What IF the Investment Banks were NOT given CASH as a bailout?

What if instead they were given 'a line of equity' that would 'compensate' them for their losses to be paid back over a period of time?

What if the 'line of credit' given to them 'made up the difference' between the difference in the VALUE of a home that was being abandoned because it was no longer worth what the homeowner paid for it?

What if the banks STILL held a mortgage to the 'devalued'' properties?

What if what occurred was a 'readjustment' of the home's value?

THEN 're-mortgaqge the home at its new value?

 AND all the owners stayed in their homes and began to make payments on the home's NEW VALUE?

Would the economy of the USA still be intact?

Would the value of homes stabilize?

Would the investment banks still be around?

Would they be raking in billions of profits every quarter from their new speculation?

Would their CEOs be receiving their bonuses as their company's assets were 'revalued' as the debt for the OVER SPECULATION was now payable to the USA Treasury over time?

And, would they have 'paid back' the monies as soon as their new speculation 'paid off?'

What was so astounding was 'the game.' The ego driven game. Wall Street had NO CLUE or they were to scared to allow anyone to believe the worst was about to happen.

The man at the head of the OTS (Office of Thrift Supervision) was James Gilleran. That’s him holding the chain saw. What’s he doing with the chain saw? He’s “cutting red tape for the financial industry, chopping away regulations, abolishing restrictions”. His four friends in the photo are heads of other regulatory agencies. The photo was taken in 2003 “to highlight the Bush administration’s commitment to reducing regulation”.

Gilleran was appointed to the office of OTS in 2001 by his boss, then Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, a Bush appointee. He had been a heavy contributor to Republican candidates running for office. In his job, Gilleran oversaw thrifts & thrift holding companies worth more than $1 trillion in assets. Does that particular number ring a bell? Two other big banks that failed under the watchful eye of the OTS was IndyMac and Washington Mutual. I’d say OTS is really on top of everything, wouldn’t you?

(Don't get IndyMac confused with FreddyMac.  Two different entities.)

The Dow never reached 14,000 because of Wall Street genius.  It reached it because of lack of it and a lot of hot air and ALL the assets 'in play' from 'The American Dream.'

Dow Reaches & Retreats From 14,000



Tuesday, July 17, 2007
 
...AL GOLDMAN, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, A.G. EDWARDS: But after you get up to and surpass a big round popular number, you tend to go into a little pause to refresh. So I wouldn't be surprised to see the market do a little siesta for a couple or three days or something like that. But, the trend is up and I assume that the next important stopping point will be 15,000.
PRATT: Bank of America's Joe Quinlan is also in the bullish camp, predicting the Dow will tack on an additional 3 to 5 percent by year end and hit 15,000 in 2008.
JOSEPH QUINLAN, MARKET STRATEGIST, BANK OF AMERICA: I would put the odds at 15,000 on the assumption that U.S. economy continues to expand, the Fed is on hold, interest rates stay in that range bound, say 5.25. We don't think they are going to go much higher than that. I am concerned about oil prices though....

I really want people to think about this. Because. Nothing else makes sense.

When I think of a Bailout, it is suppose to 'recover' an institution so they can find their way out of a fiscal chasm.

When the USA 'bails out' an institution it is NEVER so the institution can simply walk off and specultate some more. 

When the USA 'bails out' an institution is is usually in the best interest of USA Sovereignty. 

National Security. 

JOBS.

The USA Economy.

It does not make sense to me that the Congress of the United States of American would see itself clear to pass on CASH to failed investment banks so they could simply walk away and play on a different playground.

BUT.

That is exactly what they did.

Now, CASH is a realy interesting concept. Because I strongly believe Alan Greenspan never intended to hurt people.

WASHINGTON

Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:54pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spending may have been lifted (click title to entry - thank you) by close to 3 percent a year in recent years as owners tapped the enhanced values of their homes for cash, according to a paper coauthored by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan....

When 'the idea' of expanding the ability of the average American homeowner to 'great wealth' was explored by Greenspan, I really believe he was sort of like Einstein creating the nuclear reaction.  He never intended it for methods of war.  But, it was applied there by someone else.

I think the exploitation by Wall Street has a lot to do with folks that 'train' to work not just for Wall Street, but, to be loaned out to government to 'work the inside.'  The Treasury Departments. 

I also believe Paulson is directly responsible for abandoning the American economy..  Because, I honestly don't believe the Investment Banks were suppose to 'get out of Dodge.'  At least they weren't 'a first glance.'

