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Hank Paulson Tipped Off The Goldman-Led "Plunge Protection Team" About Fannie Bankruptcy 7 Weeks In Advance

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Today, BusinessWeek's Michael Serrill and Jonathan Neumann have released a blockbuster report based on a FOIA response by the Treasury, which proves that in America rules are only for little people, that this country has been a banana republic for years, that Animal Farm was spot on, and gives excruciating detail of how Hank Paulson tipped off a select group of Goldman diaspora hedge fund managers about the eventual failure of Fannie and Freddie 7 weeks ahead of this information becoming public knowledge. The report basically is a summary of a meeting that took place at the offices of Eton Mindich's Eton Park headquarters on July 21, 2008, 7 days after his famous '“If you have a bazooka, and people know you have it, you're not likely to take it out," speech and 7 weeks before both GSEs effectively filed for bankruptcy and were put into conservatorship. Now if it only ended there it would have been fine - a case of potential criminal collusion between the government (although nothing specific against Paulson as he didn't actually trade: he just made sure his former Goldman colleagues made money), and the 0.00001% in the face of a few multi-billionaires who most certainly did trade on material non-public information sourced by Hank. Where it however gets worse is when one considers the actual role of one Eric Mindich in the hierarchy of the Asset Managers' committee of the President's Working Group on Capital Markets, better known of course as the PPT: a topic we discussed first back in September 2009 when we asked "What Is Goldman Alum Eric Mindich's Role As Chair Of The Asset Managers' Committee Of The President's Working Group?" Back then we did not get an answer. Luckily, courtesy of a few answered FOIA requests, some real investigative journalism, and not reporting for the sake of brown-nosing just so one can get soundbites for their next name dropping "blockbuster" and straight to HBO movie, we are starting to get the full picture of just how high in US government the Goldman Sachs controlled "crony capitalist" adminsitration truly runs.

Before we get into the details of Mr Mindich's curious relationship with the government, here is the gist of the BusinessWeek piece, which as noted focuses on Paulson who "said he had erred by not punishing Bear Stearns shareholders more severely. The secretary, then 62, went on to describe a possible scenario for placing Fannie and Freddie into “conservatorship” -- a government seizure designed to allow the firms to continue operations despite heavy losses in the mortgage markets."

The gathering comprised some of Wall Street's most storied investors. Mindich, a former chief strategy officer of New York- based Goldman Sachs, started Eton Park in 2004 with $3.5 billion, at the time one of the biggest hedge-fund launches ever. [Dinakar] Singh, a former head of Goldman's proprietary-trading desk, also began his fund in 2004, in partnership with private- equity firm Texas Pacific Group Ltd. Lone Pine's [Stephen] Mandel worked as a retail analyst at Goldman before joining Julian Robertson's Tiger Management LLC, one of the most successful hedge funds of the 1980s and 1990s. He started his own firm in 1997. [Daniel] Och was co-head of U.S. equity trading at Goldman before founding Och-Ziff in 1994. The publicly listed firm managed $28.9 billion in November. One other Goldman Sachs alumnus was at the meeting: Frank Brosens, founder and principal of Taconic Capital Advisors LP, who worked at Goldman as an arbitrageur and who was a protege of Robert Rubin, who went on to become Treasury secretary.

In other words the point of the meeting was nothing short of the former Goldman CEO telling all his former Goldman colleagues just what he was planning on doing in his capacity as Treasury Secretary.

Others also benefited:

Non-Goldman Sachs alumni who attended included short seller James Chanos of Kynikos Associates Ltd., who helped uncover the Enron Corp. accounting fraud; GSO Capital Partners LP co-founder Bennett Goodman, who sold his firm to Blackstone Group LP in early 2008; Roger Altman, chairman and founder of New York investment bank Evercore Partners Inc.; and Steven Rattner, a co-founder of private-equity firm Quadrangle Group LLC, who went on to serve as head of the U.S. government's Automotive Task Force. Another person in attendance: Michele Davis, then-assistant secretary for public affairs at the Treasury Department, who now represents Paulson as a managing partner at public relations firm Brunswick Group Inc. In an e-mail response to Bloomberg Markets, she referred all questions to Paulson's book on the financial crisis, “On the Brink” (Business Plus, 2010), which makes no mention of the Eton Park meeting.

No mention? What a shocker. Perhaps it may have to do with this:

The fund manager who described the meeting left after coffee and called his lawyer. The attorney's quick conclusion: Paulson's talk was material nonpublic information, and his client should immediately stop trading the shares of Washington- based Fannie and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie.

 

The manager who described the Eton Park meeting says he also discussed it with an investigator from the FCIC. The discussion was confirmed by a former FCIC employee.

Of course, it only means that one would not have to cover shorts on "existing positions." The market's shift from a NYSE to OTC Pink Sheets listed stock would do it for them.

That manager says he ended up profiting from his Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac positions because he was already short the stocks. On his lawyer's advice, he stopped covering his short positions and rode Fannie and Freddie shares all the way to the bottom.

Naturally, the one defense of this criminal disclosure comes from a former Fed president:

“It seems to me, you've got to cut the guy some slack, even if he tipped his hand,” says William Poole, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “How do you prepare the market for the fact that policy has changed without triggering the very crisis that you're trying to avoid? What is he supposed to say without misleading these people?”

So going back to Eric Mindich. Why is he so special? Presenting Exhibit A, the members of the Asset Managers' Committee of the President's Working Group on Capital Markets, aka the PPT:

Just what is this curious committee consisting of all key hedge fund managers?

The Asset Managers’ Committee and the Investors’ Committee are private sector committees established by the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (“PWG”). The first task of the Committees was to develop and publicly release best practices so that market participants may enhance investor protection and systemic risk safeguards consistent with PWG principles and guidelines. The final reports are available through the homepage of the respective Committee.

In other words, these are the hegde funders who comprise the Plunge Protection Team.

But this will be nothing new to our readers. Here we refer to our article from back in September 2009:

 

On September 25, 2007, the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, better known as the Plunge Protection Team, announced the formation of two private sector committees, one comprising of Asset Managers and the other, of Investors. It is the first one that is more interesting, as the committee is chaired by one Eric Mindich, best known for his Goldman Sachs wunderkind status, who at 27, was the youngest Goldmanite ever to be promoted to partner. In 2004, Eric split off from Goldman, nonetheless maintaining a favorable relationship with the mothership through its "Fund of Funds" division (we jest), and its various Prime Brokerage client platforms, by starting Eton Park, which with its starting capital of $3 billion, is still likely a record of highest AUM at a fund's inception.

So what was the justification for the creation of this specific committee. From its Mission Statement:

PRESIDENT’S WORKING GROUP ON FINANCIAL MARKETS

ASSET MANAGERS’ COMMITTEE

 

Mission Statement

 

The Asset Managers’ Committee is comprised of representatives from a broad array of asset managers. Its purpose is to facilitate an exchange of information between the alternative asset management community and the agencies comprising the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (“PWG”). It will be a standing committee, and its members serve at the behest of the committee’s chairperson for three-year terms. Members may be reappointed for additional terms. It is expected that the committee will develop best practice guidelines, as described below, and also subsequently review and reassess, and if necessary revise, those guidelines.

 

The first task of the committee is to develop detailed guidelines that would define “bestpractices” for the alternative asset management industry, including practices regarding information, valuation, and risk management systems. They would foster efforts to enhance market discipline, mitigate systemic risk, augment regulatory safeguards regarding investor protection, and complement regulatory efforts to enhance market integrity. These guidelines would review and build on existing industry work and the principles and guidelines released in February 2007 by the PWG, particularly Principle 9, where possible. The initial focus will be on practices for hedge fund managers.

Yet less than a year later, the economy and capital markets collapsed, forcing Hank Paulson to launch an  unprecedented sequence of events to prevent the full meltdown of the Western World. Indeed, the same Hank Paulson who one year prior to Lehman's collapse had this to say regarding the Asset Managers' committee:

"These groups are drawn from among the industry's finest in their respective areas," said Treasury Secretary and PWG Chairman  Henry M. Paulson, Jr. "The market will benefit if experienced participants develop and implement best practices."

