Filed under: AIG, Al Gore, bank bailout, bernanke, Big Banks, cap-and-trade, carbon credit system, carbon credits, carbon dioxide, carbon rationing, Carbon Tax, citigroup, climategate, Co2, corruption, deception, Dictatorship, dotcom bubble, Economic Collapse, economic crisis, Economy, Empire, enron, environmental taxation, Federal Reserve, geithner, Global Warming, global warming hoax, global warming scam, Goldman Sachs, government crimes, henry paulson, Hoax, housing bubble, housing market, IPOs, ken lay, mafia, main street, mortgage, Robert Rubin, robert steele, scam, scandal, subprime lending, tarp, Taxpayers, US Economy, Wachovia, Wall Street | Tags: Ed Liddy, Gary Gensler, John thain, Joshua Bolten, mark patterson, Neel Kashkari, stephen friedman, william dudley
Goldman Sachs Next Scam: Carbon Credits
Cap and Trade is a Goldman Sachs and Enron Scam
Filed under: 2008 Election, Amero, angela merkel, asia, bailout, Bank of America, Big Banks, brad sherman, Britain, C-Span, Canada, Carroll Quigley, central bank, CFR, China, civil liberties, civil rights, CNBC, Congress, corporations, corporatism, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Europe, european central bank, european union, Fascism, Federal Reserve, France, g8, George Bush, Germany, glenn beck, global economy, global elite, global government, Globalism, gordon brown, Great Depression, Greenback, Habeas Corpus, henry paulson, Hitler, House, hyperinflation, imf, Inflation, interest rate cuts, internationalist, internationalists, job market, John McCain, liquidation, london, Martial Law, Media, middle class, morgan stanley, mortgage, national socialism, Nazi, New World Order, paris, Paulson, peter schiff, Police State, Posse Comitatus, rate cut, Sarkozy, Senate, single currency, socialism, sovereignty, Stock Market, tax, Taxpayers, unemployment, United Kingdom, US Economy, us sovereignty, US Treasury, Wall Street, World Bank, WW2, Zimbabwe | Tags: Ewald Nowotny, fiat currency, global currency, global currency system, global financial order, globalists, globalization, international order, Jean-Claude Trichet, Jeffrey Garten, John Mack, José Manuel Barroso, new global monetary authority, one world currency, Timothy Geithner, weimar republic, world economic crisis, world financial system, world monetary system, world money system, world order
Globalists Exploit Financial Meltdown In Move Towards One World Currency
Paul Joseph Watson & Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet
October 20, 2008
The swift and ruthless exploitation of the economic meltdown on behalf of globalists and central banks revolves around their drive to move towards a one world currency system and an unprecedented centralization of global financial power.
Statements on behalf of world leaders and central banks over the past two weeks have made it clear that the agenda to further collate economic power and control of currencies into the hands of the few is rapidly accelerating – all in the name of solving a financial crisis that was caused as a result of the same fiat money system that the elite themselves created and maintained.
The original Bretton Woods agreement in 1944, spurred by the depression of the 1930s and the second world war, created the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and laid down common standards for markets around the world. Now with the current financial crisis EU leaders see another opportunity to impose global regulations on sovereign economies.
As the crisis reached its peak at the end of September, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown led the call for “a new global financial order” in which the world financial system would be built around a centrally coordinated policy of international regulation.
Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John Mack has also called for a new global body to oversee the financial crisis, warning that it is like nothing he’s ever seen before.
The sentiment echoes those of elite figures such as CFR member Jeffrey Garten and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who have both recently called for a “new global monetary authority”, a de-facto global financial dictatorship, operating across borders and forcing nations and corporations to register and adhere to strict monitoring and regulations.
European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny told Bloomberg yesterday that the centrality of the U.S. dollar was in question and that a “tri-polar” global currency system is in development between the U.S., Asia and Europe to replace it.
This followed a call by French President to question whether a “worldwide currency system” should be introduced in response to the financial crisis.
“Another subject in tomorrow’s world is that of the great currencies. How many should there be? What should the agreement between these great currencies be? Should we organize a discussion? Should a country like India one day have a global currency?” Sarkozy told a news conference, reports Reuters.
Any discussion would be purely academic, as the ruling elite long ago decided to force a global currency down our throats. In fact, a global currency is at the very core of their plan to dominate the world. Control money and you control the destiny of states, you eliminate national sovereignty. “The control of money and credit strikes at the very heart of national sovereignty,” A.W. Clausen, president of Bank of America once observed.
As Georgetown professor and CFR historian Carroll Quigley noted, the goal of the banking families and their minions consists of “nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole… controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.”
It remains to be seen if the EU will realize its “solution” to the world economic crisis. In 2007, Robert Mundell, “the father of the euro,” noted that “international monetary reform usually becomes possible only in response to a felt need and the threat of a global crisis.”
Certainly, the elite cooked up an appropriate global crisis, now they will engage in a full court press to establish a global currency and eventually a global government.
EU Leaders Call for Global Currency
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
October 18, 2008
If we are to believe the Washington Post, French president and current EU leader Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to save us from nameless “freewheeling bankers and traders” who get the blame for the current economic crisis.
Sarkozy, Gordon Brown, and EU honcho José Manuel Barroso are talking up an international summit to discuss an “urgent overhaul of the world’s financial architecture,” that is to say a new Bretton Woods to establish a brand spanking new international economic order. Sarkozy has managed to grab George Bush’s ear and he will travel to Washington on Saturday to lay the groundwork for a conference.
In 1944, 44 allied nations met at a resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to fiddle with monetary standards, fix exchange rates, and create the IMF and World Bank. “Launching a remake of this old model — particularly in such a short time, with so many new participants — would represent a daunting challenge at any time, but particularly during the twilight of the Bush presidency and the crisis that is still jolting banks and stock markets around the world,” reports the Post.
Sarkozy and the EU leaders would have us believe this new Bretton Woods will call for “globally coordinated regulation of the financial industry, elimination of tax havens and a compensation system in which traders are not rewarded for dangerous risk-taking,” among other things.
It was the demise of Bretton Woods in 1971, insists European Central Bank president Jean- Claude Trichet, that led to the abandonment of regulation and subsequent market turmoil. “The explosion of the first Bretton Woods in a way could be interpreted as a rejection of discipline,” said Trichet, reports Bloomberg.
Gordon Brown, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, wants to fix that turmoil with a new spate of regulations aimed at international finance. On October 13 in London, Brown said “we must devise new rules for a world of global capital flows” just as the founders of Bretton Woods “devised rules for a world of limited capital flows.”
“We now have global financial markets but what we do not have is anything other than national and regional regulation and supervision,” Brown lamented from Brussels.
All of this is nonsense. It should be obvious by now the bankers engineered the current crisis in order to consolidate their hold on the global economy and all the talk about rogue traders, tax havens, and over-compensated executives is merely that — talk, or more specifically a sales pitch, a slick parlor trick devised to fool the commoners.
Glossed over in all the corporate media coverage is the global elite demand that a global currency be established. “Europe wants to present a blueprint for a new worldwide currency system,” reports the AFP in the video here.
“Another subject in tomorrow’s world is that of the great currencies,” Reuters reported Sarkozy musing on October 16. “How many should there be? What should the agreement between these great currencies be? Should we organize a discussion?”
Glenn Beck On One World Currency
“There is a global meltdown coming, it is a global depression, a One World Currency and One World Financial System is the ENDGAME! China said last week said they want One Global Currency, France said yesterday or the day before that they want One World Order a New World Order at the end of this event!” – Glenn Beck
CNBC: The New World Order is in effect on wall street
http://www.prisonplanet.com/calls-for-new-global-financial-order-increase.html
Tri-Polor Global Currency A Possibility
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps..&sid=apjqJKKQvfDc&refer=home
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=885494
G-8 Announces Global Summit On Financial Crisis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/a..t=Ah6wNwIX5KlE5B1m5eFoDXlbbBAF
Bush & Allies Pledge Joint Action On Economy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InFBnX87lzU
Brown: Use This Crisis To Create New Financial World Order
http://www.prisonplanet.com/..new-financial-world-order.html
Filed under: austria, Bank of England, BOE, Britain, Central Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, european union, Germany, global economy, gold, gold shortage, Great Depression, Greenback, hyperinflation, Inflation, Lehman Brothers, london, manipulated economy, manipulated prices, market manipulation, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, platinum, silver, silver shortage, south africa, Stock Market, switzerland, UBS, United Kingdom, US Economy, us mint, Wall Street | Tags: HBOS, Jurg Kiener, Krugerrand, run on banks
Gold Runs Out In Germany
Allan Hall
London Evening Standard
October 12, 2008
Risk-averse Germans are turning to gold in troubled times – but there’s none left.
German gold dealers say demand has skyrocketed this past week to 10 times normal so no more orders can be taken for the foreseeable future.
“The demand exceeds our capacities by a great deal,” said Heiko Ganss, head of precious metal company Pro Aurum.
“The requests cannot be satisfied right now,” a dealer from the Düsseldorf WGZ Bank confirmed.
