I heard this in the background today and am wondering if anybody else has picked up on the irony and hypocrisy of this statement? (I’m writing it instead of using a video because hearing it sometimes goes wayyyyy tooooo fast.)
“What gets people upset — and rightfully so — are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers,” the president said.
Am I the only one that thinks that The One is being incredibly hypocritical? Are we not rewarding failure right now by bailing these banks out? Why should The One be concerned about capping someone’s salary when there is NO CAP IN SIGHT on how much money is given to the banks that were supposed to release it to ease the credit crunch, and instead, bought each other and consolidated their power base. We are talking about the same executives that should have lost their jobs when their banks FAILED. Why are they still employed? Am I completely wrong about this view; am I?
The other point I wanted to make is that telling someone how much they can make at their job is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Un-AMERICAN! I thought we were a republic, not a third world dictatorship.
Under the new rules, companies that receive “exceptional assistance” from taxpayers may not pay any top executive more than $500,000 a year. Any additional compensation would have to be in restricted stock that will not vest until taxpayers have been repaid.
This goes beyond current rules, which bar such companies from taking a tax deduction for compensation above half a million dollars.
“We’re going to be demanding some restraint in exchange for federal aid — so that when firms seek new federal dollars, we won’t find them up to the same old tricks,” Mr. Obama said at the White House.
Can The Monster get some “exceptional assistance”? Can I? Can I?….for me and a few million of my closest friends……on second thought, nevermind…
It is the day after the Democrats in the House passed the $819B, (really $1.2 Trillion), stimulus/spending package with all of Nancy’s pet projects getting their share of our pie, and what do I wake up to? The DOW has given back half of it’s gains from yesterday (so far), and two articles that are surely going to make y’all feel warm and fuzzy today:
WASHINGTON (AP) – The $800 billion-plus economic stimulus measure making its way through Congress could steer government checks to illegal immigrants, a top Republican congressional official asserted Thursday.The legislation, which would send tax credits of $500 per worker and $1,000 per couple, expressly disqualifies nonresident aliens, but it would allow people who don’t have Social Security numbers to be eligible for the checks.
Undocumented immigrants who are not eligible for a Social Security number can file tax returns with an alternative number. A House-passed version of the economic recovery bill and one making its way through the Senate would allow anyone with such a number, called an individual taxpayer identification number, to qualify for the tax credits.
A revolt among GOP conservatives to similar provisions of a 2008 economic stimulus bill, which sent rebate checks to most wage earners, forced Democratic congressional leaders to add stricter eligibility requirements. That legislation, enacted in February 2008, required that people have valid Social Security numbers in order to get checks.
And an article that is probably more important considering everything that we have been learning about The Fed, The Treasury, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Timothy Geithner and the NY Bank cabal that is ruining our country:
New Bank Bailout Could Cost $2 Trillion(What? I thought the first $700B was to bailout the banks and buy up the bad assets according to Paulson. Exactly how long are we going to let them lie to us?)
WASHINGTON — Government officials seeking to revamp the U.S. financial bailout have discussed spending another $1 trillion to $2 trillion to help restore banks to health, according to people familiar with the matter.
President Barack Obama’s new administration is wrestling with how to stem the continuing loss of confidence in the financial system, as it divides up the remaining $350 billion from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program launched last fall. The potential size of rescue efforts being discussed suggests the administration may need to ask Congress for more funds. Some of the remaining $350 billion of TARP funds has already been earmarked for other efforts, including aid to auto makers and to homeowners facing foreclosure.
The administration, which could announce its plans within days, hasn’t yet made a determination on the final shape of its new proposal, and the exact details could change. Among the issues officials are wrestling with: How to fix damaged financial institutions without ending up owning them.
The aim is to encourage banks to begin lending again and investors to put private capital back into financial institutions. The administration is expected to take a series of steps, including relieving banks of bad loans and distressed securities. The so-called “bad bank” that would buy these assets could be seeded with $100 billion to $200 billion from the TARP funds, with the rest of the money — as much as $1 trillion to $2 trillion — raised by selling government-backed debt or borrowing from the Federal Reserve. (…and what is the interest going to be on $2T when $887B has $347Billion in interest?We should probably be talking about 5 future generations in debt to the Fed instead of just three.)