It is safe to say that whatever the committee's true mission was, its stated one was an unmitigated failure. For reference purposes, the full committee consists of the following:

  • Eric Mindich, Chair, Eton Park Capital Management
  • Anne Casscells. AETOS Capital, LLC
  • James S. Chanos, Kynikos Associates LP
  • Anne Dinning, D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.
  • Jonathon S. Jacobson, Highfields Capital Management
  • Marc Lasry,Avenue Capital Group
  • Edward A. Mulé, Silver Point Capital
  • Daniel S. Och, Och-Ziff Capital Management
  • Daniel H. Stern, Reservoir Capital Group
  • William Von Mueffling, Cantillon Capital
  • Michael Vranos, Ellington Management Group LLC

Pardon our hypocrisy, but virtually all of these funds (with the likely exception of Kynikos) would have gotten destroyed had Bernanke, the Chairman of the PWG and the President, decided not to intervene. Furthermore, as is well know, the President's Working Group on Financial Markets has long been not only the front for the elusive Plunge Protection Team, but is an organization this is so wrapped in secrecy that not even minutes of its meetings are kept as John Crudele of the NY Post found out post his US Treasury FOIA submission. Yet the Asset Managers' Committee seems to be in that gray area where it is not totally consumed by the PWG, and thus it is possible that a record of its actions may actually not disappear into the void once any market critical decision is made.


We concluded our article from over two years ago as follows:

Zero Hedge is submitting a FOIA request to the US Treasury to disclose any and all information, records, emails, telephone conversations, with and amongst members of the committee and specifically focusing on former Goldman Sachs employee and Chair of the Asset Managers' Committee Eric Mindich, at and around the time of the Lehman collapse. We expect nothing but heavily redacted pages at best. Yet with recent scrutiny of latent Goldman interests in virtually every segment of the executive branch, Zero Hedge does find it oddly convenient, that in those dark (for Goldman Sachs) days, the two key people making capital markets related decisions were yet another two Goldman Sachs alumni: Hank Paulson and Eric Mindich. And we believe in the spirit of fake transparency so heavily endorsed by the President, it is worth at least attempting to get some additional information on the deliberations by the proxy entities that truly run this country's economy and capital markets.

We are happy that Bloomberg was more successful in getting a FOIA response than Zero Hedge. We urge Messrs Serill and Neumann to enjoin our request for data on what Paulson may have leaked to his Goldman buddies in advance of the Lehman collapse. Because maybe, just maybe, if the Goldman-run Plunge Protection Team let Lehman fail, it was under direct instructions from Hank Paulson... just as he tipped Mindich et al to the GSEs failure. And all those rumors about a directed run on the bank (whose failure benefited none other more than Goldman Sachs) coordinated by none other than the man in charge of it all, will suddenly come true.

Because we have a sinking feeling we will have been proven absolutely spot on in our "paranoid conspiracy theorism" all over again...

 

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Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:22 | 1925444 hedgeless_horseman
hedgeless_horseman's picture

 

 

Luckily, courtesy of a few answered FOIA requests, some real investigative journalism, and not reporting for the sake of brown-nosing just so one can get soundbites for their next name dropping "blockbuster" and straight to HBO movie, we are starting to get the full picture of just how high in US government the Goldman Sachs controlled "crony capitalist" adminsitration truly runs.

Hear hear!  Thank you to these two writers. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:23 | 1925455 GeneMarchbanks
GeneMarchbanks's picture

The 'full picture' has always been there. It's just, now less people are looking the other way.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:24 | 1925458 Vincent Vega
Vincent Vega's picture

The corrupt oligarchy will never find one of their own guilty of any wrong doing (professional coutesy). IF it were to ever happen...Presidential pardon would follow shortly.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:23 | 1925460 Sigma X
Sigma X's picture

Nevermind this, BBBY has a sale on towels...

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:26 | 1925481 Mike2756
Mike2756's picture

Bring your pepper spray!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:32 | 1925834 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

it's BBBY so bring your white pepper

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:24 | 1925462 Tense INDIAN
Tense INDIAN's picture

PPT is a myth ...the markets cannot be manipulated ...its too BIG ....

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:34 | 1925516 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Bet your sweet ass that the PPT is using 'future' U.S. tax revenue (aka deficit spending) to support what is nothing short of a total and complete farce of an equity market, which is going the way of the Nikkei, eventually, but manipulate it over the short and intermediate term...that's a different story and something they've absolutely done. You're either high or an idiot not to realize this.

I'm just wondering what specific strategy/strategies they're using (we all presume, rightfully so, that they're targeting the Dow 30, since as long as it's green, the Main Stream Lame Media can have headlines at 6:00 pm that say "Stocks Exploded" while their sheeple viewers get more confused by the day - watching their lives and that of friends get worse).

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:40 | 1925572 GeneMarchbanks
GeneMarchbanks's picture

'You're either high or an idiot not to realize this.'

Correct. That leaves a good 14% of the population looking around hopelessly for answers.

Carry on, no biggie.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:54 | 1925922 Teamtc321
Teamtc321's picture

Audit The Federal Reserve Reveals 16 Trillion in Secret Bailouts

http://www.dailypaul.com/188540/audit-teh-federal-reserve-reveals-16-trillion-in-secret-bailouts

The list of institutions that received the most money from the Federal Reserve can be found on page 131 of the GAO Audit and are as follows..

Citigroup: $2.5 trillion ($2,500,000,000,000)
Morgan Stanley: $2.04 trillion ($2,040,000,000,000)
Merrill Lynch: $1.949 trillion ($1,949,000,000,000)
Bank of America: $1.344 trillion ($1,344,000,000,000)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom): $868 billion ($868,000,000,000)
Bear Sterns: $853 billion ($853,000,000,000)
Goldman Sachs: $814 billion ($814,000,000,000)
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK): $541 billion ($541,000,000,000)
JP Morgan Chase: $391 billion ($391,000,000,000)
Deutsche Bank (Germany): $354 billion ($354,000,000,000)
UBS (Switzerland): $287 billion ($287,000,000,000)
Credit Suisse (Switzerland): $262 billion ($262,000,000,000)
Lehman Brothers: $183 billion ($183,000,000,000)
Bank of Scotland (United Kingdom): $181 billion ($181,000,000,000)
BNP Paribas (France): $175 billion ($175,000,000,000)
and many many more including banks in Belgium of all places
View the 266-page GAO audit of the Federal Reserve(July 21st, 2011):http://www.scribd.com/doc/60553686/GAO-Fed-Investigation

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-696
FULL PDF on GAO server: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11696.pdf
Senator Sander’s Article: http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4b...
www.unelected.org

 

http://www.dailypaul.com/188540/audit-teh-federal-reserve-reveals-16-trillion-in-secret-bailouts

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:50 | 1926210 narapoiddyslexia
narapoiddyslexia's picture

Any legally competent American knowingly possessing deposits or investments at any of those corporations is a pariah. Drain these monsters of those deposits and it weakens them.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:36 | 1925539 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

So you don't think an entity that has unlimited access to capital can prop up the markets? It seems to me that it doesn't matter how large the market is when you have a direct line to the master printer himself.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:55 | 1925661 homersimpson
homersimpson's picture

rename yourself IGNORANT indian with comments like those..

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:58 | 1925678 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

Oh yea Tense Indian? $16 TRILLION buys a WHOLE LOT of market control! Bet your ass it does! Audit The Federal Reserve Reveals 16 Trillion in Secret Bailouts | Ron Paul 2012 | Sound Money, Peace and Liberty

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:24 | 1925464 rajat_bhatia
rajat_bhatia's picture

I was wondering why you didnt pounce on this report earlier. It enthralls your audience when we hear Goldman's molestation tales

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:25 | 1925470 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

We are SO un-surprised!

Isn't THAT SAD? 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:26 | 1925485 fonzanoon
fonzanoon's picture

This short squeeze is going to hurt.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:37 | 1925855 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

DOW up 50, wow what a short squeeze.

Also unfortunately shorts are low in the market right now...big headwinds to pumping to the upside.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:27 | 1925487 The Axe
The Axe's picture

Not only that  FED-HEAD  Bill" Dickly" from St. Louis is defending him for this BS.....crazy

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:27 | 1925489 No Mas
No Mas's picture

This is how the world works and has always been so.  Do any of the ZH Sheeple here seriously think anything will ever be done about it?  If so, is that just one part of the delusional fantasies you guys share where the "system" collapses and justice is served to the "banksters"?

If so, HAH!  Keep waiting you blind mice.

By the way, check it out; DOW's up about a hundred.  Hard to swallow (que the semen jokes) eh?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:46 | 1925606 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

Hey, either put you Pnl on the screen or go back to surfing porn from your moms basement.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:49 | 1925620 fuu
fuu's picture

At 11609 you are back to levels seen in January 2011, August 2011, September 2011, and October 2011. Way to go!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:55 | 1925664 JOYFUL
JOYFUL's picture

I gather you don't like us much. That's OK. I can live with that. But to see the same stupid BS on every thread I read today?!? No mas.

