[Liz]

HERE'S HOW US TAXPAYERS ARE GOING TO PROFIT OFF THE BAILOUT (snicker): EXCERPT---Bloomberg---The Federal Reserve may lose as much as $6B on a portfolio of mortgage-backed assets it took over from Bear Stearns Cos, according to Bank of America analysts. The Fed will announce Oct. 23 its quarterly estimate of the fair value of Maiden Lane LLC's $30B of holdings that JPMorgan Chase considered too risky when it acquired Bear Stearns in March, BofA analysts wrote in a client note. The central bank valued the assets at $29B as of June 30....... "With the worsening in mortgage markets since last quarter, we estimate a range of $2-6 Billion of unrealized losses," the NY-based analysts wrote. About 1/2 the portfolio is backed by commercial mortgages and 1/2 by residential loans. SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032008/business/bofa_says_fed_may_go_bear_131960.htm

[Billg64]

On Nov. 4 we should vote Paulson ou... oh never mind...

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Secy Henry Paulson today begins handpicking advisers to administer the $700B rescue plan.......drafting a list of between 5-10 Wall Street asset managers to tackle the massive mortgage mess.

That’s Hell Funny. It’s like inviting the Foxes over to help clean up the chicken carcasses in the chicken coop.

Why hasn’t anybody in the US gotten out the tar and feathers for this discredited mob of mungrels? US$700 Billion Dollars — that’s about $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States (excluding illegal aliens): donated because overpaid yacht-driving morons made massive trading mistakes due to greed...

Aren’t you guys even a little bit peeved at that? If you were French you’d be rolling out the Guillotines by now...

[screaminsunshine]

Ha ha. Paulson has appointe a guy mamed Kashkari. Meanig “You got no kash you no kari” The new economy “econ-oh-my”

[WayneM]

Why has Paulson not been fired?

[tiger-one]

When will someone challenge the Constitutionality of the power given to to the Sec. of the Treasury??

[Anvilhead]

"if Paulson pays too little, financial analysts agree it might fail to convince leery lenders to open up their wallets and start making much-needed short-term loans that are necessary for businesses to operate"

Just take from them like you took from us, Paulieboy.

Or would the frosty stares over dirty martinis at the country club be too much for you to bear?

[Need4Truth]

“If he pays too much - taxpayers could be on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars “

wallstreet welfare. so where is the incentive to control costs?

[Texas4ever]

Obama using CNN to fuel voter depression/suppression. They will start saying Obama has already won. That way a what’s the use attitude starts.

Dont buy it!...Dont watch CNN tell your friends!

[SE Mom]

I was listening to FBN just now- they interviewed Peter Monroe who had some involvement with fixing the S & L mess. He is shaking his head this morning over the folly of this bill. Now we learn Neel Kashkari (asst to Paulson at Treasury and former pal at GS) will be heading up the effort and we’re already seeing other foxes preparing to move in to the henhouse.

One of the points the Monroe made is that during the S & L mess- there were civilians on the board- now there are only government officials.

The unchecked power given to Paulson and his pals is unheard of- and now everyone is starting to wake up and figure out WHAT’S IN THE BILL.

The panic that allowed this radical bill to pass is only getting larger- the European markets are down and falling fast.

[Thebaddog]

IMHO,He’s the October Suprise. He’s a democrat with ties to Schumer and Obama was way too calm when he was down a month ago in the polls. He was telling the faithful that everything was going to be all right, and then the melt down began. Does some one have the memo out there on this one?

[grayhog]

We are lucky to have a Paulson and Bernanke trying to steer us through this crisis. The crisis is here whether we like it or not. I can only imagine the debacle if Snow, the embattled former CEO of CSX railroad, was still at treasury. Hank Paulson understands how this mess was created. He was a fantastic CEO of Goldman Sachs — keeping that firm out of all of the messes that brought down Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and perhaps Morgan Stanley. Paulson and Bernanke are our best chance to come out of this.

The wrong moves by the government at a time like this can easily push this crisis into a catastrophe.

