Exactly. None of this is about fixing the problems; it is about tricking people into believing they are fixing the problems.

QFT!!!!!

the money in goldman's pocket plan - u.s. moves to the post-soviet kleptocracy/oligarchy model

"The real economy is credit, don't you see? If there is no credit there is no economy!" -BB

Perhaps they missed the turn downwards in the housing market and also did not comprehend the implications of incredible froth at the top, but they are sure great salesmen.

I know I am supposed to always assume ignorance/incompetence before looking to malice.

But...malice seems much too likely in this case.

That woman with the accent should be Treasury secretary...

Sure we'll trash the dollar so it can get stronger again! fantastic ploy!

If we don't borrow to save our debt problem, the credit crisis and the credit...errr I mean economy will suffer.

If we had a really bad bird flu epidemic in the US, and it killed 90% of our elderly population, we'd be a much stronger country in every measurable way right?

I'm assuming you're being sarcastic here, but actually bird flu kills the young.

It's a process of liars and thieves.

Government issued credit cards for everyone!

Never attribute to malice that which can be better described to "filthy greedy bastards"

exactly! show me the upside! breaking even is not enough.

If Hank wants to socialize the losses, lets socialize the earnings (at least on a temporary basis, till the mkt comes back to normal).

DaddieMac,

Bingo!

"u.s. moves to the post-soviet kleptocracy/oligarchy model"

Not quite. The Russian oligarchs apparently fear Putin. It seems that their most recent capital infusions exceed Mr. Buffet's by a large amount.

wow constituents are smarter than I thought. Talking about fire sale versus market value and hold to maturity!

Maloney is reading a CR letter!!!

Off balance people under stress are making it up on the fly. Last week's events panicked Paulson and Bernancke as well as the markets, and those two panicked Congress. Now John McCain is adding to the panic.

No one in this episode so far is running much danger of being the subject of some future profile in courage (maybe Tim Geithner, but that's it).

Look, last week Harry Reid said Congress wasn't going to do anything because it didn't know what to do, and it would do something if the Administration could come up with a strategy, and that he understood Paulson and Bernancke were trying to come up with some ideas.

The only idea was a three page memo that boiled down to trust me with $700 billion dollars. Not much of a plan, if you ask me. I wonder what CEO Paulson's response to a Goldman Sachs managing director would have been if the MD had asked him for $7 billion to take to China and make the firm a lot of money? Probably would have wanted a few specifics, some metrics, etc. etc.

Not much of an idea.

CR...GO MAN!!!

wow who is this congresswoman and where is she from?

Sniglet --

Sure, Wall Street bears a lot of the blame, but those poor struggling mortgage holders bear a HUGE amount of responsibility too!!!!

Agree 100%. The borrowers, brokers, lenders, securitizers, and investors are all perpetrators of this crime, not victims.

If Congress really wants to spend a trillion dollars on the victims of this crisis, they should wait until it actually has victims, then figure out how to identify them and help them out.

Shut up Barney

"NO EQUITY, NO DEAL"

Tariff for revenue only!

54/40 or fight!

If the glove doesn't fit......oh well.

Should we use Buffet's Deal with Goldman Sachs as our Template - i.e., a big Dividend, Preferred Stock and Warrants? If there's ultimately houses behind each of these admitttedly stinking deals, aren't they worth Something?

No job
no car
no credit card
no couch
no daughter
no college
Chinese car

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney - Home

Maloney is my Congressman. Manhattan, NYC

if we do this BB, do we PREVENT a recession?

I thought not.

Scare Me hank.

No credit = no jobs etc.

Why not outlaw saving as well as shorting?

I'm still racking my brains who Paulson is in such a great hurry. He obviously knows something I don't know. (That's OK, if his knowledge would be as limited as mine the US would really be in trouble.) But it just irritates me that I can't lay my finger on it. WaMu about to go bust? Possibly, but would that be the sort of Armageddon event that they say is about to happen if your Congress doesn't vote for his plan right away? Something is brewing, deep down in trading rooms... But what? BUT WHAT??

If this thing doesn't pass your kid won't go to college???

$700b would fund health care for ALL OF US.

Think of it that way.

Ciao
MS

No, different Rep.

No, it would buy lost of windmills or solar panels.

Yeah watcha gonna do ahole

Is No Equity No Deal like the new "No Taxation without Representaion"?

