I guess Washington relies on the factoid that Americans have a very short attention span.
Based on the comment from Lila Rajiva, the other day, who is the co-author of one of my favorite books, "Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets", and a must read (to which you can order from my book library spindle at the top) she mentioned that perhaps more writing needs to be done regarding the financiers who have swindled the world from its money. I do agree, do to the fact that most people have already forgotten what has really transpired in the past only four short months...You can find her blog on the right in the column titled "Other Blogs of Interest" to which I frequent and hers is called, Mind-Body Politic.
To recap;
Back in September, Bernanke and Paulson came to Washington and asked for a blank check with no strings attached so they could get the banks the $700B in order for the banks to begin to buy up the toxic assets...When Bush came forward and asked for the blank check-the public said,"not again with the blank check policy..." But basically the politicos gave in anyway after a few bullshit sessions to make things look good to their constituents since Nov. 4 was right around the corner...politics, right?!
Then the banks took the money and hoarded it. No one in Washington told them they actually had to DO something with OUR money we were giving to them-those who fucked it all up in the first place. Oh, some paid for some great parties and a few CEO's and such got some great golden parachutes albeit with different semantic wording in order to comply...but they still got their-I mean, OUR money...
Then the banks kept hoarding the money. They continue to blame it on the consumer confidence. Is this CON or CONfidence... Businesses failed, people went broke, people lost their homes, people lost their jobs, more people lost their homes...
Obama got elected and people began to see a new light to the world. People forgot about the shit...The banks kept hoarding the money...
But more businesses failed, more people went broke, more people lost their homes, more people lost their jobs, then more people lost their homes...
Well, Bernanke stated today, in a speech in London, that he thought that the banks should be given the rest of the $350B that Obama is asking for so that the banks could buy up the toxic assets.
I'm sorry, did I hear that again? I mean, did you stutter? I mean, do you mean it this time?
And I guess our Democratic Congress and Senate decided to get a set of balls when there is an incoming Democratic President. Where were the concerns and checks and balances for the Bush $350B(actually substantially more...)
I asked for the Democrats to get a set of balls, but perhaps they needed to have a damn backbone when we had the Bush criminals running the show...
Once again, you can't make this shit up!
Bernanke originally came in stating that our old friend Greenspan had failed at his job. By no oversight or foresight he seemed oblivious to the lending rates and bubble that was being created. Bernanke stated that Greenspan should have never brought down the rates as low as he did. Now, Bernanke has brought the rates to the lowest they have been since...I'm an American-I can't remember, oh that's a good thing for Bernanke...but I'll find out online...
Don't these people know that everything is recorded and secured for the rest of time through the internet, cell phones, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and more...?
Perhaps they don't care because they know that America has a very short attention span.
What was I saying again?...
Oh, yeah, I was talking about this guy who "made off" with all of our money...his name was Madoff! Anyway...
And we wonder where the CON is in consumer confidence...
This, the 237th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs
Showing posts with label Henry Paulson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Henry Paulson. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, December 11, 2008
When would Adam Smith shower?
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I wanted to go back to the Oct. 16th entry and re-introduce the discussion of Adam Smith and his famed "Wealth of Nations" book.
We have seen, these past few days, the level of respect and recognition that the Bush administration has of where the money flow from the TARP bailout should go. It is quite obvious that they care more for the suits on Wall Street who decide to shower in the morning before they get to the office, than the do for the hard working Americans who must shower after they get home from work.
Again, we revisit the "Wealth of Nations", Book V, Ch.2, Of the Sources of the General or Public Revenue of the Society...
V.2.8
No two characters seem more inconsistent than those of trader and sovereign. If the trading spirit of the English East India Company renders them very bad sovereigns, the spirit of sovereignty seems to have rendered them equally bad traders. While they were traders only they managed their trade successfully, and were able to pay from their profits a moderate dividend to the proprietors of their stock. Since they became sovereigns, with a revenue which, it is said, was originally more than three millions sterling, they have been obliged to beg extraordinary assistance of government in order to avoid immediate bankruptcy. In their former situation, their servants in India considered themselves as the clerks of merchants: in their present situation, those servants consider themselves as the ministers of sovereigns.
V.2.9
A state may sometimes derive some part of its public revenue from the interest of money, as well as from the profits of stock. If it has amassed a treasure, it may lend a part of that treasure either to foreign states, or to its own subjects.
