What Did Bush&Co Know And When Did They Know It?
"Economic Shock and Awe", as Arianna put it, indeed. In another parallel to the planning of the Iraq War, there is this curious answer given by Deputy White House Press Secretary Fratto at the end of The Bush administration's September 23rd Briefing that has me wondering just how long ago did the Bush administration know this crisis was coming? And if it was a long time ago, why didn't they stop it then?
Here is the quote, from the Fratto's answer to the last question he was asked:
This is -- this was not a program that was conceived of or put together hastily. There was an enormous amount of analysis and debate and discussion before we came forward with this program. I think we have anticipated a lot of the questions that members of Congress would naturally have about taking this step, but we have had -- some of the policy staff have had months to think about what a program like this would be like and how it would work. Others have had at least weeks to think about it.
"...policy staff have had months to think about what a program like this would be like and how it would work..."
"Months"???
If "policy staff" were thinking about this months ago, then that means their bosses - at least some of them - were thinking about this months ago too. Which bosses? I do not know.
But what I do know is this: There is a difference between governing and plotting (or perhaps I should say "scheming").
When you are governing a country, you address problems when you first think they might occur and fix them before they become full blown disasters.
But when, in actuality, you want to do something that will not benefit the country... but, instead, will benefit your friend and associates... then you purposefully let a problem fester until it becomes an emergency that allows you to propose the "only measure" that will work... one that benefits you and your friends.
Now, I do NOT know that the Bush administration has been secretly plotting to wreck the US economy by letting this problem become as huge as it is. I do NOT know that they waited this long so that their friends on Wall Street wouldn't have to pay for the party they've been having for the last 8 years.
All that I have is the words of Mr. Fratto. I know that - if I had been governing rather than plotting and scheming - I would have brought members of Congress into the process of developing a solution months ago... when my "policy staff" first started working on one... not a week ago with all sorts of "do this now or the world will come to an end" talk.
But that's just me. I was once a program manager with the Army Corps of Engineers. And if I knew there was a problem, I let people know about it right away. I didn't let it turn into an emergency if that was at all possible.
Oh, and there are two other things I know. First, the Bush administration always wanted there to be a war with Iraq and created a special group to sell the American people on the need to go to war. Second, the Bush wing of the Republican Party has a long-standing wish to "starve the beast" that is the Federal government. They really hate government. (Remember President Reagan saying "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem."?)
Therefore, it is possible - and I repeat, "possible" (as I have no proof) - that the Bush administration has been planning to let the Wall Street crisis develop to this point so that it could force the spending of $700 or more billion, so that the next administration would have no money to spend on any domestic initiatives... so that "the beast" will possibly be starved beyond its ability to recover.
There is only one way to find out for sure, of course. And that is for all the professional investigative reporters out there to find out what Mr. Fratto was referring to on Tuesday the 23rd.
Please all you professionals out there: find out what the Bush administration has really been doing for all of these "months" that Mr. Fratto says they were working on all of this.
Thanks for the help. The future ability of our government to help build a better society for us all may just be at stake.
Follow Steven G. Brant on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SteveBrant
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
It's not an outlandish theory. I've heard that Jefferson intended/desired to bankrupt the federal Govt by the time he became President b/c he'd felt tricked & betrayed by Hamilton's colonial war debt to the federal govt. Bankruptcy would leave Congress no choice but to take a hatchet to Govt's size. Although Reagan had a cold war "justification", he similarly went about putting the Govt into debt w/ the arms race - the effect being a slashing of social programs.
One way to look at this whole senario is this, under the guise of free market economics, this large crew went about gutting regulation so that through shady accounting & sketchy financial tools, firms could falsely inflate the value of their assets. This also served the dual purpose of attracting large foreign & smaller domestic investment. Everyone is on the hook now b/c the "bubble" their shady scheming made affects most people directly. Prices the companies have on their books aren't real, but if we bilk the public and foreign investors &sovereign funds for the money to fill out the phony mark-ups, then the prices will be legit. The public will be shackled by debt not just personally, but for generations.
The really sketchy thing, is that these banks are merging out of necessity now & like AIG, they may become "too large to fail" relative to the scaled-down economy, so they'll skirt anti-trust laws & other regulation. They also may be owned by an even narrower network of ultra wealthy.
Like you my mind boggled when I saw that Fratto comment, but what now really bothers me is that after MONTHS of working on this problem, the combined brains of the Bush administration came up with a 2 and a half page Bill? That's it?
Steven, you're right, of course. This situation should have never arisen. Congress should have gotten started on contingency plans for a crisis like this months ago. In fact, in the business it has been an open secret for YEARS that the bubble had to burst, and they were all just playing a game of musical chairs for very high stakes.
