Yeah, let's let the Fed continue to screw stuff up....

This morning at a speech to the Independent Community Bankers of America's meeting in Orlando, Fla Bernanke made it clear he believes the Treasury should retain it's oversight powers on small banks.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a fresh pitch Saturday to retain oversight of small banks, contending that what the Fed learns from that role helps it assess the overall health of the entire U.S. financial system.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a fresh pitch Saturday to retain oversight of small banks, contending that what the Fed learns from that role helps it assess the overall health of the entire U.S. financial system.

Bernanke, in a speech to the Independent Community Bankers of America's meeting in Orlando, Fla., argued against a Senate proposal that would scale back the Fed's banking duties. Close connections with community banks give the Fed a better understanding of the nation's financial risks, including problems in commercial real-estate and small-business lending, according to Bernanke's prepared remarks.

Of course it is clear the government would like to keep their fingers in a little piece of every one's pie these days. The Obama administration has been pushing for more oversight and involvement of the Treasury in banking for some time now. The logic is the reckless policies and lack of oversight is what caused the current financial crisis we have been fighting against for the last couple of years. Unfortunately, while bad investment and poor lending policies did contribute-most of those situations occurred precisely because the government got involved in areas they had no business tampering with.

This Administration has time and time again pushed the straw-man of "too big to fail" as their impetus to continue to be involved in private enterprise. So, what is the logic behind maintaining and possibly expanding their role in small banks?

The Obama administration has supported a broader supervisory role for the Fed.

Legislation passed by the House to overhaul the regulatory system wouldn't trim
the Fed's banking duties. President Barack Obama, who used his Saturday radio
and Internet address to back a financial overhaul, cited large banks that "engaged in reckless financial speculation without regard for the consequences --- and without tough oversight."

Notice he doesn't really give a reason for staying involved with the small banks. The only possible reason is to then have a hand in all lending everywhere. The Federal government wants to again direct banks as to who, what, when and where banks are sending that money. It would not be a far leap to see them demand that those who are not worthy be allowed to borrow money regardless of ability to repay.....oh wait........

Tim Pawlenty spanks Republicans and I like it

In an interview with Esquire Magazine Gov. Tim Pawlenty takes the bailouts and Republicans to task. Claiming the TARP Bailout was mainly contrived to keep Goldman Sachs from failing and stating the financial crisis was not as bad as it had been presented to the American people.

Speaking to Esquire magazine, Pawlenty suggested the bailout was contrived by Goldman Sachs execs for their own self interest. He referred to an unnamed story he read on how the bailout was conceived.
"In this story, Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, was meeting with other Goldman Sachs executives, trying to figure out what to do, and surprise, surprise, they came up with the conclusion that the federal government should bail out Goldman Sachs," Pawlenty said.
"So I don't take as an article of faith that the financial world would
have come to an end if we had let more of these institutions fail," he added.

I stand by the sentiment that there is no way to say we are better off with the bailouts than we would have been without. You cannot predict with any accuracy that which never happened. I would, however, offer we would have less debt and likely would not be worse off. The bailouts, and in particular TARP, really only helped a select few. The majority who are still suffering are regular everyday people who have not benefited in any way from either of those measures. Republicans are always accused of being the friend to big business, while ironically this Administration has done nothing but prop up big business at every turn, while making few moves to elevate the plight of everyday folks.

Governor Pawlenty then gives Republicans a little what-for pointing out they were the losing party for the last several years because they have done nothing to lead or differntiate themselves from the Democrats.

Pawlenty also had some harsh words for his fellow Republicans, blaming them for abandoning their beliefs and failing to address Americans' real concerns.
"The Republicans had their shot not long ago to address the real needs and concerns of everyday Americans, and they blew it," he told Esquire magazine. "Over the time that they were there and had the leadership opportunity, they blew it. We got fired for a reason."

Governor Pawlenty is right. As I have pointed out time and time again, being Democrat lite is not going to get Republicans back in office. Tea Party will see to that. Republicans must go back to their core values and stand for the common man once again. The American people don't want to be told what to do at every turn, nor work all week to take home less than 60% of their pay. We don't want to bailout irresponsible businesses when we are expected to keep our house in order. The people want their life, liberty and the ability to pursue their own happiness back. Freedom is what this country was founded on. Freedom is what we want.

