Comments on: Sweeping Fed Plan Sparks Intense Debate

Democrats Charge Treasury Secretary's Suggested Financial Overhaul Does Not Go Far Enough

[infe5]

"rumour has it that if bear stearns had been forced into bankrupcy they would have dumped their holdings on the market for a firesale price. this in turn would have forced the market price down on all the other mortgage backed securities ... thereby causing liquidity issues for other major holders of these depreciating instruments (ie. other large banks). other failures could have followed ultimately leading to a complete meltdown of the us economic system. this would not really be good for anyone." - posted by bobnjersey

Yep, that''s more or less exactly my response to the same post (mine is a few posts back). Except, I dont think this would have occured, and I dont think the gov. should bail out these institutions. Let the markets handle it. However, as I have also posted earlier, I think the gov. should impose some regulations at this point to help prevent this from happening in the future. Even though these regulations will come at the cost of market efficiency.

[payasyougo]

Well any time you have a government [read taxpaer financed] bailout of any industry you will hear complaints from both ends of the political spectrum. One side for being tired of funding the other and the other for thinking they are not getting it.

[bobnjersey]

[I''''m here to preach the Republican mantra of "personal responsibility". Let those investment banks fail, let the investors lose, let the CEOs end up broke and homeless.]
[Posted by omega39 at 02:44 PM : Mar 31, 2008]

rumour has it that if bear stearns had been forced into bankrupcy they would have dumped their holdings on the market for a firesale price. this in turn would have forced the market price down on all the other mortgage backed securities ... thereby causing liquidity issues for other major holders of these depreciating instruments (ie. other large banks). other failures could have followed ultimately leading to a complete meltdown of the us economic system. this would not really be good for anyone.

the fact that the fed stepped in and did something virtually unprecedented is a sign of how serious they view this situation.

[infe5]

"infe5, the republiCONs are filth what the heck is wrong with you. can''''t you read a paper" - Posted by joyous88

At what point did I even mention republicans or politics?

[shanev137]

The Federal Reserve is an illegal organization.

[joyous88]

infe5

the republiCONs are filth what the heck is wrong with you

can''t you read a paper

[joyous88]

Plan????

How about this?

Sweeping Fed Bailout of the Wall Street Wealthy!

And of course the anti regulation republiCONs

will not spend one dime for a disabled veteran or

a homeowner in trouble,

Republicons have become anti american fascists

[wwudiver]

This is the most sweeping and horrific grab for power of our generation. This is the third largest news story in American history. The first was that the British were leaving, the second was that a central bank had been formed in a public-private partnership and now this most sinister report.

Paulson and Bush are lying, they are trying to seal the final goals of the federal reserve and complete debt enslavement. You are watching the mechanism of liberties final death.

It IS the lack of enforcement of our Constitution that has resulted in our ultimate demise. This was planned for, struggled against and redacted on three occasions.

Woodrow Wilson-
A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men ... [W]e have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world%u2014no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.

[infe5]

The overwhelming majority of the victims of this mess (homeowners who had to foreclose) have absolutely no legal claim against their lenders. Even though the lenders were very shady and greedy, the terms and conditions of the loans were laid out before the borrowers. It''s just that the borrowers were too optimistic or unwilling to learn the terms and conditions of their loans. So ultimate blame is really on them, but at the same time I dont think we can expect the average low-income person to make sense of an in-depth legal document (not a digg on them, just truth). Hence the need for the gov. to step in to some degree.

[infe5]

"Would anybody with a brain trust George W. Bush Jr''''s ideas on financial management?" - Posted by ByeNeocons

That''s just it most economists wouldnt trust ANY governmental official''s ideas. Like I said, governmental regulatory control over industry is usually a bad idea. But, as is the case here, sometimes some level of control is necessary to protect the average Joe from his own stupidity.

[byeneocons]

Would anybody with a brain trust George W. Bush Jr''s ideas on financial management?

God help us.

[infe5]

@ dogband,

I can''t fault the government for what led up to this. Imposing governmental regulatory control on industries is usually a bad move. It usually introduces unnecessary inefficiencies into markets. However, it has been shown by this current crisis that some of these institutions will take advantage of the average citizen''s ignorance, for their own profit. So you either have to come up with a way to make every citizen super market savy (very doubtful), or introduce some regulatory measures at the cost of efficiency.

[dogband]

The complex issues surrounding this are well above my head, so I''ll leave them to others to debate.

I do however know one thing for sure

NO way, no how would I trust Bush and the current administration to do anything in regular citizens interest.

If I were filthy rich, and a huge company owner, he''d have my trust to make me richer.

What a shame ... at a time when we so desperately need a national leader to TRUST, he has ruined me from trusting anyone for life.

[infe5]

"I''''m here to preach the Republican mantra of "personal responsibility". Let those investment banks fail, let the investors lose, let the CEOs end up broke and homeless." - Posted by omega39

The fear is that if one major bank fails, and no one is there to cover the risk, there will be a run on other banks, leading to a catastrophe similar to the Great Depression. But, I''m with you. I think the chances of that happening are slim, and we should not bail out financial institutions that should have known better. No bail outs. Let the markets work; if there is a correction that causes a short term economic dowturn, so be it.

[omega39-2009]

Aren''t the RepubliCONs the same people telling us that the rich got that way because they took risks? It''s hardly risk if in their words "big nanny government" is there to reimburse you if you fail.

[omega39-2009]

I''m here to preach the Republican mantra of "personal responsibility". Let those investment banks fail, let the investors lose, let the CEOs end up broke and homeless. A day of reckoning for the greed heads that worshiped voodoo economics is due and I don''t believe my tax dollars should be used to forestall the inevitable while continuing to prop up the lavish lifestyles of those that have created the problem to begin with.

[rgmiron]

The RowdyTexan2 is right ON the Money.

[rgmiron]

"A day late and A dollar short"

[staythecurse]

Coming to a neighborhood near you! A game like Chutes and Ladders, the wildly popular children''s game of the past produced by Milton Bradley and distributed by Hasbro.
Introducing Barons and Serfs, the new board game created by Paulson Bernanke and distributed by BushCo. A new millennium pastime with twice the fun for the masses. The working man gets the spherical dice with ones stamped over its entire surface. The privileged capitalist gets the weighted cubical dice with 6 sixes. Great fun and easy to learn, as the rules are made by the Barons as you play. Don''t worry about old rules, the Barons will change them as the game is played.

Have fun!

[rowdytexan2]

The US citizens have been living on the edge of their own huge credit expenditures for years. We''ve forgotten how to live within our means. We allowed the lure of equaity financing and lost all investment in our homes back to the banks. We allowed the lure of buying stuff we didn''t have the money for in the first place to scam us in interest payments.

As I said we were living and managing right on the edge, but it was maintainable until the Bush administration allowed the greed of the banking industry to completely go hog wild fleecing the public in more credit scams. Bad credit losses could be shored up by the government, but these huge credit loses we''re experiencing now that people have no jobs has sent us right over the edge.

And, of course, his spending our tax dollars we used to shore up those credit loses on an illegal, total ''unholy'' war for greed in the Middle East will be costing us for years.