You Morons, What Have You Done With Our Money?
Three weeks before the election -- as John McCain was flailing about for a message to connect with voters to resurrect his comatose campaign, and settled on Nobel Laureate in Economics and also Bad Plumbing, Joe Wurzelbacher, to inspire us all -- Ed Rollins, GOP strategist and CNN commentator, tried to give McCain a clue about what was on people's minds.
"What McCain and his campaign need to understand is that whatever happened in the past is no longer relevant. James Carville's famous slogan in Bill Clinton's 1992 victory over the first Bush: "It's the economy stupid!" can now be replaced with "You morons, what have you done with my money, my life and my kids' future?" Though lacking grace and lyricism, the question begs asking now.
I don't have a Harvard MBA like Henry Paulson, so I was willing (under protest) to set aside my skepticism about the bailout. When he began his Prophet Jeremiah-like fear-offensive, informing us that the only way to prevent a financial tsunami, was to close our eyes and think of America -- while he picked our pockets for $700 billion -- I took him at his word, but with a caveat.
Since there was radio silence from the President, I counted on Congress to ask Paulson basic questions, such as: How will the money we give you help the economy in real terms, rather than in the sunny Mediterranean scenario inside your bald head? What are you going to do with it and why, and what's in it for the taxpayer? Why should we give you and your deputy, Neel Kashkari, an engineer eight years out of B-School, the password to an account holding $700 billion?
I expected Congress to hold Paulson's feet to the fire and spell out in no uncertain terms that this was not business as usual -- that this was not an entitlement program to reward shareholders, or capital for solvent companies to make new business acquisitions. I hoped Congress would remind Paulson that there's nothing that would make American taxpayers more angry -- after Bush's illegal and expensive war -- than hearing about bailout funds spent on million dollar bonuses for TARP company executives and beachfront corporate retreats.
Was it too much to ask Congress to examine this unprecedented government intervention in the free market critically, microscopically, quantitatively, and numerically, before authorizing the Paulson-Kashkari/Goldman Sachs alum transfer of US taxpayer dollars to benefit, surprise, surprise, the finance and banking sector, including solvent companies?
It has been proven repeatedly that when government officials get their hands on taxpayer money, they can't help but spend it like very young children. In his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Rajiv Chandrasekaran reports on the squander of American taxpayer dollars by Paul Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority at the start of the American occupation in Iraq. Chandrasekaran writes about a young American contractor without any experience in construction, who won a $16 million bid for yes, construction. Unprepared to begin the work he was contracted to perform, he told the CPA that he had no money for start-up. "Bring a duffel bag," the CPA told the entrepreneur with big dreams, little experience, and no capital except the dirt on his neck. When he arrived at the CPA, Chandrasekaran writes, "Two million dollars in shrink-wrapped bricks of brand new hundred dollar notes, flown in from the Federal Reserve of New York, lay on the desk... he packed the bricks into a four-foot-long duffel bag ... a few hours later, he boarded a plane for Beirut to deposit the funds in a Lebanese bank."
The American people set a very low bar for the President and Congress on the bailout -- close the loopholes so we're not robbed by public servants who don't know the meaning or the value of a dollar. President Bush, who evidently won't be satisfied until he has fully plundered our national treasure for the benefit of a few, sneaked in a last-minute insertion to the original bailout bill, a one-sentence loophole, that effectively erases basic restrictions on executive compensation put in place by Congress. In this economic freefall, when churches and synagogues in financial districts are filled at lunchtime with finance and banking workers worried about keeping their jobs, bailout company heads using taxpayer dollars to pay six figure bonuses "to retain talented employees," should be given their last cigars, flogged, and put out to pasture.
How has the bailout helped anyone other than banks, their shareholders, and their six-figure-bonus-earning employees? Like a zen koan which holds that two plus two equals a rhinoceros, the answer is, a slippery eel -- maybe it will, in the fullness of time or when the stars and planets align or on the 12th of Never.
I am intoxicated by the exuberance of Paulson's platitudes. He wants the money "to shore up the economy," "to support financial market stability," "to put the companies on a path to the significant restructuring necessary to achieve long-term viability." He walks between rain drops.