If Republicans can't give us those things, Tea Party will stand behind candidates that will.

Don't they use fees and taxes to punish people under communism too?

The President is set to unveil his "financial crisis responsibility fee", also known as a "punishment tax", on the banking industry today.

President Barack Obama is expected Thursday to propose taxing large banks and other companies based on their exposure to risk, White House officials said.

The plan marks the latest in a slew of proposed fees, penalties and constraints the White House envisions slapping on Wall Street during the cleanup of the U.S. financial crisis, and marks a new stage in the White House's populist assault on the finance industry.

Administration officials went out of their way Wednesday to show no sympathy for big banks they acknowledged would lobby hard against the proposal.

"The banks that are in question were significantly responsible for the enormous degree of the reckless risk-taking that was borne throughout the economy," one official said.

If approved by Congress, the new tax -- which the White House calls a "financial crisis responsibility fee" -- would force about 50 banks, insurance companies and large broker-dealers to collectively pay the federal government roughly $90 billion over 10 years. Of the 50, about 35 would be U.S. companies and 10 to 15 would be U.S. subsidiaries of foreign financial firms.

I wonder if anyone remembers how some banks were forced to take TARP funds even though they didn't want them? I wonder if anyone remembers that much of the financial crisis was caused by Democrats insisting that these institutions give mortgages to people who couldn't afford them, at rates that were often ridiculous, on homes not worth near the amount those institutions wrote down on loan applications? Hmmmmm.......

Finally, it is mind-blowing that financial institutions are being forced to pay these fees and taxes in part to re-pay money that was given to the automotive sector. Only under socialism would one (nearly) government run/owned industry be made to pay for the sins of another. The reasoning?

The taxed firms are expected to pay the cost of bailout money that went to General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC, which are exempt from the tax. The administration official defended the omission by contending that U.S. auto makers collapsed in part because of a financial crisis of the banks' making.

Not only is that a stretch, it is flat out wrong. Union mismanagement and industry mismanagement are the reasons behind the automotive collapse. Banks failing had nothing to do with GM and Chrysler failing. The automotive industry didn't get into this predicament overnight; this failure has been a long time coming. People who knew better have been telling these companies for years to get their collective heads out of their butts and make some changes.

It is a sad day in America where government is increasingly used to punish and marginalize people and industry. I think if you look back at Russia's history, you will see they did (still do) the same thing to their country.

Government buys another failing company, proves business accumen.

Now that every aspect of GM has been turned into a bank.......which of course they are decidedly NOT, the federal government feels it is necessary to continue to throw money down the rabbit hole. After giving the lending arm of GM-GMAC-a major cash infusion last year, they still can't make it. What started out as a 35% ownership stake in the company has now grown to 56%.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday the U.S. government would take a majority ownership stake in the troubled auto financier GMAC. Treasury will provide $3.8 billion to the auto lender, which has struggled to raise private funds.

Treasury's equity ownership of GMAC will increase from 35 percent to 56 percent under the transaction, making the government and taxpayer the majority owner.

Treasury previously had invested $12.5 billion in preferred stock in GMAC. It owns a total of $13.1 billion in preferred stock in GMAC, which includes purchases, the exercise of warrants and 35 percent of common equity.

Now GMAC joins the ranks of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, General Motors and Chrysler and American International Group-all government owned entities. You know, the same government that has "no interest" in running private enterprise.

One little discussed fact about all of these companies? Not only were they so poorly run that though they are some of the biggest companies around, they couldn't make it, but since the government has stepped in they are NO BETTER off. Sure, they're still running; they're still around, but it is only thanks to the unlimited cash cow of the American tax payer that they live on. I mean heck, if I went out and spent all my money and my dad kept putting more money in my bank account.....pft, I would never fail either.

