What is Digg?294 Comments
- Ebacherville, on 09/22/2008, -13/+101Just like the "Patriot act".. Damn were in trouble, Time for the 2nd American revolution
- mshtml, on 09/23/2008, -5/+60It should not be passed in ANY form.
- ShoulderKnight, on 09/23/2008, -2/+54If he is so confident in this plan. Maybe he should throw in some of his own 700 million in net worth.
- oldcrows40, on 09/23/2008, -3/+48His name is Robert Paulson
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -4/+47US to Paulson -- Actually, we're grabbing a rope. Be right back!
- ScottMitchell, on 09/23/2008, -1/+36He pays taxes just like everyone else.
Oh wait, I forgot that when he became Secretary of the Treasury he was able to sell his $700 million dollars of equity in Goldman Sachs TAX FREE, saving himself more than $100 million dollars in taxes.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/06/01/paulson-tax-looph ... - californicator, on 09/23/2008, -7/+40this smells fishy...
I can't help but think this is a last-minute right-wing money grab for Bu$h and his cronies, to stick it to the American taxpayer one more time before their asses are kicked out of office. - LordSteven, on 09/23/2008, -1/+32The Patriot act was at least long and complicated, this thing is only 2 pages long and completely open about how ***** up it is. It basically gives the Treasure Secretary a $700 billion check and gives them full power to do whatever they want with it.
- mdlestat, on 09/23/2008, -2/+30If you have been a student of the Austrian school of economics and social philosophy, you've been prepared for this collapse since the first time you first saw all the pieces fall seamlessly together... the common-sense flaws in the entire logical premise of our "magic money" banking system are laid out in almost shockingly simple detail.
For example: (highly simplified-- read on for the real experts websites found below)
If you give any man a credit card with an unlimited credit limit, believing with all honest assurance that he'd never have to pay back the balance, how much would he spend?
Or, what if there 'was' a limit, but he had only to call the bank to have it raised, with no questions asked?
Or, what if you told that man that he could take one dollar out of his pocket, put it in his checking account, and magically get a $10 credit on his account-- which he could loan to a buddy, or buddies, charging interest, (on 10x what he actually has).
What if his two buddies, John and Bob, each have receive a $5 loan from Mr. One Dollar, that he will charge interest on.
John and Bob deposit the 'money' into their accounts, and voila! $50 appears in each account.
They are then able to do the exact same thing-- loan 10x the 'cash' they have on hand (do you remember, there's only ONE 'real' dollar at the root of this whole thing-- Mr. One Dollar's, and he's making money off of John and Bob's two $5 loans) which they put in the bank to loan out again. Which they will make interest on. (and as they pay only the interest on their original $5, they keep the rest of their interest on their $50-worth of loans as 'profit', )
So let's see-- we have now $100 in circulation. All because of Mr. One Dollar's $1.
Now, John and Bob's customers have some problem (or simply prefer to) need their loans paid to them in 'cash'. Not credit to their account.
But John and Bob don't really have that money, aside from the interest they've charged their people for the use of their respactive $50.
All the supposed 'cash' is an illusion. That hundred dollars is really one dollar. Multiply this (obviously highly simplified) by Trillions of dollars.
Call Mr. One Dollar by his real name: Mr. Federal Reserve.
Call John and Bob Merryl Lynch and Bear Stearns.
That's fractional reserve banking.
It's all smoke and mirrors. Paper and digital balances that mean nothing without anything to back them up. If
ALL of it. It's a ponzi scheme of epic proportions. But you've believed in it because you have been told to believe it.
Read a few articles on www.mises.org, the epicenter of objective, unvarnished social and economic philosophy on the web, and www.lewrockwell.com, (by the President of the Mises Institute, the site referred to above) a stellar news site complete with an up-to-date blog detailing these entirely explainable, and demonstrably predicted events to all of you indignant folks clamoring for heads to roll.
Go for it. Just make sure you get the target right.
This is far easier to explain than you think, and it's so factually sound that you'll be enraged-- not at one candidate or another; not at one business CEO over the next; not just at Ben Bernanke-- you'll see the entire con-game exactly as it is-- an open-faced scam, designed to exploit your ignorance and apathy. This isn't a conspiracy, or ghost-hunting. It's accounting. It's using basic competence in understanding that 1+1 does NOT equal 100, even if the Fed says it does.
You're just now figuring out that the system you assumed was so rock-solid is crumbling... but you haven't the slightest idea yet just how catastrophically awful it really is. They did this on purpose.
They. Did. This. On. P.U.R.P.O.S.E.
