U.s. Banking Crisis: Capitalism "gone Wild"?

[Lopburi99]

Like the crazy girls on the bus, many "Gone Wild" characteristics: lack of scruples, manic-driven behavior, minimal oversight, borderline lawlessness, organized chaos, disregard for decency, questionable morality, anything-goes attitude, look the other way, if it feels good it's OK, lack of accountability - add to all these an intense greed factor and is THIS what results?

"Capitalism Gone Wild?"

Now the U.S. populace must protect capitalism from itself. Unbelievable. Greatest nation in the world?

Edited September 21, 2008 by Lopburi99

[britmaveric]

Unfortunately the whole world got involved with this sketchy financial transactions - look for quite a few foreign banks to deep six in the near future. Bottom line - greed is the root cause of this.

Edited September 21, 2008 by britmaveric

[Lopburi99]

Unfortunately the whole world got involved with this sketchy financial transactions - look for quite a few foreign banks to deep six in the near future. Bottom line - greed is the root cause of this.

You're right of course, Brit. The tentacles (metastases) are worldwide. What a mess.

[lannarebirth]

Capitalism "gone Wild"?, What do you think?

I think the Buddha was correct when he said "Greed, Hate and Delusion are the cause of suffering".

[PeaceBlondie]

And the brother of Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

lehnman brothers, freddie mac, fannie mae, goldman sachs, aig insurance, etc. - no longer worthy of upper case letters. And bailed out by the world's largest debtor, who has not finished paying off the money it borrowed to save Europe from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is enough to make a pensioner like me afraid I might lose my COLA's before my sister ever sells her house in Florida.

It makes you think that ford and general motors are too big to fail, also.

[Wrong Turn]

And the brother of Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

lehnman brothers, freddie mac, fannie mae, goldman sachs, aig insurance, etc. - no longer worthy of upper case letters. And bailed out by the world's largest debtor, who has not finished paying off the money it borrowed to save Europe from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is enough to make a pensioner like me afraid I might lose my COLA's before my sister ever sells her house in Florida.

It makes you think that ford and general motors are too big to fail, also.

Spot on post, post PB, because if focuses on something that may affect us all.

Our future.

There could be more problems on the horizon. We'll have to wait and see.

I don't think the annual deficits which compile the US national debt can go on forever, also.

Profits are privatized; losses are socialized.

[flying]

Spot on post, post PB, because if focuses on something that may affect us all.

Our future.

Just what I was thinking myself.

The other day when they said how much was wiped from the pensions etc...

I thought of all those folks who had their nose to the grindstone all those years & were close to retirement or had already retired. How they must feel???

Then the younger ones too who always said "well there will be no SS for us anyway."

Looks more true now than before

For folks like me who have been self employed most of their life......Well it did not change much in my case but it may affect the coming years where I was planning to catch up

[LaoPo]

And the brother of Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

lehnman brothers, freddie mac, fannie mae, goldman sachs, aig insurance, etc. - no longer worthy of upper case letters. And bailed out by the world's largest debtor, who has not finished paying off the money it borrowed to save Europe from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is enough to make a pensioner like me afraid I might lose my COLA's before my sister ever sells her house in Florida.

It makes you think that ford and general motors are too big to fail, also.

GM is on the brink of bankruptcy...watch it...The BIG 3 are begging for $ 50 Billion help from DC...

And...too big you say ? What workers is concerned YES; not in Market Cap.....

The market Cap of GM is a mere $ 7,5 Billion (263,000 workers) and Ford (246,000 workers) has a Market Cap of $ 12 Billion.

In comparison: Garmin (8,400 workers), the GPS device manufacturer has a Market Cap of $ 7,9 Billion and Microsoft (91,000 workers) 230 Billion whilst Apple (21,000) goes for 125 Billion. and CISCO (66,000 workers) the Networking company has a Market Cap of $ 143 Billion.

A large part of America is bankrupt, completely bankrupt and the DEBT of the US rises with this rescue operation with $ 700 Billion, from $ 10,6 to 11,3 TRILLION....

that is: ten-thousand-three-hundred BILLION Dollars is debt....

Someone a cookie with his coffee ?

LaoPo

[OriginalPoster]

Unfortunately the whole world got involved with this sketchy financial transactions - look for quite a few foreign banks to deep six in the near future. Bottom line - greed is the root cause of this.

