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Harry Reid Hopes To Proceed With Bernanke Vote Late In Week, Succeeds At Keeping His Commercial Real Estate Holdings' Values High
It appears the Senate majority leader Harry Reid has succeeded in ensuring at least 4 more years of asset bubble prices in America, by forcing enough Senators to vote for the architect of the single greatest episode of household wealth destruction (first of many) in 80 years. To wit from Dow Jones:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he hopes the Senate can vote Thursday or Friday on the nomination of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for a second term.
The Senate on Tuesday continued to debate legislation to raise the nation's debt ceiling to $14.294 trillion and will likely not be able to complete work on that measure until Thursday at the earliest, Reid said Tuesday.
Reid said he wants to suspend legislative activity for one day Wednesday, in deference to Senate Republican meetings to discuss party strategy.
Following a final vote on the debt limit bill as early as Thursday, Reid said he wants to move to the Bernanke nomination.
It is still unclear if this is yet more posturing by the democrat to make it seem like the reconfirmation vote is a done deal.
And it is good to know that Reid has extracted massive concessions out of what is now an obviously politicized Federal Reserve, ensuring reelection in a quid pro quo, which will guarantee that banks face the same catastrophe from lending out too much money to unqualified borrowers, as culminated with Lehman's bankruptcy previously. As Reid disclosed:
"I made it clear that to merit confirmation, Chairman Bernanke must
redouble his efforts. He has assured me he will soon
outline plans for making that happen, and I eagerly await them."
Which begs the question: just how much is Mr. Reid's financial health tied in with this redoubling of efforts in the perpetuation of the credit and housing bubble, and did he disclose all of his extensive conflicts of interest? Perhaps Mr. Reid should have pointed out all this to his fellow Senators, of whom he demands that they vote against their conscience, and against the voice of the vast majority of their constituency, just so his millions of dollars in real estate holdings do not lose value.
We present Harry Reid's Senate Financial Disclosure Report: we find particularly interesting disclosure on pages 8 and 9 "Non-publicly traded assets and unearned income sources."
As Harry himself discloses, the price of failure in Bernanke's renomination is substantial: according to the above disclosure the valuation of real estate assets is anywhere between $1.8 million and $3.2 million - it would appear to us that this is quite a material amount of "motivation" to ensure that the same lax credit policies that got America to the current overvalued real estate situation persist, and that Mr. Reid manages to offload his "non-publicly traded assets" to some unwitting idiot (financing contingency most definitely welcome) who is able to take out an Option ARM and finance the purchase of Mr. Reid's 54.1% interest in 55.1 acres of Pat Sur. 2605, Srchlt, NV, 82% of Patented Mining Claims in Srchlt, NV, 160 acres in Bullhead City, AZ, and many other holdings.
Those curious for more detail about Mr. Reif's real estate holdings can take a look at the following Disclosure Report Supplement:
So, dear senators, the question becomes: is this the type of conflicted person you want to be getting your marching orders from when making the most important choice in your political careers? Even if the answer is yes, we hope that Senator Reid provided all of you with the information that his disclosed CRE assets will likely suffer a significant value drop should Bernanke not be reappointed - after all the Fed's number one focus for the duration of Bernanke's second term will be how to pretend that the situation in CRE (let alone Option ARM resets) is manageable and that CRE is a good value proposition (for all those who wish to buy Mr. Reid current commercial real estate assets).
Full Harry Reid Financial Disclosure
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Wow! This is a low blow TD! Congrats, a well directed kick in the nuts!
NOT THAT - not redouble his efforts NOOOOOO,
I feel much better now that I know he promised to redouble his effort. Things are looking up!!!!! Federal Reserve Notes B*TCHES!!!!!
Anyone who hasn't yet seen Michael Hudson's latest two part article at either Counterpunch or Economic Perspectives regarding the upcoming State Of The Union is missing something:
http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/2010/01/state-of-union-junk-...
http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/2010/01/state-of-union-rheto...
And here something equally captivating by Paul Craig Roberts:
http://vdare.com/roberts/100125_rich.htm
One must always give credit and pay heed to the astute and trenchant observations of Comrade Vyshinsky. Excellent sourcing.
Thanks for the kind words, friend Yardfarmer.
Great Suggestions... ready the first Hudson article yesterday and I am a big fan of PCR.
When I consider that there are economists of Roberts and Hudson's calibre commenting regularly about the problems our people face yet ensconsed in official positions in Washington are filth like Summers, Geithner and Bernanke, my stomach turns. It's hardly that we lack capable minds, its simply that we'd led by self-seeking bacteria.
+100000... BRAVO!
So we have a few more days to play around with SRS?
I for one am not ready for Redoublfucking
He also plays in a rock band - "House of Corruption"
Coming to stadium near you.
Gold 7000 !!!
BTW - Anyone see this news flash:
Markus Reinhardt, the police commander in charge of security at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was found dead in his hotel room from an apparent suicide, according to media reports Tuesday.
Must have seen or heard something he was not supposed to see.
Most curious.
