Greece should "tell the IMF and EU to go to hell"

our super-rich, elites, their banksters and governmental puppets are bound and determined to continue stomping out any semblance of a middle class and any trace of a social contract anywhere they might still exist... since there are still a few governments that take the responsibility to foster the common good seriously, they must be set up and dispatched expeditiously... knocking over greece, a country at the forefront of populism and democracy for well over 2000 years, is the first european domino to seriously totter and it looks like it's going to fall... yes, and then there's italy, spain, ireland and portugal...

Plan to Spoon-Feed Greece to Death

The original bailout was 110 billion Euros, now it takes another $85 billion (and counting). When the fire sale of Greek assets does not bring in enough money, the banks and IMF will place even harsher terms on Greece.

Notice the plan to spoon-feed payments to Greece in 12 billion-euro bites while demanding "progress". This will ensure Greece is sucked dry (at fire sale prices) of any government assets worth owning by the time the "bailout" is over.

Portugal, and Ireland should make note of the process. The same "bailout" plan will be used on them unless they tell the IMF and EU to go to hell.

note to those of you in germany who might be looking on smugly and thinking about how well your economy is doing relative to the rest of the eu and the world... don't think for a minute that you're immune... your plan simply hasn't yet been put in motion...

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Mish Shedlock is outraged

it's kind of hard to get any more outraged than i already am when i look out the window here in kabul and see the unbelievable fucking mess we've made out of things in this country, but... yes, i'm outraged at the in-your-face looting of the world economy by the already super-rich and then reading about how billions of people across the world are starving to death... yes, i'm OUTRAGED...

Where's The Outrage?

I don't know about you, but I am outraged.

I am outraged and not just about Goldman Sachs, but about a process that allows, even encourages political pandering, by time and time again rewarding leveraged riverboat gamblers and failed institutions and at taxpayer expense.

I am outraged that real people are suffering massively while the influence peddlers have stolen the country for their own personal benefit.

I am outraged at a political system that is totally unresponsive to the American people.

I am outraged by campaign contribution and lobbying processes that allows corporations to buy votes with donations.

I am outraged how legislators ignored the wishes of the people who clearly did not want these bailouts in the first place.

I am outraged that very little of this is in mainstream media. Why is this stuff not on the frontpage of every newspaper in the country or at least in the editorial pages?

I am outraged that the average US citizen is not aware of any of this, instead depending on CNBC, or "The View" for their interpretation of the world.

I am outraged how special interest groups have exercised their power to monopolize the economy for the benefit of themselves, US citizens be damned.

I am outraged that all these bailout programs are doing nothing to alleviate the massive consumer debt problems. Every program, virtually every program was designed to bailout lending institutions, not consumers.

I am outraged at fees charged by banks receiving bailouts.

I am outraged over government pension plans and government pay scales massively out of line with the private sector.

I am outraged that Congress and this administration thinks the solution to massive budget deficits are still higher budget deficits in excess of a trillion dollars.

I am outraged about indictments. Paulson Admitted Coercion to force a shotgun wedding between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch yet no indictments were handed out. Let the Criminal Indictments Begin: Paulson, Bernanke, Lewis.

I am outraged that US citizens are not concerned enough and not educated enough to demand change.

I am outraged that the two party system has failed. Neither party has delivered meaningful change on budgets, on taxes, on social security, on deficit spending, on the size of government, on military spending, or fighting needless wars.

I am outraged that the Obama Administration promised changed and did not deliver. "Yes We Can" was a lie. The reality is "It's Business As Usual, Only Worse, With Higher Deficits".

I am outraged there is not enough outrage over this.

Where the hell is the outrage?

here's a comment thread from my saturday post that addresses the "outrage" factor...

Am I alone in thinking that this is going to get incredibly ugly when the American people finally manage to pull their heads out of their fat asses, turn off the TV, get off the couch, and do something about this mess? I've been wondering who will have a civil war first, China or the USA. Either one would almost certainly trigger WW-III. mu | 10.17.09 - 12:54 pm | #

the average american is still too comfortable in everyday life to bestir themselves... as long as there's beer in the refrig, cable tv with the nfl and american idol, and enough money to shop at walmart for groceries and the usual unnecessaries, the asses are going to remain firmly planted on the couch... the sad truth is that robbery on such a massive scale has become part of the american scenery... over-the-top greed and obscene wealth is now de rigueur in american economic life, never mind that it's coming out of our pockets, just so long as our comfort level can be maintained... nobody really gets it yet that we're witnessing the largest wealth grab in the history of the world and that billions are being left to die as a result... profmarcus | Homepage | 10.17.09 - 9:36 pm | #

I have a bad feeling that things will go from "too comfortable" to "torches and pitch forks" quickly. The transition will be awhile yet but when it happens, it will happen over night and no one will be ready for it. mu | 10.18.09 - 12:01 am | #

perhaps i'm a bit too cynical but i half suspect that an uprising is what our handlers are hoping for so that they can pull out all the stops with martial law and slap our annoying,cheeky selves down once and for all... profmarcus | Homepage | 10.18.09 - 12:29 am | #

I don't think they're nearly that competent. There is a vast global conspiracy but no one knows they're in it, the (Subgenius style) Con is just the emergent behavior of a planet full of mostly stupid partially domesticated mostly bald apes. And you thought you were a cynic mu | 10.18.09 - 1:05 am | #

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THIRD bailout for Citi - how disgusting is this...?

why don't they skip the middleman and just deposit the cash directly into the bank accounts of the board members and the senior executives... this smoke and mirrors shit is enough to gag a maggot...