Not exactly, the problem was not greed per se. The problem was that a situation evolved where risk was shifted away from people who originally assumed the risk and onto third parties and short-term financial gain was experience by all involved. It was a cascading series of events passing the risk off to the next guy -- first a clown decides to try to borrow 100% or more of the value of a house in order to buy it, then a bank official approves it knowing that the debt is goign to get wrapped into devivatives and sold off, then investment banks buy up the debt, then housing prices decline and an unmanagebale number of those original slobs default on their mortages. The dumbest ones might have been the final ones in the chain (the investment bankers who are supposed to be financially saavy), but the problem traces back to the orignal clown who bought the house he couldn't afford. Remarkably, the media has painted those slobs as being the victims in this story, rather than as dregs of society who think nothing of not repaying money loaned to them.

Edited September 21, 2008 by OriginalPoster

[Lopburi99]

Spot on post, post PB, because if focuses on something that may affect us all.

Our future.

Just what I was thinking myself.

The other day when they said how much was wiped from the pensions etc...

I thought of all those folks who had their nose to the grindstone all those years & were close to retirement or had already retired. How they must feel???

Then the younger ones too who always said "well there will be no SS for us anyway."

Looks more true now than before

For folks like me who have been self employed most of their life......Well it did not change much in my case but it may affect the coming years where I was planning to catch up

No way the kids will ever see any SS money. With all the baby boomers soon starting to draw their SSA benefits, the monthly cash outflow from the treasury will boggle the mind! We'll be lucky if the existing payments can be sustained over time. As for the unfortunate young workers currently paying for our SSA direct deposits, IMPOSSIBLE they will ever see a cent (unless they become disabled). IMHO.

[flying]

but the problem traces back to the orignal clown who bought the house he couldn't afford. Remarkably, the media has painted those slobs as being the victims in this story, rather than as dregs of society who think nothing of not repaying money loaned to them.

At times I agree with you.

At times I hate the thought that those guys shirk their responsibilities at the cost of others.

At other times I think......The banks shirked by loaning to those they KNEW could not repay. Heck they called it Ninja loans right? Then I think....... It was the have-nots seeing a small chance to have & those who knew better egged them on. Like offering food to a hungry person

Why wouldn't a life long renter not take it?

Beats me

[flying]

As for the unfortunate young workers currently paying for our SSA direct deposits, IMPOSSIBLE they will ever see a cent (unless they become disabled). IMHO.

Ouch Sad thought indeed

[teacup]

I and many of my uni friends, we are the generationX and had written off the SSA loooong time ago…..don’t think we will see a dime of it.

So we are just doing our own private nesteggs basket ourselves - so far so good.

[OriginalPoster]

I and many of my uni friends, we are the generationX and had written off the SSA loooong time ago…..don't think we will see a dime of it.

So we are just doing our own private nesteggs basket ourselves - so far so good.

I graduated from university in 1982 and I and most of my uni friends also had written off SSA. I'm not sure that this altered financial planning (or lack thereof) of many of those people, but for more than a generation most have been viewing the 7% SSA tax taken out of their check each month and the 7% that their employer kicks as being nothing more than an income tax.

[teacup]

I and many of my uni friends, we are the generationX and had written off the SSA loooong time ago…..don't think we will see a dime of it.

So we are just doing our own private nesteggs basket ourselves - so far so good.

I graduated from university in 1982 and I and most of my uni friends also had written off SSA. I'm not sure that this altered financial planning (or lack thereof) of many of those people, but for more than a generation most have been viewing the 7% SSA tax taken out of their check each month and the 7% that their employer kicks as being nothing more than an income tax.

OHH....U r much older than me then

That’s why many of us (I + uni friends) we are very aggressive in putting into the ROTH and among other things - and managing our own funds and portfolio

Actually to be exact

6.2% = SSA + same amount of employer matching of 6.2%

1.45% = Medicare

So that whoopping almost 8% off our paycheck and plus income tax too of course

I have heard we’re paying out around 40% in all the taxes combined

Income tax +Ssa+ medicare + sale tax + gas tax + property tax , ects =======OUCHHH!!!!

[OriginalPoster]

I and many of my uni friends, we are the generationX and had written off the SSA loooong time ago…..don't think we will see a dime of it.

