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Post by dej on Feb 5, 2009 13:02:59 GMT -4
I'm going to start another stimulus thread, since this post is going to be a long one, and the last thread is mostly car talk now.
I took the time to read as much of the actual bill as I could without nodding out. There's a whole lot in there that may be worthwhile expenditures, but I have a hard time figuring out how some of it stimulates the economy and/or puts people back to work, which is the "ALLEGED" purpose of the bill.
There's $650,000,000 for costs associated with the Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program. This money "shall be available for coupons and related activities, including but not limited to education, consumer support and outreach, as deemed appropriate and necessary to ensure a timely conversion of analog to digital television. I don't see this generating many jobs, and it wouldn't provide any more stimulus than the conversion itself will. People are going to buy the boxes, switch to a cable/satellite provider, or give up TV, and anyway the "timely conversion" will most likely occur before that much money can be given away.
There's $350,000,000 for ‘Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations’, of which $175,000,000 is for necessary expenses to purchase and restore floodplain easements. This might put a little money in the pockets of people farming in the Mississippi & Ohio River valleys, but I see little stimulus here and even less in the way of jobs.
Then there is $14,000,000 to establish an Accountability & Transparency Board to conduct oversight of Federal Spending to prevent waste, fraud, & abuse. The other major function of the Board would be to establish a website called Recovery.gov to show how the money is being used. I have to admit that the reasons seem hard to argue with, until you understand the composition of the Board. It will have 7 members. They will be Inspectors General and Deputy Secretaries from the Departments of Education, Energy, Health & Human Services and other agencies that get funds from this stimulus bill. The designated chairman would then hire an Executive Director and other personnel to handle Board functions. I do see how creating a new government board also creates a few jobs, but more government jobs is not really beneficial over the long haul. It seems to me we could save about 14 million dollars if, instead of forming a board, they just work to prevent waste, fraud & abuse within their respective agencies, utilizing the personnel already in place for that function. Working this way, the "Board" would start off by preventing at least 13 million dollars in waste (I'm pretty sure a website could be built and maintained with the other million!)
Then there's an additional $1,000,000,000 for ‘Periodic Censuses and Programs’. The Census funding should have already been adequately projected and planned for. Congress only has 10 years to get ready for each Census. While this may generate some jobs, what are these people going to do in about 18 months when the Census is done, and they're not needed for another 9 years or so.
NOAA gets $400,000,000, for habitat restoration and mitigation activities. I think it's a great project, but again, the job creation/stimulus effect appears pretty minimal
‘Community Oriented Policing Services’ is slated for $1,000,000,000, for grants hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers. This is a great hiring program, but it comes with a couple snags. These officers are supposed to be for "community oriented policing services", not routine patrol, and based on what I remember from a few years ago, the local jurisdictions have to pick up the costs themselves after 2 or 3 years (which probably accounts for the "rehiring" part of the plan. Many jurisdictions let these officers go after the grant money was gone because they couldn't afford to pick up the costs. Now most jurisdictions are even tighter financially, meaning most of these will be the equivalent of "temp' positions.
The Smithsonian gets an additional $150,000,000 for ‘Facilities Capital’, for deferred maintenance projects, and for repair, revitalization, and alteration of their facilities. Sounds good until you get to the final part of the paragraph were it also says funds may be transferred to ‘Salaries and Expenses’. Any bets that at least some of that goes for raises and/or bonuses?
Some other items that might be worthwhile are the increases in student loan limits and $500 increases in Pell Grants. Again, the problem is that they seem to fail the litmus test of creating jobs or stimulating the economy. Instead these items belong in an Education bill, where they can be debated, and properly applied.
Then there provisions to allocate money without any plan in place as to how it will be used. This includes $300,000,000 additional funds for BRAC, and $2,000,000 for the ‘International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico--Salaries and Expenses’. They will be allocated the money first, then given 30 to 90 days to figure out how to spend it. I'd prefer to know what the plan is BEFORE the money is allocated.
I'm not even going to bother with the $200,000,000 for the family planning (contraceptives, abortion, etc) or the money for the honey bee insurance, as the media has at least touched on them.
