Posted on 07/16/2008 8:48:02 AM PDT by Herakles
The collection of ne’er do wells, clueless dolts, political hacks, and oh, let’s just be blunt and call them what they are — total Idiots — expands into an ever larger circle.
While the Republic burns due to the unsavory combination of incompetence, ideological rigidity, and crony capitalism, the fools and assclowns seem ever more determined to avoid any personal responsibility for the damages they have wrought. Instead, they flail about blindly, blaming everything and everyone — except their own horrific negligence.
This is financial incompetence writ on a scale grander than anything seen for centuries.
As a nation, our institutions have failed us: Under Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve slept through the most reckless and irresponsible expansion of bank lending in history for reasons of ideological purity.
There is a choice to be made: Either regulate the Banks, or leave it to the vagaries of the free markets to punish those who trade with, or place their assets in the wrong institutions. But for God’s sake, do not give us the worst of both worlds — do not allow banks the freedom to make horrific but preventable mistakes (i.e., only lending money to those who can pay it back), but then expect the taxpayers to foot the trillion dollar bill.
That’s not capitalism, its not socialism, its not regulation, and its sure as hell isn’t what free markets are. Our language is insufficient to describe this hodge-podge system, other than to call it a random patchwork of quasi-capitalism, quadrennial-socialism, and politics as usual. Ideological idiocy is the only phrase I can muster that has any resonance with the daily insanity.
We have entered into a fit of Orwellian madness: The American Capitalists, long the globe’s leading advocates for free markets, have become near Socialists. Halfway around the world, the Chinese Communists have picked up the baton, and are moving rapidly towards a form of Capitalism. Ironically, it is the once largest communist nations — the Chinese and the Russians — who holds much of Fannie and Freddie’s paper.
Hey comrades, who’s selling the rope to whom?
Perhaps the rescue of “Phony and Fraudy” are not so much a bail out of American homeowners as it is a desperate attempt to stay in the good graces of our friendly global bankers. We are the world’s largest debtor nation, and as such, we depend upon the kindness of strangers — be they Japanese or Europeans or Abu Dhabians — or even former communists.
Back in the States, something beyond cognitive dissonance is occurring — this is full blown case of dementia unfolding in the public sphere. When this era of excess and absurdity is treated by historians in the future, the question I expect to be asked most is not why many of these people weren’t jailed for their financial felonies. Rather, I expect them to wonder why so many of these folk weren’t placed in protective custody, and heavily medicated, for the only rational explanation for their statements and behaviors is that they have gone so far beyond the bend as to be completely and totally insane.
Massively over-leveraged companies? Blame the short sellers.
Wildly undercapitalized finacial firms? Blame the rumors.
Heinously poor corporate management? Blame a Senator.
Books will be written about this period of time, and our descendants will wonder in awe as to how this was allowed to happen. Tulips got nothing on us! Its not just the total dollar value of the losses that have exceeded all other global fits of financial madness combined, but rather, how so many warning signs were so blithely ignored by so many and for so long. What was wrong with these people, the authors and historians will wonder. Did the antibiotics in the food supply drive them mad? Did the High Fructose Corn Syrup compromise their ability to think? Some form of viral plague? Road rage? What else could have created such a mass delusion amongst not just the populace, but their leadership and institutions?
Indy Mac goes belly up, having lost $900 million this year alone. Its shares fell 87% in 2007 and then its value dropped (on top of last year’s collapse) another 95% this year-to-date. The stock fell to 28 cents yesterday. Some estimates of the total bad loans made by this somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 billion dollars — and the Office of Thrift Supervision blames a senator who is investigating how much of the FDIC’s $53 Billion this is going to eat up, with Wall Street estimates ranging from 15% to 30%. The towering incompetence of OTS is incomprehendable, but it is their colossal gall that is truly stupefying.
From beyond the grave, Adam Smith does not know whether to weep or wretch.
But if you have something, let it rip!
WTF?
I would like to blame anything I could on Chuckie Schumer whether it be fair or not. His terms in office have been characterized by his malevolance and his unfairness. But as evil a lot that these Senators are, the financial meltdown that we have seen goes beyond their clear and constant dereliction of oversight.
Most of these weasels are dumber than a sack of stones and appear to be working hard to dig our grave and quickly fill it in.
It's difficult to analyze the disease afflicting these useless idiots, but it appears that they undergo a transformation upon arriving in Washington. They apparently sell their soul to satan in order to continue their political careers.
They are as disgusting as is humanly possible to become.
I'm at a loss to explain what's happened to that stirling senator from Illinois who has performed his 143 day job dutifully in the way that would bring credit to the marvelous tradition of Illinois senators. Carole Mosely Braun comes to mind, who today is receiving a lifetime pension (and medical care) for the rest of her life as a reward for performing so flawlessly.
How this nation could dredge up such a sorrowful example of Americanism as this muslim weasel and shove him down our throats as the 'best America has to offer' as a candidate for president will remain as one of life's bitter mysteries.
