Bank nationalisation gains ground with Republicans [McCain+Grahamnesty] [in agreement with Obama?]

Financial Times ^ | 2009-02-17

[rabscuttle385]

BY EDWARD LUCEA & KRISHNA GUHA

Nationalisation, long regarded in Washington as a folly of Europeans, is gaining rapid ground among US opinion-formers. Stranger still, many of those talking about federal ownership of banks are Republicans.

Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator for North Carolina, said that many of his colleagues, including John McCain, the defeated presidential candidate, agreed with his view that nationalisation of some banks should be “on the table”.

Mr Graham said that people across the US accepted his argument that it was untenable to keep throwing good money after bad into institutions such as Citigroup and Bank of America, which now have a lower net value than the amount of public funds they have received.

“You should not get caught up on a word [nationalisation],” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “I would argue that we cannot be ideologically a little bit pregnant. It doesn’t matter what you call it, but we can’t keep on funding these zombie banks [without gaining public control]. That’s what the Japanese did.”

Barack Obama, the president, who has tried to avoid panicking lawmakers and markets by entertaining the idea, has recently moved more towards what he calls the “Swedish model” – an approach backed strongly by Mr Graham.

In the early 1990s, Sweden nationalised its banking sector then auctioned banks, having cleaned up their balance sheets. “In limited circumstances the Swedish model makes sense for the US,” said Mr Graham.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

could probably only lose a fraction of the money that the professionals were able to lose.

Well then,....clearly you are NOT qualified ....to be in the Financial business.... LOL!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Personally, I feel like setting up a gallows and cleaning up Wall St. the old fashioned way.

Yes I like that too....but this is so wide spread...gonna be tough to identify the real bad ones....They seem to be going after Stanford down in the Caribbean [pretty good....

[redstates4ever]

Here's the only 'Swedish model' I would accept:

[AvOrdVet]

Then how did a big government country like Sweden do it ? If they can do it, why can't we?

If you are seriously asking that question why not just pack your bags, move there and find out... it would be because they are frigging socialist and we are not... well not yet, but with people giving up so easily it won't take too long!

Sweden like any other socialist country is finally running into the problems that all do and now they are starting to look for a way out... and with a 55% income tax one can only wonder why its taken so long! But unfortunately the cradle to grave leeches in the society are putting up a fight to keep 'ole "sugar daddy" paying.

[Captain Kirk]

Letting them fail really is not an option.....I do want all options discussed

You contradict yourself. Are "all" options, including the free market approach that has NEVER been tried, or aren't they? If as seems clear you have decided the socialism is the future fine, just embrace it comrade. Please spare us the fake pontificating. If socialism comes (actually came) to this country, it will be because of wishy washy attitudes such as demonstrated in your comment.

[SeekAndFind]

If you are seriously asking that question why not just pack your bags, move there and find out...

One does not have to move there to find out. All one needs to do is READ, LEARN from what they did when they had the same crisis in the early 1990's.

If their solution worked, why can't we emulate it. Now if it did not work, then we can ignore what they did. Simple as that.

But please I never even hinted at raising the tax rate to 55%. That is a strawman.

[AvOrdVet]

If their solution worked, why can't we emulate it. Now if it did not work, then we can ignore what they did. Simple as that. But please I never even hinted at raising the tax rate to 55%. That is a strawman.

I never said you hinted at a 55% tax rate... that is what the Swedish people paying the bills are assessed because of their socialist society's needs... AKA: feeding the leeches.

and if their solution worked so well, they wouldn't now be trying to get out of it! and you might ask the PAYING citizens over there if the 55% tax rate is a strawman issue...

[CowboyJay]

Graham and McCain are not Republicans. They’re moles.

[A.Hun]

You contradict yourself.

Nope, "letting them fail is not really an option" means it's not an option. Market response would be to let them fail.

Please spare us the fake pontificating.

I don't doubt that you prefer soundbites.

If socialism comes (actually came) to this country, it will be because of wishy washy attitudes such as demonstrated in your comment.

Haven't you heard? We are all socialists now! /s

[Captain Kirk]

Hey....you’re the one who said ALL options should be considered and then said the free market was not an option!!

[Antoninus]

Lord knows, the quasi-governmental banking institutions like Fannie and Freddie did soooo well. This sounds like a simply smashing idea.

[Chgogal]

“W started it with his “new tone in Washington.”

Too bad rabid politicians like the foul mouthed Rahm Emanuel weren't as civilized.