The bank rescue - An Obama miracle.

[zeke]

Yer goddamn right the root causes haven't been addressed. Our culture still values "things" over smart, humble use of money, the banks are still too big to fail (why the fuck Glass-Steagall or something like it isn't back is a sad joke on us), on and on.

What will we do next time? We'll throw a bunch of money at it again. All we seem to know and understand is crisis management.

.

The root causes won't we addressed until the full weight of the consequences are felt by all those involved, specifically until those malinvestments are catastrophically unwound and the "too big to fails" are allowed to go under. Yes I know it's an ugly scenario but a generation can either suffer the consequences of their own stupidity or force future generations to suffer them, personally I think foisting off our self inflicted problems on the unborn is patently IMMORAL.

It is really special to hear some of you thinking that the plutocrats in this country will EVER be held accountable for their actions. That is some funny shit.

Like Mac wondering if Glass Stegal would be reinstated. After Republicans spent 50 years trying to get it overturned. Which they did. And it ain't never coming back.

There is two different worlds in America now. The world of the plutocrats has NEVER been better. More money and more assets than ever, better tax treatment than ever.

And then there is the America the rest of us live in. Waiting to get trickled on. LMAO.

 

[NightFox]

Yer goddamn right the root causes haven't been addressed. Our culture still values "things" over smart, humble use of money, the banks are still too big to fail (why the fuck Glass-Steagall or something like it isn't back is a sad joke on us), on and on.

What will we do next time? We'll throw a bunch of money at it again. All we seem to know and understand is crisis management.

.

The root causes won't we addressed until the full weight of the consequences are felt by all those involved, specifically until those malinvestments are catastrophically unwound and the "too big to fails" are allowed to go under. Yes I know it's an ugly scenario but a generation can either suffer the consequences of their own stupidity or force future generations to suffer them, personally I think foisting off our self inflicted problems on the unborn is patently IMMORAL.

Yup. Here's the problem to me: It has become political. And when ANYTHING becomes political it becomes binary, black & white, either/or, all the "fault" of "those guys, over there". You can't fix a problem this deep with simplistic thought processes.

Nothing gets fixed until we grow up and stop pointing the finger like that.

Not holding my breath, of course.

.

I would also point out that POLITICAL in the current context means USE OF FORCE (because the government is nothing if not a monopoly on sanctioned force) and promises given under the threat of force always yield the opposite of what is promised.

Exhibit A: Frank-Dodd.... the promise: "We'll keep this from happening again by forcing the bankers to comply with these wonderful new regulations (that the bankers had a big hand in writing)", the likely actual result "It'll happen again but the next time it'll be worse", all good though, the politicians got to crow about "doing something" (even if it's the completely wrong thing to do) and the citizenry feel secure, until it happens again, at which point the politicians will find someone/something else to blame it on, rinse, wash, repeat.....

 

[NightFox]

Yer goddamn right the root causes haven't been addressed. Our culture still values "things" over smart, humble use of money, the banks are still too big to fail (why the fuck Glass-Steagall or something like it isn't back is a sad joke on us), on and on.

What will we do next time? We'll throw a bunch of money at it again. All we seem to know and understand is crisis management.

.

The root causes won't we addressed until the full weight of the consequences are felt by all those involved, specifically until those malinvestments are catastrophically unwound and the "too big to fails" are allowed to go under. Yes I know it's an ugly scenario but a generation can either suffer the consequences of their own stupidity or force future generations to suffer them, personally I think foisting off our self inflicted problems on the unborn is patently IMMORAL.

It is really special to hear some of you thinking that the plutocrats in this country will EVER be held accountable for their actions. That is some funny shit.

Like Mac wondering if Glass Stegal would be reinstated. After Republicans spent 50 years trying to get it overturned. Which they did. And it ain't never coming back.

There is two different worlds in America now. The world of the plutocrats has NEVER been better. More money and more assets than ever, better tax treatment than ever.