I also remember the discussion on the 21,000,000 for resodding the Mall. Personally, I think this actually falls into the category of a worthwhile project, just not in this bill. The job creation would be temporary at best, and the price tag seems a little high. It belongs as separate bill, where costs and needed work can be debated.
I know all these items are only a few million here and a couple hundred million there, but when you add them all up we're starting to talk about real money!!!!!
Now, at the risk of bringing cars into this discussion too, I do want to mention the effort by Sen. Mikulski to make car loan interest deductible, similar to the way it was years ago. This could help in a couple ways. First, it may help sell some cars, maybe reducing some of the need for car companies to be bailed out. Secondly, it could reduce the temptation to use home equity as a piggy bank. When car loan interest used to be deductible, people generally used home refinancing to either get a better rate or for home improvements, which increased the value of their home. Once this went away, people started doing things like using 10 & 15 year equity loans to buy a car that would normally be paid off in 3 to 5 years, just to be able to deduct the interest. Restoring the car loan deduction may encourage people to leave their home equity alone, leaving it available again for home improvements, emergencies, or to supplement retirement. The last is especially important since Social Security is a looming crisis of it's own. The biggest flaw in Mikulski's plan is that she wants the deduction to expire after 2009, which pretty much renders it ineffective. Car loans aren't paid off in a few months, and you can't rebuild home equity in that short of a period, so as she introduced it, it's really nothing more than a feel good, empty gesture.
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Post by kl on Feb 5, 2009 14:16:14 GMT -4
I'm thinking, with the first 700 billion dollar bailout, with absolutely no strings attached, billions were given to banks, who then purchased companies that were headed down the crapper, with the same money just given to them...And remember, Paulson, Bush, and Bernake said it was dire that the first bailout be approved..well here we are 4+ months later, and that plan didn't work out to well now did it? Sick and quite sad state of affairs that we've gotten to this point, and as congress, and the senate whine and moan, our neighbors all over are broke, hungry, and losing hope.
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Post by bchevy on Feb 5, 2009 19:02:50 GMT -4
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's home district includes San Francisco. Star-Kist Tuna's headquarters are in San Francisco, Pelosi's home district. Star-Kist is owned by Del Monte Foods and is a major contributor to Pelosi. Star-Kist is the major employer in American Samoa employing 75% of the Samoan work force. Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband, owns $17 million dollars of Star-Kist stock.
In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competition's. Last week when the huge bailout bill was passed, Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an 'economic development credit in American Samoa'. Pelosi has called the Bush Administration "CORRUPT" ? ? How do you spell "HYPOCRISY" ?
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Post by bluecrabber on Feb 6, 2009 8:56:48 GMT -4
dej - great post.
What percentage of fellow citizens do you think will read, do the research, analyze, and understand the stimulus package?
Those of us who care are in the minority.
Best regards, BC PS, regulate oil and the economy will spring back to life on it's own.
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Post by Frank on Feb 6, 2009 9:33:35 GMT -4
PS, regulate oil and the economy will spring back to life on it's own. Drill for oil in our country, and the economy will spring back strong! It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and spur thousands of small business to support them. It will also reduce the number of $$ leaving this country.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2009 11:18:55 GMT -4
I hear a lot of talk about regulating the energy industry. I understand what it means to regulate something, but how would you do it with energy prices.
I have read that some people want to set the price of gasoline at a high mark of say $4 a gallon to help facilitate energy conservation, jump start alternative energy production and so forth. Or would it be regulated like rent control in big cities. The government would establish a price for gasoline, electricity, natural gas, coal, etc.
I do believe that energy prices are a factor in our current economic mess, but I don't believe it was the sole cause if we are talking only oil. Natural gas, propane and coal prices are all up too.
I'd really like to hear from someone how we would do it. We could start some kind of initiative to pass on to our elected senators and congressman. There has to be a plan to make it happen, other than just saying fix it.
So what is it?
