Posted on 05/20/2009 6:40:38 AM PDT by big black dog
Under the convoluted deal agreed earlier this year, MatlinPatterson has come to own 80pc of the shares while the US government has ended up with under 10pc. Mr Patterson said the US Treasury is out of its depth and seems to be trying to put off drastic action by pretending that the banking system is still viable.
“It’s a sham. The banks are insolvent. The US government is trying to sedate the public because they are down to the last $100bn (£66bn) of the $700bn TARP funds. They think they’re doing this for the greater good of society,” he said, speaking at the Qatar Global Investment Forum.
Mr Patterson said it would be better for the US to bite the bullet as Britain has done, accepting that crippled lenders must be nationalised. “At least the British are not hiding the bail-out,” he said.
MatlinPatterson said private equity and hedge funds were deluding themselves in hoping to go back to business as usual after the trauma of the last 18 months.
“This is not a normal recession and there will be no V-shaped recovery. The crisis has destroyed leveraged companies. We’re going to see a catastrophic increase in the number of LBO’s (leveraged buyouts) going into default because they’re knee-deep in debt and no solution exists since they can’t refinance,” he said.
LINK
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/05/mark-patterson-its-sham-banks-are.html
zulu, there are some things that you cannot control and have go your way.
My point with the post about beating the dead horse is that your derangement towards George W Bush seems to be on every positve Bush thread I have ever seen. While there are things I didn’t like about his stay in the Oval office, I liked it entirely better than Clinton, or Obama (so far). You appear to prefer those two.
How about leading the way to a freerepublic pardon of W so that we can direct our energies to strengthening our country?
The very REASON I have an issue with GWB is BECAUSE his administration's actions and in-actions helped put the lying impostor, closet Muslim and socialist in the Oval Office.
Obama is the worst nightmare to ever hit America. He is so bad he makes Clinton look benevolent. The Democrat congressional victories in 2006 and 2008 AMPLIFY the negative impact of his administration.
You want me to “pardon” Bush. You give me too much credit.
I'm not the only person to criticize him.
But if we lost in 2006 and 2008, we must have lost for a reason. To preclude future loses, we need to understand the problem. I don't think it is with the basic message of the GOP as understood by most of its constituents. I think the problem lies with the GOP party leadership and their continuing failure to talk the talk but not walk the walk.
The “moderate” wing of the GOP is blaming the party for being “too conservative”. I feel it has been diametrically opposite and THAT is part of its problem - the gap between the promise and the delivery.
What do you think?
The Fed's forecasts, released as part of the minutes from its April meeting, show that its staff now expects the unemployment rate to rise to between 9.2% and 9.6% this year. The central bank had forecast in January that the jobless rate would be in a range of 8.5% to 8.8%, but the unemployment rate topped that in April, hitting 8.9%.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254937/posts
ZULU, in my opinion there is one main problem with government today. It’s true all the way from DC to your local city council. We the people are not represented.
Both established democrats and established republicans benefit from having people like you, me and the democrat down the street arguing with each other. The three of us will never be represented, the more we argue, the more entrenched they become. Any newcomers that want to represent us will be blackballed for not greasing the right palms. So we end up with issue-pandering over meaningful action. We end up with legacy preservation, over leadership.
Name one politician that is more interested in the people he represents than his own political empire and I’d bet that person has a dead political future. It puts the “ruling class” at risk.
I am of the opinion that we will need to join forces with other citizens of other political persuasions to break the cycle. If the citizenry rises together, reform is possible. If not, we will simply fight with each other and strengthen the status quo of backscratching, in-the-know, politics.
In other words, we’re doomed.
What you are proposing is a possibility. I have spoken with Democrats who believe the system is broken and neither party represents them.
But if you ask most people who gripe about government when the last time they voted was, or if they are reigstered to vote in a primary, or if they supported a decent candidate they liked, or even if they attended a County or municipal public government meeting, my guess is most of them, unlike most of the people on forum, would say never.
A people gets the government it deserves and democracy only works if the people make it work.
Right now the people making our government work are not the same people who pay the bills.
Compare that to how the arrest of Blagovich was handled.
Then he sent in Hunter Killer teams to arrest the two Border Patrol guys....
