The biggest bailout evah

[tenaya]

I've been working the last three nights and it's been pretty darn busy. My brain is tired and I've never had an affinity for economics on the best of days. I've just seen Bush's speech (and for the first time, he did a whole speech without smirking so you know it's pretty damn serious) and Obama's speech.

First, I'm angry that big business has had free reign and in pursuit of big profits they've screwed us all over, big time. And now we have no choice but to bail them out.

Second, reading between the lines tells me that we are teetering on edge of total meltdown and another Great Depression. And they are hoping these moves are enough to avoid it, but they really aren't sure. Right now I have a ball of ice in my gut; it's not as bad as it was when I was watching the WTC towers turn into dust; it's more like the days after Katrina as we watched the people of New Orleans, helpless and confused, waiting vainly for help, all the while corpses were left to rot in the street.


"This is the federal government's most far-reaching intervention in the financial markets since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

"They did what they had to do," said Baumohl. "They were facing a Category 5 financial hurricane that really threatened the entire global financial architecture."

The downside to the plan is its enormous cost, said Baumohl, estimating that the federal bail-out of the financial markets could swell the national deficit to $1 trillion annually."

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/19/news/economy/paulson/index.htm?postversion=2008091912


And here is where you can read Bush's speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080919-2.html

Of interest:

"The actions I just outlined reflect the considered judgment of Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke, and Chairman Cox. We believe that this decisive government action is needed to preserve America's financial system and sustain America's overall economy. These measures will require us to put a significant amount of taxpayer dollars on the line. This action does entail risk. But we expect that this money will eventually be paid back. The vast majority of assets the government is planning to purchase have good value over time, because the vast majority of homeowners continue to pay their mortgages. And the risk of not acting would be far higher. Further stress on our financial markets would cause massive job losses, devastate retirement accounts, and further erode housing values, as well as dry up loans for new homes and cars and college tuitions. These are risks that America cannot afford to take. "

Obama gave a good speech and he does seem to have the mettle to face this; he outlined details which is an vital improvement. The snippet I saw of McCain's reaction left me furious; he's just taking the opportunity to take a swipe at Obama. Definitely not leadership material. Both Bush and Obama had very grave attitudes and stressed the importance of both parties working together on this.

I've viewed my vote in November as a way to stop McCain from making the Supreme Court even more conservative. For the first time I feel that, of the two choices we have, I will be voting FOR Obama instead of against McCain.

Comments

[astrumporta.livejournal.com]

It's amazing, isn't it? Apparently Paulson told congressional leaders that the system was within days of collapse if Bush didn't do what he announced today. That's not just the US, but the whole world!

I haven't seen the candidates' responses today, but I've read about Obama's views enough to have way more trust in him than McCain. He spent 12 yrs at U of Chicago for one thing, which is not a bit player in the economics arena. He came out of there an educated pragmatist about economics.

If nothing else, Republicans should be punished for letting this happen while they were in control of the whole Fed govt for 6 years. The Dem congress hasn't done much for 2 yrs, but they were under veto threat the whole time.

I don't know how we're ever going to finance this thing w/o going further into debt to China et al... but bottom line is at this point we have no choice. At least if Obama wins we'll ratchet down the $10B/month we're paying for Iraq. Geez.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

The majority the Dems have had for two years was not enough to get anything done so it hardly seems like they had any power; just the power to slow down Bush. I feel like bitchslapping those Rep pundits that want to lay all the current ills on the Dems because 'they've been in power for 2 years.' It seems like the bigger the lie is, the more fun they have in speaking it.

Bush has brought this country to its knees on so many different ways. My 76 year old mother would have him tried for treason. And this does involve the rest of the world, too. It's damn scary. It does seem that everything financial was a hair away from either freezing up or failing completely. It's too astounding really. How could they be so selfish and greedy to let it come to this?