…
A Treasury spokeswoman said that “while lots of options are on the table, there are no final decisions” on what she described as a “comprehensive plan.” She added: “The president has made it clear that he’ll do whatever it takes to stabilize our financial system so that we can get credit flowing again to families and businesses.” (8 Trillion has gone into saving the banks and insurance companies so far with no effect; what is another $2 Trillion going to do?)
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that he wants to avoid nationalizing banks if possible. “We’d like to do our best to preserve that system,” Mr. Geithner said. But given the weakened state of the banking industry, with bank share prices low and their capital needs high, economists say the government probably can’t avoid owning at least some banks for a temporary period.(I suspect Geithner is lying, just like Paulson and Bernanke did.)
…
But buying common shares raises the likelihood that weaker banks will become largely government-owned. Bank share prices are so low that any sizable government investment in a bank would give the U.S. effective control of it.
The best approach is to have banks “under pretty heavy government control as briefly as possible — basically long enough to take off the bad assets and recapitalize — and sell the back to full private control as quickly as possible,” said Adam Posen, deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. (“Sell the bank to full private control as quickly as possible; does anybody really think that is going to happen?)
I am going to get into so much trouble for saying this out loud, but I am going to say it while I still can. So the question would be, when are Americans going to start marching peaceably in the streets requiring the resignation and prosecution of all these liars and thieves?
(P.S. I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, IBM, and Google corporations for their patronage. I would also like to thank NASA for their return visit. If you want to know what NASA is actually looking at, email me.)
Are you sick of people who have no clue what they are doing when it comes to the economy? If you are one of the millions that cannot stand to look at, nor listen to The One, you can go here for the transcript of yet another empty speech. I am forced to read this garbage as I cannot even look or listen to this idiot-child.
According the The One, we need Government to fix what ails us. A few people are against the idea of going even farther into the RED than we are already now. As one of millions of Americans that follows a “staying in the black” fiscal policy for my household, I am thinking that another 1.2 TRILLION of “magic money” is really not going to help our dollar, our lives, our children’s lives, our grandchildren’s lives, etc. on into infinity.
President-elect Barack Obama today warned of double digit unemployment and a “generation” of lost earnings if his upcoming economic stimulus plan is not enacted quickly by Congress. In a speech today at George Mason University in Fairfax, Obama warned that failure to pass the plan — expected to cost as much as $800 billion — means that “a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”
“For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied,” Obama said. “And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.”
The speech today marks the start of the formal campaign to move through Congress a stimulus package that Obama today portrayed in broad strokes as an effort to “retrofit America” — rebuilding infrastructure while also investing in alternative energy, modernizing schools and extending broadband Internet service to rural areas.
What about “Drill Here, Drill Now”? Does anybody really think that OPEC is going to let the price of oil stay around $40 a barrel for very long?
In his speech, Obama blamed the current situation on “profound irresponsibility” — from money centers like Wall Street to power centers like Washington — and confronted the critics of his plan directly. He acknowledged both the staggering cost of his proposals and the enormous debt it will impose on future generations. To assuage those concerns, Obama pledges “an unprecedented effort to eliminate unwise and unnecessary spending.”
He conceded what skeptics have already said: that the government has already spent a lot of money to turn around the economy with little apparent result.
For those of you that haven’t been following exactly how much cash; $7 TRILLION, not $350 Billion. Don’t believe me? Do the research….starting with Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros., Goldman Sachs, Wachovia, WaMu…
“We haven’t yet seen that translate into more jobs or higher incomes or renewed confidence in our economy,” he said.
But, he added, “that’s why the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan won’t just throw money at our problems — we’ll invest in what works. The true test of policies we’ll pursue won’t be whether they’re Democratic or Republican ideas . . . but whether they create jobs, grow our economy, and put the American Dream within reach of the American people.”
What American Dream? Owning your own home? Oh, that’s gone bye-bye for at least the next 4 generations. Think we are $6, $7, $8 Trillion in debt? Try $14 Trillion with an additional $1 Trillion every 15 months; then add everything that Paulson, Bambi, and the Dems want to add to that.