Normally, I don't feed the trolls; but I like your name - No Mas....so listen up, hijo de la gran chingastre -

Jodate....an when yur done doin that, get ur ass outta here, cause though I would never use such foul language en INGLES, if I see your mierda here agin, I will cut offa your little tiny balls and stuff them in your ugly face, CABRON!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:58 | 1925686 DogSlime
DogSlime's picture

This is how the world works and has always been so.

So we should accept it?  Accept it like good slaves/sheep?

Murder has always happened - should we just accept it and not punish murderers?

This is HUGE fraud.  It is robbery of ordinary people and robbery of their children's future and we should just accept it???

FUCK OFF.

Who do you work for, you bastard?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:59 | 1925693 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

DOW is up .5%, WOW NoMas the douchenozzle is impressed!

Has to be one of Robos alternate ID's.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:23 | 1926095 Carlyle Groupie
Carlyle Groupie's picture

Alternate opinions are always welcomed on The Hedge.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:16 | 1926349 fuu
fuu's picture

Bullshit never is though.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:27 | 1925492 mktsrmanipulated
mktsrmanipulated's picture

fucking truth is nothing will be done to paulson or corzine....but had to charge and convict martha stewart what a fucking joke

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:02 | 1925975 Clark Bent
Clark Bent's picture

Don't interefere with my "visioning" Paulson into an orange jumpsuit, faith can move mountains brother. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:22 | 1926092 margaris
margaris's picture

no one is untouchable.
at a minimum we might see some psycho throw a brick into hank paulsons face, as did happen to berlusconi a while ago.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:28 | 1925498 sabra1
sabra1's picture

like now, the fed is propping up the euro, to drive down the greenback, to drive up the markets, to drive me to the store, to buy me a pitchfork at holiday prices, and once i use it, and clean it off, i will return it, and get me money back, and buy some silver!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:28 | 1925500 spekulatn
spekulatn's picture

Well done ZH!

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:30 | 1925513 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Can we put some heads on some pikes now, pleez?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:03 | 1925984 moondog
moondog's picture

Where is Vlad Tepes when you need him?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:32 | 1925519 msnrochny
msnrochny's picture

Thank you Tyler.  IMHO, you and the few reporters like these guys who have courage and accountability for what they do are real heroes.  We need so many more like you.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:33 | 1925523 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

THe full extent of the American Corporate Welfare State is being revealed in tiny increments. 

 

I will go on record right here, right now in predicting that the real story will burn your brain. You've been played. The .gov supports even the entire S&P 500. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:07 | 1925734 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

Agree 100%.  There is no market.  There is only the illusion of one.  Joe Public "invests" in a casino where the house always wins.

 

Obama is leader of the most corrupt government in the world.

Benocide, Geithner, Summers, Paulson, on and on.  All a bunch of white collar criminals.

But, life is short.  They'll get away with it in this world.  Will be interesting to see how they're dealt with later.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:10 | 1926019 Clark Bent
Clark Bent's picture

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

(Luke 6:24-26 ESV)

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:35 | 1926460 firstdivision
firstdivision's picture

Cause Bush's cabinet was so clean and angelic...oh wait Paulson was appointed to the position by Bush. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 15:04 | 1926658 nope-1004
nope-1004's picture

Bush WAS leader of the most corrupt government.  Obama IS leader of the most corrupt government.  Happy?

The Nation is falling off a cliff, run by bankster whores who outright steal.  Chicanery, thugery, lying, stealing, insider trading, taxpayer obsconscion.... and all you have to bring is Repub v Dem?

Go back to watching Flip This House.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:33 | 1925527 JOYFUL
JOYFUL's picture

fascism in action...all over again.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:35 | 1925538 BennyBoy
BennyBoy's picture

Mindich, Paulson and Corzine are all protected ex GS strong men. All will stay free and get their own financial shows.

 

Kids need someone to look up to.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:44 | 1925593 Caviar Emptor
Caviar Emptor's picture

Home of the Brave

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:36 | 1925548 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Hank is proof that crime pays. Why would anyone be honest?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:06 | 1925622 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

Because there is no way I would sell my soul and screw millions of innocent people just for a few billion little pieces of green paper. I will stick to converting my little pieces of paper into PM's and keep my integrity. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:19 | 1925777 Big Slick
Big Slick's picture

PBS actually made a great point on the NewsHour last night and said that perhaps a big part of the confidence problem in the US is that fact that the criminals of a decade ago (Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom, Adelphia, etc. etc. etc.) are in jail, while there has not been ONE conviction in all this stuff since 2008 - and contrary to being constrained to the shareholders of those earlier companies, the 2008+ crimes have hurt a tremendously larger number of people.  Why is that??

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:11 | 1925828 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

I agree with the confidence point. I have thought tha all along. But if you look at this financial mess versus the last one, all the criminals now are tied either directly or indirectly to the government. Enron, Global Crossing etc. had government contacts , but they didn't have the level of integration that the banks do. The banks have the power to hold congress hostage. If they go after the wrong people then the banks can collapse the system to the point that all the bums will be thrown out of office.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:15 | 1926047 Clark Bent
Clark Bent's picture

Agree, but would add that all these roads lead to Rome, as it were. I don't think the banks have to threaten to damage the system, they could be intimidated out of that. They can rely on the fact that our representatives' fingerprints are all over every criminal scheme, avancing it, covering it over, reaping the rewards. Somebody needs to upend a Jamie Gorelick or better to reveal the vermin underneath. The stink of the rot would be smelt round the world.  

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:28 | 1925821 mktsrmanipulated
mktsrmanipulated's picture

CORRECTION GOLMAN AND ITS ALUMNI ARE PROOF....

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:39 | 1925565 CPL
CPL's picture

WTI almost over 100, just needs to stay over $100 for 30 minutes then the HFT's go into pound the sell button mode across all sectors.

 

So TZA/FAZ is coming up people.  Sell on 1186 to avoid getting stuck, hold and wait after that.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:39 | 1925566 prains
prains's picture

Most wives run a pretty effective plunge protection team

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:40 | 1925571 Josh Randall
Josh Randall's picture

SWEET robbing in broad day light -- get the heck out of the system or continue playing at the corrupt wheel in the Casino...without the free drinks

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:45 | 1925573 LouisDega
LouisDega's picture

Wow!!! More secrets exposed. I feel like i am not worthy. Im honored 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:40 | 1925574 Troy Ounce
Troy Ounce's picture

 

 

I stopped being angry about this shit

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:43 | 1925584 xcehn
xcehn's picture

GS is the U.S. government.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:44 | 1925594 MFL8240
MFL8240's picture

WASHINGTON, GEORGE, in Maxims of George Washington by A. A. Appleton & Co.

"They (the Jews) work more effectively against us, than the enemy's armies. They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties and the great cause we are engaged in... It is much to be lamented that each state, long ago, has not hunted them down as pest to society and the greatest enemies we have to the happiness of America."

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:50 | 1925635 SMG
SMG's picture

Correction: They (the Illuminati)

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:58 | 1926255 Alienated Serf
Alienated Serf's picture

Spurious quotation

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:45 | 1925595 Conax
Conax's picture

"The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists." ~ J Edgar Hoover

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:46 | 1925603 mccoyspace
mccoyspace's picture

.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:46 | 1925607 vegas
vegas's picture

Really, what's the surprise? Vampire Squid is everywhere.

 

http://vegasxau.blogspot.com

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:49 | 1925629 Honey Badger
Honey Badger's picture

All I want for Christmas is to go into the Thunderdome with Hank.  Two men enter, one man leaves.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:50 | 1925632 Odin
Odin's picture
Tour de Force... Well done Tylers...
Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:01 | 1925637 robertocarlos
robertocarlos's picture

Hank is numero uno.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:51 | 1925640 Franken_Stein
Franken_Stein's picture

Tyler and team,

 

you are describing the symptoms of the disease.

But I can tell you, WHAT the disease is.