So we are just doing our own private nesteggs basket ourselves - so far so good.

I graduated from university in 1982 and I and most of my uni friends also had written off SSA. I'm not sure that this altered financial planning (or lack thereof) of many of those people, but for more than a generation most have been viewing the 7% SSA tax taken out of their check each month and the 7% that their employer kicks as being nothing more than an income tax.

OHH....U r much older than me then

That's why many of us (I + uni friends) we are very aggressive in putting into the ROTH and among other things - and managing our own funds and portfolio

Actually to be exact

6.2% = SSA + same amount of employer matching of 6.2%

1.45% = Medicare

So that whoopping almost 8% off our paycheck and plus income tax too of course

I have heard we're paying out around 40% in all the taxes combined

Income tax +Ssa+ medicare + sale tax + gas tax + property tax , ects =======OUCHHH!!!!

I was religious about maxing out my 401k and/or IRA contributions when I was living in the states too. Even if SSA really does pay out when I reach the age of eligibility, it looks to me like it will only pay out about US$20K per year plus inflation adjustments despite having paid into the program for more than 20 years. That means that even if the program stays solvent it's not much of a safety net.

Edited September 21, 2008 by OriginalPoster

[teacup]

Well if I get it, it will be just a small gravy on the top that’s all - but my crystal ball has been telling me ……

“The odd of seeing the UFO is much higher than seeing the SSA check!!!” .......hehe

Edited September 21, 2008 by teacup

[PeaceBlondie]

SS pensions were always intended to be only a safety net for the career middle class, and a throwaway for the big earners. Medicare tax continues even for CEO ranges of salary, with no limit (and if you move abroad, you cannot use Medicare).

David Walker stopped being the US Comptroller General as the true debt -- accounting-wise - approached sixty trillion. The $11 trillion figure is a lie.This bailout makes the emperor naked, with the elephant in the White House shitting on the carpet. It matters not who wins the next ten elections. The military-industrial has bankrupt the nation, long ago.

[lannarebirth]

SS pensions were always intended to be only a safety net for the career middle class, and a throwaway for the big earners. Medicare tax continues even for CEO ranges of salary, with no limit (and if you move abroad, you cannot use Medicare).

David Walker stopped being the US Comptroller General as the true debt -- accounting-wise - approached sixty trillion. The $11 trillion figure is a lie.This bailout makes the emperor naked, with the elephant in the White House shitting on the carpet. It matters not who wins the next ten elections. The military-industrial-banking has bankrupt the nation, long ago.

[whatsoever]

So the FED comes to the rescue They will produce mega billions of dollars in an apparant bail out However, this begs the question where does the FED get the money from? Answer: they simply print it - which in turn dilutes the value of the dollar in your pocket

[OriginalPoster]

but the problem traces back to the orignal clown who bought the house he couldn't afford. Remarkably, the media has painted those slobs as being the victims in this story, rather than as dregs of society who think nothing of not repaying money loaned to them.

At times I agree with you.

At times I hate the thought that those guys shirk their responsibilities at the cost of others.

At other times I think......The banks shirked by loaning to those they KNEW could not repay. Heck they called it Ninja loans right? Then I think....... It was the have-nots seeing a small chance to have & those who knew better egged them on. Like offering food to a hungry person

Why wouldn't a life long renter not take it?

Beats me

I'm sure that there are some legitimate hard luck stories amongs those defaulting on their mortgages. After all, we've all seen those people on CNN. However most of them that I've met in real life are more like the people that call into the Suzy Orman show and ask "Suzy, dear girlfriend, I take home $5000 per month, have $40,000 in student loan debt and $20,000 in credit card debt, and pay $2650 per month in rent. Can I afford to by a Lomborghini?"