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Post by Frank on Feb 6, 2009 11:37:33 GMT -4
$4 a gallon gasoline hurts average working families. I don't believe this is the answer. When they imposed the "Gas Guzzler Tax", it made people think about buying a Tahoe or Escalade. Maybe we could reinstate the gas guzzler tax, and use that money to then offer cash incentives on fuel efficient vehicles. Hummer may go out of business, but Chevrolet and Ford would find ways to build vehicles to take advantage of those discounts.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2009 11:52:31 GMT -4
I just read this and had to post it. It was just reported that 598,000 jobs were lost in January. That's freaking unbelievable.
Something needs to be done......we are careening down a dark road fast.
TIME: 1/26/09 Peoria
For all the dazzle of the digital age, never forget the essential economic undertaking: busting rocks and moving dirt. You can't have Silicon Valley without first digging up the silicon, and even the smartest building starts out as a hole in the ground. So the news that Caterpillar is laying off 5,000 workers--bringing its total of recent layoffs to 20,000--only confirms that the economic contagion is spreading, from the executive floors of high finance to the bedrock world of tractors and dump trucks.
A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, the saying goes; a depression is when you lose yours. That line is shifting under the feet of countless Americans. In December, for the first time on record, unemployment rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. On Jan. 26, U.S. firms announced more than 70,000 layoffs, then came back the next day with thousands more. Michigan's jobless rate is in the double digits, and it may soon have company.
If Caterpillar is the ultimate hardware maker, fashioning massive steel earthmovers in vast factories that spark and clang, Microsoft, which recently announced its first serious job cuts, is the behemoth of software, silently manipulating ones and zeros. Worlds apart, they've come together in the layoff business. Whether a company chops trees (Weyerhaeuser) or prices (Target), whether it sells Lipitor (Pfizer) or lumber (Home Depot), whether it services oil rigs (Baker Hughes) or cell phones (Sprint Nextel), job one is cutting payroll.
Capitol Hill, meanwhile, hums at peak capacity. Congress is frantically stacking pet projects into a trillion-dollar tower in hopes that--by painting the word stimulus down the side--it will lift off like an economic rocket. There is no Plan B. The hero of recessions past--the American shopper--has left the mall. For the first time in its history, the National Retail Federation predicts consumers will actually spend less over the coming year. Super Spender can't save the day when stuck in the unemployment line. -By David Von Drehle
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Post by Frank on Feb 6, 2009 12:44:52 GMT -4
January is always a high lay-off month. It happens every year. However, the stimulus package won't create jobs like it is intended. Too many personal interests, again. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29025047/
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Post by linda712 on Feb 6, 2009 13:05:09 GMT -4
Wow......still digesting all this. Very frightening. dej -- a huge thank you so much for posting this, as well as to mj, bluecrabber, and Frank for your input -- and anyone else who comes along -- but most of all, for putting it in easy terms to understand!
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Post by bluecrabber on Feb 6, 2009 22:09:40 GMT -4
I hear a lot of talk about regulating the energy industry. I understand what it means to regulate something, but how would you do it with energy prices. OK, first thing you do is take oil off the commodities market. It is ridiculous for oil to change hands twenty times on paper before it ever gets to the refineries.. Secondly, we stop sending military, technical, favored trade status, and financial aid to OPEC member countries who vote to manipulate oil production solely to control the world barrel price. If this was 1940, the way OPEC manipulates production to influence world price and ultimately destroy the economy of the U.S. our Congress would have considered it an act of war. Finally, if we had any sense at all, we would be operating the Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil fields to ensure production was at a level that met the free worlds demands. Pay the Iraqis and Kuwaits their fair share but do not let them manipulate production levels. Give the Saudis the same ultimatum. If you don't think oil prices have had an impact on this economy, sit down and make a list of everything you can think of that has been impacted by rapidly escalating oil prices. Let me give you a hint.. it's everything from hula hoops to your Ipod and the food at the grocery store. It killed the housing market. People were afraid to buy a new house in the suburbs out of fear they could not buy gas to commute to work or pay the utility bill. When the new house market