LilBambi’s Blog – BambisMusings

The Big Takeover by Matt Taibbi over at RollingStone.com

The global economic crisis isn’t about money – it’s about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution

Thanks Mudhead for letting me know about this article at RollingStone!

It’s over — we’re officially, royally f**ked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country’s heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire.

Much, much more in Matt Taibbi’s great 8 page article at RollingStone. Must Read.

And they wonder why many Citizens are so fed up and so angry about what they are doing?

This has been the largest transfer of wealth, actually it’s not wealth per se, it’s people’s livelihood’s and retirement’s into the hands of irresponsible government, banking cartels and corporations in the world’s known history.

They should all be ashamed but they are not. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

If you are very, very quiet, you can almost hear them laughing and patting themselves on the back at their own ability to scheme, use our own government against ‘We The People”, as well as their good fortune that the government was that gullible … while the rest of us are forced by our, errr, their paid ‘representatives’ in the government to quietly just bend over…

Why, oh, why didn’t the government heed the warnings of the likes of Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, and so many others more responsible then they?

The Austrians Were Right by Ron Paul

Before the U.S. House of Representatives, November 20, 2008

Madame Speaker, many Americans are hoping the new administration will solve the economic problems we face. That’s not likely to happen, because the economic advisors to the new President have no more understanding of how to get us out of this mess than previous administrations and Congresses understood how the crisis was brought about in the first place.

Except for a rare few, Members of Congress are unaware of Austrian Free Market economics. For the last 80 years, the legislative, judiciary and executive branches of our government have been totally influenced by Keynesian economics. If they had had any understanding of the Austrian economic explanation of the business cycle, they would have never permitted the dangerous bubbles that always lead to painful corrections.

Today, a major economic crisis is unfolding. New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more. All are based on the belief that we’re in this mess because free-market capitalism and sound money failed. The obsession is with more spending, bailouts of bad investments, more debt, and further dollar debasement. Many are saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency. These suggestions are merely more of the same policies that created our mess and are doomed to fail.

At least 90% of the cause for the financial crisis can be laid at the doorstep of the Federal Reserve. It is the manipulation of credit, the money supply, and interest rates that caused the various bubbles to form. Congress added fuel to the fire by various programs and institutions like the Community Reinvestment Act, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FDIC, and HUD mandates, which were all backed up by aggressive court rulings.

The Fed has now doled out close to $2 trillion in subsidized loans to troubled banks and other financial institutions. The Federal Reserve and Treasury constantly brag about the need for “transparency” and “oversight,” but it’s all just talk – they want none of it. They want secrecy while the privileged are rescued at the expense of the middle class.

It is unimaginable that Congress could be so derelict in its duty. It does nothing but condone the arrogance of the Fed in its refusal to tell us where the $2 trillion has gone. All Members of Congress and all Americans should be outraged that conditions could deteriorate to this degree. It’s no wonder that a large and growing number of Americans are now demanding an end to the Fed.

Ron Paul has much more to say in the article, and the answer … If only they’d listen….

And the answer is NOT continuing to pump more and more water into a bucket that is riddled with holes!

EDIT: added the info below:

We must remember that governments do not produce anything. Their only resources come from producers in the economy through such means as inflation and taxation. The government has an obligation to be good stewards of these resources. In bailing out failing companies, they are confiscating money from productive members of the economy and giving it to failing ones. By sustaining companies with obsolete or unsustainable business models, the government prevents their resources from being liquidated and made available to other companies that can put them to better, more productive use. An essential element of a healthy free market, is that both success and failure must be permitted to happen when they are earned. But instead with a bailout, the rewards are reversed – the proceeds from successful entities are given to failing ones. How this is supposed to be good for our economy is beyond me.

Much more in Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk article “The Bailout Surge.”

Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand (WashingtonPost)

There are 24 daily nonstop flights from Detroit to the Washington area. Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli probably should have taken one of them.

Instead, the chief executives of the Big Three automakers opted to fly their company jets to the capital for their hearings this week before the Senate and House — an ill-timed display of corporate excess for a trio of executives begging for an additional $25 billion from the public trough this week.

“There’s a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands,” Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) advised the pampered executives at a hearing yesterday. “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo. . . . I mean, couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?”

What a load of horse hockey!

If they didn’t need to fly coach, or ride Greyhound, why do they need our tax money to bail them out?! When most of us can’t afford to fly coach much less ride Greyhound half way across the country? Most of us couldn’t even afford to DRIVE OURSELVES half way across the country.

I am so disgusted, I could just puke.

I sure hope this was a tongue-in-cheek political statement about the absurdity of bailouts, but I fear it could be the real deal.

Big 4 record labels “ripe for government bailout”

p2pnet news view Music:- With the US already authorising billions of dollars in taxpayer money for American banks, the four major labels (and Merlin) are similarly, “ripe for a government bailout,” says Tommy Silverman in an A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) post.