“Demand for gold as a conservative investment has risen dramatically,” said stephan Henkel. “right now the demand is about 10 times as high as in normal times.”
Gold deliveries now take between four and six weeks.
The US mint said on Monday it had exhausted some of its supply of bullion coins and was struggling to meet demand for gold, silver and platinum.
South Africa’s Rand Refinery, producer of the world’s most popular gold bullion coin, the Krugerrand, temporarily ran out of the coins in August.
Londoners Queue-Up on Sidewalk to Buy Gold in Rush for Money Haven
Bloomberg
October 9, 2008
Londoners stood in line outside the largest gold coin and bar retailer in the city’s West End shopping district, clogging the lobby and trading among themselves as they sought a safe haven for their money.
“People want something tangible, something they can hold on to, something the banks can’t give them,” said Chris Burrow, the owner of ATS Bullion, the gold dealer in the Strand that traces its roots back to the 17th century. “There’s no time to breathe. We’re rushed off our feet. Staff are exhausted.”
As U.K. stocks tumbled to a five-year low, paced by financial-services companies, gold advanced. Since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Sept. 15 filing for bankruptcy protection, exacerbating the worldwide credit crisis, gold for immediate delivery has jumped 19 percent.
“Investors are rushing to safe havens and physical gold seems to be the favorite one,” said Frederic Panizzutti, a senior vice president at MKS Finance, one of Switzerland’s four bullion refiners.
British government action to prop up the banking industry has failed to reassure investors. The U.K. on Oct. 8 promised 50 billion pounds ($86 billion) of capital to banks, the same day the Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point. Last month, the government brokered a takeover of HBOS Plc, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, and seized control of Bradford & Bingley’s mortgage division.
Austria Witnesses New Gold Rush
BBC
October 12, 2008
The financial crisis is prompting people to look for safer forms of investment than stocks and shares.
The interest in gold coins is so great that many of the world’s major mints are struggling to keep up with demand, including the Austrian Mint, which produces the Vienna Philharmonic – one of the best-selling bullion coins worldwide.
Sales of Vienna Philharmonic gold coins have gone up by more than 230% since last year.
Kerry Tattersall, the director of marketing at the mint, says production has gone into overdrive.
“We are running at present something like three shifts on all of the machines, on the presses, producing both gold and the silver bullion coins.
Read Full Article Here
Central banks all but stop lending gold
Javier Blas
Financial Times
October 8, 2008
Central banks have all but stopped lending gold to commercial and investment banks and other participants in the precious metals market, in a move that on Tuesday sent the cost of borrowing bullion for one-month to more than twenty times its usual level.
The one-month gold lease rate rocketed to 2.649 per cent, its highest level since May 2001 and significantly above its five-year average of 0.12 per cent, according to data from the London Bullion Market Association.
Gold lease rates for two, three, and six months and for a year also jumped to levels not seen in the last seven years.
Traders said the jump reflects the fact that central banks — mostly European — have almost completely stopped lending gold in the last few days and are not rolling forward old leases after maturity. This is because of fears that some borrowers might not repay their bullion loans if they are engulfed by the financial crisis.
“A number of central banks have been cutting back on their gold lending,” said Tom Kendall, a precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi in London.
John Reade, a commodities strategist at UBS, added that there had been a lot of talk about some central banks being unwilling to lend their gold because of a redoubled focus on the risk of borrowers not returning it.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/99680-..ces-tell-two-different-gold-stories
Blatant Banker Manipulation Of Gold Prices
http://www.prisonplanet.com/blatant-banker-manipulation-of-gold-prices.html
No Mass Mania for Gold Yet – Less than 1% of Public in Western World Have Invested in Gold
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1224161100.php
Spot Gold Price Is Now Meaningless
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle%2Barticleid_2713209.html
Gold expected to rally above $1000 in Q1 2009
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b..o-rally-above-1000-in-q1-2009.aspx
What the Pros Say: All that Glitters is Gold
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27095525
Kiener: Gold Prices To Double On Paper Market Default
http://www.prisonplanet.com/kiener-..o-double-on-paper-market-default.html
Filed under: 2-party system, AIG, bailout, Bank of England, Bear Stearns, Big Banks, Britain, Central Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Derivatives, Dictatorship, Dollar, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Europe, european union, fannie mae, Fascism, Federal Reserve, foreclosure, freddie mac, G7, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cuts, Japan, JP Morgan, liquidation, london, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Nancy Pelosi, national socialism, nationalization, neocons, Neolibs, Paulson, rate cut, real estate, scotland, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, switzerland, Taxpayers, UBS, United Kingdom, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street | Tags: Nouriel Roubini, run on banks, swiss central bank
Potential Cost For Bailout is $5 Trillion or $43K Per Household
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
October 15, 2008
The total potential cost of the financial bailout to the U.S. taxpayer is already rapidly approaching $5 trillion, over seven times as much as the meaningless $700 billion bailout bill figure.
Analysts have previously marked out the $5 trillion figure as the actual cost, now those predictions are becoming demonstratively accurate.
Meanwhile, Hank Paulson has defended government intervention, stating “There’s no doubt that the way to get the maximum bang for the taxpayers here was to invest in banks.”
Based on this Reuters summary and the sources linked within the table, here is a breakdown of the bailout’s cost to taxpayers so far.
|
Bailout Type
|
Cost To Taxpayers |
|---|---|
|
|
$300 billion |
|
|
$250billion |
|
|
$25 billion |
|
|
$150 billion |
|
|
$700 billion+ |
|
|
$29 billion |
|
|
$200 billion |
|
|
$85 billion (+ extra request of $35 billion) |
|
|
$300 billion |
|
|
$4 billion |
|
|
$87 billion |
|
|
$200 billion+ |
|
|
$50 billion |
|
|
$144 billion |
| POSSIBLE TOTAL | $2.56 trillion+ |
| NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS PER U.S. CENSUS |
105,480,101 |
| POSSIBLE COST PER HOUSEHOLD |
$24,26
|
In addition, the U.S. government has said it will temporarily guarantee $1.5 trillion (£856 billion) in new senior debt issued by banks, as well as insure $500 billion (£285 billion) in deposits in non-interest accounts, mainly used by businesses.
These figures take the potential cost to $4.559 trillion+ – or $43, 221 per household.
Furthermore, when you account for the fact that the credit default swap market is around $62 trillion, and that derivatives worldwide are worth between between $1 and $2 quadrillion, the numbers start to become meaningless.
Fed To Offer Unlimited Dollars
Bloomberg
October 13, 2008
The U.S. Federal Reserve led an unprecedented push by central banks to flood financial markets with dollars, backing up government efforts to restore confidence in the banking system.
The ECB, the Bank of England and the Swiss central bank will offer unlimited dollar funds in auctions with maturities of seven days, 28 days and 84 days at a fixed interest rate, the Washington-based Fed said today. The Bank of Japan may introduce “similar measures.’’ The dollar declined and some money-market rates fell.
Policy makers from the Group of Seven nations pledged at the weekend to take “all necessary steps’’ to stem a market panic after the MSCI World stock index plunged 20 percent last week. Central banks last week cut interest rates in tandem for the first time since 2001, the U.S. plans to buy $700 billion in distressed assets from banks and in Europe, the U.K. is leading a push to keep lenders afloat with taxpayers’ money.
“By providing unlimited dollar funds they are acting on the back of the G-7 plan to ensure the system is fully liquidized,’’ said Lena Komileva, an economist at Tullet Prebon Plc in London. “We’re going to see even more liquidity provided and more aggressive rate cuts are coming.’’