dried up, there was suddenly a glut of houses.. prices fell.. all the trades guys were out of work.. millions of people are affected from the builder who can't sell his house to the lady making light bulbs in a factory. And when the prices fell, people who had bought new houses a few years ago with introductory rate loans planning to refinance in a couple years, suddenly discovered the same bank that loaned them $400K for their house in 2005 only wants to lend them $300K in 2008 because the appraisals have fallen. Faced with adjusting loans they can no longer afford, especially since they just lost their job at the lumber company, foreclosure. And on top of that, milk prices doubled because of the cost of diesel fuel for delivery and heating the milking barns among a host of other costs that went through the roof with oil. Did you know that Northern California is experiencing 700 foreclosures a day?? Meanwhile, the stupid elitist politicians in Washington are arguing about a stimulus/spending package with so much pork in it all they need is barbeque sauce. Gas prices got low in a hurry because the oil producing countries began hearing a lot of noise in this country about drilling in anwr, offshore, in the gulf, ... it looked like they had finally pushed us over the edge.. but how quickly we forget. When oil prices are low, there is no incentive to load up the trucks and ships and go after our own oil. Anybody for a boiler maker at No Place? Best regards, BC
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2009 15:03:36 GMT -4
I came across this list on the net concerning a compromise the senate has reached dealing with the partisan sticking points of the bill. I guess they will vote on it Tuesday. After that, congress (the house and senate) will have to work out their differences in each of their bills. Not sure what some of this stuff is or was specifically supposed to do. You will have to research it yourself to see if the condoms issue got cut.
Partially cut:
• $3.5 billion for energy-efficient federal buildings (original bill $7 billion)
• $75 million from Smithsonian (original bill $150 million)
• $200 million from Environmental Protection Agency Superfund (original bill $800 million)
• $100 million from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (original bill $427 million)
• $100 million from law enforcement wireless (original bill $200 million)
• $300 million from federal fleet of hybrid vehicles (original bill $600 million)
• $100 million from FBI construction (original bill $400 million)
Fully eliminated
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $122 million for new Coast Guard polar icebreaker/cutters
• $100 million for Farm Service Agency modernization
• $50 million for CSERES research
• $65 million for watershed rehabilitation
• $30 million for SD salaries
• $100 for distance learning
• $98 million for school nutrition
• $50 million for aquaculture
• $2 billion for broadband
• $100 million for NIST
• $50 million for detention trustee
• $25 million for Marshalls Construction
• $300 million for federal prisons
• $300 million for BYRNE Formula
• $140 million for BYRNE Competitive
• $10 million state and local law enforcement
• $50 million for NASA
• $50 million for aeronautics
• $50 million for exploration
• $50 million for Cross Agency Support
• $200 million for National Science Foundation
• $100 million for science
• $1 billion for Energy Loan Guarantees
• $4.5 billion for GSA
• $89 million GSA operations
• $50 million from DHS
• $200 million TSA
• $122 million for Coast Guard Cutters, modifies use
• $25 million for Fish and Wildlife
• $55 million for historic preservation
• $20 million for working capital fund
• $165 million for Forest Service capital improvement
• $90 million for State and Private Wildlife Fire Management
• $1 billion for Head Start/Early Start
• $5.8 billion for Health Prevention Activity
• $2 billion for HIT Grants
• $600 million for Title I (NCLB)
• $16 billion for school construction
• $3.5 billion for higher education construction
• $1.25 billion for project based rental
• $2.25 for Neighborhood Stabilization
• $1.2 billion for retrofitting Project 8 housing
• $40 billion for state fiscal stabilization (includes $7.5 billion of state incentive grants)
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Post by bchevy on Feb 9, 2009 21:16:53 GMT -4
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo against this crap..... Does ANYONE think he or congress can fix it?
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Post by bchevy on Feb 9, 2009 21:26:50 GMT -4
If this was 1940, the way OPEC manipulates production to influence world price and ultimately destroy the economy of the U.S. our Congress would have considered it an act of war. What a bunch of pansies our congress is....
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Post by bluecrabber on Feb 9, 2009 21:34:07 GMT -4
The way the elitist congressmen and women in Washington are floundering, and talking about stimulus and spending packages that are temporary fixes not directed at the real problem, we may all be in for a very bad couple years.