Elizabeth Warren, Chairperson of the Bailout Oversight Panel, appears to be the rare voice making any sense on this issue, cutting through the jargon, deconstructing its complexities, telling us what Paulson and Kashkari are up to, and looking out for the public's interest. There is no consolation in what Warren says. "These are not Masters of the Universe here, they're not omniscient, they're people who are fallible like the rest of us... Throwing billions of dollars at a problem is only going to work if you know what the problem is." And laurel wreaths to Frank Bass, Rita Beamish and Associated Press for their study and report on bailed out banks and their profligate spending: $1.6 billion reward to 600 executives.
Our elected representatives have also been busy -- blogging on the issue and railing against the failures of the bailout. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee was appalled by the AP report. "Most of us sign on to do jobs and we do them best we can," he said. Actually, you didn't do enough. His colleague, Rep. Brad Sherman added, "The tougher we are on the executives that come to Washington, the fewer will come for a bailout." Bravo, Mr. Sherman, that's the sound of one hand clapping. Thank you for sliding into homeplate after the stadium has emptied, and $350 billion in bailout funds went that way.
Paulson, undeterred by his lack of success in jumpstarting the economy, perhaps because he's still trying to figure out what the problem is and making things up as he goes along, has told Congress, it "needs to release the second half of the S700 billion bailout."
In The Sun Also Rises, Earnest Hemingway's character Bill asks, "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways," Mike replies, "Gradually and then suddenly." A decade of reckoning looms.
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Think it is time we all started hammering our Congressmen with our concerns about Paulson. This Administration should have no more access to the TARP funds. Also, the funds that have been distributed need to be accounted for or paid back immediately. These financial institutions knew exactly what was expected of that tax money distribution and intentionally paid it to executives, dividends, and acquisitions for the banks. They did not provide the funds for loans, etc. as it was intended. As far as I am concerned the Bush Administration fraudulently accessed tax payer monies for the personal gain of their cronies.
“An Associated Press article, published Monday, documents the refusal of the banks to reveal what they have done with the billions in taxpayer funds they have received. The AP put questionnaires to 21 banks that each received more than $1 billion in the government bailout, posing four questions: "How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?"
According to the AP, not a single bank provided specific answers. A representative of JPMorgan Chase, which has received $25 billion in TARP funds, said merely, "We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to." Comerica, which got $2.25 billion in TARP funds, said flatly "We're not sharing any other details." A Bank of New York Mellon spokesman said, "We're choosing not to disclose that," adding, "I just would prefer if you wouldn't say that we're not going to discuss those details."
The arrogance and contemptuousness of the banks recalls nothing so much as the First Estate of pre-revolutionary France's Ancien Regime. It reflects the attitude of a financial aristocracy that operates with complete impunity and has no intention of giving up any of its spoils.” Tom Eley and Barry Grey
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/pers-d24.shtml
"the reason for Congress not doing their job (as we percieve it should have been) is that they don't percieve the problem, and don't understand what is going on for the peons & the rabble."
The last 30 years spent concentrating wealth at the top, increasing the divide between the haves and have-nots, puts opportunity for election in even fewer hands than does the expense of running for office. Much of what I hear described as racism, particularly economic racism, is less about race and more about being low-income. As those in power become even more distant to the reality most of us face, the next generation of poor, regardless of color, become even more disadvantaged - less educated, less skilled, less employable.
It will probably require another revolution to achieve change. The politicians are not likely to vote against their own interests, even though so many Americans have, so often.
Gail,
I wish you had written this when the mis-Administration first proposed this plan. Thanks for doing it now anyway. Every drop helps.
Joebaggadonuts
"You Morons, we couldn't believe you fell for the bailout!"
So far, the 'morons' as you call them, Gail, have walked away with the loot. So, how does that make them morons? Oh, and they are still getting their bonuses. And, the very same people who helped create this mess are now in government saying "Trust us. We can fix it." Again, how does that make them morons.
No, the morons are... all of us who are now paying for their excesses. All of us who have voted Democrat or Republican over the last thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years of only two parties controlling the government while our standard of living declined, wages stagnated, and nothing was ever really fixed. Just dressed up in lipstick.
The tax-code. Still not fixed. Education? Been hearing about that for decades now. Health care? Good luck. On and on and on... And now, we were just looted by the corporations, finance, and the very people whom we elected. Oh, what about all those Congressional investigations? Where are the convictions and inmates? Besides Scooter, I mean.
Veri, you are exactly correct
Everytime I see Paulson I think to myself ... there's a man trying really hard not to grin ear from ear and bust out laughing at how stupid we are.
