Hong Kong Bank of China
It would seem as though the TARP funds distributed by Bush and Paulson are untraceable, except, within the US Treasury itself. It is why $350 billion has disappeared without a trace. See, the US Treasury has maticulous auditing and accountability for these funds UNTIL they are distributed.
Then once distributed the funds can be used by banks in any way they deem worthy. So, with the 'multi-national' banks receiving TARP monies there is no telling where the money has gone and whether is was used to 'bailout' their 'tarnished assets' or whether it went into other investment opportunities. The problem is that this 'roller coaster' ride the American people are on can go on forever and there is every indication it will according to the USA Treasury.
Now, to get to Paulson. It would seem as though Goldman-Sachs received TARP funds. However, immediately before receiving TARP funds they 'bought back' $2 billion in their own stocks. Not bad. They first by back stocks and then ask the government for a bailout so they don't feel the pinch of repurchasing their own stock. Literally, Goldman-Sachs needs to be investigated by the SEC for suspicious dealings considering Mr. Paulson was then Treasury Secretary.
Now we all know that Hankie Paulson was in China more often than he was in the USA. However, he was around the DC capital very frequently for 'The Declaration of Bailout Emergency.' Mr. Paulson isn't interested in the USA, he is interested in China and that is why the bailout monies of TARP are very regulated within the USA Treasury Department and completely unregulated outside the USA Treasury. See, once the multi-national banks received the monies they simply started to pay off foreign investors whom were now afraid of losing all they invested in USA Real Estate. Those foreign investors included banks from all over the globe. So, what Paulson and Bush did was to provide American Capital (TRAP) to buy back American's debt. Not that isn't AMERICANS' debt, that was American Debt (Debt originated in the USA regardless of the land owner).
The remarkable rendition by Mr. Geithner of TARP is more than unsettling. He is now setting up a fund to allow 'non-bank' lenders to apply for TARP funds if they have 'tainted assets.' You'll excuse me but those tainted assets are not 'news' to the lending industry, they were known to be risky when the loans took place and they turned out to be a completely stupid idea. So, let's get rid of the 'tainted assets' methodology and just say what it is, 'tainted decision making assets.' Okay? Someone within the banking structure and otherwise made decisions to change the rules of lending and they are now ruined. Those decisions didn't come from the American people and we were not included on those discussions at the Board of Directors meetings. I don't see that the American people have any responsibility toward any lender anywhere.
There in lies the rub and why China is all bent out of shape regarding the 'sovereignty' debt of the USA. See the monies China is screaming about are monies that cover USA legislative bills and the like. China is Bush and Paulson country and someone is pumping the Chinese Leadership with doomsday scenarios to try to 'rein in' the new administration in DC so that an ambitious President cannot fulfill his promises or agenda.
See, China has a problem. China has extended loans to the USA through private lending institutions through Chinese banks AND they have extended loans to the USA government in the way of legislated bills. So, the Chinese are actually double dipping. They are concerned that funds are NOT going to be extended by the American Taxpayer to their lenders based in China and they are worried with all the new 'funding' bills the USA's dollar will become worthless, diminishing the income from any Chinese lending and that the USA will ultimately become insolvent. Not bad thinking on China's part, but, I am sure it didn't come uninspired by Republicans afraid for the changes the new administration is making in DC at a rather furious pace.
See, Bush and Paulson tried to instill fear in then President-Elect Obama to stop his agenda for 'change' in the USA, back October 2, 2008 when everything became an emergency after watching the 14,000 DOW slide to half its value. Some emergency. The DEMANDS for a bank bial-out was a political agenda. Stop the 'Change Administration' and win back the White House and Legislature. When that didn't work, they sent in their Chinese attack dog now in fear of losing money at both ends of the lending spectrum in China. I think a Chinese attack dog is called a Chow-Chow. No insult intended to the breed, I once owned a Chow-Chow for nine and a half years and he never attacked anything. A shame they have that reputation.
But, to make a long dissertation short, I think I relayed enough 'doubt' in the 'circumstances' surrounding TARP and the priorities of the 'inherited' problems of the prior administration to provide impetus to a new and different approach to the 'CREDIT CRISIS.' See, its not really a banking crisis so much as a credit crisis because the economy is 'stuck' with lending institutions holding the American Taxpayer hostage in order to facilitate more TARP funding. I don't appreciate it and no one else should either.
There is basically one person in this entire array of people and businesses that the American people can trust and that is President Barak Obama. He is trying to balance all this mess with reason and has 'as his priority' the American people. Unfortunately, he has a Goldman-Sachs homeboy for a USA Treasury Secretary and although Mr. Geithner means well and is doing his level best to provide good programs for the 'uninsured' stockholders of banks; I think he is trying too hard. He has been saddled by poor performance by the prior administration and its nearly impossible to 'make up' the ground on all venues while still funding the agenda the nation elected President Obama.
So, I propose this. While China is 'annoyed' at the 'agenda' of the current President and majority Legislature, they have a legitimate gripe. However, China no different than any other foreign lender to the USA will have to take their lumps with everyone else. I believe there needs to be a clear delineation between what is 'SOVEREIGN' debt and what is consumer debt. The USA is under NO obligation to rescue consumer debt regardless the failure of any bank. However, we are responsible for 'sovereign' debt that financed our country and its legislative agenda. THAT is the only debt I see the USA being responsible for and I'll be darn if I'll stand by and watch morons be bailed out for consumer debt they knew better than to lend in the first place.
