1. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., $103,100
2. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., $101,332
3. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., $59,499
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., $35,965
5. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., $24,750
6. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, (R) Pres $20,850
7. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., $19,975
8. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn, $19,750
9. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., $18,500
10. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) Pres $13,200
So you can pretty much be assured that each and every name above is dirty. You can also be certain each and every one is all for bailing out the rich at the expense of everyone else.
The I.R.S. is a part of the U.S. Treasury. I can appreciate irony but this fucking redonculous!
This dude Geithner did his taxes with TurboTax? Seriously? And he used TurboTax? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine product, but… shouldn’t the role as Treasury Secretary be for a person that can do- or have done- his taxes properly? Without relying on the f limsy excuse that it was all TurboTax’s fault? Puh-leaase. He signed the 1040, right? He was aware that being self-employed carries with it certain responsibilities? One of those is to do your taxes properly. He’s a bean-counter, right? Even more to the point.
And if you hold yourself out for a gummint post this, erm, important- but so recently stained with by the skid marks of guy who shaves his frikkin’ head- you and your actions should be above reproach, and withstand scrutiny. After all, you want to get the new adminsitration started off on the right foot.
Clearly this candidate is wrong.
Hey, wasn’t he at the scene at the Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, Wachovia, and AIG implosions? Grrreeeeeeat, those worked out splendidly for the taxpayer. He had a major role in this fiasco.
C’mon dude, seriously… it’s not quite a Harriet Myers, Jr. move, but this appointment should inspire confidence- not letting the citiznes/taxpayers out there wonder if this is just more of the same old same old.
UPDATE
Felix Salmon suggests that Geithner is getting very good at absolving himself from responsibility for things gone wrong. [Portfolio]
ALSO Geithner Doth Speak With Forked Tongue (Dollar Edition) [naked capitalism]
ANOTHER UPDATE Should We Bailout Geithner Too? [New Geography]
Finally, it is a simple matter to compare Geithner’s activities at the Fed to those of Ken Lay at Enron. Remember all those “partnerships” with cool names derived from Star Wars movies? Geithner’s New York Fed created Delaware Limited Liability Companies with the name “Maiden Lane” which is the Fed’s street address in New York. They are using unregulated companies to make loans and to buy and sell assets completely outside the view of the public. The Senate Finance Committee approved Geithner’s nomination on January 22, 2009 in an Open Executive Session. Geithner has proven he can hide the ball; let’s not let this scheme move to Treasury.
Hi Chris, I have to say that I think your profile on forclosures was completely one sided. Almost all of the piece was about the sad reality of people being evicted from ‘their’ homes. Hardly any time was spent on how they got into the problem in the first place. The Alverez family in Florida had their mortgage payment double, however these people obviously had taken out an exotic loan in the hopes that housing prices would continue to rise and interest rates would continue to stay at historic low levels forever so they could refinance. They should have never have put themselves in that situation. A school principal said she did not read the contract when she refinanced her mortgage. I hope she did not do the same when she was managing the contracts for her school. As an educator she should have been saving money for her daughters school from the time her girl was born, however that would take sacrifice and how much easier was it for her to use the house atm.
For your next piece you should spend some time talking to the real victims of this crisis, the responsible people who did not take out mortgages that they could not afford. Because of the absurdity in the housing market many familys with good incomes were priced out of the market because they were not willing to take exotic mortgages. These were the people that realized that by taking an adjustable rate mortgage, option arm, or interest only loan there was a possibility that things could go underwater very quickly just like it did. Many of these people ended up renting, loosing the tax breaks that come with home ownership, and maybe saving money which due to the bail outs, is worth less and less each day. These people responsible people are the true victims, not the people who bought houses they could not afford with loans they did not understand. I hope you spend some time discussing the reasons why these people put themselves in such bad situations in the first place.. I think that you will find that the main motivation was either greed, trying to keep up with the Jonses, or choosing to spend their money on other things.
Anonymous
Be sure to watch the video. “Read” between the lines. I’m sorry if I sound a bit harsh, but these folks- claiming to not know the terms of their loan, and are now soured that their bet on perpetual home appreciation was wrong- are prevaricating. Having bet “the house,” the only tactic left to them is playing the sympathy card (the joker?), which only buys a little time.
The mainstream media will always be there to pimp them out as victims (who nevertheless could have avoided this entire fiasco if they had done five minutes worth of basic math)- but you and I know better.