Edited September 21, 2008 by OriginalPoster

[Naam]

Actually to be exact

6.2% = SSA + same amount of employer matching of 6.2%

1.45% = Medicare

So that whoopping almost 8% off our paycheck and plus income tax too of course

I have heard we’re paying out around 40% in all the taxes combined

Income tax +Ssa+ medicare + sale tax + gas tax + property tax , ects =======OUCHHH!!!!

count your blessings Teacup and be happy or ask a German or most Europeans how much he/she pays and weep with him/her!

living in Germany my income tax would be 47% and i'd pay i whopping 19% sales tax (VAT) on goods and services. social insurance is 19.7% (half paid by employer). can you imagine that a m³ (~265 gallons) of water is US$ 6.20, a kilowatt of electric energy 19.5 US-cents, a gallon of gasoline 7.80 dollars (most of it caused by indirect taxes and fleecing the citizen)?

why do you think a number of Europeans (and that includes me) claim they live a quite comfortable or even luxurious life in Thailand and it doesn't cost them a single copper penny? because all our expenses (except perhaps a Learjet, a Ferrari, a 60' yacht or the odd 1 carat blue-white flawless diamond for the Mrs) are indirectly paid for because the benevolent thai taxman does not bother us!

[LaoPo]

Actually to be exact

6.2% = SSA + same amount of employer matching of 6.2%

1.45% = Medicare

So that whoopping almost 8% off our paycheck and plus income tax too of course

I have heard we’re paying out around 40% in all the taxes combined

Income tax +Ssa+ medicare + sale tax + gas tax + property tax , ects =======OUCHHH!!!!

count your blessings Teacup and be happy or ask a German or most Europeans how much he/she pays and weep with him/her!

living in Germany my income tax would be 47% and i'd pay i whopping 19% sales tax (VAT) on goods and services. social insurance is 19.7% (half paid by employer). can you imagine that a m³ (~265 gallons) of water is US$ 6.20, a kilowatt of electric energy 19.5 US-cents, a gallon of gasoline 7.80 dollars (most of it caused by indirect taxes and fleecing the citizen)?

why do you think a number of Europeans (and that includes me) claim they live a quite comfortable or even luxurious life in Thailand and it doesn't cost them a single copper penny? because all our expenses (except perhaps a Learjet, a Ferrari, a 60' yacht or the odd 1 carat blue-white flawless diamond for the Mrs) are indirectly paid for because the benevolent thai taxman does not bother us!

I can only confirm what you just wrote except for the Gasoline; in my country it's $ 8,22/Gallon (instead 7,80/gallon) or Euro 1,52/liter .....but, this week I drove a few hundred kilometers in Germany, sometimes at a very high speed (200km+) to get rid of my frustrations

LaoPo

[Naam]

you have an alternative in your country LaoPo and that is (if it has not changed) 1% tax on your total assets in lieu of tax on your income. for some not a bad deal.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Naam

[lannarebirth]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

In Turmoil, Capitalism in U.S. Sets New Course

By DAVID WESSEL

This past week marks a decisive turn in the evolution of American capitalism.

Black September, the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, is prompting a Republican Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman to devise the most muscular government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression in an effort to prevent the economic devastation of the Great Depression.

Abandoning its one-rescue-at-a-time strategy of recent months, the government suddenly has shifted to a broad attack on what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls "the root cause of our financial system's stresses," the rot on the balance sheets of America's financial system.

Gone is the faith, shared by the nation's leadership with varying degrees of enthusiasm, that the best road to prosperity is to unleash financial markets to allocate capital, take risks, enjoy profits, absorb losses. Erased is the hope that markets correct themselves when they overshoot.

Also scrapped is the notion that government's role is to get out of the way, limiting itself to protecting consumers and small investors, setting the rules of the game and stepping in -- only rarely -- to cushion the economy from shocks like the 1987 stock-market crash or the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. Both of those episodes involved government jawboning and flooding the markets with money. In contrast to today, neither time did the U.S. take significant amounts of taxpayer money or anything approaching the nationalization of a major firm.

http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?...6877559117.html

[Lopburi99]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

In Turmoil, Capitalism in U.S. Sets New Course

By DAVID WESSEL

This past week marks a decisive turn in the evolution of American capitalism.

Black September, the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, is prompting a Republican Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman to devise the most muscular government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression in an effort to prevent the economic devastation of the Great Depression.

Abandoning its one-rescue-at-a-time strategy of recent months, the government suddenly has shifted to a broad attack on what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls "the root cause of our financial system's stresses," the rot on the balance sheets of America's financial system.

Gone is the faith, shared by the nation's leadership with varying degrees of enthusiasm, that the best road to prosperity is to unleash financial markets to allocate capital, take risks, enjoy profits, absorb losses. Erased is the hope that markets correct themselves when they overshoot.

