Analysis Topic: Politics & Social Trends
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
World of Unreal Finance Hitting the Real Economy / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: David_Chu
“It's not the economy, stupid!” - Bill Clinton's campaign slogan was: “It's the economy, stupid!”
Actually that was James Carville's maxim and battle cry for the 1992 presidential election. Mr. “Ragin' Cajun” Carville, as you probably don't remember, was the commander-in-chief of Bill Clinton's first campaign for the White House. He was and is married to Mary Joe Matalin who happened to be working on George H.W. Bush's 1992 re-election campaign! Ms. Matalin was also an assistant to President George W. Bush and a special counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney until 2003.
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Banking System in Meltdown, Fed Fights to Keep Dead Banks Alive / Politics / Credit Crisis 2008
By: Mike_Whitney
The financial system is blowing up. Don't listen to the experts; just look at the numbers. Last week, according to Reuters, "U.S. banks borrowed a record amount from the Federal Reserve nearly $188 billion a day on average, showing the central bank went to extremes to keep the banking system afloat amid the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression." The Fed opened the various "auction facilities" to create the appearance that insolvent banks were thriving businesses, but they are not. They're dead; their liabilities exceed their assets. Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
US Congress Bailout Deal Passes But... / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
Well I am now convinced there is a deal of sorts. The New Your Times is reporting Breakthrough Reached in Negotiations on Bailout .Officials said that Congressional staff members would work through the night to finalize the language of the agreement and draft a bill, and that the bill would be brought to the House floor for a vote on Monday.
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Presidential Debate, Who Won? / Politics / US Politics
By: Mike_Shedlock
Today we ponder the question "Who Won The Debate?" I will get to the specifics in a moment but last night I emailed a close friend that there were two winners and two losers. Anyone care to guess who my two winners and losers are?
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Socialist Republican Corruption of Capitalist Free Market Mechanisms / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Money_and_Markets
Jack Crooks writes: You can't possibly have hidden yourself from the news of the $700-billion planned bailout that's working through Congress this week. And I won't mince words — I consider it a big slap in the face for the free market system.
Henry Paulson repeated over and over again exactly how agitated, disgusted, annoyed, infuriated, angered, embarrassed, and irritated he felt about asking for this amount of money, or any money at all. Sounds sincere if you stop it right there.
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
US Presidential Campaign and the Bailout of Corporate America / Politics / US Politics
By: Walter_Brasch
Rosemary and Walter Brasch write: It was Monday evening and the phone rang—again. It was probably the fifth time in two hours. A pleasant voice said she was from the—oh that really doesn't make any difference. Both presidential candidates have volunteer minions on the phones and Internet day after day, month after month, for what seems like years.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Nouriel Roubini: Paulson Bailout Plan is a Disgrace / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
Inquiring minds are interested in Nouriel Roubini's thoughts on the Paulson Plan. Please consider the RGE Conference Call on the Economic and Financial Outlook..and why the Treasury TARP bailout is flawed .
The Treasury plan (even in its current version agreed with Congress) is very poorly conceived and does not contain many of the key elements of a sound and efficient and fair rescue plan. Like in my 10 step HOME plan many other economists and commentators (Charles Calomiris, Raghu Rajan, Kotlikoff and Mehrling, Luigi Zingales, Martin Wolf, Barry Ritholtz, Chris Whalen and twenty others whose views have been featured this week in the RGE Monitor group blogs) have presented ideas that would have minimized the cost to the US taxpayer of a resolution of this financial crisis. It is a disgrace that no professional economist was consulted by Congress or invited to present his/her views at the Congressional hearings on the Treasury rescue plan.
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Dangerous Government Meddling in Free Markets to Stoke Inflation / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Adrian_Ash
"...The dangerous market has been and gone. Only the danger of government meddling remains..."
