Bush/Cheney not done with their dirty tricks.

Once again the Bush administration oversteps their authority under cover of crisis. Banks receive 110 billion dollar windfall due to secretive change in tax law section 382 made by treasury authority alone, without congressional oversight.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902155.html

 

No one thinks there's something fishy about how this was done? Or you just don't understand what happened under the guise of protecting the American people during a crisis.

 

Banks were granted a huge tax break for buying and hiding lossses. It's Enron all over again.

 

They will do what they want. All of us Americans won't do anything as long as we can keep our huge SUVS and fast food.

 

We are handing them billions in bailouts, and now they have billions in tax breaks...that's not socialism?

 

Bank Mergers created these giant corporations. Are they too big to fail?

Perhaps its too late to wish for fewer meregers and a larger collection of smaller regional banks.

General Motors is up next for a bail out. then The State of New York.

 

Bush's final screw job.

How can anyone have faith in the republican party? Seriously, does anyone try and stop him ever?

 

While watching CNN last night a caller asked the panel "why if so many of these institutions are global in their investments/reach are the American people the ones bailing them out? Why can't some of their 'tentacles' at the other end of the globe help with the bail-outs?" The guy on the panel could only repeat that that's a good question. There was no answer forthcoming though.

 

It's not a good question.

China just did a bail out that dwarfs our as a percentage of GDP. We are losing our global preëminence. That is the legacy of Republican rule.

They drowned the baby in the bath water as they said they would, all the while forgetting that the baby was american prestige.

 

Because the answer is stockholders. Nobody wants to lose the trust of the rich who keep investing and making everyone else withing the corporate sphere richer.

Loyalty to the stockholders before the all, even the American people.

And it amazes me. It's not as if Americans have been doing anything different or changed anything drastic in their day to day lives. They continue to buy, go to work and make a living. Yet, this entire network of financial markets and bailouts continue on alongside the routine of the average American.

 

From the scant information I've gathered on the initial $700 bilion bailout, banks are using a lot of that money to buy other banks, continue dividend payments to stockholders (read: their own high-ranking employees), keep dishing out bonuses to those same high-ranking employees, and generally NOT use the money to help customers (i.e., start issuing credit, loans, etc. again).

In fact, it seems a lot of that $700 billion is unaccounted for? Maybe someone knows more than I do ...

But what I see is yet another trickle-down failure. You can't give these huge multinational corporations ungodly sums of U.S. taxpayer money, with no more than a wink and a nod, and simply trust they will use it to benefit the larger economy and not their bottom line. Or for CEO junkets to Vegas, pedicures, massages, as in the case of AIG.

Welcome back to The Gilded Age.

 

I suspect because those "tentacles" are under differing names and a we ARE bailing them out...I know most countries are bailing out half a dozen financial institutions and/or semi nationalising them...Perhaps though you could give an e.g , as I am not 100% sure I understood what you meant.
I hope I have the right end of the stick.

 

Thanks Ari. That made sense.

Odon, I cannot give an ie, because that's pretty much exactly how she asked the question. And, I don't understand high finance enough *gak* to put my spin/take on it, sorry.

So, when one huge company is based in the US, and it has "tentacles" (her words) that reach far and wide across the globe (meaning offices in other countries) that can't mean it's all OUR (USA) money involved, right? It's all those places money as well? I think that may have been her thinking - so she was wondering why those countries with their funds aren't helping to diffuse the situation. Why it's all on the US.

I apologize, you smart folk are gonna have to take me by the hand here to help me grasp this global economy shit.

 

"fuck em let the law end, cause we simply get the raw end, coffins open dump em all in."

stand and fight my American People. we have a chance NOW. if not well buy your family some guns.

peace always.

broony

 

It's not all on the US.

Per capita, China is doing much, much more to stem this crisis.

 

Well, said. I agree. It's a top down failure.

 

First off, I'm not that smart

If it is financial institutions then countries are bailing them out left right and centre.
If it is any other business, then I'm not aware if the US Fed or, say, the Bank of England is bailing any of them out.

Other countries do suffer when large US based companies (of any kind) suffer, because it tends to be those "tentacles" that get chopped off first.

Heck even Chinese companies are suffering and they were supposed to have weathered the storm better.

But with out an e.g of a company...then it is difficult to give an answer.

If it is none financial institutions...I don't think it is fair that the Gov' is bailing them out.

Much better thing to do is do what the UK gov' is attempting to do; make it easier for the banks to lend...then small to medium business effectively get a bail out (through not having their credit removed).

 

What's happening is the US taxpayers are funding the purchase of failing banks by larger banks because they benefit through Bush's tax break that was snuck in under the radar. Those funds were supposed to free up the credit market, but the only thing they have accomplished is to create tax shelters and protections for the very institutions that got us into this mess.

AIG is asking for more money after being caught once again involved in excesses:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wa..._rising_cost_of_the_bailout.html?nav=rss_blog

The infusion of capital is doing nothing for the working man, what it is doing is allowing the excesses to continue. They wonder why consumer spending is down. Well to begin with for three months we paid over 4.00 a gallon for gasoline, then we watched as our life savings went down the tubes due to market speculation, then the balloon payments on over priced housing hit us, groceries inflated, now we watch as they do away with jobs so that they can maintain their bottomlines. Just what are we supposed to spend.

I am not seeing how this bailout is helping anyone but the extremely rich stay that way and not have to pay for their bad decisions and excesses. I don't mind sacrificing if everyone is.

 

And more companies are jumping on the handout ship. American Express now qualifies for Bailout cash:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111002826.html

This is a company that wasn't in trouble, but now they qualify for a handout.

 

What is the message our government is sending? We should all continue to spend over our means. Would that make for a vibrant economy?

Why are these companies having to borrow to meet their day to day expenses. Haven't they built overhead into their budgets and balance sheets. I have to.