Also scrapped is the notion that government's role is to get out of the way, limiting itself to protecting consumers and small investors, setting the rules of the game and stepping in -- only rarely -- to cushion the economy from shocks like the 1987 stock-market crash or the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. Both of those episodes involved government jawboning and flooding the markets with money. In contrast to today, neither time did the U.S. take significant amounts of taxpayer money or anything approaching the nationalization of a major firm.

http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?...6877559117.html

Never before in my lifetime have I had so little confidence in the U.S.'s ability to manage itself. It's not just one political party, after all Clinton and GW each bear equal responsibility for being at the helm for the past 16 years, not to mention the years and years of a largely disfunctional congress being unable to get much of anything worthwhile done in the best interests of all Americans. We relied on the government to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening! I am really fuming! Where the h_ell were the so-called "checks and balances"??

Sure hope to God somehow the $USD and other major currencies don't go deep south long term. Hopefully there are other factors (beyond my level of understanding) like the price of oil, money flowing in/out of various countries, trade agreements, geopolitical issues, or who knows what but things which can somehow maintain some semblance of stability in currency markets. It's all very scary. Those of us on pensions have cause for major concern.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Lopburi99

[lannarebirth]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

In Turmoil, Capitalism in U.S. Sets New Course

By DAVID WESSEL

This past week marks a decisive turn in the evolution of American capitalism.

Black September, the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, is prompting a Republican Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman to devise the most muscular government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression in an effort to prevent the economic devastation of the Great Depression.

Abandoning its one-rescue-at-a-time strategy of recent months, the government suddenly has shifted to a broad attack on what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls "the root cause of our financial system's stresses," the rot on the balance sheets of America's financial system.

Gone is the faith, shared by the nation's leadership with varying degrees of enthusiasm, that the best road to prosperity is to unleash financial markets to allocate capital, take risks, enjoy profits, absorb losses. Erased is the hope that markets correct themselves when they overshoot.

Also scrapped is the notion that government's role is to get out of the way, limiting itself to protecting consumers and small investors, setting the rules of the game and stepping in -- only rarely -- to cushion the economy from shocks like the 1987 stock-market crash or the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. Both of those episodes involved government jawboning and flooding the markets with money. In contrast to today, neither time did the U.S. take significant amounts of taxpayer money or anything approaching the nationalization of a major firm.

http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?...6877559117.html

Never before in my lifetime have I had so little confidence in the U.S.'s ability to manage itself. It's not just one political party, after all Clinton and GW each bear equal responsibility for being at the helm for the past 16 years, not to mention the years and years of a largely disfunctional congress being unable to get much of anything worthwhile done in the best interests of all Americans. We relied on the government to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening! I am really fuming! Where the h_ell were the "checks and balances"??

Sure hope to God somehow the $USD doesn't go deep south long term. Hopefully there are other factors (beyond my level of understanding) like the price of oil, money flowing in/out of various countries, trade agreements, geopolitical issues, or who knows what but things which can somehow maintain some semblance of stability in currency markets. It's all very scary. Those of us on pensions have cause for major concern.

The people didn't want checks and balances then and they don't want'em now. They just want their stocks to go back up. Hey, did you see the part of the Bill whereby there would be no judicial oversight? Whatever, maybe it'll give a nice bounce to the market. I don't see why you're so hard on the administartion and Congress. They started a nice war that provided a sweet "buying opportunity" for all the "stakeholders".

[jts-khorat]

And the brother of Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil."

lehnman brothers, freddie mac, fannie mae, goldman sachs, aig insurance, etc. - no longer worthy of upper case letters. And bailed out by the world's largest debtor, who has not finished paying off the money it borrowed to save Europe from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is enough to make a pensioner like me afraid I might lose my COLA's before my sister ever sells her house in Florida.

It makes you think that ford and general motors are too big to fail, also.

GM is on the brink of bankruptcy...watch it...The BIG 3 are begging for $ 50 Billion help from DC...

And...too big you say ? What workers is concerned YES; not in Market Cap.....

The market Cap of GM is a mere $ 7,5 Billion (263,000 workers) and Ford (246,000 workers) has a Market Cap of $ 12 Billion.

