Free Republic

The Minnesota delegation’s 2012 support is suddenly up for grabs, but whether the only Minnesotan left in the 2012 GOP presidential race can capture those endorsements is far from decided. Republican Reps. John Kline and Erik Paulsen, two of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s (R) most prominent Capitol Hill backers, haven’t sprinted to support their home-state colleague Rep. Michele Bachmann since Pawlenty abruptly ended his candidacy Sunday. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R), a conservative who would appear to be more aligned with Bachmann’s ideals than the former governor, hasn’t rushed to her side either. When Bachmann sought the House Republican Conference chairmanship,...

Last January we reported that as part of the release of TARP dollars, Congressman Barney Frank directed funds to a local Massachusetts bank Cited by regulators for excesses (they bought the CEO a Porsche). Even worse the Bank has been cited for UNSOUND Business Practices: Frank, head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, acknowledged that last fall he inserted into the government’s $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program bill specific language to help OneUnited, New England’s only black-owned bank. He also said he contacted someone at the Treasury Department about OneUnited’s application for emergency TARP funds, though he insisted...

I recently attended not a Tea Party, but a local GOP meeting in the Minneapolis Metro Area, where local delegates were voted for to go to the state GOP convention, and a few candidates for governor (Seifert, Emmer, and Herwig) appeared. In addition to a couple of candidates for State Representative and State Senate -- we have some good up-and-comers. Go Norann Dillon and Sarah Anderson! Anyway, making a cameo appearance was Erik Paulsen, who led off with the following quip: He just heard from the Olympics, and they have announced that they are going to strip the Gold Medal...

Lloyd Blankfein, the 54-year-old chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, is powerfully perplexed. In the past six months, his investment-banking and securities-trading firm has roared ahead in profitability by taking risks — that other firms would not — for itself and its clients in an edgy market. It has paid back the billions of dollars, and then some, of taxpayer money the government forced it to take last October; raised billions of dollars in capital from private investors, including $5 billion from Warren Buffett; and urged its cadre of well-paid and high-performing executives to show some restraint on the conspicuous-consumption...

The first thing to note about the financial crisis is that the federal government never had any business intervening in the personal decision of whether you want to own a home. There is no rational economic argument, or any argument I know of, that says the market of buying and selling homes is imperfect in some way, requiring government action. Construction firms have plenty of incentive to build homes and sell them. People who have the wherewithal have plenty of incentive to buy homes if they so choose. For the government to intrude into homeownership was an off-budget, nontransparent, backdoor...

Last week the Wall Street Journal columnist Evan Newmark called Hank Paulson a "national hero." We noted that it's a bit early for that kind of thing and predicted that "history may yet render a more negative judgment." Matt Taibbi is a bit more direct, calling Newmark "a craven, bumlicking ass-goblin" in his latest post on TrueSlant. He points out that Newmark didn't disclose that he once worked for Goldman Sachs, which Paulson ran before being tapped to head up the Treasury Department. And that's just for starters. Here's a brief excerpt (but you really should read the whole thing):...

Wow, that has to be a record for shortest tenure ever at the NY Fed. His resignation letter (below), is as Dealbook notes, rather disingenuous: Mr. Friedman was chairman of the New York Fed at the same time he was a member of Goldman’s board. He also had a substantial stake in the firm as the Fed was crafting a solution to keep Wall Street banks afloat. Denis M. Hughes, deputy chair of the board, will take over as the interim chairman, the New York Fed said in a statement. (Read Mr. Friedman’s letter after the jump.) Because the New...

In a market that's down 40%, where do you go to get bang for your investment buck? According to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics, the smart money was paying lobbyists to get a share of TARP funds. The 300 companies on Hank Paulsen's corporate welfare program may not know how to run a business profitably, but they know a rigged game when they see one. What kind of return did they get? ECR breaks down the numbers...

Does anybody have text versions of quotes over a timeline exposing the fools and the sages of economic predictions?