Step 1 followed by Step 2 followed by Step 3

Assets held by single home owners.

Wow.

How can Wall Street turn it into equity for itself? 

Liquid equity.  Not just 'holdings' in Real Estate Speculation, but, CASH.

See. This is how institutions like the US Chamber of Commerce works.

Commandment 10:  Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods.

Ah, yes. 

But, that is exactly what this graph shows and if anyone believes it was drawn up for the sake of showing how SMART American homebuyers are, think again.

Because, you see, that 'wealth' the average American calls "The American Dream," doesn't really belong to the owner of the property.  It belongs to the US Chamber of Commerce and ultimately Wall Street.

They covet everything.  They covert every aspect of a person's life.  If there is a way to make a buck, they know about it. 

And you see having all that money as assets to Americans as a retirement fund was simply a waste of money to folks at the US Chamber of Commerce. 

So, how to they move Americans to HAND OVER their 'American Dream?' 

...The rise in the market value of homes (click title to entry - thank you) since the early 1990s has led to a substantial increase in the level of housing wealth (figure 1). However, since the mid-1980s, mortgage debt has grown more rapidly than home values, resulting in a decline in housing wealth as a share of the value of homes (figure 2).


There is broad agreement in the literature that housing wealth supports consumption; however, there is considerable disagreement as to the magnitude of the effect and much debate as to whether the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) out of housing wealth differs from the MPC from financial wealth. There also is disagreement as to whether home equity extraction adds to PCE beyond the traditional wealth effect....

So, Wall Street ended up taking a bath on its own 'risk.'

Basically, after the laws that controlled this entire mess were removed, the 'Egos/CEOs' of Wall Street thought they could handle anything. 

They knew if they became 'to big to fail' the country would have to do something about them.

They were 'eyeing' a bailout the entire time. 

So, while these firms were riding high on nothing but ego, AIG was insuring them to prevent collapse IF the entire 'speculative' mess fell apart.

Now, I am no Wall Street genius.  But, the 'idea' of supply and demand seems relatively simple.  When there is 'a lot' of a product the price comes down and when there isn't enough of a product the price goes up. 

Relatively simple concept.  So, now that ANYONE could 'speculate' by using their home equity as a CREDIT LINE, the 'game began.'  No constraints.  No shoulds or shouldn't.  Simply 'gaming the system' and KNOWING the entire time the worse their 'SPECULATION RATIO' (In some circles called "Margin.") became the more chance existed they would fail. 

And guess what?  It became time for 'Margin Call.'  When the investment banks, except Morgan, couldn't make 'margin call' they turned to AIG to 'pay off on their insurance.'  What a convenience that was.  To simply ride rough shod over the entire system of finance on a global scale and figure if it all feel apart they had their own bailout ready. 

Wow.  No holds barred Wall Street.  How sweet it is.

Well, AIG didn't have enough money.  After all they were speculating too, but, their 'Leverage Ratio' was worse than those they insured.

But we all remember that, right? 

The USA Treasury came riding to the rescue.  The Fed came riding to the rescue.  $700 billion bailout so they could MANAGE their toxic assets (AND NOT ABANDON THEM) and a $1 Tillion 'petty cash' fund so there was no barrier to any recovery.

Hm.

So.  Like.  What happened?

Ah, yes. Now, two years later there is a real ponderance of what actually happened when Paulson gave $350 billion to his own corporation and his cronies. Isn't there?

...Attorneys general (click title to entry - thank you) in about 40 states may announce as early as this week a joint investigation into potentially faulty foreclosures at the largest banks and mortgage firms, Bloomberg News reported on Oct. 8, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The investigation may center on claims that employees at home lenders and loan servicers signed court documents without ensuring the information was accurate....

This action by the State Attorney Generals is fairly easy to understand.  The paperwork to reprocess mortgages was so complicated that people applying for them were losing their homes before the process could be completed.  Basically, the bankers that defrauded the 'process' designed by Lawrence and Giethner failed to bring about real results.

It wasn't like the ORIGINAL corporate bailout of the banks that had NO terms attached to them.  Not at all.  People were allowed to suffer the consequences of failure that the investment banks never did.  Just that simple.  The process to refinance failing mortgage borrowers was so complicated many lenders participating 'ON THE GROUND' with people attempting to save their homes, couldn't get everything processed in time, so the lenders simply undercut the process.  Does that mean the refinancing went to borrowers able to handle the new loans?  No.  It meant PERHAPS the people refinancing their home(s) MIGHT be able to handle it.