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49F97920081017
Millionaire Hedge Fund Trader Thanks Idiot Traders
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/18/banking-useconomy
Treasury Black Out Key Parts Of Bailout Contracts
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/..136030.html
Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking
Homeless Numbers Alarming
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-21-homeless_N.htm
House prices ‘to plummet by 35%’ – the biggest ever fall in Britain
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/..–biggest-fall-Britain.html
Royal Bank Of Scotland Nationalized
http://business.timesonline.co…g_and_finance/article4932250.ece
Switzerland Pumps Billions Into Bank System
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081016/eu_switzerland_banks.html?printer=1
UBS Gets Bailout From Swiss National Bank
http://www.chicagotribune.com..7,0,4057853.story
Dow Jones Bloodbath Mirroring 1929 Rout
http://www.prisonplanet.com/dow-jones-bloodbath-mirroring-1929-rout.html
Two More Banks Closed By Regulators
http://money…00397x1211373371x1200675175
U.S. Stocks Plunge Most Since Crash of `87 on Recession Concern
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid..er=home
Roubini Sees Worst Recession in 40 Years, Rally’s End
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?..efer=home
JPMorgan Responsible for the Destruction of U.S. Financial System
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6826.html
World May Be Lucky to Get Worst Recession Since 1983
http://www.bloomberg.com..OAeSWBCY&refer=home
Stocks On Track For Worst Year Since 1937
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6050283.html
Former Fed chief says U.S. now in recession
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49D2QB20081014
Filed under: 2008 Election, al-qaeda, bailout, Big Banks, bin laden, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, John McCain, Media, mortgage, neocons, real estate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, tax, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street, War On Terror | Tags: run on banks
John McCain: I’ve Always Aspired To Be Dictator
McCain Proposes $1 Trillion Bailout Bypassing Congress
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/10/03/msm-mccain-billions/
McCain’s Last Hope Is Osama Bin Laden
http://www.prisonplanet.com/mccains-last-hope-is-osama-bin-laden.html
Pro-McCain Group Offering Cash For Frats To Demonstrate At VP Debate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008.._n_130827.html
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, bailout, Barack Obama, bernanke, Big Banks, brad sherman, Britain, C-Span, California, Chicago, China, chris dodd, citigroup, CNBC, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Europe, european union, Fascism, FDIC, Federal Reserve, food crisis, food market, food prices, food shortage, foreclosure, foreign banks, foreign investors, France, general motors, George Bush, Germany, global economy, Globalism, GM, Goldman Sachs, google, Great Depression, Greenback, Harry Reid, henry paulson, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cuts, Japan, jim rogers, joe biden, John McCain, Larry Kudlow, left right paradigm, liquidation, london, marc faber, middle class, mortgage, national socialism, nationalization, neocons, Neolibs, obama, Paulson, Propaganda, Psyops, putin, rate cut, real estate, Russia, Senate, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, US Treasury, Wachovia, Wall Street, wells fargo | Tags: earmarks, financial markets bill, financial terrorism, great britain, hr 3997, mental health bill, pork, pork barrel, pork barrel earmarks, Pork Barrel Spending, shanghai
Bailout Bill Will Help Chinese Banks, Foreign Banks
Congress Approves Bailout Bill
AP
October 3, 2008
With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush for his certain signature.
The final vote, 263-171 in the House, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than it garnered on Monday. The vote capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act.
Dow plummets when bailout passes
List of Representatives who Switched from “Nay” to “Yea”
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=1087#.
Food Riots Have Already Begun as Global Grain Prices Skyrocket, Supplies Dwindle
http://www.naturalnews.com/024372.html
California may need emergency $7 billion bailout
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49229820081003
Hoax Bank Closure Story Peddles Bailout Propaganda
http://www.prisonplanet.co..e-story-peddles-bailout-propaganda.html
Fed Officials Considering Further Rate Cuts: Report
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26986621
Former Head of Fed’s Open Market Operations Says Bailout Might Make Things Worse
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2..ad-of-feds-open-market.html
Bailout Would Only Prolong Crisis: Jim Rogers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49SYpcaWHTE
Wells Fargo Buys Wachovia Nixing Citi Deal
http://biz.yahoo.com/..ls_fargo_wachovia.html?.v=8
Report blames U.S. trade gap for 5.6 million lost jobs
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4913E220081002
Putin blames US for world economy crisis
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=71042§ionid=351020602
Bailout bill is 451 pages long
http://news.yahoo.com/s/a..cnWOA64ch9GkocOsJ0lJv24cA
Who’s profiting from the crisis? Goldman Sachs, of course
http://www.marketwatch.c..CDCB7}&print=true&dist=printMidSection
Paulson Bank Rescue Proposal Is ’Crazy,’ O’Neill Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne..mClVjevU&refer=home
France Wants $500B Rescue For Europe
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article4864032.ece
Faber: U.S. Bailout Won’t Stop Slowdown
http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=25070&t=1&c=35&cg=4&mset=1011
IMF Adds Pressure On Congress To Pass Bailout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/01/banking.useconomy
Google stock plunges more than 93% in “erroneous trading”
http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-39543-118.html
Ford & GM Auto Sales Drop
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_o..OmxGcLJO8EjS5v24cA
Chicago woman buys a house for $1.75
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=71130§ionid=3510213
Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/pers..dex.html?iref=mpstoryview
US economic dominance over – Russia
IMF Warned Of Full-Blown Crisis
September’s ISM Manufacturing Index “Screams Recession,” Economists Say
SEC Extends Ban On Short Selling
Brazilian president: Brazilian economy solid, U.S. should do their homework
Western World Will Become Less Wealthy
’Car sleepers’ the new US homeless
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, big bankers, christopher dodd, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, fannie mae, FEC, freddie mac, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, John McCain, left right paradigm, lobbyists, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, neocons, Neolibs, obama, real estate, Senate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street | Tags: Davis Manafort, federal election commission, Rick Davis
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac execs Paid Off Obama for LAST THREE Years!
Daily Musings
September 18, 2008
Campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made to Barack Obama may backfire if the Democratic presidential hopeful wages an aggressive campaign to cast blame on rival John McCain and the Republicans in Congress for the mortgage-related losses that forced the U.S. Treasury to take over the quasi-governmental mortgage giants.
A review of Federal Election Commission records back to 1989 reveals Obama in his three complete years in the Senate is the second largest recipient of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae campaign contributions, behind only Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the powerful chairman of the Senate banking committee. Dodd was first elected to the Senate in 1980.
According to OpenSecrets.com, from 1989 to 2008, Dodd received $165,400 in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions, including contributions from PACs and individuals, followed by Obama, who received $126,349 in such contributions since being elected to the Senate in 2004.
A Freddie Mac Money Trail Catches Up With McCain
Newsweek
September 27, 2008
Few advisers in John McCain’s inner circle inspire more loyalty from him than campaign manager Rick Davis. McCain and his wife, Cindy, credit the shrewd, and sometimes volatile, Republican insider with rescuing the campaign last year when it was out of money and on the verge of collapse. As a result, McCain has always defended him—even when faced with tough questions about the foreign lobbying clients of Davis’s high-powered consulting firm. “Rick is a friend, and I trust him,” McCain told NEWSWEEK last year.
Last week, though, McCain’s trust in Davis was tested again amid disclosures that Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giant that was recently placed under federal conservatorship, paid his campaign manager’s firm $15,000 a month between 2006 and August 2008. As the mortgage crisis has escalated, almost any association with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae has become politically toxic. But the payments to Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, are especially problematic because he requested the consulting retainer in 2006—and then did barely any work for the fees, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement who asked not to be identified discussing Freddie Mac business. Aside from attending a few breakfasts and a political-action-committee meeting with Democratic strategist Paul Begala (another Freddie consultant), Davis did “zero” for the housing firm, one of the sources said. Freddie Mac also had no dealings with the lobbying firm beyond paying monthly invoices—but it agreed to the arrangement because of Davis’s close relationship with McCain, the source said, which led top executives to conclude “you couldn’t say no.”
Filed under: bailout, bernanke, Big Banks, Central Banks, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, european central bank, Federal Reserve, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, house senate, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cuts, liquidation, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, Paulson, rate cut, real estate, Ron Paul, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, tax, Taxpayers, Uncategorized, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street
Banks borrowed $940 Billion Last Week
Bank Borrowing From Fed Already Exceeded Bailout Total in Last Week
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 26, 2008
U.S. banks borrowed $188 billion per day on average in the latest week from the Federal Reserve, meaning that the Fed loaned out more money than the Treasury’s proposed bailout in just one week, still barely managing to keep the economy afloat.
Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday the total amount banks borrowed nearly quadrupled the previous record of $47.97 billion per day notched just the week before, Reuters reports.
$188 billion per day on average over the course of five days means that the total amount borrowed from the Fed in the week ending the 24th September stood at $940 billion – a figure that easily eclipses the proposed $700 billion bailout.
As we have already reported, the $700 billion number was simply pulled out of thin air by the Treasury.
The Treasury’s fact sheet about the bailout states, “The Secretary will have the discretion, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to purchase other assets, as deemed necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets.”
This gives the government and the Federal Reserve carte blanche to do whatever they want to long as it is done in the name of stabilizing financial markets, they can nationalize any company or industry and use taxpayer money, above and beyond the initial $700 billion, for whatever purpose is deemed necessary, without any oversight. Paulson’s bailout plan is also unreviewable by any court, it will remain in perpetuity.
Paulson’s draft bailout plans says: “The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time.”
As Chris Martenson writes, “This means that $700 billion is NOT the cost of this dangerous legislation, it is only the amount that can be outstanding at any one time. After, say, $100 billion of bad mortgages are disposed of, another $100 billion can be bought. In short, these four little words assure that there is NO LIMIT to the potential size of this bailout. This means that $700 billion is a rolling amount, not a ceiling.”
If the bailout bill passes it is just the beginning of something much larger. $700 billion is a meaningless figure that will do nothing to shore up the economy. It is not a bailout, it is a giveaway that will allow insiders to purge themselves of bad bets and free to continue where they left off. The real reason for the bill is the unprecedented transfer of power to the Executive Branch and into the hands of the global corporate elite.
Fed Pumps $630 Billion Into Global Banking System
Bloomberg
September 29, 2008
The Federal Reserve will pump an additional $630 billion into the global financial system, flooding banks with cash to alleviate the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression.
The Fed increased its existing currency swaps with foreign central banks by $330 billion to $620 billion to make more dollars available worldwide. The Term Auction Facility, the Fed’s emergency loan program, will expand by $300 billion to $450 billion. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are among the participating authorities.