I believe we (main street) want to see "blood in the streets". Therefore implement emergency "clawbacks". No questions ask. Implement them by the end of the week. Come back Monday and tell us how much private money sitting on the sidelines was made off this mess and we (main street) collected from the clawbacks which can now be allocated to this mess. Force the private equity to fix this. It kills me this money sitting on the sidelines is just waiting to make a 50 percent return off the back of the middle class STILL !!

MS

that is a little misleading. it would only pay for RX drugs for the next 20 years for every man woman and child in the United States and territories

Will we prevent recession if we pass this? Is there a possibility of recession if we do pass this?

And there is no precedent for what you want to do and you will not accept any other alternatives.

I for one say save the 700b and take our chances with recession.

@ Daddie Mac: Thanks, I forgot about that. (I'm Dutch.)

Holy shite...the D word has been broached!

Something is brewing, deep down in trading rooms... But what? BUT WHAT??

Bloomberg.com:
Personal Finance

Woops now i vote third party libertarian maybe???

WTF? I'm not prepared to talk about specifics, but give me the money anyway!

Paulson just committed to $700bn in total max for the whole program

Was talking to the wife of a middle ranking FDIC officer today. She claims there will be very few bank failures. She said the plan is to sell each failing bank to another bank before the public even knows its failing.

Does this make sense?

The compromised bill has been agreed upon already. It will pass. Just listen to some of the senators.

McCain will win because people will be fed up why so many dems caved in.

Half of these 'outrage' by the congressmen are fake.

You just watch.

Barney Frank is trying to let Paulson get around the issues.

Bottom line:

Have govmnt buy trash at face value and thereby give banks a mark to market price that will restore their balance sheets.

What's going on here is a continuation of the ratings agency farce. By paying a false price they give the banks a way to pretty up their balance sheets.

This is just a scammy way to do what Japan did by letting banks hold bad loans for years.

How can anyone watch and listen to Paulson for over five minutes without realizing he's a con man. Bernanke's not much better.

Goldman's shares get suspicious boost pre-Buffett

Goldman's shares get suspicious boost pre-Buffett
| Reuters

Now why is that Hank? The casino isn't rigged is it?

MS agree put it in an email

"you are persisting with a line of questioning that i don't want to answer!"

great guy! put Hank on the naughty spot

Will China appoint a trustee in bankruptcy for U.S.A.?

Paulson-
Don't question me congresscritter!!!!

We don't need no stinkin law Benny, when we don't even enforce the ones we have which the common man can't even grasp.

Jas the first thing we do is lynch your Unamerican ass.

We have your address.

Could someone please just ask HP:

How much money are you worth and where did you earn it?

Doesn't that sum it up. He's a Goldman-bot.

Paulson, you got all of your gut feelings wrong so far. Why are you getting it right this time?

How Will the Bailout Work? No One Actually Knows

How Will Bailout Work? No One Actually Knows - CNBC

@scalar - Dead on! Run for Congress in 2 years. We will need you there. No, not joking.

@Section8:

"Section 8" - unfit for duty discharge from military,

"Section 8" - subsidized low-income housing

Not a good heritage, for that phrase...

Congressman: "i hope you are writing the speach Mr Paulson"

Paulson: my friends at GS are.

"Big Wall Street guys" LOL

You wanna applaud a talkin' shrub? Wow, I knew DC was in a bubble, but this is ridiculous!

Anyone know what is with Paulson's left pinky? Looks broken?

The bankers are already using section 8 with their non-answers. The curtain has been pulled back on these bankers, and The Wizards of Oz are vile.

Three years ago I predicted that we would buy all we could from China, pay whatever the price asked for petroleum, as we knew they'd hold all the extra dollars for a pittance in interest and then when the crunch came, we'd simply devalue the dollar...grin..and we are. So worry not, that $4.00 gasoline really only cost you a buck twenty five in 2010 dollars. Don't bet against Yankee traders...ever.

CNBC Poll: Did Paulson and Bernanke make their case?

Page not found - - CNBC.com

what dryfly said... and the gal I talked to in the DC office for one of my senators said the phones they been aringing...

I think the squeeze play of jamming this through Congress just before the election recess may have backfired - this is about the only time J6P is watching the Beltway circus - and coincidentally, Joe and Jane have not been having a Wall St bankers ball of it lately...

Comrade Bagholders,

I know who I want to slap in the face. But I want to do it with a Loiseville Slugger with spikes in it.

Nostrovia,

is bush on the non short list.

Or can i buy oct. puts on his approval rating?