There is no person who has actually run a business who would continue to purchase companies that are failing to such a great extent that they could take down whole sectors of the economy and then do nothing to actually improve those companies. It is a complete falsehood to pretend that by simply buying up majority ownership in these companies the government has done anything to actually help the economy. Even though it is clear they do not believe it, the government is going to run out of money too and when they do these companies are going to fail anyway. The problem then will be they will take the government down with them.

Put taxpayer money where your mouth is.

Democrats are grasping at straws to suddenly become the party of fiscal responsibility, while at the same time increasing the federal debt exponentially-which is an oxymoron.......or maybe just moronic. Either way.

Last week the Dems came up with the fantastic idea that they could pay down some of the federal deficit by using TARP funds-yeah, moronic. This week they are balking at South Dakota Senator John Thune's suggestion of ending TARP. You know TARP, that which will surely become a permanent slush fund if allowed to continue beyond the set ending date of December 31 of this year. Funny enough Dems would even consider extending what was billed and written as a temporary, emergency move to stop failure of the perceived "too big to fail" financial institutions.

The Republican yesterday introduced a bill that would bar Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner from extending the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief
Program beyond its expiration date on December 31. The legislation would not
affect the roughly $400 billion worth of handouts that remain with the likes of
Citigroup or General Motors. It would, however, halt further lending and
immediately return the fund's $300 billion in unobligated money to taxpayers.

The White House keeps claiming it wants to do just that, but Mr. Geithner
also refuses to rule out signing a TARP renewal. What the Administration won't
say is that it likes retaining a slush fund that can be doled out carte-blanche
to politically worthy recipients. Only this week AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka dreamed up a new use for TARP money, demanding it be recycled into
favored community banks or small businesses. This is how an emergency bailout
program morphs into a White House's "walking around" money.

Just one of the billion-trillion reasons why we should never take the government at their word. How's that deficit neutral, possibly even deficit lowering Healthcare Bill looking now-especially once you realize it will cost $289 Billion dollars.......

Government set to bail out itself

When you are talking about government a complete and total suspension of reality is obviously required. More and more these days I would say.........

The Obama Administration is now poised to "save" some of the money from TARP funds and use it for deficit reduction.

The administration wants to keep some of the unspent funds available for emergencies, but is considering setting aside a chunk for debt reduction, according to people familiar with the matter. It is also expected to lower the projected long-term cost of the program -- the amount it expects to lose -- to as little as $200 billion from $341 billion estimated in August.

The idea is still a matter of debate within the administration and it is unclear how much impact it would have on the nation's mounting deficit levels. Still, the potential move illustrates how the Obama administration is trying to find any way it can to bring down the deficit, which is turning into a political as well as an economic liability.

It is nearly impossible to even wrap your head around this kind of thinking. TARP funds, most of which are being borrowed, being used to pay down debt? Isn't that a little like taking money from one pocket and putting it with money in your other pocket, then declaring that you now have more money?

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is pressing for substantial spending cuts to go with any tax increases to try to avoid the "tax and spend" label that has bedeviled Democrats, according to administration and congressional officials.

Using borrowed money, or even future money, to pay down current liabilities does not make Democrats seem fiscally responsible. But of course they are too entrenched in "Fantasy Island" to see that.

GMAC getting more dolla-dolla bills from the government

GMAC is unable to meet it's capital "stress test" goal, thought up by the government. They were told they needed $74.6B in cash reserves to protect them in the event the economy worsened.

So they are going to borrow the money from the government, that is required by the government, in order for the government to no take them over...........Yep, that's what I said.

Fickle Fools and Wall Street Money

This week the stock market is revving back up in to "oh-we're-so-happy" territory, so all the outrage and angst over banking bonuses has fallen by the way-side.......It's no longer worth getting all worked up about because the folks are getting money back in their 401k's and stock portfolio's-until they tank again. Then I'm sure the "Pay Czar" will be back, using all those retroactive clauses in the addendum to the TARP funds.

Today was a good day to be on Wall Street. The Dow nosed above 10,000. Big banks are enjoying resurgent profits and assembling pay packages that could be bigger than the boom year of 2007, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Did something bad happen last year?

