Greenspan: My Faith In Banks A "Mistake"

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Tells House He Sees Flaw In The Free Market Model

(CBS/ AP)  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the current financial crisis has uncovered a flaw in how the free market system works and that has shocked him.

Greenspan told the House Oversight Committee on Thursday that his belief that banks would be more prudent in their lending practices because of the need to protect their stockholders had proven to be wrong in the latest crisis.

Greenspan said he had made a "mistake" in believing that banks in operating in their self-interest would be sufficient to protect their shareholders and the equity in their institutions. Greenspan said that he had found "a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works."

He bluntly called the current financial crisis is a "once-in-a-century credit tsunami" which will have a severe impact on the U.S. economy, driving unemployment higher.

Asked if the White House agreed with Greenspan, Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "I think that is right." Perino added more grim assessments, saying, "we’re in for a rocky road on the employment front and we expect our GDP number next week not to be a good one. And the next quarter could probably be tough as well.

Greenspan, who headed the U.S. central bank for 18½ years, said that he and others who believed lending institutions would do a good job of protecting their shareholders are in a "state of shocked disbelief."

He said that the current crisis had "turned out to be much broader than anything that I could have imagined.

The committee called Greenspan to testify along with former Treasury Secretary John Snow and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox as lawmakers sought to discover if regulatory failings had contributed to the crisis.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said that he believed that the Federal Reserve, which regulates banks, the SEC and the Treasury had all played a role in contributing to the mistakes.

"The list of mistakes is long and the cost to taxpayers is staggering," Waxman, a Democrat, told the three men. "Our regulators became enablers rather than enforcers. Their trust in the wisdom of the markets was infinite. The mantra became that government regulation is wrong. The market is infallible."

In his testimony, Greenspan blamed the problems on heavy demand for securities backed by subprime mortgages by investors who did not worry that the boom in home prices might come to a crashing halt.

"Given the financial damage to date, I cannot see how we can avoid a significant rise in layoffs and unemployment," Greenspan said. "Fearful American households are attempting to adjust, as best they can, to a rapid contraction in credit availability, threats to retirement funds and increased job insecurity."

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Read CBS poll on Americans' concerns about job security

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Also Thursday in a separate hearing, the head of the government's $700 billion financial rescue program told Congress the Bush administration has made "tremendous progress" in pushing to get it implemented.

Neel Kashkari, a Treasury Department official who is interim head of the program, told the Senate Banking Committee in prepared testimony that since last week's announcement that the government would spend $250 billion to buy bank stocks to bolster capital reserves, there has been "numerous signs of improvement in our markets and in the confidence in our financial institutions."

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told the same Senate panel that the government needs to do more to help tens of thousands of home borrowers avert foreclosure, including setting standards for modifying mortgages into more affordable loans and providing loan guarantees to banks and other mortgage services that meet them.

"Loan guarantees could be used as an incentive for servicers to modify loans," Bair said. "By doing so, unaffordable loans could be converted into loans that are sustainable over the long term."

The FDIC is working "closely and creatively" with the Treasury Department on such a plan, she said.

A report showed the number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to data released Thursday. Nationwide, nearly 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September, up 71 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile there was more distressing news for the economy as layoffs continue to mount. Chrysler announced another 1,800 job cuts, reports CBS News business correspondent Anthony Mason.

"The economy's so bad that nobody's buying cars," Kevin McWilliams told CBS News. "So it makes it hard on everybody."

Both hearings were expected to be contentious as lawmakers, already upset about having to vote for the biggest bailout in U.S. history, sought answers to what went wrong and try to determine why the government's rescue effort, which just cleared Congress on Oct. 3, already has undergone a radical overhaul.

As both men spoke, Wall Street spent another session buffeted by volatility. Investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but also looked for bargains after two days of selling. While the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose sharply, a downdraft in tech stocks left the Nasdaq composite index with a loss.

Greenspan said that a necessary condition for the crisis to end will be a stabilization in home prices but he said that was not likely to occur for "many months in the future."

When home prices finally stabilize, Greenspan said, then "the market freeze should begin to measurably thaw and frightened investors will take tentative steps towards re-engagement with risk."

Greenspan said until that occurs, the government is correct to move forward aggressively with efforts to support the financial sector. He called the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress on Oct. 10 "adequate to serve the need" and said that its impact was already being felt in markets.

Greenspan did not specifically address the criticism he is receiving now as being partly to blame for the current crisis.

