Valleywag picked up a FriendFeed discussion between a few of us yesterday regarding the bailout bill within which Scoble blames “people like [me]” for the coming “breadlines”.  It rings a little hollow considering where I’ve been on all this and where he’s been (i.e. nowhere), but it brings a much more important issue to the fore.

To the thread in particular, I realize how acerbic my tone can be when discussing such things and try to be cognizant of that every time I write.  Sometimes my frustration – the result of a bit too much anguish about our national slumber – gets the best of me.  But Americans sat mostly silent as international and domestic crimes were perpetrated in their names and their economy was wrecked – choosing to glide along as if they had far more important things to think about.

Robert is right to describe the financial mess as the result of our collective idiocy.  The bill for one or two generations of stupidity has now come due and our remaining credit cards have been declined.  And for the moment, the social media characters participating in the specific tendril of web masturbation that is Robert’s “what to do” post have come up substantially empty.  So, I’ll see what I can come up with.

Read the rest of this entry »

The bailout will be yet another crime foisted on the American taxpayer.  All the reward from the “up” has been consumed – burned away like the vapor it was – and now the risk, the cost of the “down” will be borne by us.  Privatized reward; socialized risk.  Tonight, House minority leader John Boehner called it a “crap sandwich“  — that he plans to vote for anyway.   It’s a really bad idea for many reasons – not the least of which is: it’s not going to work.

Nothing else needs to be said.

Warren Buffett called them “financial weapons of mass destruction” six years ago.  But how big is the problem?  Surely if the all-powerful government steps in, all is well, right? Not so fast.  This ought to give you a pretty good idea of the magnitude [Yes, that little speck on the left is the entire US money supply]:

[Source: US Global Investors]

Related articles:

• Wall Street crisis: Is this the death knell for derivatives?

Never been a huge fan of the man from Alabama.  But he had some great words of wisdom at today’s Bailout of the Century hearing:

“I understand the situation is dire.  But so is the condition of the taxpayer… yes, the market is overwhelmed by greed, a lack of oversight… and the bottom line, as I see it, is that you’re [sticking] the taxpayer with it.  I think that’s shameful myself.  I know there are better ways – would it be without pain?  Oh no… but the best – and Chairman Bernanke, I’ve heard you say this – the best disciplinary mechanism we have is the marketplace.  The marketplace will discipline all of us with pain.  But we learn.  I’m not sure people will learn if this goes through.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Congress Told To Act Fast On Bailout Plan

Then allow Princeton economist and NY Times columnist Paul Krugman [on Bill Maher's show last night] to bring home the gravity of our current predicament.  “We hit the wall but good this time … there are no atheists in foxholes.”

I can’t help but notice some chilling similarities between the Bush Administration’s approach on the financial crisis and the Iraqi War Resolution.  I literally sat awake until almost 5:00 this morning fretting about this.
Let’s look at a few of them:

• We were told that calamity was imminent, and a failure to act and do exactly what Bush asked of us would result in a disaster;
• Congress was strongarmed into doing something big and something fast, without time for proper analysis;
• We were conned into spending hundreds of billions of our hard-earned dollars (much for the benefit of corporate malfeasants) – only to take a giant step backward;
• We handed legal immunity and absolute control to the very authorities who demanded the actions;
• We were lied to every step of the way.

And eventually the majority came around to see it as a colossal blunder.  So, I think Congress would serve itself and the People well if it took a much more measured approach to this, or even refused the bailout.  I know, I’m asking for cajones of steel here, but I can dream.

If this goes through, it will be the swindle of the century.

I’ll close with a few words from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That is fascism; ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.”

How did we get here?  Is it too late to stop it?

I just found out that genius writer and thinker David Foster Wallace hanged himself earlier this week.  He was a real inspiration to me and I am very sad to see him go, especially at such a young age.  He is survived by his wife.  In memoriam, here is a wonderful commencement speech he gave a couple years ago.  David, your influence and your way of seeing the world will be missed.

Today on MSNBC, lonesome truth-telling libertarian patriot Congressman Ron Paul said that McCain is “not someone I could endorse, ever.”  Not surprising, of course – but nonetheless interesting to hear from a fellow candidate for the GOP nod.

For anyone who’s been following this space over the last couple of years, the panic now engulfing world financial markets comes as no surprise.

We are now witnessing the opening innings of an economic disaster unparalleled in human history in its size and scope; it extends into every corner of American life.  We will simply not be able to carry on as we have.  Already – this early in the game – we taxpayers are being forced to bail out insurance companies and reckless mortgage pimps.  It’s criminal and it represents a massive socialization of risk unheard of in American history.  As the saying goes, if you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.

Top lawmakers were “petrified” by the briefing they got Tuesday night by Fed chair Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson, and what disgusts me is the underlying implication that any responsible leader could rightfully and credibly claim this comes as some kind of big surprise.  I’m not going to play politics in this post; let’s just say there’s plenty of blame to go around (including the public.)

You’ve heard the bullshit that AIG, Fannie, and Freddie were “too big to fail.”  And you’ll keep hearing that for a while, because there are more bailouts to come, and more itty-bitty-fingers in the big-groaning-dam.  But, the total assets of the FDIC and the FRB couldn’t even spit-polish the shoes of the derivative tsunami now breaking over the US economy, so here’s the question we ought to be asking: is the US Dollar “too big to fail”?