“If you doubt that, just look at the recent CBO report whose widely-publicized headline was that the Treasury overpaid for the equity. I just gave you the reason why, several paragraphs up. Putting common stock into failed banks is generally not a good investment.”

It seems an average person like me that what happened with TARP I and will happen with TARP II and will happen with the so-called stimulus – is that the emphasis is on spending money quickly as opposed to spending it wisely.

We saw the same thing after Katrina. Things weren’t happening quickly enough so there was tremendous pressure to just pour money in and sort it out later, and then all sorts of wailing and gnashing of teeth when you learn that there were scores of cases of fraud.

Aren’t we repeating that cycle over and over again? All Obama has been saying in effect is re the stimulus package is, “Get me a bill ASAP and I’ll sign it. I don’t care what’s in it.”

We can’t just wish away the toxic MBS problems or press a magic fast forward button.

The urge for a quick fix will result in missteps and band-aid solutions to the underlying cancer. I doubt we’re looking at a best case scenario and this will drag on for quite a bit longer than 4 years.

a job that was saved? This save jobs is not measurable and simply allows BHO to say it would have been much worse if not for my porkulus plan..total BS.

RSers: please corrrect me if I am wrong. (I am just a lowly housewife) but isn’t 850 billion divided by 4 million, about 212 thousand? Does it really cost 212,000 to create one job in this country? He kept throwing that number out there. “well I’m just trying to save or create…”

I know that that money is going for mostly crap, and for this joker to imply otherwise was real arrogance.

And one more thing, he said the Government was the only entity left with the resources to pull us out: I was actually offended by this. I am revolted by this welfare state he wants to implement. I do just fine on my own, thankyou…

since ’94, so the whole purpose of this stuff is to restore advocacy groups, poverty pimps, race baiters, unions, etc. to their rightful place with some nice, free, federal money, something they haven’t had enough of lately.

Now, of course, if GWB’s crowd had had a clue about how to run a government, none of these groups would have been on a teat AT ALL and should have had federal auditors and investigators as their constant companionos for the last eight years. Republican executives at the federal and state level continue to feed the hand that bites them by letting federal and state money go to these groups with little or no accountability. The Democrats use these non-profits as their training ground for operatives, as organized advocacy groups on Democrat issues, as a place for sinecures for officeholders and operatives when they’re out of power. When Republicans lose power, their officeholders and, especially, operatives go to the Democrats or back to selling cars or some such.

will do nothing but lengthen the time it takes to “fix” any part of the problem.

Guess Wall St. didn’t like what it heard.

Peer-to-peer networks link up investors looking for alternatives to low yields with small businesses looking for capital that is not available from banks or the equity market.

Here’s an article on one:

http://www.americanwaymag.com/prosper-renaud-laplanche-madeline-smith-nhat-nguyen

of the credit crunch and subsequent policy options/realizations

While TARP I gets bashed, I still hold to the view that it was far better than doing nothing. (TARP I is often critized as “opening the door.” An assumption embedded in that line of reasoning is that the lack of TARP I would have prevented the Dems stimulus package. I don’t buy that.)

Action:   TARP I
Problem: Global financial meltdown
            • Commercial paper mkt on brink of shutting down
            • Global “run on the bank” imminent
Links:     Google search on "Commercial paper meltdown 2008"
            Obama reinterprets the TARP
            6 Emergency Measures to Prevent a Banking Meltdown

Key Problems:
  • LIBOR bid only, no offer.
  • Commercial paper market shut down, little trading and no issuance.
  • Corporations have no access to long or short term credit markets — hence they face massive rollover problems.
  • Brokers are increasingly not dealing with each other.
  • Even the inter-bank market is ceasing up

We are indeed at the cardiac arrest stage and at risk of the mother of all bank and non-bank runs

Urgency: Immediate
Cost:     ~$100 billion overpayment on $350 billion
Benefit:   Lack of global collapse, preventing funds owed to solvent banks by teetering banks from starting a domino effect

Action:   Stimulus
Problem: Job losses
Link:     (none needed)
Urgency: Anybody sensing an immediate collapse? Me neither.
Cost:     $820 billion less tax cuts plus permanent bureaucracy annuity
Benefit:   To pork barrel recipients

Action:   TARP II
Problem: Bank losses & undercapitalization
Link:    
Urgency: Anybody sensing an immediate collapse? Me neither.
Cost:     (I’m not up on the details)
Benefit:   (I’m not up on the details)

He’s thinking, “Duh…I forgot the script for that one. Try to tie it back to the earlier question I took ten minutes to answer without answering. The cult members will think it’s clever and the rest are asleep by now. Why can’t they put stuff like this on the Teleprompter? Like those little balloons they have on VH1. Is that a door or a window? My head still hurts from the helicopter. When I’m approving these questions in advance I really need to start color coding them or something. Or just have one answer for everything that blames Republicans and whines about bipartisanship, whatever that is. God, Katie Couric is a moron. You say anything and she laps it up like a dog eating its own puke. I wonder what Joe’s drinking right now?”

When a co-worker suggested the idea that we give bailout money to those who did not create the current problems, I thought it would not be practical; After all, the people in the financial sector have special knowledge about their business and potetial clients that someone outside the industry would not have.

However, I then began to think about it more. If the current financial market firms can not lend because of under-capitalization, then maybe something new is needed, and maybe it would not be as difficult to create as I once thought. There are a lot of CEOs of financial institutions who have retired who know the financial markets very well. They could lead a new company and even hire people they need from those banks who are undercapitalized. The government could provide startup capital (perhaps requiring some private equity funds as well), say $50 for each firm and set them lose to make loans.

Would this work? Or am I missing something?

When a co-worker suggested the idea that we give bailout money to those who did not create the current problems, I thought it would not be practical; After all, the people in the financial sector have special knowledge about their business and potetial clients that someone outside the industry would not have.

However, I then began to think about it more. If the current financial market firms can not lend because of under-capitalization, then maybe something new is needed, and maybe it would not be as difficult to create as I once thought. There are a lot of CEOs of financial institutions who have retired who know the financial markets very well. They could lead a new company and even hire people they need from those banks who are undercapitalized. The government could provide startup capital (perhaps requiring some private equity funds as well), say $50 for each firm and set them lose to make loans.

Would this work? Or am I missing something?