When very smart people do something that appears very stupid, it simply means we don't have all the facts. The administration didn't want to address the issue when they could have done it without a crisis. There are many possible reasons for that. It's important to find out what those reasons were.
But don't think that our financial crisis was the result of an oversight, or wishful thinking, or stupid money men in the administration. It was intended to come down this way. We just don't know why, yet.
I'd like to know when it came to light Fannie and Freddie were cooking their books and which politicians were the biggest beneficiaries of their support after that came to light.
Freddie and Fannie were NOT cooking their books! They failed because BUSH forced them to take on loans which they wouldn't have done otherwise! When Bear Stearns failed, Freddie and Fannie each had less than 5% of their loans as subprime. When they were taken over later this year they each had more than 35% of their loans as subprime!
Left, whether Bush Admin knew or even forced this situation, somehow a corporation that large has to cook their books, move around figures, in order for them to get where they got.
G-G-G-G-Golly! You mean they didn't know this was coming!?? It didn't just spring up over night. Why if I didn't know better I would almost call that TREASONOUS! Let their rich friends pay for this..we have paid for everything else. It is nothing but a furthering of their agenda to transfer wealth from the middle class. By all means we should not only have oversight but also to absolute option to harshly prosecute their fraudulent acts....at every level.
The 32 word paragraph in Bush's bailout Plan..the one that intended to give Paulson a blank check, with zero accountability, with zero oversight, and zero questions, and insisting there was no time to even THINK about this bailout because we are in crisis meltdown mode, is the most telling, and scariest part to me.
Not unlike the bogus 16 word sentence Bush gave us to drive us into the Iraq War in another panic. I find it impossible to accept ANYTHING this administration says as truth, their every word is suspect.
Like "the little boy who cried wolf " the Republicans have lied their way through the last 8 years, and now AMERICA has ZERO confidence in our Government to ever speak TRUTH to us. Is this crisis REAL, or a manufactured crisis for sinister purposes..
After being LIED to consistantly for 8 long years, and Republican BLOCKING all Congressional oversight, how can I possibly believe anything they say now?
I am supposed to believe that this crisis just happened, at the same time they say they have been working on this bailout for MONTHS?! Will someone explain to me WHY THE CONGRESS was not made aware of this crisis months ago.
Bush thinks he is the KING of the world, not to be questioned, and John McCain and Sara Palin are already following this same mentality, refusing to let Sara Palin be questioned.
And even more fun: get party-first Republican elected officials to pretend that they won't endorse a plan...hav
P.S. Why can't Palin replace McCain in the debate tomorrow night? Why is it that NO public figure has suggested this solution??? Why would that be a big deal? Palin IS fully prepared to take his place on Day 1 as President if (God forbid) something happens to McCain, right? If so, she should be fully prepared to step in now...
Because even though they are claiming that she will be "ready on day one" she is still not running for president. Therefore to have her debate Obama in the presidential debate would just not work.
I agree. There are problems, but Bernanke and Paulson have been saying for months that they had this under control.
I have come to the conclusion that Bush and his administration kept this quiet so they could spring it just before Congress was to recess until the election, so they could push something through which was their last grab for unlimited power and to once again reward their rich, criminal cronies.
The DEMS need to take this slowly, keep Congress in session, say they are reviewing everything carefully, and will put in the necessary safeguards to protect the American people and the financial market, but will not be rushed into acting without all the necessary background and information. Then, the markets would be smoothed, they can dig deeper and further, find out who knew what and when, and undermine this grab for power by Bush and Paulsen. If they had been studying it for months and had been anticipating what would be in the plan for months, then it shouldn't have become such a monster in a matter of days, unless they have been lying for all those months.
In my opinion, Congress like the rest of us, has NO IDEA if this is real or not, since this administration made the decision Congress didn't need to be informed about this months ago.
They are in the IMPOSSIBLE situation of not having TIME...if this is TRUE...the
It is my hope that once this bailout is resolved with protections in place, and an OFFICIAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE in place to keep checks and balances in place....t
This stinks to HIGH HEAVENS. I feel like PIRATES are running this country, pilfering evey last cent they can squeeze out of tax payers, and doing everything they can to destroy our Government so they can PRIVATIZE their own wealth and power.
This is totally on point. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three times, we get what we deserve. Unfortunately, I think it's not going to be until we the people get beat down all the way that anything might change. By then, it may be too late. We'll be goose-stepping it all the way to the non-existent voting booth.
Or writing a new Constitution because we will have had a govt overthrow.
I believe you are absolutely correct. Put a strangle hold on the next admin. so no programs to help main street can be implemented. Just another way to put a wedge between those that have and those who do not. Also as a side note..... does anyone one else have the feeling that Clinton will soon become a Republican
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
