Posted on 08/29/2010 7:54:08 AM PDT by maggief
Barack Obama was “incredulous” at what he was hearing, said one of his top economic advisers. The president had spent his first year in office overseeing the biggest government bailout of the financial industry in American history. Together with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, he had kept Wall Street afloat on a trillion-dollar tide of taxpayer money. But the banks were barely lending, and the economy was still mired in high unemployment. And now, in December 2009, the holiday news had started to filter out of the canyons of lower Manhattan: Wall Street’s year-end bonuses would actually be larger in 2009 than they had been in 2007, the year prior to the catastrophe. “Wait, let me get this straight,” Obama said at a White House meeting that December. “These guys are reserving record bonuses because they’re profitable, and they’re profitable only because we rescued them.” It was as if nothing had changed. Even after a Depression-size crash, the banks were not altering their behavior. The president was being perceived, more and more, as a man on the wrong side of an incendiary issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
“Michael Hirsh appeared on the left-wing Young Turks radio show and cheered on the Iraqi journalist who chucked his shoes at Bush. “
This explains the weirdly stilted way the article is written. The account of Barry feigning surprise reads like fiction crafted by David Axelrod and fed to friendly, naive journalists who will unquestioningly and dutifully print whatever they are instructed to print from the WH. Barry is solely responsible for shoveling stacks of tax dollars into the pockets of bankers with no benefit to taxpayers. Barry has accomplished the near impossible feat of using the Federal Government as a tool to benefit the most undeserving people on both the right and the left. Dem. voters should abandon ship now that it’s clear that Barry will sell them out so easily whether out of ignorance or design.
“As far as the blatant corruption of politicians bailing out their friends and supporters - that’s water under the bridge. The past can’t be corrected; we can only move forward.”
You know, I think it is a real bad idea when we “move along” before dealing with the criminals and traitors in power. When they get away with crimes and treason, their peers commit worse crimes and treason down the road. I think watching their pals frog marched off to prison and/or the subject of extreme public exposure, ridicule and rejection is ultimately good for the political process. Dark secrets or cover ups are poison to a Nation’s government as it leaves the corrupt open to blackmail for more and deeper corruption.
It is not pleasant to be of a prosecutor’s mentality. But I think it is necessary - especially now that things have gotten so bad. If we stand for honor...let’s try acting like it for a change. “Move on” is a Soros organization and ideal of elitist double standards to protect corruption.
Besides being to big to fail these banks were too big to not profit and too big not to accumulate that profit into new equity to stabilize them. This was no surprise and it is no surprise that they are holding more reserves and not lending much..they need to hold a lot of profitable govt bonds to regain their capital position. Plus..they need about 60% of the market in lending and credit cards to make enough money to be profitable. A new monster of a banking system has been created. Fannie and Freddie need to buy and guarantee their mortgages.
I know, it really hard to let go of all the societal conditioning and deal with the facts.
For decades Americans have been brainwashed to hate and fear “evil corporate leaders” by Hollweird and TV.
Really hard to let go of the habit and deal with the world as it is, not as the Democrat Party’s Progressive Fascist political/media machine would have you believe it is.
Well, you have called me brainwashed by hollywood...but I am going to let that insult go. Thanks for the vote of confidence.
I’ve known some CEO’s in my time, MNJ. Some are good, honest people and some suck toe lint. Life is not so black and white - like those old time movies. ;)
The death of the Progressives could well be worth it. Although Freddie and Fannie still remain, and Wall St. still needs fixing.
Yes, hope your correct. What I think we are looking at is a multi-generational repair program. The institutions and structures in place, dominated by progressives and progressive ideas, can not survive. There simply is insufficient money.
The question is how it gets fixed, dictator, anarchy, destruction, a semblance of a sane society or who even knows. 100 years of these crazy ideas (The Fed, IRS, SS, welfare, etal) foisted on us by the progressive movement will take a long time to undo. Fannie, Freddie and Wall Street will be unrecognizable when this thing is done coming apart.
schu
...This was no surprise and it is no surprise that they are holding more reserves and not lending much..they need to hold a lot of profitable govt bonds to regain their capital position. Plus..they need about 60% of the market in lending and credit cards to make enough money to be profitable...”
That makes sense to me. I know the Obama and the left are upset that the bailouts did not produce more bad loans. There is no way corporations should be paying large bonuses to losers who just got bailed out by my tax dollars, though. The performance incentive system is as warped as are the loan qualifications.
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