Pick your poison. I don't trust either the crooks on Wall Street or the crooks in congress.
Posted on 03/03/2009 7:34:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The financial crisis is reaching a climax. Either Washington will let the banking system go into cardiac arrest, or it will take measures to bring it back to life so it can vigorously function again. The frightening severity of the crisis and the political imperative not to let banks collapse the way they almost did in 1933 will force the Obama Administration to take the necessary actions.
--Get rid of mark-to-market accounting rules, which are unnecessarily destroying the balance sheets of banks and other financial institutions. For regulators and auditors to force banks to repeatedly write down the value of their regulatory capital based on an impaired market is an astonishing absurdity. Selling anything in a distressed market always leads to artificially low prices. If mark-to-market accounting had been in effect in the early 1990s, when we last had a financial crisis, most of the major commercial banks would have gone under. We'd have had another Great Depression. To appease those who think there is use in this kind of pricing of assets, include it in a footnote.
--Bring back the uptick rule for short sales, and demand that the SEC enforce regulations against naked short-selling.
--Have the Federal Reserve aggressively buy mortgage-backed securities from banks. This would trigger a mass of refinancing at low, fixed rates of 4.5% to 5%. Housing prices would move up, and housing sales would revive.
Nationalize banks? A horror. You can bet that would truly paralyze the flow of credit: Does anyone believe Washington can manage banks?
Sadly, in human affairs it is sometimes necessary for a crisis to reach an acute, mortal stage before effective action is taken.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Think you right. I suspect that beside the Income Tax, we'll get hit with a Fed sales tax on goods AND services. Once the states see that, they'll do the same. We'll be lucky to have two coppers to rub together.
Duh...
Where you been Forbsey?
I saw this coming before the election. I just didn’t think he’d pull it off this fast.
Pick your poison. I don't trust either the crooks on Wall Street or the crooks in congress.
Grover Cleveland famously said "Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people." Think about what that means for a moment.
For over 40 years, regardless of political party, it has been the policy of our government to regulate & direct the economy in order to achieve what are considered desirable, noble even, social outcomes. Chief amongst these is the so-called "ownership society" which was championed by the immediately preceding administrations.
In a certain way, you really have to hand to the Wall St bankers - in true capitalist fashion, they delivered what the customer wanted. The only problem was that in this case, the customers were comprised of DC idealists who were using OUR money to back their grandiose plans for social equity.
Proving once again that 'no good deed goes unpunished', those who lived within their means and otherwise exhibited traditional conservative behavior are now being targeted to pick up the tab for those who couldn't quite manage their personal lives & finances.
Well, it's time we wake and recognize that the fight that's been brewing for quite awhile cannot be put off any longer. And as luck would have it, all the advantages happen to be on our side. You see, the ability of the central government to bail out and protect their electoral supporters rests solely on their ability to leverage the wealth of those who save & invest.
In other words, it's not about confiscation, either outright via 401(k) plans or indirectly through taxes, it's all about the federal government's ability to borrow & service the debt (interest). Once you realize that the entire house of cards is a confidence game ultimately backed by YOU, the good faith & credit of the so-called "solid citizen", then you see just how vulnerable .gov really is.
I have been a fan of Steve Forbes for years, but he veers into short-bus territory here.
There is NO reason to want to sustain housing prices at the 2003-2005 levels that were astronomically high compared to incomes.
Sadly, I think Forbes is right.
Start stocking up.
Steve is mistakenly thinking that those in charge are mostly typical Americans who will do the right thing in the end. Sadly, this is not the case. What is happening now is exactly what they want to happen. They are devious. Lest you doubt this, take a look at who Obama chose as his Chief of Staff - one of the most childish, partisan hacks in D.C. This is going to get uglier.
It is a manufactured money crisis with nefarious motives...much akin to the manipulated food crises that the Sovit Union imposed on nations it wished to destroy and subjugate.
Wake up, America!
trust yourself. if you can’t trust yourself then don’t get yourself in the market.
Housing prices will bottom out when the last wave of ARM resets have worked their way through the system, I think you are right about that date.
But we will not see 2005 bubble prices again for another 20 years, unless America goes the Zimbabwe route.
“Steve, you’re dreaming. “
yes but it’s a way of saying “Republicans: Obama is passing up this opportunity. Take it!”
Staying out of the market can also be a result of trusting oneself.
I trust myself so much that I took my money completely out of stocks 4 years ago.
oh I meant trusting your ability to handle the market.
I did "handle" the market by getting out and not losing half of that money. Warren Buffet's firm lost about 60%.
Do not restore the uptick rule. Investors have a right to profit in a down market as well as an up market.
Yep !!
Not that I wouldn’t like to see it happen, but the idea of a flat tax is far-fetched. Some form of a progressive tax structure is here to stay for the foreseeable future. I think the best fiscal conservatives can hope for is that Obama keeps taxing us more and more. Such policy can only lead to a turnaround similar to the Reagan tax reductions/reforms of the 1980`s.
Obama got in with the backing of Wall Street. If he really wants "rack and ruin" to secure permanent one party rule, he's going to lose that backing and the next election.
“Consider for a moment that they’re not dumb, but have a purpose. It’s called “power”....”
Post.Of.The.Day .....
These folks waited...and yes they “waited” until The Patriot Act was firmly in place....they waited until they could “pull the plug” on the producers....they waited until they could judge a world ready leave Mugabe in power in Zimbabwe...might allow a fascimile in the USA...they aren’t leaving until a mess of us are ready, eager, and willing to drag them out.
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