It seems that Volcker was good on the fighting inflation thing back in the early 80s. But, he sure seemed weak on the U.N. oil-for-food investigation, and his support of Osama is dumbfounding.
Maybe he is like Goldwater, getting soft and daft in his dotage.
I liked his statement that the dollar crisis is not just coming, it's here. Of course. But Volker is simply too honest and straight for contemporary America. We need mealy mouths and "if and and but"-ters today. We need liars who can keep up with the administration. Americans, by and large, want lies. The truth is painful and hey, Americans can't stand no pain, no pain at all, brother.
But is he really some kind of hero? He broke inflation across the backs of the general population, with help from union-busting administrations.
Would he have been so stiff-willed if it had been the investment and management class who had to take more of the brunt of it? That question is unanswered.
I'd like to give Volker a great big friggn Bear hug, cause I agree 29 billion% that that Treasury & Fed usurped authority in a coup that Dodd allowed to happen; it was and remains an issue that should be questioned and not forgotten by this attention deficit society!
Volcker broke the back of inflation on the backs of pretty much all interested parties. Those with holdings of stocks and bonds were socked in the wallets as he increased short rates to very high levels. The working class stiffs lost jobs at a rapid clip.
He was pretty much an equal opportunity pain inflicter.
Also, I was not aware he was a supporter of Al-Qaeda. That might temper my high regard for him.
NEW YORK (AP) - Fitch Ratings slashed its rating on at least $4.3 billion in mortgage bonds on Tuesday because the ratings agency assumes more home loans will not be repaid.
Fitch announced a number of changes to ratings on bonds secured by home loans.
For these types of investments, investment banks typically buy home loans from mortgage lenders, package the loans into trusts, and sell the rights to the trusts in the form of a bond.
The value of the bond is tied to how strong the credit quality of the home loans in the trust is. Because Fitch has ramped up its forecasts for losses on home loans with bad credit, the ratings agency thinks many of the bonds are not as secure.
Fitch downgraded $2.1 billion in bonds issued by Long Beach Mortgage Co, $1.5 billion in bonds issued by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) , $413 million in bonds issued by ACE Securities Corp. and $284.9 million issued by GSAMP
The next bubble waiting to burst is the US Treasury market. When that happens say goodbye to reserve currency. If we think the current credit crunch is painful wait until Uncle Sam can't borrow in dollars from foreigners!
We are all gonna have to take the bitter medicine this criminally irresponsible administration has necessitated. I know of no one but Volker with the guts to administer it.
The little guy is gonna get creamed no matter what happens - and I am one "little guy" who believes that an unstable, collapsing currency hurts the little guys most of all.
I wasn't impressed with the oil for food investigation either, but he was playing against a stacked deck.
I got kidney cancer a few years back and was told it had to come out. I look forward to Volker's return with the same anticipation I did the operation - but both were necessary.
``The implications of these decisions, and the lessons from the unfolding crisis itself, surely deserve full debate and legislative review in the period ahead,'' Volcker said.
`There was no pressure for change, not in Washington which was spending money and keeping taxes low, not on Wall Street which was wallowing in money, not on Main Street with individuals enjoying easy credit and rising house prices,'' Volcker said.
The problem is that in the circle of corruption and collusion, the only person to tand up to this wall street/Fed mafia are 80 years filled with honesty and truth, which is no longer a part of this society and without question, not a part of anyone defending The Constitution! The era of fiscal accountability and fiduciary obligations to citizens is not a factor and his remark on America being in a dollar crisis is related to Rome burning while Nero continues to remain in power, unchallenged, as he swings his lamp oil from structure to structure!
TV writes:
Volker has the brass cajones to run the Fed and stand up to the Fed's Wall Streets incestuous Infestation
Yes he has what it takes.
I also believe he would stand up to anyone to do what is right for the overall economy. Just as it was needed to break unions in the past, Volker would break wall street and reshape it into something more sustainable.
Those quotes are amazing. Already in a dollar crisis.
Volcker is not to be confused with some kind of Ralph Nader, heroically opposing powerful forces at his own risk. He was appointed to the most powerful position at the top of the banking heap. He was appointed (and reappointed by the other party) to protect the interests of the investor class who were losing real purchasing power at an alarming rate. He delivered. There are always people like Volcker around. It is only occasionally that the money elite has need of them.
jg
Who out the 4 or 5 million Americans who would make excelent Presidents would you suggest?
The system threw up, and I mean threwup, the 3 that we have. How would you change the system so that we would get to chose one of those 4 to 5 millions instead of those we currently have to choose from?
Bob Dobbs: Unions are NOT GOOD at this point for the common worker in America.
Union administrations, much like Wall Street in general, seek only to take pay from people they don't care about to push inane positions antithetical to the actual economic self-interest of the day-to-day employee.
The overarching theory of a union is great. The current implementation is 100% useless in all cases in America at the present time.
Volcker broke unions? No. Volcker broke corrupt union administrations.
Historical revisionism creates cute soundbites, but in this case you're wrong.
Also, whoever posted that Volcker supported Osama is amusingly wrong -
do a simple google search of "volcker osama" and you'll find this: Don't Let Volcker Report Whitewash U.N. Oil-For-Food Scandal, Analyst Says
He supported a candidate to head some UN sub-sub-committee who had given an impassioned radio interview comparing Bush to Osama.
Also, I was not aware he was a supporter of Al-Qaeda. That might temper my high regard for him.
gab | 04.08.08 - 4:21 pm | #
He is not, that was just a stupid comment by jg about his endorsment of Barrack Obama. Very different person than Osama bin Laden. Like who else is he going to endorse? More of the Same McCain?
--
Fed committed fraud and an immoral act. Only born-and-bred dopes with their blind faith in tthe system, or wrapped in the flag, can fail to see the criminality of the Fed and the USG. I have known it for years but now it is becoming more obvious to many others who are not easily duped.
Bailouts help the wrong people -- Crooks and the irresponsible! A system that punishes good people and rewards bad people is an evil system, no? In the name of saving the system? From whom?!!!!!
Volker warms my heart. He is clearly old-skool when it comes to dealing with wall street and the economy..
If he were in charge, he would definately open a 40 ounce can of whup-ass all over wall street if they came to him with the problems they have brought to uncle Ben.
It is clear that he is not happy with the way the Fed has been run since he left. His subtle knocks on Greenspan and Uncle Ben are becoming much clearer now. I wander if they are listening???
