October 8, 2008

Bernanke, Europe's Central Banks Throw in Everything They've Got

By MIKE WHITNEY

Stocks fell sharply across Europe and Asia last night following another down day on Wall Street where the Dow Jones lost 508 points and the S&P 500 slipped below the 1,000 mark for the first time since 2003. Japan's benchmark index, the Nikkei, lost nearly 10 percent while shares in London at one point slumped more than 7 per cent. Trading was suspended in Indonesia and Russia where stocks fell 10 percent each on opening.

According to Bloomberg News: "The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Canada and Sweden's Riksbank cut interest rates in an emergency coordinated bid to ease the economic effects of the financial crisis."

The move by the Fed's Open Market Committee (FOMC) brings the Fed's Fund rate down to 1.5 per cent, 500 basis points below the current rate of inflation.

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney1008200...

Economic Punch Drunk Love: 3 Fascinating Financial Stories Captivating the Market: CEO Being Punched, Bank of America Past Comes Back, and the Politics of the Bailout Plan.

What does getting punched at the gym, being forced to modify a large number of loans, and screwing over the American people have in common? It is all just another day at a comfortable and secure mahogany desk job for Wall Street and our politicians.

While a large number of Americans fret over a full blown economic collapse, the crony capitalist are doing everything to maintain their stranglehold on the casino which is otherwise known as the global financial system. This weekend a survey by the Wall Street Journal found that 6 out of 10 Americans felt another Depression was possible. That is a Depression with a capital “D”, not recession as in the mythical Great Depression which apparently most of Wall Street has forgotten since they fail to examine any historical context.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/economi...

4 Reasons Why Wall Street, Politicians, and the Mainstream

October 4th, 2008 by: Dr. Housing Bubble

Congratulations! We are now the future proud owners of $700 $810 billion in the most toxic, putrid, rancid, and horrific mortgages that humankind has ever encountered. On Friday as the Congress went through their Broadway-like charade of actually debating and acting like they care about middle America, the bill which was just rejected on Monday was passed even though the 451 page new Senate bill was essentially the 110 page bill that was rejected just earlier in the week. The market at one point was up 300+ points with only a few hours before closing. Where did the DOW end the day after we sold out America to Wall Street? Down 157 points. Why? Because after this anti-climatic Wall Street bailout the American people now need to confront the reality that their politicians, Wall Street, and mainstream media don’t give a damn about them. Why? I’ll give you 4 reasons.

Point #1 - Employment

First, if you were actually paying attention to some of the market fundamentals employment is still horrific. The data came out Friday morning but most people were glued to the bailout bill passage. September saw 159,000 jobs evaporate, the worst month in over 5 years and our 9th consecutive month of job losses:



http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/the-eco...

October 6, 2008

By MIKE WHITNEY

French Premier François Fillon: "We're on the edge of the abyss”

Years from today, when the current financial crisis is over, historians are likely to agree that it would have been far better if the Bush administration had declared a state of emergency earlier in the process so that the necessary steps could have taken to avoid a complete financial meltdown. The media could have been used to bring the American people up to date on market-related developments and educated in the bizarre language of structured finance. Knowledge is power; and power can prevent panic.

Now we're in a terrible fix. People are scared and removing their money from the banks and money markets. This is intensifying the freeze in the credit markets and driving stocks into the ground like a tent stake. Meanwhile, our leaders are caught in the headlights, still believing they can finesse their way through the biggest economic cataclysm since the Great Depression.

f something is not done to increase the flow of credit immediately, the stock market will tumble, unemployment will spike, and many businesses will grind to a standstill. We could be just days away from a severe shock to the system. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson's $700 billion bailout does not focus on the fundamental problems and is likely to fail. At best, it puts off the day of reckoning for a few weeks or months. Contingency plans should be put in place so the country does not have to undergo post-Katrina bedlam.

Does Congress have any idea of the mess they've made by passing the Bailout bill? Did any Senator or congressperson voting Yes even notice, that while they were busy mortgaging off America's future, the stock market was plummeting to new lows? Between the time the ballots were cast on Paulson's bailout, and the announcement of the final tally (which was approved by a generous margin) the market went from a 310 point gain to a 157 point loss; a 467 point plunge in less than two hours.

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney1006200...

