$1 trillion

[erynthered]

Sorry for the new thread. I wasnt sure where to put this article.

 

All's I can say is " WOW"

 

 

 

 

Congressional leaders said after meeting Thursday evening with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that as much as $1 trillion could be needed to avoid an imminent meltdown of the U.S. financial system.

 

Paulson announced plans Friday morning for a "bold approach" that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. At a news conference at Treasury headquarters, he called for a "temporary asset relief program" to take bad mortgages off the books of the nation's financial institutions. Congressional leaders had left Washington on Friday, but Paulson planned to confer with them over the weekend.

 

"We're talking hundreds of billions," Paulson told reporters. "This needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get to the heart of the problem."

 

Stock markets soared around the world in anticipation of the rescue, with British and Chinese indexes recording their biggest gains ever.

 

 

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” said lawmakers were told last night “that we’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications, here at home and globally.”

“What you heard last evening is one of those rare moments — certainly rare in my experience here — was that Democrats and Republicans decided we needed to work together, quickly,” Dodd said.

 

The solution being proposed by the Bush administration is the most expensive bailout in the nation’s history, sharply curtailing the ability of the next president to push for tax cuts or new spending.

 

Congressional leaders tell Politico that to expedite the rescue, Treasury plans to seek additional authority rather than creating a new entity. The plan involves buying up hundreds of billions of dollars in bad mortgages to take them off the books of financial institutions that otherwise might fail.

 

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, told “Good Morning America”: “I figure it will be at least half a trillion. But if you look at what the Fed has already done [by rescuing insurance giant AIG], and the extension of power to Treasury to deal with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, I believe we're talking about a trillion dollars.”

 

Some Republicans are expressing concerns about writing essentially a blank check to the Bush administration.

“They're lurching from one crisis to another,” Shelby said. “They don't seem to have a superplan to deal with this. ... We want to see the plan. This is not a done deal yet. But we know there's crisis, there's stress, in the financial markets that we haven't seen in, say, 70 years.”

 

Some conservatives are balking even more bluntly.

 

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, told the Los Angeles Times: “What is missing from it and from the recent string of bailouts is a commitment to return to a free enterprise economy. ... What we need now is not what could be nearly a trillion dollars in new taxpayer bailouts but pro-growth policies that allow our markets to correct and start growing again.”

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13602.html

[Max Fischer]

DeMint:

“What is missing from it and from the recent string of bailouts is a commitment to return to a free enterprise economy. ... What we need now is not what could be nearly a trillion dollars in new taxpayer bailouts but pro-growth policies that allow our markets to correct and start growing again.”

 

" . . . return to a free enterprise economy . . ." Uh, like when? Myth #2876.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Hell whats another Trillion to the already mulit trillion dollar debt

[molson_golden2002]

$1,000,000,000,000 <---------that's a lot of zeroes

[bills_fan]

$1,000,000,000,000 <---------that's a lot of zeroes

 

 

It is.

 

Although the government will end up making hundreds of millions on this facility. So, for the taxpayers, it will end up being a very good deal.

 

Want to know how to fund infrastructure?

[molson_golden2002]

It is.

 

Although the government will end up making hundreds of millions on this facility. So, for the taxpayers, it will end up being a very good deal.

 

Want to know how to fund infrastructure?

Buying failed insurance companies?

[bills_fan]

Buying failed insurance companies?

 

 

No, buying the toxic debt that banks, brokerages and insurance companies have that caused this mess. The gov't will not buy any company, just the loans they have on the books.

 

AIG is a loan, will will be repaid via sale of AIG's assets, at 11.56% interest. The gov't will make money there too, but far less than via the new facility.

[John Adams]

No, buying the toxic debt that banks, brokerages and insurance companies have that caused this mess. The gov't will not buy any company, just the loans they have on the books.

 

AIG is a loan, will will be repaid via sale of AIG's assets, at 11.56% interest. The gov't will make money there too, but far less than via the new facility.

 

AIG may never take the loan. Shareholders are trying to get out of this on their own.

[bills_fan]

AIG may never take the loan. Shareholders are trying to get out of this on their own.

 

 

I hope they can.

[molson_golden2002]

I hope they can.

Screw that, I've always wanted to own an insurance company with 300 million of my friends!

[Gavin in Va Beach]

A trillion here and a trillion there and pretty soon we're talking real money...

[stuckincincy]

I thought Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were going to solve all problems...no?

[RLflutie7]

It is.

 

Although the government will end up making hundreds of millions on this facility. So, for the taxpayers, it will end up being a very good deal.

 

Want to know how to fund infrastructure?