 

The video lasts ca. 1 hour, so please take your time. Trust me.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7652891847477492406

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:51 | 1925913 Seer
Seer's picture

No matter if we were to root out all these secret organizations, as long as we operate under the pretext of infinite growth on a finite planet we're fucked.  FUNDAMENTALS!  Further, as long as we maintain vertical hierarchical forms of "governance" we're not going to get to the FUNDAMENTALS.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:53 | 1925652 yogibear
yogibear's picture

Corzine and Paulson are icons on doing whatever you can to get away with crimes. Lie steal, cheat on your taxes (Turbo Timmy), insider trade,etc to get ahead. The rule of law has been eliminated. Currency counterfeiters more power to you. The Federal Reserve is doing it. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:54 | 1925653 blueridgeviews
blueridgeviews's picture

So Paulson obviously knew about their bankruptcy before he gave them the hat tip.  How does Barney Frank get away with the lie that he didn't know?

We need bigger jails for these scum.

Where are America's checks and balance? Is everyone involved?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:56 | 1925666 topcallingtroll
topcallingtroll's picture

Yep insider trading rules are only for little people.
That was nonpublic information.

Of course even with this documented no one will be prosecuted.

The FBI and others are too busy harrassing doctors because they think we upcoded and charged ten bucks too much for that last medicare visit.

Not enough investigative personnel for low priority stuff such as violating securities laws.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:05 | 1925708 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

But it's all okay because Walmart has a dollar off their towels. Trickle down. We've been trickled on so much we need more than a towel.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 11:57 | 1925672 Zola
Zola's picture

Bravo, thanks for the info Tyler. I can now add a few names to my list of totally useless hedge funds run by clowns and crony capitalists.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:00 | 1925694 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Paulson nor his VIP friends and hedge fund managers he had a private meeting with, telling them something that was 180 degrees opposite as to what he SWORE UNDER OATH to Congress a week later, isn't behavior shielded by whatever law (arguably - it's not at all definitive, actually) is proclaimed to allow Congress members to trade on non-public, material info.

Neither Paulson nor those hedge fund managers he met with in private were members of Congress.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:00 | 1925697 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

i have posted many times here, the scumbag who has done the most damage to this country is HANK PAULSON

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:03 | 1925710 Sweet Chicken
Sweet Chicken's picture

Capitalism has made it this way

 

Old fashioned fascism will take it away!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:03 | 1925714 TheAkashicRecord
TheAkashicRecord's picture

How convenient ...

"tracking firm-specific short stock sales isn't possible using public documents."

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:03 | 1925715 San Diego Gold Bug
San Diego Gold Bug's picture

Hank has a lot of bad karma coming his way.  Hell will have a new customer when he dies someday.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:09 | 1925744 rambler6421
rambler6421's picture

It's the NWO.

 

libertarian86.blogspot.com

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:10 | 1925749 Spigot
Spigot's picture

When you have a financial system that is essentially owned and operated by an elite that is above scrutiny or law, protected by the law makers and the executive branch, then you have the perfect context for criminal opportunites, and they will not go to waste for one minute.

That said, these god damned ass wipes need some lessons that only extreme pain can teach.

Let it begin...

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:08 | 1926007 xcehn
xcehn's picture

Here is a great video to help anyone 'manage' their seething rage. Watch the entire clip on full screen; it's helpful (cathartic).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msyl5BxL9M8

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:30 | 1926134 Conax
Conax's picture

In the movie Hyman Roth dreamed of a "partnership with a real government" and was referring to pre-revolution Cuba.  Our modern crooks would have a belly laugh at his naivete.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:11 | 1925750 Davalicious
Davalicious's picture

For some people this means open season on Hank, his wife and kids. Can't say I'd be first in line to protect him.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:18 | 1925782 Manipulism
Manipulism's picture

The Real Reason Bloomberg Sued to Open Up Fed Records?

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 – by Staff Report

Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion ... The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the largest bailout in U.S. history a secret. Now, the rest of the world can see what it was missing. The Fed didn't tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn't mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue. – Bloomberg

Dominant Social Theme: What we need is ... Pecora hearings!

Free-Market Analysis: Is the US gearing up for another "Pecora Hearing"? These hearings that began in 1932 in New York and Washington, DC gave us the current nonsensical regulatory regime that the US suffers from (and has exported to the wide world).

Here at the Daily Bell, we have an advantage when it comes to this issue ... in that there is among us a writer who spent up to a decade on Wall Street studying the securities industry and such abstruse things as the 1930s Pecora Hearings (and wrote several books on the topic). The study of these hearings and their outcome is what turned him (among others) into a Libertarian (someone who doesn't believe that government has all the answers).

The early 1930s Hearings and subsequent "regulation" were nothing but a gigantic show for the increasingly embittered and bankrupt masses. A sickening display of pandering and abysmal failure dressed up sanctimonious language and hypocritical anodynes. There are few words to describe the malevolent dysfunction of the system that was created.

And now the powers-that-be have likely decided to do it all over again! That's probably the reason Bloomberg pursued its lawsuit – to whip up further indignation against the "system." That's how it looks now, anyway.

We couldn't figure it out, not for more than a year. It was one of those anomalies that you run into in this obscure line of work (analyzing elite dominant social themes). But it's becoming clearer now as this news comes out ...

We've been aware of the signals for some time, and have written about them ... the whipping-up of sentiment against "Wall Street," the faux indignation of the 99 percent against the "one percent," the lemming-like statements that "Wall Street" needs to "pay" for its "crimes."

In times such as these, the fingers are pointing at specific Wall Street firms as if they were the problem rather than the Money Power of the power-elites roster of central banks worldwide. This is ALWAYS the way the top familial elites deal with their difficulties.

Just read a little financial history to see for yourself. Of course, most of this financial history is locked up on obscure library shelves in various university libraries. You can find plenty of bios about Michael Jackson, but try to find a legitimate history of the NYSE. Good luck.

And why is that? Because "they" don't want you to know. Over and over on these modest pages we've written that the real power resides with the power elite and its ability to print-money-from-nothing using central banks. These people want to run the world (formally as opposed to informally) and they have created a faux reality we call "dreamtime" in order to facilitate their cause.

Part of that reality includes a kind of rhetorical escape hatch. When this turgid, unstable central-banking system collapses (as it does over and over again) the powers-that-be point their collective finger at their favorite scapegoat: the Securities Industry – especially in America where it is most powerful.

In fact, here is how you can tell an apologist-for-the-system from a freedom-fighter in this "sophisticated" day and age: They will claim the problem lies with Wall Street crookery rather than with the larger system of printing counterfeit money (central banking).

And thus our conclusion as regards Bloomberg. Mike Bloomberg himself is surely a card-carrying member of the elite, isn't he? His firm was given tremendous advantages by Merrill Lynch that initially held 30 percent of his firm and supposedly in return gave him insider prices on long Treasuries from their Desk. That's why people bought his machines initially, as we understand it, not for their "technology."

So Mike does what's necessary to save the franchise, in our humble opinion (the Fed franchise). He even sues to force the US Federal Reserve to open up its books about its 2008 bailouts. (Yes, we know, during the course of the legal action, the reporter from Bloomberg who initiated it died of a heart attack but Bloomberg as a corporation persevered).

As a result, we now know that the Fed disbursed some US$13 trillion to American commercial banks! This has caused a firestorm. But watch ... The powers-that-be, the manipulators behind this latest elite meme will NOT blame the Federal Reserve. They will chase after the "crooks" on Wall Street.

It would be funny if it were not pathetic. The top men of Wall Street don't fully understand the system, either. They think their elite masters (the tip-top elite families and their enablers and associates) will protect them.

They don't understand yet what is barreling down upon them! They are, in this regard, as naïve as children! Soon they are to pay for their conniving and scheming. They are the metaphorical alibi and they will be sacrificed to make sure that public anger is focused on securities shenanigans rather than on the larger horror of printing-money-from-nothing.

That's how all this works. Soon enough (after Obama – or whomever – is reelected) the hearings shall commence. America shall be thoroughly disgusted by the crimes committed on Wall Street. Toward the end of the hearings, when the public is fully aroused, Ben Bernanke shall appear before the Congressional Commission to proclaim his sorrow and shock.

Yes, The Bernank shall explain that he "didn't know" and that the Fed "failed" in its supervisory powers. The congressmen shall be furious. They shall castigate The Bernank. They shall pontificate and perorate. They shall call down the very Hounds of Hell on The Bernank and his incompetence.

And then ... they shall give the Fed MORE power to do what it does best – put small banks and small securities firms out of business. For that is all regulation is ... a way of creating barriers of entry so that the large firms shall prosper and the small ones shall fall by the wayside.

It has another name as well: regulatory capture. The large, strong businesses capture the regulatory departments by offering their top people lucrative contracts. Then the top regulators, when they are older, join the businesses they used to "regulate."

