosed upon than other loans.

In Your Face, bitchez!

Link – pdf warning

Well, damn, Christy! While I’m glad to hear that you will be on Air America with Rachel, I would sure rather that I could watch and hear you with Rachel on MSNBC!

party of the evil cynics

Didn’t see it. Thanks. WANS (we are not surprised). Paulson thinks the whole amount should be turned over to bankers to dispose of it.

You gotta get over this modesty thing, Redd.

And Editor Dave will not be pleased that you buried that little announcement in the comments — “Lead with the lead!”

posted this last night (courtesy Sadly No!)
—————–
hard to tell which is sadder………..”g”

LOL, Shelby is diming out Bernanke…gotta love it when they eat their own.

In the back of my head I remembered that. Good Catch!

they did it on purpose,so they could buy EVERYTHING for pennies on the dollar

amazing evil….monsters trully

Shelby is not a happy camper.

The Paulson plan is a two-edged sword. Every bit as important to answer what he would do with this level of money and power…and what his successor would do [and who that successor might be if the Rethugs stay in charge].

Go ‘bama!

popcorn extra butter please!

Throwing their lies back at them. Naming names. Giving dates. Kicking ass.

Not sure about that, but like with 9/11, they sure know how to benefit from it. Aggressively.

And I once thought that Paulson might be the only adult in the admin. That was certainly a bad judgement.

he is a CANNIBAL like all the other pukes

Just wait I’m sure all the bad news is not yet known.

You got that right.

Senator Clinton’s statement from yesterday

and i feel they did that too,my TFH was made in Paris by Chanel,can i intrest you in one?…..”g”

Shelby, paraphrased –

The ad-hoc approach taken so far has made the situation worse, and the proposed Treasury plan is just codifying more of the same.

If this were Japan half the wall street wonders would have gone the way of seppuku by now, here they get a billion dollar severance package.

at 10,ill put down puter and go do my lesson….disciline!!!

This GOPer on TV is good at nailing the GOP? But does he have a plan of his own?

there is an even better report out there about Lender Performance – it contained info about the iron clad oversight Republics insisted on at the time of passage – their “metrics” as they are so fond of saying -

guess I’ll keep googling

yup,honorable those Japanese

Japan has so much to teach us:)

Jim Johnson’s up. Struggling, but doing a yeoman’s job.

You should write Dem talking points.

As Dodd and Shelby were speaking when the camera panned to Paulson it looked very much like he was preoccupied with his coloring book

Great to see and hear Sen. Johnson.

you and i on same page…g

does he have a law degree?

I think blogs get things figured out faster than Congress giving speeches, we have instant peer review when we make mistakes or lie which Congress does not have.

Great Minds do think alike:)

I don’t know about a law degree but at least an honorary doctorate in bilking

AHEMMMM LOOKEY HERE

Paulson was Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense at The Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.[7] He then worked for the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon, serving as assistant to John Ehrlichman from 1972 to 1973.

wiki

he was taught by the best liars money can buy

That makes sense. I should have read that sooner.

Imagine a GOP blog post and a Dem one with Congress able to post comments on each ones idea and work things out. I think that group structure would be more efficient at figuring things out than the current system.

Here’s the link for CSPAN 3 for those who were watching on CSPAN 1

MBA and he was an all american offensive lineman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Paulson

Just watching the committee hearing: We are now trying to restore confidence.

I’m sorry, I fail to see how giving a blank check with no strings attached to the very same people responsible for letting the system crash is going to restore confidence. There must be conditions!

crooks and liars,of the Military,Industrial,Media,Banking Complex

yea,born in PALM BEACH ,Fl….most expensive real estate in the USA

Sen Mukasey is up.

….offensive lineman

seems that he’s maintained the “offensive” part.

Enzi seems to be doing a pretty good job of getting to the nitty gritty of the problem. I especially like the line (paraphrasing): the value of the assets is going to be priced by the seller, not the buyer?!!!

This hearing is definitely a smackdown of the regulatory agencies. Too bad they didn’t do this earlier.

Schumer “Who would have thought”…

Jerk

stealing my line? *g*

What the fuck, Chuck?

Somebody sure should.

Lots of people seem to have spray on tans in Washington.

Schumer loves him some ticking time bombs…

I missed the dollar amount but 138 statewide agencies (cities, counties & state) have investments in Lehman brothers….. it sounded like 38 million but could of gotten that number confused with the number of entities…..Arizona retirement funds are screwed!

Will keep listening to the news and see if I hear it again….