[paratrooper82]

“Lawmaker Accused of Fannie Mae Conflict of Interest Friday , October 03, 2008 By Bill Sammon Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s. So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions. Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie. Both Frank and Moses assured the Wall Street Journal in 1992 that they took pains to avoid any conflicts of interest. Critics, however, remain skeptical. ‘It’s absolutely a conflict,’ said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. “He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane? “If this had been his ex-wife and he was Republican, I would bet every penny I have - or at least what’s not in the stock market - that this would be considered germane,’ added Gainor, a T. Boone Pickens Fellow. ‘But everybody wants to avoid it because he’s gay. It’s the quintessential double standard.’ A top GOP House aide agreed. ‘C’mon, he writes housing and banking laws and his boyfriend is a top exec at a firm that stands to gain from those laws?’ the aide told FOX News. ‘No media ever takes note? Imagine what would happen if Frank’s political affiliation was R instead of D? Imagine what the media would say if [GOP former] Chairman [Mike] Oxley’s wife or [GOP presidential nominee John] McCain’s wife was a top exec at Fannie for a decade while they wrote the nation’s housing and banking laws.’ Frank’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Frank met Moses in 1987, the same year he became the first openly gay member of Congress. ‘I am the only member of the congressional gay spouse caucus,” Moses wrote in the Washington Post in 1991. “On Capitol Hill, Barney always introduces me as his lover.’ The two lived together in a Washington home until they broke up in 1998, a few months after Moses ended his seven-year tenure at Fannie Mae, where he was the assistant director of product initiatives. According to National Mortgage News, Moses ‘helped develop many of Fannie Mae’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs.’ Critics say such programs led to the mortgage meltdown that prompted last month’s government takeover of Fannie Mae and its financial cousin, Freddie Mac. The giant firms are blamed for spreading bad mortgages throughout the private financial sector. Although Frank now blames Republicans for the failure of Fannie and Freddie, he spent years blocking GOP lawmakers from imposing tougher regulations on the mortgage giants. In 1991, the year Moses was hired by Fannie, the Boston Globe reported that Frank pushed the agency to loosen regulations on mortgages for two- and three-family homes, even though they were defaulting at twice and five times the rate of single homes, respectively. Three years later, President Clinton’s Department of Housing and Urban Development tried to impose a new regulation on Fannie, but was thwarted by Frank. Clinton now blames such Democrats for planting the seeds of today’s economic crisis. ‘I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,’ Clinton said recently.” Bill Sammon is FOX News’ Washington Deputy Managing Editor.

[PapaBear3625]

We're handing this job over to people who are going to be out of office in January, and who will not be facing any personal consequence for screwing the taxpayers.

I would think that many people would find this disturbing.

[JoeFromSidney]

Everyone who voted for the Bailout (now re-christened the Rescue) must be defeated the next time they stand for election (all Representatives stand for election this November). You may be thinking, "weeeeeelll, my congresscritter is good on issue X." No. He showed his true colors by voting for the Bailout. Get rid of him.

Contribute to the campaign of the opponent of anyone who voted YES.

Go to the election headquarters of the opponent and get yard signs and bumper stickers. Display them, and distribute them to friends and family.

Write letters to your local newspaper, opposing the treacherous congresscritter. Use these talking points:

• The Bailout does nothing to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act. Banks are still legally required to make loans to unqualified people.
• The Bailout does nothing to eliminate "Mark to Market." Banks can still see their capital evaporate if some other bank has to sell its assets at fire-sale prices. (The SEC has modified the rule, but they can restore it at any time.)
• The Bailout does nothing to correct Fannie and Freddie. Putting in new management doesn't alter the underlying problem, that they are backed by the taxpayer.
• The Bailout does nothing to correct the Fed's inflationary policies, which fueled the housing bubble.
• The Bailout will cost at least $2300 per person, $9100 per household, and $5300 per income tax filer.

If there's a talk show in your area, call in and lambaste your congresscritter for voting for this abomination. Call in to national talk shows urging that everyone who voted YES be voted out.

If your congresscritter voted NO, then do the opposite of these things. Support your congresscritter and work against his opponent.

There is still time to act before the election. We can make the Representatives who voted YES pay for their vote. Those Senators who are up for election this year can also be made to pay.

Remember, ballot box, jury box, cartridge box, in that order. Let's use the ballot box while we still have it.