Zed

Is there going to be a thread for us to kibbitz on the House bankers hearing?

I think I’m calling this series “The Rahm Cycle” (Rahm of the Niebelung?)

I’m picturing Elmer Fudd and Buggs Bunny… ;)

Here in the Sonoran Desert, we call it the “Art of Becoming”. And in this instance, Ramulus Emannuela is the proverbial skunk in the woodpile.

Jaango

Oh it’s on.

yup

I predicted a couple of years ago that industry would start investing in democrats since the handwriting was on the wall and why not own both teams.

we really need to get public campaigns so the lawmakers have no concerns other then the people’s work

AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…

Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:

Great news but is this effort gunna help the fight in conference to restore aide to the states ‘cuz that’s what’s at stake here. For the Democrats to be fightin’ with the Blue Dogs in the House over this doesn’t seem to me to be advancin’ the cause which should be to be to pressure not only Snow, Collins and Specter but Lugar and Grassly also. The battle over restoring the cuts to states will determine whether or not the war with the fascists will continue or whether our system is gunna be jest part of the fossil record for martians archeologists.

So please explain how this effort by AUFC is not jest a diversion of resources at this moment.

KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION…REMEMBER IT’S TARGET SELECTION!!

my saying;

“power corrupts

absolute power stupidifies”

(opologies to dalberg)

hey, here’s an interesting factoid, the original quote goes as follows, notice my bold;

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

interesting that bold part isn’t it

p.s. I would fee better about this effort if it targeted Harry Reid too.

really sucks that pelosi won’t act to protect the american public but will to protect her turf. but that’s how it works, and in this case it works for us – so i’m all for it. good for pelosi.

Great men are almost always bad men.”

while that might be true I would also add;

“bad men are almost never great men”

for instance bush/cheney/rumsfeld/rush/hannity, etc

I can see it now. Rahm and and Nancy on WWE. The pay per view fees could solve the financial crisis overnight…

the fight in conference to restore aide to the states ‘cuz that’s what’s at stake here

ding, ding, ding!!!

I never even knew who Kantor was until a few weeks ago. He’s very near the top of my shitlist now.

But do you think targetingb him is mnoney well spent? Is it because he’s in a leadershiop position and if he gets enough grief about this he’ll pass on to his brave troops?

i’m listening now.

I believe the Wagner opera you’re thinking of was “Das Niebelungenrahm”.

Just read at Political Wire that Obama is having dinner with the Blue Dogs tonight. Would like to sit in on that one.

i read this a.m in my local paper (USA Today Lite) that our side isn’t faring too well on that state aid thing.

In Ludwig’s book, King of the Mountain, a study of all leaders of all countries in the 20th century, Ludwig has a category of leaders call visionaries, i.e. leaders who changed the entire nature of their countries while they are in office. It contains such leaders as Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, and FDR. Don’t have the book at hand, but I think my list is illustrative, i.e., most visionaries are highly negative, just like almost all utopias are dystopias. I think that’s a practical illustration of your point.

Me too.

Another recent post for your list, Jane, from last Sunday morning:

Jim Coopers Seems Only to Care About Jim Cooper’s Clout

Why does GS guy say he is not engaged in “tradional banking?” I thought they were now a “traditional” bank. Is he unaware of that?

Citizen Beerfart:

That’s what I’m worried about…the Pelosi’s and Reids ken martial resources ta protect their chairs on the deck of the Titanic but they can’t get it up ta save the fuckin’ boat. I’m tellin’ ya that if aid to the states is not restored there won’t be a second chance and our economic Potemkin Village will disappear.

ya,listening now
SUKKWADS

Operation mobilization…

I guess it time to hit the phones folks.

Rahm is a dirtbag. And while we’re on the subject of dirtbags, is Eric Cantor sorta creepy, or is it just me? Of course he’s stupid on pretty much every issue imaginable, but he’s also just plain creepy. Next time he’s standing behind Boehner in one of their pressers, check him out. I guarantee you’ll want to go take a shower…

GOLDMAN SUKS guy up now…defending himself and other fees

I guess it time to hit the phones folks

Should be

…it’s time…

The PPV fees would bail out the economy, and the sale of guacamole and chips would put the budget into surplus territory.

Hi, Norske! Good to see you back.

he looks like an EVIL Harold Loyd

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media…..oyd203.jpg

I’d like to see them go after Nelson (R-in-D’s-Clothing-Florida)

Meanwhile, OT, but funny, Palin’s boycotting CPAC apparently. Maybe she’s planning on running as a Dem in ‘12.

CEOs shorter testimony
WE ARE GREAT
we rule

…and we’re going to jail

And: not our fault, we’re part of the solution, not part of the problem.

for a long time…

Given the public mood right now, saying GS is not a “traditional bank” is not exactly a recommened strategy. Idiot.