Obama looked liked a well educated man that was facing a complex problem; he would pause as he would try to simplify his explanation without being condescending. He spoke to the common man's concerns and also made it plain that CEOs were not gonna use this to their advantage if he had anything to say about it. He took questions and answered them (that's the first test for me when listening to a politician--will they actually listen and answer the question!) Bush made a short speech and left. No questions. It certainly did not build confidence; in fact it made me quite anxious. "Here's what we're gonna do to save the country but it has risk and may not be enough. Bye." But Bush was not to be found on 9/11 and he was on vacation three years ago, proud of the fact that he didn't watch the news because it might influence him. "Good job, Brownie."

Was it just yesterday morning that Bush gave the 2 minute speech? He was postponing a trip to meet with advisers. At the time I thought it sounded like a petulant 5 year old that was being kept out of the playground by some adults. I wonder what the advisers told him? "If you leave now, the entire banking system will collapse. You have NOTHING else to do that is more important than this!"

[greyart.livejournal.com]

I've viewed my vote in November as a way to stop McCain from making the Supreme Court even more conservative.</>

Thanks for posting this. While on one hand, there is no way in hell I would ever vote for McCain, I was also having doubts about Obama. I had almost decided to vote a third party, which in the US is almost, but not quite the same as not voting at all.

I was forgetting the long run effect of 4 more years of "fiscal conservative" republicans.

/I live in Arizona. That's why I would never vote for John McCain.

[greyart.livejournal.com]

Crap. I left a tag open.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't think the country could survive McCain in charge. Pro choice, stem cell research and gay marriage are not the priority. Just a few days ago he said Wall Street/big business needed less regulation. I think he would be letting the wolves in to the sheep pen at this point because he thinks the wolves are the more important beings.

I have to say I don't know anything about his record in Arizona. What did he get up to, or do I want to know?

BTW, did you ever watch Bottle Shock?

[greyart.livejournal.com]

I don't have any examples of his record, but just the fact that he was elected to do any office in Arizona means there is something wrong with him. The legislature here is the most backward I have personally been exposed to. They actually considered a law that would allow people to carry guns in bars.

I dl'ed what was listed as Bottle Shock 4 times, but each time it was a scam trying to get you to install spy ware on your computer. It's weird. I've gotten hundreds of movies and tv shows, but Bottle Shock is the only one I've had that problem with.

I'll try and get the DVD when it comes out.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>. The legislature here is the most backward I have personally been exposed to. They actually considered a law that would allow people to carry guns in bars.

Did they ever stop carrying guns in bars? They certainly did when I lived in Arizona. Well, it was probably illegal back then, too. Yeesh. I'm sure glad I moved.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Alcohol and guns. That is amazingly stupid.

Too bad about Bottle Shock. It's a good thing you caught that spyware thing. I'm sure it'll be out on DVD at some point.

[deej1957.livejournal.com]

I wish I could understand these things!

I do feel like we're looking at another depression though.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I don't understand it. All I know is that the people that do understand are shitting in their pants right now and they aren't trying to hide it.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Hey, I haven't see SPN yet. Are you happy with it?

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was awesome!

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear it. I'm waiting for dark to watch it. :)

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

Good choice to wait until after dark. They're going off in an interesting direction.

[geminia905.livejournal.com]

I've been quite impressed with what Obama's laid out in his economic plan. I was just reading through it on the site yesterday and thought he had some great ideas.

Obviously, if he doesn't have Congressional support, he's not going to be able to do what he's saying he wants to if he's elected, but I really like the points he's covered in it.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I feel more confident about getting more Dems in congress than I do about Obama winning. If he wins, he should have the power to restructure.

Fingers crossed.

[geminia905.livejournal.com]

I'm worried stupidity will reign and we'll end up stuck with Captain BushAssKisser and Mrs. BinLadinWannabe, too.

Scares the crap out of me and I'm back to trying to figure out how to escape from this crumbling wreck of a country again.

I am amused,though, that according to polls Obama is leading by 3 points so far in this state. I don't even think FDR managed that.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I'll be checking out the area in Alberta next week. *g*

[geminia905.livejournal.com]

LOL! My goal is New Zealand, but Canada would be a good place to start. ;)

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>I feel like bitchslapping those Rep pundits that want to lay all the current ills on the Dems because 'they've been in power for 2 years.' It seems like the bigger the lie is, the more fun they have in speaking it.
>>>Bush has brought this country to its knees on so many different ways. My 76 year old mother would have him tried for treason. And this does involve the rest of the world, too. It's damn scary. It does seem that everything financial was a hair away from either freezing up or failing completely. It's too astounding really. How could they be so selfish and greedy to let it come to this?