As we look at our current state of affairs that have plagued the American taxpayer in order to bailout the corporations, we are not seeing any of this "amassed treasure" that we have handed to Washington reach any of its "subjects".
Let's look again at the relevance to Smith's writings and today's economic crisis.
Treasury Secretary Paulson previously publicly professed that we should make sure these businesses (the financial institutions, AIG, and Fannie and Freddie) do not fail. However, as the people who shower in the morning in Washington try to find where to place the next $350 Billion, they continue to raise the issue of the private jets that the Big 3 used to get to Congress to ask for money. I agree that it wasn't a good move, however, the Washington suits neglect to mention all of the private jets that the financial institutions, AIG, and others use on a daily basis. They also forget to remind people of the ways that these bailed out firms of Wall Street have manipulated their books in order to still hand out year end bonuses to their people. They are calling them incentives for the new year...
The Republican welfare state for the rich shows us that the trickle down theory of economics does not work. It is like Washington has received a little slight of hand parlor trick from Vegas magicians to use with the tax payers money. Your and my future earnings. The funds from the hard working people who mostly shower after work, is being slighted from our wallets while we sit in the audience and smile unknowingly in amazement.
The interesting thing about this democratic capitalistic management philosophy that has transpired through the Bush administration is that we are riding a fine line to communism and or dictatorship. Now, through the Bush bailout, we are riding a fine line between capitalism and socialism.
As I have stated previously, there is NOT ONE WAY to do things as we have come to find that a totally free market capitalism does not work. When you put the suits of Wall Street in an arena without regulation it is the same as a kid in a candy store, or Joe the Plumber in Home Depot.
Our system is built on a capitalistic system with socialistic tendencies. What we have recently experienced is a huge redistribution of wealth to the rich with no parameters to the receivers of the tax payers funds. Or, rather a socialistic system for capitalistic tendencies. Congress failed us big time for giving out the nearly $500 Billion without strings attached or rules to the game. The suits of Wall Street are now unwilling to part with our money that we gave them. This is leaving the economy in a worse position than it was two months ago.
Paulson failed. Well, actually he begs to differ. But then, he showers in the morning. I would venture that he should also shower at night to remove all of the filth he creates during the day.
There is a slight irony to capitalism and Karl Marx. I use the first volume of Marx's major work, "Capital", which was published in German in 1867, as an example. In it, Marx focused on the labour(sic) theory of value and what he considered to be the exploitation of labour by capital. The labour(sic) theory of value held that the value of a thing was determined by the labor that went into its production. This contrasts with the modern understanding of mainstream economics, that the value of a thing is determined by what one is willing to give up to obtain the thing. Ironically, Smith is often cited for being the conceptual builder of free markets in Capitalism, and also cited as a main contributor to Communist theory, via Marx.
Smith believed that while human motives were often driven by selfishness and greed, the competition in the free market would tend to benefit society as a whole by keeping prices low, while still building in an incentive for a wide variety of goods and services. Nevertheless, he was wary of businessmen and argued against the formation of monopolies.
Due to the globalization of nearly everything, including currency, in order to keep prices low of products it is the hard working second and third world countries that do much of the labor. As the world becomes more competitive and smaller it is becoming harder to find ways to stretch the production dollar.
Smith discussed at length of the sovereign social state. In today's Republican party they continue to claim that the welfare state as being dis functional. That is until it is time to meet the needs of the sovereign. Our modern TARP program is case in point.
As quoted from The Wealth of Nations:
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages."
I hope that Obama comes out on Jan. 21, 2008, after his first nights sleep as President, addresses the nation by informing us that his first actions will be that the recipients of our hard earned funds MUST begin the distribute those funds back to the people and small businesses to get this economy moving again. That Detroit MUST make new cars that are electric, Hybrid, battery and more. That the government will begin to put money back into the infrastructure of the country and they need people to work...TODAY!
Bush knew about infrastructure and rebuilding. He just spent eight years and trillions of dollars in the WRONG country. Good riddence sir, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
Man, I must be making money since it is still morning, but after this I need a shower.
This, the 217th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
(If you have any difficulty or problems with this please comment or email so that we can address the issue immediately.)