And then there is the America the rest of us live in. Waiting to get trickled on. LMAO.

A. Glass-Steagall was never repealed, only sections of it dealing with the firewalling of commercial and investment banks (see: Gramm–Leach–Bliley )
B. the alterations were signed into law by a Democratic President (that would be Willy C. aka Bubba aka Billy Boy aka President Playboy).

So while I know it's all fun & games to think that those nasty Republicans are the ones in the pockets of the Wall Street Bankers while the halo wearing Democrats are bravely defending the little guy from the pitchfork wielding Shylocks, it just ain't so. The Democrats are just as much in cahoots with big money special interests as the Republicans are and neither one of them cares if they bankrupt the common citizenry as long as they get their cut.

 

[Sallow]

.
It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

..and what happens the next time? the root causes have not been addressed (in fact they've just been exacerbated; heaping helpin' of moral hazard anyone? ), all that happened was the problem was papered over with other peoples money (value stolen from current and future generations via money supply expansion and debt).

The next time the happy gang of Wall Street & Washington collude to blow up the financial system, what's the plan? How much can we rob from the future to pay for the sins of the past?

"Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them." -- George Santayana

Some of the root causes have been addressed. It's not strong enough in my opinion but Frank/Dodd and the Volcker Rule are positive regulations.

A return to Glass/Steagall would be the optimal solution.

 

[occupied]

The root causes won't we addressed until the full weight of the consequences are felt by all those involved, specifically until those malinvestments are catastrophically unwound and the "too big to fails" are allowed to go under. Yes I know it's an ugly scenario but a generation can either suffer the consequences of their own stupidity or force future generations to suffer them, personally I think foisting off our self inflicted problems on the unborn is patently IMMORAL.

Yup. Here's the problem to me: It has become political. And when ANYTHING becomes political it becomes binary, black & white, either/or, all the "fault" of "those guys, over there". You can't fix a problem this deep with simplistic thought processes.

Nothing gets fixed until we grow up and stop pointing the finger like that.

Not holding my breath, of course.

.

I would also point out that POLITICAL in the current context means USE OF FORCE (because the government is nothing if not a monopoly on sanctioned force) and promises given under the threat of force always yield the opposite of what is promised.

Exhibit A: Frank-Dodd.... the promise: "We'll keep this from happening again by forcing the bankers to comply with these wonderful new regulations (that the bankers had a big hand in writing)", the likely actual result "It'll happen again but the next time it'll be worse", all good though, the politicians got to crow about "doing something" (even if it's the completely wrong thing to do) and the citizenry feel secure, until it happens again, at which point the politicians will find someone/something else to blame it on, rinse, wash, repeat.....

It's one of the few things we all can agree on, that collapse is going to happen again, the next time however it may be a different ballgame for the big banks, one can only hope. I do see signs here and there that they actually do worry somewhat about the repercussions of another catastrophic crash, not like last time where it was nowhere on the radar apparently. People are watching them closer, people who never used to give a shit about the financial industry are better educated (like me), The names of the big players are becoming more recognized and most importantly, there are many grassroots organizations in place to bring immediate pressure to bear on them. Going to be different next time, it has to be or else the banks truly own us all.

 

[Freewill]

.

It's been my observation that most people don't realize how close we came to a complete, abject collapse of our entire financial system. This is my profession, and there were a couple of days there in which I was -- and this not a term I use lightly -- seriously freakin' scared. I can even tell you exactly where I was standing when I said to myself, "oh fuck, this might be happening". The velocity of cash through the business banking system had locked up, literally.

The feds had explored every option, every idea. They had even looked for help from overseas but failed (the Brits saw what was happening and said "no thanks"). They knew they had probably blown it by letting Lehman Brothers go down, even though it was understandable that they did.