"The overarching theory of a union is great. The current implementation is 100% useless in all cases in America at the present time."
You should tell that to the service sector employees in Las Vegas whose incomes keep pace with inflation at the cost of slightly lower profits. Breaking up corrupt unions and ending unions all together is not the same thing.
Yeah, this is gonna get bad with the dollar. I recall going overseas early in the decade, and loved the prices in Europe. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
I'll never forgive the Republicans for frittering away the dollar as the world's reserve currency.
Why LOL? His policy suggestions might not be your cup of tea or mine, but there's a lot of truth there. What do you think motivates him against the constant stream of negative PR? Greed? Vanity? Insanity? Maybe it's integrity.
"The next bubble waiting to burst is the US Treasury market. When that happens say goodbye to reserve currency. If we think the current credit crunch is painful wait until Uncle Sam can't borrow in dollars from foreigners!"
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
Our federal, state & local governments are basically union employers. Cola, medical benefits, retirement benefits, vacation & sick days. Nice work if you can get it. Ideally, at least one spouse in a two earner household should hold a government job. A sure way to get your piece of the grift.
Paul Volcker was a public servant his entire carreer. He made a tiny fraction of what he could have made in the private sector. Volcker for Chairman of the Fed! Siedman for Treasury Secretary!
Volker has the brass cajones to run the Fed and stand up to the Fed's Wall Streets incestuous Infestation
Oh my. Now the frenzied adulation of Volker in the posts which, for the life of me, I don't get. Saying he corrected that situation is sort of like saying Regan was responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union, and not a host of extrinsic forces that had been building for quite some time. Volker could only do what he did, full stop.
You know what brass cojones are? They are saying all of this to the powers that be WHILE you hold the position. Saying this now demonstrates nothing but the things you get to say at an exit interview because politics deemed you couldn't while you were employed there.
Press Release
FDIC Makes Public February Enforcement Actions; No Administrative Hearings are Scheduled
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2008 Media Contact:
David Barr (202) 898-6992
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released a list of orders of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in February. No administrative hearings are scheduled.
The FDIC processed a total of 23 orders in February. These included eight cease-and-desist orders; eight removal and prohibition orders; four civil money penalties; two terminations of cease-and-desist order; and one termination of a supervisory prompt corrective action directive. FDIC: Enforcement Decisions and Orders - Recent Orders and Decisions
What really annoys me is the way JPM was allowed to arbitrarily increase the payout to old pals at the taxpayers (MY) expense after the deal had been agreed to.
I gotta say, Volcker was a bit too generous with interest rates. Needless to say, with double digit interest rates on treasuries, Angry Saver was not angry at all.
But I'm not looking for a free lunch. I just don't like negative real interest rates. Hugely positive interest rates on treasuries don't make much sense either. Productivity during the late 70s and early 80s was awful. Why work when you can get paid to do nothing.
O/T but a pending correction in the CDO marketplace:
Specialist structured credit funds are set to sell up to $3bn (1.9bn) of distressed assets backing collateralized debt obligations next week, in the freshest round of liquidations to affect the sector that has been at the core of the credit crisis over the past nine months
The development comes shortly after some $104bn of CDOs suffered ratings downgrades last week due to rising defaults and poor loan performance trends on assets, bringing the value of CDO downgrades in the past year to $357bn, according to Deutsche Bank.
The CDOs that are set to liquidate next week are market-value CDOs, according to investors, which mean they are especially sensitive to changes in its portfolios net asset value. As collateral prices have fallen below certain levels, they've been forced to sell.
Please please please bring Volcker back to the Fed! Give him a throne, a scepter and a crown and watch him nationalize the shit out of everything Scandinavia-style!
"30:1 leverage? NATIONALIZED"
"Huge book of toxic CDO filth? NATIONALIZED"
"Lied about ratings? NATIONALIZED AND P.I.T.A. PENITENTIARY"
It's either blindingly partisan or very stupid to blame the Republicans for devaluing the dollar to its current level, and threatening its status as the reserve currency. Both parties have done so, fairly equally, willingly, and with callous disregard for the consequences.
Regan proved that the voters will ignore long-term effects if the short-term achievements are rosy enough, and attribute events during an administration to the president regardless of the causes. Bush Sr learned the hard way that voters don't elect people who are not willing to sacrifice the future for short-term gratification. Clinton demonstrated that trading away jobs, savings, and long-term security for short-term prosperity was not only a good way to stay elected, but to be well-regarded long after you're gone. Bush Jr has taken all of these lessons to heart, to the dismay of traditional financial conservatives, and parleyed them into 8 years of office.
Now the American people are clamoring for more short-term fixes, unbounded government spending, and socialist policies labeled progressive, and the next administration will give it all to them, and more. IMO, the only rational response to what's undoubtedly coming is: what the hell did you expect?
What really bugs me is having 2% interest rates with cpi inflation at 4.1% and PPI at 6.3%. What's worse, interest rates are going down, while inflation pressures are building.
In this light, a Volcker would be welcome.
Once people view inflation as rampant & permanent in a fiat currency, it is crazy hard to right the ship.
Angry, I'm interested to know how you think raising the benchmark rate will help the overall economy, or are you just interested in the points you can make on investments? And, for that matter, even if the Fed did raise the rate, what makes you think that would have the effect you desire on yield when, clearly, the Fed isn't the driver of rates and money supply that it once was (as the recent past has shown)?
``What appears to be in substance a direct transfer of mortgage and mortgage-backed securities of questionable pedigree from an investment bank to the Federal Reserve seems to test the time-honored central bank mantra in time of crisis: lend freely at high rates against good collateral; test it to the point of no return,'' Volker said.
No worries Mr. Volker, the pledged securities were rated BBB- or better by a reputable third-party and, on top of that, the pool is insured against loss by Ambak Financial. So really you have nothing to worry about!
I'm interested to know how you think raising the benchmark rate will help the overall economy
I'll answer part of this.
I feel that raising the benchmark rate (I'm assuming you mean Fed Funds Rate) will decrease the spread between the Fed rate and the Eurozone rates, which would give a pop to the dollar.
stopping rapid dollar devaluation may help to slow the rapid appreciation in commodities (oil, gold, etc) that we've seen... I personally feel that a lot of the rise we've seen is people frantically trying to get out of the dollar... stabilize the dollar and we may see stabilization of commodities.
In addition, I believe raising the FFR that it would encourage people to save as well, and some of those savings could be used for productive enterprises. if nothing else, if we had higher FFR people may be more willing to put their money in the BANK, and it would seem that right now the banks are starved for capital.