WE LOVE THIS NUGGET of irony, idiocy or just plain cant so much, we have to repeat it – clutching our sides and doubling-up in laughter, tears streaming down our disbelieving faces:
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Friday, September 26, 2008
Bailout Plan Means Americans Making a Deal with the Devil / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Peter_Schiff
Just yesterday, Henry Paulson's "bailout" bill, with only a few anti-Wall Street, pro-Main Street fig leaves slapped on by Democrats, appeared ready to sail through Congress on a bi-partisan tide. But something funny happened on the way to the printing press. It appears as if some conservative House Republicans are reluctant to sell their souls and ditch any remaining pretense towards American-style capitalism. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wall Street Bailout, Congressional Cover-up, or Sarbanes-Oxley? / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Steve_Selengut
Every new controversy demands a look at similar situations of the past. Just what is a bailout anyway? In the early 80's, Lee Iacocca arranged a government loan and tax concessions to bring Chrysler Corporation back from the brink of bankruptcy--- during the Carter Administration, to save you a Google. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Washington Credit Crisis Bailout Plan Compromise Chaos / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Money_Morning
Jason Simpkins, Jennifer Yousfi write: Congressional negotiators late yesterday (Thursday) reached a tentative agreement on a credit-crisis compromise that gives the Bush administration about a third of the $700 billion it has requested up front, but made sure half that outlay was subject to a congressional veto, published reports state. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Take Back America from Wall Street / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
It is time to take back America from Wall Street and return it to Main Street USA. Treasury Secretary Paulson is attempting to ram down the throats of US taxpayers, a $700 billion bailout of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and other many other banks that participated in questionable if not fraudulent mortgage lending schemes.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
The New President and the Global Landscape: McCain's Foreign Policy Stance / Politics / US Politics
By: STRATFOR
John McCain is the Republican candidate for president. This means he is embedded in the Republican tradition. That tradition has two roots, which are somewhat at odds with each other: One root is found in Theodore Roosevelt's variety of internationalism, and the other in Henry Cabot Lodge's opposition to the League of Nations. Those roots still exist in the Republican Party. But accommodations to the reality the Democrats created after World War II — and that Eisenhower, Nixon and, to some extent, Reagan followed — have overlain them. In many ways, the Republican tradition of foreign policy is therefore more complex than the Democratic tradition. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Bailout Plan Talks Collapse Overnight as Congress Rebels / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Hank Paulson, the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs investment bank, eager to bailout his Wall Street buddies to the tune of an initial down payment of $700 billion as well as protecting his own estimated portfolio of $600 million aided by his good buddy at the US Fed Ben Bernanke has hit a major hitch as bailout talks disintegrate late Thursday.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
US Financial Crisis Bailout Crashes to $250 billion / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
The Wall Street Journal is reporting Agreement Reached on Bailout Ahead of High-Level Meeting . Top House and Senate Democratic and Republican lawmakers have reached a tentative agreement on a $700 billion plan to bail out U.S. financial markets, with some predicting the measure would pass both chambers of Congress.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Bailout Crisis - What Happens Next / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Justice_Litle
Without further ado, here's a quick tour of the five things you should know...
1) The bailout is one of staggeringly massive proportions.
As I write to you in the wee hours of Monday morning, prior to my transatlantic flight, the number being bandied about for the size of the bailout is $700 billion. Keep in mind, too, that this is an opening number. It doesn't necessarily include relief for upside-down homeowners, strapped consumers, foreign banks or many other potential “extras” that could be added to the tally.
And yet, all by itself, $700 billion is a breathtaking number. How breathtaking, you ask?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sells Out on Bailout Plan / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Mike_Shedlock
MarketWatch is reporting House Speaker Pelosi reassures market on rescue plan .
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that financial markets can rest assured that Congress will act on the White House plan to buy up to $700 billion in toxic debt. Pelosi said the exact timing of the House vote would depend on the outcome of closed-door meetings currently underway on Capitol Hill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reassured financial markets that a rescue plan would come to the House floor soon. "Please be assured that we will have a package that will speak to the issue in a very substantial way to send a message to the markets of our seriousness," Pelosi said at a press conference. The plan of throwing $700 billion at a problem cannot possibly work. What's worse is the structured $700 billion is a mere down payment.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
America's Financial Apocalypse / Politics / Financial Crash
By: Mike_Stathis
What Can YOU Do as an American?
Wake Up - My advice is to find some people who you trust; those with proven track records, those who are not tied to the television shows. Figure it out. You are only going to be misled by the mainstream media. They will only come clean after it is too late, fooling you into thinking they actually warned you in a timely manner. But as you can see, this is simply not a reflection of reality. That is how the dotcom charade worked and that is how this one if playing out. It's game that is played. Stop being played and become a player.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Urgent Financial Crisis Appeal : Recapitalize Financial Institutions Rather than Bail Out Debt / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Axel_Merk
In the coming days, Congress may authorize $700 billion to buy bad debt from financial institutions. Even if all challenges of the plan were to be overcome, the plan does not address one of the fundamental reasons why credit markets don't function properly: the under-capitalization of financial institutions. Under-capitalized financial institutions may seek to repair their balance sheet rather than engage in lending activities. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
How to End the Credit Crisis at No Cost to US Taxpayers / Politics / Credit Crisis Bailouts
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes: While it's clear from the current credit crisis that our financial system is at a critical juncture, it's just as clear that there's no agreement over how we should fix the problems we face. The reality is that neither the plan put forth by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. "Hank" Paulson Jr . - nor any of the addendums offered up by Congress or the lobbyists - will resolve this crisis.
The key culprits are the structured financial products that reside on the balance sheets of banks, dead investment banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and all manner of other duped and unsuspecting investor entities worldwide , as well as the proliferation of the unregulated $62 trillion credit default swaps (CDS) market.
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