October 5, 2008

The Tampa Tribune reports from Florida. “Ernie Harpster fell behind on his mortgage payments last year. The lender filed a foreclosure lawsuit. Harpster then did something troubled homeowners may never think of doing: He fought back. Harpster has been living payment-free for nearly a year in his Wesley Chapel home. His case is trickling through court, and there are no signs he will be kicked out anytime soon. ‘Not having a mortgage payment meant I didn’t have to file for bankruptcy because I could pay other bills, like credit cards and the electric bill,’ said Harpster, whose income as a real estate agent dried up along with the market. ‘But I’m not trying to take advantage of the situation. I tried to do what I thought was right. To me, it’s the bank’s fault this has stalled.’”

“‘A lot of people just roll over because they know they’re wrong, they haven’t paid their mortgage,’ said Timothy Kingcade, a Miami lawyer. ‘If you’re accused of a crime, do you walk in court and say, ‘I did it!’? You have a right to make the bank prove its case.’”

“Homeowners who protest sometimes find their cases pushed to the bottom of the pile, said Lutz lawyer Ralph Fisher. These lenders ‘are freaking out,’ he said. ‘We’re asking them how they own this mortgage, and they can’t answer.’”

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=4988

THIS WEEK'S BEST "Mature" JOKES

For the Week of October 5, 2008

Compiled by
Carolyn Kaiser

LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot. Before the days of Dylan or the dawn of Camelot. There lived a race of innocents, they were you and me, long ago and far away in the Land of Sandra Dee.

Oh, there was truth and goodness in that land where we were born. Navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn. Ike was in the White House, and Hoss was on TV. God was in his heaven in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for the prince. Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since. We danced to "Little Darlin" and sang to "Stagger Lee" we cried for Buddy Holly in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go. At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe. Youth was still eternal, our lives were yet to be. Elvis was forever in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We'd never heard of Microwaves or telephones in cars. Babies might be bottle-fed, but they sure weren't "grown" in jars. Pumping iron got wrinkles out. "Gay" meant fancy-free. Dorms were never coed in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag. Microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag. Hardware was a box of nails. Bytes came from a flea. Rocket ships were fiction in the Land of Sandra Dee.

We had no Crest with Fluoride. We had no Hill Street Blues. We all wore superstructure bras designed by Howard Hughes. We had no patterned pantyhose, no Lipton herbal tea. No prime-time ads for condoms in the Land of Sandra Dee.

There were no golden arches, no Perriers to chill. Our fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill. Middle-age was thirty-five, old was forty-three. Ancients were our parents in the Land of Sandra Dee.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say. Now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A. They send us invitations to join AARP. We've come a long way, baby, from the Land of Sandra Dee.

So now we face a brave new world In "slightly" larger jeans. We wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines. We tell our children's children of the way it used to be, long ago and far away in the Land of Sandra Dee.



A TEST

1. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, who was that masked man? Invariably, someone would answer, I don't know, but he left this behind. What did he leave behind?____________

2. When the Beatles first came to the U.S. in early 1964, we all watched them on The __________________ Show.

3. "Get your kicks, ___________________."

4. "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed__________ _________."

5. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ________________."

6. After the Twist, The Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we "danced" under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the "_____________."

7. "N_E_S_T_L_E_S," Nestle's makes the very best _______________."

8. Satchmo was America's "Ambassador of Goodwill." Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was _________________.

09. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? _______________

10. Red Skelton's hobo character was named __________________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, "Good Night, and "_______________."

11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their____________.

12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW What other names did it go by? ____________ and _______________.

13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about, "the day the music died." This was a tribute to ___________________.

14. We can remember the first satellite placed into orbit. The Russians did it. It was called ___________________.

15. One of the big fads of the late 50's and 60's was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waist. It was called the ________________

SEE ANSWERS BELOW

DOWN MEMORY LANE

A little house with two bedrooms and one car on the street, a mower that you had to push, to make the grass look neat. In the kitchen on the wall, we only had one phone. No need for recording things - someone was always home.

We only had a living room, where we would congregate. Unless it was at meal time, in the kitchen where we ate. We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine, when meeting as a family, those two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set and channels ,maybe two, but always there was one of them, with something worth the view. For snacks, we had potato chips, that tasted like a chip, and if you wanted flavor, you made Lipton's onion dip.

Store bought snacks were rare, because mother liked to cook, nothing could compare to snacks in Betty Crocker's book. The snacks were even healthy with the best ingredients, there were no labels, with a hundred things that made no sense!

Weekends were for family trips, or staying home to play. We all did things together, even go to church to pray. When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather, no one stayed at home because we liked to be together..

Remember going to the store and shopping casually, when you went to pay for it you actually used money? Nothing that you had to swipe or punch in some amount. Remember when the cashier person had to really count?