Of course, raising rates will bring us to the realization that we are in recession, so we would have problems with this. I do not deny that.
However, this rapid drop in FFR is exacerbating the severe flight to quality issue, as well as the commodity bubble, and also the banks balance sheets as it discourages people from depositing their cash.
regardless, we've already tried the 1% route... and as soon as we started trying to leave we see what's happened. Thus, i'm not sure a quick drop to 1% will solve anything, except delay problems until we raise back up again, when the problems will resurface.
My now somewhat warm and fuzzy feelings about Volcker in contrast to my attitudes about Greenspan and Bernanke remind me how I no longer view Nixon in such a negative light after 8 years of Bush.
Rates do drive the money supply. If they didn't nobody would follow the fed.
A low or zero inflationary environment is the best way to level the playing field and encourage investment. The fed's asset inflation scheme favors speculation over actual investment. Right now, most still harbor asset inflation expectations over actual inflation expectations. Most continue to be wrong. Stocks over the last decade underperformed inflation. Houses will likely underperform inflation going forward a decade.
The asset inflation model is failing the majority. As for me, I do just fine in any environment. Unfortunately, our country does not.
couple of items:
1. the USD is not going to lose its status as reserve currency. There are three criterion for a reserve currency: large and deep debt markets, relatively respected central bank (doesn't have to be perfect), and most importantly military (in fact mostly naval) dominance. There is no other currency that fits this bill except for USD. And there is no currency even a possible contender for the foreseeable future.
The terrible political leadership both from the elected officials and also the non-elected is a direct result of the sentiment in the US for so long that a career in gov't is not admirable. So smart people instead have gone to wall street and silicon valley.
The long term success of the US (and almost any country) rests on its ability to educate its children. The US has by far the best post-secondary education system in the world, but unfortunately it is too costly to those who need it the most. And more importantly the funding of primary and secondary education is hugely divergent between school districts because for some stupid reason eduction is funded on property taxes and not equalized across districts. If you are not willing to pay to educate other people's children, then your children and you will inherit a much worse off country.
Barley - re:CDOs, how convenient that the rules just changed to allow banks to disregard prices set by distressed sales when valuing their own holdings!
Im tired of all these people blaming the lenders, brokers etc. especially when they were the ones that benefited from the industry. Everyone benefited from the mortgage industry and now when the shit hits the fence they started to turn on each other. Freaken savages That makes me sick to the stomach; furthermore, we n dont need any more bad publicity about the industry. To all the dicks out there that crying about this and that... wake up and smell the coffee; Mortgage and real-estate was the only industry supporting our economy. Thinking about it, I dont we even export a god damn thing besides weapons; negative exports my friend. Its about recycling the money to fuel consumer spending. Just suck it up and take it like a man and lets move on. Negative news and publicity is killing our industry and to all you cry babies out there; if youre not going to say anything good about the mortgage industry ;then dont say anything at all. The only people to blame is the ones that open their god damn mouth and start cry about the industry . imagine if the damn analyst and news co didnt open their damn mouth about all this negative stuff. It would be business as usual and investors would be still buying on the secondary market instead of being scared to death because they read something from a desk jocky that had issues with his mortgage and now want to take down the industry.
I don't usually agree with Marcus' rather gloomy views, perhaps because a part of me fears he might be right (I do enjoy his choice of music) but on Obama I am with him.
I do fear for Bama's well being and the fact that this coming recession might be so severe that he might as well be leaning against the wind in a shitstorm from hell.
You sound like a typical rightwinger. A fellow rightwinger calls Obama osama and gets called out on it and you then claim that the original poster was "smeared" as a racist. Forget about the real smear of Obama.
The country would be so much better off if all the wingnuts just dropped dead IMO. The rightwingers have brought the country to the brink of collapse and there will still be almost half the voting population pulling the lever for McCain in Nov. Just goes to show that you can never underestimate the stupidity of the average American.
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
John | 04.08.08 - 5:03 pm | #
Oh my. Now the frenzied adulation of Volker in the posts which, for the life of me, I don't get. Saying he corrected that situation is sort of like saying Regan was responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union, and not a host of extrinsic forces that had been building for quite some time. Volker could only do what he did, full stop.
THANK YOU!!!
Besides as good of a job as Volcker did doing the only thing he could do at the time... if he did it today it wouldn't work.
Why?
Because in 1980 we were a net saving country, a net exporter and had a small deficit (by today's standard).
Its easy to talk tough when in a tight place but you still have a pretty strong hand to play... try it when in a tight spot and your hand sucks - busted!
The seeds of today's 'dollar crisis' were sown in the Volcker years, well tended in the Greenspan years and are now being reaped. A bumper crop too...
I listened to Volker and what he had to say about Obama. And it was an obviously planted question (I recognized Paulson but not the questioner).He said basically that the overwhelming support of the youth for Obama was the basis for his decision.
For all of us who voted for Bush in 2000 and especially those of you who voted again for him in 2004, we must bear a responsibility for allowing so much debt to be forwarded to these very same youth.
Though by default a Clinton supporter,I have been thinking of this myself. My respect for Volker may just have moved me over to the Obama side.
We have burdened the young with this economic responsibility. We should allow them the authority to determine how they will pay it.
I wonder if those who would bust unions would also want to bust lobbyists.
And we need to help the new generation by supporting as Campaign Financing Amendment to give politics back to the people
OriginalFrank writes:
"Marcus Aurelius writes:
"...and his support of Osama is dumbfounding."
Obama. Drop the wingnut crap, you racist piece of shit.
You know that spring has truly arrived when the first reflexive liberal charge of 'racist' appears..
OriginalFrank | 04.08.08 - 5:43 pm | #
Good point Frank. And what's really amusing about Marcus, is calls someone a racist in defense of Obama. Obama and his pastor budy are the poster children of pure racism.
The racist wingnuts are running wild. They would rather vote for another Bush than anyone that had a chance of improving things. But they could very well be the 10-20%ers that are getting rich under Bush. They certainly have their hate to fall back on, but not much else.