RE: I think I’m calling this series “The Rahm Cycle” (Rahm of the Nibelung?) – MS. HAMSHER

MY COMMENT: OUCH! You sho’ can belt out one hell of a mean aria, sweet thang Brünnhilde! (LOL)

Thanks. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Quite a bit of tone-deafness. Maybe we should do a new project, buying hearing aids for all these execs?

ya think lightning can strike inside a building?……………..g

ohhhhh preffered stock…how quaint

That would lift the hearing aid business right out of the recession. There’s some economic stimulus…

Citizen Marion in Savannah:

It’s good ta be back…well I’d rather be in Negril or 20 years younger but the only choice I got anymore is the great philosophical one so, since I’m too Scandanavian ta be stupid I’ll do what the doctors tell me and stay right here.

150 million in intrest

LOL!! That’s it!!!!! I’ve been trying to put my finger on it,I really have. All i kept comming up with was some nerdy kid from high school that I didn’t like.

BOA=LOAN SHARKS

Execs: baffle them with numbers. As a former Wall Ster, I recognize the technique.

but HL was a peach…pure democrat

Notice the southern accent of the BOA guy, and remember that they are really NationsBank, HQ in NC, changed their name when they acquired BOA.

they are great and ohhh soooooooo worthy

“And we’re doing our part to rein in spending. As an example, I’ve switched from Dom to Cristal. That’s a real hardship…”

re zombie bank hearing. was away from the computer but listening… sounds like this one is going to be more of a pretense of a real hearing than usual. am going to try the geithner hearing for a bit – maybe since cspan is not covering it and there are some decent dems (sanders, feingold and whitehouse) capable of asking a good question if they want to there might be a little more insight to be gained? don’t know will give it a try and report back….

“…and my daddy married his sister, but it didn’t affect me…”

this guy is rolling in his grave

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

LOL! but i’m sure you never used it.

I think you’re right. These execs are much more accomplished flimflam artists than the pols who will be questioning them.

Actually, no, I didn’t (one project, refinancing of Mass 9s excepted). But you’ll have to take my word for it-no links. *g*

However, I observed others doing it frequently.

These banks are so great it is really surprising that the financial system collapsed on their watch and that while they continue to do a wonderful job the economy perversely continues to head to depression.

I think it would be downright rude to point out that all of these banks are broke, insolvent, and bankrupt and that they are sucking up huge amounts of money from the government and the Fed to hide that fact.

And it would be clearly be inappropriate to say that the reason that some of these banks want to repay TARP monies quickly is so that they can return to their old piratical ways at the earliest possible opportunity.

oh yah……thats how they bring in THE BIG BUX….like OLE RUSHBO/BUTT

Hugh February 11th, 2009 at 7:52 am
57

These banks are so great it is really surprising that the financial system collapsed on their watch and that while they continue to do a wonderful job the economy perversely continues to head to depression.
———–
707
THATS WHAT IM HEARING
bwahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH

You’re absolutely right. These institutions are great! And I’m sure glad that the House is giving them a forum for self-promotion.

Wasn’t Morgan Stanley the firm that paid the bonus early before BOA took them over?

IT IS JUST STUNNING
we are great,AND mighty

What they are all ignoring is that money is fungible (apologies to Sarah Palin). So while they aren’t using TARP for bonuses, they’re using other monies for them, which were freed up by TARP injections.

who can pierce this BULLLLCACKYon this panel

I can’t remember for sure, but I think you’re right.

So how much money did each of these guys make in compensation?

How much money did they lend say in the 4th quarter of say 2006 and 2007? An isolated number means nothing.

Did I mention that these companies are broke?

good ole barney frank – we can always count on him to be watching out for the little guy. /s

Did I mention that these companies are broke?

That would be a great first question. But you’d have to be more clever than any of the pols, since they haven’t marked their (laughingly-referred-to) portfolios to market.

Did I mention that these companies are broke?
—
but theyare still great and mighty
look at their interior decor
and airplanes

broke?

you mean like bankrupt? like chapter 11? like they would have to go into a receivership if we didn’t continue to bail them out?

Pandit: everything is different now.

i retructured the whole biz
i redecorated!

i came up with more questions for geithner this morning. the first one was: do you know for a fact if any of the big five banking institutions are without a taxpayer bailout currently solvent?

that would be Merrill Lynch. Morgan Stanley’s still looking for a buyer.

Franks: Why is no one on the committee listening to the blowhards?

hehehehehehehehehehe

who can stump,Stump?

why did WF need tarp funds?

BoA bought Merrill.

Amazing how these companies made profits last year despite being broke.

OMG, WF made a “dividend payment to taxpayers of over $300,000. Color me underwhelmed.