Obama did not unveil the plan itself today. In comments this week, he said that his staff and members of Congress were continuing to work out the final size of the proposal and its details.
No details today…working out the “final size”. If that does not frighten you, then the next paragraph should.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters today that House committees will consider the bill the week of Jan. 19 and she plans to hold a House vote during the last week of January. She said that she has instructed the House leadership team to “think differently” because Democrats now have a larger majority in Congress and control the White House.
“Now we have arrived. We have a big, strong, 80-vote majority,” she said, explaining it’s more important than ever to get things right rather than just passing them quickly.
Nancy having a “big, strong, 80-vote majority” is personally scaring the BEJESUS out of me and making me rethink my position about expatriating.
Now, here is a simple video that explains what the heck is wrong and what to do in simple, plain, english with no double-speak or lack of details, and I do not want to hear any tinfoil hat comments about Ron Paul. Do not shoot the messenger!
Government needs to GET OUT OF THE WAY of the Private Sector, and not condemn us and our children to poverty and higher taxes for decades to come…
On 12/21/08 I wrote “Are We As Dumb As Our Elected Officials?” about the Bailout $$ and the $$ the Fed has loaned to banks to the tune of 2 Trillion. A commenter (H/T to Kat In Your Hat) over at Puma Pac dropped some info about the following video….so, of course I went looking and found another interesting video to add to your knowledge of why the middle class is so strapped.
John Stossel has done a “Give Me A Break” segment on the disappearing bailout cash and also the trillions being loaned by the Fed that will not be spoken of. Please be aware that the Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, Elizabeth Warren is NOT a moron; for some reason 20/20 has decided to make her look like one. Also, please be aware that I am still researching the next series of articles, but every time I think I am starting to get a handle on the subject, another tentacle appears that I have to run down…
I decided to do some digging and found this UCBerkeley on YouTube. This video is very long, but well worth watching. Once Ms. Warren starts speaking about why the middle class is collapsing, you may not be able to stop watching. Pay Attention!; and if you have children, know someone who has children, are planning on having children; DOUBLEY-SO!
…or are we just too busy trying to keep roofs over our heads, and our children fed?
Do Not Be A Sheeple!!
Just asking, just want to know…
The Monster has had so much angst for days now that I have not been able to write anything until this evening when I read an article that was reminiscent of a post I wrote back on December 12th entitled “Is The Fed Following The Lead Of The One?” concerning the secrecy behind $2 TRILLION of emergency Loans.
I know you all remember the $700 Billion (TARP) Bailout for the banks that was rushed through the Congress against the wishes of most of the American Populace by the Republican President and Democratic Congress in keeping with the wishes of one Hank Paulson. I am still wondering how one man with, what looks like, a hidden agenda ended up panicking so many politicians. In my household there is a saying “panic will get you killed”, and I am thinking that there are more Americans than just me that believe that statement on some level. I am not panicking, I am getting angrier by the minute by an article I just read, and I believe that in the distraction of The One, The Rahm, The Blago, The Cheney, The Biden and the Dipsticks in Congress, y’all might just miss this:
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s something any bank would demand to know before handing out a loan: Where’s the money going? But after receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation’s largest banks say they can’t track exactly how they’re spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it. (emphasis mine)
If I was a Republican senator or congressman, I would be jumping on this issue like a rabid pitbull with lockjaw. Hint..hint…(Getting re-elected is easy for a Champion Of The People).
“We’ve lent some of it. We’ve not lent some of it. We’ve not given any accounting of, ‘Here’s how we’re doing it,'” said Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money. “We have not disclosed that to the public. We’re declining to.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, you just became the largest bank in the world and are loaning money to bankers who will not tell you how they are spending it. How does that make you feel? Do you think that is a better investment of your dollars, than say, your retirement or your child’s college education?
The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what’s the plan for the rest?
None of the banks provided specific answers.
I guess we should be calling in the marker, yes?
“We’re not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking,” said Barry Koling, a spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based SunTrust Banks Inc., which got $3.5 billion in taxpayer dollars.
Some banks said they simply didn’t know where the money was going.
A bank not writing the dollar amounts in and out? Say What? Does that sound as ridiculous to you as it does to me? I am calling bullsh** on that bold faced lie.