(I feel practically the same way about the whispering fool of a Juan McLame!)
America in shambles?
Naw...
Just a bunch of “assclowns” complaining.
This is called lack of confidence from those who refuse to have confidence in the first place.
My money is still safe. :)
So’s my job, til Obama gets in office.
Government intervention in anything never leads to a solution; it only worsens the perceived problems.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should never have been created in the first place. Increased government involvement with those two corporations will only make matters worse. They should be allowed to go belly-up.
Whenever the government says it's here to help (as it did in 1938 with the creation of Fannie Mae and in 1970 with Feddie Mac), you can be sure of only one thing: Somebody is about to get their pockets lined with taxpayer dollars.
The very idea that Paulson (and Bush) now want to be able to buy stock in Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac should have taxpayers marching on Washington with pitchforks and torches. The taxpayers will be raped again by those who own the government and who also own Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock.
Unfortunately, too many idiots think that every perceived problem has a government solution and that every perceived problem needs an immediate fix. The truth is that the government is rarely a solution for anything and real solutions take some time to happen.
I take an apocalyptic view of all this.
The central conflict is between God and the world. Each makes demands and consequences follow in showing obedience to each.
God has made it clear that selflessness, charity, humility, truthfulness, honesty, chastity, mercy, forgiveness, forbearance, courage, faith and wisdom are the route to salvation and happiness.
The world has made it clear that selfishness, avarice, anger, envy, mendacity, expediency, lust, vengence, false modesty, boasting and coercion are the route to material gain and security.
Today people around the world are being offered stark choices between the world and God. The world is gaining far more adherents (it always has but in the past it was frequently rather ashamed of the fact - not so today).
Consequences follow on the heels of choice as surely as night follows day. People abandon God and even any pretence of righteousness but instead embrace and celebrate degradation and vice. Whole generations are denied even the opportunity to exist let alone choose which path to follow. Those who display the greatest drive for self-aggrandizement and the highest ability to flatter and minipulate are given high office and great reward. As a result our institutions are led to an overwhelming degree by fools, knaves and ignoramuses interested only in feathering their own nests or advancing some lunatic agenda with which they closely identify. We pile adulation on those whose ambitions trump every form of decency and right then wonder why the world is such a mess.
All of this has been prophesied. None of it is a surprise. But it is very alarming to see so many throw away their future and the futures of countless others in a vain effort to achieve some kind of “dominance” or “security” for their silly notions of utopia and “right”.
We get the government and leadership we have earned. Not all of us deserve this but the fact is that we are all going to be touched by the evil that pervades this world. Those of us who are wise take refuge in God and strive to do His will. But He will not override the agency of anyone. We are here to make choices in order to demonstrate clearly what we believe and who we think we are.
We were distracted by Paris Hilton.
We would keep jobs longer and more often pay loans in full, use less fuel, and need fewer houses and cars, if we produced more at home and ended the divorce/cohabitation rackets.
I have to agree. The financial management in government and corporate america has sold us down the river. Our country is on the cusp of real decline and unless we start managing the defecit (that means higher taxes and lower spending, and a complete end to this supply side nonsense), the dollar will continue to tank until oil is like 8$ a gallon next summer.
With all due respect, that's simply not true. The current situation is not the result of a lack of confidence. That's simply a red herring tossed out by those who want to live in denial.
The current financial situation is the result of government intervention in capital markets that began under FDR and that has continued to accelerate. The Bush administration's current "solutions" involve a further acceleration in government intervention and are guaranteed to make matters worse.
If your money is in US currency, it is not safe. As the dollar continues to decline, you are losing your wealth.
The only real solution long-term would be to get the government out of the financial markets. Congress and the White House don't know how to do that. Eventually it may be done for them when the situation gets to the point that the markets take matters in their own hands. However, in the meantime, Congress and the White House will try to do the only thing they know -- protect the assets of those who own them, which will only make matters worse.
Very wise thoughts.
Boy would I like to know you as a friend.
With all due respect, pulling your funds out of banks is a death sentence.
It’s one of the causes the Great Depression.
And for what it’s worth, we’re losing our “wealth” in this country due to complete and utter alarmists making it sound worse than it is.
I’ve seen a LOT of folks on the left screaming about it now - and to me, that’s a sign that the only problem we suffer in this country is that we let Socialists get too much of a say in the markets.
The ONLY thing we should be afraid of is Obama getting in the White house.
Unfortunately, we've reached the point where it doesn't make a dime's worth of difference who is in the White House. In fact, a good case could be argued that four more years of the GOP would be worse than the Rats. Both the GOP and the Rats have the same owners these days.
BTW, good luck with your "denial" strategy. Hope it works for you.
Excellent post scory.
Yep, people have come to believe that the government can remove "risk" from everything. The government can't. No one can.
The only thing that keeps any society from taking on riskier and riskier behaviors is if the consequences of the risk are allowed to occur.
Politicians can't say no.