That was a reply to ThingsComeUndone @ 95

You should write Dem talking points.

he is one of them…sadlyyes

Got a jump on you!

Wow! Sen Enzi is making sense! (not all the time though)

I think Schumer is asking Paulson to marry him….

Mukasey!

yes, let us not forget that little gift from Schumer.

707

cute acronym there, Chuck. I know *I* always appreciate a little levity in the middle of a national crisis…

Schumer sure does like the sound of his own voice. What a jerk.

Maybe we can all learn to live in community. The option you describe would not be one to appeal to many folks. I hope you do not see it as the “only” choice.

Ok here is the info on Arizona Retirement funds
Lehman unraveling leaves retirement fund a little poorer

The state’s retirement fund lost about $400 million from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, said Dennis Tompkins, spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
[ ]
The state had held 5 million shares of common stock in Lehman Brothers. By comparison, it holds 11.5 million shares of AIG stock.

Well, he’s certainly not one of us! I despise him. My intolerance of idiots and double dealers is bipartisan.

oops gotta go

Yes we are still a very disorganized party the GOP always knows what to say even if its a lie. Us we wing it like a b student who did not study for exams.

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

shorter Schumer Blah

“Cash for Trash” Paulson has conflicts of interests every which way. But Paulson has the answer to that. Do not eliminate conflicts of interest. Just embrace and manage them, because they are a fact of life.

In a highly touted post-Enron-implosion speech at the National Press Club in mid-2002, Paulson urged reform in the financial system in three areas: accounting policy, standards of corporate governance and conflict of interest. “Conflicts are a fact of life in many, if not most, institutions, ranging from the political arena and government to media and industry,” he said. “The key is how we manage them.”

Hagel has the freedom of speaking freely since he already announced he won’t run for reelection.

Hagel demonstrates only a moderate command of the obvious and draws on his deep knowledge of cliches.

new post
Who Told the TrooperGate Witnesses to Ignore the Subpoenas?

He will probably follow Holy Joe to the GOP.

Emptywheel has a new post up entitled: “Who Told the TrooperGate Witnesses to Ignore the Subpoenas?”

katy
it is the one thing I have worried about most – and of course, we hear about least – although tragically, that’s about to change.

so called “smaller institutional investors” and how much of this poison they swallowed.

public employee retirement funds

smaller credit unions

city and county investments of same ( a few examples of these are already out there – Springfield MA)

while looking up info on the mother of all Inst. funds: CalPers, I found
New Mexico (combined public entities – current worth approx: $35B) had lost $2 Billion

I do believe that we should all have choices however choices are determined by circumstance.

KargoX

The Congress is at the threshold of a major capitulation on FISA the bailout. There’s no doubt that there are a lot of political (read: electoral) implications to this vote. We all know that. We’ve been through this fear mongering routine before, where the public is rattled by vague pronouncements about unspecified threats (or about whatever’s going on in Michael Chertoff’s “gut,” as the case may be), and where Members of Congress are cowed by the prospect of Republican attack ads claiming they’re “weak on terror the economy.”

And of course, at this point it should go without saying that if a bill is placed before you that addresses additional powers and authority for the Attorney General those in charge of the economy, of all people, this is a full stop moment.

The vote on this bill is no. The vote on any bill expanding the powers of this Attorney General these looters is no.

Senators from both sides seem to be in competition (excluding Schumer) to express the strongest disapproval of the bail-out plan.

Has Paulson stopped coloring yet, I wonder?

Has Paulson stopped coloring yet, I wonder?

I’ve seen happier kids in the principal’s office.

Georgie giving his last speech to the U.N. Boo-rah!

I’m getting a big kick out of watching the facial expressions of those in the audience. Emotions seem to be ranging from boredom, to bemusement, to outright hostility.

I hope that as he concludes, the entire Assembly rises, and moons his fool ass.

Warning! The following may make your head explode, from July 2008. BILLIONAIRE PAULSON HAS BEEN VIGILANT!

But again, it’s a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation,” he said in broadcast interviews.

“But remember, our economy has got very strong long-term fundamentals, solid fundamentals. And you know, your policy-makers here, regulators, we’re being very vigilant.”

“Our first priority today is the stability of the capital markets, the stability of the system. And these institutions have investors all around the world … and those investors need to know that we in the United States of America understand the importance of these institutions to our capital markets and to our economy and to our housing market,”

Whoa. What happened to Liddy’s hair?