Read. Learn. Understand.
The Remnant Remains.
Long live the Revolution. - Ravatar, on 09/23/2008, -4/+32Remember when everyone was complaining about the fact that these bailouts were going to be funded by taxpayer money and all the idiots rambled on about how that would never happen?
Yea, me too. - stealthc, on 09/23/2008, -3/+30I wonder when Americans will get mad enough to overthrow the fascist regime currently squatting in Washington.
- InetRoadkill, on 09/23/2008, -1/+26The good news is that both parties in congress are not real happy with some of the provisions in the Paulson plan. We really don't need a financial version of the Patriot Act.
I hope they are striking the 'no review by agencies; no court challenges either' provision from the bill. That's an invitation for massive fraud. The 'no review by any agency' provision is particularly interesting because it means the Dept of Justice would not be allowed to investigate any fraud allegations giving Paulson free rein to commit all kinds of abuses without fear of prosecution. - Vorphlack, on 09/23/2008, -0/+23can we do it on Friday? I got this thing on Thursday.
- Phil8, on 09/23/2008, -2/+24His name is Robert Paulson.
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -11/+32Bailout
From what I understand is that if there is no bailout, the entire financial system will crash, every bank will fail, the FDIC will fail & not be able to insure bank accounts so everyone will lose their money, wall street will crash, & the country will be in a deep depression very quickly.
Keep in mind that the bailout consists of loans (not grants) to float these failed financial institutions until they can make money again & pay them back or go out of business, which in that case the money would be lost.
What the Republicans proposed was to get a blank check (probably at least a trillion dollars) without any Congressional or judicial oversight, no input from anyone else, & no one could even see what they were doing with the money (no transparency). Also, they were going to let CEOs of these failed companies still get their golden parachutes (bonuses) which would probably total about $100 billion, more or less. Also, they insisted that homeowners that were scammed into terrible subprime type loans (I know people in the home loan biz, many homeowners were lied to about what the loans would do) would get no help. Real Estate speculators should not be helped, but regular homeowners should be, in the form of the banks being forced to change their loans to types that are realistic, like 30 yr fixed low interest rate. Banks should also put a halt on foreclosures until this can be worked out.
This is what the Democratic Party leaders are trying to change & get the Republicans to agree to for the terms of the bailout. I don't like giving these criminal banker types loans with my money either, but its either that or everyone's wiped out & we're back to soup lines.
At least that is what I've been able to glean from reading the financial rags for the last 7 years. I saw this coming a few years ago, so did my Mom who also knows people in the business. This was caused by Republican deregulation legislation, which they have been pushing for every industry up until a few days ago. That's what you get when you let industry (lobbyists) literally write legislation, they push for less rules so they can use more shady & risky business tactics to make more money. And the heads of companies have zero obligation to their shareholders, employees, or customers because they get rich even if its a disaster (bit of a conflict of interest, eh?)
McCain in March '08: Remove Regulations In Financial Markets
John McCain on the housing crisis just under six months ago: "Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital."
http://www.jedreport.com/2008/09/mccain-march-08-r ...
Obama on Proposed Bailout: No Blank Check!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhgdbC1kMOE
McCain defends deregulation, Obama blames deregulation (AP)
news.yahoo.com — Sen. John McCain defended deregulation on Wall Street even as he endorsed a $700 billion bailout of financial firms in an interview broadcast Sunday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/financial_meltdown_cand ...
Obama: No Blank Check on Bailout
nytimes.com — To a large crowd of supporters on Sunday, Mr. Obama delivered a blistering critique of Senator John McCain, whom he accused of leading the push for deregulation during his years in Washington. “We’re now seeing the disastrous consequences of this philosophy all around us,” Mr. Obama said.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/obam ...
Obama Calls Bailout 'Staggering Price Tag, Not a Plan'
onthehillblog.blogspot.com — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is lashing out at the massive $700billion bailout that the Bush administration has put together to rescue the U.S. financial system, while Republican John McCain has offered a more muted response to the bailout plan.
http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/obama-ca ...
Regulations Republicans Eliminated Causing Financial Crisis
Here are few: State Laws Against Predatory Lending, The Net Capital Rule, The Uptick Rule. And McCain has been touting the idea that more deregulation of industry would be part of his policy. That's worked out well so far, eh? Plus he has been stumping for deregulation of the healthcare system, because it worked out so well for the financial industry, seriously.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/09/19/perin ...
GOP Was For Deregulation Before They Were Against It
Republicans deregulated markets causin the financial meltdown, then 6 months ago unveiled new plans for more deregulation of financial institutions, which McCain has supported on the campaign trail, but now GOPers have all flip-flopped.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/09/19/dereg ...
