kenwas kenwas

We've been had again!

We've been had again!

Remember the bailout?

For those following the great $700B bailout plan, it would appear that we have been had again.  First, Paulson was going to buy "toxic assets from the banks.  That was changed to a plan to give loans to the banks with oversite and strings attached.  None of that happened.  What did happen was the government simply bought non-voting shares of stock in the banks and the banks are free to do with the cash whatever they wish.  There are no strings attached, not even a requirement to begin lending again.  Ergo, Fannie Mae will be using part of the funds to retain defense attorneys for the very executives that created the problem in the first place.  Not only are we giving them these funds without strings or oversite, we are now paying the defense fees of the executives.  It would appear that we have been had again.

39,162 views 94 replies
Reply #77 Top

Ken, whatever you do, don't click this link.

Ok, what does it say?

 

 Of course I clicked it immediately and thanks Craig for adding more insanity to my day.  I think everyone is running around in some kind of post election euphoria in Washington as the store gets cleaned out completely.

Reply #78 Top

I think everyone is running around in some kind of post election euphoria in Washington as the store gets cleaned out completely.

Bingo

Reply #79 Top

It's business as usual. I guess they never heard of conferencing over the net. :annoyed: Oh yeah..no spas on the net.  ;P But I'm surprised no one has stepped in and stopped this. I can hear that giant sucking sound again as everything is going down the toilet. :annoyed:

Reply #80 Top

I see the Tidy Bowl Man waving goodbye permanently. Oh, wait, that is a signal for.."Help!!!! Someone throw me a line!" :annoyed: >_>

Reply #81 Top

Too late....he's GONE just like all that money.

Reply #82 Top

^^^^

 

Reply #83 Top

I see the Tidy Bowl Man waving goodbye permanently. Oh, wait, that is a signal for.."Help!!!! Someone throw me a line

Actually, he was saying: "Goodbye cruel World... it is to a better place I go" :-"

I think everyone is running around in some kind of post election euphoria in Washington as the store gets cleaned out completely.

Bingo

What you folks really need over there is for 'Joe the Plumber' to install exploding crappers in the Wall st and Banks executive bathrooms.

And I was thinking lobotomies for those who passed the legislation... but surgeons can't operate on that which isn't there.

O:) :-"

Reply #84 Top

Was a time I thought every politician was named Richard Cranium.  Now I'm certain.   ;)

Reply #86 Top

Oh man Ken, what sets of big brass ones these companies have.  "CBS News correspondent Priya David spoke with several compensation consultants who said that, even in this economy, firms are worried that, if they don't pay out the bonuses, they'll lose their top talent -- people they want to keep around for when pastures turn green again."

Where do they think their so called talent will go, and wouldn't they think their prospective employers would know how badly they f*#ked up their previous job?  I say that congress makes a law that any use of bailout funds for executive bonus' or salary increases be a felony punishable by 5 years for all parties involved.

Reply #87 Top

firms are worried that, if they don't pay out the bonuses, they'll lose their top talent -- people they want to keep around for when pastures turn green again."

Oh man....Now thats funny as hell! Are they talking about "the talent" that was there while this was all happening in the first place? o_O

Reply #88 Top

Here is an excellent article, For the entire thing go here...   http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/12-1

 

The one thing we are not hearing from Congress or from incoming president Barack Obama in the current economic crisis facing the country are the words "anti-trust" and "public ownership."

From the moment the crisis first struck, with the near collapse of AIG, the mantra has been that companies like AIG, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, etc.--and more recently General Motors Corp. and Ford--are "too big to fail." That is, it is argued that these companies are so huge that if they were to collapse into the rubble they deserve to be, it would damage the nation irreparably.

The question is, if that is genuinely the case, why were they allowed to be that big in the first place, and why aren't we rethinking that policy?

Reply #90 Top

The question is, if that is genuinely the case, why were they allowed to be that big in the first place, and why aren't we rethinking that policy?
AExcellent article Craig.  And Microsoft?

 

Reply #91 Top

The thing is...WE should be the oversight committee...the government is suppose to be working for us...not against us...and I don't know about you but I'm tired of being used as a piggy bank...having to budget my money...eating rice and living in the dark while they're out spending like there's no tomorrow.

We have relaxed to much and allowed this to go on for to long without holding anyone accountable. It's long overdue that we took this country back and put an end to this once and for all.

When was the last time YOU were allowed to vote yourself a raise? I mean come on already...am I the only one that is disgusted by this? And where's MY bailout money? I'd use it a lot more wisely than the ones that got us in this mess!

Reply #92 Top

When was the last time YOU were allowed to vote yourself a raise? I mean come on already...am I the only one that is disgusted by this? And where's MY bailout money? I'd use it a lot more wisely than the ones that got us in this mess!

 

Bail out should have gone to us. Money would have gone into the banks, kept the economy stable( now there is an oxymoron), and I would have a new car!!!!! No, we are paying for banks to hire prosecutors and such. Golden parachutes for failures, and gods only know what else.

 

 

Reply #93 Top

I'd like to go ninja  style on the whole lot of em':ninja:

Reply #94 Top



Bail out should have gone to us

That's what I said when I first heard of the bailout proposal... to give the backbone of the country, the workers and consumers, the propensity to pay: such as their mortgages; credit card debts, etc.... to purchase goods and services, thus stimulating the economy and providing banks with a cash flow to trade themselves out of trouble if they were good enough.

The US Gov't cocked this one up big time and threw good money after bad... giving the safe crackers the combination to the vault and making a worse situation deplorable.  I read today that Germany, France and Britain have declared that they are in recession due to the US financial collapse, and that is far from the end of it.  Things will get a lot worse before they get better, but for that to happen, governments and economists need to learn that stock markets (primarily) and banks should not be the primary focus of any economy.

It's said that money makes money, and to some extent that may be true, but investment in stock and shares is creating artificial wealth in intangible assets, electronic monies that ebb and flow, often with devastating results as market fluctuations leave many investors penniless. 

No, hard work and productivity, the provision of goods and services is what makes money, and when the workforce gets a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, it has the greater propensity to pay, thus stimulating the economy in real terms with actual cash transactions.  And to stop the outsourcing of jobs overseas would also stimulate employment, meaning more people with a fair day's pay have the propensity to pay, given that prices are fair, thus stimulating supply and demand, the economy in general.

Sounds so simple, doesn't it!  Well it is that simple... well it was, until greed complicated matters with more and more ways to turn a profit at the expense of competitors, and more importantly, we the consumers.