Eloquent :)
People still enjoy calling Bush, Cheney et al morons, incompetent etc. Not! They held the bag for Wall Street to stuff with our money, and they did the job they were hire to do with great skill.
This single statement from your post illustrates your difficulty in understanding why this bailout was a bad idea from day one:
"I expected Congress to hold Paulson's feet to the fire and spell out in no uncertain terms that this was not business as usual -- ,..."
Congress is part of the problem. Most of the Democrats are part of the problem. Congress is filled with a bunch of out of touch (if they were ever in touch) mostly rich, mostly shareholders in big companies, who haven't had to worry about balancing a household budget or how to pay for their winter heating bill in a long, long time.
After you accept that sigle faulty premise,... the reason for Congress not doing their job (as we percieve it should have been) is that they don't percieve the problem, and don't understand what is going on for the peons & the rabble.
"Most of the Democrats are part of the problem."
Really? So the Republican's hands are clean on this? The same Republicans that have filibustered 94 times in the past two years to become the Grand Obstructionist Party? The same Republicans that think no regulation is the best thing for the economy? The same Republicans that have overseen the largest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the richest 1% in the country?
Is it those Republicans that have the clean hands?
Thats what i was thinking.
Honestly, in this case, the Dems are as much to blame for those that voted for it, as those republicans that voted for it.
However, the core problem has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt by professionals in the highest circles to have been the Deregulation Written by GOP Phil Gramm, and pushed through John McCain's Chaired Committee. back in 1998 and 1999.
Fannie and Freddie are NO excuse or example of anything with the Dems. Again, they did their damage under the Power of GOP led Congress, and all the Donations from Employees that went to Dems dont come Close to the Influence of all the Donations From Their Lobby groups that went almost entirely to the GOP congress.
Additional Financial corruption stemmed from equally bad Oil Industry trade deregulation in the market that actually DiD allow speculation in long terms for the first time to run rampant unchecked. Also written and pushed by the GOP.
And Congress this year had NOTHING to do with or authority over the $2Trillion dollars already handed out under cover of darkness to banks since January by the Feds. that was all Bush appointees doing their bidding.
And it was all GOP that refused to help the auto industry, mostly blue collar middle class middle income workers that would be harmed, for their selfish short sighted agenda of helping foreign competition and southern based Crapmarket Walmart bust unions.
Dude,.. "Most of the Democrats" being part of the problem doesn't imply that even more of the Republicans were part of the problem.
Read & attempt to comprehend what is written before you jump to conclusions.
Crap,... Must learn to prrofread before hitting 'enter'
Retry
Dude,.. "Most of the Democrats" being part of the problem doesn't imply that even more of the Republicans were _not_ part of the problem.
Read & attempt to comprehend what is written before you jump to conclusions. I'll try to step up my proofing skills.
Except for the word "Democrats," I agree with you.
But don't fall for the notion of "branding," where you look at two identical packages full of crime ... one wearing a Blue shirt, the other Red ... and imagine that there is a material difference between them.
The problem that we now face is simply this: Organized Crime. And it slices right across political boundaries, and Branches of Government. Today, the Beltway is utterly saturated with it.
Very eloquently put Sundial,... It is racketeering being done at a public and national level.
And,.. I never meant to imply that the Democrats were the only part of the problem,... just that they were right there,.. holding hands with the Republicans every step along the way. With few exceptions (Kucinich, Wexler, Feingold,..) the blue-shirt guys are almost indentical to the red-shirt guys.
The DLC might as weil just go out and admit,... they really, really, really want to be Republicans.
Americans:
What are you going to do? Complain? Write your congressmen a letter? Worthless. They throw it away without even reading it.
What are you going to do? Blog? Worthless. Who cares except other bloggers.
What are you going to do?
What are you willing to do?
There is such a thing as "Cheaters Justice". It's time Americans start taking the steps necessary to deliver the punishment.
So, I ask again: What are you going to do?
a one week strike across america would do as a start... everyone stay home and not spend a dime for a week.
Provocative. I like you.
Unfortunately, like in most third world countries, if the natives ever get out of hand, there is now an adequate police state to "dispose" of dissidents. You to can be disappeared. It is called The USA-PATRIOT Act that allows this.
Dictatorship by stealth. It takes decades. And it works.
Hotel Halliburton and Blackwater.
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