These "grayhairs" then counsel their juniors at the regulatory facilities in Washington as to what "must be done." The junior people in Washington, DC are willing to listen because they, too, want to get the big payoff by joining a big firm. They don't want to be too tough because it will affect their job prospects if they get all "doctrinaire" about anything.

And so it goes. After a while (say 10 or 20 years) ALL the regulations propounded by such outfits as the SEC and CFTC and the NASD are created to disadvantage smaller players while advantaging the larger ones that can afford to retain lots of lawyers and accountants.

It gets worse! The little guys go to jail while the big guys pay their "fines" out of the pockets of their customers. Regulation is not merely futile; it's actively ant-business, anti-competition and anti-consumer. You'll never hear these arguments, though, (outside of the Internet) because that's Washington's dirty little secret.

Oh, and before we forget, let's make the point one more time: The Crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression was caused by the overprinting of money by the New York Fed. You can see a video about this here: Peter Schiff 'Schools' Princeton University Professor Cornel West.

There have been a lot of reasons advanced as to why the New York Fed printed as much money as it did, but most of these elaborate justifications are just that ... justifications. What the elites of the day did during the "Roaring 20s" (that they created) was to DELIBERATELY destabilize and undermine the system. It was probably done on purpose (in hindsight) to create a Depression and perhaps a war that could then give birth to a new world order.

And, in fact, this is exactly what happened. World War II gave way to a whole panoply of global institutions: the IMF, the UN, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, NATO and more recently the International Criminal Court. We are expected to believe this was some sort of coincidence, a "reaction" to the second Great War. Was it really? Can we STILL be so sure in this era of the Internet?

And what about those famous Pecora Hearings? They mentioned nothing about the Fednothing serious anyway. They mentioned nothing about FDR's apparent craven fear that his money men would be found out, that people would turn in their dollar receipts for gold, only to find the banks had none.

And what did FDR do? Apparently, he declared a bank holiday in response. And when that wasn't enough to stop the trembling of those who were sure they'd be found out, he confiscated gold. All of it! He passed a law! And people stood in line to hand in their gold.

And what else did the US political elites do? They hired Pecora. They started his hearings. Hey ... A crash? Blame Wall Street. Bank holidays? Blame Wall Street. Gold confiscation? Blame Wall Street (and hoarders).

And what was to be the solution to the Fed's overprinting of money? Again, blame Wall Street. Set up the SEC, the NASD and self-regulatory stock exchanges such as the NYSE. The Fed overprints. Congress abides. Wall Street gets regulated. 

Over and over the lies are propounded, the deviousness advanced. And now they are doing it again! Or they want to, anyway ... That's how it seems to us.  

So ... remember this, please, as you listen to whatever Congress may muster after the next presidential elections (or even before). In the world of power and money, there is NOTHING that is as it seems. Countries NEVER go to war for stated reasons. Laws are NEVER passed for the reasons that are given. Regulations are NEVER propounded to "protect" the individual, but only to advantage the most powerful – the ones who can make the rules.

The elites make the law. It's their world and their matrix. But, good Lord, we don't have to lie to ourselves as well!   

Conclusion:

The [1932] Wall Street investigation was launched by a majority-Republican Senate, under the Banking Committee's chairman, Senator Peter Norbeck. Hearings began on April 11, 1932, but were criticized by Democratic Party members and their supporters as being little more than an attempt by the Republicans to appease the growing demands of an angry American public suffering through the Great Depression. Two chief counsels were fired for ineffectiveness, and a third resigned after the committee refused to give him broad subpoena power. In January 1933, Ferdinand Pecora, an assistant district attorney for New York County was hired to write the final report. Discovering that the investigation was incomplete, Pecora requested permission to hold an additional month of hearings. His exposé of the National City Bank (now Citibank) made banner headlines and caused the bank's president to resign. Democrats had won the majority in the Senate, and the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, urged the new Democratic chairman of the Banking Committee,

Senator Duncan U. Fletcher, to let Pecora continue the probe. So actively did Pecora pursue the investigation that his name became publicly identified with it, rather than the committee's chairman.

Following the 1929 Wall Street Crash, the U.S. economy had gone into a depression, and a large number of banks failed. The Pecora Investigation sought to uncover the causes of the financial collapse. As chief counsel, Ferdinand Pecora personally examined many high-profile witnesses, who included some of the nation's most influential bankers and stockbrokers. Among these witnesses were Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange, investment bankers Otto H. Kahn, Charles E. Mitchell, Thomas W. Lamont, and Albert H. Wiggin, plus celebrated commodity market speculators such as Arthur W. Cutten. Given wide media coverage, the testimony of the powerful banker J.P. Morgan, Jr. caused a public outcry after he admitted under examination that he and many of his partners had not paid any income taxes in 1931 and 1932.

As reiterated by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Arthur Levitt during his 1995 testimony before the United States House of Representatives, the Pecora Investigation uncovered a wide range of abusive practices on the part of banks and bank affiliates. These included a variety of conflicts of interest, such as the underwriting of unsound securities in order to pay off bad bank loans, as well as "pool operations" to support the price of bank stocks. The hearings galvanized broad public support for new banking and securities laws. As a result of the Pecora Commission's findings, the United States Congress passed the Glass–Steagall Banking Act of 1933 to separate commercial and investment banking, the Securities Act of 1933 to set penalties for filing false information about stock offerings, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which formed the SEC, to regulate the stock exchanges. Paul Krugman believes that thanks to the legacy of the Pecora Commission's hearings and subsequent regulatory legislation, the American economy had a sound financial system for roughly half a century.

The Banking Committee's hearings ended on May 4, 1934, after which Pecora was appointed as one of the first commissioners of the SEC. In 1939 Ferdinand Pecora published a memoir that recounted details of the investigations, Wall Street Under Oath. Pecora wrote: "Bitterly hostile was Wall Street to the enactment of the regulatory legislation." As to disclosure rules, he stated that "Had there been full disclosure of what was being done in furtherance of these schemes, they could not long have survived the fierce light of publicity and criticism. Legal chicanery and pitch darkness were the banker's stoutest allies."

 

http://www.thedailybell.com/3298/The-Real-Reason-Bloomberg-Sued-to-Open-...

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:38 | 1925857 karzai_luver
karzai_luver's picture

Bell better left unrang.

We can walk and chew gum at the same time.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:56 | 1925940 Seer
Seer's picture

Apparently you didn't get that Wall Street's top participants are financial institutions.  Those duped OWSers that you talk about understand this.

Now then, go away....

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:26 | 1925815 YHC-FTSE
YHC-FTSE's picture

Had to read to the end to find out why it all sounded familiar. Nice one ZH/Bloomberg. 

 

I remember the slimy bastard reportedly on his knees infront of Pelosi begging for her support for the bailouts, and the msm spinning it as "an act of humility". What I got from that was the act of shameless guile from a worm without an ounce of dignity. Disgusting.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:54 | 1925827 Webutante
Webutante's picture

Hank Paulson is my least favorite private/public official of all time.  This revelation doesn't surprise me at all.  I've written elsewhere here in other comments about how he and his Goldman proteges took over 'my' conservation organization The Nature Conservancy a decade ago in order to pillage it for global carbon credits that it and the Carbon Exchange in Chicago could buy and sell  as the 'new' currency in the run-up to the man-made global warming fiasco.

Of all the people involved in the financial crisis/scandal since 2008 there's none I'd rather see tried and sent to prison than the insider's insider---the great tipper---Hank Paulson.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:33 | 1925836 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

I guess Louis Freeh will investigate this too, along with Natalie Wood's midnight swim.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:41 | 1925869 midgetrannyporn
midgetrannyporn's picture

Shocking. [/sarcasm]

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:43 | 1925875 jomama
jomama's picture

it's a good thing for them most americans have the attention span of a goldfish.

this shit is like ancient history for most.  

and pathetically, most that do remember just shake their heads in quiet resignation.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:44 | 1925882 tony bonn
tony bonn's picture

another vindication of the existence of conspiracies and of the criminality of skinhead nazi hank paulson

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:45 | 1925886 topshelfstuff
topshelfstuff's picture

Is anyone really surprised? It was well noted from the very beginning of Paulson's term at Treasury. A few facts, notes, and links to reports made early on, First, to be clear, the Official "Working Group" consists of these 4 Heads at Treasury, FED, SEC, and CFTC.