The Fed’s expansion of liquidity, the biggest since credit markets seized up last year, comes as Congress prepares to vote on a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. The crisis is reverberating through the global economy, causing stocks to plunge and forcing European governments to rescue four banks over the past two days alone.
“Today’s blast of term liquidity will settle the funding markets down, and allow trust to slowly be restored between borrowers and lenders,’’ said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. On the other hand, “the Fed’s balance sheet is about to explode.’’
Stocks around the world plunged the most since 1997 today and credit markets deteriorated further as authorities scrambled to save more financial institutions from collapse.
Bailout by Stealth
While the public is distracted by the “bailout bill” and its rejection, trillions are pumped in to keep financial balloon inflated
James Corbett
The Corbett Report
September 30, 2008
The media is falling all over itself to report on every minutiae of the so-called Wall Street “bailout bill” and its rejection by Congress yesterday (just a few of the thousands of examples can be seen here and here and here and here). And why not? The media’s breathless coverage of the bill has produced a furious backlash by the public and hysteria on Wall Street in a self-justifying feedback loop that makes the media attention seem merited.
The startling truth which the controlled corporate media is not reporting, however, is that a bailout is actually taking place right now, completely out of the public spotlight. This program has already pumped trillions of dollars into Wall Street (compared to the mere $700 billion proposed in the legislation that the media is focusing on) to help prop up the faltering investment banks and promises to pump in even more, every dime of it to the detriment of the taxpayer though the public will have no stake in its success. Why, then, is this program not being talked about in the media?
Slipping under the radar last week amidst the hullabaloo in Washington over the bailout bill was this story noting that in the past week alone, the Federal Reserve had pumped an astonishing $188 billion per day into the system in the form of emergency credit. This means that in just four days, the Fed injected as much money into the system as the entire $700 billion bailout proposal. After the proposal was rejected, the Fed responded by immediately announcing it would pour another $630 billion into the global financial system.
The Federal Reserve, of course, is America’s central bank and although the above story conjures the reassuring image of a national bank lending out some of its vast reserves to help Wall Street weather the storm, the fact is that the Federal Reserve is not Federal and has doubtful reserves. In fact, the trillions of dollars that have been lent to the banks in the last few weeks were created out of nothing by the privately-owned Federal Reserve. When the Federal Reserve “lends” money to a bank through repurchase agreements (repos), credit auction or other method, it is not actually lending out money from its vaults. It is simply creating the money it “lends” out as electronic credits created in the recipient banks account. It is literally money out of thin air.
That the general public is on the hook for this money created out of nothing is not an exaggeration. It is paid for in a dimly-understood mechanism often known as the “inflation tax.”
Inflation is nothing more than an indication that the ratio of money to products that can be purchased with that money has been increased. Since the overall number of dollars has gone up without any corresponding increase in economic production (as happens when the Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air), the value of each individual dollar goes down. That means that the value of the money in each individuals’ bank account (not to mention their pension and social security dividends) can be reduced simply by the flick of a pen of a Federal Reserve paper-pusher. (Unless of course that individual just happens to be a billionaire investment mogul or a Vice President who can divest themselves of U.S. dollars in time for this inflation not to affect them.) This is sometimes known as an inflation tax because its overall effect is the same as if the government came in and took that value out of the individuals’ bank account. Watch Ron Paul explain the inflation tax in the video below:
The most insidious part of this inflation tax is that the inflation does not begin until the new money begins to circulate in the system. In other words, the first person (or, more likely, giant corporate conglomerate) to use the money receives its full value, while those at the bottom of the pyramid retrieve the diminished returns of a devaluing dollar.
Why, then, is the public not furious about this stealth bailout, now taking place at the blistering pace of nearly $1 trillion a week, and all to the taxpayer’s detriment? The obvious answer is that the media is not whipping the public into a frenzy about it, instead focusing its attention on a $700 billion program and allowing the public to feel like they scored a blow against Wall Street when the program gets rejected. If so, it’s time the public got wise to how the system is really being run by and for the benefit of private bankers and at the expense of the average taxpayer. Otherwise, the fleecing of the public will continue unabated even as the public thinks they’ve won the battle.
Filed under: bailout, Bank of America, Barney Frank, Big Banks, China, Congress, credit cards, Credit Crisis, Daily Show, David Rockefeller, DEBT, Derivatives, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Fascism, Federal Reserve, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, Harry Reid, henry paulson, House, housing market, Hugo Chavez, hyperinflation, Inflation, jon stewart, JP Morgan, Larry Kudlow, Lehman Brothers, liquidation, lou dobbs, Media, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Nancy Pelosi, national socialism, nationalization, Nazi, Neolibs, Paulson, putin, real estate, rockefeller, rothschilds, Russia, Senate, socialism, steven colbert, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, US Treasury, Venezuela, Wall Street | Tags: dexia, run on banks
Bailout Bill Fails But May Revive And Pass Anyways
Bloomberg
September 30, 2008
The U.S. Senate will try to salvage a $700 billion financial-rescue package after the measure was defeated in the House of Representatives. The lawmakers won’t have a lot of room to negotiate.
While the legislation will need to be tweaked enough to win over reluctant House Republicans, the lawmakers will risk losing votes from Democrats if they veer too far from the delicate compromise that congressional leaders hammered out with the U.S. Treasury.
“They’re not going to totally revamp the bill,’’ said Pete Davis, president of Davis Capital Investment Ideas in Washington, who spoke to House and Senate leaders yesterday. “They’ll make some minor changes and pass it. This is all about political cover.’’
Paulson: King Paulson or Convict Paulson
Recent News:
Bank of America to close credit cards for approximately 60% of customers? (by Oct 1)
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1933222.html
House Clears $25 Billion For Carmakers
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83bfe68c-8a8f-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html
Home builders will ask for $90 billion bailout
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09..ion=2008092608
I’ve watched the economy for 30 years. Now I’m truly scared
http://www.guardian.co…/globaleconomy.creditcrunch
Treasury explains how it came up with $700 billion: We just wanted ‘a really large number.’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/24/treasury-large-number/
Stocks rallied a day after failed $700B wallstreet bailout
http://money.cnn.com/2008..?postversion=2008093009
US will lose superpower status, claims German minister
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/..-superpower-status-crows-Germany.html
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/coming_derivatives_crisis_150.html
China Banks Told To Stop Lending To U.S. Banks
http://www.reuters.com..PEK16693720080925
Refusing Dollar as “World Currency” Inevitable
http://capital.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1304435〈=EN
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news..efer=home
Putin Promises $50Bln For Banks
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/371301.htm
Dexia bank gets multi-nation $9.2B bailout
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080930/eu_belgium_dexia.html
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Declined 16.3% in July
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?.d=aEyKpTpk90C0&refer=us
http://newsfromthewest.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-owns-federal-reserve.html
Chavez says U.S. can’t fix financial crisis
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLQ4692420080926
The Hanky Panky Banking Bailout Bill
Rep. Kaptur responds to Bush’s address on failed bailout bill
RBS will get ‘billions’ in US bail-out of economy
Jobless Claims Pushed To 7-Year High
Dow Drops 777 Points
680% Inflation?
Nasdaq tanks, down 6%
California Home Prices Drop Record 41% Amid Defaults
Rumors Trigger Bank Run In Hong Kong
New Home Sales Plunged 11.5% to 17-Year Low
Wachovia Stock Sinks On WaMu News
Filed under: AIG, bailout, Bank of America, bear sterns, Big Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Fascism, FDIC, Federal Reserve, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, liquidation, Merrill Lynch, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, real estate, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, Wall Street, Wamu, washington mutual | Tags: failed banks, J.P.Morgan Chase, run on banks
WaMu: The Biggest Bank Collapse In U.S. History
TOP News
September 26, 2008
In what is being termed as the biggest bank collapse in US history, J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. will acquire massive branch network and troubled assets from Washington Mutual Inc. for $1.9 billion, as per a deal arranged by federal regulators. Under the deal – the latest stunning development in the ongoing credit crisis – J P Morgan Chase will acquire all the banking operations of Washington Mutual, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.
Washington Mutual had been one of the most hard-hit banks during the financial crisis after it bet big, like many of its competitors, on the strength of the housing market – only to see its fortunes sour as housing prices fell. Many analysts were speculating that the endgame for the embattled savings and loan was imminent, particularly after ratings agency downgrades this week, and a freefall in the company’s stock.
As a result of the Washington Mutual acquisition, the New York City-based J P Morgan Chase – after its mid-March acquisition of investment bank, Bear Stearns – will now boast some 5,400 branches in 23 states. “We think it is a great thing for our company,” said Jamie Dimon, J P Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO, in a conference call with investors late Thursday night.
Federal regulators who helped in finalizing the deal said the transition for Washington Mutual customers would be “seamless.” In a statement, FDIC Chairman, Sheila Bair, said: “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning.”
The acquisition might prompt criticism from J P Morgan Chase rivals about preferential treatment by the government. For instance, no government assistance was extended to Bank of America Corp. in its recently announced purchase of Merrill Lynch. However, in the case of Washington Mutual acquisition, there were presumably other bidders who, in comparison to J P Morgan Chase, offered better deal for the deposits and branches.