…
–
Common sense tells you that if you gamble, most of the time you will lose.
Chris Whalen (Institutional Risk Analytics managing director) has a few choice things to point out to the people of these united states about you:
His principal ‘beefs’ with Geithner including his ‘lack of real financial markets or business side experience’ and connections to powerful and influential factions on Wall Street
He believes America has been held hostage by a ‘criminal gang’ from Wall Street, who have bought their way into politics and have been directing financial services policy for many years, though their days are now numbered
People will be surprised next year when the depth of the economic trough in the US becomes apparent
The US will likely see the nationalisation of Citi, JPMorgan, a big government stake in Bank America and Wells Fargo and the rest of the industry’s going to have to be rebuilt around US Bancorp and M&I Bank
He does not support an automotive bailout saying Chrysler should disappear, Ford is already massively leveraged to the banks and GM is in desperate need of complete restructure.
The challenge: a public debate.
Is widdle Timmy man enough?
Of course he isn’t. Geithner is the beltway insider (protege of Kissinger, fer chrissakes) that was at the center of the Bear Stearns bailout, the Lehman no-bailout (talk about sending mixed messages), and apparently couldn’t detect that aura around the anus of AIG was indeed a black hole.
The fetid stench would have even clued-in a Clueless Numpty ™ like me.
This fucktard has Moral Hazard tatooed around the rings of his anus, where nobody but Benron Bukkake can see it.
He could no more send a consistent message than a waffle.
Let’s not let Barry Hussein off the hook: he should encourage his nominees to openly debate their critics. After all, the thing lacking most in this economic downturn, and the return of which would boost it immeasruably, is confidence.
…
–
Capitalism without loss is like religion without hell.
Hanky Panky, Clueless Bushtard, and Bendover Bukkake are clearly in over their heads.
Trying everything and anything to try and stop a panic while avoiding/ignoring the true causes is doomed to failure, son. Didn’t yo daddy learn you that?
By all reports two out of three of the aformentioned “leaders” are pretty bright guys (if “book smarts” counts). One was the progenitor of this very crisis back in his days of working in the tranches at Goldman Sux, and I’m sure he is reveling in his handiwork. One of them is merely parroting what his handlers tell him (“repeat the same phrase over and over and there’s a chance it might become true”) and is clearly detached from the pain being felt by the people he was (sort of) elected to govern, protect, and defend the Constitution for. One of them is a student of a prior meltdown (“GD 1.0″) but unfortunately his expertise on that particluar crisis is tragically misplaced since this country’s markets are facing a completely different set of criteria this time around (See the Panic of 1873 for a more apt comparison). Oopsy.
“[I]nvestors have totally lost faith in the ability of policy authorities to control this meltdown.” -Noureil Roubini
The Housing Crisis would not have occurred had we not had Excessive Leverage and an unregulated Credit Default Swap market be allowed to get out of control. Put all three together, though, and you have a mix as potent as a cocktail Molotov.
The underlying value of the former two will be greatly affected by how the first performs. Are the underlying assets worthless? No. But establishing a value is indeed a problem, and FUD about homedebtors walking away in the MSM exacerbates the problem.
So we have a Crisis of Solvency, followed by a Crisis of Leadership.
So to everyone celebrating his conviction, FUCK YOU, you’ve been paying attentionto this while the CRIME OF THE CENTURY was being committed right over there —> (you just had to look).
You’ve just been screwed outof TRILLIONS of dollars which will overseen by the very person most responsible for the creation of the financial crisis- the former CEO of Goldman Sucks.
You are gloating that some broken-down athlete finally got his comeuppance, as if THAT had some importance or bearing on YOUR life.
Well, congratulations, YOU are about to experience what PAYBACK IS A BITCHreally means.
“Payback, but for what?” you might well ask. For taking your eye off the ball. For dereliction of duty.
For being distracted. For being stupid.
See, that’s the problem with bread and circuses. Under the guise of a “bailout” (more like a down-payment) when it was in fact nothing more than a government-backed MONEY-LAUNDERING SCAM as well as an UNPRECEDENTED giveaway of national wealth (i.e., your taxes are about to increase by 100%), most of you were distracted by the irrelevance of OJ, American Idol, Sarah Palin, 99.9999% of television, bombast radio, Faux Nooze, et al.
Talk about fiddling while the empire is burning!
Are you prepared? Of course not, you’re an idiot who voted in crooks.
