Posted on 11/23/2008 8:43:14 PM PST by mathwhizz
There went another $1,000 per man, woman and child.
Thanks, Paulson!
Hope your buddies jets, jacuzzis and yachts are still in great shape!
Another Sunday Night Sellout.
Socialism is brought to you by the Bush Administration:
Privatize Gains, Socialize Losses!
Did you hear, Chucky Schumer wants the Congress to dole out another $500-700 billion to “stimulate” the economy once again.
When is it going to end?
After the hyperinflation is defeated, oh about 2020.
FIRE PAULSON!!!
Another bailout for the fat cat Wall Street bankers, while middle America automakers have to grovel publicly for a LOAN versus a bailout. Frankly, I’m a little tired of it. Rubin and Sam Weill of Citigroup were perhaps the cause of the whole economic meltdown in the first place, when they got Clinton to sign on to the Glass-Steagall repeal in 1999.
If what came out in March is true, we will only have to wait until February before the Federal Govt is bankrupt. Then, you won’t have to worry about the Constitution.
What if it isn’t meant for it to be bailed out?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2130877/posts
That is exactly my fear...massive printing of money and hyper-inflation. Do you know of a single country in the entire history of world who prospered following that path?
The $700 Billion dollars was like a drug to our leaders. They have lost their minds, and appear to be deliberately bankrupting the US. The only reason I can see that being done right now is what was contained in the earlier post. These folks aren’t stupid. They are doing SOMETHING. And it doesn’t look good for this nation.
Bankruptcy is how other nations see us. But when you have a fiat currency, how can there be any objective what to determine whether the government itself is bankrupt?
Real patriots are ready to respond with torches / pitchforks / shotguns, not in that order.
The Federal Reserve is already bankrupt, according to this analysis. No matter, they'll print more dollars by issuing/swapping more Treasury debt; no limit. Congress will be coerced into raising the debt ceiling. Super hyperinflation coming; good for gold, despite its recent temporary weakness.
Social Security will be insufficient to pay for boomers' retirement; might as well apply early to siphon out the remaining few $.
Socialism is brought to you by the Bush Administration:
This is what is so difficult to take. If this was Obama Administration I could at least understand that is the Democrats for you, but this is Republican Administration doing this nonsense. What is President Bush thinking?????
When is the Citibank CEO coming to Washington, DC, and how will he travel? Maybe, he can take Joe Biden’s train.
Isn’t Joe Biden on CitiGroup’s payroll—a conflict of interest?
bkmark
Martin Weiss on Citibank-—>>>
If it fails, it will be, by far, the largest banking disaster in history, involving $2 trillion in assets. That makes it approximately six times larger than Washington Mutual and three times bigger than Wachovia.
Moreover, the prospect of a failure by Citigroup poses far greater challenges to regulators than a typical large bank. Due to its massive derivatives holdings — side bets on interest rates, currencies, and the probability of defaults by other large corporations — it could be extremely difficult to save Citigroup without serious disruptions, raising serious questions about the global banking system and the world economy.
At mid-year, June 30, 2008, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported that Citi’s primary banking unit, Citibank NA, held $37.1 trillion in total notional value derivatives, including $3.6 trillion in credit default swaps, which, in recent months, have proven to be the most dangerous category.
In contrast, Wachovia bank, bought out by JP Morgan Chase in a deal brokered by the regulators, had only $4.4 trillion in derivatives, among which $404 billion were in credit default swaps, or only one-ninth the size of Citigroup’s.
Thus, whereas it was possible for the authorities to arrange buy-outs for banks like Wachovia and Washington Mutual, there is no buyer big enough in the United States to absorb Citigroup. Nor is it likely that an international consortium of banks would want to squander the precious capital they have left on a sinking titanic the size of Citigroup.
Mullings.com (Rich Galen)bttt
Bankers and Bookworms
Monday November 24, 2008
Just when you thought we were going to run out of people to make that “shame, shame” signal by rubbing one index finger against the other, comes a front pager in the New York Times about how the home town bank - Citigroup - has bungled and mismanaged its way to accumulated losses in the range of $65y billion.
One of the worst actors in this tragedy is former Citi chief executive, Charles O. Prince III, who should be flogged, and put into the stocks in front of Citi’s New York City headquarters every day at lunchtime for a month and let some or all of the 75,000 - that’s SEVENTY FIVE THOUSAND people who have lost their jobs come and throw bagels bathed in cream cheese with maybe a little tomato and a nice slice of onion at him.
According to the Times article, at a board meeting in September 2007 Charles O. “learned for the first time that the bank owned about $43 billion in mortgage-related assets.” According to the piece by Eric Dash and Julie Creswell, Charles O. had to ask the senior trader of the bank if “everything was O.K.”
Actually, if the losses were only $43 billion everything might have been O.K. But the fact that the head man had no idea that his bank was on the hook for that much is beyond belief. And the fact that the guy he turned to didn’t know - or wouldn’t say - that the losses were about 50 percent higher than he was being told should be a criminal offence.
Another player strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage is one of Wall and K Streets’ favorites, former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin who should join Prince in the stocks.
Rubin has been a senior director and “influential advisor” to both Prince and the man who preceded him, Sandy Weill. He makes $17 million a year for his excellent advice and, according to a Citi press release, as of August, 2008 after Prince got canned, Ruben was granted the title of “Senior Counselor.”
Rubin was Treasury Secretary when the rules about what a bank could and couldn’t do were changed. Here’s the thumbnail from the NYT piece:
Mr. Rubin helped loosen Depression-era banking regulations … by allowing banks to expand far beyond their traditional role as lenders and permitting them to profit from a variety of financial activities.
During the same period he helped beat back tighter oversight of exotic financial products, a development he had previously said he was helpless to prevent.
Let’s read that last bit again: The Sainted Robert Rubin “helped beat back tighter oversight of exotic financial products…”
Like mortgage backed securities and credit default swaps and like that.
SIDEBAR
Can we play “Let’s Pretend” for a second?
Let’s pretend that Bob Rubin was not Treasury Secretary for Bill Clinton, but had that job for George H.W. Bush.
Let’s also pretend that Bob Rubin had not been “a senior economic advisor” to Barack Obama’s campaign, but had that job with the campaign of John McCain.
I think, if he were a Republican, Mr. Rubin’s culpability in creating, not just an environment, but the actual rules, which have caused the total collapse of the financial system as we know it … might have gotten a mention somewhere along the campaign trail.
END SIDEBAR
Now, of course, Citigroup execs (not CitiBANK, thank you Mr. Rubin) are in heavy talks with the only organization in the world which can save their bacon, the U.S. Government.
I want to see Bob Rubin hauled up in front of the House or Senate banking Committee to explain what he has done which warrants a $17 million salary?
Yeah. Right.
[snip]
On the Secret Decoder Ring page http://www.mullings.com/dr_11-24-08.htm today: The full “strut and fret” line by Macbeth. ...and:
Links to the stories about Citigroup: The Reckoning - Citigroup Saw No Red Flags Even as It Made Bolder Bets http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/business/23citi.html?_r=1&ref=business
Like thieves in the night, while we were sleeping.
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