The fall of Washington Mutual is the latest turn in a dizzying fortnight that has seen the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and the near collapse of insurance giant AIG (AIG, Fortune 500). In fact, Washington Mutual has set a ‘record’ of sorts – it is the 13th bank to fail so far this year, and earns the title of the country’s ‘largest bank failure’ by assets on record, surpassing Continental Illinois’ $40 billion in assets when it failed in May of 1984.
Washington Mutual Is The 13th Bank To Fall This Year
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html
Filed under: bailout, Bank of America, bear sterns, bernanke, Big Banks, Chile, Dictatorship, Empire, Fascism, FDIC, Federal Reserve, George Bush, Goldman Sachs, henry paulson, housing market, Lehman Brothers, liquidation, Merrill Lynch, middle class, morgan stanley, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, neocons, New York, Paulson, qui bono, real estate, socialism, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Treasury, White House, writedown | Tags: conflict of interest, run on banks
Paulson’s former firm to be among largest beneficiaries of bailout
John Bryne
Raw Story
September 23, 2008
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.
“Its benefits, in its current form, will be largely limited to investment banks and other banks that have aggressively written down the value of their holdings and have already recognized the attendant capital impairment,” Jeffrey Rosenberg, Bank of America’s head of credit strategy research, wrote in a report obtained by Bloomberg News yesterday.
Paulson was the head of Goldman Sach’s investment banking division from 1990 to 1994. He later became chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman, and left his post to join the Bush Administration.
According to the study, the bailout benefits Paulson’s former firm more because banks haven’t had to write down as many troubled mortage assets under accounting rules. This means that participating in the program would cause them to actually lose capital, as opposed to investment banks, which stand to gain.
Paulson $700 billion program is designed to remove “bad assets” from the US financial markets to prevent credit for businesses from drying up, which would send the economy into a further tailspin. Many businesses rely on credit to fund their daily operations.
Lawmakers are debating the plan today.
“While Goldman and Morgan Stanley, both based in New York, were yesterday granted permission to transform themselves into bank holding companies, the companies so far have operated mostly under investment-bank accounting rules, logging almost $21 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses,” Bloomberg News notes.
Goldman made sizable profits in 2007 from the subprime mortgage sector. It, along with Morgan Stanley, has fared better than investment houses Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, because it has held a more conservative capital base.
Paulson has admirers: during his Goldman tenure the firm donated 680,000 acres of land in Chile, and he has personally given away $100 million of his fortune to charitable groups.
According to estimates conducted by Open Secrets, Paulson is the richest cabinet member of the Bush Administration.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/paulson-goldman-bailout/
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, Ahmadinejad, AIG, Alan Greenspan, bailout, Bank of America, Barack Obama, bernanke, Big Banks, Bill Clinton, China, citibank, Condoleezza Rice, Congress, Credit Crisis, David Rockefeller, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, fannie mae, Fascism, FBI, FDIC, Federal Reserve, foreclosure, freddie mac, George Bush, george soros, global economy, global elite, Globalism, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, Harry Reid, henry paulson, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, internationalist, internationalists, Iran, John McCain, JP Morgan, left right paradigm, Lehman Brothers, liquidation, michael mullen, middle class, morgan stanley, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Nancy Pelosi, nationalization, Nazi, neocons, Neolibs, New World Order, obama, Patriot Act, Paulson, real estate, Robert Gates, rockefeller, Sarkozy, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, US Treasury, Wachovia, Wall Street, wells fargo, White House | Tags: Commodities Futures Trading Commission, J.P. Morgan Chase, Marcy Kaptur, Peter Defazio, Robert Rubin, run on banks
Bailout: Not $700 Billion, More Like $5 Trillion
Bei Hu
Bloomberg
September 24, 2008
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan to buy devalued assets from financial companies is “a joke” because it doesn’t go far enough to calm markets, said Kenichi Ohmae, president of Business Breakthrough Inc.
Ohmae, nicknamed “Mr. Strategy” during his 23 years as a McKinsey & Co. partner, called for a $5 trillion “international facility” to be made available to financial institutions. The system could be modeled on one used by Sweden during its banking crisis in the early 1990s, he said.
“This is a liquidity crisis,” Ohmae said at an investor forum hosted by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, the regional broking arm of Credit Agricole SA, in Hong Kong yesterday. “The liquidity has to be so big that people won’t get panicky.”
Paulson’s proposal to remove hard-to-sell assets clogging the financial system marks the broadest intervention since at least the Great Depression. Asian stocks fell today, following U.S. shares lower as investors questioned whether the effort is enough to prevent a recession.
The plan came after the collapse of 158-year-old Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government takeover of insurer American International Group Inc. caused financial markets to seize up last week. The calamity was the culmination of a year during which the U.S. housing market slump left banks and securities firms with more than $520 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses.
NO To The Paulson-Bernanke Derivatives Scam Bailout
Webster G. Tarpley
September 24, 2008
WASHINGTON DC – The grand theft bailout now being rammed through Congress by Treasury Secretary Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, and other officials of the Bush regime with the help of accomplices Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and other parliamentarians is a monstrosity for the ages, combining every hideous feature of monetarism, elitism, oligarchism, and sheer feckless incompetence. It is to all intents and purposes a national suicide note of the United States of America, a contract with the devil that absolutely guarantees irrevocable national decline. For any person of goodwill there can be only one impulse at the present moment, and that is to stop this bailout — to block it, to sabotage it, to bottle it up, to load it with killer amendments, and to do everything legally possible to stop this insane design from going through.
IF MCCAIN VOTES AGAINST THE BAILOUT, HE WILL WIN THE PRESIDENCY
In political terms, McCain is now running well to the left of Obama on this issue, with a much stronger populist profile. McCain has attacked the outrageous greed and corruption of Wall Street. Obama does not dare attack Wall Street, since these are his masters. Obama, sounding like Milton Friedman, only attacks Washington. Obama has said that he will support whatever Paulson demands. That is not a surprise, since Paulson represents Goldman Sachs, and Obama is a wholly owned property of Goldman Sachs, which is his single biggest source of campaign contributions. Obama is a creature of Brzezinski, Soros, and Rockefeller, and without them he has no existence; Obama is an abject Wall Street puppet, an agent of finance capital. This week, both senators will have to decide how they vote on the odious derivatives bailout. Obama will surely vote in favor of it, since this is what Wall Street demands. If McCain votes against it, he will most probably propel himself into the White House on the model of Give ‘Em Hell Harry in 1948. Filthy corrupt Democrats like Schumer are already attacking McCain as the new Huey Long. Huey Long, the Louisiana populist of the 1930s, had many positive features, and we could certainly use a good dose of Huey Long in this country to counteract the elitism, oligarchism, condescension, and arrogant snobbery of foundation operatives like Obama. The bailout is already very unpopular 72% of all voters are opposed to it and it will become more and more hated when it becomes clear that it is also a failure. McCain’s course is clear. Will he have the brains and guts to cross Obama’s T on this vital issue?
PAULSON OF GOLDMAN SACHS, WOULD-BE FINANCE DICTATOR
Paulson is a ruthless and brutal eco-freak usurer who learned his trade at the Goldman Sachs stock-jobbing operation. He is now the leading member of the committee of public safety which rules in Washington, and which includes Gates, Rice, and Mullen. He now demands the astronomical sum of 700 billion dollars for the bailout of mortgage-backed derivatives, collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps, and other poisonous derivatives. Make no mistake — this is not a bailout of homeowners who are threatened with foreclosure; it is a bailout of the lunatic house of cards which desperate bankers have built on these mortgages using derivatives. The entire crisis is not a crisis of subprime mortgages, it is a crisis of the derivatives bubble which was launched by Wendy Gramm of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and Greenspan of the Fed with the connivance of Robert Rubin of Goldman Sachs and Citibank, and others in the Clinton administration, some 15 years ago.
These derivatives now amount to a total worldwide notional value that can be estimated between 1 quadrillion and two quadrillion US dollars. This sum is so large that it dwarfs the total value of the entire planet earth and all those who live here. Compared to the cancerous, bloated, and fictitious mass of derivatives which is at the root of this crisis, the $700 billion demanded by politicians, large as this may seem, is nothing but a drop in the bucket. And a drop in the bailout bucket is what it will be. The mass of world derivatives between $1 and $2 quadrillion represents an insatiable black hole which is capable of putting an end, not just to civilization, but the human life itself. The moral choice could not be clearer: humanity will either destroy the derivatives bubble in our time, or the derivatives bubble will surely destroy humanity. Those are the stakes in the current exercise.
Paulson and Bernanke, both lawyers for the Wall Street jackals, lampreys, vultures and hyenas, argue that the public interest demands a bailout of their cronies at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Wachovia, and the other large money center institutions. Before the American public antes up $700 billion just for openers in the game of genocidal poker which run by the infernal croupiers Paulson and Bernanke, we would be very well advised to examine the veracity of this premise.
