Administration rushes to begin financial rescue

Why did the Demo's put pork in there to give hollywood tax relief, what makes them different from us, so they get the regular tax cedits plus more from our money.. good job morans  

It all started with Carter and you liberals are too dumb to realize that or you just want to keep your head in the sand.

You'd blame Bush if you stumped your toe.

Music For the Great Depression Part Deux



One evening as the stocks went down and the CEO's went scrambling

Down the hall came a banker strolling and he said boys I'm not gambling

I'm headin for a land not far away beside the money fountains

So come with me we'll go to DC & the Big Taxpayer Mountains



In the Big Taxpayer Mountains they'll pay our rotten debt

'Cause we bought the representatives and they haven't failed us yet

Where the folks are bought and paid for and the sun shines every day

On the banks and the stocks and the big old yachts

In the Big Taxpayer Mountains



In the Big Taxpayer Mountains they're gonna help us now

Or we'll cause a great depression 'til they're eating puppy chow

The coffers there are full of loot and the fat cats never pay

Oh I'm gonna go where they can't say "no"

Where the rain don't fall and the wind don't blow

In the Big Taxpayer Mountains



With the Big Taxpayer Dollars we'll get to keep our yachts

And the little streams of taxes come a-tricklin' up the rocks

The Congress will all tip their hats and the Senators go blind

The stupid little people will have no voice

You can run 'em all over with a big Rolls Royce

In the Big Taxpayer Mountains



In the Big Taxpayer Mountains the streets are paved with Gold

They'll be paying off our lousy debts 'til their grandkids all grow old

There ain't no consequences for any thing we do

I'm a goin' to stay where you golf all day

Where I never work like the little jerk

In the Big Taxpayer Mountains



I'll fleece you all this coming fall in the Big Taxpayer Mountains

You ain't seen nothing yet!! Wait til Obama gets his fingers into the pie. With him and Michelle running things--well--just imagine how many times the "race card" will be played!! Michelle is the No.1 Racist here!! And will this bailout work?? It already has--Wall St. is VERY happy--but then we know that already. What is in it for us?? Nothing but heartache!! And bills. Change?? I think this is the beginning of Obama's change--we will all be sold out to Allah and our country will become Muslim!!! But--that is MY opinion and not everybodys. But change you will. And thanks to Bush for a job well done--for him and his rich buddies. As for us, well, we can all go to Crawford, Tx. in Jan. and take it up with the idiot in his back yard!!!Ya just can't trust a grinner with big ears!!! Remember Alfred E. Newman?? Bush's twin brother there!! Anyway--I wish we all would vote independent and not have any known faces in Washington!!!! Colorado--never be ashamed of your state or being from that state--Colorado didn't do this to you--the people that run Colorado did. Run their collective butts out on a rail--hold your head up and be proud of where you are from. I live in Louisiana--that place that has the most corrupt government officials in the universe,legislators that are the laughing stock of the world--the place that has the finest politicians money can buy--but I love Louisiana and am proud to live here--even with all it's faults. By the way, my senators (2) ans rep. (1) voted Nay--so there is hope there.

Why tax breaks for Hollywood?? That is downtown Pelosiville!!!!

Credit Crisis?

What does that really mean?

It means the US is broke - the bank is empty!! There is no more money to lend.

Every year the US Government has to borrow money to pay its debts.

The US debts are growing fast because the wars & the bailouts are expensive

No one saves money anymore, not the people, not corporations, not the Government.

Where does the money we borrow come from?

It comes from FOREIGN sources like Japan, China, the UK, and the OPEC countries.

The foreigners buy our Government Treasury Bills, our Bonds, etc

The money the foreigners invest in the USA is redistributed to American people as loans and mortgages.

But the USA is in debt to about 12 Trillion dollars!!!  That is equal to about $40,000 for every man, woman, and child in the USA.

The credit available to people is only available when these foreign investors continue to buy American treasury bills, bonds, etc. 

If the investors stop buying, then the banks stop lending.

For the past couple years the foreign investors have realized the USA is broke - - that scares the investors because they expect their invested money paid-back when their investment term is up.

But the USA is broke, so if an investor wants to cash-in their investments, then the US government must borrow money from another investor to pay-off the first investor.

So the investors have quit buying and now they are starting to cash-in their US Government investments.  But how can the government pay back the investors if other investors are not buying US government investments? 

They can't, it's that simple.