There was a time when mailed letters came right to your door, without a lot of junk mail ads, sent out by every store. The mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent, there were not loads of mail addressed to "Present Occupant".

This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways. I love the new technology but I sure miss those days. So time moves on and so do we and nothing stays the same, but I sure love to reminisce, and walk down memory lane.

BLACK AND WHITE

You could hardly see for all the snow. Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set. "Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet." Depending on the channel you tuned you got Rob and Laura or Ward and June. It felt so good it felt so right. Life looked better in black and white.

I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys, Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys. Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane. Father Knows Best, Patty Duke, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too. Donna Reed on Thursday night! Life looked better in black and white.

I wanna go back to black and white. Everything always turned out right. Simple people, simple lives. Good guys always won the fights. Now nothing is the way it seems, in living color on the TV screen. Too many murders, too many fights, I wanna go back to black and white.

In God they trusted, alone in bed they slept. A promise made was a promise kept. They never cussed or broke their vows. They'd never make the network now. Life looked better in black and white.

I'd trade all the channels on the satellite, If I could just turn back the clock tonight. To when everybody knew wrong from right. Life was better in black and white!

DID YOU KNOW?

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can. Women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

The state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%

The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000

The youngest pope was 11 years old.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David, Hearts - Charlemagne, Clubs -Alexander, the Great, Diamonds - Julius Caesar

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? All invented by women.

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight".

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

ANSWERS TO THE TEST

1. The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet.

2. The Ed Sullivan Show

3. On Route 66

4. To protect the innocent.

5. The Lion sleeps tonight

6. The limbo

7. Chocolate

8. Louis Armstrong

9. The Timex watch

10. Freddy, The Freeloader, and "Good Night, and may God Bless."

11. Draft cards (Bras were also burned.)

12. Beetle or Bug

13. Buddy Holly

14. Sputnik

15. Hoola-hoop

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are fortunate because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message you are more fortunate than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a great year, count your blessings, and pass this along to
remind everyone else how fortunate we all are.



OH YEAH

1. Your house plants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6. You watch the Weather Channel.
7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of hook up and break up.
8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up".
10. You're the one calling the police because those damn kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13. Your car insurance goes down and your payments go up.
14. You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.
15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16. You take naps from noon to 6 PM.
17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 AM would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20. A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good stuff".
21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22. "I just can't drink the way I used to," replaces, "I'm never going to drink that much again".
23. 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24. You no longer drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25. You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you.

JUST MATURE

At the drugstore, the clerk was a gent. From my purchase this chap took off ten percent. I asked for the cause of a lesser amount; And he answered, "Because of the Seniors Discount."

I went to McDonald's for a burger and fries, and once again, got quite a surprise. The clerk poured some coffee which he handed to me. He said, "For you, Seniors, the coffee is free." Understand, I'm not old, I'm merely mature.

But some things are changing, temporarily, I'm sure. The newspaper print gets smaller each day, And people speak softer,-can't hear what they say. My teeth are my own (I have the receipt), and my glasses identify people I meet. Oh, I've slowed down a bit, not a lot, I am sure. You see, I'm not old, I'm only mature.

The gold in my hair has been bleached by the sun. You should see all the damage that chlorine has done. Washing my hair has turned it all white, But don't call it gray, saying "blond" is just right. My friends all get older, much faster than me. They seem much more wrinkled, from what I can see. I've got "character lines," not wrinkles.for sure. But don't call me old, just call me mature.

The steps in the houses they're building today are so high that they take your breath all away. The streets are much steeper than ten years ago. That should explain why my walking is slow. But I'm keeping up on what's hip and what's new. I think I can still dance a mean boogaloo. I'm still in the running, in this I'm secure. I'm not really old, I'm only mature.



THIS WEEK’S SUDDENLY SENIOR TIP

YOU DON'T STOP LAUGHING BECAUSE YOU ARE OLD
YOU GROW OLD WHEN YOU STOP LAUGHING.

HUGS, CAROLYN AND FRANK

http://www.suddenlysenior.com/jokeslatest....

by Mike Whitney / October 4th, 2008

The era of Superpower America is coming to an end. The financial crisis was the last straw. Whatever good faith was left after the invasion of Iraq and the shrugging off of international treaties, is now gone. The United States has polluted the global economic system with worthless mortgage-backed securities and, by doing so, has pushed 6 billion people closer to a long and painful recession. That’s not something that’s easy to forgive.