I wanted to go back to the Oct. 16th entry and re-introduce the discussion of Adam Smith and his famed "Wealth of Nations" book.
We have seen, these past few days, the level of respect and recognition that the Bush administration has of where the money flow from the TARP bailout should go. It is quite obvious that they care more for the suits on Wall Street who decide to shower in the morning before they get to the office, than the do for the hard working Americans who must shower after they get home from work.
Again, we revisit the "Wealth of Nations", Book V, Ch.2, Of the Sources of the General or Public Revenue of the Society...
V.2.8
No two characters seem more inconsistent than those of trader and sovereign. If the trading spirit of the English East India Company renders them very bad sovereigns, the spirit of sovereignty seems to have rendered them equally bad traders. While they were traders only they managed their trade successfully, and were able to pay from their profits a moderate dividend to the proprietors of their stock. Since they became sovereigns, with a revenue which, it is said, was originally more than three millions sterling, they have been obliged to beg extraordinary assistance of government in order to avoid immediate bankruptcy. In their former situation, their servants in India considered themselves as the clerks of merchants: in their present situation, those servants consider themselves as the ministers of sovereigns.
V.2.9
A state may sometimes derive some part of its public revenue from the interest of money, as well as from the profits of stock. If it has amassed a treasure, it may lend a part of that treasure either to foreign states, or to its own subjects.
As we look at our current state of affairs that have plagued the American taxpayer in order to bailout the corporations, we are not seeing any of this "amassed treasure" that we have handed to Washington reach any of its "subjects".
Let's look again at the relevance to Smith's writings and today's economic crisis.
Treasury Secretary Paulson previously publicly professed that we should make sure these businesses (the financial institutions, AIG, and Fannie and Freddie) do not fail. However, as the people who shower in the morning in Washington try to find where to place the next $350 Billion, they continue to raise the issue of the private jets that the Big 3 used to get to Congress to ask for money. I agree that it wasn't a good move, however, the Washington suits neglect to mention all of the private jets that the financial institutions, AIG, and others use on a daily basis. They also forget to remind people of the ways that these bailed out firms of Wall Street have manipulated their books in order to still hand out year end bonuses to their people. They are calling them incentives for the new year...
The Republican welfare state for the rich shows us that the trickle down theory of economics does not work. It is like Washington has received a little slight of hand parlor trick from Vegas magicians to use with the tax payers money. Your and my future earnings. The funds from the hard working people who mostly shower after work, is being slighted from our wallets while we sit in the audience and smile unknowingly in amazement.
The interesting thing about this democratic capitalistic management philosophy that has transpired through the Bush administration is that we are riding a fine line to communism and or dictatorship. Now, through the Bush bailout, we are riding a fine line between capitalism and socialism.
As I have stated previously, there is NOT ONE WAY to do things as we have come to find that a totally free market capitalism does not work. When you put the suits of Wall Street in an arena without regulation it is the same as a kid in a candy store, or Joe the Plumber in Home Depot.
Our system is built on a capitalistic system with socialistic tendencies. What we have recently experienced is a huge redistribution of wealth to the rich with no parameters to the receivers of the tax payers funds. Or, rather a socialistic system for capitalistic tendencies. Congress failed us big time for giving out the nearly $500 Billion without strings attached or rules to the game. The suits of Wall Street are now unwilling to part with our money that we gave them. This is leaving the economy in a worse position than it was two months ago.
Paulson failed. Well, actually he begs to differ. But then, he showers in the morning. I would venture that he should also shower at night to remove all of the filth he creates during the day.
There is a slight irony to capitalism and Karl Marx. I use the first volume of Marx's major work, "Capital", which was published in German in 1867, as an example. In it, Marx focused on the labour(sic) theory of value and what he considered to be the exploitation of labour by capital. The labour(sic) theory of value held that the value of a thing was determined by the labor that went into its production. This contrasts with the modern understanding of mainstream economics, that the value of a thing is determined by what one is willing to give up to obtain the thing. Ironically, Smith is often cited for being the conceptual builder of free markets in Capitalism, and also cited as a main contributor to Communist theory, via Marx.
Smith believed that while human motives were often driven by selfishness and greed, the competition in the free market would tend to benefit society as a whole by keeping prices low, while still building in an incentive for a wide variety of goods and services. Nevertheless, he was wary of businessmen and argued against the formation of monopolies.
