LIVE THREAD- Bernanke, Paulson testify before Congress -23 Spetember 2008

C-Span ^ | 23 September 2008

[SE Mom]

When Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) gavels in the Senate Banking Cmte., he is expected to pro- pose changes to the Bush admin.'s $700 billion intervention in the financial markets. Witnesses include Sec. of Treasury Henry Paulson; Ben Bernanke, Chair of the Federal Reserve System; and others

[listenhillary]

China bought some of the trash also.

[penelopesire]

Hell.... I think we should all ‘bag up our trash’ today and send it to Senator Dodd, Senator Schummer and Nancy Pelosi for free....:)

LOL

[Danae]

Its called hope lol.

I think I just heard Dodd tell Bernanke and Paulson that they weren’t going to go for section 8.

[Danae]

Well if the Financial “Branch” of government doesn’t want to be constrained by the Constitution.... lol well too damn bad. There must be real oversight.

[Notary Sojac]

The chickens are coming home to roost and it is people like you and my daughter who will pay the real price.

If this $700 billion is needed, right now, to avert Depression II, then it's certainly appropriate to enact a tax increase, right now, to pay for it - instead of putting the burden on our kids and grandkids.

[KansasGirl]

Personally, I don’t like tax hikes. How about the alternative of cutting $700,000,000,000 from the federal budget. Senators can be the first to make sacrifices. No more salaries, no more travel expense reimbursement, no more taxpayer paid meals, no more air-conditioning... Senator Biden should find that all very patriotic!

[what's up]

then it's certainly appropriate to enact a tax increase

Exactly what the Dems love.

Only problem is, this raises unemployment. Which is also what the Dems love.

[Notary Sojac]

If there is no pain-free way out of this crisis, then it’s only right that the pain be suffered by the generation which caused it and benefited from it.

[what's up]

If there is no pain-free way out of this crisis, then it’s only right that the pain be suffered by the generation

There are extremely painful ways and less painful ways. I say we go with the way that causes less pain and let fewer people suffer.

[kabar]

LOL. $700 billion is cheap at half the price. You are going to pay for my generation's SS and Medicare. $700 billion versus $60 trillion--not a bad deal. Bring on the tax increase. Hell, the USG will have an annual budget deficit of half a trillion by the end of Bush's term.

[Jim Robinson]

They can’t stop it by robbing the taxpayers. We’re going to get it now AND later. Don’t forget, in 2017 (only 9 years from now) they say Social Security goes bankrupt too when there are no longer enough workers to provide for the retiring baby boomers. That’s $25 trillion in unfunded liabilities coming due.

Just say no to the bailout! Some Wall Street firms will have to file chapter 11. Some will merge. Some will be bought out. Hell, Wall Street as we know may fold up their tents and re-open on the Internet, reducing their costs by 75%.

If we send a down payment of $700 billion to Wall Street, we’re pouring it down the drain! We cannot use the treasury to prop up fools and idiots!!

[King of Florida]

Jim Bunning R from Kentucky

What a great line he had:

“It’s financial socialism, and it’s un-American.”

[300magnum]

bookmark.

[AndyJackson]

I don't know whether folks are connecting the dots and watching the shells move back and forth, but in answer to one question, Paulson made clear that only regulated institutions would be eligible to sell toxic financial waste to the Paulson Ponzi Boanza. In other news over the weekend, purely coincidentally, GS and Morgan Stanly agreed to become regulated banks. I presume they have been accumulating toxic financial products to sell back, probably from distressed customers after they strong armed them.

These guys are like mobsters who are guaranteed no prosecution, no asset recovery, restitution for the cars they busted up in their heists, witness protection and a government job under a new identity all for advising the government on how to make being a mobster illegal.

[Travis McGee]

"Don't worry, my grandkids are good for it."

[expat_panama]

There sure are a lot of very strong opinions on the rescue plan, and very few facts.  What I've been able to get is

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20080922c.htm

and

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/testimony/bernanke20080923a1.htm

-- and some kind of buzz about a $700B fund for buying something that's needed to stabilize financial markets.   Somebody please share a link that explains

(1) what time frame?

(2) which agency buys? 

(3) exactly what is being bought?

(4) when is the whatever that's bought to be sold and how?

[llandres]

As far as these “hearings” - the Dems in congress should have to be the ones answering questions, NOT asking them.

[1rudeboy]

I won’t believe anything until I see something substantive from Heritage or AEI. By the time they publish something, the misconceptions here will be so deeply ingrained that it won’t matter.

[llandres]

Greater minds than even ours :-))) also have said that McCain had better NOT support this proposal - it’d be a contradiction of everything he’s been saying about the situation and his philosophies on solutions. I SO hope he’ll think, think more about the gravity of what he says and does before shooting from the hip as he’s so wont to do. On one hand, it (i.e., town hall meetings) shows his honesty and integrity; on the other, it can be (more) cannon fodder for the Dems/Left.