Your daily bowl of gruel from the rich and powerful

[shemp]

I'm going to use this thread to present you with your daily dose of bs from the rich, powerful and connected. They'd like you to think that everything is jusy fine and okey-dokey, that you should be happy with your daily allotment of gruel while they enjoy lobster and caviar, and they'd like you to pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Today's pap is brought to you by the new Chairman of Citgroup, Richard Parsons, who asks you to please be kind those poor, misunderstood bankers, and that it's not really their fault, you're partly to blame too:

New Citi Chair: Bankers Aren't "Villains" (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/07/business/main4925154.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories)

Everybody "Has Some Part Of The Blame" For Financial Crisis, Richard Parsons Says

Citigroup Inc.'s new board chairman, Richard Parsons, said financial institutions are being targeted for creating the nation's financial crisis, but they aren't the only ones responsible.

"Everybody participated in pumping up this balloon. Now the balloon has deflated," he said Monday. "Everybody, in reality, has some part of the blame. But it's much more in the culture to find a villain and vilify the villain."

I suppose then that we should all turn ourselves in immediately for questioning?

"We had a big party in this country," said Parsons, a longtime Citigroup board member who succeeded Win Bischoff as chairman at Citigroup.

No, you had a big party, and we paid for it.

Parsons said as a board member since the mid-1990s, he shares some of the responsibility "for where we find ourselves."

"That's one of the reasons I took this job," he said.

No, it's one of the reasons why you should not be allowed to have this job, nor any other in the financial sector.

Parsons said he's working with management, the Obama administration and regulators to deal with the bank's bad assets.

Translation: "We're going to sucker you into taking them off our hands so we can get back to raking in big dough."

He said President Barack Obama is trying to steer a fine line between identifying with frustrated taxpayers and getting banks to do what they are supposed to do.

What I've seen out of Barack Obama so far is that he's doing what his corporate masters want him to do, which is for the government to bend over and take all their debt up the keister so they can get back to the party.

Another source of public outrage is executive compensation, which may seem like "megadollars" to some, he said.

"It's much more complicated than that," he said.

No, actually it's pretty simple:

1. Identify who broke laws, arrest and try them, and incarcerate them if convicted.

2. Identify those who didn't break laws but were also responsible for the mess, make them pay to clean up the mess, and never let them work in any financial services business again.

"There's no doubt the compensation structure that Wall Street has implemented needs to and will undergo some serious change and modification going forward. "

Translation: Business as usual.

[ServiceSoon]

I suppose then that we should all turn ourselves in immediately for questioning?Surely you think the people who falsified their income and financial situations are to blame too?

No, you had a big party, and we paid for it.Didn't AIG pay dividends to shareholders? Does you = AIG employees?

No, it's one of the reasons why you should not be allowed to have this job, nor any other in the financial sector.Who would you prefer? I wouldn't want a plumber operating on me. Seems like a docter should practice medicine.

[GreNME]

No, actually it's pretty simple:

1. Identify who broke laws, arrest and try them, and incarcerate them if convicted.

2. Identify those who didn't break laws but were also responsible for the mess, make them pay to clean up the mess, and never let them work in any financial services business again.

I don't think most people in this country can wait for children to grow up and replace them, because there sure as heck aren't going to be enough people to work in the financial sector if we did that.

Maybe we outsource it?

* GreNME eyes Mexico

[tyr_13]

Look north GreNMe! The Canadians are supposed to be really nice and honest, and better in every way than Americans besides being boring.*

*this is a joke derrrrr

[GreNME]

I don't trust them Canucks. They make that sweet, sweet elixir (maple syrup) for some nefarious purpose, I'm sure...

[billydkid]

I'm going to use this thread to present you with your daily dose of bs from the rich, powerful and connected. They'd like you to think that everything is jusy fine and okey-dokey, that you should be happy with your daily allotment of gruel while they enjoy lobster and caviar, and they'd like you to pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Today's pap is brought to you by the new Chairman of Citgroup, Richard Parsons, who asks you to please be kind those poor, misunderstood bankers, and that it's not really their fault, you're partly to blame too:

New Citi Chair: Bankers Aren't "Villains" (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/07/business/main4925154.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories)



I suppose then that we should all turn ourselves in immediately for questioning?



No, you had a big party, and we paid for it.



No, it's one of the reasons why you should not be allowed to have this job, nor any other in the financial sector.



Translation: "We're going to sucker you into taking them off our hands so we can get back to raking in big dough."