The Treasury Department reached a deal late Thursday to take a stake of 30 to 40 percent in Citigroup as part of a third bailout of the embattled bank, according to several people close to the deal.

Vikram S. Pandit, the chief executive, will remain at the helm, but Citigroup will have to shake up its board so that it has a majority of independent directors, a move that federal regulators had already been pursuing.

Under the terms of the deal, the Treasury Department has agreed to convert up to $25 billion of its preferred stock investment in Citigroup into common stock.

It will convert its stake to the extent that Citigroup can persuade private investors, including several big foreign government investment funds, to do so alongside the government, two people close to the deal said.

The Treasury Department will match the private investors’ conversions dollar-for-dollar. That accounts for uncertainty in how big the government’s stake will be.

mish offers his usually trenchant perceptions on this travesty...

With all due respect Mr. President, Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke are offering the same policies as President Bush and Secretary Paulson. Those policies are to bail out banks regardless of cost to taxpayers. Mr. President, it's hard enough to overlook Geithner's tax indiscretions. Mr. President, it is harder still, if not impossible, to ignore the fact that neither Geithner nor Bernanke saw this coming. Yet amazingly they are both cock sure of the solution. Even more amazing is the fact that [the] solution changes every day.

With all due respect Mr. President, Geithner and Bernanke are a huge part of the problem, and no part of the solution and the sooner you realize that the better off this nation will be

[...]

With all due respect Mr. President, you and Congress want to force banks to lend when banks (by not lending) are acting responsibly for the first time in a decade. Mr, President can you please tell us who banks are supposed to lend to? Do we need any more Home Depots? Pizza Huts? Strip malls? Nail salons? Auto dealerships? What Mr. President? What? And why should banks be lending when unemployment is rising and lending risks right along with it?

not much i can add to that...

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Expanding TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program

good god almighty...

mish's view...

In late breaking news, Treasury Secretary Paulson has announced a new plan to expand TARP coverage.

Congress was behind the push as Pelosi, Reid Press for TARP Aid for Auto Industry.

and be sure to check this little amazing revelation...

Competition to get under TARP coverage is so high that Auto Makers Would Accept Strings on Aid.

oh, N-O-O-O-O-OOOOOO...!! they'd accept STRINGS...!! what is the world coming to...?

mish, no stranger to snark, offers this in conclusion...

Details of the exact nature of the new treasury plan were kept under wraps, but photographer Keith Taylor managed to sneak into the "Situation Room" and capture this stunning image of exactly who would be covered under the new TARP initiative.

News is sometimes so bizarre now that it is hard to tell fact from fiction.

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Oh, my freakin' lord...!

there isn't enough tylenol in the universe to quell the headache i got after reading THIS...

Fed Announces Unlimited Borrowing

This morning the Fed issued a Press Release On Unlimited Borrowing.

In order to provide broad access to liquidity and funding to financial institutions, the Bank of England (BoE), the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) are jointly announcing further measures to improve liquidity in short-term U.S. dollar funding markets.

The BoE, ECB, and SNB will conduct tenders of U.S. dollar funding at 7-day, 28-day, and 84-day maturities at fixed interest rates for full allotment. Funds will be provided at a fixed interest rate, set in advance of each operation. Counterparties in these operations will be able to borrow any amount they wish against the appropriate collateral in each jurisdiction. Accordingly, sizes of the reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines) between the Federal Reserve and the BoE, the ECB, and the SNB will be increased to accommodate whatever quantity of U.S. dollar funding is demanded. The Bank of Japan will be considering the introduction of similar measures.

Central banks will continue to work together and are prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to provide sufficient liquidity in short-term funding markets.

Federal Reserve Actions

To assist in the expansion of these operations, the Federal Open Market Committee has authorized increases in the sizes of its temporary swap facilities with the BoE, the ECB, and the SNB, so that these central banks can provide U.S. dollar funding in quantities sufficient to meet demand.

These arrangements have been authorized through April 30, 2009.

Information on Related Actions Being Taken by Other Central Banks
Information on the actions that will be taken by the other central banks is available at the following websites:

• Bank of England
• European Central Bank
• Bank of Japan
• Swiss National Bank

On October 9th I wrote that You Cannot Patch a Busted Dam With Water.

Nonetheless, it seems the Fed is determined to try, and I even have a picture to prove it. Photographer Keith Taylor was present at the Fed's announcement this morning and captured this rather amazing image of the event.



Nationalization of banks and announcements of unlimited liquidity measures are not good things. However, but we have seen this playbook before. The futures are jumping once again during options expiration week.

oh, groan, moan, shudder...