The anger at the US seems to be surfacing everywhere at once. It was particularly noticeable at the recent opening of the UN General Assembly. Typically, this is a tedious event full of empty political blabbering and pretentious ceremonies. But not this time. With the world sliding towards a US-created recession; foreign leaders have started lashing out at the United States more vehemently. The speeches have been blunt and acrimonious; no one is “pulling their punches” any more. Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez summed up the mood of the meetings like this:

“I think that, sooner rather than later, this empire will fall — to the benefit of the whole world, enabling a balance in the world to be created: polycentric and multi-polar. That will guarantee peace in the world. To the creation of this multi-polar world we are making our small contribution.”

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/10/the-...

By Carolyn Kaiser


If only I were able to look into your eyes and tell you how much you mean to Frank and me. Then, you could look back and tell us how damned good we look!

Well I can dream.

I'm always amazedat the Suddenly Senior audience. Last month we had readers in 176 countries, some so remote, we've had to re-explore our world atlas to find them. So many readers out there, whom we'll never meet, never get to hug, but who, every Friday, look forward to this week's version of senior wisdom. Or whatever.

Sometimes it's just plain senior foolishness.

You read the opinions, ideas and musings of two people who constantly wonder just what the hell is happening. Why can't the world be more like when we were kids? Simple. Remember? We write about stuff like that

You giggle at our corny jokes. And bless you, every morning you guys send at least 150 “new” jokes by e-mail. Sure, some of them are a bit long in the tooth but still funny, still laugh provoking, certainly fodder for the Suddenly Senior joke page

http://www.suddenlysenior.com/fullstory.ht...

Not One Dime!
October 2, 2008

By MIKE WHITNEY

For nearly a year, we have been asking ourselves why the investors and foreign banks that bought up hundreds of billions of dollars of worthless mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from US investment banks have not taken legal action against these same banks or initiated a boycott of US financial products to prevent more people from getting ripped off?

Now we know the answer. It's because, behind the scenes, Henry Paulson and Co. were working out a deal to dump the whole trillion dollar mess on the US taxpayer. That's what this whole $700 billion boondoggle is all about; wiping out the massive debts that were generated in the biggest incident of fraud in history. Rep Brad Sherman explained it Wednesday night to Larry Kudlow:

"It (The bill) provides hundreds of billions of dollars of bailouts to foreign investors. It provides no real control of Paulson's power. There is a critique board but not really a board that can step in and change what he does. It's a $700 billion program run by a part-time temporary employee and there is no limit on million dollar a month salaries....... It's very clear. The Bank of Shanghai can transfer all of its toxic assets to the Bank of Shanghai of Los Angeles which can then sell them the next day to the Treasury. I had a provision to say if it wasn't owned by an American entity even a subsidiary, but at least an entity in the US, the Treasury can't buy it. It was rejected.

http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney1002200...

Emergency Economic Stabilization Cliff Notes:
The Housing and Economic Bailout Bill of 2008 Explained.

You may recall that in the distant past (Monday) the House of Representatives voted in a decent margin to say no to the housing bailout bill. So after a 777 point market smack down, economic fear mongering, and polling politicians found out that Americans don’t like the sound of the word “bailout.” So from now on, we are supposed to call this the Economic-Rescue-Happy-Housing-Good-4-Stocks-Never-C-A-Down-Day-$700 Billion-Fun-Money bill. See how quickly our politicians respond to Main Street U.S.A.? Oh wait, on Monday the House of Representatives actually carried the will of the people to Washington D.C. in a rare form of listening to Main Street. Yet it wasn’t good enough because after all, in their eyes everyone on Main Street is a bunch of suckers so we’ll just repackage the same bill and pretend everything is different this time.

Think about it folks. This new 451 revised and amended bill is basically doing what securitization did for mortgages. That is, they are trying to repackage a bunch of crap with other more positive legislation and pretend that it is all good stuff. I wonder if this bill is triple-AAA rated? Did the Bear Stearns bailout help the market? No, but it put $29 billion of taxpayer money at risk so J.P. Morgan Chase was able to get a discount deal on a famed investment bank. What about the other bailouts of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and A.I.G.? Clearly, these have done nothing except put $200 billion and $85 billion of taxpayer money at risk respectively.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/emergen...

By Rich Miller

Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may face its longest recession in a quarter century no matter what action Congress takes on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion plan to rescue the battered banking industry.

Economists including Joseph Lavorgna of Deutsche Bank Securities and David Greenlaw of Morgan Stanley said it now appears the economy shrank in the third quarter as credit- crimped consumers cut spending for the first time since 1991. A further contraction is likely in the next two quarters, some economists predicted, which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...

