Posted on 07/17/2008 10:28:33 AM PDT by nicola_tesla
The collection of ne'er do wells, clueless dolts, political hacks, and oh, let's just be blunt and call them what they are -- total Idiots -- expands into an ever larger circle.
While the Republic burns due to the unsavory combination of incompetence, ideological rigidity, and crony capitalism, the fools and assclowns seem ever more determined to avoid any personal responsibility for the damages they have wrought. Instead, they flail about blindly, blaming everything and everyone -- except their own horrific negligence.
This is financial incompetence writ on a scale far grander than anything seen for centuries.
As a nation, our institutions have failed us: Under Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve slept through the most reckless and irresponsible expansion of bank lending in history for reasons of ideological purity. His opposition to the Fed’s regulatory role reached the point of malfeasance long ago. History is unlikely to be kind to the Maestro.
There is a choice to be made: Either we regulate the Banks, or leave it to the vagaries of the free markets to punish those who trade with, or place their assets in the wrong institutions. But for God's sake, do not give us the worst of both worlds -- do not allow banks the freedom to make horrific but preventable mistakes (i.e., only lending money to those who can pay it back), but then expect the taxpayers to foot the trillion dollar bill.
That's not capitalism, it's not socialism, it's not regulation, and it's sure as hell isn't what free markets are. Our language is insufficient to describe this hodge-podge system, other than to call it a random patchwork of quasi-capitalism, quadrennial-socialism, and politics as usual. Ideological idiocy is the only phrase I can muster that has any resonance with the daily insanity.
We have entered into a fit of Orwellian madness: The American Capitalists, long the globe's leading advocates for free markets, have become near Socialists. Halfway around the world, the Chinese Communists have picked up the baton, and are moving rapidly towards a form of Capitalism. Ironically, it is the once largest communist nations -- the Chinese and the Russians -- who hold much of Fannie and Freddie's paper.
Hey comrades, who's selling the rope to whom?
Perhaps the rescue of "Phony and Fraudy" are not so much a bail out of American homeowners as it is a desperate attempt to stay in the good graces of our friendly global bankers. We are the world's largest debtor nation, and as such, we depend upon the kindness of strangers -- be they Japanese or Europeans or Abu Dhabians -- or even former communists.
Back in the States, something beyond cognitive dissonance is occurring -- this is full blown case of dementia unfolding in the public sphere. When this era of excess and absurdity is treated by historians in the future, the question I expect to be asked most is not why many of these people weren't jailed for their financial felonies. Rather, I expect them to wonder why so many of these folk weren't placed in protective custody, and heavily medicated, for the only rational explanation for their statements and behaviors is that they have gone so far beyond the bend as to be completely and totally insane.
Massively over-leveraged companies? Blame short sellers.
Wildly under-capitalized financial firms? Blame rumors.
Heinously poor corporate management? Blame a Senator.
It is as if someone is running around Washington D.C. with a ball-peen hammer, smacking senior government officials on their skulls. If you find the standard finger pointing hard to fathom, perhaps blunt head trauma is a better explanations for the absurdities proferred.
Books will be written about this period of time, and our descendants will wonder in awe as to how this was allowed to happen. Tulips got nothing on us! Its not just the total dollar value of the losses that have exceeded all other global fits of financial madness combined, but rather, how so many warning signs were so blithely ignored by so many and for so long. What was wrong with these people, the authors and historians will wonder. Did the antibiotics in the food supply drive them mad? Did the High Fructose Corn Syrup compromise their ability to think? Some form of viral plague? Roid rage? What else could have created such a mass delusion amongst not just the populace, but their leadership and institutions?
Indy Mac goes belly up, having lost $900 million this year alone. Its shares fell 87% in 2007 and then its value dropped (on top of last year's collapse) another 95% this year-to-date. The stock fell to 28 cents yesterday. Some estimates of the total bad loans made by this somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 billion dollars -- and the Office of Thrift Supervision blames a senator who is investigating how much of the FDIC's $53 Billion this is going to eat up, with Wall Street estimates ranging from 15% to 30%. The towering incompetence of OTS is incomprehensible, but it is their colossal gall that is truly stupefying.
From beyond the grave, Adam Smith does not know whether to weep or retch.
I bet they made money by delaying.
Hmmm. Since our elected officials are in bed with Citi, Wells, Goldman, etc, what do you expect they are going to do?
FREEP is starting to sound like the old Andrew Jackson war on the central bank.