Here’s your reward for not paying attention:
–
“There is no constitutional authority for the government to bail out private enterprise at taxpayer expense.” -Mike Shedlock
It’s a story not being reported here, so let’s turn to the BBC:
“A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.
“The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.
“While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.
“To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.”
Your tax dollars magically transformed into McMansions and Bentley’s for the politcally connected. The next war should be on corruption in politics, doncha think?
Finally someone hit the nail on the head about this bogus “oil crisis.”
“Record high prices without record low oil inventories, analysts saying that so much money flows into oil commodities that it gives the impression of shortages, when in fact no shortage exists. “
“There it is in plain sight for everyone to see, exactly what I’ve been reporting for the past few years: Many individuals who are investing in oil and natural gas futures are going out in the media and trying to convince the American public that either we are out of oil or there is a serious supply shortage of crude against worldwide demand. The question is: Does it surprise you to discover that the US Senate investigated the rigging of the oil market by speculators in the summer of 2006 – and concluded that there was no supply and demand problem with oil? Did you know that their conclusion was that speculators were responsible for a 70 percent overcharge in the price of oil in the months leading up to the summer of 2006?”
“in Texas, under deregulation of our public utilities, our electric rates can be set using the futures market for natural gas, so the manipulation of the natural gas market spelled trouble for us. Consider this, by 2006, according to www.powertochoose.org, electricity rates for us had climbed to 15 cents a kilowatt-hour due to the high cost of natural gas. But, that was the exact same time period that Amaranth was proven to be manipulating the market and sending natural gas futures through the roof. Two months later the hedge fund collapsed and natural gas prices fell. Therefore, most Texans paid higher electric bills for Amaranth’s manipulation of the natural gas market.”
Not to mention that California electricity rates spiraled out of control through artificial shortages engineered by Enron (“Welcome to Hell, Ken”) in the “dregulated” electricity market.
It is a fact gasoline prices at your local station are set today using futures prices as a benchmark. If you think that the gas you’re pumping into your car today was refined from oil bought and paid for at today’s oil prices, you would be wrong, sir. It was refined from oil that was bought a long, long time ago at a much lower price. The actual profit they are making is a metaphorical slap in the face. Maybe we need that to wake us up to this Enron-style scamming that has become the US economy.
The prices at your local are quick to rise and slow to fall- so the oil companies get to skin you going both ways.
You may ask yourself, “Why doesn’t are gummint do something about it (instead of that numbskull OPEC lawsuit and ‘investigating’ unimportant but grandstand-worthy topics like steroids in professional sport)?”
Well, seeing as the state and federal governments are skimming a percentage, and today’s prices are at all-time record highs, it isn’t exactly in their best interest (as you’ve no doubt surmised, neither are we, the voting public).
If you ever harbored the illusion that when you fillerup you were getting what you paid for (cost of production) plus a reasonable profit, think again.
#I’m just a a paper tiger
I think it is best to close now with the following thought:
“We started as a society that worships hard labor and the basic business ethic of building value into the goods you create. How’d we get from there to worshiping Wall Street’s billion-dollar boys — who create nothing, build nothing, own nothing and deliver no goods, and yet can throw so much money into products made by others that they determine what we consumers will pay for those goods?”
“If Rep. Richardson is going to base legislative proposals on her own experience, then it matters to the rest of us what that experience was. So click the link below if you can stand to hear about it.” [Calculated Risk]
UPDATE
Congresswoman Richardson defaulted on 3 CA properties(!)
UPDATE #2
Did Rep. Richardson fraudulently overstate her income?
The public has a right to know!
–
“We cannot defend freedom abroad, by deserting it at home.” -Edward R. Murrow
“As a nation of prudent and wise people we cannot encourage or condone reckless investing by allowing specu-investards to write laws rewarding their own foolhardy behavior and bad judgement.” -Paco Bell
Condo sales turn sour “Market-distorting rebates and incentives helped move units at Vintage Grand, and banks are left with bad loans”
We have a tag team of assholes today:
“That was certainly the case with nine loans secured by Tampa real estate investor Michael Chadwick. In late February and early March 2007, Chadwick’s Sarasota real estate agent, Pat Brester, bought nine Vintage Grand units and immediately resold them to Chadwick at much higher prices, enabling the Tampa investor to get loans that exceeded original purchase prices by nearly $90,000.”
Sweetheart deal!