Due to the globalization of nearly everything, including currency, in order to keep prices low of products it is the hard working second and third world countries that do much of the labor. As the world becomes more competitive and smaller it is becoming harder to find ways to stretch the production dollar.
Smith discussed at length of the sovereign social state. In today's Republican party they continue to claim that the welfare state as being dis functional. That is until it is time to meet the needs of the sovereign. Our modern TARP program is case in point.
As quoted from The Wealth of Nations:
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages."
I hope that Obama comes out on Jan. 21, 2008, after his first nights sleep as President, addresses the nation by informing us that his first actions will be that the recipients of our hard earned funds MUST begin the distribute those funds back to the people and small businesses to get this economy moving again. That Detroit MUST make new cars that are electric, Hybrid, battery and more. That the government will begin to put money back into the infrastructure of the country and they need people to work...TODAY!
Bush knew about infrastructure and rebuilding. He just spent eight years and trillions of dollars in the WRONG country. Good riddence sir, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
Man, I must be making money since it is still morning, but after this I need a shower.
This, the 217th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Death of a Salesman?
When you think about it, Henry Paulson is a new kind of Willy Loman. If there has ever been a sales job done it has been Paulson with the ultimate. Arthur Miller would have had a heyday with this one.
In the famed play by Mr. Marilyn Monroe, he had an aging salesman who is no longer able to earn a living, and receives only a small commission. He is losing his mind and has attempted to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater, as well as crashing his car. He is obsessed with the post war interpretation of the American Dream.
In the new revised story we have Paulson making everyone else lose their minds, and rather than inhaling gas from the water heater we find ourselves swallowing an unbearable oil pricing as we listen to the news about South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow getting off for murdering someone with his car. The obsession with the post war interpretation is now obsessed by the ongoing multi manufactured war and the failing interpretation of the American Dream.
Well, Henry Paulson makes a slightly different new Willy Loman than the original character, but he has created many just like Loman due to his sale of the century. Perhaps Paulson is more like Willy's brother, Ben. Ben is the wealthy and recently deceased older brother who only appears during Willy's day dreams and time shifts. Willy looks up to him with the highest regard. Perhaps Congress is more like Willy Loman, but let's move on. But, Miller's Willy worked for a man who only had to wake up in the morning, put his slippers on, and make phone calls, and had made millions of dollars. Willy assumes that one does not need to work or have ambition, but that all these men needed was a "smile and a shoeshine" to be successful. So, as the new kind of Willy, Paulson came from the failed companies that we, as the tax payer pansies (or is it ponzies?), are now bailing out. He had reached a dead end in his career. This new Willy was at the top of his game but the sky was falling in on him. His only recourse to his career and life was the ultimate sale, the ultimate con. The final closeout, pre-holiday sale. And that he did.
In a sense Paulson has just shown the American people that the American dream can still exist. He created a Trillion dollar sale within a few weeks at best to give him, Bush and cronies their job security and offshore padding to last many lifetimes. What a commission! With that said, again, perhaps Paulson is more of brother Ben. By making a few calls and doing a few meetings he has been able to take the retirement away from nearly everyone for two generations at least. He has bested some of the greatest salesman of the world with this one.
Congress sat back and ate up the whole story. Like the old Willy Loman. The new Willy, Henry Paulson, sold everyone on the idea that the world was going to crash if this money isn't put into the bad home loans immediately. Has any of the money that has already been distributed gotten there yet? No, the economy just gets worse. So, the new Willy, in another amazing sale, Paulson comes forward and states that he thought that the industry need stability first. I guess he forgot to mention that in the initial discussions. So, is the industry stable now?
This modern story of the famed play is taking different turns and we get to watch it play out. In the final scene of Miller's play we have fittingly a funeral scene, with everyone standing over Willy's grave. Biff who is Willy's oldest son, Happy who is the younger son, Linda who is Willy's wife, and their neighbors Charley and Bernard. The eldest son, at this point learns to accept himself for what is, Happy, the younger generation still wants to carry on Willy's dream of success in the city, and Linda explains that she can't cry. Despite all of the problems that Miller's Willy Loman had she had made the last payment on the house, ending with the words "We're free, we're free..."