They Want Mama To Make it All Better! – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur
Rep Defazio On The Bailout Package
Recent News:
http://georgewashington2.bl..ke-admits-bailout-is-not-aimed-at.html
Real Estate Bigwig Zell Sees 2009 Recession
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26858394
Bailout Is Financial Equivalent Of The Patriot Act
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/23/business/sorkin.php?pass=true
America Versus the Financial Elite
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/09/america-versus-financial-elite.html
Fed Acted Like a Liquidity Drug Dealer: Economist
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26848829
’Punish’ those responsible for financial crisis: Sarkozy
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQvXaV8mO0SRtfD9FEWqf4Vyrzrg
FBI ‘Probe’ Into Mortgage Giants
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080924/twl-fbi-probe-into-mortgage-giants-3fd0ae9.html
Iran Leader Says American Empire Near Collapse
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRcJGft_Pr8uMaY1Bz9ieBSwBNTgD93CMVM80
US Fed throws $30 billion into foreign credit markets
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5itOHJbNrxCHKetPtXIPIbY3TalIQ
China Paper Calls For A New Financial Order Without U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSPEK4365020080917?sp=true
Top Economist Mishkin: Worse Than the Depression
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26850473
Lehman’s Bankruptcy and the Hidden $138 Billion Bailout of JP Morgan
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26850473
Eveillard Says Gold May Surge as Investors Seek ‘Insurance’
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a8L00oInO1YM&refer=home
Wachovia, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo tumble
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSN2231756020080922
Goldman, Morgan Stanley Bring Down Curtain on an Era
Goldman Sachs to be regulated by Fed
Fury at U.S. Lehman Brothers’ staff who could net £1.4bn in bonuses as UK employees face bleak future
Europeans on left and right ridicule U.S. money meltdown
Paulson On Verge Of Historic New Powers
Fed To Supervise Goldman And Morgan
Filed under: AIG, bankruptcy, bernanke, Big Banks, Central Banks, CNN, Cold War, Congress, corporatism, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Euro, fannie mae, Fascism, FDIC, Federal Reserve, foreign aid, freddie mac, George Bush, georgia, glenn beck, global economy, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, Lehman Brothers, liquidation, Media, middle class, Military, morgan stanley, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, Nazi, Paulson, real estate, Ron Paul, Russia, Senate, silver, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Constitution, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street, war funding, WW3, ww4 | Tags: john roberts, run on banks
Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last
Ron Paul on CNN w/ John Roberts
Ron Paul Blasts “Secret Government” Running Economy
Filed under: 2-party system, 2008 Election, bailout, Barack Obama, bernanke, Big Banks, Communism, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, Fascism, George Bush, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, John McCain, left right paradigm, middle class, monarchy, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Nazi, neocons, Neolibs, obama, oligarchy, Paulson, real estate, SEC, Senate, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, Wall Street, White House | Tags: Nouriel Roubini, run on banks
Bush Administration Seeks “Dictatorial Power”
GETA
September 21, 2008
The Bush administration sought unchecked power from Congress to buy $700 billion in bad mortgage investments from financial companies in what would be an unprecedented government intrusion into the markets.
“He’s asking for a huge amount of power,” said Nouriel Roubini, an economist at New York University. “He’s saying, `Trust me, I’m going to do it right if you give me absolute control.’ This is not a monarchy.”
Paulson is seeking an expansion of federal influence over markets that hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression, said Charles Geisst, author of “100 Years of Wall Street” and a finance professor at Manhattan College in New York.
“This is going to be a big package because it’s a big problem,” Bush said following a meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at the White House. “We need to get this done quickly, and the cleaner the better.”
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said in a radio address that he “fully supports” Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to stabilize the financial system. The plan, however, should benefit both main street and Wall Street, he said.
Republican Presidential nominee John McCain “looks forward” to reviewing the proposal while focusing at least in part on “minimizing the burden on the taxpayer,” said Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for the McCain campaign.
The Bush administration seeks “dictatorial power unreviewable by the third branch of government, the courts, to try to resolve the crisis,” said Frank Razzano, a former assistant chief trial attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission now at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington. “We are taking a huge leap of faith.”
Filed under: bailout, Big Banks, China, consolidation, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, fannie mae, Federal Reserve, freddie mac, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cuts, liquidation, Media, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, neocons, Oil, Petrol, rate cut, real estate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, Wall Street, WMD | Tags: run on banks
China Blames Wall Street Meltdown On Fed Overissuance Of Currency
Paul Joseph Watson & Yihan Dai
Prison Planet
September 19, 2008
China’s state media today reports on the real reason behind the Wall Street meltdown and a subject that the mainstream US media dare not mention – the Federal Reserve’s overissuance of currency – which the Chinese say is part of a wider agenda to justify increased control over the global economy.
The Bush administration today announced a plan to use hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to buy up up bad mortgages and other debts. The process of injecting more fiat money into an already over-inflated system had the desired effect – the Dow Jones shot up 450 points – but the dollar, following a brief jump, began to plummet.
According to numerous Chinese state media news sources today, the Federal Reserve’s continued zeal for propping up the market by injecting illusory liquidity is part of an agenda to gain trust and grease the skids for increased government intervention in financial markets.
China Finance , China News and Chaobao Financial News, all state owned media outlets, slammed the Fed for taking action that will only make long term economic conditions worse and devalue the dollar by “creating money that does not exist which leads to the inflation of liquidity,” a policy contrary to China’s position as a holder of vast reserves of US dollars.
The analyst quoted by Chaobao Financial News highlighted “that when there is market failure, the paramount purpose of government intervention should be saving the market for the benefit of the people: Relief, Recovery and then Reform,” and that “Protecting the rights of people who are suffering in the housing market and as a result of high oil prices should be treated as a priority.”
The analyst added that by concentrating on saving just a few large financial companies, the Fed is creating wider financial chaos while arousing anger and suspicion by “only protecting and encouraging large companies’ wrong doing.”
CEIBS Professor of Economics and Finance Xu Xiaonian told a conference yesterday that “The fundamental source of Wall Street’s meltdown is caused by Federal Reserve overissuing currency.” He cautioned that the US government has already exceeded its scope in terms of intervention compared with their usual policy.
Similar sentiments were echoed by economist Zuo Xiaolie, who said that the amount of money injected into the market will have little real impact, but that such measures are a “Narrow minded way that the Federal Reserve uses to diversify the pressure of currency adjustment to other countries, which leads to the devaluation of the dollar, causing imbalance in the global economy.”
“The amount of money that has been put into the market can not fundamentally save the market,” said Xiaolie, adding that the move was merely part of an agenda to “regain the trust and justify future further intervention in the economy.”
On Wednesday, China’s official People’s Daily newspaper, the voice of the ruling Communist party, said that the US had unleashed economic “weapons of mass destruction” and set off a “financial tsunami” by allowing Wall Street lenders to trade in subprime debts and unstable financial derivatives, according to a Press TV report.
China has previously threatened to liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries, amounting to $1.33 trillion, if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. The Communist power has also repeatedly expressed its anger at the Fed’s indifference to the weakening dollar. If China were to dump the dollar it would likely set in motion a chain of events that would lead to a collapse of the greenback.
We know we are in trouble when the Chinese Communist Party sound like bastions of sound money policy and fiscal conservatism in comparison to the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve, who in creating more money out of thin air continue to bail out their friends on Wall Street while the economic future of hundreds of millions of American citizens is sold down the river.
Filed under: 9/11, Alan Greenspan, bailout, bernanke, Big Banks, Bill Maher, Central Banks, chris dodd, Communism, Congress, Coup, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Empire, fannie mae, Fascism, Federal Reserve, freddie mac, George Bush, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, Harry Reid, henry paulson, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, Joseph Stiglitz, Lehman Brothers, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, Nazi, neocons, Paulson, real estate, SEC, Senate, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street | Tags: Frank Razzano, John Steele Gordon, Max Keiser, paul krugman, run on banks, tent cities
U.S. Treasury Proposes $700B Bailout Plan For Wallstreet
Reuters
September 20, 2008
The Bush administration proposed a $700-billion taxpayer-funded plan on Saturday to buy up toxic mortgage-related securities in an urgent effort to calm financial markets and attack the nation’s housing crisis.
Under the program, the U.S. Treasury Department would buy, or commit to buy, “mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States,” said a copy of the Treasury Department’s draft legislation obtained by Reuters.
The department could hire asset managers to handle the securities, which could include residential or commercial mortgages and related instruments that were originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008, the draft said.
Congressional committees were to be briefed on Saturday on the legislation, which could be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate as early as next week.
The plan also calls for raising the federal government’s borrowing authority to $11.315 trillion. The debt limit is currently $10.615 trillion.
The government is moving aggressively to soak up billions of dollars of hard-to-sell mortgage-backed securities and related assets that have been choking world capital markets since the bursting of a historic U.S. home price bubble.
We Have DAYS To Stop the $700 Billion Stick-Up (and Fascist Power Grab)
George Washington’s Blog
September 21, 2008
Congress hopes to pass the $700 Billion bailout bill by Friday, according to an article in Bloomberg.