Gang, we were literally days, maybe hours away from crossing a line after which nothing could be done. I scream against government interference and influence all the time here, but there are exceptions to every rule. All we could do at that point was throw a massive amount of money at it, no matter how wasteful and bloated that strategy is, and hope for the best. The feds were the only entity that could do it.

It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

Not everything is black or white, either/or. Fight too much government and its destructive effects, I'm with ya, but this had to be done.

.

Well I am glad you admit to being part of the problem that caused the near disaster.

Glad we, as taxpayers, were able to save your job.

On another note I will thank my grandsons for saving my 401K from the incompetence and greed of the banking community.

 

[Mac1958]

.

It's been my observation that most people don't realize how close we came to a complete, abject collapse of our entire financial system. This is my profession, and there were a couple of days there in which I was -- and this not a term I use lightly -- seriously freakin' scared. I can even tell you exactly where I was standing when I said to myself, "oh fuck, this might be happening". The velocity of cash through the business banking system had locked up, literally.

The feds had explored every option, every idea. They had even looked for help from overseas but failed (the Brits saw what was happening and said "no thanks"). They knew they had probably blown it by letting Lehman Brothers go down, even though it was understandable that they did.

Gang, we were literally days, maybe hours away from crossing a line after which nothing could be done. I scream against government interference and influence all the time here, but there are exceptions to every rule. All we could do at that point was throw a massive amount of money at it, no matter how wasteful and bloated that strategy is, and hope for the best. The feds were the only entity that could do it.

It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

Not everything is black or white, either/or. Fight too much government and its destructive effects, I'm with ya, but this had to be done.

.

Well I am glad you admit to being part of the problem that caused the near disaster.

Glad we, as taxpayers, were able to save your job.

On another note I will thank my grandsons for saving my 401K from the incompetence and greed of the banking community.

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

 

[Freewill]

Meanwhile the EQ money mill keeps inflating the stock market bubble, nothing bad could ever happen if that bubble bursts.

 

[Freewill]

.

It's been my observation that most people don't realize how close we came to a complete, abject collapse of our entire financial system. This is my profession, and there were a couple of days there in which I was -- and this not a term I use lightly -- seriously freakin' scared. I can even tell you exactly where I was standing when I said to myself, "oh fuck, this might be happening". The velocity of cash through the business banking system had locked up, literally.

The feds had explored every option, every idea. They had even looked for help from overseas but failed (the Brits saw what was happening and said "no thanks"). They knew they had probably blown it by letting Lehman Brothers go down, even though it was understandable that they did.

Gang, we were literally days, maybe hours away from crossing a line after which nothing could be done. I scream against government interference and influence all the time here, but there are exceptions to every rule. All we could do at that point was throw a massive amount of money at it, no matter how wasteful and bloated that strategy is, and hope for the best. The feds were the only entity that could do it.

It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

Not everything is black or white, either/or. Fight too much government and its destructive effects, I'm with ya, but this had to be done.

.

At the time I was working at the NYSE.

You really could feel the panic.

Gamblers always get worried when their luck turns.

 

[Freewill]

.

It's been my observation that most people don't realize how close we came to a complete, abject collapse of our entire financial system. This is my profession, and there were a couple of days there in which I was -- and this not a term I use lightly -- seriously freakin' scared. I can even tell you exactly where I was standing when I said to myself, "oh fuck, this might be happening". The velocity of cash through the business banking system had locked up, literally.

The feds had explored every option, every idea. They had even looked for help from overseas but failed (the Brits saw what was happening and said "no thanks"). They knew they had probably blown it by letting Lehman Brothers go down, even though it was understandable that they did.

Gang, we were literally days, maybe hours away from crossing a line after which nothing could be done. I scream against government interference and influence all the time here, but there are exceptions to every rule. All we could do at that point was throw a massive amount of money at it, no matter how wasteful and bloated that strategy is, and hope for the best. The feds were the only entity that could do it.

It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

Not everything is black or white, either/or. Fight too much government and its destructive effects, I'm with ya, but this had to be done.

