The Bailout

[Anaxogoras]

I suppose the complete and utter failure of the global economic system was the better, more rational choice?

Let it die.  The sooner we take control of our own money supply instead of leaving it up to international financiers the better.

The dollar lost 2% against the Euro in a single day recently because of this bailout scheme.  Guess what the fed would have to do to prevent inflation after this blank check is signed...

[Mojava]

 Seems like they could just give everyone in the US 1 million $ and be done with it, and save a whole lot of money. 

[kamilyun]

700 billion is only about $6000 per household in the US.  Suck it up patriots, we can all afford it.  That doesn't even include businesses, small and large, who have to do their patriotic duty as well.  Although it seems all the large businesses are receiving more patriotism these days and everyone else is having to chip in.

[SD67]

the BIG businesses will pack up and run faster than you would believe.
I'm willing to bet they've got nice plush offices picked out in Beijing already.

[Bodhi]

There should be accountability. You don't give someone absolute power and expect them not to abuse it.

John McCain seems to think the same way I do. You voting for Obama now Moray or you just jumping in to oppose something because I posted it without doing any research?

I'll take stupid kneejerk reactions for $1000, Alex.

I agree with you RPM, in that the language in that bill is absolutely scary.  Unfortunately I think the language was intended to keep this from becoming an argument and delaying time which is critical for this bail out to work.  In the end, it is just going to be abused, and not just by the Secretary.  When the rest of Congress realizes that their invest house is collapsing, you can bet the Secretary's phone will be ringing off the hook.

The only fair thing I can see happening out of all this would be for the US People to be issued stock in each company that gets any of this money.  Only when that money that is given back to the people (+ reasonable interest and increase of value) should the stock holders get a flipping dime.

[crockett]

You guys know the best part, is part of this 700 billion will include foreign owned banks. So American tax payers will be bailing out foreign banks.

[crockett]

the BIG businesses will pack up and run faster than you would believe.
I'm willing to bet they've got nice plush offices picked out in Beijing already.

Yea look at halliburton, they moved or are moving their headquarters to Dubai so they don't have to pay taxes in the US. That's what "great American" companies do these days, to show their appreciation to the US after the tax payers dollars were given to them via billions of dollars worth of no bid contracts.

Go Team America!   

[Bodhi]

Yea look at halliburton, they moved or are moving their headquarters to Dubai so they don't have to pay taxes in the US. That's what "great American" companies do these days, to show their appreciation to the US after the tax payers dollars were given to them via billions of dollars worth of no bid contracts.

Go Team America!   

Well, crockett, when democrat law makers continue to suggest that American Companies pay more and more taxes, sane CEO's realize that they can not continue to be cash cows for a Congress that has lost it's mind.  But hey, you already knew that... 

[Anaxogoras]

Make the politicians pay for voting for it.  If your congressperson/senator votes for it, vote for someone else, and tell them why.

[crockett]

Well, crockett, when democrat law makers continue to suggest that American Companies pay more and more taxes, sane CEO's realize that they can not continue to be cash cows for a Congress that has lost it's mind.  But hey, you already knew that... 

These companies get tax cuts and breaks just like a normal individual does. Hell many of them even get subsidies from the federal govt, so they are only paying the full 39% if they have some pretty dumb book keepers or making insane amounts of profits.

[lazs2]

wow sd..  I didn't know you lived here.

I know builders and realators..  The builders were forced to build so many low income homes with every project and the realators and loan companies were forced to make the loans.    Cities and states forced so much low income housing for every bit of growth.

This opened the floodgates.. once you approve "creative lending" (read, make up loans for people who can't afford em) you allow everyone in..  everyone becomes low income as the cost of housing skyrockets due to demand.

when the bubble burst you are left with a segment of people who should never have bought a home and a bunch of bad investment types all defaulting.

It had nothing to do with deregulation unless you call making it easy to offer idiotic loans to people who can't afford em "deregulation"   

Some of the most heavily regulated institutions are going broke.. some of the least are doing well.  It is not regulation or lack of it.