Book: Paul Volcker, The making of a financial legend, by Joseph B Treaster, written in 2004, quote from page 35 (For five years, he had been the third-highest-ranking official in the Treasury Department. As undersecretary for monetary affairs, Volcker had devised a strategy in the early 1970s for breaking the linkage of the dollar to gold, and he was the United States' point man in negotiating new, lower price levels for the dollar against the currencies of the other major counties.) My feeling is Volcker as representing the Treasury helped Nixon get the U.S. to default on the Bretton Woods agreement and turned around as Federal Reserve chairman to undo what he helped to create, at best, the gold standard keep us honest for the world eyes...who can you trust??? Volcker was replaced by Alan Greenspan (The Great One), so sure, he has an Ax to Grind..bottom line, these guys are one and the same..
zinc writes:
"The truth is that Europe, Japan, China, etc are in as bad a shape as the US. The Arabs are once again on top of the pile."
Aside from Iran, the arab countries are our puppets. Why do you think the UAE and Saudi Arabia haven't broken their dollar pegs? Because we told them not to. Since the US is providing complete military support for them, they kinda have to do what we say.
As for all this eye watering about the US going down the hole, keep in mind that as of right now not only are we the guys supporting many of the puppet governments in the Mid East, but we are also directly occupying the second largest oil reserves on the planet in Iraq. There is no way the US is leaving that prize. We will get that oil flowing one way or another.
you gold bugs are a funny bunch. There is no way the global economy is going onto the gold standard. The global economy is going to remain on the USD until some other military power knocks the US off the perch. not very likely in the near future.
There is going to be a massive USD rally against the EUR before the end of 2008. It is even likely that we will see Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal leave the EUR within 2 years.
chowder writes:
"couple of items:
1. the USD is not going to lose its status as reserve currency. There are three criterion for a reserve currency: large and deep debt markets, relatively respected central bank (doesn't have to be perfect), and most importantly military (in fact mostly naval) dominance. There is no other currency that fits this bill except for USD. And there is no currency even a possible contender for the foreseeable future. "
Although I agree wholeheartedly with your other points, naval dominance can turn on a few tech innovations. History is full of examples.
The US military is stretched, and so is the budget. I mean, its not like they would let a huge subsonic jet slam into the pentagon without a shot being fired, or that they would park all their fleet into a small harbor in the Pacific. That would show a lack of military foresight.
Are you addressing several other posters as "Ladies" & "girls" because you believe they are female or because you are choosing to use those terms as a way of insulting them?
If so, it'd be nice if you'd grow up sufficiently to realize that women are as intellectually & physically able or courageous as men. If you are a man, and doubt the truth of those statements, I suggest you observe a woman giving birth (particularly for the first time) after dealing with pregnancy for nine months and all the pains & possible problems (gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure, sciatica, etc.) and then ask yourself if you are that brave & tough --and while you consider that, remember that, even in the US & with good health care, some women still die from giving birth.
If you are a woman, then, well, I believe I feel sorry for you.
Not to worry, Azurite, JG is just trying to demonstrate that ha is an equal opportunity offender, or as we call em in Texas, an A-hole.
Mr T - right on!
Louis H - I would submit that the dollar HAD to be cut loose - because in response to Nixon's enormous deficits and unwillingness to raise taxes, the French (in particular - there were others) were draining all the gold from Fort Knox.
Paying for unpopular wars is soooo much easier if you can just print the money without immediate and generally understandable consequence.
gab:"supporter of al-Qaida." You jest of course. If you really think Obama=al Qaida you're stupider than our President and I don't believe anyone can be more stupid than W. Physically impossible.
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
well, they can also stop loaning us dollars, effectively forcing trade into balance. That's called disorderly unwinding, in which scenario dollar falls brutally and quickly, Americans can no longer afford most imports, and trade deficit quickly goes to zero.
We so need Volcker to be Fed Chairman again!
A rare display of truth in a crazy lying world.
That takes courage.
It seems that Volcker was good on the fighting inflation thing back in the early 80s. But, he sure seemed weak on the U.N. oil-for-food investigation, and his support of Osama is dumbfounding.
Maybe he is like Goldwater, getting soft and daft in his dotage.
Except for his comment today.
Hey, schmucks/shysters/shylocks on Wall Street, fighting the bad news via S&P futures purchases: give up the ghost, bozos.
You are losing, and will soon be lost.
Waaahaahaahaa!
I received an invite to a webinar called : "Subprime Ripple Effect: Preparing for a Wave of Litigation."
Sounds ominous
I like the description that the Fed nationalized Bear and appointed JP Morgan as caretaker.
Jim
Volker has the brass cajones to run the Fed and stand up to the Fed's Wall Streets incestuous Infestatio
"lend freely at high rates against good collateral"
Instead they lent at low rates with dog crap collateral...
I liked his statement that the dollar crisis is not just coming, it's here. Of course. But Volker is simply too honest and straight for contemporary America. We need mealy mouths and "if and and but"-ters today. We need liars who can keep up with the administration. Americans, by and large, want lies. The truth is painful and hey, Americans can't stand no pain, no pain at all, brother.
Yeah, Volcker speaks freely, and that's nice.
But is he really some kind of hero? He broke inflation across the backs of the general population, with help from union-busting administrations.
Would he have been so stiff-willed if it had been the investment and management class who had to take more of the brunt of it? That question is unanswered.
I'd like to give Volker a great big friggn Bear hug, cause I agree 29 billion% that that Treasury & Fed usurped authority in a coup that Dodd allowed to happen; it was and remains an issue that should be questioned and not forgotten by this attention deficit society!
Volcker broke the back of inflation on the backs of pretty much all interested parties. Those with holdings of stocks and bonds were socked in the wallets as he increased short rates to very high levels. The working class stiffs lost jobs at a rapid clip.
He was pretty much an equal opportunity pain inflicter.
Also, I was not aware he was a supporter of Al-Qaeda. That might temper my high regard for him.
NEW YORK (AP) - Fitch Ratings slashed its rating on at least $4.3 billion in mortgage bonds on Tuesday because the ratings agency assumes more home loans will not be repaid.
Fitch announced a number of changes to ratings on bonds secured by home loans.
For these types of investments, investment banks typically buy home loans from mortgage lenders, package the loans into trusts, and sell the rights to the trusts in the form of a bond.
The value of the bond is tied to how strong the credit quality of the home loans in the trust is. Because Fitch has ramped up its forecasts for losses on home loans with bad credit, the ratings agency thinks many of the bonds are not as secure.
Fitch downgraded $2.1 billion in bonds issued by Long Beach Mortgage Co, $1.5 billion in bonds issued by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) , $413 million in bonds issued by ACE Securities Corp. and $284.9 million issued by GSAMP
The next bubble waiting to burst is the US Treasury market. When that happens say goodbye to reserve currency. If we think the current credit crunch is painful wait until Uncle Sam can't borrow in dollars from foreigners!
