Comments on: Bailout

By: Alan K. Henderson

Alan K. Henderson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:19:23 +0000

Would there be anything wrong with liquidating Fannie and Freddie and allowing somebody responsible to buy up their assets?

By: Jerry Doodle

Jerry Doodle — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:33:40 +0000

DMD
Suspended his campaign? C’mon…Michael Tomasky is calling it suspendiness: saying that McCain still has ads up in the battleground states and surrogates bashing Obama on the TV.
And any Dem who can’t see that this bailout was tailor made to hang around the neck of Majority Party in Congress like a $Trillion albatross deserves to get his ass trounced in November. This piece of excrement couldn’t pass without the idiot Democrats.

By: DMD

DMD — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:19:15 +0000

Jerry–
Which would make sense politically if McCain hadn’t suspended his campaign yesterday. By suspending his campaign activities, he’s clearly bought into the idea that some kind of bailout is necessary and he needs to be in Washington to capitalize on its passage. McCain could have easily distanced himself and railed against the bailout from the stump.
I think by suspending his campaign and proposing canceling Friday’s debate McCain is trying to brandish his image as a bipartisan hero who gets things done for the nation. I don’t think it’s going to work in this case, though, because the public is largely against the bailout.

By: Jerry Doodle

Jerry Doodle — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:12:11 +0000

October Surprise. Oooohhh, these Democrats are sharp as tacks! Democrats fear this morning that McCain is setting up a scenario in which he will vote against the (bailout) bill, rally conservatives to his side and, most importantly, distance himself from both President Bush and Congress before the election.

By: Eric Seymour

Eric Seymour — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:19:35 +0000

So will the president start by asking me to give back the $1800 he gave me earlier this year?
Matt, excuse me for my quibble, but I thought this year’s tax rebate was between $300 and $600 for an individual ($600 and $1200 for a married couple who filed jointly). How is it that you got $1800?

By: Jerry Doodle

Jerry Doodle — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:19:01 +0000

Perfect timing. This bailout plan has been in the pipeline for months, yet the Bush team chose to drop it on Congress the week before adjournment for the elections. But then, the way the Paulson Plan was dropped on us is the way the Bush White House always drops things on us. Remember the dire warnings about what would happen if we didn’t invade Iraq? Or pass the Patriot Act? Or grant retroactive immunity to the White House and telcoms for possibly illegal surveillance of Americans? We fall for it every time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…
As for our current “crisis.” We are not hearing dire warnings coming from financial analysts or economists that “something must be done” within days. We are hearing them come from the Bush White House and the interested parties.
About the bailout itself. Analysts insist that the critical part of it is the price the government pays for the “troubled” assets it buys from banks. If the government pays too much, taxpayers get hosed. The Paulson Plan has us paying a future “hold-to-maturity” price that is higher than the prices the banks are currently valuing their troubled assets. Warren Buffett says that’s “too much.” He thinks the appropriate price would be market value, which he believes is below the price the banks are currently carrying their troubled assets. So why doesn’t Paulson insist that taxpayers pay the fair market price? Answer: Because the banks insist that the price is too low and so they won’t play ball!
What does Henry Blodgett think we should do?
The answer is either to let them crash and burn and come begging for a bailout–at which point you nuke their shareholders completely AND/OR put a time-limit on the bailout offer, so they have to weigh their own self-interest vs. possible self-destruction. And in any case, you take equity, too, so you don’t get screwed while their shareholders zoom.

By: Alan K. Henderson

Alan K. Henderson — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:27:45 +0000

NRO writer John Hood has advice: If you want to learn how to manage a winning baseball team, don't spend a lot of time talking to losing baseball managers... In the current financial debate...don't spend a lot of time talking to Fannie/Freddie apologists and Wall Streeters. They have huge personal incentives to spin you, incentives that do not necessarily align with the interests of taxpayers. Instead, talk to leaders of banking and finance firms that continue to perform fairly well in a difficult environment. He goes on to quote John Allison, chairman of the successful North Carolina's BB&T. Allison puts the blame on "government policies including, affordable housing (now sub-prime), combined with the market disruptions caused by the Federal Reserve holding interest rates too low and then raising interest rates too high."

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:21:59 +0000

I really don’t understand how people like Doug, and everyone else, seem to seperate “Wall Street investors” from everyone else.
Do people realize that this meltdown is affecting virtually everyone with a 401k retirement account, everyone with a 529 plan, and everyone with a few bucks invested in the stock market?
This is a terrible situation, fueled by speculators and irresponsible behavior. I recognize that our government is in unchartered and possibly unconstitutional waters here, but to tell out govt to do nothing, and let this bubble destroy the savings of millions of people that have saved their whole lives seems irresponsible and wrong.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:41:19 +0000

I knew this guy in law school who was really generous and put everything on his credit card. He was already so far in the hole, he didn’t care. “They don’t have debtor’s prisons any more,” was one of his favorite lines.
This bailout makes me think of him. Essentially, we’re giving Chinese money to Wall Street investors. What could go wrong?

By: Matt Brown

Matt Brown — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:27:47 +0000

So will the president start by asking me to give back the $1800 he gave me earlier this year?