Though there was much written, and well noted that when Paulson took over the PPT got revived and began to work at highly active levels not seen, and steadily according to observers. One, and easier to add assorted pastes:

"Since taking the reins in July, the Wall Street veteran has reinvigorated the President's Working Group on Financial markets, which had languished," says the Journal article.

The New York Post says that it's "interesting that now - seemingly out of the blue and far removed from any obvious crisis - Paulson is activating the Plunge Protection Team."

John Crudele of The New York Post has pursued it in several columns

examples:


http://washingtonindependent.com/1543/the-plunge-protection-team

After 2001-02, there was little mention of the PPT group for several years.


But come 2006, when Paulson decided to renew the Working Group as a major player, the British financial pages, if not the American, renewed their interest. The London Telegraph described the PPT as a “shadowy body with powers to support stock index, currency and credit futures in a crash.” It added that the former Clinton aide, George Stephanopoulos, had earlier described the group as having “an informal agreement among the major banks to come in and start to buy stock if there appears to be a problem.”

Over the last decade or so, the Treasury Dept. and the Fed have both developed something of a scofflaw attitude toward strict interpretation of federal statutes and regulations.

Not all U.S. financial journalists have been baaing sheep, ready to ignore the issue. John Crudele of The New York Post has pursued it in several columns, and others have acknowledged hearing about the buy orders from friends in the S&P trading pits. Another columnist, James Pethokoukis of U.S. News & World Report, described at length how in the final two trading hours on Aug, 16, 2007, the Plunge Protection Team might have encouraged one or two major institutions to buy stock index futures, because a 300-point Dow decline was briskly wiped away. But then he felt obliged to close with a semi-disavowal: “there’s never been any official confirmation of this,” and that insiders both in Washington and Wall Street “totally dismiss” these reports.

With the recent market panics and surges, the Working Group — if not its deepest secrets — might have again appeared on the front pages. But this did not happen.

However, in March 2008, the Senate Finance Committee’s top Democrat, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and top Republican, Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), were consumed by interest in whether Paulson pressured Bernanke into having the Federal Reserve broker the controversial deal in which J. P. Morgan Chase got $30 billion to help take over Bear Stearns.

Baucus and Grassley asked for all kinds of details. However, they seem not to have asked for information on how closely Paulson and Bernanke had been collaborating since 2006 in their mutual roles on the Plunge Protection Team. and how they interpreted their powers under the 1988 presidential proclamation. This is unfortunate.

Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, a well-respected senior statesman, stated his concern bluntly. “To meet the challenge,” Volcker said, “the Federal Reserve judged it necessary to take actions that extend to the very edge of its lawful and implied powers, transcending certain long-embedded central banking principles and practices.”

 

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article1771.html

The “Plunge Protection Team” Working Overtime to Save US Stock Market

Since the appointment of Henry Paulson to the helm at the US Treasury, the US stock market has always found a way to defy the law of gravity. During Paulson's short reign, the Dow Jones Industrials (DJI-30) broke an 80-year old record for the longest streak of gains with only three declining days in between. During the first seven months of his tenure, the S&P 500 did not decline by 2%, the second longest-period without a 2% correction since 1964.

http://www.hermes-press.com/bailout1.htm

Unsurprisingly, there were commentators on CNBC who were whining that the Fed didn't cut 100 basis points. Don't worry, they'll get there.

Bear Stearns: From $170 to $2 in a little over a year

written by Mike on March 17th, 2008 @ 12:40 AM

We now know where the Bernanke Put lies for the investment banks: at $2 a share. I'll have to do a little research, but this devastating fall seems to be faster than most of the fly-by-night internet companies in the 2000 dot-com crash. And this is an 80+ year old Wall Street institution.

 

 

Did JPMorgan stick Fed with Bear's worst assets? They won't say!

written by Edward on April 3rd, 2008 @ 03:27 PM

Does the Fed's bailout of Bear Stearns leave taxpayers on the hook for $30B in loans backed by flimsy collateral? During today's Senate hearing, JPMorgan CEO James Dimon tried to assure lawmakers that his firm didn't cherry pick Bear's assets.

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:59 | 1925959 JR
JR's picture

Good stuff! topshelfstuff.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:46 | 1925891 samsara
samsara's picture

The more it changes....

In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And show that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'.
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished,
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence.
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face.
For now's the time for your tears.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:49 | 1925897 mktsrmanipulated
mktsrmanipulated's picture

I ACTUALLY CALLED CNBC AND ASKED THE NEWS DESK WHY THEY ARE NOT AIRING ANYTHING REGARDING THE ARTICLE....I WAS TOLD " I DIDNT READ THE ARTICLE".  THIS WAS OVER AN HOUR AGO....GOTTA LOVE BUBBLEVISVION

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:23 | 1926097 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

Its not like this article wasnt out for 3+ days lol

What a fucking joke.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:51 | 1925910 Rainman
Rainman's picture

Once you acknowledge that world goobermints are ruled by chronic kleptocrats, all else becomes clear. Nevertheless, the USA is a mirror image of Japan and its credit contraction problem entering into its 3rd decade. Doctor Bubble has some very good comparative charts. 

p.s. the kids are never moving out.

http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/japan-lost-decades-reinventing-japan-economic-lost-decades-in-the-united-states-young-adults-real-estate-trends-stock-markets/

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:53 | 1925917 JR
JR's picture

With no representation in Congress, it's fast resembling a single despot who takes care of his family. It’s now not just market risk, it’s fraud risk. It takes a fool to play in this.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:55 | 1925929 Clark Bent
Clark Bent's picture

From one conspiracy theorist to antoher, I raise my glass to you Tyler! There are none so blind as those who will not see. Keep the hammers hammering.  

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:55 | 1925932 onlooker
onlooker's picture

Who is the boss of Paulson ? Who can fire him? Who keeps him where he is?

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:50 | 1926216 Mark701
Mark701's picture

Paulson was Secretary of the Treasury under the Bush Administration. To the best of my knowledge he no longer holds any public office.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:55 | 1925934 ptoemmes
ptoemmes's picture

What is the staute of limitations, if any and if it coudl be applied (I know it won't), to this/these (hiccup) crimes?

Not that it matters, but watching the clock may provide some entertainment.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:53 | 1926231 lesterbegood
lesterbegood's picture

There is no statute of limitations for fraud or treason in common law.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:57 | 1925952 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

Well of course, he is merely protecting his and his connected friends' portfolio from tanking. Just "follow the money" Quido>

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 12:58 | 1925955 SunBlaster
SunBlaster's picture

YES, BECAUSE THEY CAN!

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:02 | 1925976 loveyajimbo
loveyajimbo's picture

Is AG Holder is some sort of cryogenic freeze until the next election?  IS Blankfein going to run for President, or is he there already?  The Occupy movement needs to arm itself to make anything work...

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:05 | 1925994 optimator
optimator's picture

And it won't even make the news.  But the guy that robs the 7-11, or the three legged dog will.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:15 | 1925995 TheAkashicRecord
TheAkashicRecord's picture

 

Police break up tent protest in Ukraine, one dies

 

http://tiny.cc/bvpbs

(Reuters) - One of about 30 protesters who had been on hunger strike in an eastern Ukrainian city over pension cuts died Sunday night after police broke up their tent encampment, the protest leader said.

 

The group were survivors of Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear accident and had been staging their protest in the mining city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine since November 14 after reductions in the state pensions they receive for their part in fighting the 1986 disaster.

With temperatures hovering around zero, local emergencies ministry workers had provided one large tent with heating for the core protesters to sleep in until the issue had been resolved.

But after a court ruled the protest illegal late last week, police stormed into the main tent Sunday night and removed a power generator, a stove and cut off lighting, the protest leader Nikolai Goncharov told reporters.

In the ensuing disorder, 68-year-old Gennady Konoplyov was taken ill and died in an ambulance after the police operation, Goncharov said. It was not clear what he had died from and there was no immediate comment by police.

"The police attack on the tent city was an act of terrorism," Goncharov said.

The incident is a personal embarrassment for President Viktor Yanukovich. Donetsk is his home town and normally a loyal bastion of support for him and his Regions Party.

"All this has happened with the silent agreement of the guarantor of the Constitution, President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine. The death of our comrade will be on his conscience because the President arranged this mayhem," Goncharov said.

Reform of the ex-Soviet republic's bloated pensions system is one of the commitments that Yanukovich's government has had to make to the International Monetary Fund in return for a $15 billion stand-by program.

It is dragging its heels, however, on another promise to the IMF to raise the price of household gas which it fears will dent the popularity of the Regions Party before a parliamentary election next October.

