Posted on 09/26/2008 7:53:08 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Words that give me pause:
Now let me tell you something very simple and very important: You can try to prevent a financial meltdown or you can teach Wall Street a lesson, but you can’t do both at the same time.
So which will it be?
You say you want straight talk — no spin, no bull, no sugar-coating. Okay, here goes.
First, stop fixating on Wall Street executives — there will be time to deal with them later. Even if you clawed back every dime they made over the past decade, it would come to several billions of dollars. That’s a rounding error compared with the size of the financial problem we’re facing here.
Second, we need to act quickly. The financial situation is now downright scary. Don’t look at the stock market — that’s not where the problem is. The problem is in the credit markets, which are quickly freezing. I won’t bore you with technical indicators like Libor and Treasury swap spreads, but if you talk to people who work these markets every day, as I have, they report that the money markets are in worse shape than they were last August, or even during the currency crises of 1998.
(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...
BS. You can do both.
Somber thoughts.
Capitalism doesn’t guarantee sucess, nor does it insulate against failure.
Take a pure capitalist approach and give them no taxpayer money. America will survive.
Well,...we disagree on that point....how do you plan to enact your plan?
Before we throw the free market in the trash can to the tune of $700 billion taxpayer dollars, I want to see some of these dire consequences first. It’s not like buildings will crumble- the market can be re-capitalized.
So a recession is no problem for you and your family?
Flash tutorial -- The Sub prime Primer
Click on each screen to advance.,.....
Totally wrong Earnest. The best thing ewe can do is NO PLAN. Especially no international new world order socialist plan. If we stand against this takeover we will come out on top. The dims and Bush are bailing out the overseas banks on our backs. Let the markets correct themselves.
>> Take a pure capitalist approach and give them no taxpayer money. America will survive.
Yes. Giving them more money is simply inviting them to “game” whatever Congress and Bush come up with for further personal gain.
Anyone care to suggest that that won’t happen in a bailout?
On another interesting note: yes, last night we experienced the largest bank failure in US history.
Guess what?
The system worked.
The bank branches are open, today, the day after the failure, so depositors can access their money. As a depositor, if you paid attention to FDIC guidelines, you will be made whole — completely. Side note: as I have been reminded by other FReepers, FDIC is NOT a government bailout — it’s an insurance plan. Banks pay premiums for FDIC insurance.
The assets and some liabilities of the bank (not the holding company) were purchased on the open market by a COMPANY (JP Morgan) that remained strong through the troubles and had the strength to do so (as well as the need to do so).
Shareholders lost. They should lose. They made an unwise investment.
Bondholders are very likely to lose. They should lose. They made an investment that, in hindsight, was a poor one. Life is tough in business, sometimes.
The holding company’s net worth is negative. In bankruptcy, many others will lose. Too bad.
Are there some state pension funds that held WaMu assets? Of course. Tough.
Are there some insurance companies that held WaMu assets? Of course. Too bad.
So, are quote unquote innocent parties getting hurt? Sure.
I don’t recall anything in the Constitution that guarantees financial success.
Screw the bailout. Let the system work — let the chips fall.
Do we really want to shut down the economy just so we can hurt the guys on wall street ? ?
We're the ones who are going to be on the hook for this money, no matter what. Its a matter of taking a smaller hit by acting now; or taking a much bigger hit by letting it go down.
ALso, think of the political ramifications - collapses like this are how revolutions are fomented. And we've got the communist revolutionary, with all his foreign money, just waiting in the wings.
SOme say this is reactonary, but I don't think so. Look at the fallout from letting just Lehman brothers go down last week. The credit markets nearly froze on Thursday. If you think we can just let wall street go down without it having a severe impact on the rest of us, I think you don't understand how the banking system works well enough.
Those debts aren't going to go away, they're going to roll over onto the next layer of the banking system, until they all go down. Then, we'll still have the debt, but no way to capitialze anything, n o one will lend us money, and we will all be totally screwed.
I believe there IS a crisis. I don’t doubt it for a minute. I have no way to know how potentially serious it is- but clearly it’s serious.
I don’t even object to government intervention to a degree - but before it’s done - it simply can’t be signed off on as is.
I’m listening to Harry Reid now- I can’t print what I think of him. It’s dark.
He and Dodd are COMPLETELY blaming this on McCain and the House GOP.
Simple. What’s the highest governmental pay grade? If you’re an executive at a company that has been bought by the taxpayers, then that’s the most you can earn.
Firing squads could fix some of this scum sucking commie crap, but America is too far down the socialism road to see that these lying bastards are, with their fifth column assassins of the media, purposely destroying the Republic.
Doesn’t that go against the Capitalist System?
Are the presstitutes asking him what he and Bush need the house republicans for?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.