The Big 4 are:
* Vivendi Universal (France)
* Sony BMG (Japan and Germany)
* EMI (Britain
* Warner Music (US, but controlled by a Canadian)

p2Pnet also stated,

If the Big 4 had spent as much time and money establishing themselves as major users of P2P technology in the 21st digital century, instead of launching bizarre campaigns to sue their own customers into becoming compliant consumers of corporate ‘product,’ and trying to gain exclusive control of how, and by whom, music is distributed online, they’d now be sitting pretty.

Which was confirmed by the CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr., who, in a turnaround bit of honesty, commented to the audience at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress:

We used to fool ourselves…We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.

Based on a A2IM commentary by Tommy Silverman entitled, “Commentary: Save The Music,” AKA, “A Modest Proposal For Government Intervention” by TOMMY SILVERMAN

Now that the government has bailed out the banking system, it should take action to rescue the four major labels and the independent companies represented by Merlin. The U.S. recording industry, worth $14 billion in retail value when George W. Bush took office, has fallen to $9 billion today.

Could it be a coincidence that the music industry boom ended in 2000, just before the 8-year slide in the American economy? Music has been one of America’s most important exports, as our inventions; jazz, blues, rock & roll and hip-hop are all enjoyed worldwide. Rock & Roll did more to bring about the fall of the Soviet Union than the CIA. A strong music business is a matter of national security.

And this tidget,

Of the four major labels, only the Warner Music Group is an American company; the others are owned by the Japanese, British or French. Just as the government prevented a Dubai company from safeguarding American ports, it should take steps to stop rock & roll from slipping away to foreign control. At the very least, they should fund the purchase of the Elvis Presley catalog back from the Japanese.

Like the auto industry, the music business needs loan guarantees to retool to adapt to new technology. The government should fund a five-year, $25 billion loan package industry to pay for artist development and marketing and retooling for and adaptation to new technologies during the transition period. As a condition, it would limit salaries and bonuses and temporarily eliminate golden parachutes for top executives.

And this,

What remains perfectly clear is that the recording industry is ripe for a government bailout, long overdue for the support that almost all other countries recording industries get. The industry is worthy of that investment as benefits accrue not only to the companies but also through trickle down to publishers, radio, venues, artist managers, booking agents, merch companies, CD and component manufacturing facilities, recording studios and their employees. Through a strong American music business and strong American music, we bolster consumer confidence which, at its core, drives the financial markets and America’s standard of living.

But apparently even Warner Music Group (WMG), although it supposedly is the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States is apparently is controlled by a Canadian?

I thought that Warner Music Group was sold to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. in March 2004. Where does Canada come into it? Is the main money investor in the group a Canadian?

Although that is neither here nor there really.

Since when should the American Taxpayer feel the ‘necessity’ to bailout any entertainment industry? Especially since 3/4 of the music industry are not even Americans to begin with.

And what makes them think that the music industry deserves a bailout by the taxpayers –many of which have been sued with no mercy even to the poor by the the music industry through their RIAA?!

I just don’t get it. I get so sick and tired of this. Why doesn’t our government and the world just hook up an IV bottle and suck us dry. Most of us in America are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. The majority of Americans are poor or low to mid-income range.

Besides, the world of music certainly won’t die even if the Big 4 go away.

Who Pays Debt
(intoon.com – Mike Keefe – 10/19/2008 (Ref Num:61367)

Thanks Tween!

Not like we don’t realize all this crap including this latest Bernacke Special will be on our heads as well as the heads of our children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, etc.

The Face of the Next Generation

It’s all that’s needed to be said. Very well said.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has a great thought on this. Check out his video from October 2, 2008:

Sen. Sanders Statement on Bailout Amendment — 10/02/2008 (has both video and audio link)

Of course “Madam President” of the Senate, Nancy Pelosi and the Senate as a whole did NOT include Sen. Bernie Sanders suggested addition to the Bailout Amendment, and the Representatives of the House didn’t add it in either, however maybe the new President, along with the Senators and Representative in the next Congress could certainly be instrumental in seeing that the Bailout Amendment (H.R.1424) is amended to reflect the need for those who were responsible for the “need” for a bailout be responsible for payment of the bailout amounts.

And I am not talking about just the bailouts that will result from H.R. 1424 either — which are still astronomical. I am talking about the entire set of bailouts that have occurred to try to stem the hemorrhaging of our economy from their irresponsible abuse of money created from thin air and the abuse of power their position in the economic stability of the country demanded of them. With great power comes great responsibility. They failed. And the entire country present and future shouldn’t pay for that.

Why? Because their greed created this problem. They can’t afford it? And we can?

CEO Compensation (Forbes) While the top CEOs’ compensation in corporations is staggering, it’s nothing compared to Wall Street Highest Earners (and by the Numbers!!!), Forbes 400 or Richest men in America and Bloomberg’s “Wall Street Executives Made $3 Billion Before Crisis.”

These numbers are staggering and so off balance with the rest of society’s salaries! Even Steve Job’s salary looks puny compared to the Wall Street High Earners by the Numbers. Is it any wonder the country’s economy is top heavy and bottom 50 percent make next to nothing by comparison?