The Chernobyl disaster-fighters, who were evacuated with their families from the northern region 25 years ago, have become a powerful action group against the government's austerity moves and regularly stage protests at the parliament building in the capital Kiev.

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:06 | 1925999 BlackSunshine
BlackSunshine's picture

I called the Federal Reserve and I got Bernanke on the phone. I told him that we're bailing out the world and to start buying hard metals with all of that fake money as a hedge. We're fine I told him, our financial system has so many ways to hedge that it doesn't matter in the long run what happens.

And then I finished my 8-ball off my hookers tits.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:09 | 1926017 Richard Head
Richard Head's picture

Corzine first, then Paulson second for the guilotine.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:47 | 1926196 Conax
Conax's picture

Throw in Blankfiend and 'Legs' Dimon, and it will be a new day.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:10 | 1926022 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

Speaking of Bankruptcy, did you know:

On August 4th, 1790 an Act was passed which was Titled.-An Act making provision for the payment of the Debt of the United States. This can be found at 1 U.S. Statutes at Large pages 138-178. This Act for all intents and purposes abolished the States and Created the Districts. If you don't believe it look it up. The Act set up Federal Districts, here in Pennsylvania we got two. In this Act each District was assigned a portion of the debt. The next step was for the states to reorganize their governments which most did in 1790. This had to be done because the States needed to legally bind the people to the debt. The original State Constitutions were never submitted to the people for a vote. So the governments wrote new constitutions and submitted them to people for a vote thereby binding the people to the debts owed to Great Britain. The people became citizens of the State where they resided and ipso facto a citizen of the United States. A citizen is a member of a fictional entity and it is synonymous with subject.
What you think is a state is in reality a corporation, in other words, a Person.
"Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is Person." 9 F. Supp 272 "Word "person" does not include state. 12 Op Atty Gen 176.

There are no states, just corporations. Every body politic on this planet is a corporation. A corporation is an artificial entity, a fiction at law. They only exist in your mind. They are images in your mind, that speak to you. We labor, pledge our property and give our children to a fiction. For an in-depth look into the nature of these corporations and to see how you also have been declared a fictional entity. See: AMERICAN LAW AND PROCEDURE. JURISPRUDENCE AND LEGAL INSTITUTIONS. VOL.XIII By James De Witt Andrews LL.B. (Albany Law School), LL.D. (Ruskin University) from La Salle University. This book explains in detail the nature and purpose of these corporations, you will be stunned at what you read.

Now before we go any further let us examine a few things in the Constitution.
Article six section one keeps the loans from the King valid it states; "All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation."

Another interesting tidbit can be found at Article One Section Eight clause Two which states that Congress has the power to borrow money on the credit of the United States. This was needed so the United States (Which went into Bankruptcy on January 1, 1788) could borrow money and then because the States were a party to the Constitution they would also be liable for it. The next underhanded move was the creation of The United States Bank in 1791. This was a private Bank of which there were 25,000 shares issued of which 18,000 were held by those in England. The Bank loaned the United States money in exchange for Securities of the United States. Now the creditors of the United States which included the King wanted paid the Interest on the loans that were given to the United States. So Alexander Hamilton came up with the great idea of taxing alcohol. The people resisted so George Washington sent out the militia to collect the tax which they did. This has become known as the Whiskey rebellion. It is the Militia's duty to collect taxes. How did the United States collect taxes off of the people if the people are not a party to the Constitution? I'll tell you how. The people are slaves! The United States belongs to the founding fathers, their posterity and Great Britain. America is nothing more than a Plantation. It always has been. How many times have you seen someone in court attempt to use the Constitution and then the Judge tells him he can't. It is because you are not a party to it. We are SLAVES!!!!!!! 

http://theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/ultimate_delusion.htm

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 16:47 | 1927258 indio007
indio007's picture

Holy crap thinks for the post. It makes me feel better that the viel is lifting from people's eyes. 

The Colonies were the King of England's private property not the body politic. This is why the charter parties  (colonists) where subjected to admiralty courts . It was if they were aboard ship. This is why the King had to hire mercenaries for the war. The land was not taken by conquest but by "right of discovery" in the King's private capacity.

He had to be compensated for the taking of his private property.

The Declaration of Independce only claims to break POLITCAL TIES only.

I'll leave this with something else to ponder about "allegiance" to the US or any other body politic.

This is binding case law from Case of the Posnati. The case is cited in over 300 cases.

 

 

1. Ligeance is a true and faithful obedience of the subject due to his Sovereign. This ligeance and obedience is an incident inseparable to every subject; for as soon as he is born he oweth by birth right ligeance and obedience to his Sovereign…

But between the Sovereign and the subject there is without comparison a higher and greater connexion: for as the subject oweth to the King his true and faithful ligeance and obedience, so the Sovereign is to govern and protect his Subjects…

It is true, that the King hath two capacities in him: one a natural body, being descended of the blood royal of the Realm; and this body is of the creation of Almighty God, and is subject to death, infirmity, and such like; the other is a politic, body or capacity, so called, because it is framed by the policy of man…

… First, every subject (as it hath been affirmed by those that argued against the Plaintiff) is presumed by Law to be sworn to the King, which is to his natural person; and likewise the King is sworn to his subjects which oath he taketh in his natural person: for the politique capacity is invisible and immortal; nay, the politique body hath no soul, for it is framed by the policy of man…

4. A body politique (being invisible) can as a body politique neither make nor take homage: Vide 33 Hen. 8. tit. Fealty, Brook. 5. In fide, in faith or ligeance nothing ought to be feigned, but ought to be ex fide non ficta.

 

 

Edit: here's a link to the book you cited 

American law and procedure

, Volume 13

http://books.google.com/books?id=eQE9AAAAIAAJ&pg=

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:15 | 1926053 Marvin the Mind...
Marvin the Mindreader's picture

Apologia for Paulson from Sorkin in 3, 2, 1 ...

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:19 | 1926074 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

I hope the guy is making plans to move out of the country.  Like now.  Before the uprising begins, because this motherfucker Paulson will be numero uno or dos on the list of "motherfuckers hunted down and shot".

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:21 | 1926086 YesWeKahn
YesWeKahn's picture

When people accused him of benefiting his GS friends at congress hearing, he sounded really unfair to him, he almost had an heart attack.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:25 | 1926107 monopoly
monopoly's picture

Look, anything can happen in a nation run by thieves, perverts and greedy bastards. When we were a democracy and a free nation this would not have been allowed to occur, or if it did, those responsible would be incarcerated. But we are a nation run by bankers, corrupt politicians and traders whose middle name is Greed.

It will continue, and nothing will change until the people march and demand change. Afraid that is not going to happen any time soon. Just continue to prepare. You all know how to do that.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:26 | 1926113 JR
JR's picture

“It seems to me, you've got to cut the guy some slack, even if he tipped his hand,” says William Poole, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “How do you prepare the market for the fact that policy has changed without triggering the very crisis that you're trying to avoid? What is he supposed to say without misleading these people?” – Zero Hedge

Poole is saying that no matter what the situation, we have to have stability; even if it’s criminal, even if millions of innocent people get hurt – because just look at the damage the economy would suffer with a full scale financial system default.

Good grief, how much longer can this ruse go on? Poole’s position is the most irresponsible of all. Who needs a man of that low caliber to give his opinions; get away from him!

This is exactly what the SEC/Citi agreement was about, we just need to keep going down the road…

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:47 | 1926200 Mark701
Mark701's picture

I was thinking the same thing myself. If an economic system/policies are established that are fundamentally criminal in nature, then criminal actions become necessary to protect it. A sad, sad state of affairs.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:27 | 1926407 JR
JR's picture

When you begin to take off the edges of the onion, more and more shows up. And there’s a lot more fraud than this.  Even a little Fed disclosure leads to much, much more. The PPT is composed of the crooks; they’ve got to protect their racket. You don’t bring in a Ron Paul to have him give his opinions….

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:38 | 1926166 Mark701
Mark701's picture

Will anyone go to jail? No.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:26 | 1926402 anomalous
anomalous's picture

TMTJ - Too Many To Jail

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:48 | 1926557 LongOfTooth
LongOfTooth's picture

Well then, let's break out the guillotine!  