In case you haven’t heard, the bill would not only stick up American taxpayers for an additional $700 billion, but would literally give Paulson and the government fascist powers.
Don’t believe me?
Well, as the Bloomberg article notes: “The bill would bar courts from reviewing actions taken under its authority.”
Bloomberg includes the following quotes by people who understand the significance of the bill:
It sounds like Paulson is asking to be a financial dictator, for a limited period of time,” said historian John Steele Gordon . . . .
***
The Bush administration seeks “dictatorial power unreviewable by the third branch of government, the courts, to try to resolve the crisis,” said Frank Razzano, a former assistant chief trial attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission now at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington. “We are taking a huge leap of faith.”
This power grab is so serious that investigative reporter Larisa Alexandrovna calls it “the final stages of the coup“.
We have days to stop this bill. March on Congress. Educate and motivate everyone around you. Do everything you can to prevent this disaster before it is too late.
Krugman: ’Look, this is really scary. This is really bad, This could be 1931’
Keiser: US dollar “backed by bananas”
Recent News:
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/09/15/daily63.html
Bush Compares Financial Crisis To 9/11
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/19/bush-economy-terrorist/
Nobel Prize Winning Economist: Crisis As Bad As Great Depression Or Worse
http://www.prisonplanet.com/nobel-p..epression-or-worse.html
The Market is Now Pricing In the Genuine Possibility that the US will Default on Its Debt
http://georgewashington2.blogspot..-pricing-in-genuine.html
Fury at $2.5bn Lehman bonus
http://business.timesonline..nd_finance/article4795072.ece
Almost Armageddon: Markets Were 500 Trades From Meltdown
http://www.nypost.com..armageddon_130110.htm
Bailout plan is vast patronage under cover of martial law
http://www.gata.org/node/6647
Dodd: US financial system near meltdown
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=70011§ionid=3510203
Reid Says `No One Knows What to Do’ to Solve Crisis
http://www.bloomberg.com/..VWYw&refer=home
U.S. to Sell $100 Billion in Bills to Fund Fed Moves
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQ58hpS0fRH8&refer=home
‘Tent Cities’ Spring Up In The US
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sk..es-spring-up-in-the-us-3fd0ae9.html
Central Banks Offer Extra Funds to Calm Money Markets
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aW2z_iiBnF2E&refer=home
U.S. Turning Into U.S.S.R.A
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=69774§ionid=3510203
Worst Crisis Since ’30s, With No End Yet in Sight
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-..-No-End-Yet-in-Sight
Federal bailout of U.S. auto industry
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2008/09/federal-bailout-of-us-auto-industry.html
The Fed Runs out of Money
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/09/17/16019/the-feds-run-out-of-money/
No bank is safe in this alarming atmosphere
http://business.theage.com..phere-20080917-4inu.html
Dollar Might Get Crushed
Hundreds of Lehman investors protest in Hong Kong
Filed under: 2008 Election, 9/11, bailout, Big Banks, Bill Kristol, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, fannie mae, flip flop, flip flopping, freddie mac, George Bush, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, John McCain, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, neocons, phil gramm, real estate, scandal, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy, Wall Street | Tags: fa, run on banks
McCain on U.S. economy: from ‘strong’ to ‘total crisis’ in 36 hours
Herald Tribune
September 17, 2008
Early this week, as the American financial system absorbed one of its biggest shocks in generations, Senator John McCain said, as he had many times before, that he believed the fundamentals of the economy were “strong.”
Hours later he backpedaled, explaining that he had meant that American workers, whom he described as the backbone of the economy, were productive and resilient.
By Tuesday he was calling the economic situation “a total crisis” and denouncing “greed” on Wall Street and in Washington. Meantime, he moved from adamant opposition to resigned acceptance of the big government bailouts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igAmVs0cvY8
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/mccain-economy-strong-18/
McCain Embraces Government Bailout Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/06/freddie-mac-mccain/
Phil Gramm would be ‘just the guy’ to lead us into a Great Depression
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/krugman-on-gramm/
Advisor: McCain helped create BlackBerry
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jon..ain_helped_create_BlackBerry.html?showall
John McCain, The Stripper, And Bill Kristol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2COPT6Cxug
Bush: Vote For McCain Because Of 9/11
http://www.prisonplanet.com/bush-vote-for-mccain-because-of-911.html
McCain Manager: ’This Election is Not About Issues’
http://voices.washingtonpost.com..anager_this_election_i.html
Filed under: bankruptcy, bear sterns, Big Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, FDIC, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, real estate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy, Wall Street | Tags: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., run on banks
Lehman Brothers Bank Files For Bankruptcy
AP
September 15, 2008
Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for Chapter 11 protection in the biggest bankruptcy filing ever on Monday and said it was trying to sell off key business units.
The filing was made in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the bank’s holding company. The case had been assigned to Judge James M. Peck.
Lehman fell under the weight of $60 billion in soured real estate holdings, and the credit market’s dislocation ultimately forced it to seek court protection. The credit crisis has caused global banks to write down more than $300 billion in asset value since last year, and caused the shotgun sales of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bear Stearns Cos.
Lehman’s bankruptcy filing marks the end of a Wall Street firm that started the U.S. cotton trade before the Civil War and financed the railroads that built a nation.
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bailout, Bank of England, bernanke, Big Banks, BOE, Britain, central bank, CFR, China, CNBC, Communism, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, energy, Europe, european union, fannie mae, Fascism, Federal Reserve, freddie mac, George Bush, george soros, global economy, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, jim rogers, martgage companies, Media, Merrill Lynch, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Oil, Paulson, rate cut, real estate, Russia, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, United Kingdom, US Economy, US Treasury, Wamu, washington mutual, WW2 | Tags: run on banks
Fannie and Freddie Seized…Cost to Taxpayer: Over $1 Trillion
Contrarain Profits
September 8, 2008
Uncle Sam has finally taken over Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). Yesterday, the Bush administration placed the mortgage giants under a conservatorship, putting billions of dollars of taxpeyers’ money at risk in the process.
The Treasury says it will stump up $200 billion to back the companies in exchange for a 79.9% stake in each. The government is now the biggest player in the US mortgage market.
Don Rich warns that the government’s bailout spells trouble for anyone holding US dollars. A major issue is that the Congressional Budget Office’s estimation of the costs of the bailout is far too conservative…
This from last Thursday’s Daily Reckoning:
A recent study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has zero credibility. It pegged likely taxpayer losses in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts at $25 billion. For those with a sense of history, it is worth remembering that the S&L bailout had a $160 billion price tag. The numbers diverge so far from reality as to be laugh-out-loud funny. Funny, that is, except that the CBO estimate demonstrates a willful disconnect with the actual consequences of federal government actions.
As demonstrated below, the real cost of the bailouts will easily exceed $1.3 trillion. In fact, the real cost is likely to range between $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion, and is not unlikely to reach $2.5 trillion.
Between 2001 and 2007, Fannie and Freddie purchased or guaranteed $700 billion of Alt-A and subprime loans. Given the default rates on these loans – and the fact that the price of the housing that is the ultimate security of the loans will, for reasons demonstrated below, fall by at least thirty percent – this alone implies a loss for Fannie and Freddie on the order of $210 billion.
Fannie and Freddie acknowledge already-impaired loans on the balance sheet of $19 billion, which they have used creative accounting to avoid deleting from the shareholder equity account. This means that Fannie and Freddie have a maximum of $64 billion in capital remaining.
Given the inevitable losses on the Alt-A/subprime portion of their portfolio, it must be the case that if the federal government, as it is doing, guarantees Fannie and Freddie’s solvency, the difference between the loss and the capital to be made up by the government (i.e., the taxpayers) must equal, not $25 billion but $147 billion.
That alone would mean that the CBO is blowing smoke with their estimated cost figures, and if you think back to the S&L cost of $160 billion, this is not a surprising result. The real picture is so much worse that it is pretty obvious the CBO is flat out inventing figures just to get the politicians through November.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out how the government is going to get its hands on such money: the Federal printing press…
I don’t know what those people in Washington are taking to sleep at night after all their electorally driven accounting and finance exercises, but I can tell you what they will be doing to keep the government open for business: printing a whole lot of money.
Chairman Bernanke has the discount window open to any collateralization not worth the paper it is written on, so in effect he has the helicopters ready to drop hundred-dollar bills over Wall Street – as he once famously described the ultimate policy instrument of a fiat-money system.
Of course, if he does that, we will have to change his nickname from Helicopter Ben to Hyperinflation Ben, which answers the question of who picks up the tab of bailing out Fannie and Freddie: anyone owning dollars.
Produce a lot of something, and it becomes worth less. And given the losses at Fannie and Freddie, the taxpayer guarantee, and the ongoing initiation of Boomer retirement, only the inflation tax will work to pay for keeping Fannie and Freddie afloat.
Like it or not, we are about to enter interesting times, and it is too bad our supposed professional civil servants at the Congressional Budget Office have failed to tell the emperor the truth: that he is buck-naked bankrupt and getting ready to take a lot of people with him.