Holy shit! Do Elizabeth Dole and Joan Rivers share the same plastic surgeon?

Does that look like a 72 year old woman to you?

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

Shorter Dole: I’ll blame Fannie and Freddie and not deregulation or Bush or Republicans.

It’s been over an hour and not a question has been asked
yet it’s to end at noon?

The same face

one last Bush-ism for Georgie at the U.N.

After his speech was over, he immediately sat down in the on-deck chair, before somebody told him that he needed to leave….

Not even close. Rethugs are all about false appearances. Reality be damned. That’s why we are where we are with this hearing.

One wonders where her navel is these days….

Ooops. Martinez on wrong talking points. He said “drill”.

Christy:

I’ve just spoken with one of the most intelligent mortgage industry minds in America, sharing a concept with him – that he found to be exceptionally worthy of consideration. I’d like you to consider this, and if you see some merit, writing about it.

Everything being discussed relative to the pending bailout of Wall Street is about spending tax payer money to acquire paper. My concept is to focus solely on the distressed houses themselves.

Remember the recent story of Donald Trump effectively bailing out Ed McMahon and his wife from their pending Foreclosure – allowing them to remain in the home for some minimal monthly rent? THAT is the model to follow to solve this entire crisis.

Every distressed homeowner facing foreclosure on their primary residence should be given the option to sell their home to the government program, and continue to live in the home at some fair rental rate if they choose to remain, and may even buy it back over time. The purchase price would obviously need to be based on a new national standard, designed specifically to set a pricing floor in the housing market across the country. THAT and only THAT can truly solve this financial crisis, which is caused directly by declining home values.

Everyone is focusing on the paper backing the mortgages, when the money should be spent where the rubber meets the road – to keep people in their homes, rather than allowing an escalating crisis of homelessness accompanied by the every declining cycle of home prices that are sure to follow absent such a plan.

It’s going to become “government housing” now matter how you slice it (at least for a time), but pushing the solution in the direction of keeping people in their existing homes solves more problems, sooner, than any other can. Every neighbor will see the wisdom of keeping homes in their own neighborhoods off the “foreclosure” roles, – as home prices would instantly be stabilized, and potentially even begin to rise as foreign investors regained confidence.

Thoughts?

That’s interesting. Another Republican is blaming Fannie and Freddie. So this seems to be an important Republican talking point, to scapegoat them and let Wall Street and Congress and Bush off the hook.

jayt: Your boy is up.

BTW if eCahn is around. Good call on crude futures yesterday.

So glad Bayh isn’t the Veep pick. Biden is much more dynamic.

The banks want cash, not their furdiculous paper. The spotlight has been shined on their ponzi scheme and it no longer has any creds.

jayt: Your boy is up.

hey – give him a break. He came pretty close to showing a trace of emotion there. *g*

LOL..let’s all join. Is there a short word we could afix to the mooning area?

He’s probably taken some big losses lately.

FU

With this approach, the banks (mortgage holders) would get their cash – as the home’s value would be determined by the government program, and the money to pay-off the mortgage would flow to the debt-holder.

When will they/he ever learn? Not waiting.

Geez even Corker of Tennessee is saying that Paulson and Bernanke don’t know what they’re doing and are reacting like deer in the headlights.

Perfect..that’ll fit

one for each cheek

Is there a short word we could afix to the mooning area?

Moon-on.org?

Elliott/Jayt…You’re on. Just didn’t happen soon enough, did it?

Paulson up on CSPAN 3.

Oooh! Shelby staring daggers at Paulson. Maybe even samurai swords!

Paulson: A difficult time for the American people, must stabilize financial markets.

So bailing out Wall Street fat cats is really the patriotic thing to do.
Paulson wants the save the same crap financial system we have now, which he did so much to create, which produced the current meltdown, and which will produce others in the future unless changes are made.

Frankly I would like a trikle up solution but I think that a bunch of money has disappeared and is now funny money. We are looking at a pyramid scheme in its last days. The ones in first made money but those in last have their money go to pay their predecessors. No one wants to be on the last tier. Banking wants a fresh start because otherwise there will be no
cash flows or investment.

Paulson’s buzz word is “stabilization”, i.e. bailout the bad guys and keep the speculative party going.

Paulson’s program: Give me the money!

Total BS from Paulson on the original proposal and its outlawing of oversight. “It would have been presumptuous of us to propose”

Understood. It appears that no matter how we feel about it, $700 billion is going to be spent somewhere. I personally would rather see it spent to purchase the actual homes (hard assets) than flow into the atomic particle accelerator of the paper mill – while homes continue to be dumped onto the market via the foreclosure process – sending the values of ALL assets lower.