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 13:41 | 1926175 surrational
surrational's picture

Communism, marxism, fascism, democracy; who can even tell the difference? In my view our so called democracy in America is more tyrannical against it's citizens then just about any industrialized nation if not all. So all this debate on whether they are Marxist is besides the point IMO, just more psyop games to divide and conquer. The battle lines have been drawn for a long time, it's greedy jew banksters like Blankfein, Rockefeller and Bernanke against the rest of us. They will keep winning too unless conservative rednecks and liberals can realize they should be fighting on the same team.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 20:23 | 1928058 blunderdog
blunderdog's picture

Communism, marxism, fascism, democracy; who can even tell the difference?

The folks who studied history and philosophy.  Not many Americans, it seems.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:27 | 1926405 navy62802
navy62802's picture

I just assume that things like this happen all the time. Corruption and fraud are inevitable when you put the power of trillions of dollars into the hands of only a few men.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:41 | 1926487 billsykes
billsykes's picture

So let me get this straight-  chanos the short seller is on the PPT, to "help" keep markets from crashing?

if you were a shorter how would this not be gold? what really suprises me is the fact that they don't make more being on the inside, maybe they have to grease alot of people along the way. but the more grease the louder the squeak so that cannot be.... maybe they are not that great as traders but are just a bunch of guys with the inside track.

 

 

 

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:40 | 1926502 GrinandBearit
GrinandBearit's picture

One .223 round to the head will be sufficient.

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:57 | 1926615 deepsouthdoug
deepsouthdoug's picture

This should be interesting reading for NY AG Eric Schneiderman!   He might be the only guy who might have the balls to do something about this. 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 15:03 | 1926649 non_anon
non_anon's picture

crony capitalism, an American tradition

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 15:48 | 1926919 Mark701
Mark701's picture

In essence what we have in America is an economic system that funnels the vast majority of our national wealth to a small group of wealthy elites. Then, when those "elite" do things that crash the economy we are forced to bail them out to protect our economic interests.

IMO ANY private company that gets so large that it's failure could jeopardize the economic well being of the country should be broken up and sold off in tiny little pieces. That way if one of the pieces fails, it doesn't drag the whole country down with it.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 16:25 | 1927157 AldoHux_IV
AldoHux_IV's picture

And one wonders why the system must be utterly destroyed before any new one can be properly built.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 16:35 | 1927222 topshelfstuff
topshelfstuff's picture

a bit more to add, like what Paulson said before this meeting....the stuff The Public would be spoon fed

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-29/how-henry-paulson-gave-hedge-fu...

How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word

.............................................................

On the morning of July 21, before the Eton Park meeting, Paulson had spoken to New York Times reporters and editors, according to his Treasury Department schedule.


A Times article the next day said the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency were inspecting Fannie and Freddie's books and cited Paulson as saying he expected their examination would give a signal of confidence to the markets.


... A Different Message

 

At the Eton Park meeting, he sent a different message, according to a fund manager who attended. Over sandwiches and pasta salad, he delivered that information to a group of men capable of profiting from any disclosure.

 

Around the conference room table were a dozen or so hedge- fund managers and other Wall Street executives -- at least five of them alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., of which Paulson was chief executive officer and chairman from 1999 to 2006.


In addition to Eton Park founder Eric Mindich, they included such boldface names as Lone Pine Capital LLC founder Stephen Mandel, Dinakar Singh of TPG-Axon Capital Management LP, and Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.

 

After a perfunctory discussion of the market turmoil, the fund manager says, the discussion turned to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson said he had erred by not punishing Bear Stearns shareholders more severely. The secretary, then 62, went on to describe a possible scenario for placing Fannie and Freddie into "conservatorship" --

a government seizure designed to allow the firms to continue operations despite heavy losses in the mortgage markets.

 

... Stock Wipeout

Paulson explained that under this scenario, the common stock of the two government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, would be effectively wiped out. So too would the various classes of preferred stock, he said.

The fund manager says he was shocked that Paulson would furnish such specific information -- to his mind, leaving little doubt that the Treasury Department would carry out the plan. The managers attending the meeting were thus given a choice opportunity to trade on that information.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 17:37 | 1927509 defender
defender's picture

I just have one question.  Who sold these people their shorting vehicle after this meeting?  Was it one of the companies that got bailed out?  And if these companies were bailed out, were they "requested" to sell CDS and similar to these funds before they were made bankrupt.  Basically I am asking if this was a direct, tax payer funded, money making scheme.

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 18:39 | 1927780 topshelfstuff
topshelfstuff's picture

""""""""Basically I am asking if this was a direct, tax payer funded, money making scheme.""""""""""

 

Yes, I believe so, that's been the M.O.

The best thing to do is to look for "Cui Bono" = Who Gains.....this is like MF Global / Corzine's so-called stupid Bet. But who created the Vehicle? Why isn't that the real question? I think most All know....and BTW that "Bet" on the most likely to Fail in Erope was Known in advance by those who arranged the Fake account balances. That was Mortgage Scam 2.0, so I guess this one can be 3.0. Until this is Stopped it will continue. I'm waiting to see how they put this Loss on the Taxpayer's Tab

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 18:15 | 1927692 In Fed We Trust
In Fed We Trust's picture

Big fucking deal..

This was all already said at http://www.goldmanSachsExposed.blogpsot.com  3 years ago

especially the part where Hank holds a pistol to Leman's head, with the President as the only witness.

Two weeks in 911, two weeks before the out, the death of Lehman.  Conspiracy? You bet.  Dick Cheney meet with Hank Paulson

on how to gun down the world with bombs and dirty deravitives........

Speaking off the subject, looks like Wall ST had to float 100 trillion in new bombs just dont to pay themselves 14 billion bones,  in the last year alone.  How is that fucking deleveraging??

No deleveraging going on.  In fact banks all stocking up on CDS of cities and countries and companies thatt are going to get blown up in the next conflict...

 

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 18:16 | 1927694 In Fed We Trust
In Fed We Trust's picture

Big fucking deal..

This was all already said at http://www.goldmanSachsExposed.blogpsot.com  3 years ago

especially the part where Hank holds a pistol to Leman's head, with the President as the only witness.

Two weeks in 911, two weeks before the out, the death of Lehman.  Conspiracy? You bet.  Dick Cheney meet with Hank Paulson

on how to gun down the world with bombs and dirty deravitives........

Speaking off the subject, looks like Wall ST had to float 100 trillion in new bombs just dont to pay themselves 14 billion bones,  in the last year alone.  How is that fucking deleveraging??

No deleveraging going on.  In fact banks all stocking up on CDS of cities and countries and companies thatt are going to get blown up in the next conflict...

 

 

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 18:25 | 1927728 In Fed We Trust
In Fed We Trust's picture

And to top it off, I have to hear Mr. Bloomberg open for NPR the other night quoting the deficit is now at $10 trillion dollars.  !!

In fact it is 15 trillion according to Drudge last week, so what the fuck Mr fucking Bloomberg.  You should know better.  But it is expected cus as you and the NPR agents walk the audience into believing the whole reason that the super committee cant agree,  is because of healthcare, with no mention of banks and bailouts??  Of course both parties all agreeed to do nothing.  Why bother, the fucking major of NY is off by 5 fucking trillon.  Then NPR agents go into trance mode, "ITS BECAUSE OF HEALTHCARE< SO GO KILL YOURSELF YOURSELF getting older by the minute baby boomers......

Goldman Sachs probably has it figured out to the minute and the dollar the exact expectentency of your life and social number,(tin Foil hat)

 

Tue, 11/29/2011 - 18:25 | 1927729 In Fed We Trust
In Fed We Trust's picture

And to top it off, I have to hear Mr. Bloomberg open for NPR the other night quoting the deficit is now at $10 trillion dollars.  !!

In fact it is 15 trillion according to Drudge last week, so what the fuck Mr fucking Bloomberg.  You should know better.  But it is expected cus as you and the NPR agents walk the audience into believing the whole reason that the super committee cant agree,  is because of healthcare, with no mention of banks and bailouts??  Of course both parties all agreeed to do nothing.  Why bother, the fucking major of NY is off by 5 fucking trillon.  Then NPR agents go into trance mode, "ITS BECAUSE OF HEALTHCARE< SO GO KILL YOURSELF YOURSELF getting older by the minute baby boomers......

Goldman Sachs probably has it figured out to the minute and the dollar the exact expectentency of your life and social number,(tin Foil hat)

 

Wed, 11/30/2011 - 22:14 | 1933543 John Steinsvold
John Steinsvold's picture

 

An Alternative to Capitalism (if the people knew about it, they would demand it)

Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: "There is no alternative". She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.

I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: "Home of the Brave?" which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy: 

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm 

John Steinsvold

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”

~ Albert Einstein

 

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!