Greenspan's critics charge that he left interest rates too low in the early part of this decade, spurring an unsustainable housing boom, while also refusing to exercise the Fed's powers to impose greater regulations on the issuance of new types of mortgages, including subprime loans. It was the collapse of these mortgages and rising defaults a year ago that triggered the current crisis.

In his testimony, Greenspan put the blame for the subprime collapse on over-eager investors who did not properly take into account the threats that would be posed once home prices stopped surging upward.

"It was the failure to properly price such risky assets that precipitated the crisis," Greenspan said.

[gop_will_win]

Remember, Greenspan was appointed by Clinton. He is a liberal.

[max0010]

Economic Crisis---Constitution Crisis-8 STATES (Hawaii, Washington, California, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut seeking judicial authority to certify Barack Obama qualifications ---Obama is ignoring the suits (hired attorneys to fight), and the %u201Cmedia%u201D does not wish to have the American public know what is going on ----DESPOTISM has arrived in America. Throw away the constitution!

[oscarez]

Greenspan, who was the chairman of the Federal Reserve for 18= years, must have had his head up his butt not to know what was happening!!!! Greenspan was first appointed by Ronald Reagan in August 1987.

[rjs1955]

CHECK YOUR FACTS gop-will-win

GREENSPAN WAS APPOINTED IN 1987 BY RONALD REAGAN!!!!!! HE WAS REAPPOINTED EACH 4 YEARS, IN 1991 BY BUSH, 1995 & 1999 Clinton, 2003 Bush, Jr.
from Wiki - "In 2004 Business Week Magazine criticized his keeping of low interest levels too long and his concurrent praise of sub-prime lending vehicles such as ARMs as leading to a housing bubble.[3] Some, including Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph E. Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, assign a large degree of culpability for the devastating Economic crisis of 2008 to Greenspan."

[steamed2]

Well, I guess Greenspan just about completes the grand circle of incompetant people assembled by corrupt politicians to run the country into the ground. So now we get treated to one more moronic display of a totally impotent Congress staging meaningless hearings where another idiot points his finger at someone else and says ''not me, not me!" That Greenspan has the unmitigated gaul to try and float his ''perfect storm'' of financial disaster that no one could anticipate is an insult. His tenure at the Federal Reserve goes down in history as a bad joke on the American people.

[lochlan-2009]

"Greenspan To Talk "Credit Tsunami" On Hill"

He should be in jail as an accomplice with the rest of this administration. Didn''t he lower the interest rate, using the excuse of 9/11, the Enron and others accounting scandals, and the dot com bubble, to push the uneducated poor and middle class into banks to get predatory loans on a house, before the prices became untouchable, and maybe, just maybe increase there networth also. Big surprise, after they have enough fish in the bag they close the net and, those idiots that believed they could refinance into a higher rate fixed loan later, are stuck with an ARM that is shooting through the roof.
Fifty year mortgages, interest only loans, we all heard the advertisements. They did nothing to stop the blatant predatory lending, did they? We all know there are loads of morons out there who don''t have a clue about what''s going on in the world around them. In fact, the majority of Americans don''t want to care or learn or think, and don''t, and then wonder why they''re stuck in Sh@t up to their necks.

Dumbed down Americans.

The perfect victims for these predators.

[xyno-2009]

If the Dems want to know who''s to blame for the sub-prime mess, they only need to look in their own back yard:

This housing crisis didn''t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans.

This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it. One political party, in Congress and in the executive branch, tried repeatedly to tighten up the rules. The other party blocked every such attempt and tried to loosen them.

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. "Housing-gate," no doubt. Or "Fannie-gate."

Instead, it was Sen. Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

[steamed2]

More than one person has pointed out that Alan Greenspan face looks like a horse''s ***, now he appears before Congress and proves he is one! Even under the best of circumstances most people would rather have cordless drill used on their head than listen to Greenspan drone on an on about any subject, but given these Congressional hearing I can''t imagine not simply getting up, walking over, and choking the sh*t out of the dumb son-of-a-b*tch while he tries to say no one could see this coming. Gee Alan, how does it feel to have your entire career and reputation flushed down the toilet like the piece of excrement is was? The tens of thousands of people who have lost much of their savings all hope there really is a special place in hell for people like you.

[ajaxtheleast]

Judging from early voting returns
the public is initiating a tsunami
of their own right now.

[xyno-2009]

DO FACTS MATTER???

Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years-- including the present year-- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis.

It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today''s financial crisis.

Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush''s Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago.

Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter?

[antoniof123]

Instead, it was Sen. Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.
Posted by Xyno at 10:57 AM : Oct 23, 2008

Lets go a little further back I know that GOPers don''t like but lets be honest about it lets go to the Regan years when they deregulated the banks this is where the cancer started and this is where the blame falls.

Sorry to disapoint you Right wing fans but the Keating 5 more to blame along with all the other GOPers that help bring this on.

I really don''t care if your hero Regan is blamed because this is were America is placeing the blame no where else. Like it or not the Democrats will increas in numbers in congress in both houses and in the white house.

[xyno-2009]

Posted by antoniof123 at 11:16 AM : Oct 23, 2008

It''s not a lie if you believe it, Jerry!!

We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn''t.

[xyno-2009]

Posted by jamesm12341 at 11:19 AM : Oct 23, 2008

LOL

[lochlan-2009]

your credit crisis is your fault


Posted by jamesm12341

No, it''s people like you is whose fault it is. Your the ones who supported these criminals, AND STILL ARE!!!!

It''s hard to come up with words to describe people of your ethically low and disgusting caliber.

[xyno-2009]

No, it''''s people like you is whose fault it is. Your the ones who supported these criminals, AND STILL ARE!!!!

Posted by lochlan at 11:33 AM : Oct 23, 2008

===============

I seriously doubt that Jamesm supported Barney Frank and Dodd. :)

[slim1h2o]

Posted by jamesm12341 at 11:19 AM : Oct 23, 2008

And you don''t capitalise ,and use punctuation marks either.

So what''s your point?

[steeepe]

I guess Greenspan misjudged the attitude of people who stood to make millions on selling bad investments. That''s why some regulation is needed -- you cannot trust people to make the best decisions for the country when that much money is involved.

[xyno-2009]

Posted by slim1h2o at 11:44 AM : Oct 23, 2008

Capitalise?? Is that the British spelling? LOL

[xyno-2009]

That''''s why some regulation is needed --

Posted by steeepe at 11:50 AM : Oct 23, 2008

====================

And that''s exactly what the Bush administration tried to do but were blocked by Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd.

[brianp55]

Well, he would know....since this demented old *** was primarily responsible for causing it.

[random_radar]

Government spending in the United States currently equals more than forty percent of national income, i.e., the sum of all wages and salaries and profits and interest earned in the country. This is without counting any of the massive off-budget spending such as that on account of the government enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nor does it count any of the recent spending on assorted "bailouts." What this means is that substantially more than forty dollars of every one hundred dollars of output are appropriated by the government against the will of the individual citizens who produce that output. The money and the goods involved are turned over to the government only because the individual citizens wish to stay out of jail. Their freedom to dispose of their own incomes and output is thus violated on a colossal scale.

[slim1h2o]

they will never move forward in life.....sad.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jamesm12341 at 11:48 AM : Oct 23, 2008


Like you, and your capitalazation?

I think you and your illegal aliens are the ones that are sad.

[bobnjersey]

[Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the U.S. Congress in prepared testimony Thursday that the current global financial crisis is a ''once in a century credit tsunami'' that policymakers did not anticipate. ]

the last five words are the most important ... important for explaining what happened here ... and remember them every time you hear a so-called economic expert speak of how things are ... and how things will be tomorrow. forget about the reference to ''once in a century'' claim.

nobody really knows how it all works ... and the system is setup so that nobody is actually accountable when it all hits the fan.

it''s complex by design ... to give advantage to the architects ... so as to exploit the assets of the casual participant.

[bobnjersey]

[I seriously doubt that Jamesm supported Barney Frank and Dodd. :)]
[Posted by Xyno at 11:36 AM : Oct 23, 2008]

i seriously doubt you know what you''re talking about ... barney frank and dodd had nothing to do with credit default swaps ... that was phil ''its all your head'' graham ... the financial advisor of john mccain.

the deregulation of complex financial instruments that nobody can understand is the domain of the republican party.

only on ignorant fool sees it otherwise. is that you?

[antoniof123]

Greenspan: My Faith In Banks A "Mistake"

Ya think!!!

[zykracosmos]

That''''s why some regulation is needed -- you cannot trust people to make the best decisions for the country when that much money is involved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by steeepe at 11:50 AM : Oct 23, 2008
----------------

EXACTLY!

[secundus2]

I''ll repeat my bad pun. Today''s Greenspin from Greenspan doesn''t match what he has Greenspun for the last two decades.

