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."
... 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."
Unreviewable Dictatorial Power
Notice how everyone wants to rush this through even though it is the biggest financial crisis in history. One might think that something this big should be carefully considered but no... Bush says: "This is going to be a big package because it's a big problem" and "We need to get this done quickly and the cleaner the better."
It seems the bigger the problem the quicker and cleaner it can be fixed. Indeed Congress will argue more over the cost of toilet seats than they will over this $700 billion (and counting) bailout.
... Senator Christopher Dodd, the Banking Committee chairman, said the plan's framers should consider the full debt load of U.S. consumers, possibly including credit cards.
My Comment: Hells bells why not? Let's throw in credit cards, auto loans, boats, and casino debts? Why stop at credit cards and housing? Let's just have the government guarantee every debt in the country.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
Full Version: Bush Administration Seeks "Dictatorial Power"
Key Lehman Employees to Get $2.5 Billion in Bonuses
For those who thought outsized pay for investment bankers and traders was a thing of the past, think again. Ditto with the idea that having been a key actor in a financial failure dims one's employment prospects. The poster child is John Meriwether, the head of hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, whose collapse in 1998 nearly caused a systemic crisis, leading the Fed to broker a rescue. Meriwether went on to launch another large hedge fund.
From the UK's Times:
Staff at Lehman’s New York office who helped to cause the world’s biggest corporate bankruptcy are to share in a $2.5 billion bonanza.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/key...25-billion.html
For those who thought outsized pay for investment bankers and traders was a thing of the past, think again. Ditto with the idea that having been a key actor in a financial failure dims one's employment prospects. The poster child is John Meriwether, the head of hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, whose collapse in 1998 nearly caused a systemic crisis, leading the Fed to broker a rescue. Meriwether went on to launch another large hedge fund.
From the UK's Times:
Staff at Lehman’s New York office who helped to cause the world’s biggest corporate bankruptcy are to share in a $2.5 billion bonanza.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/key...25-billion.html
QUOTE (g7enn @ Sep 21 2008, 11:16 AM) 
My Comment: Hells bells why not? Let's throw in credit cards, auto loans, boats, and casino debts? Why stop at credit cards and housing? Let's just have the government guarantee every debt in the country.
Absolutely. And your life, and my life, and our ability to produce anything, is the security.
Did the 13th Amendment bar slavery, or simply slavery based upon RACE?
I saw this little ditty on the WSJ Blog about the bailout by williambanzai7 and had to post it here:
QUOTE
Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
(to the melody of Big Rock Candy Mountain)
Lyrics By WilliamBanzai7
One evening as the DOW went down and the ABX was burning
Down the track came a banker hiking and he said boys I’m not turning
I’m headin for a land that’s far away beside the crystal towers
So come with me we’ll go and see the Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains there’s a land that’s fair and bright
Where the handouts grow from the Bushes and you sleep sound every night
Where the ABS books are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the bonus trees
Where the perrier springs where the squawk box sings
In the Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains all the regulators have wooden legs
And the shorts all have rubber teeth and the investors lay golden eggs
The traders books are full of fruit and the bankers play all day
Oh, I’m bound to go where there ain’t no snow
Where the rain don’t fall and the wind don’t blow
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains you never sell your stocks
And the little streams of Interest come a-trickling down the rocks
The enforcers have to tip their hats and the bears and shorts are banned
There’s a lake of stew and of champagne too
You can sail all around ‘em in your custom yachts
In Bernankies Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Bernanke’s Rock Candy Mountains white collar jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain’t no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I’m a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung that jerk from Berkshire Hathaway
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
I’ll see you all this coming fall in Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
(to the melody of Big Rock Candy Mountain)
Lyrics By WilliamBanzai7
One evening as the DOW went down and the ABX was burning
Down the track came a banker hiking and he said boys I’m not turning
I’m headin for a land that’s far away beside the crystal towers
So come with me we’ll go and see the Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains there’s a land that’s fair and bright
Where the handouts grow from the Bushes and you sleep sound every night
Where the ABS books are all empty and the sun shines every day
On the birds and the bees and the bonus trees
Where the perrier springs where the squawk box sings
In the Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains all the regulators have wooden legs
And the shorts all have rubber teeth and the investors lay golden eggs
The traders books are full of fruit and the bankers play all day
Oh, I’m bound to go where there ain’t no snow
Where the rain don’t fall and the wind don’t blow
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains you never sell your stocks
And the little streams of Interest come a-trickling down the rocks
The enforcers have to tip their hats and the bears and shorts are banned
There’s a lake of stew and of champagne too
You can sail all around ‘em in your custom yachts
In Bernankies Big Rock Candy Mountains
In the Bernanke’s Rock Candy Mountains white collar jails are made of tin
And you can walk right out again as soon as you are in
There ain’t no short handled shovels, no axes saws or picks
I’m a goin to stay where you sleep all day
Where they hung that jerk from Berkshire Hathaway
In Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
I’ll see you all this coming fall in Bernanke’s Big Rock Candy Mountains
QUOTE (CowboySteve @ Sep 21 2008, 01:24 PM)
Absolutely. And your life, and my life, and our ability to produce anything, is the security.
Did the 13th Amendment bar slavery, or simply slavery based upon RACE?
Did the 13th Amendment bar slavery, or simply slavery based upon RACE?
Our kids, too. They should have a big time down the road.
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