Paulson: More crocodile tears for taxpayers. Wants transparency although his plan offers none. This guy is a lying sack of shit with no cred, none, nada, zip, zero, nil.

Don’t have time to work on causes or solutions. Give me a break.

Bernanke and the Fed position: Give Paulson the money!

Wow! Is this guy independent or what? With Bernanke and Paulson in charge our financial system is doomed.

Lindsay’s got
Ted Stevens Asks to Skip Corruption Trial to Give Billions to Corporations

crocodile tears indeed!!

Private capital is afraid to come in because what you have is shit. Big concern of mine is that if that these assets disappear from the banks the asset value will go into freefall. This will mean that the asset value of everyones home will also be in freefall.

The government can establish what the price of mortgages is and so what the value is of the derived financial instruments. Markets have already shown they can’t establish price so Bernanke’s proposals are bogus and just introduce a whole new game to speculate on. What an idiot.

just trust us
and SCHUMMER is a CONCERN TROLL

This is the guy McShame wanted fired.

The SEC has been extraordinarily remiss in its oversight and regulation of markets so Cox is full of shit too.

He sez what he is told to say…they have PAID Schumer off…look at him

But let us not examine the OCC role in this debacle.

Cox is describing small, selective, piecemeal actions by the SEC but you have to remember all these guys were laissez-faire, anti-regulatory free marketeers so they are responsible for promoting the mess we have.

Dodd just reamed him a new one

Hillary suggest “freezing foreclosures,” but that’s not the same as my proposal. Buying every home outright from the midst of the foreclosure process actually pays off the mortgage, liquifying the system and putting an actual floor under the housing market. This could result in foreign investors coming into the US real estate market, and would short circuit the present deflationary/depressionary cycle.

Either way, these homes are going to become a burden on our system, and the homeowners are going to become homeless. We might as well admit that, and house them in their homes.

NOTHING gets solved unless a floor in home prices is put in place.

The only reason I’m even thinking of this is that they are clearly going to do something with YOUR MONEY, so I’d rather see it go to purchasing hard assets than paper.

yea 50 investigations….must be thousands not looked at

We supplemented our examination team with 675 lobbyists.

But let us not examine the OCC role in this debacle.

That’s a really good point. Why did the OCC keep state attorney generals in 2003 from pursuing fraudulent and abusive mortgage lenders and so give a big push to subprimes?

oh yes!!!

The OCC was part of the bandito cabal

OCC

Tester: So you knew about this at least since Bear Stearns went belly up 6 months ago but you wait until a week ago and say you need $700 billion now.

Elliott Spitzer on OCC

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..83_pf.html

Bernake….is disgusting

Office of the Comptroller of the currency

lie,lie lie

Bernanke: If things are done right, taxpayers won’t lose $700 billion. And what are the odds of that with these clowns?

Pay up here, pay up now

Dodd asking Bernanke pointed questions about the absolute necessity of acting now designed to cover his ass when he caves to this POS.

Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.

Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.

sounds like it

There are an estimated 1 million homes in foreclosure or default currently in America, and the government’s total combined bailout is estimated to be more than $1 trillion. That equates to roughly $100,000 per defaulted loan. By rewriting these loans, stalling their foreclosure or lowering defaulted borrowers’ interest rates, the taxpaying public is in effect giving these borrowers $100,000 each.

According to RealtyTrac, the number of homes valued at more than $1 million that are in some stage of foreclosure swelled to 7,968 from January to August.

The number of $2 million-plus homes in foreclosure has grown even faster, surging to 499 year-to-date compared with 201 for the same period last year.

More than 64,300 homes priced at $1 million or more sold in 2007, more than triple the number in 2002, according to DataQuick.

The problems at the high end are only expected to grow, as total filings are quickly rising — surging to 303,879 in August.

About 4 percent of adjustable rate mortgages for prime borrowers who took out mortgages in 2007 have missed more than two monthly payments, up from just 0.52 percent for loans issued in 2005.

For now, the biggest concentration of luxury foreclosures is in the Sun Belt. According to RealtyTrac, California accounted for more than half the nation’s million-dollar foreclosures, with 4,756 homes in the year-to-date ending in August. Florida ranked second with 1,088.

HOW MUCH WILL THE PENDING HOMELESS CRISIS COST US?