SUCH A DEAL!

head explodes

What is certain is that if the United States were broke and the bankers had all the money, they would surely be as generous to us as we have been to them. Wouldn’t they?

*Puke*

Correction, pointed out by Franks: $300,000,000.

Amazing how these companies made profits last year despite being broke.

Through the magic of “creative accounting”?!!

Have they computerized their books or are they still using crayolas

Amazing how these companies made profits last year despite being broke.

in the hole for a few hundred billion. profits of a few million. great roi. /s

btw – sanders is up at senate banking. ripping geithner – but not asking tough questions. still nice to hear geithner squirm a bit.

WellsFargo guy said they had 3 billion in profits

Merrill secretly moved up bonus payments: Cuomo

By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Merrill Lynch secretly accelerated bonus payments and gave at least $1 million to each of nearly 700 employees as the brokerage was amassing billions of dollars of losses, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a letter to Rep. Barney Frank.

more…

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh goody…get the$$$ back

sanders asked if geithner will be help to make sure who received the 3.2 trillion fed funds. geithner is pretending to answer. sanders calls him on it. geithner tosses it to bernanke.

sanders asks about investigations into criminal acts. geithner says blah blah. make sure resources are available blah blah.

highly paid/talented?

oh, well then. that’s ok then. /s

oh its COMPLICATED….(hard work)

i need to go puke

Historic note for context. Investment banks were partnerships until early 1970s. You were not allowed to be a member of the NYSE if you were a corp until MLPFS incorporated around then. So when Mack sez the compensation methods stem from historic patterns, that’s what he’s referring to. However, after having consulted my calendar, I find that is more than 3 decades ago, which might have been time to reconsider.

who is this TURKEY

Bachus: You guys are so great and are doing a really great job.

ALABAMA DESERVES HIM

The problem with Frank’s question is that this is not a matter of appearance. The interests of the CEOs is fundamentally at odds with those of pretty much anyone else, investors, the government, the public. They ran their companies into the ground precisely because they were more interested in the accumulation of their own private fortunes than anything and anyone else.

Let’s not forget they are just plain ordinary cheats as well, managing to keep funds in “Pending status” even when they are Directly Deposited. Those funds are always in pending status for 24 hours was their explanation, they just let one draw on them from the goodness of their hearts. I recently watched a fascinating series of transactions as they manipulated my account to make three transactions turn into NSF when I actually had the money in the bank. They wouldn’t refund the $35 per either, despite the fact this (NSF) hadn’t occurred before in over twenty years and it was an out and out swindle. I wish I had screenshots of that activity.

If you have a refund on a debit card and they tell you it will take 7 to 10 days, B of A will definitely take all 10 days to make it happen. Crooks! I wish I could find a decent bank to do business with.

cheerleader for masters of the universe

oh its COMPLICATED….(hard work)

Hmmm. Hard work…where have we heard that before! Oh, yeah, I thought the administration changed. That was a Bush phrase. Hey! That’s not allowed!

get out of BOA….total thieves,total

chimp admin=great memes

credit union,join one!

The interests of the CEOs is fundamentally at odds with those of pretty much anyone else, investors, the government, the public.

in this i primarily blame the lawmakers. imo it is their job to write laws so that incentives are created to align interests where possible. just the opposite has been done. this is a fundamental failure. that’s why transparency matters – not because it builds confidence, but because it helps align interests. and it is that alignment that in the long run builds trust.

Perhaps a credit union instead of a bank?

i’ve belonged to the same credit union since 1985. one credit card with them. when i needed a loan (mortgage) i went to them. still not bad – especially when i compare them to other institutions, but will not as good as it used to be when the branch managers made an effort to know every customer, even nobodies like me.

Neugebauer (R-TX) thinks the toxic asset problem has been fixed.

So now they are saying that they were on top of all this since the housing bubble burst in Augst 2007. If true, why did we have the meltdown in September 2008?

Thanks for the good advice. I appreciate it.

GS guy sez the mark-to-market. Heh. Now explains that market value is not what they’re marked to. Put that in your pipe & smoke it.

mark to myth.

Pandit: We have a duty of our shareholders to hold onto assets that are worthless.

Nice!

for him or his family ,does it matter?

ilike them

hahahahahaha
masters of the universe remark

from yesterday, so maybe you all have already seen this from the nyt: Bailout Plan: $2.5 Trillion and a Strong U.S. Hand

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and STEPHEN LABATON

WASHINGTON — The White House plan to rescue the nation’s financial system, announced on Tuesday by Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, is far bigger than anyone predicted and envisions a far greater government role in markets and banks than at any time since the 1930s.

Administration officials committed to flood the financial system with as much as $2.5 trillion — $350 billion of that coming from the bailout fund and the rest from private investors and the Federal Reserve, making use of its ability to print money.