Please explain what deregulation.. the removal of what regulation caused this and..  what was the reason for said removal of that regulation.

The institutions that made bad loans should fail.. the ones that didn't should prosper.. any money that was spent to meet federal and state regulations to get "low income and minority" people into homes should be repayed to the institutions by the government and those requirements removed in the future.

lazs

[Bodhi]

These companies get tax cuts and breaks just like a normal individual does. Hell many of them even get subsidies from the federal govt, so they are only paying the full 39% if they have some pretty dumb book keepers or making insane amounts of profits.

Wasn't it your girl Pelosi and the rest of her leftist scumbags in Congress screaming about the oil companies making huge profits (even though they pay their taxes) and needing to pay more?  Wasn't they (scumbag leftist's like Pelosi) misleading the public into thinking that the oil company's huge profits far out weighed what they paid in taxes and that they (the oil companies) needed to pay more?  Wasn't it your girl Pelosi and the rest of that left controlled scumbag congress that was omitting the fact that oil companies make on average 7 to 9 cents a gallon on gasoline, while the federal government makes 18.4 cents a gallon?

What you fail to realize every time you whine about another company moving offshore is that it's all because some liberal whiney knucklehead in Congress is screaming about taking more money, even after these Company's pay their fair share.

[Thruster]

You know, it's conceivable that a plan could be worked out that might even show a profit after all the smoke clears. But only in a Harry Potter/Star Wars kind of way. The problem is and always has been the betrayal of trust committed by employees if the various agencies we task with regulating these programs.

From what I get from the text it's a ploy to spend an enormous sum of money without any strings attached. No procedural mandates, no financial qualifiers, no accountability. Looks like the Patriot Act writ large.

It's nothing but a blank check seemingly worded to specifically open the door for massive abuse. If congress lets this pass, it's time for another "million man march". Only this time everybody has to bring a baseball bat.

[bongaroo]

Well, crockett, when democrat law makers continue to suggest that American Companies pay more and more taxes, sane CEO's realize that they can not continue to be cash cows for a Congress that has lost it's mind.  But hey, you already knew that... 

Yeah, especially when it might cut into their millions in salary and bonuses.  Halliburton had already begun planning to bail before 2006 under a REPUBLICAN controlled congress and presidency.  Read it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/12/business/12haliburton.html?ex=1331438400&en=4f12642ec49b486a&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The Dubai announcement, which Halliburton made at a regional energy conference in Bahrain, comes at a time when the company is being investigated by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of improper dealings in Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria. Halliburton has also agreed to pay billions of dollars in settlements in asbestos litigation.

The asbestos thing is because they bought a company that was in litigation and isn't really relevent.

Anyways, those no-bid contracts to KBR, a company owned by Halliburton, which Mr. Cheney was running until becoming VP, have always been high on my list of deplorable actions our government has ever engaged in.  No-bid contracts for 30+ billion dollars?!?!?!?!  That's lunacy!

But honestly we don't have just one party or another to thank for all this.  I think we have both parties to blame.  They all gave into the millionaire lobbyist's that pushed and pushed for deregulations.  The neutering of the SEC.

This all went down years ago.  But look where we are now, the overvalued housing market popped.  Banks that were making mad cash on giving loans with low beginning rates but lots of nasty fine print to people they were happy to foreclose on suddenly are stuck with thousands and thousands of homes that aren't worth what they were valued at 5 years ago.
They have nowhere near the real capital they thought they had last year.  Their stocks nosedive.  Now everyone's investments are tanking.  On and on the effects trickle through our system.

I've rambled too much and been interupted a couple times writing this, sorry if it's disjointed.

Giving an unelected official a blank check with no oversight and such broad power will only lead to further abuse and ruin.  Disgusting.

[Dos Equis]

Well, crockett, when democrat law makers continue to suggest that American Companies pay more and more taxes, sane CEO's realize that they can not continue to be cash cows for a Congress that has lost it's mind.  But hey, you already knew that... 

So, you support Halliburton moving to Dubai then?