Suicide my ass, he probably uncovered George Soros is buddys with Lucipher!
must have walked into the "Sacrificeing of Virgins Room". That room is off limits to everybody except the deRothchildes, Rockefellers, Soros, and Brit Hume.
I am hearing the handwriting on the suicide note matched that of Vince Forster's.
Coincidence....my A$$!!!!!!!
There will be a solid campaign nation-wide to track exactly WHO votes for Bernanke.
Let us be perfectly clear----
A VOTE for this lying, theiving thug, is a VOTE OUT THE DOOR for your own political futures.
Count on it. America is watching!
No wonder Reid always looks so sullen. He is losing money hand over fist! poor sap, reconfirm BS Bernanke, for Harry Reid's sake!
The taking up of the Bernanke debate (if there is indeed to be one which is certainly most likely but this situation is still fluid) must be proceeded by the filing of the cloture motion, which was not done yesterday as of 5:00 p.m. Eastern. If and when the motion is filed, it must age 2 days.
If the cloture is filed, Bernanke is in barring yet another of many Fed scandals popping up.
OMG---- Tyler!! You are single-handedly rendering all other financial "news" sites WORTHLESS and USELESS!! --(except possibly, for Dylan Ratigan's bold programming)
Keep bringing the HEAT to our corrupt politicians and exposing our economy for what it is-- An absolute PONZI SCHEME from top to bottom, with our corrupt elected leaders presiding over the biggest TRANSFER OF WEALTH from our pockets to theirs--Of all TIME!!
We are sick to know that our government has been this captured, but glad that at least SOMEONE out there has the integrity and stones to tell us the TRUTH!
Thank you, thank you, a thousand times, THANK YOU!!!
While this is admittedly some excellent and well placed muckraking which exposes the incestuous and sordid quid pro quos which are standard fare on the Beltway, the actual relationship between any profit the Senator hopes to accrue from his substantial CRE investments and the reappointment of Bernanke remain a little less distinct. Nonetheless the article points up one pervasive and consistent feature prevalent in both commercial and residential real estate transactions, namely the ongoing fraud and mendacity practiced by the Fed Chairman from his media bully pulpit regarding the exact state of affairs existing not only in real estate, but in the economy at large. As the equally culpable Paulson once pointed out in a rare transport of candor, equity prices have nothing to do with fundamental PE ratios but are largely driven by perception of underlying values based on media spin (and, it might be added, the requisite and ongoing artificial resuscitation). As TD has so ably suggested, the relationship between assets and valuation has degenerated into a shell game of professional side show hucksterism preying upon the uninformed and mistaken assumptions of so many witless and useful idiots.
Is it possible to redouble negative infinity?
Agreed. Americans are SICK of the corruption and conflicts of interest. Let's just hand over the whole smoking wreck to Lloyd Blankfein and his gang of extortionists..we might as well at this point.
A vote for Bernanke is a vote out the door for any politician stupid enough to vote for him.
He's still a crook, but only for the sake of fairness I will defend Harry on this one. These disclosures make me think they were drafted by Harry at a cocktail party to impress his friends. Anyone who has ever had the unfortunate experience of visiting Searchlight or Bullhead knows that ol Harry was under the influence of something or other (even in the glory days)when arriving at these values.
agree....I think Harry's a Searchlight, NV native. He might have had a horse-thieving relative leave him a patch of ground there. Unless such land is under the only casino on the main road to Laughlin , it ain't exactly prime property .
Bullhead City , AZ is just over the Colorado from Laughlin, NV. An excellent place to hide from the law. Not much more exciting than Searchlight. Both get to 118 in summer.
Call your senator(s) now and tell them not to vote for this tool, but indite him instead. Then on to Geithner.
I have come to the conclusion that Zero Hedge must become the Green Dragon Tavern of the 21st century if America is to survive. Never have I found more comfortable that there is indeed intelligent life remaining in the world then when I spend 10 minutes on this site. The disparity becomes even more clear when you spend 20 minutes listening to newly ushered out Judd Gregg's & Dodd's of the world on CNBC.
"The word we have given you a Republic if you can keep it have never carried more truth or weight."
From the moment remarkable and courageous men establish a true republic we must remember there are those inherently selfish and evil men in existence since man could deceive that intend only to take that which belong to others and exploit the weak. This is unacceptable.
Zero Hedge needs to become more than the journalistic symbol of the new revolution by aggregating intellect. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. -Thomas Jefferson, 1787.
The above is me I suppose I posted Anon again instead of signing in. Anyway I have spent all morning emailing Senators who are showing recent support for Bernanke and informing them that if they vote for Benny Bucks they may as well vote against themselves. For once the President had the chance to take the lead on this and make the appropriate move, gain support and avoid backlash. Instead he chose to to the complete opposite and line himself up for the 3rd straight political defeated after Corzine & Coaxley.
It reminds me of that scene from Nixon at the Lincoln Memorial with the Vietnam protesters.
Young Student: You don't want the war. We don't want the war. The Vietnamese don't want the war. So, why does it go on?
Richard M. Nixon: [hesitates, unable to respond]
Young Student: You *can't* stop it, can you? Even if you *wanted* to. Cuz it's not *you*. It's the *system*. The system won't *let* you stop it.
Richard M. Nixon: There's... there's more at stake here than what you want, or what I want.
Young Student: Then what's the point? What's the point of being President? You're powerless!
Richard M. Nixon: No! No, I'm not powerless. Becaus-, because I understand the system, I believe I can, uh... I can control it. Maybe not control it totally, but, uh... tame it enough to make it do some good.
Young Student: Sounds like you're talking about a wild animal.
Richard M. Nixon: Yeah maybe I am...
Yeah, we're really hoping to get around to that reappointment vote -- on the last business day before his term runs out.
I think maybe instead of prematurely throwing in the towel it's time for the Loyal Opposition to "redouble" its efforts to call and email senators.
The Huffsters are all wadded up b/c the Senate did not make the same deal for the public health option.
It was 60 or nothing for the President's landmark policy.
On Big Ben however it's, "give me your first vote for cloture and then you can vote your conscience after that."
(Edit-above)
"it was 50 or nothing..."
Zero Hedge needs to become the Green Dragon Tavern of the 21st Century. I feel at peace knowing there is intelligent life remaining in this world and that they are aware of what is econmically responsible and ethical. Too long since the creation of this fine nation by remarkable men have inherently evil and self interested men tried to exploit our country for their own benefit.
Ever time I am witness to the Judd Gregg & Dodd's of the world on CNBC I become more and more confident that those running this nation are not nearly as intelligent as those intended to since their interests could not be more distant than that of the middle class. Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. -Thomas Jefferson, 1787.
Blatant disregard for justice by these "men" is unacceptable.
FYI, the Green Dragon (or the ersatz version on the site thereof) now hosts cheesy cover bands. And the Tea Party Ship museum, which had been badly in debt, mysteriously burned down. The founders would be so proud.
Anyway, the thought crossed my mind this morning on the way in... remember those Swiss accounts that were subpoenaed? Anybody want to give odds on whether any are owned by a "retiring" senator?
Interesting Tranzor. Dodd, Gregg or the relics that are soon to be retiring and joining the financial sector as private citizens in 2010? It is apparent that these weasels have no been uncovered for what they are these past decades and they have until November to cram favorable banking legislation and block regulation in order to line up those cushy jobs on various boards.
And these people are supposed to be Democrats? This is what I found so ironic about an argument from staunch unwavering Demo/liberal voter is that they fail to recognize the middle class is the last interest about doing anything but posturing for votes under the guise of anti-rich. To be anything but independent and vote for what is right & wrong is just asinine. I think they should investigate the additives to Cheetos and McDonald's for this past half century because I would be less concerned about the carcinogens and more concerned with the effect that junk food has had on making most Americans "common sense retarded."
Wealthy politicians with obvious conflicts of interest need to be kicked out of congress. Enough is enough.
Wealthy politicians with obvious conflicts of interest need to be kicked out of congress. Enough is enough.
Harry has a long history of using his influence in unethical land deals in Nevada.
Land swaps, Favorable rezoning, lifting of Federal environmental restrictions all resulting in profits to him and his close associates.
Keep in mind he was born and raised in an area (Searchlight) that made money fleecing miners and dam workers out of their hard earned money with whores and gambling. They can run rings around the typical government desk jockey.
They just got the government to invest billions in the area digging a hole at the nuclear test site to store nuclear waste. Now that they got the money and jobs they are fighting like hell to keep it forever empty out of "environmental concerns" (in an area where they set off nukes above and below the ground).
Classic Vegas con job....
Yeah, clearly none of you folks have ever been to Searchlight, NV. Even if you had, it wouldn't be surprising to find that you blinked and missed it. I think there's little likelihood that a) these properties are going to change much in value regardless who the next Fed chair is, and b) they actually hold stated value. The only one moving quickly toward Searchlight is Harry Reid.
But I'm sure you can find some other Senate members with a much stronger vested interest, either side of the aisle.
Harry has a long history of using his influence in unethical land deals in Nevada.
Land swaps, Favorable rezoning, lifting of Federal environmental restrictions all resulting in profits to him and his close associates.
Keep in mind he was born and raised in an area (Searchlight) that made money fleecing miners and dam workers out of their hard earned money with whores and gambling. They can run rings around the typical government desk jockey.
They just got the government to invest billions in the area digging a hole at the nuclear test site to store nuclear waste. Now that they got the money and jobs they are fighting like hell to keep it forever empty out of "environmental concerns" (in an area where they set off nukes above and below the ground).
Classic Vegas con job...
It's over....
He only needs 50 votes.
the headline at Huffpo..
Double Standard For Bernanke: Only 50 Votes Needed In Senate
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/double-standard-for-berna_n_436971.html
er? You're implying the cloture vote is a done deal. Which it may be, metaphorically, but it isn't yet, in reality.
The Boston Globe is reporting that Scott Brown does not expect to be seated until February 11.
F.U HARRY
I think a new defination of hypocrite is needed for this man.
Pimco’s Gross Says U.S. ‘Needs’ Bernanke to Stay as Fed Chairman :http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awhXnqJxdUN4&pos=4