In Paulson's rendition the ending is going to play out a bit differently. The older generation will remain the same and will resign themselves to what is, and the younger generation will also remain similar and try to carry out the American dream in the big city. This is America and always has been. But, for the character of Linda, there will be that day when there will be no more tears left but there will be no more house left to make a final payment on as the foreclosure took that dream away. That dream that Bush so proudly talked early on in his first term of helping American's get into a home and enjoy the American dream of home ownership. The pre-planning was happening and no one noticed.
With Paulson creating the new generation of Willy Loman, we give Paulson the great ironic line that Miller gave to Happy, who says it best. "All right, boy. I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have-to come out number-one man.”
This, the 208th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
In the famed play by Mr. Marilyn Monroe, he had an aging salesman who is no longer able to earn a living, and receives only a small commission. He is losing his mind and has attempted to kill himself by inhaling gas from the water heater, as well as crashing his car. He is obsessed with the post war interpretation of the American Dream.
In the new revised story we have Paulson making everyone else lose their minds, and rather than inhaling gas from the water heater we find ourselves swallowing an unbearable oil pricing as we listen to the news about South Dakota Congressman Bill Janklow getting off for murdering someone with his car. The obsession with the post war interpretation is now obsessed by the ongoing multi manufactured war and the failing interpretation of the American Dream.
Well, Henry Paulson makes a slightly different new Willy Loman than the original character, but he has created many just like Loman due to his sale of the century. Perhaps Paulson is more like Willy's brother, Ben. Ben is the wealthy and recently deceased older brother who only appears during Willy's day dreams and time shifts. Willy looks up to him with the highest regard. Perhaps Congress is more like Willy Loman, but let's move on. But, Miller's Willy worked for a man who only had to wake up in the morning, put his slippers on, and make phone calls, and had made millions of dollars. Willy assumes that one does not need to work or have ambition, but that all these men needed was a "smile and a shoeshine" to be successful. So, as the new kind of Willy, Paulson came from the failed companies that we, as the tax payer pansies (or is it ponzies?), are now bailing out. He had reached a dead end in his career. This new Willy was at the top of his game but the sky was falling in on him. His only recourse to his career and life was the ultimate sale, the ultimate con. The final closeout, pre-holiday sale. And that he did.
In a sense Paulson has just shown the American people that the American dream can still exist. He created a Trillion dollar sale within a few weeks at best to give him, Bush and cronies their job security and offshore padding to last many lifetimes. What a commission! With that said, again, perhaps Paulson is more of brother Ben. By making a few calls and doing a few meetings he has been able to take the retirement away from nearly everyone for two generations at least. He has bested some of the greatest salesman of the world with this one.
Congress sat back and ate up the whole story. Like the old Willy Loman. The new Willy, Henry Paulson, sold everyone on the idea that the world was going to crash if this money isn't put into the bad home loans immediately. Has any of the money that has already been distributed gotten there yet? No, the economy just gets worse. So, the new Willy, in another amazing sale, Paulson comes forward and states that he thought that the industry need stability first. I guess he forgot to mention that in the initial discussions. So, is the industry stable now?
This modern story of the famed play is taking different turns and we get to watch it play out. In the final scene of Miller's play we have fittingly a funeral scene, with everyone standing over Willy's grave. Biff who is Willy's oldest son, Happy who is the younger son, Linda who is Willy's wife, and their neighbors Charley and Bernard. The eldest son, at this point learns to accept himself for what is, Happy, the younger generation still wants to carry on Willy's dream of success in the city, and Linda explains that she can't cry. Despite all of the problems that Miller's Willy Loman had she had made the last payment on the house, ending with the words "We're free, we're free..."
In Paulson's rendition the ending is going to play out a bit differently. The older generation will remain the same and will resign themselves to what is, and the younger generation will also remain similar and try to carry out the American dream in the big city. This is America and always has been. But, for the character of Linda, there will be that day when there will be no more tears left but there will be no more house left to make a final payment on as the foreclosure took that dream away. That dream that Bush so proudly talked early on in his first term of helping American's get into a home and enjoy the American dream of home ownership. The pre-planning was happening and no one noticed.
With Paulson creating the new generation of Willy Loman, we give Paulson the great ironic line that Miller gave to Happy, who says it best. "All right, boy. I’m gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. It’s the only dream you can have-to come out number-one man.”
This, the 208th entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!
(c)Copyright 2008 Doug Boggs
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