We are all gonna have to take the bitter medicine this criminally irresponsible administration has necessitated. I know of no one but Volker with the guts to administer it.
The little guy is gonna get creamed no matter what happens - and I am one "little guy" who believes that an unstable, collapsing currency hurts the little guys most of all.
I wasn't impressed with the oil for food investigation either, but he was playing against a stacked deck.
I got kidney cancer a few years back and was told it had to come out. I look forward to Volker's return with the same anticipation I did the operation - but both were necessary.
GSAMP Trust 2005-HE3
Deal Summary
--Originators: 96.4% Countrywide;
--60+ day Delinquency: 36.62%;
--Realized Losses to date (% of Original Balance): 1.50%;
--Expected Remaining Losses (% of Current balance): 27.74%;
--Cumulative Expected Losses (% of Original Balance): 7.63%;
``The implications of these decisions, and the lessons from the unfolding crisis itself, surely deserve full debate and legislative review in the period ahead,'' Volcker said.
`There was no pressure for change, not in Washington which was spending money and keeping taxes low, not on Wall Street which was wallowing in money, not on Main Street with individuals enjoying easy credit and rising house prices,'' Volcker said.
GSAMP Trust 2005-HE4
Deal Summary
--Originators: 100% Chase;
--60+ day Delinquency: 33.76%;
--Realized Losses to date (% of Original Balance): 2.49%;
--Expected Remaining Losses (% of Current balance): 28.59%;
--Cumulative Expected Losses (% of Original Balance): 13.04%;
TV writes:
Volker has the brass cajones to run the Fed and stand up to the Fed's Wall Streets incestuous Infestation
Yes he has what it takes.
I also believe he would stand up to anyone to do what is right for the overall economy. Just as it was needed to break unions in the past, Volker would break wall street and reshape it into something more sustainable.
Those quotes are amazing. Already in a dollar crisis.
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Time to add a few more candles to the Volker shrine in my closet.
"....and his support of Osama is dumbfounding." - jg
Who would you have him support - Dick Cheney?
jg not sure if you were being cute, but Volcker supports Obama; don't think he supports Osama. I might be wrong, of course.
Volcker is not to be confused with some kind of Ralph Nader, heroically opposing powerful forces at his own risk. He was appointed to the most powerful position at the top of the banking heap. He was appointed (and reappointed by the other party) to protect the interests of the investor class who were losing real purchasing power at an alarming rate. He delivered. There are always people like Volcker around. It is only occasionally that the money elite has need of them.
And to think that just a few years ago the popular press, in frenzied adulation, called Greenspan "the greatest Central Banker who ever lived."
Greenspan's got nothing on Volcker.
jg
Who out the 4 or 5 million Americans who would make excelent Presidents would you suggest?
The system threw up, and I mean threwup, the 3 that we have. How would you change the system so that we would get to chose one of those 4 to 5 millions instead of those we currently have to choose from?
"...and his support of Osama is dumbfounding."
Obama. Drop the wingnut crap, you racist piece of shit. It's YOUR man who dances for the Saudis.
Bob Dobbs: Unions are NOT GOOD at this point for the common worker in America.
Union administrations, much like Wall Street in general, seek only to take pay from people they don't care about to push inane positions antithetical to the actual economic self-interest of the day-to-day employee.
The overarching theory of a union is great. The current implementation is 100% useless in all cases in America at the present time.
Volcker broke unions? No. Volcker broke corrupt union administrations.
Historical revisionism creates cute soundbites, but in this case you're wrong.
Also, whoever posted that Volcker supported Osama is amusingly wrong -
do a simple google search of "volcker osama" and you'll find this:
Don't Let Volcker Report Whitewash U.N. Oil-For-Food Scandal, Analyst Says
He supported a candidate to head some UN sub-sub-committee who had given an impassioned radio interview comparing Bush to Osama.
"Ralph Nader, heroically opposing powerful forces at his own risk."
Ralph Nader isn't in the same company as Don Quixote.
Opposing powerful forces at his own risk...ROFL. That's a good one.
Cheers,
Also, I was not aware he was a supporter of Al-Qaeda. That might temper my high regard for him.
gab | 04.08.08 - 4:21 pm | #
He is not, that was just a stupid comment by jg about his endorsment of Barrack Obama. Very different person than Osama bin Laden. Like who else is he going to endorse? More of the Same McCain?
--
Fed committed fraud and an immoral act. Only born-and-bred dopes with their blind faith in tthe system, or wrapped in the flag, can fail to see the criminality of the Fed and the USG. I have known it for years but now it is becoming more obvious to many others who are not easily duped.
Bailouts help the wrong people -- Crooks and the irresponsible! A system that punishes good people and rewards bad people is an evil system, no? In the name of saving the system? From whom?!!!!!
A system of the Crooks...
Jas
Not to put too fine a point on it, and I apologize to the hosts, but:
Fuck you, JG, you worthless pile of shit.
Volker warms my heart. He is clearly old-skool when it comes to dealing with wall street and the economy..
If he were in charge, he would definately open a 40 ounce can of whup-ass all over wall street if they came to him with the problems they have brought to uncle Ben.
It is clear that he is not happy with the way the Fed has been run since he left. His subtle knocks on Greenspan and Uncle Ben are becoming much clearer now. I wander if they are listening???
Old Skool, love it.
"The overarching theory of a union is great. The current implementation is 100% useless in all cases in America at the present time."
You should tell that to the service sector employees in Las Vegas whose incomes keep pace with inflation at the cost of slightly lower profits. Breaking up corrupt unions and ending unions all together is not the same thing.
omg - I need a drink as I almost agree w/ Jas
Jas,
I've been betting with the house for years. My treasuries have outperformed stocks & corporate bonds for the last decade.
I just lightened up on the long end. I see CPI inflation. I missed the boat on TIPS. Oh well.
Yeah, this is gonna get bad with the dollar. I recall going overseas early in the decade, and loved the prices in Europe. Now the shoe is on the other foot.
I'll never forgive the Republicans for frittering away the dollar as the world's reserve currency.
Misean | 04.08.08 - 4:47 pm
Why LOL? His policy suggestions might not be your cup of tea or mine, but there's a lot of truth there. What do you think motivates him against the constant stream of negative PR? Greed? Vanity? Insanity? Maybe it's integrity.