Housing Bailout Bill Failure: Examining the Boondoggle Legislation and Populist Uprising against Wall Street. 5 Reason the Bill failed and 5 Easy to Implement Solutions that can be Used Today.

Instead of the House of Representatives sending in a nice sealed envelope a candy gram to Hank Paulson of $700 billion, they instead decided to listen to the people and did a reverse bailout wiping out $1.2 trillion in stock market wealth. Go figure. The House of Representatives actually listened to the massive uprising against this poorly devised bill. You wouldn’t know this from the mainstream media since they of course know much more about the markets than us regular citizens and had already started creating Photoshop templates of “bailout success!” to run for the entire day next to their tickers. In addition, we have a large group of politicians (not economist or those with understanding of the markets) telling us that if we don’t sign off, there would be hell to pay. Guess what? That price tag was $1.2 trillion today.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/housing...

September 30, 2008

Congress Didn't Dare Say Yes

By PAM MARTENS

“I got a lot of Ph.D. types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, ‘Mr. President, here’s what’s on my mind.’ And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device (sic), I decide, you know, I say, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ And it’s ‘Yes, sir, Mr. President.’ And then we get after it, implement policy.”

-- President George W. Bush, October 3, 2007

Pity poor President Bush. He’s been pushed aside as The Decider. The Decider’s strut and press entourage, along with the coffers of the United States, were to be handed to Henry M. (Hank) Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary, who was to have sweeping authority to share newly augmented plunder with his cronies on Wall Street and set up a vast new bailout bureaucracy, all at taxpayer expense.

But, at last, the People’s House may be listening to the people. The House of Representatives voted yesterday to reject the bailout measure 228 to 205.

What a truly Orwellian message this proposal would have sent to our nation’s children and honest, hard working people everywhere: loot and collapse a 200-year old financial system and you’ll be rewarded with a fresh $700 billion of public money to disperse among your cronies who aided and abetted in the collapse.

http://www.counterpunch.org/

September 30, 2008

charles hugh smith

Like many of you, I recently called my Mom to discuss protecting her nestegg of mutual funds and bonds. She commented that the entire hysteria and the supposedly pressing need to pass fascist legislation reminded her of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein.

I immediately concurred, for the Bush/Paulson/Bernanke "panic" and "plan" to hand unlimited funds and power without judicial or congressional oversight was ripped straight from the "Chicago School's" playbook of inducing a financial panic in developing nations and then moving in to "reform" the system into crony capitalism, a.k.a. corporate and political fascism joined at the hip--all covered with a veneer of propagandistic appeal to "restoring confidence in the market."

As Klein carefully documents, the key elements in such a takeover are threats of financial collapse and a false urgency--both key drivers of the Paulson Plan. Lapdog Bernanke performed like any well-trained circus pup, mouthing absurdities, i.e. substantial benefits would flow to the taxpayers were we to grossly overpay for toxic assets held by insolvent banks.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html

Global Investors Vote "No" on Paulson Bailout

By MIKE WHITNEY

The wrangling continued on the floor of the House of Representatives all weekend, but it is still unclear whether there's enough support to pass Treasury Secretary Paulson's $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Paulson says he has the votes, but Paulson has been wrong before. The bigger question, is whether buying up the illiquid mortgage-backed assets from the nation's banks will be enough to save the financial system from an impending meltdown. The jury is out on that question, too. Professor Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics, summed it up like this, "You're not resolving the two fundamental issues: You still have to recapitalize the banking system, and household debt is going to stay high". A large number of economists believe Roubini is right. The bill will not solve the underlying problems.

Still, senators and congressmen are expected to hold their noses and pass Paulson's bailout into law anyway, fearing that if they don't, the country's financial system will come crashing down around them. They could be right, too. The banking system is undercapitalized, the credit markets are frozen, and foreign creditors are beginning to slow their purchases of US debt. It's all bad. At the same time the number of casualties among the financial giants--Bear Stearns, Indymac, AIG, Lehman, Washington Mutual--continues to grow. Three more struggling European banks were added to the list of financial institutions that needed emergency government assistance this past weekend. It's no wonder Congress feels like they have to do something to stop the bleeding.

Before the stock market opened on Monday, the futures markets had slumped heavily into negative territory, while the TED spread, an indicator of stress in interbank lending, had widened to 3.19, a level that suggests another rocky week of trading ahead. Could this be another Black Monday?

http://www.counterpunch.org/