Has everyone forgotten there are Christians in the USA that have strong values mired in Democracy and Free Market?

That isn't really the point.  I remind in 2008 the populous of the USA was lead to believe that a bank bailout WOULD prevent any economic downturn. 


No to Fast Track Banking Bailout:
Let free market capitalism run its course. (click title to entry - thank you)



Published by Publisher September 22nd, 2008 in Breaking News and Culture.

Sec. 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

It's Sunday Night

"The Way We Were" sung by Barbara Streisand. Witten by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch

Mmm. Mmm.
Memories
Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were




Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were


Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me - Would we? Could we?


Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget


So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were


So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were

I know what I want to present tonight.

However.  I believe I mentioned my Father is very ill.  We have out of town guests at the house and I don't want to be rude and excuse myself.

So.

I'll compose what I want to present, but, it will be after things settle down around here.

Until later.

See, for me it is all about money. Wall Street money.

So, let's see.  Bush ignites the flame that burned in the housing market by a bill passed in ? 2001 ? that appropriated $8.1 billion.  I think that was the deal.  The bill was to finance first time home  buyers that were paying rent and employed in one way or another.  It was supposed to take a 'rental lease' and turn it into a 'mortgage payment.'

Hm.

So, fast forward to 2008.

The Wall Street investment banks eventually bought BUNDLES of mortgages without really documenting their purchase, that translated to an understandable partner with the person paying the monthly mortgage. 

They basically gave each other permission to break the law and streamline transactions only to have "Hank," Treasury Secretary, cut a 'real deal' in DC to get them off the hook so they couldn't be FINED or IMPRISSONED. 

Not bad.

The idea was to somehow 'bailout' all the investors that were watching the housing market grow in leaps and bounds, knowing appraised values would eventually plummet.  In bundling the mortgages the investment banks thought they could shield themselves from financial hardship. 

You know, so what if a few of every 100 mortgages failed, the profit would still 'be there' so long as they all didn't fail.

Right.

Sorry, I am a little tardy.

I heard the most astounding statement today.

Ready?

It came from Mr. Rush Limbaugh. 

He stated, "...I don't know why she recused herself.  After all (their entire administration) it is about taking over the government...."

He was talking about the fact that the former Solicitor General has recused herself from 25 of the 50+ cases this session at the Supreme Court.  New Justice Kagan was the former Solicitor General and she has particpated in nearly half of all the cases the Supreme Court will listen to this year.

She is correct to do it.  And everyone whom wants to know ? somewhat ? of how she might have voted on any of those cases can look to her position when she tried them.

That is not the point.

The point is that Mr. Lame-baugh passed judgement on her for doing the correct and best thing she could do.

You see, he was rhetorically stating, he was surprised Justice Kagan was not taking part in the decision making anyway because she and others are to be suspected in all their decisions, because, the Left Wing of the Supreme Court wants to remove control of the country from the people.  Socialists, you know?

In other words, there is a segment of the Supreme Court that CONSPIRES agasint the people of the USA.

Mr. Rush Limbaugh is PARANOID.  The FCC let's a paranoid maniac on the airwaves of the country.  I wonder whom is more crazy.

There is nothing else to say.

Tomorrow is 'Digital Day,' 1-0-1-0-1-0.

Until then.

All surface holes have to be filled in immediately. No Halliburton or Bechtel either. There is a reason why their work is shoddy.

Manholes and storm grates have to be filled in immediately before more sludge enters the water drainage into nearby rivers and streams.  Kindly use   And kindly use competent help.  Companies as large as Halliburton and Bechtel ALWAYS produce cost overruns and shoddy work because they are TOO BIG and there expertise is lacking for the dynamics they operate in.  They underbid and then worry about the rest later.  It is far better to have a general manager competent in handling such projects and employ many small companies to service the project.  There will realistic costs given at the beginning of a project and cooperation among MANY to get it done well and on time.

I want people to think about this.  If there are many small construction contractors to produce a product, the final outcome can be maintained by many experts and the less productive and incompetent companies will be weeded out.  Large projects are simply completed well and on time when many are carrying the responsitliby and the outcome rather than one huge company that will abuse their power when their contract is issue.

The way I see this is there needs to be an excavation at 'a' terminal end of the sludge.  In other words a SECOND containment hole.  The path of the sludge is somewhat known although another rupture might prove different.  A path where the MOST sludge traveled needs to be sandbagged to create a 'pathway' for the sludge to travel to a new containment hole.  I don't really see any other choice.  To allow the sludge to travel by gravity in any direction is a huge folly.  The sludge has to be managed to contain it soon.