"The next bubble waiting to burst is the US Treasury market. When that happens say goodbye to reserve currency. If we think the current credit crunch is painful wait until Uncle Sam can't borrow in dollars from foreigners!"
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
Our federal, state & local governments are basically union employers. Cola, medical benefits, retirement benefits, vacation & sick days. Nice work if you can get it. Ideally, at least one spouse in a two earner household should hold a government job. A sure way to get your piece of the grift.
Sad but true.
Paul Volcker was a public servant his entire carreer. He made a tiny fraction of what he could have made in the private sector. Volcker for Chairman of the Fed! Siedman for Treasury Secretary!
Volker has the brass cajones to run the Fed and stand up to the Fed's Wall Streets incestuous Infestation
Oh my. Now the frenzied adulation of Volker in the posts which, for the life of me, I don't get. Saying he corrected that situation is sort of like saying Regan was responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union, and not a host of extrinsic forces that had been building for quite some time. Volker could only do what he did, full stop.
You know what brass cojones are? They are saying all of this to the powers that be WHILE you hold the position. Saying this now demonstrates nothing but the things you get to say at an exit interview because politics deemed you couldn't while you were employed there.
Saw this on the Big Picture.
Congrats, CR.
Economics Latest News, Politics Breaking Stories, Market Top Headlines
Press Release
FDIC Makes Public February Enforcement Actions; No Administrative Hearings are Scheduled
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2008 Media Contact:
David Barr (202) 898-6992
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today released a list of orders of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in February. No administrative hearings are scheduled.
The FDIC processed a total of 23 orders in February. These included eight cease-and-desist orders; eight removal and prohibition orders; four civil money penalties; two terminations of cease-and-desist order; and one termination of a supervisory prompt corrective action directive.
FDIC: Enforcement Decisions and Orders - Recent Orders and Decisions
What really annoys me is the way JPM was allowed to arbitrarily increase the payout to old pals at the taxpayers (MY) expense after the deal had been agreed to.
I gotta say, Volcker was a bit too generous with interest rates. Needless to say, with double digit interest rates on treasuries, Angry Saver was not angry at all.
But I'm not looking for a free lunch. I just don't like negative real interest rates. Hugely positive interest rates on treasuries don't make much sense either. Productivity during the late 70s and early 80s was awful. Why work when you can get paid to do nothing.
O/T but a pending correction in the CDO marketplace:
Specialist structured credit funds are set to sell up to $3bn (1.9bn) of distressed assets backing collateralized debt obligations next week, in the freshest round of liquidations to affect the sector that has been at the core of the credit crisis over the past nine months
The development comes shortly after some $104bn of CDOs suffered ratings downgrades last week due to rising defaults and poor loan performance trends on assets, bringing the value of CDO downgrades in the past year to $357bn, according to Deutsche Bank.
The CDOs that are set to liquidate next week are market-value CDOs, according to investors, which mean they are especially sensitive to changes in its portfolios net asset value. As collateral prices have fallen below certain levels, they've been forced to sell.
US Edition - Financial News Online
Wanna bet this begins this Thursday?
Please please please bring Volcker back to the Fed! Give him a throne, a scepter and a crown and watch him nationalize the shit out of everything Scandinavia-style!
"30:1 leverage? NATIONALIZED"
"Huge book of toxic CDO filth? NATIONALIZED"
"Lied about ratings? NATIONALIZED AND P.I.T.A. PENITENTIARY"
"Stockholders and investors? ZERO"
So say we all.
Volcker video
Bloomberg News
"Stockholders and investors? ZERO"
=
JOBS! ZERO
Do any of you people actually think before you type?
It's either blindingly partisan or very stupid to blame the Republicans for devaluing the dollar to its current level, and threatening its status as the reserve currency. Both parties have done so, fairly equally, willingly, and with callous disregard for the consequences.
Regan proved that the voters will ignore long-term effects if the short-term achievements are rosy enough, and attribute events during an administration to the president regardless of the causes. Bush Sr learned the hard way that voters don't elect people who are not willing to sacrifice the future for short-term gratification. Clinton demonstrated that trading away jobs, savings, and long-term security for short-term prosperity was not only a good way to stay elected, but to be well-regarded long after you're gone. Bush Jr has taken all of these lessons to heart, to the dismay of traditional financial conservatives, and parleyed them into 8 years of office.
Now the American people are clamoring for more short-term fixes, unbounded government spending, and socialist policies labeled progressive, and the next administration will give it all to them, and more. IMO, the only rational response to what's undoubtedly coming is: what the hell did you expect?
Intrinsic to the capital markets is an element of risk - including the risk of total loss.
You know nick that pretty much sums it up nicely. Are you running?
Ipodius,
What really bugs me is having 2% interest rates with cpi inflation at 4.1% and PPI at 6.3%. What's worse, interest rates are going down, while inflation pressures are building.
In this light, a Volcker would be welcome.
Once people view inflation as rampant & permanent in a fiat currency, it is crazy hard to right the ship.
"lend freely at high rates against good collateral"
that's how they came to be the FED...
now, at end game dynamics, it's all or nothing
Angry, I'm interested to know how you think raising the benchmark rate will help the overall economy, or are you just interested in the points you can make on investments? And, for that matter, even if the Fed did raise the rate, what makes you think that would have the effect you desire on yield when, clearly, the Fed isn't the driver of rates and money supply that it once was (as the recent past has shown)?
``What appears to be in substance a direct transfer of mortgage and mortgage-backed securities of questionable pedigree from an investment bank to the Federal Reserve seems to test the time-honored central bank mantra in time of crisis: lend freely at high rates against good collateral; test it to the point of no return,'' Volker said.
No worries Mr. Volker, the pledged securities were rated BBB- or better by a reputable third-party and, on top of that, the pool is insured against loss by Ambak Financial. So really you have nothing to worry about!
Nick | Homepage | 04.08.08 - 5:21 pm
Republicans:
Record deficits (and a VP who says they didn't matter, and who wouldn't mind killing those who would try to collect).
Voodoo economics
Tax breaks for the rich
Crony capitalism
Dems:
Budget surpluses
Increased minimum wages
Taxes reasonable (in light of the debt, and apportioned reasonably)
Burgeoning economy
The dollar? We're fixin' to reneg on our debt by devaluation of the Reserve currency, which we have a fiduciary duty to protect.
Everybody go shopping and the war will pay for itself. Indeed.
I'm interested to know how you think raising the benchmark rate will help the overall economy
I'll answer part of this.