What I've seen out of Barack Obama so far is that he's doing what his corporate masters want him to do, which is for the government to bend over and take all their debt up the keister so they can get back to the party.



No, actually it's pretty simple:

1. Identify who broke laws, arrest and try them, and incarcerate them if convicted.

2. Identify those who didn't break laws but were also responsible for the mess, make them pay to clean up the mess, and never let them work in any financial services business again.



Translation: Business as usual.
I used to watch Morning Joe until I couldn't take it anymore. I would like to bash Joe's head into a wall and strangle what's her name. That being said - last time I watched Joe kept braying "It's all our faults!!!" and "It's everybody's fault!!!" whenever anybody went off on the central bankers and Wall Street. I'm sorry, it's just not my fault and it's not my next door neighbors fault and it's not the people who sweep the floors around here for minimum wage's fault. We didn't all live miles beyond our means and we didn't all bundle shabby mortgage fractions together and make a killing selling fool's gold. We didn't all pass legislation compelling mortgage brokers to give mortgages to people who couldn't begin to afford them. We didn't all game the system and become billionaires by virtue of our unique access to the levers economic power. We didn't all spend millions lobbying to get economic legislation passed that would line our pockets as the expense of everyone else.

[Malkuth]

Besides banks, there was reduced regulatory oversight, loans to unqualified borrowers were encouraged and people took out mortgages or home-equity loans they couldn't afford.

So, besides banks, he blames derugulation of banking practices ie. govt, and his last 2 points are essentially about deregulated or predatory bank practices.

To recap, besides banks, he blame banks, government, bad banks, naughty banks and public ignorance of bad banking and bad investment practice.

[Corsair 115]

Look north GreNMe! The Canadians are supposed to be really nice and honest, and better in every way than Americans besides being boring.


Well, for what it's worth, we did have the good sense to have rules and regulations in place which prevented our financial system from falling into the sorry state of affairs the U.S. financial system currently finds itself in.

So, at least in regards to the banking system, we were better than the U.S.

[Prometheus]

Please, Sir, may I have some more?

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Well, for what it's worth, we did have the good sense to have rules and regulations in place which prevented our financial system from falling into the sorry state of affairs the U.S. financial system currently finds itself in.

So, at least in regards to the banking system, we were better than the U.S.

Plus, boring is good, eh? :)

[tyr_13]

Well, for what it's worth, we did have the good sense to have rules and regulations in place which prevented our financial system from falling into the sorry state of affairs the U.S. financial system currently finds itself in.

So, at least in regards to the banking system, we were better than the U.S.

So did we. Why we removed those rule so completely is beyond me. I know, it was to beat the Commies, or the Cardies. Damn Cardasians.

[casebro]

Real estate has been escalating for 40 years. Who would have thunk that it couldn't go on for ever? For many people, the shady mortgages worked just fine. They got in, refi-ed later, and now own a house. The ones that got burned just had bad timing. Those are the minority. I don't think the problem was so much lack of regulation, or crooked banking practices, it is just that the era of real estate inflation is over. Maybe also is the growth that fueled that inflation. I think we had a Ponzi scheme where in all of us were Ponzi.

Now we need to base the world economy on stability, rather than growth. No more dividends or bonuses based on stock value, but instead on the profit from production. No more merger-itis to increase overall size (and value) of a company, but day-to-day running of the companies at a profit.

[tyr_13]

Real estate has been escalating for 40 years. Who would have thunk that it couldn't go on for ever? For many people, the shady mortgages worked just fine. They got in, refi-ed later, and now own a house. The ones that got burned just had bad timing. Those are the minority. I don't think the problem was so much lack of regulation, or crooked banking practices, it is just that the era of real estate inflation is over. Maybe also is the growth that fueled that inflation. I think we had a Ponzi scheme where in all of us were Ponzi.

Now we need to base the world economy on stability, rather than growth. No more dividends or bonuses based on stock value, but instead on the profit from production. No more merger-itis to increase overall size (and value) of a company, but day-to-day running of the companies at a profit.

Actually the housing financing wouldn't have been a problem if the banks hadn't been the same ones insuring the loans and whatnot. You know, the same regulations that used to be in place would have prevented this if they had been left in place.

[bruto]

Who would you prefer? I wouldn't want a plumber operating on me. Seems like a docter should practice medicine.

This argument seems weak. Of course, I'd rather have a doctor operating on me, but a doctor whose patients all bleed to death on the table is not the one I want. The hotshot bankers may be smart, but they are the ones whose irresponsible, misguided behavior and utter cluelessness about what risk actually means have virtually wiped out the economy of the entire world. Nobody could have done it worse! If the alternatives are a plumber who will kill me cheaply or a surgeon who will kill me expensively, the plumber would be a pretty good bargain, but that's not the only alternative. The bankers who made the mess are not the only bankers. There are people who have not made these mistakes. People who screw up badly should be fired, and replaced.