P.S Don Rich is an instructor of economics, finance, and political science at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA. He also teaches economics, government, and history at Delaware County Community College in Exton, PA. You can leave comments for Don on the mises.org blog.
Greenspan: U.S Economy in ’once-in-a-century’ financial crisis
September 15, 2008
The nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shows that the U.S. is “more communist than China right now” but its brand of socialism is meant only for the rich, investor Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, told CNBC Europe on Monday.
“America is more communist than China is right now. You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions,” Rogers said.
Stock markets jumped after the U.S. government’s decision to launch what could be its biggest federal bailout ever, in a bid to support the housing market and ward off more global financial market turbulence.
But Rogers said in the long term the move spelled trouble.
“This is madness, this is insanity, they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I’m not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this,” Rogers told “Squawk Box Europe.”
Soros Compares Mishandling Of Current Crisis To Great Depression
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
September 17, 2008
Billionaire investor George Soros has slammed US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for behaving in the same manner as bankers in the 1930’s and mishandling a financial crisis that threatens a repeat of the Great Depression.
Soros told BBC Newsnight that the world was merely at the beginning of a financial storm and warned, “We mustn’t allow the financial system to collapse as it did in the 1930s.”
Referring to Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, Soros stated, “The way Paulson is handling the situation is reminiscent of the way the bankers handled it in the 1930s.”
He added: “The financial system has gone overboard and the financial engineering has grown to big, it takes up too big a share in the world’s resources.”
“Now it is shrinking. When it becomes regulated it will be less profitable than the last 25 years.”
Soros, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, is ranked by Forbes as the 99th richest person in the world with a net worth of around $9 billion.
Ironically, Soros made his name by reaping the dividends of another financial meltdown when he “broke the Bank of England” by short-selling the pound sterling before the currency dropped out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, landing Soros a profit of around $1.1 billion.
In 2006, the highest court in France upheld a conviction that Soros had practiced insider trading when he bought shares in French bank Société Générale after discovering that the bank was on the verge of a takeover.
Soros has repeatedly predicted fiscal armageddon, writing three books about a “superbubble” that is on the verge of collapse.
In response to those accusing him of crying wolf in an effort to panic financial markets and benefit from the fallout, Soros stated, “I have a record of crying wolf…. I did it first in The Alchemy of Finance (in 1987), then in The Crisis of Global Capitalism (in 1998) and now in this book (2008’s The New Paradigm for Financial Markets). So it’s three books predicting disaster. (After) the boy cried wolf three times . . . the wolf really came.”
Respondents to a Daily Mail article about Soros’ comments accused the financier of engaging in wanton hypocrisy.
“I don’t know why on Earth they interview Soros since he has been proven again and again to deliberately spread financial rumour for his own exploitation and gain,” wrote one, “Soros became a multi multi billionaire precisely through manipulating markets like this – if this man says that we are heading for a 1930’s style crash you can guarantee he already has plans to profit from it.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSPEK4365020080917?sp=true
US authorities have now spent $900 billion to prop up the financial system
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/..d=9736054&cKey=1221686585000&ty=ti
Central banks pump £100bn into money markets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/m..2008/09/17/cncentral117.xml
Treasury announces debt auctions for Fed
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnS9Vm..m4iAD938I1A80
Fed Pumps $70B Into Financial System
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_credit_..E44U6Xfx.Fe7GUOQ.D1v24cA
Run On The Bank? Americans Could Lose Their Deposits
http://www.prisonplanet.com/run-on-the-bank-americans-could-lose-their-deposits.html
Merrill Lynch seals future with Bank of America deal
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu.._finance/article4755438.ece
Rogers: Dollar To Lose World Reserve Status
http://www.prisonplanet.com/rogers-dollar-to-lose-world-reserve-status.html
Paulson: Congress Has No Authority Here
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/paulson-congres.html
Goldman profit plunges 70 pct amid market slump
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080916/bs_nm/goldmansachs_dc
August home starts seen at lowest level in 17 years
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1638353220080917
Russia halts trading after 17.5% share price fall
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles..ORTUNE5.htm
Dow closed down 450
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20..er=1;_ylt=Al5VvbZImvYKFj5hEtFaLktv24cA
Is Britain Heading For Worst Recession Since 1929?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/09/15/bcnrecession115.xml
Washington Mutual Tumbles 30%
http://news.yaho..CZ6k2k2Rd38VKPgv6b.HQA
Now fear stalks British banks
Inflation rises to 4.7% and FTSE plunges ANOTHER 90 points as global markets tumble in wake of Meltdown Monday
Bush Claims Economy Can Weather Storm
Bailouts Will Push U.S. Into Depression
Filed under: 2008 Election, bailout, Big Banks, China, Communism, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, ecnomic collapse, economic depression, Economy, fannie mae, freddie mac, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, jim rogers, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, north korea, real estate, Senate, socialism, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy, US Treasury | Tags: Federal Housing Finance Agency, FHFA
Top Investor: Fannie/Freddie Bailout Serves “Bunch Of Crooks And Incompetents”
Rogers says move indicates U.S. is “more Communist than China”
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 8, 2008
A leading investor has denounced the government seizure of two of the nation’s largest financial companies as “madness” and says the move will only serve to make the markets more volatile and see house prices continue to go down.
In an interview with CNBC Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, described the move by the Treasury to nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as “insanity”.
The Treasury has pledged to provide as much as $200 billion to the companies, replace their chief executives and place them under a conservatorship, giving management control to their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA.
“This is madness, this is insanity,” Rogers said, “they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I’m not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this.”
“America is more communist than China is right now,” Rogers declared. “You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions,” he added.
Rogers and other critics alike are concerned that American taxpayers, already facing the worst housing bust since the 1930s, will now be saddled with billions of dollars in losses from home loans made by the private sector, radically changing the nature of the crisis. Government officials have justified the move by stating that that the cost of doing nothing would be far greater.
“You’re certainly gonna see a huge jump in any financial institutions which owned a lot of Fannie or Freddie… because they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt all of a sudden,” Rogers said.
“Bank stocks around the world are going through the roof, that’s ’cause they’ve all been bailed out. You don’t see the homeowners in Kansas going through the roof ’cause they’re not being bailed out,” he added.
Other investors have criticized the takeover as a “stopgap” and a “band aid” aimed at keeping the companies going into 2009, leaving the next president and Congress to deal with the fallout.
Jim Rogers commented that neither of the presidential candidates has a solution to the crisis.
“This is a big huge mess and neither one of them has a clue what to do next year. It’s going to be a mess.” Rogers said.
Watch the interview with Jim Rogers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gZuG-52js0
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-09-07-fannie-freddie-plan_N.htm
Fannie, Freddie rescue binds taxpayers to housing market
http://news.yahoo.com/s//csm/20080909/ts_csm/atakeover
U.S. Seizes Mortgage Giants
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122079276849707821.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
US Government stages world’s biggest bail out
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/money/2008/09/07/cnfreddie207.xml
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bailout, central bank, CNBC, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, fannie mae, Federal Reserve, food crisis, food market, food prices, freddie mac, gas prices, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, house senate, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, Jim Cramer, liquidation, Mad Money, Media, medicare, morgan stanley, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, nationalization, NYSE, Oil, Paulson, Petrol, real estate, SEC, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy, US Treasury, USDA, Wall Street, Warren Buffett | Tags: securities and exchange commission
Buffett Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ’Game Is Over’
Bloomberg
August 22, 2008
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage finance companies, “don’t have any net worth,’’ billionaire investor Warren Buffett said.
“The game is over’’ as independent companies said Buffett, the 77-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in an interview on CNBC today. “They were able to borrow without any of the normal restraints. They had a blank check from the federal government.’’
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae touched 20-year lows yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange on speculation a government bailout will leave the stocks worthless. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson won approval from Congress last month to pump emergency capital into the companies, which account for more than half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market.
Fannie and Freddie mispriced their products and “kept existing because they had the federal government behind them,’’ Buffett said. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire had been among the largest holders of Freddie until about 2001, when it became apparent the company wasn’t being run well, he said.
Jim Cramer Talks About Market Manipulation
http://www.reuters.com/article..220080820?sp=true
79 Million Americans Struggle To Pay Med Bills
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/2..AjuAtPXqgtjMugI32IL4GWO9j7AB
Gold surges to a 1-week high of $839
http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN222833.html
US Crony Capitalism
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1375774.html
Recession within year, say experts
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pres..ay-experts-6323e80.html
Oil shoots to $122 on missile shield row
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/..70614&sid=20295831&con_type=3
Morgan Stanley Says Financial Crisis Will Last: Report
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26252398
Wholesale prices: Highest annual rate in 27 years
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/19/ne..postversion=2008081910
Wall Street Pulls Back As Financials Fall
Stocks Fall On Inflation Data
Financial Fears, Soaring Inflation Hit Wall Street
Filed under: 2008 Election, central bank, Cindy McCain, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, foreclosure, global economy, global elite, Great Depression, Greenback, House, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, John McCain, Keith Olbermann, middle class, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, neocons, phil gramm, real estate, Senate, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, US Economy
Who’s the REAL elitist? The McCains have 10 homes!
noworldsystem.com 