Paulson so nervous hes stuttering

Bernanke talks (as Paulson has in the past) about what is essentially a recapitalization of markets so that normal business can occur but he seems completely clueless that most of this capital doesn’t go to this purpose but gets siphoned off into new cycles of speculation. He still doesn’t get this although this has happened 3 or 4 times in the last year.

Looks like several of speakers have dry mouths. Hmmmmmm

another empty stooge in a suit

and Schummer was grabbing his head like hed been brained with a candlestick

Q – HOW MUCH WILL THE PENDING HOMELESS CRISIS COST US?

A – How much ya got?

Housing crisis has spread to well-to-do

and blaming everything on mortgages. Hasn’t said a damned word about any need for regulation, cracking down on corruption, looking for newer, more honest players, etc.

it is, however, some small solace that he’s being reduced to stuttering idiocy.

Must be minority well-to-do.

Does Goldman Sachs now get money from this bailout?

Paulsons pants just went on fire
“THIS IS ALL ABOUT PROTECTING THE AMERICAN TAX PAYER”
BWAHAHAHahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha

“All about the American taxpayer” !!

somehow, Hank, I don’t believe you.

Paulson “This is all about the interests of the American taxpayers.”

crap. gawd missed another fine chance to fire a well-aimed lightning bolt…

he goes home to 600,000,000.00!!! untaxed US dollars

LIARS FOR THEFT

ill liquid?…non liquid

just through HOMEOWNERS UNDER THE BUS….fukker

Paulson is angered by those evil things (he promoted) which got us here. How righteous.

kinda ’splains why he’s fighting so hard for golden parachutes.

Can’t very well go back to Wall Street and still be “one of the boys” if he gets bailed out and they didn’t….

hypocrit piece of shit

hahahahahahahaha
think he would recieve 4FEATHERS?

Does Goldman Sachs now get money from this bailout?

I think that since they changed to a bank holding company they would be eligible to do so.

BTW Paulson just said that homeowners would be kept in their homes except for the ones who won’t be.

he is soooooooooooooooooooooo full of CRAP

heh – Paulson slips – talks about the evil of “de-regulation”, before he corrected himself and got back on the “Over-regulation” bandwagon…

HAHahahahahahaahaa
that was funny

Why is this liar in any position of authority? I just lost part of my respect for Dodd, given how he praised this asshole today.

Bernake is REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY out of his league

did he really……………he is from CORRUPT Conn………….eticut

?????????????????????

Is PAULSON’S PERSONAL WEALTH at Stake in the Buyout?

By Alan H – September 22, 2008, 10:01PM
Has anyone looked at what Paulson’s personal exposure to the financial crisis is, and how he might personally benefit from the bailout?

I would assume that much of his own personal wealth is tied up in Goldman and other financial stocks that have been hammered recently?
Does anyone have the details of his Goldman severance package or how his current wealth is maintained (e.g. blind trust, active control, etc)?
While I don’t mean to impugn Paulson’s motives or imply that he is doing the bailout for personal gain, it would seem to me that it would be very difficult for a person to put there entire net worth at risk, and that Paulson can not be relied upon to provide impartial evidence or testimony if he has hundreds of millions of his own money at risk.
At a minimum, we the taxpayers have a right to disclosure by those making the decisions to obligate us for $1+ trillion.
Can anyone help with this info?
And frankly, we probably shouldn’t limit the search to just Paulson – what is the personal stake for others who are at the center of this storm?

No Bernanke we don’t know what the firesale price is

NOTE: I’ll be on Rachel Maddow’s Air America show this afternoon. Just FYI…

Great. Now I want to see you and Jane and Marcy showing up on her TV show. It’s time cable viewers got to see some real experts.

It certainly pays to be Treasury Secretary if your former firm is a brokerage house, a new study says.

Goldman Sachs Group — formerly run by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Morgan Stanley, stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a $700 billion US bailout.

link to rest of article

linky?

No Bernanke we don’t know what the firesale price is

‘Cause he knows who’s gonna show up and bid *up* the prices?

Don’t forget today’s book salon with Bob Woodward
3:00pm Eastern
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008

Paulson “If this works the way it should work” Gosh that is comforting /s

What is bogus about reverse auctions is that Treasury could still pass on bids if it doesn’t like them and so restart the auction process until he finds a price it likes. But why go through all this? Effectively if Treasury is determining the price in the auction, it can determine the price in the absence of one. As I said, bogus.

this MUST BE SENT TO RACHEL ASAP…STAT

on TPM

oh BERNAKE …saying woe betide us

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh REED has HIM by the SHORT HAIRS

where is everybody? …………….lunch?