“‘I could not have carried the properties otherwise,’ he said.”
Smart move, dickhead.
“’All in all, it was just a bad real estate decision,’ Chadwick said. ‘I didn’t know how bad the market was going to get.’”
He was a victim.
“Chadwick filed for bankruptcy protection, listing $3.04 million in debts and $2.095 million in [declining] assets.”
The National Association of Home Builders has a way to solve the housing and economic slowdown: Give a tax credit of $10,000 or thereabouts to anyone who buys a newly built house.Congress declined to include this blatantly self-serving proposal in its first economic stimulus plan.
The builders group responded by halting all contributions to federal congressional candidates and their political action committees.
Heh. They’re taking their bribe money and going home to pound the floor. Wah.
The term intentional foreclosure pretty accurately describes a new trend fast developing in the real estate market.
A buyer (idiotus homedebtorus horribulus anus) sees the house across the street for sale and it is significantly less than the one purchased just a short while ago. Homedebtor buys it and moves his family in.
Shortly thereafter, they stop making payments and default on their old home. Ruins their credit for awhile, but that’s a minor concern.
Is it right?
“Is it wrong to steal when you’re hungry? That’s an issue that a lot of people are trying to figure out right now,” says Linda.
Ah, but the question is, Linda, “Is it wrong to steal when you are NOT hungry?“
300,000- (bought house in 2001)
500,000+ (refinance and doubtless MEW)
75,000- (spent on refurb)
————
125,000+
Hmmm, it would appear they cashed out to the tune of $125,000.
I’d say they made out like bandits. Gee, I wonder what kind of cars they drive? His- and- hers Hummers? How apropos she’s holding a cuppa Starbux.
Eat dessert first, life is uncertain.
And these are the sort of people who the US gummint wants to bailout?
There is an estimate floating around that 8.8 MILLION homeowners are upside down, Probably not as bad as these maroons, but still, if that number is in the ballpark, then that’s a serious black hole sucking the wealth out of the pockets of the middle and lower class
The people referred to in this article- “Pinnegar said he hears often that novice investors are holding on to their homes and renting them out, hoping for a better market in a few years” – have dying the death of a thousand cuts to look forward to. If they’re smart they’ll walk away, cut their losses, take the hit to their credit(debt) rating. If they’re not…
Q: “When do you make the decision to say we have to cut our losses?”
A: Now.
“I bought it because it’s the best number,” said Khouri, whose family made its fortune in real estate. “I bought it because I want to be the best in the world.”
He said all the usual and expected things, focused on menial or obvious issues, delivered minimum entertainment value because his sense of humor was missing in action. He caused radios to be turned off or tuned away after the (at least entertaining) John and Ken program finished. The remarkable thing was that it was surprising to learn he was still on the air after four (4!) years. He lacked one iota of orginal insight, enlightened nobody, invented nothing.
I suppose KFI could fill the slot with Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity reruns, and nobody would notice for at least a month.
… they rushed into the planning office, so the house in Pacific Palisades gifted to Ronald Reagan after his tenure in office, to change the address from ‘666?’
Well, guesswassup, they’re at it again.
And this time it’s gonna cost some of those hard-earned taxpayer dollars (or perhaps they’ll just print it out of thin air and stick us with the check).
And what’s the reason for this “oh-oh, we gotta make another change order” madness?
Have a look at the pic up there.
PA: “Will whoever is responsible for this building please report to GAO. Thank you and good night.”
1. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., $103,100
Posted by Paco Bell 
Posted by Paco Bell 
Posted by Paco Bell 
“There it is in plain sight for everyone to see, exactly what I’ve been reporting for the past few years: Many individuals who are investing in oil and natural gas futures are going out in the media and trying to convince the American public that either we are out of oil or there is a serious supply shortage of crude against worldwide demand. The question is: Does it surprise you to discover that the US Senate investigated the rigging of the oil market by speculators in the summer of 2006 – and concluded that there was no supply and demand problem with oil? Did you know that their conclusion was that speculators were responsible for a 70 percent overcharge in the price of oil in the months leading up to the summer of 2006?”
“That was certainly the case with nine loans secured by Tampa real estate investor Michael Chadwick. In late February and early March 2007, Chadwick’s Sarasota real estate agent, Pat Brester, bought nine Vintage Grand units and immediately resold them to Chadwick at much higher prices, enabling the Tampa investor to get loans that exceeded original purchase prices by nearly $90,000.”
