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Crazy.
October 01, 2008
My dear friend, Nancy forwarded this article on the bailout by Michael Moore. No matter which side of the fence you stand on, it's the only "plan" I've read that makes any sense. Click here.
Also of note, I received the following article excerpts from my friend Rob:
By Brendan Murray, Bloomberg, Oct 1
Read full story here.Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the $700 billion bank-rescue proposal under negotiation in Washington is crazy, with potentially awful consequences for the world's largest economy.
"Doesn't this seem like lunacy to you?" said O'Neill, who was President George W. Bush's first Treasury chief, from 2001 to 2002, in a telephone interview today. "The consequences of it are unbelievably bad in terms of public intrusion into the private sector."
O'Neill's objections mirror those of Republicans in the House of Representatives who rejected the plan in a Sept. 29 vote. The former Treasury chief said he's lobbying for an alternative solution that would offer guarantees for troubled assets, stopping short of purchasing the debt.
"Is anybody thinking there?" asked O'Neill, who also served as deputy budget director in the Ford administration. "It's too late, it's not going to make any difference and it's aggravating as hell when there's a better idea and you can't even get it in play," he said, recognizing little success so far in pitching his own proposal.
"None of them are returning phone calls," O'Neill said. "I honestly don't think they really understand it and they're so much in a bubble that it's impossible to penetrate it."
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to vote tonight on a modified version of the $700 billion rescue plan the House rejected two days ago. The House may vote again Oct. 3.
"If they pass this thing, it's awful what the consequences are going to be in terms of an ongoing federal relationship that doesn't need to exist with the institutions," O'Neill said. "Are we going to insist on having a federal representative on boards of directors to protect our investment?"
The main component of the legislation now under consideration is giving the Treasury secretary authority to purchase distressed mortgage-related assets with an amount of money equivalent to about half of Canada's annual gross domestic product.
"We have no capacity in the federal government and it's not possible to create a capacity to manage a $700 billion property portfolio," said O'Neill, who was chairman of Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, from 1987 to 2000. "It's crazy. It's like we've lost our moorings."
Ummm, when a former Secretary of the Treasury can't get his phone calls returned by Senators who are facing the worst financial crisis in recent history, it's worth raising an eyebrow... no two.
It's amazing to me that politicians are standing in front of cameras saying they're doing this for Americans on "Main Street," especially without considering alternative options. I know one thing for sure, we're in for a not so comfortable ride in this country, and politicians will opt to do "something" because doing nothing is deadly for them, especially just before an election. Hello! It's CREDIT that got us in this mess, and they're trying to increase CREDIT. You don't put out a fire with more fire. I don't have a problem with freeing up credit for small businesses, but I've heard a number of politicians say we need to get Americans buying cars again! That's what got us in this mess, people! The dire warnings on the part of the Bush administration leave me suspicious. Bush's and his sidekicks didn't do anything as the storm clouds were rolling in – why the heck would anyone believe them? They did zero to minimize the impact of this – why would we trust them with a plan to get us out of it?
If my Buddhist practice has taught me anything, it's to refrain from the Blame Game. We're all a part of this greedy mess, and dipping into fear and accusation prevents wiser solutions from bubbling to the surface. If we refrain from succumbing to financial Shock and Awe, maybe we'd find a safer landing for the 747 that's on fire we're all flying in.
And, for anyone out there who thinks I'm blindly following Obama – I'm dismayed he voted for this bill... very dismayed.
For more on the power of shock politics, you might want to watch the following Democracy Now interview with Naomi Klein... it's pretty interesting.
This interview aired just last week.
... and part 2:
Posted by vincent at October 1, 2008 10:44 PM
Comments
Even before this bailout, I thought that the rich people should be "pushed" to have a voluntary "patriotic tax" showing how grateful they are for making it big in this wonderful country.
Posted by: LoieJ at October 2, 2008 08:28 AM
Yeah, I think most of us regular folks are just shaking our heads and wondering and hoping that they'll use their heads in Washington when it comes to this deal. It does seem odd that noone is returning a former Secretary of the Treasury's calls but then, if he was working for President Bush who seems to have gotten so many blank checks in the past several years... Jeesh.
Posted by: susanna at October 2, 2008 08:27 PM