The next phase of this 'Credit Crisis' will follow shortly after Bush leaves office and it will be brutal.  There will be zero credit and higher taxes and rapid inflation.  The higher taxes are needed to pay back the foreign investors.  The inflation decreases the value of the debt - the inflation will be intentional and calculated at the highest levels of government

This $700 Billion is just the beginning.  The 'Bail out' just postpones the depression until the new President takes office.

Fasten your seatbelt - the ride is going to be crazy...

N ow that is scary!!! What will Obama do with that?? Or McCain??

The $700B bailout money will be burned through in a month or two, enough to get us through the election - it they are lucky. Hell, AIG has already burned through 75% of its $85B bailout.  Once the collapse starts in earnest, the government will be reduced to the direct printing of currency of keep the system afloat. They won't even go through the formality of borrowing it anymore. The only way out of a debt collapse is to inflate the debt away, and ultimately that is what the US Govt will do.

And oh yeah, the EU government might actually collapse along with its banks.  Unlike the USA, the EU Federal government  has a central bank, but they don't have the central taxing power or the police and judicial powers necessary to truly back their currency.  Those powers reamin with the EU state governments. Their system is very brittle in that respect, and I expect the EU to disintegrate long before the USA does.

u s a markets of commodities,forex and capitlal  are treated as global markets because of many countries players are participating.for example gold prices have increased 10 percent on single day .similarly oil price has increased by 15 percent in single day. if we have margins in place and restrictions for single day movements ,the markets will function in orderly manner.. even,in a democracy, you havre to function within constitution, rules and regulations. similarly, in economy matters, you have to function with more regulations and rules for orderly development of finance sector.In global economy matters,you reqvire to impose  more regulations .like full freedom in democracy, you have adapted full freedom in finance matters. if u s a alone works for her, nobody on earth can beat in  next 100 years. so , concentrate to develop 300 million people and u s a economy.

What has occurred is likely the tip of the iceburg.  The $700 billion or so spent is unlikely to have the effect that the government thinks that it will.  The next president will likely be faced with the necessity of throwing more money at problem.  I doubt that the "bailout" will succeed as it is currently structured.  The EU recently met and most of the EU nations have taken the position that they will not bail out the companies in their own countries that were affected by the mortgage meltdown.  The effect of the US mortgage meltdown on the world economy is larger than most Americans realize. Stay tuned for scene 2 within the next 6 months or so.  This bailout will only help a lot of rich people hold onto their money. Greedy banks will have no incentive to be less greedy when they are rewarded for their greed. The final bailout bills sent to the House and Senate were full of unnecessary "pork" inserted as a bribe to get votes. This is a tragedy.

The Bailout package for Wall Street & Washington DC.. was full of pork and flawed from its genesis. And in this strange new world that began on Friday October 3rd 2008. We can only imagine what it will evolve into....

The bailout has passed, the market has fallen, I'm confused.
I thought the market was suppose to rebound when the pork bailout passed. Instead it's down 150+ points.

I'm thinking that this was all a scam.
When the financial crisis was announced the market started its rapid decline.
Scumbag senators and congressmen, and their banker friends started buying at severely reduced prices. Now that the bailout is approved, the market will start to climb. Once it hits a certain point the scum wads are going to sell all their bargain basement purchases. This will drive the market into the toilet. They will have made fortunes, and we will still be stuck with an $850 billion bill.
Maybe I'm wrong, but sometimes weird stuff makes sense.

If I'm right, a bunch of finance, banking, economic committee members just gave themselves a great big raise.

What makes anyone believe these folks are going to leave if they get voted out?.

I do believe oil prices are down, We can buy tar at a good price. Feathers are also inexpensive.

Dr Dave

I think I missed something here.  Why was it so urgent to give away about 1 trillion dollars and now the Treasury Secretary says it will take "some time" to implement and make any money available?

We'll be paying for this the rest of our lives!

Several Congressmen changed their votes on the bailout, and voted aye on the second go around. One explains his reasons on his web site. A phrase in the explanation struck me as significant: "Our economy is built on credit and we need to get credit back into the markets."

I respectfully submit that until our economy is once again founded on producing goods and services, no amount of credit bailout will help. Credit is a promise, not a product (except perhaps in politics) .