This has been a long, long time in coming. A lot of people have seen it coming. I had conversations with people three, four years ago, who said we were standing on the precipice. It's that constant cry of "deregulation, deregulation" that's been going on since the 80s. It's all, of course, in how issues are framed. If we, say, "deregulated" laws against theft and fraud, would anyone be surprised when thieves and con men started swarming? I can't stand these pundits who keep on saying "no one saw this coming". Of course it was coming. The foxes have been inside the henhouse for quite awhile now.

Back in the 90s Drexel Burnam Lambert was an early example of this type of corporate con job. They took advantage of deregulation to make a fortune in junk bonds, and then flamed and burned out, taking a lot of others with them. With Bush in office these last several years, we've been seen an extension and an intensification of the 1980s deregulation mania.

These specific regulations were put into place after the Great Depression, to prevent another depressions. Almost all of those regulations have been repealed, starting with Reagan-Bush, and expanding at a massive rate with "W".

I have that same ball of ice in my belly. If McCain wins, we're all sunk.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

And yet I heard some *sshole saying how vital it was that there be less controls over the market so it will recover. I'm guess Bush and his cronies even in the face of this blatant and incredible failure of their business model, probably still think more deregulation is good.

BITCH SLAP!!!

I saw one poll today that put Obama ahead again by about 5%. Hopefully it's a trend.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

I'm guess Bush and his cronies even in the face of this blatant and incredible failure of their business model, probably still think more deregulation is good.

Yeah, right. It's amazing how many people cling to this belief. A number of years back, they deregulated the moving industry (Bekins, etc.) with the predictable result that a lot of con artists got into the business, produced incredibly convoluted contracts that basically gave them the right to raise their rates willy nilly *after* they already had your furniture in their truck, and a lot of people were stuck paying these inflated rates to get their stuff back because there was no longer any legal recourse.

The sort of deregulation Bush & Co. advocate basically puts the con artists in charge of our economy, and now look at the result.

I saw one poll today that put Obama ahead again by about 5%. Hopefully it's a trend.

I sure hope so...!

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>Obama gave a good speech and he does seem to have the mettle to face this; he outlined details which is an vital improvement.

I haven't the TV on so I missed these speeches. I'll look for them online.

I was impressed by the policy proposals outlined at the Democratic convention (before these events, obviously). It sounded like Obama was proposing some solid, realistic proposals to get this country working again.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I must have missed that. I do know that McCain has the same backing and priorities as Bush and that's put us in the toilet.

I appreciate that the Obama team has a different approach planned and realize that it's not a magic wand. I hope it can improve things.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

>>>I must have missed that.

I had tuned in CNN to the Democratic convention and Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governer of Arizona was speaking. The talking heads were going on that all they were hearing from the convention was trivia and fluff; the implication being that nothing of substance was being said. In the meantime, I could see that Napolitano was giving an impassioned speech, and being a former Arizonan, I was curious as to what she had to say. So I turned to CSPAN and wound up watching not just her, but lots of other speakers too; all of them detailing the Democratic party platform, ways to get jobs back in this country; ways we can repair the economy and move forward.

>>> I do know that McCain has the same backing and priorities as Bush and that's put us in the toilet.

It amazes me that anyone other than fat cats would want more of the same. And after the events of this week, even the fat cats probably no longer want more of the same.

>>>I appreciate that the Obama team has a different approach planned and realize that it's not a magic wand.

Nothing ever is. If he's elected, I expect it will take quite some time just to get us out of this tailspin, much less move forward. Things don't happen overnight, and they're always more complicated than they appear.

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

I worked the evenings of both conventions. It wasn't until the DNC was over that I clued in that CNN was carrying all the speeches; I had been watching the network and got mostly the pundits. I missed the important stuff.

[catalenamara.livejournal.com]

I switched from CNN to CSPAN, because I was getting too annoying with all the pundits on CNN. CSPAN had everything unfilted, which was a really refreshing change.