Bailout Improv: Paulson Rolls Out New TARP With the first half of the $700 billion TARP program nearly depleted, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson spoke today to both defend the program, and announce some changes going forward. Paulson's comments come amid criticism of his handling of the bailout and a political battle over whether the government should rescue U.S. automakers. Assuming the answer is "yes", the debate — starting as early as next week in a lame-duck session — will be over whether or not the funds come from the second $350 billion of TARP money, which requires Congressional authorization (however...

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the state’s largest pro-life organization, achieved nearly all of its goals in the 2008 general election. In spite of a nationwide rejection of traditionally pro-life lawmakers, MCCL actually increased the number of pro-life legislators in the Minnesota House and held on to pro-life seats in the U.S. House. “The loss of the U.S. presidency to a pro-abortion extremist is tragic, but there is a lot of good news for MCCL and the pro-life movement,” MCCL Executive Director Scott Fischbach said. “Minnesota fared far better than other states, which is a testament to...

Rep. Michele Bachmann overcame an October surprise of her own making to hold on to her congressional seat Tuesday, while fellow Republican Erik Paulsen won Minnesota's only open seat.

CNBC.com Henry Paulson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I don't wish to spread alarm on the line people but the big issue confronting the market is I'm afraid the health and sustainability of Morgan Stanley [MS 9.68 -2.77 (-22.25%) ] and Goldman Sachs [GS 88.80 -12.55 (-12.38%) ]," Hugh Hendry, Partner and CIO at Eclectica, told CNBC early Friday. "It is unimaginable that they can be allowed to go, I suspect that they will be nationalized at some point today or over the weekend," he added.

How AIG's Collapse Began a Global Run on the Banks By Porter Stansberry Something very strange is happening in the financial markets. And I can show you what it is and what it means... If September didn't give you enough to worry about, consider what will happen to real estate prices as unemployment grows steadily over the next several months. As bad as things are now, they'll get much worse. They'll get worse for the obvious reason: because more people will default on their mortgages. But they'll also remain depressed for far longer than anyone expects, for a reason most...

At its very foundation, every document has a drafter. Likewise, every document has a first draft. When was the first draft of the present Treasury Bailout Plan created? Some have said it has been in existence for more than a year. Who is the grunt that actually wrote it? Did anyone from Goldman Sachs, Henry Paulsen's former firm, or any other Wall Street firm, render any advice about it? Now look at campaign contributions to the Democrat Party by Wall Street. A campaign contribution is deemed under the law to be speech. What are they saying - something about getting...

The market was 500 trades away from Armageddon on Thursday, traders inside two large custodial banks tell The Post. Had the Treasury and Fed not quickly stepped into the fray that morning with a quick $105 billion injection of liquidity, the Dow could have collapsed to the 8,300-level - a 22 percent decline! - while the clang of the opening bell was still echoing around the cavernous exchange floor. According to traders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, money market funds were inundated with $500 billion in sell orders prior to the opening. The total money-market capitalization was roughly...

Our housing finance system has been broken for quite some time, creating perverse incentives for borrowers and lenders....a major financial bailout of the system is probably inevitable. Conservatives can rightly argue that had Congressional Democrats not blocked the various initiatives of the Bush administration to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the past five years, we would not be sitting at the precipice like we are today. First, Congress rejected a proposal that Fannie and Freddie be barred from paying dividends if they are receiving injections of capital from the federal government. Freddie Mac paid $1.6 billion in dividends...

The US Treasury said Thursday it had struck a series of agreements with big sovereign wealth funds based in Abu Dhabi and Singapore on investments in US markets. The agreements covering investment principles were hammered out following a meeting here between US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Abu Dhabi and Singapore government officials. "We had a good discussion today on the issues surrounding sovereign wealth funds. Singapore and UAE have long-established, well-respected funds and are showing real leadership by joining with us today," Paulson said. The agreements encourage sovereign wealth funds to be more transparent and to base their investment...

A top Republican legislator called Monday for every suspect arrested on a felony charge in Minnesota to be subjected to a DNA test that would be analyzed and made part of a database to assist police in future investigations. "DNA is the fingerprint of the 21st century," House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, said in a statement. "This legislation will help us solve and prevent crimes. It will put guilty criminals in jail, exonerate the innocent and seek more immediate justice for victims." Under current state law, which is scheduled to expire in June, defendants convicted of felony offenses...