The other variable to placement of the second containment hole can be based on weakening regions of the current containment area and the 'potential' path the sludge may travel.  At any rate, if a collapse of the entire sludge pond is eminent then there needs to be plans to manage it and not simply reek havoc and kill more people.

The GROUND Water - LEACHING

Bus drivers (click title to entry - thank you) wait beside their buses on a highway to pick up evacuees outside Kolontar, Hungary, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010. The Hungarian town of Kolontar near the toxic red sludge reservoir that flooded the area and killed at least seven people is under evacuation over fears of a new leak of the dangerous heavy metal waste, officials said. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)


Toxic waste was never suppose to be in the streets of a city.  The contaminated city is a NO GO ZONE, at this point and for some time into the future no different then Chernoby.  The citeis where toxic waste has turned their beautiful green lawns and yards into a 'univision' orange sci-fi flick, need to be considered permanently condemned.

ALSO.

It cannot be understated the potential for further contamination by leaching.  Stopping the movement of the sludge down the Danube is a must, but, there needs to be specialists, including geologists, to evaluate the potential for sludge leaching into any aquifer or potable water source.

I am sorry to be so starkly aware, but, human health is paramount to issues like this and all measures to understand the EXTENT to which contamination has occurred is vital, both now and twenty years from now.  Children and pregnant women are especially important to isolate from these toxins.  For all I know these toxins could alter the integrity of male seman as well.  So, protecting the genetic integrity of people is important from all aspects.

The analysis of the sludge will help a great deal to know exactly how toxic this is and how much it will impact human health.  Rescue workers need protective clothing and they need to be watched as well. 

Get all the animals out of the area and DO NOT use any livestock for milk or meat.  Consider it an agricultual loss if such commodities were in the area.

There is a vast number of connections to John Lennon.

It is interesting to realize how one man was embraced for so long with a consistent theme in his honor.  The link at the title and the video were randomly selected to illustrate the way Lennon is remembered.  The choice could have been a thousand other sites and videos and the message would be the same.  The very same.

The Sixties.

We lost many great leaders during that period of war and peace.  John was one of them.

A simple idea of "Peace" was such a threat to the establishment of the USA. 

What is it about Peace that is so threatening that some political figures don't even say the word?

Happy Birthday, John.  Thank you, Yoko.

So where is all this Big Government the Republicans are complaining about?

Cuts in Government Led U.S. Economy to Lose 95,000 Jobs (click title to entry - thank you) 

By CATHERINE RAMPELL 

Published: October 8, 2010 

The economy shed 95,000 nonfarm jobs in September, the Labor Department reported Friday, with most of the decline the result of the layoffs by local governments and of temporary decennial Census workers.... 

This is part of the slippery slope of neglecting the growth of Small Business in the USA.  Incomes to necessary government through taxes paid by an expanding and growing private sector ARE LOST.  The effectiveness of government will diminish, there will be dirty water, poor quality air, unfunded and underfunded schools and universities, loss of essential services and the list goes on and on. 

Government is NOT the enemy.  The CONTRACTION of the USA economy due to obstuction by Republicans in the Senate is the enemy.  They abused their power to satisfy cronies in attempting to undermine the infrastructure of the state and federal governments and this is the result.  Who are you trusting with your children's future, IF, they are to have one.

The Republican 'idea' of an economy is a 'void' that continues to spin out of control and causes huge problems, not just small ones.  A bridge to nowhere is only an icon to a far greater problem.  

Let's put the blame where it truly belongs in the Sherrod incident. THE BECK EFFECT.

When liars such as the commentators of the Murdoch network are as successful as these are, the entire structure surrounding a heroic President is in reaction to that reality.  Make no doubt about it, the lies of Murdoch that EFFECTIVELY manipulates the electorate are very real.  While the issue surrounding Sherrod were sad, it did not lack immediate resolve to stand with JUSTICE.  There is nothing that happened here that cannot be blamed on Murdoch.  NOTHING.  It is why media research is needed to identify the adverse effects of such dynamics on a democracy that is suppose to protect citizens from it.

USDA emails show rush to judgment in firing Sherrod  (click title to entry - thank you)

October 08, 2010 9:30 AM

The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press both have stories today providing a detailed anatomy of the firing of Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, based on hundreds of pages of emails they obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The emails prove both a rush to judgment on the part of the department and an earnest attempt of the part of Sherrod herself to warn her bosses that a speech she gave at an NAACP event had been misconstrued and taken out of context by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart....