Just a normal day...

From
curlytoes79 regarding the end of the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers:

Looks like a normal day at a government agency to me!

Here's a better quality video:

How much are we spending?

"On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve pledged $540 billion to make sure [money-market mutual funds] really are [safe]."

Add that to the $700 billion plus that the Treasury department has already spent... Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-New York, 14th District: Manhattan, Astoria) summed it up nicely at the The Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Monday, October 6, 2008 (lines 864-871 of the Preliminary Transcript):

"We are facing what has been called the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s. And the potential cost to [the] taxpayer is staggering: $29 billion to J.P. Morgan to buy Bear Stearns; $85 billion to AIG; $200 billion to Fannie and Freddie; $700 billion rescue package; $300 billion to the Fed window opening it up to investment banks; $50 billion to stabilize the money market funds. A staggering $1.7 billion potential cost to taxpayers."

Plus whatever has been spent between then and now. How much is all of this going to cost us? Can we really trust the Federal government to get us the best deal for our taxpayer dollars? Check out Frontline's report on the Resolution Trust Company and how some people profited by putting out offers on houses, such as $1,200 for a house worth $80,000 and getting the deal, without any kind of a counter offer by the government. The story goes on to say that these people submitted over 20 offers ranging from $50 to $8,000, and getting them all.

Sources:
1. NY Times Dealbook blog
Fed Adds to Its Efforts to Aid Credit Markets
October 22, 2008, 7:56 am

2. The Causes and Effects of the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy
Monday, October 6, 2008
House of Representatives,
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Preliminary Transcript PDF available here.

3. Frontline 1991: The Great American Bailout

4. Fed Chairman Endorses New Round of Stimulus
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: October 20, 2008

"The government announced last week that it would invest $250 billion directly into the nation’s banks as part of a $700 billion bailout package to ease the financial turmoil and loosen the credit markets. In addition, the government has helped bail out the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the insurance giant the American International Group."

5. JPMorgan Acts to Buy Ailing Bear Stearns at Huge Discount
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Published: March 16, 2008

"The companies said that the Federal Reserve would provide special financing in connection with the transaction and that the Fed had agreed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns’s 'less-liquid assets.'"

The mess keeps getting messier...

Melinda, commenting on an article in the St. Petersburg Times, sums things up nicely. The Times reported about how Bubba The Love Sponge Clem contributed large sums of money to Sheriff Jim Coats campaign for reelection. From the article:

To date, Clem has given $1,000 to Coats under his own name. He also sent money to the campaign through seven corporations:
• The Bubba Radio Network ($500).
• Bubba Army ($500).
• BRN Shock Media ($500).
• BTLS Web Media ($500).
• B3H Web Holdings ($100).
• BRN Travel, Inc. ($250).
• Intense Frequency ($500).
Clem promised $2,000 or $3,000 more from people including his wife, Heather, and his producer, Hatley.

Melinda's comment:

If someone who legally changed his name to include 'Love Sponge' is this adept at creating shell corporations to evade taxes and buy influence, imagine how dirty it gets higher up the power ladder.

Credit Crisis: Episode II: The Empire Strikes

The $700 billion bailout sets the stage for the third episode, Revenge of the Market Makers.
Actually, episode I should have been called A Phantom Menace? Followed by Attack of the Fed, Revenge, and the rest fits as by that time we won't be in the same Universe anymore anyway:
Episode IV - A New Hope
Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

A Father Dies

21 years. You could even say more because it was 21 years since it was published. Gestational periods vary on a first born. So his baby grew up into a privileged college junior who probably took one of his own classes and showed up, feeling superior and special, clever and ironic, and pissed him off so much that when it graduated early he thought there was nothing more to do but hang himself.

Now, his child, fresh out of college and entering the workforce, can do nothing but slave away in the marketplace and die the same anonymous death that most of the masses face, never reaching the level of fame or renown as it's father. Sure, people talk about it, but talking about its birth and growth is not the same as appreciating its accomplishments, the things it was able to do on its own, the lives it transformed, single-handedly, without any help from Daddy.

It's sad, though, because its father is always in its shadow now-- and that becomes part of the narrative of its own life-- did it cause his death? The question is as unanswerable as why it was born.

DFW 2/21/62 - 9/12/08

The Economy

STATEMENT FROM SENATOR OBAMA ON THE SITUATION IN FINANCIAL MARKETS
September 15, 2008

This morning we woke up to some very serious and troubling news from Wall Street.

The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that are generating enormous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments.

The challenges facing our financial system today are more evidence that too many folks in Washington and on Wall Street weren’t minding the store. Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.

I certainly don’t fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.

Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.
This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy. For years, I have consistently called for modernizing the rules of the road to suit a 21st century market – rules that would protect American investors and consumers. And I’ve called for policies that grow our economy and our middle-class together. That is the change I am calling for in this campaign, and that is the change I will bring as President.

STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
Monday, September 15, 2008

ARLINGTON, VA -- Today, U.S. Senator John McCain issued the following statement on the situation in the financial markets:

"The crisis in our financial markets has taken an enormous toll on our economy and the American people -- first the decline of our housing markets followed by the collapse of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and now Lehman Brothers. I am glad to see that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department have said no to using taxpayer money to bailout Lehman Brothers, a position I have spoken about throughout this campaign. We are carefully monitoring the financial markets, including the duress at Lehman Brothers that is the latest reminder of ineffective regulation and management. Efforts must also be focused on ensuring that the deposits of hardworking Americans are protected.

"It is essential for us to make sure that the U.S. remains the pre-eminent financial market of the world. This will be a highest priority of my Administration. In order to do this, major reform must be made in Washington and on Wall Street. We cannot tolerate a system that handicaps our markets and our banks and places at risk the savings of hard-working Americans and investors. The McCain-Palin Administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. We will rebuild confidence in our markets and restore our leadership in the financial world."

McCain's bullshit stinks more.

No really, the sky is falling

This time it's for real. If you want to see someone squirm, watch the White House Briefing with Secretary Paulson from 1:45 PM on 9/15/2008 on cspan.org. I wouldn't be surprised if he resigns soon.