Posted on 09/26/2008 5:55:04 AM PDT by TADSLOS
“Mathematically, every vote that McCain does not get makes it more likely that Obama will be president.”
A quick reminder that our votes populate the Electoral College, the number of which is set by the Constitution.
I will NOT be voting in the POTUS contest because I think (1) McLame is a big-government Pubbie and (2) I reside in Illinois whose College electors will all go to Obama - with or with my vote.
Now, down ticket is a different story!
You are correct about the Electoral College.
One caveat: it is beneficial if one wins the Electoral College also to win the popular vote.
I think the sitting POTUS may differ with you...somewhat. Winning the poular vote just avoids an appointment with the SCOTUS.
Derivatives Pose New Wrinkle in Lehman Case; ‘A Huge Amount of Uncertainty’ (derivative holders exempt from mandatory stay)
By JULIE SATOW, Staff Reporter of the Sun
September 25, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/business/derivatives-pose-new-wrinkle-in-lehman-case/86595/
Bankruptcy lawyers and law professors are preparing for a journey into uncharted territory as the credit default swaps market gets dragged into the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy proceeding. “The courts have dealt with credit default swaps very infrequently, and certainly not at the scale they are now out there,” a lawyer at Washington, D.C.-based Caplin & Drysdale, James Wehner, said. “We have a new law and a new financial phenomenon, so there is a lot of uncertainty.”
In recent weeks, regulators and the financial press have zeroed in on credit default swaps, a type of private contract that insures a bond in case of default. As of the first quarter of this year, more than $16 trillion worth of bonds were covered by credit default swaps, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The trade group the International Swaps and Derivatives Association places that number much higher, at $62 trillion, and estimates that about one-third of the credit default swaps contracts lack collateral, that is, the issuers of the contracts failed to set aside assets in case the bonds default. Concern yesterday that a $700 billion federal bailout may not pass Congress and worry over the health of the financial industry sent the cost of protecting Morgan Stanley’s and Wachovia’s bonds from defaults, or their credit default swap rates, soaring.
Meanwhile, two of the largest players in the credit default swaps market, American International Group and Lehman, issued billions of dollars of these insurance contracts over the past several years, and also issued billions of dollars in bonds on which other firms had issued credit default swaps. Market insiders had fretted that were the companies unable to cover the insurance contracts they had issued, or were they to default on their bonds, it would create waves of losses. While the federal government stepped in to save AIG with an $85 billion loan, Lehman had no such luck.—SNIP—
FR POSTED By TigerLikesRooster
The New Face of Equity Derivatives
Minyanville | 9/25/2008 | Darol Ryan
EXCERPT 1. Counter-party risk has risen dramatically and is the most significant. ISDAs have to be renegotiated (especially in light of the market disruptions like short-selling). Credit lines have to be reviewed with almost every client. Risk officers are preventing larger trades from being completed and demanding higher collateral levels from clients. Most important are the huge risks of counter-parties blowing up and not being able to pay their obligations. ......(Excerpt) Read more at minyanville.com ...
FR POSTED Thursday, September 25, 2008 by politicket
The links below should make every American ready for civil war II if this bs bill goes through:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2090786/posts?page=12#12
TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.
DEPOSITS.Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).
USE OF DEPOSITS.Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)
65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and 35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).
Apparently this is the money quote. On other threads and on Greta tonite, Leslie Graham said that 20 percent of the profits will be transfered to the Housing Trust Fund, which apparently is where ACORN siphons it off.
12 posted on Thursday, September 25, 2008 8:39:10 PM by sportutegrl (0bi has been looking a little wan
Greenspam has been up to his you know what defending derivatives for about 2 decades.
The link below was a warning in 1999, (pop quiz, was the evil GW president in 1999?)
http://www.usagold.com/greenspanderivatives.html
Thanks for the link-——about time Greenhorn gets a piece of the blame.
Amen.
TigerLikesRoster and all:
The $ amount of credit deriatives are much larger then AIG and others we know about.
Take a bank with a loan they know is poor/most likely to default and they sell the the bad risk as a credit deriative while still keeping the loan on their books. Think of the write offs they get, plus all the bad paper they shifted to Freddie and Fannie.
The link below only partially explains who wins and loses. It does not show the degre of risk large banks and other banks face.
http://www.wisebread.com/how-does-the-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-bailout-affect-you
We do not know the extent of the crisis yet.I believe everyone in both Houses of Congress are to blame, however; the the DEMS pushed for the diversity type loans, and; add the loosening of regulation over who got a loan based on diversity and not on credit worthiness.
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