Mindful of previous financial crises at home and abroad that became protracted because governments moved too slowly, Mr. Geithner pointedly criticized the Bush administration for not acting boldly and quickly enough.
But the initial assessment of the plan from the markets, lawmakers and economists was brutally negative, in large part because they expected more details.

ah yessssssss the credit cards

not mine. read it when i was doing regulation time line research, but don’t remember earliest reference.

oh good questions

Giving you credit for remembering it.

one reference: Marking to myth

i thought it was good one too. *g*

oh!!! one of the senators (don’t know which, will try to find out) used the term “zombie banks” twice!!!

geithner says he will work to prevent that.

me: hahaha

WAters is great

senate budget hearing: geithner making the case for massive spending now and then massive cuts to bring budget into line. didn’t hear any mention of increasing marginal tax rates on the rich or decreasing military budget.

One banker, didn’t catch who it was, sez they’re prepared for credit card losses this year. Prediction: he’s wrong.

It was Dimon.

apres le deluge

Maloney on the Merrill bonuses.

whitehouse up at senate budget. says there is 30 billion of deferred compensation on the books of the zombie (ok, he didn’t call them zombies) banks being bailed out.

MERRILL=FRAUDSTERS

Maloney uses up all her time with speech. No time for A.

MALONEY:MERRILL =LOOTERS

BOA guy sez law (contract) made Merrill do it.

contracts were PERFORMANCEbonuses?

There are plenty of ways in which the Obama administration has disappointed me; arguing for the Bush states secrets doctrine is probably the worst.

But I don’t believe Cooper. I don’t believe that the administration told him to vote against the stimulus bill. Yes, Rahm’s a DLC-er, but he’s not suicidally self-destructive.

this is fraud

Mack rewrites history. Sez banking regs dated from the 30s, whereas the problem was that those were dismantled.

oh noeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssss

Mack wants a coordinated superregulator. All the easier to bribe!

Hm. I might be confused… you’re working on the assumption that Cooper is telling the absolute truth that he was encouraged by an un-named source to oppose Pelosi. Not knowing Cooper at all, I don’t know.
If it’s true, we could be reviewing Scott Adam’s “Don’t step in the leadership” book for Rahm.

ya just scratch your head and wonder,just how the heck it happened//////snark

Dimon sez regulated part of the bus was much less bad than the unregulated part. Finally a slight command of the obvious.

707,thats why he gets the big bux….”G”

Mack wants a coordinated superregulator. All the easier to bribe!

exactly!!!

i’ve been making the argument (well trying to anyway) that from a simple systems control perspective one does not design in single points for failure of critical controls. overlapping and distributed is far more robust.

don’t see why this kind of thinking would not apply here as well.

just put back all the post Depression regulations that were put in place

More mumbo jumbo on market value of securities for which there is no market value.

These pols aren’t laying a glove on the execs.

Like having only one circuit breaker on a nuclear plant? And having a power outage at just the time the plant is melting down? Why isn’t that a good idea? /s

ding!

WF guy sez risk & reward got separated thru innovation. Who coulda guessed?

poor ass questioning

These pols aren’t laying a glove on the execs.

Well until they start talking about insolvency or nationalization, I doubt that they will.

I would also like someone to take down Dimon. JPMorgan is the king of derivatives. I would ask him what penalties would be appropriate to banks that did not unwind their derivative businesses.

no bankruptcy…pay up

good question……….crickets

btw – i updated the hearing list this morning with the house ag business meeting (starting at 1pm) to market up the derivative regulation bill.

Ha. Derivatives. Imagine asking a Q on as obvious a subject as that!

ack. that should have been “mark up” (not market). sorry, figures typing on auto and not doing a very good job of it.

got some chores to do…. i’ve got the senate budget hearing streaming through my living room stereo (which means i can hear it everywhere except the basement), so i’ll keep listening and report if i hear anything i think is significant.

we finally decided to CUT CONSUMERS OFF AT THE KNEES

I’m off to lunch. This hearing is pretty pitiful.

senate budget hearing is adjourned.

I know this is way EPU’d, and I’ll probably never get a satisfactory answer for this, but:

“…and our economic Potemkin Village…”

I don’t understand your reference to this. The “Potemkin villages” were fake villages put up by Potemkin to impress the russian Empress Catherine when she toured the Crimea.

I think I understand what you were trying to say, but I don’t get the fake village reference.

the fight in conference to restore aide to the states ‘cuz that’s what’s at stake here

ding, ding, ding!!!
The states fail…the country fails…the states are failing and $90 million will help not enough CA is down $40 billion, The scale is stupendous…laying of 20,000 at the state level and more will br cut at the 59 counties and and cities. It is a disater happening now.
Fuck the banks and wall street gamblers…Giethner has to go grt Krugman on the economic advisory team.