Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Finance, the economy & Economics The Economy Problem - an opinion

Despite the apparent confusion of the Press and the Politicians, there is an extremely simple explanation for the mess that was created in the world economy, AND the reason why what our country is doing will not solve the problem.

It was knowingly caused by bankers and brokers, abetted by the Congress.

The solution was to allow the banks and brokerages to declare bankruptcy, and for the investors to lose their investments... across the board.

That was what the law required.

Instead, the political machine, owned by the Banks, Brokers and Big Corporations defied the law, and put the burden of bad debt on the 99% of the population that had no say in the decisions. There is no law that requires a Bail out, but there ARE laws that were designed to protect the public from Government Corruption.

Our Government... broke the written law,... indemnified the people who bribed them to save their (elite) fortunes,... and now twists in the wind, trying to divert the blame.

As of today, instead of nationalizing the banks to protect the public from further damage, your Government went the final step of simply buying the bad debt.

As of last year, 1% of the people owned 50% of the wealth of the United States. I expect that within five years, that same 1% will own as much as 65 to 70% of that wealth.

It's as simple as that. The rest is smoke and mirrors, and no matter whether the people use pitchforks or teabags, this isn't going to change.

TooShay, It, tooshay! It is as simple as you've stated about our market and financial problems.

Written nearly in stone, there is a clear set of laws enacted by Congress and events of exploitation by our financial and market institutions and over the past 20 plus years that have led us to this horrible mess.

We're now in a global crash, which if one follows the evidence, was pretty much a creation of American companies and government. I don't see the U.S. as the grand-stand solution to what is now a complex world-wide set of problems.

What's so incredibly sad about our situation...and it may be way more than an situation, the folks who created our problems don't want to rectify them at all, but to sustain the legal abilities to continue their past practices.

The power bath that the market, financial, and government have been giving each other apparently is hard to give up...even at the expense of America.

To anyone with enough curiosity to see the whole picture...
Get a drink, sit down, and read this, all the way through

I'm taking a break halfway through this long long story to vomit messily on the floor. We're screwed, we've been screwed for a long time. There really isn't any way out of this without killing a lot of the people mentioned in this story. I'm making another drink, with fewer ice cubes this time.

The above is an understatement...

Yes, people are pissed off, but the the reality is...we have about 200 million people who don't have a clue about what's going on...and if they did, they won't rally against the corp-government powers

Thanks Bob.

President asked for suggestions:


Ummm... not necessarily MY opinion, but it does SOUND GOOD

Clearly written by a baby boomer though. I get to work till I'm 80 to support everybody 50+, just because I'm only going-on-49? Because I'll tell you something: the people you're talking about giving a million to are the first generation to believe that credit card debt is okay and "he who dies with the most toys wins."

They'll take that money, piss it away, and then come back for more. I know they would. I've seen the advertisements they respond to.

And if they don't, it will all go to pharmacies and medical procedures.

Jaded? No, not me.

Look, I'm sorry, that's a flippant response to a flippant post, but there's truth in it. How long have we kowtowed to Big Bidness, and how long have we elected pols we knew would kowtow on our behalf? For how long have we made it clear that you're Somebody in this country if you have the biggest car, the biggest house, the private jet, the trophy wife?

Our country has been running on greed for a long time, folks. I'm not saying we deserve everything we're getting - but we deserve some of it.

I hope that fifty million Americans will suspend payment of taxes this year, and refuse to purchase anything made outside the United States unless it is secondhand.

As the details become known about the newest solution to the problems caused by the inability to value assets, we're going to see some complicated explanations that seem to guarantee that the public will not be harmed by the bailout of the banks and brokers.

At this point, no one wants to hear the details as long as the Secretary of the Treasury tells everyone that the public will not be harmed.

In fact, the details of the bailout almost guarantee that no matter how well the bailout works, the public will be the loser and the banks will reap the profits.

After a few days, the truth will come out, but it will be buried by the news that China is proposing a new international currency, a little like what Russia proposed for the G20 meeting.

Bernancke, Paulson, and Geithner, along with Summers and the rest of the 'Brain Trust" are living in the world of bankers, and see the stock market as the measure of a healthy economy. So far, all of their efforts have been to aid the banks and brokers.

At this point there is no way to stop the rape and pillage of the average American.

For a little more about the sham bailout, you might want to look at Paul Krugman's recent column. He has simplified the lose, lose scenario.

Our money says "Trust in God"... May be the only recourse left after friends take care of friends.

I am finally past giving the guy the benefit of the doubt... (Geithner). After watching the last two interviews, he comes on exactly the way his policy is written... Evasive and well constructed to deceive.

While the pressure from the public doesn't deal with the above mentioned subject, President Obama may be forced by the anger over the bonuses to consider getting rid of Geithner. IMHO, failure to deal with this may cost him a loss of confidence. This may be his first serious misstep.

It...

This joint business between Congress and Corp has been nothing less than legal extortion. A number of us in RR have laid it out over and over for months now on how Congress, the banking, and market institutions collaborated to grow their power and wealth.

We just don't need anymore evidence to this fact. And to treat these matters as if the corp-government officials relations is a myth...well, woe on the misinformed and the ignorant.

I don't expect Obama to give in to public opinion very quickly...even at the expense of a substantial drop in his popularity ratings. Geithner is here to stay...until there is either a major riot by the public, or he resigns out of sheer embarassment. I don't see either happening.

The much larger problem to me is...Congress has not made a honorable mention of repealing the Gramm-Leach-Biliy Act of 1999 or the Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000. I think in 1993 there was a rewrite of the Communities Reinvestment Act of 1977 at the request of Clinton to push a ton of money on lending institutions to provide housing loans for low to moderate income family. Thus the beginning of the sub-prime game.

These acts gone unchecked allow the banking, insurance, and market institutions to carry on business as usual...doing all the things that brought on the resent crash.

If we don't nip these things at the legislative level...all will be for naught in the future.

Then...if We the People don't get a super-duper education in government and economics...then I'm afraid that the electorates just won't get want we must do to make our government bend to the will of the people.