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Dear Senator: "If you vote for this bill, you will not get my vote in the next election"

it's not very often i urge people to phone, email, write or fax anybody, but, after sending off three sets of emails and two sets of faxes to my senators, reid and ensign, wherein i threatened to withdraw my support for them in perpetuity if they supported and voted for the bailout bill, i read this on mish's global economic trend analysis and was moved to put up a post...

Sample Fax

Dear Senator/Congressional Leader

The Paulson plan is not workable. It is a sellout to corporate America at taxpayer expense.

Nouriel Roubini: "Paulson Plan is a Disgrace"

On Friday, Nouriel Roubini, the most widely respected economist in the country stated...

"The Treasury plan is a disgrace: a bailout of reckless bankers, lenders and investors that provides little direct debt relief to borrowers and financially stressed households and that will come at a very high cost to the US taxpayer. And the plan does nothing to resolve the severe stress in money markets and interbank markets that are now close to a systemic meltdown."

Former FDIC Chairman Weighs In

"Bailout Plan Will Not 'Work' in Current Form"

Mad Rush To Financial Judgment

On Friday we heard president Bush and Paulson, preach the same set of lies they have preached before.

• There can be no delay.
• Sweeping new Powers for the Fed are needed.
• The Treasury needs $700 billion dollars.
• There is no time to study alternatives.
  

In your heart you know all of the above are lies. It was the very same mad rush to judgment that started the Iraq War. We do not need and cannot afford a financial mad rush to judgment.

Thee odds of failure on the Paulson plan are 100%. The Paulson plan will not create any jobs or help homeowners pay their bills. Instead it diverts $700 billion of taxpayer funds to failed banks that took excessive risks. The sheer size of the bailout will cause interest rates to rise, further adding to taxpayer woes.

Long term interest rates are already up a half point on news of this bill. They will rise more if it passes. How is that supposed to help homeowners?

Robbing taxpayers to pay failed banks cannot possibly work!

Printing money and giving it away cannot work either. If it did work, Zimbabwe would be the most prosperous nation in the world.

190+ Economists Slam Bailout

Over 190 top economists in the country have slammed this bailout on grounds of fairness, ambiguity, and long term effects.

http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/mortgage_protest.htm

Paul O'Neil Is Against The Plan

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said today that our nation's leaders -- especially President Bush -- are "in a panic" and haven't thought through the $700 billion bailout plan in a rush to pass it by the end of the week.

"I don't think he understands or knows much about any of this and it shows. It is possible to re-liquefy the credit system without 'We the People' owning $700 billion worth of homes," he said.

BB&T Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Allison critiques the plan

Treasury "is totally dominated by Wall Street investment bankers" and "cannot be relied on to objectively assess" the impact of government policy on the financial industry, Allison wrote in a Sept. 23 letter to Congress.

The letter was verified by Bob Denham, a spokesman for BB&T, North Carolina's third-largest bank.

• What is it that Paulson knows that 190+ economists don't?
  
  
• What is it that Paulson knows that William Isaac, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. does not know?
  
  
• What is it that Paulson knows that former Treasury Secretary O'Neil does not know?
  
  
• What is it that Paulson knows that small bank CEOs who avoided this mess do not know?
  
  
• What is it that Paulson knows that Roubini does not know?
  

Remember it was Paulson who was telling us all how safe the US Banking system was just a few weeks ago.

Roubini: "It is a disgrace that no professional economist was consulted by Congress or invited to present his/her views at the Congressional hearings on the Treasury rescue plan."

Block This Bill

Our prayers are with you that you have the courage to stand up do what you know you must do: Block This Bill.

I cannot and will not vote for any member of Congress who votes for this bill in its current form or anything remotely close to the current form.

This insane rush to push something through, is wrong. If you vote for this bill, you will not get my vote in the next election. It is as simple as that.

It is time to scrap the Paulson Plan and start all over. Doing nothing is far better than wasting $700 billion in a Wall Street Bailout Boondoggle that puts an already stressed taxpayer in further jeopardy.

Your Name
Your Phone Number

Please fax everyone on this list.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R) 202-224-3416 or 202-224-5137 (try both not sure which is correct)
Sen. Harry Reid (D) 202-224-7327
Sen. Jim DeMint (R) 202-228-5143
Sen. John Ensign (R) 202-228-2193
Sen. Jim Bunning (R) 202-228-1373
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) 202-224-6020
Sen John McCain (R) 202-228-2862

Sen. Barack Obama 202-228-4260
Sen. John D. Rockefeller 202-224-7665
Sen. Dianne Feinstein 202-228-3954
Sen. Ron Wyden 202-228-2717
Sen. Evan Bayh 202-228-1377
Sen. Barbara Mikulski 202-224-8858
Sen. Bill Nelson 202-228-2183
Sen. John Kerry 202-224-8525
Sen. Daniel Inouye 202-224-6747
Sen. Hillary Clinton 202-228-0282

Those inclined should also fax their own senators as well.

they're meeting as we speak, so get to faxin', people...

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