McCain: Let's fix healthcare the way we did banking
Sept. 20 -- An article about health care published in an obscure journal led to a new skirmish Saturday between the campaigns of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain over who should be trusted with the ailing economy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic ...
Hope this helps.
HeartlandUSA - BassMastr, on 09/23/2008, -10/+30No you're not. You are ready to talk about revolt. You aren't going to do anything but sit in front of your computer and keep typing. But it sure sounds good, huh.
- 16x9, on 09/23/2008, -3/+22I'm normally not prone to thinking in terms of evil conspiracy theories (I think the U.S. DID land on the moon in 1969, for example). But is it possible that the president and his pals are actually smart enough to have facilitated this whole mess as a kind of final rape and pillage of the country in the final months of his presidency?
- Royish, on 09/23/2008, -8/+27This is not the 1st time they have done this.
The private banks have historically ***** up this country.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560 ... - Sebthelodgemn, on 09/23/2008, -9/+27No you're not, you're ready to grab another handful of cheetos and pick your ass.
- stealthc, on 09/23/2008, -4/+22Yes, what the government is doing to us is horrible, but please understand that the two-party system is nothing but a safety valve so the system can preserve itself. Neither party is in true opposition to the other. Both are equally and fully culpable in this disaster. Vote third party.
For the love of all that is still good in this country, vote third party. - mrzeero, on 09/23/2008, -1/+19No matter what any of us does, we are going to get gorilla *****.
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -0/+17And next friday you'll hear: "Wait, what were we supposed to be mad about again? Eh, screw it, let's go bowling."
- whahaa, on 09/23/2008, -0/+16thursday
- whahaa, on 09/23/2008, -0/+16no, i watch football on monday night. how about that following tuesday?
- RIB08, on 09/23/2008, -2/+17Have you ever gone to buy a car and been hit with the snake-oil sales tactic of "you have to make this deal tonight, you can't go home and think about it?" That's what they are doing here. Never make a deal when the dealer won't let you do your homework and think about it. They'll figure out a way to spend this money on the Iran war they want to start.
Do you think it's a good idea to make a 700 billion dollar decision based on a plan created in 48 hours that allows distribution to foreign banks and disallows court interference. The answer is no.
Nothing that Bush or his cronies contrive should be passed. - Mardala, on 09/23/2008, -0/+14What part of giving $700 Billion in future taxes given away to companies who gambled their assets, with no over site and no regulation do you not comprehend? The reason we are in this mess is because no one was watching this shell game that was going on and holding anyone accountable. Now we want to just hand them more money so they can gamble some more. Not only to mention that we are looking at nearly $1.5 Trillion in bailout money. This is money we don't have yet. Its just guaranteed by the government. Some of it will most likely be sold off to China, so China will have a hand in large sectors of the US financial system. Not to mention the US government will now be one massive company, which again I stress, they are trying to do with no over site. You want these greedy SOBs to take basically every last ounce of money out of the US for their own wealth? What part of "we are *****" is not obvious? Or maybe you are just being funny ...
We are nearing a $10 Trillion dollar debt. $10 Trillion dollars ... You are basically seeing the largest robbery in all of history and its being played out in the Oval office. Don't even think for a second this will not affect your standard of living. - dsmx, on 09/23/2008, -1/+15I'm doing something Friday can we shift it to Monday?
- crazycracker911, on 09/23/2008, -0/+14His name is Robert Paulson.
- pfhayter, on 09/23/2008, -0/+14His name is Robert Paulson.
- ninjarabbits, on 09/23/2008, -0/+14His name is Robert Paulson.
- PhilLesh69, on 09/23/2008, -1/+14protektor,
Relax. I'm not sure what cable news channel you've been watching that has you convinced the sky will fall if they don't bail out the failures in the economic sector, but let me tell you that I've lived through a few recessions. I even remember the gas crisis and hyper-inflation of the 1970's.
Unless you are just in High School, you've experienced recessions before.
I have never lost my car, my house, or my job (well, I did lose my job during one recession, and lived off of my savings for a year or so, but I ended up enjoying that time, because I got to sleep as long as I wanted, I could go to happy hours or even party all night anytime the mood struck me, and I got to travel overseas a lot more than I ever had while working.)
So you are so tied to the paycheck that you are going to be a good little serf and believe everything your financial masters tell you? Are you that scared?