I have given Obama credit for his gift of gab, it was clearly what got him elected, but I have to say I am extremely disappointed in what he has said over the last couple weeks..
Is anyone besides me getting tired of him saying over and over again "the failed economic policies of the last eight years"... he's not campaigning anymore, and pretty soon some people are going to realize the failed economic policies he is referring to were for the most part the work of his own party..
These guys and gals downtown are really a sorry bunch of air heads...
Sorry for the rant, but I am sitting here listening to Obama's press conference in Elkhart Indiana.. he is not sounding very Presidential.. he sounds like he is floundering too...
Best regards, BC
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Post by kl on Feb 10, 2009 7:15:51 GMT -4
But Obama is doing everything he possibly can. And keep in mind, this recession started back in December 2007, according to the folks who keep an eye on things. Let Obama do what he needs to do. You all were pretty patient, and lax when it came to Bush, so how about we do the same for this president? We watched the press conference also. All sounds great, but what wasn't asked, is how this stimulus will create these 4 million jobs. They won't be appearing magically overnight... That being said, Bush's 700 billion dollar bailout doesn't seem to have done much either, has it? :-)
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Post by dej on Feb 10, 2009 9:22:05 GMT -4
Actually not all of us were patient & lax when it came to Bush. I was very upset & frustrated with his lack of leadership within his own party when he allowed the Republican-controlled Congress of his first term go on spending binges. I'm just as upset with Obama's lack of leadership within his own party allowing the Democratic-controlled Congress to do the same. So much for Change!!
If Obama & his staff had actually taken leadership on this stimulus instead of letting House & Senate Democrats do the writing, I'm willing to believe it may have been done better. Instead, this is their bill, not his, and now he's stuck with it. All he can do is go around the country putting lipstick on this pig trying to make it look better to us.
Not all Democrats in the House & Senate seem to have gotten his memo on working for a bipartisan tone, as proven by this bill. At the same time, there are also a lot of us who haven't had enough of the Kool-Aid to make this pig look good, even as we approach last call in the Senate.
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Post by dej on Feb 11, 2009 4:42:22 GMT -4
Alabama's Republican Senator, Jeff Sessions, tried to include amendment SA 239 into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka the stimulus bill). This amendment would have required any business getting funds or tax breaks from this bill to use the E-Verify system. His argument is that he wants to make sure that workers benefiting from the bill are actually entitled to work in this country, either as citizens or documented immigrant workers. About a dozen states already require use of it to some extent for state employment or working on state contracts.
The E-Verify system is about a two-minute check of a potential worker's status for employment (ie. citizen or documented immigrant, such as a green card holder). Some groups groups claim it shouldn't be used because they claim it's only accurate about 95% of the time. That is a little misleading. A couple years ago some studies found that about 95% percent of workers checked were verified instantly, About 4.5 percent had to verify or correct nfo with Social Security or Homeland Security. Most of these issues were resolved within 2 to 3 days, leaving about a half percent of unresolved rejections. The main reason they were unresolved is that the employee made no effort to resolve them, often becoming dfficult to even locate after the rejection,
Since then many of the states actually using it indicate the initial verification is completed within seconds for 98 to 99.5% of employees. About 4 tenths of a percent are not resolved, again usually because the employee often quits and disappears rather than trying to correct anything. That kind of leads one to think, just maybe, they weren't working legally???
Four Democratic Senators successfully excluded the amendment without it ever even coming up for a vote. Max Baucus of Montana objected to the measure when it was read. Immediately following his objection, Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson made a motion to conclude debate on the entire stimulus package which passed with a vote of 61 to 36.
If the amendment been debated and approved, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez had indicated that they would have used their veto power, under special procedures, to have blocked the E-Verify amendment from being included the final bill.
Nearly anyone who has worked construction in the last 10 to 15 years can attest to the numbers of workers on job sites that may or may not be here legally. Considering the amount of construction related projects being included in the bill, what's wrong with making sure the jobs go to citizens, or to immigrants that obeyed the law to come here to live and work legally??? It's a shame that we have Senators & Representatives that place a higher priority on protecting people here illegaly, than on putting citizens and legal immigrants to work.