Is it time for another storm of populist outrage in Washington? Maybe, but not today.

After indulging in a round of populist outrage last spring, Congress and the Obama administration have turned down the volume. Technocrats at the Federal Reserve and the Treasury’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, have taken over the task of devising ways to make it harder for banks to reward risky behavior without killing competitiveness. Institutions that receive bailout funds are still subject to certain limits on executive pay. Feinberg is wrangling with American International Group, one of the biggest bailout recipients, over bonuses the company says it’s obligated to pay to certain executives.

It would seem then, all the outrage last spring was just a show for the "regular folk". Once the beast was quelled with rising balances the injustices and inequities no longer matter.
Hmmmm, fickle fools and Wall Street-a match made in heaven.

More Lies....

Sick and tired of the lies? Well, here's another one for you:

"These are healthy institutions, and they have taken this step for the good of the economy," Paulson had declared at the time."

The reality? Out of the nine original institutions bailed out, 3 were in fact not healthy. That's one-third, for those who love to do math.

The excuse?

But Assistant Treasury Secretary Herbert Allison Jr., who now heads the bailout program for the government, said that any critique of the announcements made a year ago should take into consideration the unprecedented circumstances facing financial regulators at the time.

Yes, we know......you had no idea what you were dealing with or as we can now see, no real effective way to deal with it. Throwing money at problems is never the answer. If it was we would have abolished poverty, our medical crisis and all our other issues a hundred years ago.

Be Patient with the Crisis

Yesterday President Obama took some time to let us know in a Washington Post Op Ed piece that the public must be patient with the stimulus, it needs more time to work. Of course, let's not forget that it had to be done immediately, with no time to wait because the economy was on the verge of collapse if we didn't get that money out there. Crisis, crisis, crisis. Fear. Disaster.

"I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits." (Jan '09)

(Unfortunately it is already nearly at double digits and has been found to almost assuredly be headed higher.)

"That is why I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will immediately jump-start job creation and long-term growth. " (Jan '09)

"It was, from the start, a two-year program, and it will steadily save and create jobs as it ramps up over this summer and fall. We must let it work the way it's supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity." (July '09)

Huh? So.......was it an immediate need or a long term plan?

This piece of junk has fallen completely flat, has not restarted lending to business, or many consumers and now good ole' Barney Frank wants to lower the standards again so we can re-inflate a burst economy.

President Obama can say what he wants-he sold it as something that had to be done immediately, to pull us back from the brink immediately.

As a whole, the economy is no better off than it was 6 months ago. Wall Street and the bankers were left in a fine position, while main street got nothing. Now, to show how arrogant and confident Wall Street is, AIG is looking to pay out more fat bonuses. Don't be pissed at AIG-the government gave them the money.

The American people can almost always count on Biden to give it to us straight though. As was one of our greatest fears during the campaign, Obama's inexperience becomes clearer everyday. The Administration not only mis-read the economy, but they continue to mis-read our enemies which both leave America weak and in immeasurable danger.

Oh What a Surprise

Yesterday the Administration announced yet another condition for financial institutions wanting to repay TARP funds-even instituions which were made to take those funds against their will.

"Banks hoping to repay the money they received from the Troubled Asset Relief program will have to show that they can issue debt without a backstop from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The backstop has allowed financial institutions to issue debt with almost no real risk to investors, since a U.S. government backstop is basically as sure a guarantee as exists in the market.

“Banks that want to repay their TARP money must demonstrate that they can issue debt without the FDIC's guarantees, as part of seeking permission from their regulator to pay back the government's capital injection,” a senior Administration official told FOX Business.

This requirement creates an extra hurdle for institutions hoping to rid themselves of the TARP money -- as well as the strictures on executive pay and other things that come with the money."

It never ceases to amaze me how this administration continually changes the rules so obviously and blantantly in the governments favor to prevent financial institutions from paying the money back. These institutions should have never gotten in bed with such a dirty whore as the federal governement. Next, they will require the bank executives have the ability to fly before they can repay the money. When does it become illegal to ignore rules and laws while continually reaching back to the future to get your radical agenda in place?