The following was copied from Global Research:

Betrayed by the Bailout: The Death of Democracy By William Cox Global Research, October 3, 2008 On this date, October 3, 2008, the American people were betrayed by those whom they had elected to represent them. The members of Congress who voted for the Wall Street "bailout" violated their oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution" ... "that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same" ... "and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: ..." Without holding any meaningful hearings or public discussions and listening only to those most responsible for the economic disaster, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Congress abdicated its responsibility to the American people. Locking out most members from all discussions, the congressional "leadership" emerged from their backrooms with legislation that grants Secretary Paulson the ability to spend at least $700 billion to "take such actions as [he] deems necessary" ... " to promote financial market stability." Entrusting tremendous political and financial power (and a ton of borrowed money that taxpayers will have to repay with interest) into Paulson’s sole discretion, members of Congress must have been aware that, prior to his cabinet appointment in 2006, Paulson worked for 32 years at Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street firms that stands to benefit greatly from his "actions." Paulson, who cashed out his Goldman stock valued at $575 million to become the Secretary of Treasury (without having to pay any taxes on the sale), earned more than $53 million in pocket change during just his last two years at Goldman Sachs for innovations such as a new line of "Mortgage Backed Securities." Gambling more than a trillion dollars on risky subprime second mortgages, Paulson cleverly converted them into AAA-rated "secure" investments by purchasing guarantees from the American International Group. AIG, coincidentally, was just "bailed out" two weeks ago by Secretary Paulson for $85 billion (of borrowed money that taxpayers will have to repay with interest), averting a devastating loss by Goldman Sachs, who was holding more than $20 billion in otherwise worthless second mortgages. Is it surprising that Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s current CEO, was present with Paulson when the decision was made to bailout AIG? The bailout’s $700 billion price tag is only an arbitrary guess by Paulson and is most likely just the first installment of many more to come. Other economists, with more successful track records, believe the total will be much greater, perhaps $5 trillion, as concealed losses are uncovered and foreign companies dump their toxic investment waste into their American offices. In passing the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008," Congress ignored the "great concern" expressed by almost two hundred of the nation’s leading economists who pleaded with Congress "not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action,..." In addition to its ambiguity and long-term effects, the economists believed the bailout plan to be "a subsidy to investors at taxpayers’ expense" and to be "desperately short-sighted." Ultimately, more than 400 top economists, including two Nobel Prize winners, voiced opposition to the bailout. The economists were not alone in being ignored by the politicians. It is widely reported that calls and emails to Congress from constituents were running as high as 300 to one against the bailout. Mike Whitney reports one analyst saying that "the calls to Congress are 50 percent ‘No’ and 50 percent ‘Hell, No’." The percentages adjusted as the stock market tumbled, but public opposition to the bailout remains strong. An AP poll only identified 30 percent of the public in favor of the bailout, and a CNN Money opinion poll found 77 percent of the people believing the bailout would benefit those most responsible for the economic downturn. Who Benefits? The Latin adage, Cui bono, asks "to whose death are you going?" Law enforcement investigators quickly learn that the guilty party can usually be found among those who stand to gain from a murder or other crime. There is no doubt the bailout will most benefit some of the richest and highest paid individuals in the American economy. But, why did the politicians betray the wishes of those who elected them in favor of the criminals who committed the fraud? Perhaps the answer can be found in another Latin phrase, quid pro quo, meaning "what for what; something for something." Individuals working for Wall Street finance, insurance and real estate companies and the companies’ political action committees have contributed more than $47 million to the campaigns of Senator Obama (three of top five sources) and Senator McCain (top five sources), both of whom voted for the bailout. More to the point, Wall Street has contributed more than $1.1 billion dollars to congressional candidates since 2002. Nine of the top ten House recipients of Wall Street largesse, who each received an average of $1.5 million, are on the financial oversight and taxation committees. Even more telling, the bipartisan Congressional "leaders" most responsible for pushing the bailout through Congress, Senators Dodd and Gregg and Representatives Frank and Blunt have taken almost $20 million from Wall Street sources during the last 20 years. Dodd recently received $6 million in contributions during his presidential primary campaign, and Frank has collected $720,000 this year. Other key players also have been well compensated this year: Congressman Kanjorski received $755,000 and Congressman Bachus banked $704,000. Who Loses? The ordinary, hard-working voters, who were opposed to the bailout, and their children and grandchildren, will be the ones who will ultimately have to repay, with compound interest, the money that will have to be borrowed to give away to Wall Street bankers. The bailout was "sweetened" in the Senate by another $110 billion in tax relief and renewable energy incentives to get enough House votes for passage; however, only the temporary one-year slowdown of the Alternative Minimum Tax offered any succor to the middle-class workers affected by it. The bailout raises the debt ceiling to $11.3 trillion, or about $37,524 for each man, woman and child in the United States. How is this burden ever going to be repaid? Workers already know their wages are falling, their jobs are at risk, their health care, food and fuel costs are skyrocketing, and they are being kicked out of their apartments and homes because they can’t pay the rents and mortgages. Didn’t each member of Congress have a sworn duty to rescue the millions of Americans suffering from the reckless gambling of Wall Street moguls, rather than to reward an obscene excess of greed? Foreclosure Rescue At least six million homeowners will probably default on their mortgages this year and next, and millions more will have their equity wiped out by declining property values. More than 770,000 homes have been seized by lenders since 2007, and 91,000 families were just kicked out of their homes in August. These American homeowners were betrayed by their elected representatives! The only provision in the bailout legislation to remotely "benefit" homeowners whose homes are being foreclosed upon only "encourages" mortgage service companies to modify mortgages. Paulson is required to "maximize assistance for homeowners ... and minimize foreclosures"; however, he also has to ensure that the government doesn’t incur any additional costs. Thus, there’s little or no hope of any meaningful benefit to distressed homeowners resulting from the bailout. The legislation could have required the government to directly purchase the defaulting mortgages and to adjust them to the reduced value of the property, as was done in the Great Depression. Instead, Paulson is authorized to purchase the complex derivatives (Wall Street’s gambling debts) piled on top of the original mortgages. The difference is whether homeowners or Wall Street receives the benefit of the bailout. Bankruptcy Rescue More than 4,476 Americans filed for bankruptcy every day during August, the highest number since changes in the law in 2005 made it much more difficult, and even impossible in many cases, to obtain debt relief. More than a million, increasingly elderly, people will petition for bankruptcy this year. These destitute Americans were betrayed by their elected representatives! Under the current law, bankruptcy judges do not have the power to modify mortgages of a petitioner’s primary residence, irrespective of how the mortgages have been sliced, diced and repackaged. The bailout could have provided judges with the authority, in appropriate cases, to adjust the amount secured by the mortgage to the value of the property and to adjust the interest rate to a reasonable percentage. Unemployment Rescue New claims for unemployment benefits rose to 493,000 last week, the highest level in seven years. The economy has already lost 605,000 jobs thus far this year, and it dumped 159,000 payroll jobs just during September, the greatest drop in five years. These unemployed Americans were betrayed by their elected representatives! Although the House of Representatives passed an economic stimulus bill that would fund job creation and extent jobless benefits for long-term unemployed workers on September 26th, the Senate failed to pass its own stimulus bill on the same day. President Bush has promised to veto the legislation if passed. The bailout legislation could have provided for an extension of jobless benefits, but it didn’t. Homeless Rescue More than 750,000 and as many as a million Americans are homeless today, and the numbers are increasing dramatically. The National Coalition for the Homeless reports that homelessness is growing because of foreclosures, loss of jobs, and the rising price of fuel and food. These homeless Americans were betrayed by their elected representatives! Homeless sites are appearing all across the country as people with no place to stay are pitching tents and huddling together for support and protection. Their plight did not receive any consideration by the Congressional leadership that rammed the bailout through Congress. Hunger Rescue The most recent report by the Department of Agriculture found that in 2006, 35.5 million Americans lived in households with insecure food supplies and the numbers were increasing. At risk children numbered more than 12.6 million, and African Americans and Hispanic Americans suffered at higher rates than the national average. In 2006, 9.6 million Americans had to frequently skip meals or eat too little, and often had to go without food for a whole day. Today, as members of Congress voted to reward the richest and most greedy members of our society, they ignored those without the most basic necessity for survival. This morning, they rewarded the most powerful and best-fed members of our society, and gave no thought to the helpless children who will go to bed hungry tonight. Food banks who serve as the last resort for the hungry are running out of food. They are having to reduce rations and to dip into emergency supplies of staple items. There are reports of a 40 percent increase in requests for food assistance and a 30 percent drop in supplies. These hungry Americans were betrayed by their elected representatives! The bailout could have increased the amount of federal assistance for food banks in the Emergency Food Assistance Program, but it didn’t. The Consequences The real estate bubble that has been driving the United States economy has now popped, and there is no replacement engine to transport America’s consumer society down the highway to happiness. Americans are facing the mother of all depressions; it will be hard and it will last a long time. What are all of these homeless, hopeless, and hungry people going to do? Many have already exercised their First Amendment right to petition their government for the redress of grievances. A majority of the members of Congress, the two presidential candidates, and the President paid no attention to the economic experts and the thousands and thousands of voters who protested the bailout and who begged them to rescue the people rather than the rich and powerful. The people can always take to the streets in protest, and they probably will do so in growing numbers as the economic circumstances become more harsh. The U.S. government is already planning for the eventuality – not with the helping hand of supplemental legislation to help with mortgages, jobs, shelter or food, but with the mailed fist of military suppression. The Army Times reports the current deployment within the United States "homeland" of an "on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies or disasters, including terrorist attacks." The Army acknowledges that the Northern Command may call upon the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team to help with "civil unrest and crowd control." With almost a trillion dollars picked from their pockets to reimburse reckless Wall Street gamblers, many Americans righteously feel betrayed tonight. A majority will elect a new president one month from tomorrow, and most will wait to see who it will be, and what if anything he can or will do to alleviate their suffering. There are others, undoubtedly, who agree with the Supreme Court’s recent decision that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is individually held, and who believe that the use of their personal weapons is justified to overthrow a government that betrays them and which destroys their very means of existence. The right of legitimate self defense is recognized by every criminal law in America. Perhaps democracy in the United States is not dead; if not, it’s on its deathbed. Resuscitation in the form of responsible representation is possible, but time is growing short. William John Cox is a retired supervising prosecutor for the State Bar of California. As a police officer he wrote the Policy Manual of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Role of the Police in America for a national advisory commission. Acting as a public interest, pro bono lawyer, he filed a class action lawsuit in 1979 on behalf of every citizen of the United States petitioning the Supreme Court to order the other two branches of the federal government to conduct a National Policy Referendum; he investigated and successfully sued a group of radical right-wing organizations in 1981 that denied the Holocaust; and he arranged in 1991 for publication of the suppressed Dead Sea Scrolls. His 2004 book, You’re Not Stupid! Get the Truth: A Brief on the Bush Presidency is reviewed at http://www.yourenotstupid.com, and he is currently working on a fact-based fictional political philosophy. His writings are collected at http://www.thevoters.org, and he can be contacted at u2cox@msn.com.

Nations rise and thrive with abundant cash.

Nations collapse on debt.

Who has the cash in 2008?  Japan, China, OPEC countries

Who is in debt?  The USA

You all wanted to know why the bailout was needed so quickly

Top 10 Corporate PAC Contributors:

Obama:
Goldman Sachs $739,521

UBS AG $419,550

Lehman Brothers $391,774

Citigroup Inc $492,548

Morgan Stanley $341,380

Latham & Watkins $328,879

Google Inc $487,355

JPMorgan Chase & Co $475,112

Sidley Austin LLP $370,916

Skadden, Arps et al $360,409

McCain:
Merrill Lynch $349,170

Citigroup Inc $287,801

Morgan Stanley $249,377

Wachovia Corp $147,456

Goldman Sachs $220,045

Lehman Brothers $115,707

Bear Stearns $108,000

JPMorgan Chase & Co $206,392

Bank of America $133,975

Credit Suisse Group $175,503

This bail out is more of the same B>S we have been hearing for the last 8 years. It will be interesting when this plan fails and we hear more dire warnings.

I guess I'l get back to worshiping the gods in washinton and not rely on common sense.

Accountability and let us start with Mr Deregulation Mccain in November. Mccain and Gramm orchestrated this mess and now want to regulate? The Republicans are voting for bigger government? Bunch of hypocrites. If it profited them the Republicans would vote for more abortions. They already think civil unions are alright..another change in their stance. What is next Republicans? I believe Republicans will raise our taxes and give our corporate giants large tax relief. Why not ..their word means nothing anymore.

Our family will vote against every elected OFFICIAL that we can when the time comes to vote for them again, you can count on that.

Our family has dropped from 20% investmenst to only 6%, just enough to get company matching funds only, not a penny more.

I would like to know how AMERICA is supposed to pay any bills at all since our wonderful goverment has allowed and sent our decent paying jobs OFF of AMERICAN SOIL, to foreign countries. Global economy is wonderful isnt it?, only the other global countries do NOT pay our bills here, AMERICANS DO.!! I forgot we used too when we had jobs.!!

And things will only get worse for the economy in AMERICA if Barrack Hussein Obama gets in, he has already promised to raise our taxes, give us socialized health care, and redistribute income.