The Govt can spend our money, but will it make any difference?

All these programs only deals with the past indiscretions.

Who will be willing to accept additional credit, that which these current resolutions will resolve, If homeowners and businesses are seeing a declining homes and sales.

This whole exercise is not the solution.

This country needs to cut their credit/debt and start saving....

***Listening to Canadian Broadcast System while travelling today and they had reports about credit markets in Europe freezing up today. What is going on in the world? We are being spoon fed the House hearings and being spoon fed BS again.****

Again is there a way to quantify this freezing in terms of volume as a function of time?

Sounds like were getting anecdotal reports rather than actual statistics.

"If it's all about pricing, why don't they talk to the FASB about revising some accounting treatment so that hold-to-maturity assets aren't valued at current for-sale prices?"

I was also wondering about this.

Not since Croesus invented coinage and quickly discovered the efficacy of adding a bit of copper or zinc or whatever to the gold and silver has a gov't declined the invitation to inflate itself out of debt...nor will we....borrow all you can at whatever rate you can get long term, for you will repay it with peanuts.

A 2007 $500,000 house will be cheap next year when bread is $30 per loaf and gas is $ 15 per gallon and the minimum wage is $50 per hour...shucks...even poor people will be able to afford a 2007 mcmansion.

So TED spread jumped over 20% today and is at 3.02% What effect will that have on Asia and Europe in the next 12 hours?

FRE upgraded,,,,Gawd, more money in my pocket,,where it is supposed to be...lol

But no guarantees

Sherman asking good questions

Can anyone tell me whats the value in FRE and FNM?

o plot, graphs, powerpoint

no real time data

no bodies flying out of wall street skyscrapers

just recycled anecdotes of "freezing credit"

Steveoh writes:
Did he just say "Chairman Bu-knackie"

I thought he said Bukake.

Major meltdown...oh 5:15, never mind

The government responses to the Depression, for all the criticism, were mostly reasonable and honestly meant to help. They were sincere by and large.

This proposal we have now is not.

Our government is doing much worse than those of the 1930's. They need to straighten up, fast.

Fortunately there's an election in a month or so, so if they don't we get to try a new government.

Yeah...these "public servants" aren't going to work 5 minutes of overtime. It's just a systemic collapse, they have to save their OT for important stuff like political grandstanding and feeding tubes.

Shrub at 6pm Eastern? 3pm Pacific?

Barney Frank said that he thinks that Paulson agreed to the equity issue.

Can I sell my house to the Fed for hold-to-maturity value and then buy it back for current market value? Isn't that what they are letting the banks do with these crap loans?

Preparations are being made to pick up the pieces once the crash begins. GS/MS are now holding institutions = pick up assets for pennies on the dollar. GS just got a cash infusion to loot. The bailout creates an asset laundering entity. GS/MS gets the value while taxpayers will get the crap.

Meanwhile, we have Russian navy off the Gulf of Mexico running drills with nuclear warheads armed.

Something really bad is about to happen!

Meanwhile, we have Russian navy off the Gulf of Mexico running drills with nuclear warheads armed.
Source?

Hmmm, anyone else think that will leave a mark?

Palin: US could face another Great Depression
By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn't act on the financial crisis.
Yahoo! 404 - Page Not Found

so they said financial system couldn't last a week.
Does my ATM stop working tomorrow?

Russian nuclear subs is not something to joke about. Source it or retract it.

Here's some info on Russia...

Newsmax.com — Russia in Caribbean Raises Fears of War With U.S.

Two Russian bombers land in Venezuela: agencies
| Reuters

I say we loose our refineries if Iran is hit.

The nuclear-powered flagship Peter the Great set off for Venezuela Monday with the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels in the first Russian naval mission in Latin America since the end of the Cold War. In November, they are to be joined by a unit of Russian long-range anti-submarine patrol aircraft that will be temporarily stationed at one of Venezuela's air bases.

A serious threat, or simple political theater? The Peter the Great is armed with 20 nuclear cruise missiles and up to 500 surface-to-air missiles, making it one of the most formidable warships in the world. But it’s a showpiece of a military that is still hindered by poor morale, drug use, desertion, and substandard equipment.

Can I phone the United Nations for military intervention to stop the BushCo theft of pubic funds?

dryfly,

I am wondering about the part where she appears to be party to the extortion attempt - we might get that if we don't pony up for the bailout...

Bush to announce attack on Iran tonight.