 

 

Not all are saying that on TV. Some on CNBC are saying that but not all. In fact, a majority say that the tax payers will pay.

 

 

I also heard hedge funds are exploring their legal options????

[Max Fischer]

I thought Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were going to solve all problems...no?

 

 

You do know that Bush is President, no? Has been for nearly eight years. What next, blame this on Clinton?

[stuckincincy]

You do know that Bush is President, no? Has been for nearly eight years. What next, blame this on Clinton?

 

What branch of the government puts forth legislation, funds the executive branch...or not, engages in direct appropriations before, after, and outside of a passed budget, has review and approval power over any executive branch employee, decided to earmark taxpayer cash for this and that to aid in their re-election?

 

Any Administration - Clinton, Bush, you name it, spends years studying the wiring diagrams trying to figure out what the hell all these ensconced Federal government workers do. And unlike equivalents in the private sector, when members of this settled mass get caught breaking laws, the general result is a long period of hand-wringing about whether to gently slap their hands. They generally lose nothing, and stay on the job.

 

Bush advocated lowering taxation. Clinton admitted that his urging to raise taxes was wrong. A republican congress passed legislation for a line-item veto of these packed-full-of crap-and-pork legislative garbage historically coming out of Congress.

 

Clinton was highly pleased about that. But the Klan Wizard, the Prince of Pork, the Dem Sen. from WV - Robt. Byrd - saw to it that such was snuffed.

 

You - and others - ignorantly spew against Presidents - your vile should be directed towards those 535 little Napoleons. They have a Praetorian guard - 1,700 Capitol Police to protect them. A single Senator has something like 3000 sq. ft. of allotted office space. Forget the huff 'n puff about perks - there is a mechanism that deftly avoids their public protestations. They exempt themselves from myriad laws; they walk out of the Capitol building with prohibiting legislation they passed for others in government and show up in the afternoon as powerful lobbyists.

[YellowLinesandArmadillos]

Screw that, I've always wanted to own an insurance company with 300 million of my friends!

National Health Insurance Yipee! Sarcasm, still would be ironic if this is how it gets done.... HA!

[Max Fischer]

What branch of the government puts forth legislation, funds the executive branch...or not, engages in direct appropriations before, after, and outside of a passed budget, has review and approval power over any executive branch employee, decided to earmark taxpayer cash for this and that to aid in their re-election?

 

Any Administration - Clinton, Bush, you name it, spends years studying the wiring diagrams trying to figure out what the hell all these ensconced Federal government workers do. And unlike equivalents in the private sector, when members of this settled mass get caught breaking laws, the general result is a long period of hand-wringing about whether to gently slap their hands. They generally lose nothing, and stay on the job.

 

Bush advocated lowering taxation. Clinton admitted that his urging to raise taxes was wrong. A republican congress passed legislation for a line-item veto of these packed-full-of crap-and-pork legislative garbage historically coming out of Congress.

 

Clinton was highly pleased about that. But the Klan Wizard, the Prince of Pork, the Dem Sen. from WV - Robt. Byrd - saw to it that such was snuffed.

 

You - and others - ignorantly spew against Presidents - your vile should be directed towards those 535 little Napoleons. They have a Praetorian guard - 1,700 Capitol Police to protect them. A single Senator has something like 3000 sq. ft. of allotted office space. Forget the huff 'n puff about perks - there is a mechanism that deftly avoids their public protestations. They exempt themselves from myriad laws; they walk out of the Capitol building with prohibiting legislation they passed for others in government and show up in the afternoon as powerful lobbyists.

 

Nice speech, Rush.

 

Poor GW Bush, 6 years of a GOP congress and he could do nothing. Now he's near impotent with a 1 and half year old Dem congress. If only the US presidency had any power. If only it was a bully pulpit. If only he could make appointments. If only it controlled the levers of every department.

[Alaska Darin]

Nice speech, Rush.

 

Poor GW Bush, 6 years of a GOP congress and he could do nothing. Now he's near impotent with a 1 and half year old Dem congress. If only the US presidency had any power. If only it was a bully pulpit. If only he could make appointments. If only it controlled the levers of every department.

If only he could ignore the Constitution. Oh wait.

[StupidNation]

That's the problem with the bail-outs, it's out of Congress and the President's hands. How do you hold Bernanke and Paulson accountable? They can't be impeached and they can't be touched. This isn't a partisan issue, although it is indirectly since they haven't stopped the un-Constitutional power given to these institutions.

[Max Fischer]

If only he could ignore the Constitution. Oh wait.

 

Maybe you should have a working knowledge of how things really work.