March 15, 2009 12:44 PM

Tom Friedman: "Fairness Has Left The Building"

By
Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics
In The News
(CBS)

On CBS' Face The Nation this morning, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman weighed in on the financial crisis and the administration's plans to fight it, and said people should expect that whatever comes from the bailout of financial institutions, fairness will not be part of it.

"On the one hand fairness isn't on the menu anymore. Fairness has left the building," Friedman told host Bob Schieffer in regard to how the administration is handling AIG and today's news that the company has recently paid out $165 million in bonuses.. "From their point of view all that matters is avoiding systemic risks."

Friedman said the "central political dilemma" for the administration is that the overall basic problems within the banks are still a factor six months after the crisis began.

"We've got these toxic assets, these sub-prime mortgages on the balance sheets of all these institutions. We've got to get them off somehow. That's one side of it," Friedman said. "On the other side of it, Congress which has already shelled out $350 billion or more from taxpayers is saying, 'We're not going to give you another dime.'

"That $350 billion that's already been shelled out, that actually just went to prevent the system from melting down," he added. "We're going to have to spend a lot more to get those toxic assets resolved… And that's where I keep coming back to this fairness issue. People are so angry at the money that's already been spent, but the money that's already been spent has largely gone to prevent the building from burning down, not to build a new one."

Friedman said that the "Achilles heel" of President Obama's plans so far to combat the crisis is the lack of details that have been presented to the public, particularly on the plans to find private buyers to buy the toxic assets.

"There's still massive uncertainty… over what are going to be the rules. Therefore you can't unlock private capital… Some people estimate a trillion dollars or more private capital sitting on the sidelines just waiting to come in. You can see it last week in the stock market… No one wants to be late, no one wants to miss this.

"It's sitting out there but it's not going to come in until there is some certainty on what the rules of the game are. And the problem with getting that certainty is two-fold. One is the fairness issue. It's gonna be unfair. People who don't deserve to be bailed out are going to be bailed out. That's one problem. And the other problem is the incredible complexity of the issue. We've never seen this much leverage… It's all over the world wrapped in this much complexity and started in America. Untangling this incredible Gordian knot we've created is really going to be difficult."


More from Face The Nation (3.15.09):
  • Summers: AIG Bonuses Are "Outrageous"
  • Summers Defends Administration's Bailout Plan
  • Read the full transcript> (pdf file)

    To watch video of Thomas Friedman on Face The Nation click below.


    • Add a Comment See all 42 Comments
    by cbsnewscomme March 22, 2009 8:51 AM EDT
    Please read this article... Obama needs to face reality.

    http://my.nowpublic.com/world/w-house-knows-700b-bankbailout-and-787b-stimulus-scam-fraud....

    Rev.
    Reply to this comment
    by hatesthecolt March 16, 2009 3:35 PM EDT
    Can someone, democrat or republican, please explain how spending billions is going to get us out of debt? Obama's approach is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline...
    Posted by dougnshannon


    Can someone please explain to Dougnshannon that he should have been asking this question 8 years ago, not now. I'd like to fill him in, but I think I have to go throw up now.
    Reply to this comment
    by iam4honesty March 16, 2009 9:11 AM EDT
    While Bush was worried about Iraq, the real terrorists were in our midst destroying the country from the inside.
    Posted by polisigh

    The oath Bush and Cheney swore promises to protect the constitution from all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC. Of course, oaths, constitutions, treaties and things like that never meant anything to either of them. Concerning the constirution, Bush called it "Just a God Dammm piece of paper."
    Reply to this comment
    by polisigh March 16, 2009 8:06 AM EDT
    Republicans criticize Obama for nor cleaning up Bush's mess in seven weeks. It is still the Bush recession. The actions Bush and Paulson took were only enough to escape complete failure of the system. Now Cheney re-emerges to accept no blame and make claims about terrorism that cannot be verified. As if having a family, no job, no healt insurance is not terror. While Bush was worried about Iraq, the real terrorists were in our midst destroying the country from the inside.
    Reply to this comment
    by dougnshannon March 16, 2009 7:54 AM EDT
    Can someone, democrat or republican, please explain how spending billions is going to get us out of debt? Obama's approach is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline...
    Reply to this comment
    by hagan_arnold March 16, 2009 7:47 AM EDT
    "If the UAW can renegotiation their contacts, why can?t the white collar workers on Wall Street do the same?"

    I second that idea.
    Reply to this comment
    by despido March 15, 2009 10:56 PM EDT
    "Fairness Has Left The Building"

    Obama's administration has confused and confounded, threatened and whined, and changed course so many times that economists and investors are dizzy.
    During the campaign, Obama mercilessly ridiculed John McCain for stating the fundamentals of our economy are sound. Obama's team painted the veteran senator as out of touch and failing to grasp the challenges facing the country. Today, Obama's economic adviser Christina Romer said during an appearance on "Meet the Press" that our economy is "fundamentally sound". Was it 'sound' until McCain said it was, then a 'catastrophe' when Obama said so, now it's 'sound' again, and all in less than six months?
    Just weeks ago Obama signed punitive tax legislation aimed at small business, ...today we are told he wants to 'help' small business with loans... but what strings are attached, and why?
    One thing is obvious... Someone more powerful has grabbed Barack by the collar and told him to change his attitude.
    Reply to this comment
    by wyzguy11 March 15, 2009 10:02 PM EDT
    Former AIG head Hank Greenburg should be sitting in the same cell right next to Bernie Madoff!!........It's time to remove the "tax-exempt" status of institutions such as Harvard, Yale etc. and the "Mormon Church" and "Church of Scientology" until average working Americans as teachers, policemen, and firefighters can get their retirement savings back that has been "decimated" by traders on Wall St. wanting to make a quick buck!!
    Reply to this comment
    by wadesboro March 15, 2009 9:55 PM EDT
    If the UAW can renegotiation their contacts, why can?t the white collar workers on Wall Street do the same?
    Reply to this comment
    by ubrew12 March 15, 2009 9:48 PM EDT
    IamInnocent said: "Anybody got a clue, why the moron in the White House thinks tripling our national debt in the next ten years is the answer to anything? "

    I would explain, but must first insist that you answer why doubling it in eight years is an answer to anything.

    Because it one case the economy was fine, and in the other the national economy, and the GLOBAL economy are teetering on the edge of global insolvency.
    Reply to this comment
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