He is right in one respect: the banks weren''t operating in an honest free market; it was a criminally rigged market based on false appraisals, fraudulent mortgage documents and lack of due diligence. Some bankers need to be prosecuted, convicted and jailed to encourage the others to behave.

[credibility2]

Too many undisciplined and greedy individuals felt that they could ride the credit tide by over extending their personal credit indebtedness, getting whatever they felt they were entitled to have, and also getting mortgages that they didn''t deserve, weren''t qualified for or entitled to have. Living beyond one''s mean is now slapping the guilty in their shocked and indignant faces. Can''t pay for it? I guess you don''t need it!

[xyno-2009]

Posted by bobnjersey at 12:08 PM : Oct 23, 2008

Credit default swaps are not the problem but a SYMPTOM of the problem. The problem is people defaulting on mortgages that they should NEVER have been given.

We can thank the Dems for allowing the root of the problem to exist.

Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years-- including the present year-- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis.

It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today''s financial crisis.

[zykracosmos]

We are entering a global depression. Sparked by the implosion of U.S. investment companies, the credit crisis has now moved around the world, and it will be years, not months before global economics recovers. I just had an order from overseas, paid in advance, canceled, because the factory that ordered the materials closed overnight for a minimum of three months. There are no funds available in banks around the globe, and production is shutting down. There will be two or three "ripple effects" down the line before it is all over, eventually resulting in massive unemployment (worldwide). Since it is the consumer that drives production, particularly the U.S. consumer, the situation has only started to get bad. When the U.S. consumer refuses to buy anything during retailer''s crunchtime holiday season, the stock market will dive to losses that will equal the Great Depression. Things will not bottom out until next spring. Recovery will only begin with small business transactions starting locally, then regionally. When the smoke clears, the major players at the multi-national corporate level will be completely changed. No government in the world, including the U.S. will ever trust unregulated capitalism to function unchecked again. Most big corporations will have to stomach government ownership of shares with board members installed to keep an eye on things. The Reagan era of uninhibited evolution of capitalism is over.

[tscc2]

Notice how Greenspan quit right before everything blew up. His laissez-faire attitude was the problem. Republicans clearly do not understand economics and human psychology. If Greenspan could not figure it out, how do you expect McCain to figure it out?

[lochlan-2009]

That is up to me.

Posted by jamesm12341


So, you honestly believe that government decissions have no effect on what you pay for food, energy, taxes, etc., and your ability, and the countries, to live? You have been fiscally responsible your whole life, does that have any effect on you buying a car to get to your new job, when the car companies have shut down, and your previous employer doesn''t even exist anymore, because the CEO payed a lobbyist to bribe a representative to change the tarrif law so he can move his company to Mexico, where the labor is cheap. Trippled energy prices has no effect on you, right? Could you please tell us this investment that keeps your money coming in whether the people in this country have cash or they don''t, and when things go up, no worries, you can afford it. Or, are you one of those non-existent people who can live without heat, food, a job, a place to live, etc.?

Oh, and by the way, what failures were you talking about?

[slim1h2o]

lochlan at 12:36 PM : Oct 23, 2008

Don''t use logic on jamesm.

It just confuses the poor lad....

[bm6005]

And that''''s exactly what the Bush administration tried to do but were blocked by Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd.

Posted by Xyno

So what you are saying is that the repub MAJORITY that was held for 6 yrs of the Booshit admin couldn''t get regulation passed? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,..........And that the repubs (Philly Dog Graham) wanted MORE regulation? Ha, ha, ha, ha,...... Boy do you need help! I suggest a course in Logic 101 for you, MORON!!!

[bm6005]

Too many undisciplined and greedy individuals felt that they could ride the credit tide.......
Posted by Credibility2

You, of course, are referring to the banking industry?!

[bm6005]

Credit default swaps are not the problem but a SYMPTOM of the problem.
Posted by Xyno

Once again, Logic 101 needs to be on your task list. Wrapping unknown mortgages into the financial instruments CDS is like buying a car without a test drive or a mechanics opinion. Tell you what idiot, I''ve got some financial instruments for sale. Are you interested?

[slim1h2o]

so him spelling words wrong is logic to you? yea, Bush is the reason you two can''''t get a good job.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jamesm12341 at 12:42 PM : Oct 23, 2008


So, his spelling of words wrong is logical to you? Yeah, Bush is the reason you two can''''t get a better job.
There jamesm. I just fixed your sentence. Replaced words, capitalized.