In comparison: Garmin (8,400 workers), the GPS device manufacturer has a Market Cap of $ 7,9 Billion and Microsoft (91,000 workers) 230 Billion whilst Apple (21,000) goes for 125 Billion. and CISCO (66,000 workers) the Networking company has a Market Cap of $ 143 Billion.

A large part of America is bankrupt, completely bankrupt and the DEBT of the US rises with this rescue operation with $ 700 Billion, from $ 10,6 to 11,3 TRILLION....

that is: ten-thousand-three-hundred BILLION Dollars is debt....

Someone a cookie with his coffee ?

LaoPo

The amazing thing is: nothing of this is news, was not even news a generation ago. The same which is true for individuals should be true for governments: do only spend within your means. There was a time when 'the people' could have stood up and taken the pain, for a better future, and insisted on sound market politics.

Unluckily we are all well past this point, so the pain to come will be inflicted involuntarily, and a much bigger pain at that.

[jts-khorat]

The people didn't want checks and balances then and they don't want'em now. They just want their stocks to go back up. Hey, did you see the part of the Bill whereby there would be no judicial oversight? Whatever, maybe it'll give a nice bounce to the market. I don't see why you're so hard on the administartion and Congress. They started a nice war that provided a sweet "buying opportunity" for all the "stakeholders".

Might I be a cynic?

Coming from a German viewpoint; even if the US goes down the drain and world economy follows in a bad way, at least in old Europe the signs of the time have been seen long ago and de-coupling ourselves from the US as the only trading partner has been going on for a long time. Looking to Russia and China, totally impossible just 15-20 years ago might just keep our head out of the sling.

If things go bad they will be really bad, but not a total disaster like the US might have to go through, not even 100 years after the Great Depression.

But then I am rather an optimist, all will be well with lots of singing and dancing, nothing to worry about.

[OriginalPoster]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

In Turmoil, Capitalism in U.S. Sets New Course

By DAVID WESSEL

This past week marks a decisive turn in the evolution of American capitalism.

Black September, the biggest financial shock since the Great Depression, is prompting a Republican Treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman to devise the most muscular government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression in an effort to prevent the economic devastation of the Great Depression.

Abandoning its one-rescue-at-a-time strategy of recent months, the government suddenly has shifted to a broad attack on what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls "the root cause of our financial system's stresses," the rot on the balance sheets of America's financial system.

Gone is the faith, shared by the nation's leadership with varying degrees of enthusiasm, that the best road to prosperity is to unleash financial markets to allocate capital, take risks, enjoy profits, absorb losses. Erased is the hope that markets correct themselves when they overshoot.

Also scrapped is the notion that government's role is to get out of the way, limiting itself to protecting consumers and small investors, setting the rules of the game and stepping in -- only rarely -- to cushion the economy from shocks like the 1987 stock-market crash or the 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management. Both of those episodes involved government jawboning and flooding the markets with money. In contrast to today, neither time did the U.S. take significant amounts of taxpayer money or anything approaching the nationalization of a major firm.

http://mobile2.wsj.com/device/article.php?...6877559117.html

Never before in my lifetime have I had so little confidence in the U.S.'s ability to manage itself. It's not just one political party, after all Clinton and GW each bear equal responsibility for being at the helm for the past 16 years, not to mention the years and years of a largely disfunctional congress being unable to get much of anything worthwhile done in the best interests of all Americans. We relied on the government to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening! I am really fuming! Where the h_ell were the "checks and balances"??

Sure hope to God somehow the $USD doesn't go deep south long term. Hopefully there are other factors (beyond my level of understanding) like the price of oil, money flowing in/out of various countries, trade agreements, geopolitical issues, or who knows what but things which can somehow maintain some semblance of stability in currency markets. It's all very scary. Those of us on pensions have cause for major concern.

The people didn't want checks and balances then and they don't want'em now. They just want their stocks to go back up. Hey, did you see the part of the Bill whereby there would be no judicial oversight? Whatever, maybe it'll give a nice bounce to the market. I don't see why you're so hard on the administartion and Congress. They started a nice war that provided a sweet "buying opportunity" for all the "stakeholders".

The provision for no judicial oversight won't stand up even if congress approves it. Google Marbury v. Madison, that decision has stood up for more than 200 years, this won't be an exception.

Edited September 21, 2008 by OriginalPoster