Posted on 02/17/2009 2:28:20 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
I gotta tell ya, we’ve got a better chance rebuilding conservatism with the O in the White House than we would be with McAmnesty...
OBAMA MOVES TOWARD 'SWEDISH MODEL' FOR BANK BAILOUT
In the big plan, the government is working to dilute the appraisal guidelines by allowing broker opinions and even tax assessment values as the underlying documentation for the collateral value.
.... Yep, true skinny! Lessons never learned!
Lindsey Graham is an idiot.
W started it with his "new tone in Washington."
You wish.
Does Lindsey drive a miata?
The time for biting the bullet may be fast approaching. In early April, big institutions publish their first-quarter results. If Treasury stress tests have not yet revealed the true state of their balance sheets, first-quarter results might do so.Unfortunately, the Kenyan Manchild will remain in office for at least 3+ years.
“The first week in April – that’s when the children’s party is over,” says Chris Whalen, co-founder of Institutional Risk Analytics. “That is when the obvious will become apparent.”
With McCain you would lose it ever so slightly less quickly but the overall trend would still be over the cliff.
Short, to the point, and spot on! ; )
If McCain comes out for the nationalization of banks Sarah Palin needs to come out against it. That will be her final break with McCain and henceforth she will be her own woman.
When you 60m voters voted for McCain did you vote for the nationalization of banks?
Or did you vote for Palin and the free enterprise system, low taxes and to uphold individual rights.
Does anyone here who voted for Graham rather than the Ron Paul Democrat who opposed him still want to defend their decision?
I can dream.... and dream...
Of course! LOL
“I’ve put the K-Y on this finger today, Johnnie”
Nationalizing large banks would be the end of capitalism and freedom. Just this talk about it discourages prudent investors from buying any stocks. If it actually happened, capital would leave the United States looking for free markets. This country would be in a depression worse than the 1930’s.
Obama’s approach so far has been to punish business and increase socialism. This is the same approach taken by FDR, resulting in the depression lasting a decade. Economic conditions actually got worse under Roosevelt, and the country didn’t recover until military spending for WW II “bailed” us out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.