use of a public service or asset in return for my taxes is not the same as a fat welfare check sent to me because I fucked up
I'm not even of the mind that the internet is a government subsidized product. But don't get off topic. I don't think it was a personal attack.
I think they've done as good of a job as they can do to explain a systemic collapse to the monkeys of congress. It'll be on the Congress, not the President, if this deal doesn't go through. The Q&A sessions are an extreme disservice to the US citizen. It includes all manner of posturing and stupid questions to ask the monetary authority or Treasury heads of the United States. They really make me sick to watch. I can recall one dumbass congressman asking why real wages have not gone up in the last 30 years... and if you have to ask why that's a stupid question, then you're in the same category. I don't think that was ECO101. I think I learned systemic collapse in 220 MACRO, and I didn't truly understand all the implications of it until I entered the CFA program. It just shows which Congressman has the right blend of advisors in their corner, and which do not.
D E P R E S S I O N is going to be the end result. Heading towards it, will not happen over night. 2010 or so. The Bail out of 700 billion is not enough, its just a band aid. Do not think that the Financial Markets and the US economy will walk away from this with only minor scratchs. 79 years since the Depression.
The best political ad the GOP could ever run would be video of the House Democrats in Q&A with Bernake. Typical Dem (usually some clueless minority from Chicago or SoCal): Chairman, my people are angry. They're really upset that while we still don't have socialized health care for illegals we're giving rich, greedy capitalist pigs on Wall Street our hard earned money. How can I go back to my district and campaign for re-election if I vote for this bill?" How Paul Volker or anyone with SPINE would answer: "You are a professional politician making $160,000 a year. It's your job to sell policy to your constituency. If you are unable to explain the need for this legislation to your district perhaps you aren't skilled enough to be back here in late January." This people are idiots and need to be treated like idiots.
If you are saying that my money is at risk while sitting in the bank vault of my little local, one-branch bank, you're assuming that a majority of this little bank's loan customers will default. I doubt that, especially since I know most of those loan customers and they are debt-free with more cash at home than in the bank. If you are trying to say that any kind of account balance in an FDIC-insured bank is a burden to society, how do you explain that each and every bank pays the Fed for this insurance, and that this insurance is, in fact, another income stream for the Fed? Sorry, should I be feeling guilty? The only souls benefitting from injections of trillions of DEBT money are the ones who own stock in what will become the new conglomerate banks. I don't see the government guaranteeing those grants with anything tangible the taxpayers can hold as collateral. The full faith of the US government is worthless when their own bank is running dry.
The insurance premiums don't cover the risk. Therefore the insurance is a subsidy, because we all know FDIC insured deposits will be covered no matter what happens to FDIC. Depositors aren't the only ones benefiting, of course, the banks themselves benefit immensely as well. And it's all good until times like this, when the bill comes due for the years of underpayment. This has been predicted for decades. It almost happened once - Volker staved it off by being willing to piss off two presidents. It concerns me that there isn't a Volker-like figure visible anywhere on the current battlefield.
As a trader with a solid understanding of basic economics, this Rescue Plan has Bailout written all over it. Be very interested as to why you would characterize this M3 Orgy otherwise. Also, lets not forget, deflation is 100% *normal* during recession. Do we vilify Roaring Housing Bulls as Inflationary Time Bombs? Why? Everyone likes fat paper profits but no one likes the inevitable deflationary comedown. Prices must normalize (deflate) or we do Japan and sacrifice years - perhaps decades - of growth to prop largely criminal banks.
Buffett should have just given Goldman Sachs that $5B. Why the heck did he demand an equity stake? Didn't he know that helping them out was helping himself?