.

Well I am glad you admit to being part of the problem that caused the near disaster.

Glad we, as taxpayers, were able to save your job.

On another note I will thank my grandsons for saving my 401K from the incompetence and greed of the banking community.

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler. Let me ask you one question. Do you ever suggest investments based on making money or helping a company?

 

[Mac1958]

Well I am glad you admit to being part of the problem that caused the near disaster.

Glad we, as taxpayers, were able to save your job.

On another note I will thank my grandsons for saving my 401K from the incompetence and greed of the banking community.

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler.

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

 

[NightFox]

Yup. Here's the problem to me: It has become political. And when ANYTHING becomes political it becomes binary, black & white, either/or, all the "fault" of "those guys, over there". You can't fix a problem this deep with simplistic thought processes.

Nothing gets fixed until we grow up and stop pointing the finger like that.

Not holding my breath, of course.

.

I would also point out that POLITICAL in the current context means USE OF FORCE (because the government is nothing if not a monopoly on sanctioned force) and promises given under the threat of force always yield the opposite of what is promised.

Exhibit A: Frank-Dodd.... the promise: "We'll keep this from happening again by forcing the bankers to comply with these wonderful new regulations (that the bankers had a big hand in writing)", the likely actual result "It'll happen again but the next time it'll be worse", all good though, the politicians got to crow about "doing something" (even if it's the completely wrong thing to do) and the citizenry feel secure, until it happens again, at which point the politicians will find someone/something else to blame it on, rinse, wash, repeat.....

It's one of the few things we all can agree on, that collapse is going to happen again, the next time however it may be a different ballgame for the big banks, one can only hope. I do see signs here and there that they actually do worry somewhat about the repercussions of another catastrophic crash, not like last time where it was nowhere on the radar apparently. People are watching them closer, people who never used to give a shit about the financial industry are better educated (like me), The names of the big players are becoming more recognized and most importantly, there are many grassroots organizations in place to bring immediate pressure to bear on them. Going to be different next time, it has to be or else the banks truly own us all.

How's it going to be different next time? People are still stuffing the fruits of their labor into the big banks (the same ones that screwed them over the last time, only now they're BIGGER), right? The average Joe doesn't give a hoot if the federal reserve conjures tens of billions of dollars out of thin air every month as long as it keeps average Joe's stock portfolio from falling into the toilet, right? The average Joe doesn't seem to care if the federal government goes so far into hock the human race will be extinct before the debts ever get paid off, as long as we don't shut the government down by capping the borrowing limit or cut their government subsidies (feel free to cut everybody else's though).....

All the grassroots organizations in the world aren't going to help if we just keep repeating the same behavior and keep relying on the current fractional reserve banking system, fiat currency and the "elected" criminals we call politicians.

Sorry to disagree with you but I see absolutely no signs that the common citizenry is even looking for a clue as to what actually happened in the last crash and what it's going to take to prevent the next one.

 

[gipper]

I thought this thread was a joke, but then I saw who posted it...and Obama sycophant incapable of reason.

Hell...even many Leftists agree that BO's bailing out the Banks and Wall Street was wrong.
Only the most foolish lover of Big Ears and of big uncontrolled government would consider this a good thing. Some people can be fooled ALL THE TIME.

 

[Freewill]

I pretty much lost everything in 2008-2009, banks and bankers make me furious and probably always will. The fact that the government had to bail them out while I was pretty much on my own and shit out of luck will color my politics for the rest of my life.

Seems to me if you rode it out the government made sure that the gamblers in the financial institutions didn't take all your money. I rode it out and it came back.

