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Geithner: Pickpocketing Trillions from the People to Give to the Oligarchy Was "Deeply Unfair", But We ... Um ... Had To
Tim Geithner told the Today Show that:
It's
"deeply unfair" that some financial institutions that got taxpayer-paid
bailouts are emerging in better shape from the recession than millions
of ordinary Americans.Geithner also argued that President Barack Obama had no choice when confronted with a financial crisis.
"As the president has said, we had to do some very unpopular things," Geithner said. "People looked at what had happened."
"It's
not fair. It's deeply unfair," he said. "He (Obama) had to decide
whether he was going to act to fix it or stand back ... and that would
have been calamitous for the American economy."
There are only a couple of minor inaccuracies in Geithner's statements:
- The government hasn't done anything to fix the economy
- Geithner's entire approach
is wrong, because the economy can't recover until many of the
"financial institutions that got taxpayer-paid bailouts [and] are
emerging in better shape" are broken up
- The government has been anemic in addressing unemployment
Moreover,
it is not like their approach fell on them and they couldn't do
anything about it. Geithner, Summers, Bernanke and the boys made a conscious decision to side with the oligarchy at the expense of the people.
As Simon Johnson and James Kwak write:
[There
was a] point at which the government had to decide if it would defend
the financial oligarchy from populist outrage, or whether it would
reform the financial system that brought us the financial crisis and
severe recession. We do not think it was an easy choice. But ultimately
Obama and his advisers chose to bet on the bankers they knew. The
result has been even larger banks and an even more concentrated
financial sector.
Geithner also told the Today Show
that he hopes skeptical voters will note legislation moving through
Congress to bring reforms to the financial system.
He's banking, of course, on the fact that many voters won't realize that the legislation is a placebo containing no real medicine.
Geithner ended the interview with this pearl of wisdom:
"What
happened in our country should never happen again," he said. "People
were paid for taking enormous risks. It was a crazy way to run a
financial system." Geithner said, "It's the government's job ... to do
a better job of restraining that kind of risk-taking."
Indeed ... too bad that Geithner and the boys are still encouraging that kind of risk-taking.
Geithner was, of course, largely
responsible for much of the failure of the government to restrain
risk-taking in the first place.
As William Black points out:
Mr.
Geithner, as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since
October 2003, was one of those senior regulators who failed to take any
effective regulatory action to prevent the crisis, but instead covered
up its depth.
Geithner was also complicit in Lehman's accounting fraud .
And pushed to pay AIG's CDS counterparties at full value, and then to keep the deal secret.
And as Robert Reich notes
today, Geithner was "very much in the center of the action" regarding
the secret bail out of Bear Stearns without Congressional approval.
Indeed, the list of Geithner's hinky actions grows longer by the day as new facts emerge.
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With regard to Mr Geithner, the simple question is why it as so important to cut a loose deal to save the banks. Saving them out of necessity is very different from leaning over for them.
IT'S NOT FAIR:
http://williambanzai7.blogspot.com/2010/04/attention-this-is-not-april-f...
I recently closed my WaMu (now Chase) bank account, and my Citi credit card. Citi was funny. They had their whole shtick ready: Ah, we are "good" bankers, we repaid TARP, we've reduced leverage yad yada yada. All the points from the CEO's letter to the sheeple a few weeks back. I gladly informed them that I was following many Americans and closing accounts with Wall Street Banks. I told the their accounting was a sham etc and I was pissed about bonuses on contrived profits etc. Anyway, IT FELT GREEEEAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!! I highly recommend closing accounts. All I have left is BAC and I only keep enough in there to pay bills. Got lots of silver and feeling good.-
Ditto
It's a given in any discussion about this, someone will give us the moralistic "I did everything right, it's the borrowers fault". It doesn't matter which board your on, which political idealogy, there is always some living proof of the driving need of people to prove they are assholes every opportunity they get.
I've always wondered who these people really are. Maybe ZH can collect some funds for a study entitled. "Why are you an asshole?". There's a huge profit waiting for selling the results to the Fed, the TBTFs and the Treasury. These are their people . They would want to know who's stepping up to the plate for them.
Some say that the greed of the bankers caused all of this... their lust for unimaginable wealth and the lifestyle of a pasha drove the system over the edge. Others say it was the borrowers, with their "no no" mortgages, who deserve the lion's share of the blame. And some want the government to hold hearing about it all.
This is like an argument between a storekeeper and a made man, who decide to settle their beef at the feet of a bigger man -- the Don. They're just little fish... it's the shark who says who lives and dies... the shark sets the rules.
It wasn't mostly the bankers, it wasn't mostly the people, it was mostly the government. The people and the bankers were simply doing exactly what the government pushed them to do, through tax write-offs, neon outlined loopholes in regulations, and openly promoted social policy preferences.
It's the government who has been pushing a debt based economy for 5 - 6 decades now. It's they who push the illusion of wealth through home ownership. It is they who make big promises and hand out big checks, all paid back by smaller and smaller future dollars. It's they who create and monopolize the Ponzis and pyramids of our so-called "social contract".
And they even admit it openly too... any time they set an "inflation target" at any point other than zero.
The banksters will keep stealing it as long as the American people keep offering it to them. This is the gilded age of banking.
Hypocriticians should be tried for treason and executed so they aren't a further burden on society.
Geithner also told the Today Show that he hopes skeptical voters will note legislation moving through Congress to bring reforms to the financial system.
Really. I guess they'll have to pass it so we can find out what's in it.
Bernanke, Geithner, Obama and all the rest apparently think they're our buddies now.
Sure, they had to kornhole the entire american people for no other reason than covering their years of bubble blowing and collusive theft for their own benefit, again to ONLY benefit themselves, the average citizen certainly gained nothing at all and lost much for what? They can all buy new Ferraris and down payment on a bigger yacht?
Just outrageous. These people all disgust me more than if I had lifted my soup spoon to find it full of maggots. Damn all of them to hell and a pox on all their houses! Scumbags of the highest order and completely useless.
For what reason would I keep ANY $ in a bank other than to pay bills?
I'm deeply offended this douchebag is even in the media trying to garner favor with the American public. What a fucking shill. He doesn't mean any of what he is saying at all.
Huh who would have thought that people are upset about being openly robbed, raped, and tossed into the gutter...how odd. Clearly they need to up our meds.
I almost see his statement as a challange "What we did was totally unfair. Now what are you going to do about it bitch?"
I agree Shameful. It reminds me of the psychotic criminal mind
Justice is fairness. What other concept might apply?
Seek justice. Only justice. The rest of law is commentary and confusion.
Mr. Sec Treas, you wake up every single day with a chance to make it right.
Do it tomorrow. Pull the heart plug on AIG, Fannie and Freddie for starters.
I own 1k shares of Fannie Preferreds.
If they killed the big institutions tomorrow I would CHEER. But it also has to include the return of Mark to Market so that Goldman, Morgans, Citi, BoA, and Wells die with them.
Are you serious - Timmah was born and groomed to suck banker ****
+10 If you throw in a return to mark-to-market practices and let the TBTF banks fail (bondholders and shareholders ALL take haircuts) then +1000
I have rarely if ever been so angry and outraged with anyone that I desired to strangle them with my bare hands.
If I ever meet this reptile Geithner on the street, however ..... well, all bets are off.
I'll buy a triple scoop maple walnut Haigen Daz in a waffle cone for anyone that kneecaps that little bitch.
god i was hoping ZH would avoid this blurb by Timmy... now we have to deal with the robber's guilt complex?? Banks are still closing all over the place - don't save them Timmy but pour in massive unexplained random numbers into all the TBTFs
The reason people like TG and BO are in public service is they couldn’t make it in the real world. BO is shaping up to be the biggest boob president we’ve ever had. This is like we had to invade Iraq and we have to be in Afg for 10 years.
gotta sell those poppies into China somehow!!
Well Tim, just turn yourself in with your dirty lists of lies and payoffs and we will call it quits.
By helping the Banks the Banks were supposed to help the American Citizens.
Banks were given money even though they were not credit worthy. Yet the Banks will not lend to the American People because they "think" they are not credit worthy.
Banks were given zero percent loans to help recoup losses. Americans were given 29.9% interest on their Credit Card loans. If Banks were given 29.9% loans they would be in default just like the average American.
Banks were given money at zero percent so they would not have to Sell their underwater Securities at a loss. Americans were forced to sell at a loss with no loan or interest remediation. Americans were not given a zero percent loan so they could stay in their house and hope for a better price in the future.
The Fed bought all of the bad assets so that the Banks would not have to Sell them in a distressed Market and lower the prices of all other Securities. Homeowners were forced into Forclosure which continued to lower Housing prices putting existing homeowners even deeper into negative Equity.
Fed gave Banks zero percent interest which helped their balance sheet. Banks gave the Consumer .001% on their savings hurting anyone relying on the interest on their Money for Income. Putting most People in a negative return with regard to inflation.
Fed gave Banks zero percent interest to buy Stock and Securities and OIL help make them rich. The American People had to sell Securities to live on or pay their 29.9% Credit Cards, Mortgage and living expenses and higher heating and gasoline expenses.
The Fed gave the Banks Trillions of Dollars to rebuild them selves and paying themselves Billions in Bonuses. The Fed gave the Americans Trillions in Debt and interest on that Debt plus the accumulation interest expense of that Debt for three Generations.
Saying they are sorry after lining their pockets at the expense of the American People does not make up for the tremendous harm that has been perpertrated on the American People.
The harm that has been done may even cost the American People their Country. How do you say you are sorry for that?
Yes, the rich will go to Canada, or Europe, or Japan but again it will be the American People that will be left with a Country in shambles that will again pay the price.
Very nice. It continues to amaze me that "we" allow this
Now, that is good stuff. Concise and pointed. Any J6P at the mall could digest that without difficulty. That is what is needed. Some of the ZH stuff is a little stiff and arcane, but you've hit the nail on the proverbial head. Thanks.
I am watching the water receding in the "Katrina of the North" and listening to the cries of the public on local TV "Help us, Obama", "If you can hear this Mr. President, please help us.." In a state with a real unemployment of 20%, how do you give low interest loans to people who don't even have jobs? When the banks get handouts from the Government and pay zilch to the little people on their savings accounts, and will now charge for "low cost" loans as part of disaster relief....WTF? Obamanomics. This is going to end REAL bad.......
+10 to the 34th power
+1000
+100 Send this to Dylan Ratigan
you forgot the banks didnt bother to lend since they were granted interest on their reserves that they sent back to the Fed in some totally fabricated justification of sloppy seconds robbery
Right. Borrow from the Bank a zero percent then deposit the Money in the Bank and receive 3% interest. And just who is paying for that?
One thing the power elite know and that is the public is too stupid and apathetic to do anything about the on-going thievery.
I feel sick to my stomach. Timmy needs to be publicly barfed on.......
UGH
What I find funny when everybody talks about those "evil banks" is the fact that a lot of people took way to much credit to afford their luxeries and took morgages that gave them a life style they knew they couldn't afford.
And now the good decade is over, the people who also actually are a part of the problem are all pointing to the banks...
sorry but I still think people who take loans they can't pay should be put liable for at least 10 years when the file for bankruptcy.
Fuck YOU!
The individuals only played the game catered to them by the big banker/institurions.
Have you taken advantage of your home equity?
We are ready to increase your HELOC!
Owning a home is an American right!
These are not things insividuals came to by themselves. They were lead to this butchery by the ones you defend, cocksucker!
Don't we (and most of the rest of the world) have a Keynesian monetary policy designed explicitly to discourage and penalize savings and encourage and reward debt? Is it that surprising that people behave exactly as they are incentivized to behave?
Bingo!
I am really racking my brains, but I can't think of a single policy or congressional act of the last 40 years that favors savers over debtors.
I am down with that, as long as the entirety of the transaction is between borrower and lender and doesn't involve the slightest inconvenience on my part.
you think lol
how about corporations that declare bankruptcy should they be responsible for debts for ten years
what makes you think all people are in the group that acted irresponsible
the loans had assets behind them . the banks took the collateral for the loan . give back the collateral
the banks knowingly in cases defrauded unknowing folks .
your i think has as many holes in it as Limburger cheese ,,, maybe you are not thinking lol
Dumpster, Limburger is not so well known for its holes as its odor.
I'd go with that similarity!
I don't recall raising my right hand and swearing an oath to pay my mortgage when I closed escrow. The "moral" aspect is missing from the contractual equation. The mortgage is secured by the house, just as you point out with the corporate and bank walk-aways from their mortgage obligations without a second thought.
Bankers are suppose to qualify customers to insure they are credit worthy. They are paid to be the honest brokers .... the gate keepers.
Bankers blew it. One of the biggest "fails" ever.
Since these loans would be passed on to someone else they handed them out like candy. The banksters got their fees and commissions and the upstream investors got screwed.
The criminally negligent bankers bankrupted America.
Actually, from their perspective, the banksters didn't blow anything. There are no prosecutions, no trials, and no consequences, and their coffers were refueled with your money. They are partying this weekend off a terrific first quarter and laughing hysterically at those who would criticize them. "You whiners should get over getting phucked and get with the program. This was necessary, ha ha ha ha ha . . . . " Timmah is coated with Teflon and can say anything with no consequences.
So the utter and total failure of the banks to do due diligence in estimating folks ability to repay those loans is OK? ...and the incentive to make loans that are immediately bundled into MBS and off the loan originators books are OK? ...and the CDS market that represents more potential losses than the the entire global GDP is somehow rational - an innovative financial product, who's developers should be rewarded? You're smoking crack.
Here's what's totally appropriate to the situation: The American public sees large banks and loan originators as completely amoral and lacking in any meaningful ethical behavior. Their response? Walk away in droves from those mortgages. To hell with their contractual obligations. Tit-for-tat. Unethical behavior begets more unethical behavior - it's a kharmic wash and restores symmetry perfectly.
Oh, you want society to judge the borrowers harshly for their ignorance? What a joke, given the willful lack of ethical behavior from a bunch of Ivy League grads hopped up on anti-depressants. Born with a silver spoon in their mouths, they managed to kill the golden goose, just like W. in his disasterous management of the nation. There is a evolutionary imperative for cooperation and compassion. It's not all about competition. Too bad the bankers had to destroy society to realize that it is important to do GOOD works, not just profitable works.
"sorry but I still think people who take loans they can't pay"
Will you define this remark further? Does that include people who are comfortably keeping up with debt payments and even saving some money but then lose their jobs?
Never mind, don't bother. I just read all your posts for the past few days. You need to change your meds.
RC,
Thank you for doing what I do when a poster seems a little "funny" shall I say. Talk a walk down memory lane and see what s/he has posted in the past. You quickly see who's the troll, who's the disruptor or agent provocateur and who just has a difference of opinion.
What's happened to Lizzy?