Now I don''t want to hear your B.S. about others spelling, while you, need some work as well.

Now read your sentence, then read my correction of yours. And learn...

[maxint1-2009]

Xyne is exactly right.

And when McCain addded his name as co-sponser to the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act, who do ya think got in the way. Ya guessed it; such familiar names as Dodd, Obama, Clinton, Frank, etc. And now ironically, it is these same solution thwarting Democrats that wish to lay blame on the Republicans and their candidate. Fannie and Freddie were powerful lobbyists and Demos loved to talk about how they were helping low income families get into homes. These Demos getting money money from Fannie and Freddie (Dodd being numero uno on the list) was an added bonus, I guess who can blame them huh.

Now tell me bobnjersey, still got ya head in the sand?

[bm6005]

Remember, Greenspan was appointed by Clinton. He is a liberal.

Posted by gop_will_win

No wonder you people are so easily manipulated by the GOP. Your ignorance as well as your pride of that ignorance is stunning!

[jumkey]

Faith in banks? Who has "faith" in banks?

Oh, and jamesm12341? Pull your head out. You endless Bush a$$ kissing is simply pathetic you loser.

[bm6005]

Greenies mentor was Aynn Rand, the writer who believed that the capitalists actually had our best interests at heart and it was the evil socialists who were the problem. Any questions?

[tnz650-2009]

Oh for pete sake! I wish the Republicans would quit trotting out the lame accusation that Democrats are to blame because we insisted that banks give home loans to peniless po folk. Most Republicans don''t believe it, even while they''re spouting it. It''s no more as simple as that then blaming it all on republicans for giving free reign to greedy, rich white men. Anyone who thinks it is, on either side, is just being stupid. But I''m certain that when this tsunami''s flood waters recede, there will be ALLOT more Republicans prosecuted and sholdering responsability than Democrats. Stay tuned.

[lochlan-2009]

so him spelling words wrong is logic to you? yea, Bush is the reason you two can''''t get a good job.

Posted by jamesm12341

No, don''t forget the rest of his crooks in Congress, and the administration, who passed these laws and policies, and gave away hundreds of billions of dollars to no-bid contract war profiteers for his illegal war. Blame Bush? You bet your @ss. He was the commander-in-chief, correct? He did hire and fire key government employees responsible for the countries current economic collapse, correct? His administration did breach that "*** piece of paper" constitution, spying on Americans and striping our civil rights and liberties. I know, lieing to Congress to get us into a war to fight the potentially 6billion+ "terrorists" is okay with people like you. And what are you an English teacher Nazi, or a walking dictionary? The point of language is communication, not knowing every rule made up by "whomever". But someone like you wouldn''t understand these basic concepts.

[xyno-2009]

Tell you what idiot, I''''ve got some financial instruments for sale. Are you interested?

Posted by bm6005 at 12:49 PM : Oct 23, 2008

=================

Sure, as long as the underlying asset is sound. Why don''t you go read up on swaps (start with a plain vanilla swap) and then come back when you''re not so ignorant.

[kevboom]

His faith in those Mister Magoo glasses are another mistake. :-)

[slim1h2o]

None of that changes the fact that Bush is not the reason you can''''t get a good job.

Posted by jamesm12341 at 12:51 PM : Oct 23, 2008

Unlike you, tool, I am retired. But keep licking Bushits butt, his Ba-day is out.

[mmstar20]

...Greenspan put the blame for the subprime collapse on over-eager investors who did not properly take into account the threats that would be posed once home prices stopped surging upward...

So true, so true

[jinxkity]

NOW Congress is looking into this?!?! They should have been paying attention 18 months ago instead of worrying about baseball players using steroids. Oh, but I forgot, the Dems don''t work on the really tough issues. They just like to finger point when it all falls apart.

[lochlan-2009]

so you just admitted you don'''' have a good job.....newsflash loser!! not the presidents fault!!!

Posted by jamesm12341

Where does it say that? First of all, you have no idea what I do for a living. When I talk about people losing their job overseas, it doesn''t mean that I am one of them. It means that I have the common sense to know that when the rich have money, it''s put into an investment account, usually non-taxable and outside of the country, to make them money. When "main street" Joe has money, usually 70%, if not all of it, is put into the economy and community to pay for the ever increasing gauging from the rich.

[longtree-2009]

that old geezer, greenspan, deserves to be put in jail for the rest of his life. the jerk. have more words but they are not allowed on this board. old, useless jerk. lock him up!