My dad told me 50 years ago that the rich from time to time take back their money. That is, in my opinion, part of what happened. That and the financial gamblers became too greedy. As I understand it, it wasn't the banks that was the problem, other then them holding large sums of money and not lending it out. It was the financial investment institutions, call them banks if you want, that were screwing each other with very bad loans and bundling them and selling toxic assets. Anyone at the time paying attention should have seen what was happening and could move their money to lessen the effect. capital preservation funds did not take a big hit. But you had to know. Going to work 40+ hours without help from someone who knows was a big mistake on my part. But then again there were financial advisors that took a hit but not a big hit after all they are gambling with other people's money. What a system.

 

[NightFox]

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler.

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

Sorry Mac, but investing as currently practiced by the average Joe IS gambling, it's just that the risk/rewards are harder to calculate in the financial markets than they are at the blackjack table (thus the need to pay an "advisor", which I like to call "gambling coaches").

There was a time in this country when the average person saved for retirement by stuffing their dollars into their mattress, they could do this because the purchasing power of the dollar was continually rising AND THEN the banking crew figured out a way to get their piece of that action... quite simple really, erode the purchasing power of the dollar so that average Joe had no other choice but risk his hard earned cash in the Wall Street Casino, heck it's a great system since the faster you erode the value of the dollar the bigger the risks poor Joe has to take in order to have enough to retire on and the bankers are the ones that get to decide the rate of dollar depreciation.

What a Country!

 

[Mac1958]

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler.

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

Sorry Mac, but investing as currently practiced by the average Joe IS gambling, it's just that the risk/rewards are harder to calculate in the financial markets than they are at the blackjack table (thus the need to pay an "advisor", which I like to call "gambling coaches").

There was a time in this country when the average person saved for retirement by stuffing their dollars into their mattress, they could do this because the purchasing power of the dollar was continually rising AND THEN the banking crew figured out a way to get their piece of that action... quite simple really, erode the purchasing power of the dollar so that average Joe had no other choice but risk his hard earned cash in the Wall Street Casino, heck it's a great system since the faster you erode the value of the dollar the bigger the risks poor Joe has to take in order to have enough to retire on and the bankers are the ones that get to decide the rate of dollar depreciation.

What a Country!

Naw, a good investing approach pays off.

Y'know, the funny thing to me is how many people I talk to every week who have simply been playing by the rules: They've been humble with their money, they don't drive around in fancy cars, they put money away every month, they do without from time to time, they stick to their plan, and sure as shit, they're in really good shape.

Here's the funny part: Most of these people are damn near apologetic about their success. "Well, we just don't live high on the hog, we believe in trying to be smart with our money". Apologetic, hilarious, and very charming.

It's not as tough as many people make it out to be.

.

 

[Freewill]

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler.

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

My point about gambling. NO ONE cares what a company does except how it effects their investment. Sell short, buy PUTS do whatever to MAKE MONEY it doesn't matter if the company goes out of business or if they thieve it only matters if they are churning out dividends and or their stock is increasing so if it increases enough it can be sold for a profit. Buy and sell toxic assets, doesn't matter as long as you are not the last one holding the bag. And if you are then depend on the government to bail you out. Hell they don't get that good of odds in Vegas.

 

[NightFox]

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

Sorry Mac, but investing as currently practiced by the average Joe IS gambling, it's just that the risk/rewards are harder to calculate in the financial markets than they are at the blackjack table (thus the need to pay an "advisor", which I like to call "gambling coaches").

There was a time in this country when the average person saved for retirement by stuffing their dollars into their mattress, they could do this because the purchasing power of the dollar was continually rising AND THEN the banking crew figured out a way to get their piece of that action... quite simple really, erode the purchasing power of the dollar so that average Joe had no other choice but risk his hard earned cash in the Wall Street Casino, heck it's a great system since the faster you erode the value of the dollar the bigger the risks poor Joe has to take in order to have enough to retire on and the bankers are the ones that get to decide the rate of dollar depreciation.

What a Country!

Naw, a good investing approach pays off.

Y'know, the funny thing to me is how many people I talk to every week who have simply been playing by the rules: They've been humble with their money, they don't drive around in fancy cars, they put money away every month, they do without from time to time, they stick to their plan, and sure as shit, they're in really good shape.