In our effort to remove risk from financial activities we have built a complex house of cards made up of government entitities, laws and regulations that few understand. Those few who do understand it use their knowledge to rape the taxpayers.
Alas, it can't go on forever and eventually nature will have its way.
Well... as I said in another thread just a few minutes ago, those on the left always attack those on the right with remarks like “denial”.
Sorry, but this isn’t “denial”.
The problems this country is going through are facts and they are DIRECTLY related to the way the Left has led this country down the primrose path with their pretty, rose-colored glasses.
Let’s actually point to the problem and fix it. The problem is the LEFT.
Have a nice day.
“Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people” Proverbs 14:34
>>>we’re losing our “wealth” in this country due to complete and utter alarmists making it sound worse than it is.
I thought it was investors’ fears that the equity of extremely leveraged financial companies would go negative, after dropping 60 to 80 percent... and that even small drops in their equity make them technically bankrupt under older, more prudent rules.
But you have a point, if we all whistle loudly we just might make it past the cemetary.
I’ve got to re-read your comment more carefully but on first reading I believe it qualifies as one of my favorite all-time FReeper comments (going back to 1999 or so).
Well I would certainly agree that the "LEFT" is a problem.
However, in the context of this thread, which is about the current financial situation, just pointing to the LEFT as the problem doesn't move the discussion anywhere. Also, I thought that you were denying that financial problems exist - maybe you weren't.
In the context of this thread, the problem is the government's meddling in financial markets since the days of FDR. No doubt the LEFT has been very much responsible for that meddling, but to fix specific financial problems, we need to understand the government interventions that have created the current mess.
Finally, I think we are past the point where either the GOP or RATs give a damn about anything except the next election and filling their pockets with everything they can rip off from the taxpayers. I think the best strategy is to put a different party in the White House every four years so that we can minimize the damage either party can do.
Finally, four years of Obama doesn't scare me. If this country can withstand the boobs we've had for Presidents in the past, it can withstand another imcompetent and crook like Obama.
Well, it scares the hell out of me! While we may have been digging ourselves a hole with a hand-shovel for decades, having Obama in office is like switching over to a 6-yard CAT shovel.
Just the difference in SCOTUS picks alone is worth crawling through glass to pull the lever for McCain. And don't tell me they'd wouldn't any different than Hussain's. If you think that, then there's no point in trying to have a sensible discussion.
There's much more at stake than the SCOTUS picks, but let's stick with that argument for the moment.
First, the next President would at the most appoint two new Justices, but the two new Justices would replace Stevens and Ginsburg, who are liberals. So, if Obama replaced two liberals with two new liberals, the net effect would be zero.
Second, there's no guarantee that McLame would replace the liberal Justices with conservatives that reflect your values and my values. In fact, I would bet that he wouldn't.
Accordingly, the SCOTUS argument simply isn't valid -- particularly, if Obama is a one term President as I think he most certainly would be.
B.S. The SCOTUS picks are of primary importance. 2 more justices like Scalia, Robert's or Alito would be HUGE. If McCain isn't elected, it won't happen before 2013, PERIOD. And your willing to gamble that if Obama gets in, he's a one term President? I don't like gambling when the stakes are more than I can afford to lose.
And as for "If this country can withstand the boobs we've had for Presidents in the past, it can withstand another incompetent and crook like Obama."
More B.S... Two words. Jimmy Carter.
We're still paying for his incompetence and malfeasance with blood and treasure, and there's undoubtedly more that will have to be paid.
I don't know what your motives are, but I know they're counter productive to Conservative goals.
Great minds- I was going to post this. I think he should send it to the WSJ editors to print.
My comment on his site:
Don’t candy-coat it, BR. Tell us how you really feel.
This situation makes me puke too. It’s like the Ivy League business schools have specifically trained their graduates how to bilk the taxpayer out of everything they have and their enablers (and benefactors) in government are helping them every step of the way.
In other words, you can't counter my argument with a logical argument of your own. So you turn to a BS ad hominem.
You're obviously a GOP operative trying to push the totally BS SCOTUS idea so that the GOP can be allowed to rape the US for another four years. I guess the SCOTUS scare is the only thing the McCain butt-boys have going for them these days.
I had been a Republican all my life until Shamnesty. Shamnesty opened my eyes to the very real fact that the GOP in its own way is as damaging to the US as the Rats. Now, you're actually trying to sell the insane idea that one of the principal authors of Shamnest will save our country. That's where the real BS lies, buddy!
Yea, I meant to mention that. I think he meant;
do not allow banks the freedom to make horrific but preventable mistakes (i.e., only lending money to those who can NOT pay it back)
Yea, the Harvard, Princeton, Yale crowd (as I call them) believe it is their blue blooded god given destiny to rule from their rightful positions in industry and Washington.
When it comes down to it, they are just a bunch of spoiled drunk assclowns who never studied and partied their way through school who don't have a clue but do know how to steal money from the rest of us and make it look legal.
If there ever is another revolution, these are the people who severely need to be shot first!
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