I feel that raising the benchmark rate (I'm assuming you mean Fed Funds Rate) will decrease the spread between the Fed rate and the Eurozone rates, which would give a pop to the dollar.
stopping rapid dollar devaluation may help to slow the rapid appreciation in commodities (oil, gold, etc) that we've seen... I personally feel that a lot of the rise we've seen is people frantically trying to get out of the dollar... stabilize the dollar and we may see stabilization of commodities.
In addition, I believe raising the FFR that it would encourage people to save as well, and some of those savings could be used for productive enterprises. if nothing else, if we had higher FFR people may be more willing to put their money in the BANK, and it would seem that right now the banks are starved for capital.
Of course, raising rates will bring us to the realization that we are in recession, so we would have problems with this. I do not deny that.
However, this rapid drop in FFR is exacerbating the severe flight to quality issue, as well as the commodity bubble, and also the banks balance sheets as it discourages people from depositing their cash.
regardless, we've already tried the 1% route... and as soon as we started trying to leave we see what's happened. Thus, i'm not sure a quick drop to 1% will solve anything, except delay problems until we raise back up again, when the problems will resurface.
just a few thoughts.
My now somewhat warm and fuzzy feelings about Volcker in contrast to my attitudes about Greenspan and Bernanke remind me how I no longer view Nixon in such a negative light after 8 years of Bush.
Ipodius,
Rates do drive the money supply. If they didn't nobody would follow the fed.
A low or zero inflationary environment is the best way to level the playing field and encourage investment. The fed's asset inflation scheme favors speculation over actual investment. Right now, most still harbor asset inflation expectations over actual inflation expectations. Most continue to be wrong. Stocks over the last decade underperformed inflation. Houses will likely underperform inflation going forward a decade.
The asset inflation model is failing the majority. As for me, I do just fine in any environment. Unfortunately, our country does not.
YTL, great points.
Consider: Low rates to prop up record high housing prices? WTF. unaffordability is not the answer.
Higher interest rates = higher dollar = lower oil = higher PPP (purchasing power parity) = lower ted spread = better credit environment
Do I need to write a discertation for you all?
It is the only fix left.
"Marcus Aurelius writes:
"...and his support of Osama is dumbfounding."
Obama. Drop the wingnut crap, you racist piece of shit.
You know that spring has truly arrived when the first reflexive liberal charge of 'racist' appears..
OriginalFrank | 04.08.08 - 5:43 pm
And you would attribute the slur to...?
Only speculators and rent seekers would view confiscation via inflation a prudent economic model.
The largest expenses for most are:
Taxes
Interest
Inflation
& health insurance.
If you want to be wealthy - live, save and invest in a manner that minimizes the odius effects of the above.
OriginalFrank | 04.08.08 - 5:43 pm
BTW: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool conservative (not the Neocon, uber-liberal, whack job variety).
may be the most important rational voice re the fed's action today
couple of items:
1. the USD is not going to lose its status as reserve currency. There are three criterion for a reserve currency: large and deep debt markets, relatively respected central bank (doesn't have to be perfect), and most importantly military (in fact mostly naval) dominance. There is no other currency that fits this bill except for USD. And there is no currency even a possible contender for the foreseeable future.
Barley - re:CDOs, how convenient that the rules just changed to allow banks to disregard prices set by distressed sales when valuing their own holdings!
Im tired of all these people blaming the lenders, brokers etc. especially when they were the ones that benefited from the industry. Everyone benefited from the mortgage industry and now when the shit hits the fence they started to turn on each other. Freaken savages That makes me sick to the stomach; furthermore, we n dont need any more bad publicity about the industry. To all the dicks out there that crying about this and that... wake up and smell the coffee; Mortgage and real-estate was the only industry supporting our economy. Thinking about it, I dont we even export a god damn thing besides weapons; negative exports my friend. Its about recycling the money to fuel consumer spending. Just suck it up and take it like a man and lets move on. Negative news and publicity is killing our industry and to all you cry babies out there; if youre not going to say anything good about the mortgage industry ;then dont say anything at all. The only people to blame is the ones that open their god damn mouth and start cry about the industry . imagine if the damn analyst and news co didnt open their damn mouth about all this negative stuff. It would be business as usual and investors would be still buying on the secondary market instead of being scared to death because they read something from a desk jocky that had issues with his mortgage and now want to take down the industry.
Marcus Aurelius writes:
OriginalFrank | 04.08.08 - 5:43 pm
BTW: I'm a dyed-in-the-wool conservative (not the Neocon, uber-liberal, whack job variety).
Then I think you would have reason to avoid using the traditional liberal smear charge.
"Then I think you would have reason to avoid using the traditional liberal smear charge."
Exactly, considering that Liberal is a complimentary term as opposed to 'Conservative'.
chowder, then give me all your gold, after all, the pound didn't devalue between 1926 and 1941, did it?
Someday this war's gonna end...
We should analyze the tradition refrain of Central bankers:
lend freely = Don't let financial instutions fail because of liquidity problems
at high rates = discourage them from borrowing if they don't NEED the help.
against good collateral = DON'T bail out those with negative net-worth on their balance sheets. Let THEM fail, it improves the breed.
I don't usually agree with Marcus' rather gloomy views, perhaps because a part of me fears he might be right (I do enjoy his choice of music) but on Obama I am with him.
I do fear for Bama's well being and the fact that this coming recession might be so severe that he might as well be leaning against the wind in a shitstorm from hell.
(&(&&(&V ^&%^&%^&%^&%&&&^%&^& JG
Apologies CR
Original Frank,
You sound like a typical rightwinger. A fellow rightwinger calls Obama osama and gets called out on it and you then claim that the original poster was "smeared" as a racist. Forget about the real smear of Obama.
The country would be so much better off if all the wingnuts just dropped dead IMO. The rightwingers have brought the country to the brink of collapse and there will still be almost half the voting population pulling the lever for McCain in Nov. Just goes to show that you can never underestimate the stupidity of the average American.
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
John | 04.08.08 - 5:03 pm | #
THANK YOU!!!
Oh my. Now the frenzied adulation of Volker in the posts which, for the life of me, I don't get. Saying he corrected that situation is sort of like saying Regan was responsible for the fall of the Soviet Union, and not a host of extrinsic forces that had been building for quite some time. Volker could only do what he did, full stop.
THANK YOU!!!
Besides as good of a job as Volcker did doing the only thing he could do at the time... if he did it today it wouldn't work.