“We manage our capital in its aggregate,” said Regions Financial Corp. spokesman Tim Deighton, who said the Birmingham, Ala.-based company is not tracking how it is spending the $3.5 billion it received as part of the financial bailout.
The answers highlight the secrecy surrounding the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which earmarked $700 billion – about the size of the Netherlands’ economy – to help rescue the financial industry. The Treasury Department has been using the money to buy stock in U.S. banks, hoping that the sudden inflow of cash will get banks to start lending money.
There has been no accounting of how banks spend that money. Lawmakers summoned bank executives to Capitol Hill last month and implored them to lend the money – not to hoard it or spend it on corporate bonuses, junkets or to buy other banks. But there is no process in place to make sure that’s happening and there are no consequences for banks who don’t comply.
So a Bailout Bill was written for the express purpose of unfreezing credit markets and no provision to make sure that happened?
“It is entirely appropriate for the American people to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent in private industry,” said Elizabeth Warren, the top congressional watchdog overseeing the financial bailout.
But, at least for now, there’s no way for taxpayers to find that out.
It is 12:40 am Pacific time and I am watching the Asian markets drop like a rock and reading articles about European banks being nationalized because our Congress did not get the job done before the Asian Markets opened bolstering some kind of confidence in the markets.
The Asian and Europeans markets are off 1-2% as of this writing. If you want to watch it happen, go here. Click on “for the text version of this page, click here” to give you streaming text of what each tabbed region is currently doing.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers prepared to vote on Monday on a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt as the global financial crisis kept markets on tenterhooksby forcing European authorities to rescue troubled banks.
As investors around the world hung on every twist and turn in Washington, Belgian-Dutch group Fortis was nationalized and British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley faced the same fate.
Fortis is the first major European bank to buckle under the financial turmoil triggered in August last year by U.S. mortgage defaults, and an early relief rally in markets at news of progress in Washington soon fizzled out.
Stock markets in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong all retreated 1-2 percent, giving up initial gains led by financial shares. U.S. stock futures pointed to a drop at the opening bell as did European stock futures.
…snip
“It’s definitely moving toward Europe,” said Joseph Kraft, head of Japan capital markets at Dresdner Kleinwort. “It’s the beginning of the end and a necessary step, so we should see more institutions nationalized, absorbed or going into default.”
The latest upheaval will only worsen the severe strains in money markets as financial firms have all but stopped lending to each other, partly as they prepare to close their books on the third quarter on Tuesday, analysts said.
…snip
EUROPEAN BANK RESCUES
In a sign the credit crisis was spreading, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments nationalized financial group Fortis after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with government officials over the fate of one of Europe’s top 20 banks. (Make sure to click on credit crisis above and scroll down to the “U.S. Bailout Breakdown” showing the breakdown of 1.8 Trillion (700B is the start).
The governments agreed to inject 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion) into the banking and insurance company, which has 85,000 staff worldwide.
In London, regulators were also preparing to nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and Spanish bank Santander was in talks to buy its retail deposits and branch network.
In Germany, Hypo Real Estate struck a last-minute deal with a consortium of banks to resolve a financing squeeze, saying the credit facility was sufficient to cover its capital needs well into the future.
…snip
The U.S. banking system also faced more upheaval. Wachovia Corp is in talks with rivals to be taken over, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.
Citigroup Inc is among the parties in talks with Wachovia, the two sources said, and one source said Wells Fargo & Co was also in discussions.
This is probably what Paulson got down on his knees for last week at the White House. He knew this was coming if the Dems and Republicans could not get their act together and get this bill passed before the Asian Markets opened. It is a Global Economy after all.
Since I started writing this post the Hang Seng has dropped another 2% in 17 minutes. I am hoping that our market holds this morning or someone steps in and shuts it down before it implodes.
Oh hell, cruised around for more data for this article and the Hang Seng is down another 1% in the following 10 minutes. The European markets are in worse shape; 2-4% loss across the board.
The crash I am historically watching in real time is due to the myopic vision of our Congress who obviously does not understand economics very well. I know that they are making an effort to look like they are protecting the American Taxpayer, but at what cost? What is the NYSE going to do in a few hours? Everybody better start praying…