The idea that only those who invented and negotiated the complex dealings and evanescent financial instruments that have ruined us can un-ruin us is silly. The reason the disaster happened is precisely because the people who thought they understood did not. People who really did understand said "This is bull ****" and didn't get into it. Maybe Citibank should hire the president of the Orwell Savings Bank or the National Iron Bank of Falls Village. They wrote mortgages and made loans and ran banks, but they're not broke!

[shemp]

Please, Sir, may I have some more?

You certainly may:

Fannie, Freddie To Pay $210M In Bonuses (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/03/business/main4918503.shtml)

Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to pay more than $210 million in bonuses through next year to give workers the incentive to stay in their jobs at the government-controlled companies.

Yeah, they need a lot of incentive to stay when there's nowhere to go.

The companies' federal regulator, James Lockhart of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, defended the bonuses in a March 27 letter to Grassley, noting that the collapse of the company's stock prices "destroyed years of savings for many" workers. The companies' stocks now trade below $1, down from more than $60 in fall 2007.

I guess the poor dears will only be able to enjoy dining on lobster and caviar at their private clubs four nights a week instead of seven.

Earlier this week, the House passed a bill that aims to keep bailed-out financial institutions from paying their employees hefty bonuses after lawmakers had second thoughts about their vote two weeks ago to tax the bonuses away. The bill would allow the bonuses if the Treasury Department and financial regulators determine they are not "unreasonable or excessive."

Initially after the AIG flap, President Barack Obama had said he would "do everything we can to get those bonuses back." But the White House later backed down as it worked to ensure any restrictions on bonuses didn't alienate the banks and investors needed to help clean up the financial mess.

Yes, Mr. Obama is showing his fine skills as AIG's "house boy."

[shemp]

Today's bowl of gruel, brought to you by the SEC:

SEC Spends Millions To Reorganize Desks (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/04/07/cbsnews_investigates/main4927475.shtml)

While Wall Street executives were sinking the economy and Bernard Madoff was ripping off investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was engaged in a multi-million dollar effort to...rearrange their desk chairs at their Washington D.C. headquarters.

"This is a total waste of time that we should be spending conducting investigations," said Steve Ellis, Vice-President of Taxpayers for Common Sense who calls SEC’s $3.9 million dollar desk reorganization "preposterous."

According to a new report from David Kotz, the Inspector General for the SEC, employees were subjected to a massive reorganization in 2007 and 2008 that they now say was unnecessary and did not improve organization or communication. Over 600 employees, 81% of those surveyed by the Inspector General, said that the rearranging of desks was not "worth the cost and time."

The 'Restacking Project' relocated approximately 1,750 employees over 7 floors of the SEC’s headquarters. However, the Inspector General's report concludes that there are "serious questions about whether the [reorganization] project was necessary and whether it had any meaningful impact on communication among or productivity of the staff."

$3.9 million to move 1,750 desks works out to over $2,000 per desk. $2,000 TO MOVE EACH GODDAMN DESK??? I bet most of that money went to consultants. I wonder if any of them were Feng Shui consultants, because there's some seriously bad karma going on at the SEC.

[timhau]

Please, Sir, may I have some more?

No. We're all out of gruel, and you wouldn't like this filet mignon. And this Chateau Lafitte is from one of their more forgettable years.

[Beerina]

Surely you think the people who falsified their income and financial situations are to blame too?

Not only that, but simply, and legally, just made a poor decision to take out the loan. I'm in that boat, lest someone think I'm playing a "...those stoopid idiots!" rhetorical game.



Keep in mind the larger context of all this -- there's a whole trial balloon, partly successful, addressing the quite-valid concerns of many Americans who didn't make "little white lies" or just make a risky decision that backfired.


And, everybody on both sides also acknowledge the ludicrous posturing by Congress all along this multi-trillion dollar (yikes!) bailout/stimulus out of control train careening down a mountain with no brakes.

[aerosolben]

Not only that, but simply, and legally, just made a poor decision to take out the loan.
People try to take out loans they can't afford all the time. The particular circumstances of the bubble is that the banks made the poor decision to actually GIVE them the loans.

The greater your scope of influence, the greater the responsibility you bear and the greater culpability you have when things go wrong (and, generally, the greater rewards you reap when they go well).