Gee, tell us how you really feel, Barry.
Agreed, this is a mess. However, avoiding meltdown seems a worthy goal.
This, despite how many out there deserve destitution
and humilation for building our current house of financial cards.
I quit reading at “crony capitalism.” That’s one of the favorite terms of socialists.
I think they lost more, because they were bleeding hundreds of millions and delaying selling their assets until their assets turned into liabilities with no bid.
Go look at the video of Bunning taking on Bernanke and Pauson, and send a thank you letter to him. Then ask that he filibuster the Fan/Fred no-limit bailout request by the Fed.
Why avoid a deserved meltdown ? It’s coming anyway, and it’s being made worse by delaying the inevitable.
If taxpayers are being asked to backstop 5.5 TRILLION in mortgage debt on top of $30B for BSC, then we should have the right to ask that executives be prosecuted and jailed for intentional fraud, that the lies stop, that the banks come clean and stop the Level 3 asset valuation crap, and that the Fed with the assistance of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan stop gaming the markets and using Fed backstop money to play in the commodities markets.
We need to require that out enforcement agencies actually do their jobs. Where’s the inquiry into the amount of lobbyist money buying votes on the Senate Banking committee, for example, or investigating Dodd and Co for sweetheart mortgages ?
Everyone here should be nonstop calling our elected representatives and demand that they do their jobs. They passed the laws - the laws should be enforced.
If they’d done something to curtail the real estate boom, the same people who are now complaining would be outraged that the Fed would do such a thing.
That’s right. Don’t evaluate the entire argument, quit because of two words.
There’s critical thinking skills for ya.
The Fed bailing out their banking buddies with taxpayer dollars - that’s not cronyism ? OK, then, I beg to differ.
Hope you enjoy paying your taxes.
Maybe, but the socialism/corporatism/fascism has to stop soon.
We are reaching the point where our children have a much poorer future if the shenanigans don’t stop soon. And I, for one, am not willing to be a party to killing the standard of living for my grandchildren.
The main reason our standard of living is endangered is the ban on drilling.
We, the USA lost billions, that the fed fed to pay for the poor practices of the big banks. I am not sure who made the big money but I know that we the USA took it in the shorts again again.
This is what I was trying to get at in the prior IndyMac thread you started.
I was upset that Finkelstein is jumping on this idiotic finger pointing bandwagon.
That’s one of the more blithely stupider comments to be made.
If Dodd and Conrad’s relationship with Countrywide isn’t crony capitalism, please enlighten the Freeper community as to the proper free marketeer use of the term crony capitalism.
If Jamie Gorelick’s improper consulting contract with Freddie Mac isn’t crony capitalism, please tell us what is.
Jamie Gorelick received $779625 in improper bonus from Fannie Mae
Jamie Gorelick was EVP and General Counsel while this was going on. .... In 1970, Congress spawned Freddie Mac (nickname for the Federal Home Mortgage Corp. ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1225164/posts - 56k - 10 hours ago -
I object to the code term “crony capitalism.” I support the prosecution of those breaking the law. Using lawbreakers as an excuse to bash capitalism is the province of liberals. And that’s what this overwrought writer is doing (I didn’t really stop reading at the phrase, I just relaized the bias of the writer at that point).
There will always be clever people who will take advantage of any political system for their own benefit. Some walk the line of legality, and some cross it. That does not reflect on the system unless said system cannot run without massive corruption. Capitalism allows more prosecution of wrongdoers than totalitarian or socialistic states due to the inherent transparancy of nations of laws. That’s why you are aware of the perps you mention. Under closed systems, you would know nothing.
There may be wrongdoing, but capitalism is not to blame.
That’s one.
The next one is the Fed’s slosh to the banks that is going straight into commodities. Have you looked at the latest bank earnings to see where the money they are making is coming from? This quarter it’s primarily from commodities and such. The Fed backstopping the banks is giving them money to play commodities, to our detriment.
Go take a look.
The pigmen of Wall Street made the money. Go out to the Hamptons and look around.
We the USA didn’t lose it - CONgress and Paulson giving taxpayer dollars to the pigmen has caused the losses to be felt by all of us in the USA, and abroad for that matter.
Privatize the gain, socialize the lossed, dontcha know. Nothing like bailing out billionaires to give you the warm and fuzzies in the morning.
I agree with you. We don’t have capitalism anymore. We are living under corporatism, where the gov and the corporations collude to remove wealth from the middle class.
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.