Here's the funny part: Most of these people are damn near apologetic about their success. "Well, we just don't live high on the hog, we believe in trying to be smart with our money". Apologetic, hilarious, and very charming.

It's not as tough as many people make it out to be.

.

I don't disagree that GOOD investing has merits , that is understanding the risks/rewards before deploying your capital pays off (most but not all the time), the problem is that this isn't the way many (most?) people go about it. They don't understand the risks (mostly because actual risk is constantly being obfuscated by the industry) going in and thus cannot calculate the reward side of the equation without which their is no possible way to develop a rational entry/exit plan for any given position. It's not just the average Joe that can't do this, I've talked to so called financial advisors that don't have a clue either (they were just glorified salesmen with a fancy title), they're worried about making a sale not about actually providing positive results. That of course doesn't mean ALL financial advisors are clueless and/or unscrupulous but the ones that are give the ones that aren't a bad name.

Just look back at the last collapse, I didn't see a whole lot of "advisors" predicting the fall and the few that did (e.g. Peter Schiff) were constantly mocked and derided by their peers for doing so.

 

[Freewill]

I'm a financial advisor.

How did you save my job, precisely?

And since you know so much about me, what would my clients say about my actions and performance for them and their money during that period?

Looking forward to it, thanks.

.

Certainly sounds like you post implies you had a concern for your well being, being part of the financial system.

If you and your clients did OK then what the hell maybe it wasn't as bad as all of that. What I get out of your post was that the whole financial system was on the verge of collapse within hours. Certainly if that had happened would that not have effected you?

Glad to hear you are doing well as a professional gambler.

A financial collapse would have affected us all.

And if you think investing is gambling, you're simply not doing it right.

Find yourself an advisor. Looks like you're not up to this.

.

Say I walk into your office and say, I have a 500000 dollar 401K I want to roll over. Assuming you even concern yourself with such a little amount what is the first thing you do?

I assume you do a financial needs analysis. Then you will suggest investments based on that analysis and, here it is, the willingness of me to take risk. You probably will give a quiz on the risk I am willing to take. You may certainly suggest less risk depending on my place in life and ability to recover but the big out for advisors is that they asked the unknowing what risk they would like to take. What I told the guy I have now is that I want everyone to make money, him, me and the companies we invest. Of course that is a no brainer. Turns out the more risk the more chance of reward apparently. Kind of like betting on a number verse red or black in roulette.

 

[editec]

.

It's been my observation that most people don't realize how close we came to a complete, abject collapse of our entire financial system. This is my profession, and there were a couple of days there in which I was -- and this not a term I use lightly -- seriously freakin' scared. I can even tell you exactly where I was standing when I said to myself, "oh fuck, this might be happening". The velocity of cash through the business banking system had locked up, literally.

The feds had explored every option, every idea. They had even looked for help from overseas but failed (the Brits saw what was happening and said "no thanks"). They knew they had probably blown it by letting Lehman Brothers go down, even though it was understandable that they did.

Gang, we were literally days, maybe hours away from crossing a line after which nothing could be done. I scream against government interference and influence all the time here, but there are exceptions to every rule. All we could do at that point was throw a massive amount of money at it, no matter how wasteful and bloated that strategy is, and hope for the best. The feds were the only entity that could do it.

It was do or die, folks, I'm not kidding.

Not everything is black or white, either/or. Fight too much government and its destructive effects, I'm with ya, but this had to be done.

.

I am inclined to believe that something did INDEED need to be done to save the BANKS.

But after we saved them we did nothing about the people who killed the industry?

THAT is why so many Americans, (myself included) believe the meltdown was CONTRIVED.

The "solution" involved the largest transfer (or is it outright invention of) money in human history.

Heads should have rolled instead everybody gets big bonuses paid for by the American taxpayer.