Why?
Because in 1980 we were a net saving country, a net exporter and had a small deficit (by today's standard).
Its easy to talk tough when in a tight place but you still have a pretty strong hand to play... try it when in a tight spot and your hand sucks - busted!
The seeds of today's 'dollar crisis' were sown in the Volcker years, well tended in the Greenspan years and are now being reaped. A bumper crop too...
Bon Appetite!
I listened to Volker and what he had to say about Obama. And it was an obviously planted question (I recognized Paulson but not the questioner).He said basically that the overwhelming support of the youth for Obama was the basis for his decision.
For all of us who voted for Bush in 2000 and especially those of you who voted again for him in 2004, we must bear a responsibility for allowing so much debt to be forwarded to these very same youth.
Though by default a Clinton supporter,I have been thinking of this myself. My respect for Volker may just have moved me over to the Obama side.
We have burdened the young with this economic responsibility. We should allow them the authority to determine how they will pay it.
I wonder if those who would bust unions would also want to bust lobbyists.
And we need to help the new generation by supporting as Campaign Financing Amendment to give politics back to the people
OriginalFrank writes:
"Marcus Aurelius writes:
"...and his support of Osama is dumbfounding."
Obama. Drop the wingnut crap, you racist piece of shit.
You know that spring has truly arrived when the first reflexive liberal charge of 'racist' appears..
OriginalFrank | 04.08.08 - 5:43 pm | #
Good point Frank. And what's really amusing about Marcus, is calls someone a racist in defense of Obama. Obama and his pastor budy are the poster children of pure racism.
The truth is that Europe, Japan, China, etc are in as bad a shape as the US. The Arabs are once again on top of the pile.
Don't get fooled by the bullshitters sitting quietly in the corner.
The racist wingnuts are running wild. They would rather vote for another Bush than anyone that had a chance of improving things. But they could very well be the 10-20%ers that are getting rich under Bush. They certainly have their hate to fall back on, but not much else.
Book: Paul Volcker, The making of a financial legend, by Joseph B Treaster, written in 2004, quote from page 35 (For five years, he had been the third-highest-ranking official in the Treasury Department. As undersecretary for monetary affairs, Volcker had devised a strategy in the early 1970s for breaking the linkage of the dollar to gold, and he was the United States' point man in negotiating new, lower price levels for the dollar against the currencies of the other major counties.) My feeling is Volcker as representing the Treasury helped Nixon get the U.S. to default on the Bretton Woods agreement and turned around as Federal Reserve chairman to undo what he helped to create, at best, the gold standard keep us honest for the world eyes...who can you trust??? Volcker was replaced by Alan Greenspan (The Great One), so sure, he has an Ax to Grind..bottom line, these guys are one and the same..
zinc writes:
"The truth is that Europe, Japan, China, etc are in as bad a shape as the US. The Arabs are once again on top of the pile."
Aside from Iran, the arab countries are our puppets. Why do you think the UAE and Saudi Arabia haven't broken their dollar pegs? Because we told them not to. Since the US is providing complete military support for them, they kinda have to do what we say.
As for all this eye watering about the US going down the hole, keep in mind that as of right now not only are we the guys supporting many of the puppet governments in the Mid East, but we are also directly occupying the second largest oil reserves on the planet in Iraq. There is no way the US is leaving that prize. We will get that oil flowing one way or another.
you gold bugs are a funny bunch. There is no way the global economy is going onto the gold standard. The global economy is going to remain on the USD until some other military power knocks the US off the perch. not very likely in the near future.
There is going to be a massive USD rally against the EUR before the end of 2008. It is even likely that we will see Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal leave the EUR within 2 years.
Ladies, quit getting your panties in a wad. It is fun calling O- 'Osama,' just as it is fun calling H- 'Hitlery,' and Mc- 'McPain.'
I chuckle when I see B- called 'Shrub.' Get a sense of humor, girls.
chowder writes:
"couple of items:
1. the USD is not going to lose its status as reserve currency. There are three criterion for a reserve currency: large and deep debt markets, relatively respected central bank (doesn't have to be perfect), and most importantly military (in fact mostly naval) dominance. There is no other currency that fits this bill except for USD. And there is no currency even a possible contender for the foreseeable future. "
Although I agree wholeheartedly with your other points, naval dominance can turn on a few tech innovations. History is full of examples.
The US military is stretched, and so is the budget. I mean, its not like they would let a huge subsonic jet slam into the pentagon without a shot being fired, or that they would park all their fleet into a small harbor in the Pacific. That would show a lack of military foresight.
Jg,
Are you addressing several other posters as "Ladies" & "girls" because you believe they are female or because you are choosing to use those terms as a way of insulting them?
If so, it'd be nice if you'd grow up sufficiently to realize that women are as intellectually & physically able or courageous as men. If you are a man, and doubt the truth of those statements, I suggest you observe a woman giving birth (particularly for the first time) after dealing with pregnancy for nine months and all the pains & possible problems (gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure, sciatica, etc.) and then ask yourself if you are that brave & tough --and while you consider that, remember that, even in the US & with good health care, some women still die from giving birth.
If you are a woman, then, well, I believe I feel sorry for you.
Not to worry, Azurite, JG is just trying to demonstrate that ha is an equal opportunity offender, or as we call em in Texas, an A-hole.
Mr T - right on!
Louis H - I would submit that the dollar HAD to be cut loose - because in response to Nixon's enormous deficits and unwillingness to raise taxes, the French (in particular - there were others) were draining all the gold from Fort Knox.
Paying for unpopular wars is soooo much easier if you can just print the money without immediate and generally understandable consequence.
Volcker for President...and Fed Chairman.
gab:"supporter of al-Qaida." You jest of course. If you really think Obama=al Qaida you're stupider than our President and I don't believe anyone can be more stupid than W. Physically impossible.
Foreigners will stop loaning us dollars right after they buy as much or more stuff from us as we buy from them. The trade deficit is in fact declining, but it has a long way to go... until then, they can use our dollars to buy our stuff or our paper - there are no other choices.
well, they can also stop loaning us dollars, effectively forcing trade into balance. That's called disorderly unwinding, in which scenario dollar falls brutally and quickly, Americans can no longer afford most imports, and trade deficit quickly goes to zero.
For the Bush supporters:
Keystone Cops 9/11: ID The South Tower Fake Flight 175 911SouthTowerID
Bush's Plan to Steal Iraq's Oil
BushsIraqWarPlan