Paulson gulping water like it is VODKA

hahahahahahahahah

Paulson – we are going to be dealing with regulated financial institutions
When does this regulation start

BTW Paulson keeps talking about the paper, “assets classes” but what the government needs to buy are the mortgages. By establishing a price on these, the value of the rest can be determined. So all this talk about how many different kinds of paper is out there misses the point. Mortgages are a single asset class. The paper is multiple. We should be concentrating our efforts on the first not the second.

New Marcy post would be a good place to go.

Paulson …I HAVE NEVER BEEN FOR GOV INTRVENTION ,till now when i might lose some of my 800 million dollar personal fortune

Laura Flanders has another GRITtv installment across the hall!
GRITtv Live at Noon: Is the Bailout the Only Way Out?

yes

Paulson: I have not been for government intervention (which could have prevented the current mess) but exceptional times require exceptional means, i.e. intervention, i.e. give me the money.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh REED has HIM by the SHORT HAIRS

Sure did. He is exposing the crookery Hanky Panky is trying to get us to swallow.

Reed’s suggestion of a warrant to let the taxpayers (us) share in any upside in the assets the Treasury purchases is simple and appropriate, yet the Hankster won’t hear of it. Why?

Paulson – “if we were just going to big banks we would have designed a different plan” probably could have fit the plan on one sheet of paper

why…they are still greedy and wont share ANY

Elliott September 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 am 247
It certainly pays to be Treasury Secretary if your former firm is a brokerage house, a new study says.

Goldman Sachs Group — formerly run by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Morgan Stanley, stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a $700 billion US bailout.

Paulson: I have not been for government intervention (which could have prevented the current mess)

How these a-holes continue to hang onto this ‘less regulation’ mantra and not get continually slapped in the face with it is beyond me.

HOw are they NOT in Jail?

Shummer is setting up THE FALL

Paulson talking gibberish now

Paulson – a blizzard of words to say fuck the oversight

the more he talks…i see he is TOTALLY FOS

Does Paulson have a propeller under his chair to assist him as he flies by the seat of his pants with our $?

he has been there for 2 years…all of a sudden he got god

709!!!!! im holding my sides

you have got to read this

http://www.americablog.com/200…..iness.html

ohhhh go quickly…….oversight NOT SO MUCH

BTW an otherwise forgettable NPR story yesterday pointed out that Paulson is a Christian Scientist. Perhaps it’s just me but this gives an important window into his thinking: why he thinks, for example, that he is the best man to do this, why we should entrust him with $700 billion and unlimited authority, and why he was and remains at heart laissez-faire.

Paulson talking gibberish now

Paulson – a blizzard of words to say fuck the oversight

Had to combine 272 & 273, because you’re both right.

I’m always amazed at how these people serve up this bullshit with a straight face.

Oversight won’t slow the process down and granting the govt. warrants to participate in any upside from these assets is only fair.

Dole must be buying botox in 55 gal drums

she looks like somebody else,mebbe face transplant with Palins sister

what are their beliefs?

emptywheel across the hall with…
Bush Mouthpiece Admits: They’ve Been Sitting on this Plan

Dole…

Gah!
you.are.killing.me.

The point about the $64 trillion derivatives is a good one. This is a notional amount but it is a completely fantasy number. It corresponds to nothing in the real world and Bernanke acts like it is absolutely normal instead of just and purely insane.

Paulson now defending the derivatives market saying how it staves off collapses and failures.

Except of course this one where they are the vehicle sending the whole financial system over the cliff. Paulson I think was overpaid at Goldman Sachs by about $600 million give or take 50 cents.

he seems very short sighted,like 10 minutes

what are their beliefs?

You can go to wiki although their article is limited. Or you can think about Tom Cruise. My take is that they view the world as spiritual not material. The kicker here is that they view physical problems: medical or economic as capable of being overcome essentially by the power of the will. It’s a good religion for Type A personalties who have a “I got mine, Jack” attitude. It is what scares me about Paulson, that if he just wills it enough, if he goes for broke (with our money) he will succeed not because his ideas are sound but because he made it happen.

Blue Texan is upstairs with:
McCain To Put Palin On Chopper, “Raise Hell” In Washington

more of the same from the Clintons. All of this is based on non public disclosures from the Bush people. At leas the Clintons could have asked for public disclosure. Their temporary proposal is just what they think is safe doublespeak.