There is, in fact, a choice. We can nip this in the bud right now. Let failure fail, and suffer a few months of economic turmoil, knowing that once the incompetent businesses are finally out of the equation, the stronger, better run businesses will come out even stronger. We will end up seeing enormous growth.
As it is now, we will end up going through the same turmoil, only not as dramatically in the short term, but possibly just as bad or even worse in the long run, and we most likely will not enjoy the same level of rebound that we'd get from just letting the market work itself out.
The hyper inflation occurs not because of businesses failing, it occurs because of the government reducing interest rates and printing more money in its effort to prop up failure. You do understand how the amount of money circulating in an economy affects the value of that money, don't you? You do realize that is what inflation is, right? If they print more money to pay for these bailouts, do you realize that makes every dollar in your pocket, and your annual salary have LESS buying power? That's inflation. - Herostratus, on 09/23/2008, -2/+15They're collapsing the economy as slowly as they can so that the rich can get their money out discreetly without having to go to jail on allegations of insider trading like Martha Stewart. Obvious as day...
- Target91, on 09/23/2008, -0/+12I could never get a hang of Thursday's.
- SomeRandomGuy, on 09/23/2008, -2/+14Yeah, this is "yet another" article from Daily Kos, but it's worth reading...for both parties and independents. Even if you want McCain or Paul or whoever to win, I don't honestly think you want this bill to pass that allows for Sec. Paulson to have the ability to use this $700 billion we're gifting him to bail out as he pleases.
Otherwise, you're going to have your candidate in office with an even bigger ***** than we've got right now. - Ymeg, on 09/23/2008, -2/+14I don't get it. Revolting behind a computer can be very effective. The trouble is that most people "revolt" by bitching on forums and talking about how horribly oppressed they are.
Essentially, you have the entire world on your desk. You need to make good use of it. Of course you will need to get out, but you can still do incredible things with your machine.
Also, it has the benefit of not being violent. Honestly, during this time, a violent revolt would absolutely harm any possible change. - sathias, on 09/23/2008, -1/+13This should not be a hand-out by the US Government, it should be a purchase of equity in the companies involved by the US government. The US tax-payer should have something to show for their money. Either that or a tax should be introduced on stock or bond transfers so the Wall St bozos can start paying back their debt to society.
- e1evene1even, on 09/23/2008, -1/+13The quadrillion (no I'm not kidding) dollar derivatives market is the real elephant in the room.
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/its_the_derivati ...
The global economy now rests on this ponzi scheme and 'they' need to take whatever measures are necessary to keep the music playing... - odigity, on 09/23/2008, -0/+11$700B to start. It is actually unlimited.
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -3/+14The biggest corporate bailout in history and you shortsighted imbeciles are still shrieking about the liberals.
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -0/+11Although I don't share in some of the conspiratorial idiocy masquerading as "informed intelligence" here on Digg, you know we're in trouble if I'm ACTUALLY AGREEING with the Daily Kos. Wow, it must be the End Times....
- inactive, on 09/23/2008, -5/+15That would be the Free Market solution, yes.
- georgemason01, on 09/23/2008, -15/+25Just like the Patriot Act (and Iraq War Resolution, FISA, Kyl-Lieberman, etc.), the Democrats will vote for this like good lapdogs, then bitch later saying that the evil Republicans tricked and misled them.
Yeah, I'm ready to revolt. - davidlow, on 09/23/2008, -0/+10It's the Shock Doctrine in action: a national catastrophe instills widespread fear, and this fear is used as an instrument to push through sweeping legislation that furthers the centralization of power, simultaneously promoting a hidden agenda.
Sound familiar? Iraq? Patriot Act? Guantanamo? FISA?
W is a one trick pony but, man! What a trick it is. Very effective.
Is Cheney playing the role of Yoda here? - Dumbledorito, on 09/23/2008, -2/+12Given that it's corporate and weathy interests that are being served, shouldn't it be an oligarchy (not as sexy to say, I suppose) or a more "classic" definition of fascism?
I sometimes get the impression that people call it "communism" so they can still feel good about being on the right wing which helped bring a lot of this about. - Naieve, on 09/23/2008, -1/+10I wonder how many politicians will vote for this before being against it.
Man aren't politics fun? - Jeepy, on 09/23/2008, -1/+9His name is Robert Paulson.
- buttslapper, on 09/23/2008, -0/+8His name is Robert Paulson.
- MrSquirrel, on 09/23/2008, -1/+9If we're going to bail them out, do we each get shares of the companies we bail out? Equal in value to the $2500 or so per person this will cost us (so far)?
- coyote1284, on 09/23/2008, -0/+8His name is Robert Paulson.
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