See, not every lending institution in the USA made these 'TOXIC DECISIONS.' There are plenty of credit worthy institutions that have maintained their perspective and never attempted to lend to anyone that was risky. The managers of these lending institutions felt a responsibility to their owners/stockholders and made worthy decisions. Therefore, if there were lending institutions that were making good decisions it was then capable in the 'economic environment' of a falling 14,000 DOW to make those decisions and there is no obligation by the USA to claim 'their people' as the issue. The 'issue' lies with the banks that 'went there' and no one else.
In the contorted world of Republican Rhetoric and priorities there is the 'justification' theory that the American people are the problem and why so many foreign entities are facing trouble now and THEREFORE it is the responsibility of the USA government to be responsible for the losses of foreign lenders.
I don't think so and neither should any Legislator or Executive Branch member. The fact remains that the lending 'was good' for everyone right up to the point where 'it wasn't good' and if the 'crash' didn't happen because of an inflated DOW in the first place everyone would still be smiling and happy. But, the DOW and its' appearance of success was enough to send 'reasonable' people into a 'greedy' posture and now those same folks want the USA to CYA their mistakes.
NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Generations of Americans are not going to be responsible for "W"rongful priorities of Bush, Cheney, Paulson and all their cronies for the rest of their lives. No Way ! There needs to first be an investigation to the beginnings of all this mess including how the DOW achieved 14,000 in the first place and then responsibility assigned and people prosecuted and imprisoned. That is the role of government and that is the only role of government.
The sovereign debt of the USA has to be discerned in its difference from the 'credit crunch' legislation and adequately addressed to the lenders of that sovereign debt. There needs to be restructuring of the debt within Constitutional legislative boundaries. The institutions receiving TARP funds to date have to report where the funds went and why and the Justice Department needs to decide whether or not the funds were legitimately used according to the understanding the American people had of the TARP legislation and if not where and whom steered it all wrong.
The fact of the matter is, the banks that lost solvency had depositers that were insured by the FDIC. THAT is the end of the responsibility of the USA government. From here on when banks lose their solvency they need to declare bankruptcy and reorganize knowing THEIR DEPOSITERS will be safe regardless of their TOXIC DECISION making.
It is time the American people see 'the emergency' generated under the prior administration for what it is. Fraud. If the USA needs liquidity in their lending institutions then reward those that have an excellant track record and assign 'TARP' funds to them to help recover the lost revenues of bankrupt banks and have them 'fill in' the credit gap knowing that the American People seek relief from a credit crisis generated by failed institutions under the Bush/Cheney/Paulson administration.
The manipulation of this mess to exonerate the prior administration as if '? something ?' went wrong and it was the government's fault it went wrong is simply unbelieveable. I could not begin to express the outrage of the testimony I heard coming from the hearing of the House Committee. That was unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. Those in Treasury would like the USA to 'bailout' the entire world. There ain't no way. We are NOT going there. We have people in dire need of health care, jobs, A PLANET TO LIVE ON and a Treasury in need of a tax base and quite frankly I don't see that Wall Street has any interest in Americans at all except in pleadings to give them extraordinary considertion for their own mistakes. Enough is enough.
The success of the 'Future USA' will not be with multi-national conglomerates, it will be with Small Businesses that grow their wealth through 'dealing' with local and regional economies. The USA has seen their well paying jobs exported for a decade now and are frustrated they can't do anything to stop it, while being asked by the USA Treasury to bailout the very entities that no longer hold interest in the USA and its people. It's all backwards. If the people of the USA want to find a way to have their country on their own terms then they need to 'redefine' success. The way that 'redefinition' takes place is to 'believe' in Small Business and local ownership and 'limit' the size of companies that eventually grow outside the boundaries of the USA. We don't need multi-national companies that have proven to be toxic to the best interest of Americans.
President Obama has shown an intense interest in the development of Small Business and it is that leadership we should be most interested. For a long time I have stated the way to take the country back is to invest in local economies and satisfy local needs. I still believe that. The USA 'does best' when it is satisfying the needs of Americans with the quality products Americans demand. We need a return of a USA economy built by Americans and financed by stable American institutions that find the American people a desirable work force. By allowing multi-naitonal companies to dominate our economy we sacrifice our national interests and national security. That is simply out of the question. The USA has to be able to take care of itself regardless of the fiscal condition of the rest of the global community. It has to be the one entity that can be called on for allies. When we are weak our allies are weak and that is simply out of the question. We are allowed our own security, financed by American sources that will sustain and not funded by TOXIC DECISION MAKERS that spend every dime on 'risky ideas.'
It is time the country come to grips with what Republicans have done to it over decades of abusive outsourcing and tax base reduction. When Republicans state they want to cut taxes it is to increase consumer spending while in the same breath they can't define where the income to the country will come from in order to finance our expenses as a country. This 'W'rongful thinking based in Republican Rhetoric has to stop. There are NOT a million ways to finance an economy and a country. There just isn't. TARP funds need to be redefined. They aren't 'rescue' funds so much as liquidity for domestic lending institutions with domestic interests.