Yeah, I think collectively they could handle it much better than the rest of us could, don’t you think?

Too late … and I don’t think it’s because the American people didn’t speak to their senators and congressmen. I think the Congress decided to bypass the American people’s will and push through not only a bad bill but a worse bill then the first one was that they turned down. And why? The Special Interests.

House passes bailout

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The House on Friday passed a far-reaching and historic plan to bail out the nation’s financial system.

The vote for passage of the Senate-amended bill – 263 to 171 – was the result of strong lobbying on the part of the White House and other supporters of the bill all week, following the House defeat of a similar measure on Monday – a defeat that shocked the markets and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.

“By coming together on this legislation, we have acted boldly to prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis” that hurts the broader economy, said President Bush.

Bush said he would sign the bill as soon as gets it.

And the American people have been ostracized by it’s own government in favor of corporatism and the banking cartels….yet again.

Final Vote Results for Roll Call 681 – BILL TITLE: Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the wallstreet/banking cartel bailout)

CampaignForLiberty’s Alert: No Bailout—none!

I strongly suggest you do what I have done already, contact your congressmen and let them know how you feel and keep the tally on who votes for this bailout against will of the majority of the American people.

Bailout bill passes Senate, Despite sweetening, measure faces stiff fight in House reports BaltimoreSun.com:

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, was similarly unconvinced. “The Senate measure has changed my position from ‘No’ to ‘Heck, no,’ ” he said. “With the Senate amendment, the bailout has gone from bad to worse, $105 billion more in public debt worse.”

You tell ‘em Rep. Lloyd Doggett! Our Representative Bobby Scott here in our Viginia District also thankfully voted down the bill when it went through the House the first time, and I have certainly let him know (again) that I for one have not changed my mind on the NO vote I expect to see with this regurgitated bill with all it’s spoonfuls of sweetening to supposedly help to make the medicine go down.

Have these people lost their mind voting yes?! Things will be bad regardless, but they will be a lot worse for a lot longer if they pass this bill. And the blackmail of the American taxpayer will continue. This sets a very bad precedent. Who’s next on the list to be bailed out?! How much more will the American taxpayer’s children and grandchildren have to pay in excessive taxes!?!

If you want to know what REAL economists are saying about this bailout, check out this article, The Great Bank Robbery of 2008, at Mises.org:

The Paulson bailout failed in the House. If it isn’t a death blow to the plan, it should be. This is not an economic plan: it is a heist.

It will go down as The Great Bank Robbery of 2008.

The economics behind it are nonsense, but we are naïve if we spend much time even considering the “arguments” for it. This is a money and power grab, pure and simple.

Just as magazine covers today feature scantily clad women that would have been scandalous a generation ago, in the same manner Paulson’s proposal — made in broad daylight and on national TV! — is almost naked in its audacity.

and this:

But Won’t the Credit Markets Collapse?

Some observers would admit the legitimacy of my analysis above. “However,” they might say, “the Paulson Plan, or something like it, is necessary to avert a total meltdown of the financial system. We’re not trying to boost aggregate investment, so much as clearing out a clogged pipe.”

This talk of a breakdown in the financial system is a bogeyman. Steve Landsburg does such a great job of exploding this myth that I will simply quote him:

So what’s special about banks [that they deserve a bailout]? According to what I keep reading, it’s that without banks, nobody can borrow, and the economy grinds to a halt.

Well, let’s think about that. Banks don’t lend their own money; they lend other people’s (their depositors’ and their stockholders’). Just because the banks disappear doesn’t mean the lenders will. Borrowers will still want to borrow and lenders will still want to lend. The only question is whether they’ll be able to find each other.

… [A]s any user of match.com can tell you, the technology for finding partners has improved since [the 1930s]. When a firm wants to raise capital, why can’t it just sell bonds over the web? Or issue new stock? Or approach one of the hedge funds that seem to be swimming in cash? Or borrow abroad?

… I’m not sure these big Wall Street banks are really necessary, and I’m not sure we’d miss them much if they were gone. Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but if so, I think it should be incumbent on Messrs. Bernanke, Paulson and above all Bush to explain what it is.

The majority of Americans oppose any form of this type of bailout. So why do the majority of the Senate and nearly half of the House support it? That’s what I want to know. If they bypass what their constituents want in favor of big business, the banking cartels and fat cats on Wall Street, why are they in office? There is an election coming up very soon, and the tally of votes should be remembered when Election Day comes and they should pay for their lack of vision.

In the meantime, lets let our Representatives know what we think! I did my part. I hope you will take a minute and do the same. Your Representatives need to hear from you now! This vote could go before the House Friday … tomorrow!

Call the congress switch board at: (202) 224-3121

Find your congress person’s contact info here: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

There should be no doubt in their minds how we feel about this, the greatest bank heist of 2008.

You’re Going To Destroy A Worldwide Economy! Ron Paul (YouTube video)

Just a little something to think about.