rmptr
Silver Member
This was clipped from Ilargi at Automatic Earth.
1. Who designed, and is ultimately responsible for, the AIG bail-out? That
would be the president of the New York Fed, right? And who was in that
seat at the time the bail-out was executed, back in September? That's right,
it was Tiny Tulip Tim Geithner, the same guy whose direct boss these days,
one Barack Obama, said this morning he was "choking with anger" over the
consequences of the bail-out terms his own Treasury Secretary drew up a
mere 6 months ago. If you're the president, you have something better to do
than choke, sir. You need to act.
Larry Summers, the economic behind-the-curtain sorcerer, says he is
"outraged" over the bonuses. Makes you wonder when Timmy will start
venting his anger over his own bungled broken words? (By the way, I see
many different figures for the AIG bonuses float by. I’ll stick with Rep. Elijah
Cummings for now, who puts the total at $1 billion.)
2. Talking about Larry Summers, I don't want to bore you with repetition,
but he is the guy who, along with Robert Rubin and their Citi and JPMorgan
golf cronies, deregulated US finance 10 years ago, without which none of the
disastrous leverage, risk taking, out and down-right gambling and beyond
comprehension screwed-up conflicts of banking interests that are the
number one core of the present financial mess would have been possible.
Want to know who worked closely with them then? yeah, Tiny Tim. He was
Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs during Rubin and
Summers' stints as Treasury Secretaries, a true crown prince. Geithner is a
shadow hand puppet and a docile servant who either badly bungled the AIG
"rescue" or meant it to be what it is from the get-go. You choose. Either
way, we're back to the theatre of the absurd I’ve talked about many times.
3. Bennie Bernanke was the first Fed head to do a TV interview in 20 years
yesterday. Why do you think he did? Can you spell spin doctor? Here's a
quote: "Lehman proved that you cannot let a large internationally active
firm fail in the middle of a financial crisis," Bernanke said.. Who was in
charge of the Fed when Lehman was unceremoniously sunk? You're 2 for 2,
it was Bernanke.
4. The US government owns 79.9% of AIG, but it can't stop a $105 billion
hand-out to big banks, including foreign ones, nor a $1 billion bonus
extravaganza for the guys who set up the AIG division which default swaps
and stands to lose $1 trillion? How does that boost confidence? It's dirty old
town hot air, of course. If you’re the government, YOU set the terms. If you
own 80% of a firm, YOU set the terms.
1. Who designed, and is ultimately responsible for, the AIG bail-out? That
would be the president of the New York Fed, right? And who was in that
seat at the time the bail-out was executed, back in September? That's right,
it was Tiny Tulip Tim Geithner, the same guy whose direct boss these days,
one Barack Obama, said this morning he was "choking with anger" over the
consequences of the bail-out terms his own Treasury Secretary drew up a
mere 6 months ago. If you're the president, you have something better to do
than choke, sir. You need to act.
Larry Summers, the economic behind-the-curtain sorcerer, says he is
"outraged" over the bonuses. Makes you wonder when Timmy will start
venting his anger over his own bungled broken words? (By the way, I see
many different figures for the AIG bonuses float by. I’ll stick with Rep. Elijah
Cummings for now, who puts the total at $1 billion.)
2. Talking about Larry Summers, I don't want to bore you with repetition,
but he is the guy who, along with Robert Rubin and their Citi and JPMorgan
golf cronies, deregulated US finance 10 years ago, without which none of the
disastrous leverage, risk taking, out and down-right gambling and beyond
comprehension screwed-up conflicts of banking interests that are the
number one core of the present financial mess would have been possible.
Want to know who worked closely with them then? yeah, Tiny Tim. He was
Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs during Rubin and
Summers' stints as Treasury Secretaries, a true crown prince. Geithner is a
shadow hand puppet and a docile servant who either badly bungled the AIG
"rescue" or meant it to be what it is from the get-go. You choose. Either
way, we're back to the theatre of the absurd I’ve talked about many times.
3. Bennie Bernanke was the first Fed head to do a TV interview in 20 years
yesterday. Why do you think he did? Can you spell spin doctor? Here's a
quote: "Lehman proved that you cannot let a large internationally active
firm fail in the middle of a financial crisis," Bernanke said.. Who was in
charge of the Fed when Lehman was unceremoniously sunk? You're 2 for 2,
it was Bernanke.
4. The US government owns 79.9% of AIG, but it can't stop a $105 billion
hand-out to big banks, including foreign ones, nor a $1 billion bonus
extravaganza for the guys who set up the AIG division which default swaps
and stands to lose $1 trillion? How does that boost confidence? It's dirty old
town hot air, of course. If you’re the government, YOU set the terms. If you
own 80% of a firm, YOU set the terms.
He has been known to go off the deep end . . . more than once . . . 