I did twenty years in LEO, 15 as a detective, I know of what I speak.
So the only question for me is Dubya evil or STUPID?
“So the only question for me is Dubya evil or STUPID? “
BOTH.
I remember the Ramos and Compean case too. That is part of Bush’s romance with Mexico.
Derangement pours out of you guys. If you were objective and positive people you would realize your continual Bush bashing simply helps the really dangerous other side. Not the semi-dangerous other side that W represents.
These democrats you speak of, ZULU, what politicians do they like?
I shan't expect any less from brainwashed fools.
You've got it backwards.
The stench emanating from the Democrats can be smelled from miles away. They don't hide their liberalism.
The enemy you label as "semi-dangerous"--i.e., the globalists, soulless opportunists, and "moderates" of the "right"--are actually worse because they cloak themselves in the mantle of conservatism. By the time folks wake up and realize what's going on, it's too late.
If you've ever heard the story of the frog in the pot of water, if the heat is turned up all at once, the frog will get burned and jump out. However, if the heat is turned up gradually, the frog will never realize it and eventually get boiled.
Deb - are you paying for the pings? I’d rather get two than none - and sometimes they overlap - which is just fine with me.
“If you’ve ever heard the story of the frog in the pot of water, if the heat is turned up all at once, the frog will get burned and jump out. However, if the heat is turned up gradually, the frog will never realize it and eventually get boiled.”
Have you ever heard the story of the man that gets gangrene in his leg? As much as he hates it, he cuts it off so he can still provide for his family. It’s his best chance at the best life for those he loves. It’s the same thing with politics now. At some point, you have to choose the lesser of two evils. If not, you will always end up worse.
If there was a way to cutoff the ruling class of politicians like they were simply infected body parts, I’d be the first one to jump up and down screaming yes.
I think we are doing exactly what the man with gangrene is doing. Bush (or rather big government Republicanism) has infected us and it is to our advantage to cut it off.
I’d leave a bit of room for the tens of millions of Americans who are being totally mislead on this issue. They don’t even know what water boarding is comprised of. They think our people where pulling out finger nails and the like.
Thanks Ernest!
I'm not laughing WITH you.
Too bad you had to resort to baiting. NO, I won’t engage in the conversation. For the most part I agree with what Rabscuttle has written. I disagree with much you have written and there is no point in joining in with him as you won’t listen to either one of us. So what is the point?
I’ll give one example, then go away. You say Bush’s stimulus has saved the economy. I don’t share your optimism. The only positive I see across the entire economy is the upturn in the stock market, which I attribute to a strong bear market rally. With regard to stocks, it is far too early to say if we have begun a recovery or if the market has rallied on its way to lower lows (which is what I believe.) Frankly, I believe this is an engineered market rally as much as it is a dead cat bounce.
Beyond that, bankruptcies are soaring, foreclosures are at an all time high, home inventories are massive, credit has loosened a bit but is still difficult to get, commercial real estate is on its way to being slaughtered, we have the entire US automotive manufacturing sector in or on its way to bankruptcy, the banks are insolvent in all but name as the “worst case” conditions of the stress tests have already been achieved and the economy is still worsening. I completely disagree with you that an economic recovery has begun, let alone that Bush stimulus funds contributed to it.
As for this and the rest of your argument with Rabscuttle, leave me out of it. He can do just fine without his Gnat Militia and I believe his posts make more sense than yours do, from a reasoned point of view. I only responded here to show that I am consciously not going to be baited into your argument between him and you.
Enjoy. FWIW, I think Bush was a mediocre president and far too liberal New World Order country clubber for my tastes. I wanted a conservative and new I was not getting one when I voted against Gore and later against Kerry. I never voted “for” Bush. I voted against the communists Gore and Kerry because I feared their damage, as I feared Obama when I oted against him, rather than “for” McCain.
This nation hasn’t seen two conservative presidents since Jack Kennedy, who was more conservative than every subsequent president except Reagan.
Then why oppose the Obama stimulus? Or the Government takeovers of AIG, Chrysler, and GM?
Exactly!
Uh people ping interested FRiends to threads all the time. I’m sure Bushbots do as well.
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