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Post by kl on Feb 12, 2009 14:04:17 GMT -4
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Post by dej on Feb 12, 2009 16:53:23 GMT -4
That article listed the top 8 TARP recipients. Let's see how they got that money. I took a quick look at OpenSecrets.org, a site for researching campaign contributions. In the 2008 election cycle (when the TARP money was being handed out) here's the numbers I found for the top 8:
Citigroup $3,413,647 65% to Democrats 35% to Republicans (got 45 billion) Bank of America $2,096,869 56% to Democrats 44% to Republicans (got 45 billion) Wells Fargo $1,448,197 51% to Democrats 49% to Republicans (got 25 billion) JP Morgan Chase $4,134,116 62% to Democrats 38% to Republicans (got 25 billion) Goldman Sachs $6,498,795 77% to Democrats 23% to Republicans (got 10 billion) Morgan Stanley $4,077,006 56% to Democrats 44% to Republicans (got 10 billion) Mellon Bank $725,249 51% to Democrats 48% to Republicans (got 3 billion) State Street Corp $22,500 60% to Democrats 40% to Republicans (got 2 billion)
It looks like Wells Fargo & Mellon Bank kind of straddle the fence, but I see a common tilt on all of them.
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Post by kl on Feb 13, 2009 10:34:00 GMT -4
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Post by dej on Feb 14, 2009 12:55:35 GMT -4
The Time list was interesting, both for who was included and who was not. A couple names are over rated, and there are a few missing.
Phil Gramm, without a doubt belongs in the top 10, maybe even top 5 for the reasons cited. His deregulation efforts definitely contributed to loosening government oversight. But there are others who are far more deserving of the #1 spot
The article puts Cox at number 2 for his lax oversight & enforcement. His ranking is definitely over rated, as he was no more lax than Arthur Levitt, who as SEC Chairman in the 90's managed to ignore Enron, Arthur Anderson accounting practices, Bernie Ebbers Worldcom practices and Global Crossing, which at the time was one of the largest bankruptcys in history, prior to Enron. (Global Crossing was also the company then DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe used to turn a $100,000 investment in $18,000,000, bailing out shortly before the bankruptcy.) Like Cox, Levitt also managed to shrug off the earliest allegations about Madoff. The goundwork for this disaster was already in place by the time he took over in 2005 and his inclusion on the list at all is more a matter of timing than anything else. The man he replaced, Donaldson is the one that should really be on this list.
Mozilo's handling of Countrywide & their mortgage writing policies definitely earned his spot.
Same applies to Cassano with his handling of AIG, although I was a little surprised to see him mentioned. One reason I suspect he has made fewer appearences than the bankers before Senate committees is his political contributions in the 07-08 election cycle. They were all to Obama, Christopher Dodd & Max Baucus and DNC organizations.
In my opinion, Franklin Raines is the man that belongs at the head of the list, or at least share top billing. He ran Fannie Mae from 1999 to 2004, and initiated most of the policies regarding sub-prime financing that laid the groundwork for the mortage meltdown we now have. It's no surprise he left in 2004 after the SEC found Fannie Mae had been violating accounting rules. In spite of Barney Frank's declarations that Fannie Mae was sound a few months earlier, Raines knew better, so he took his bonus money and ran. He kept a very low profile for a few years until he became an Obama campaign advisor.
Here's few missing from the top 10 that didn't even make the list of 25:
Barney Frank for his successful efforts in blocking oversight and regulation of Fannie Mae & Freddie in 2003, helping Raines lay the foundation for todays problems. Not surprising, considering banks have been been among his top campaign contributors
Chuck Schumer for his efforts n 2005 to block reform & oversight of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, after Greenspan testified to Congress about his concerns regarding the portfolios and soundness of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, Schumer defended them and actually pushed for higher conforming loan limits for them. He was also one of the first Senators in March of 2007 to propose some sort of bank bailout, not surprising since nine of his top ten campaing contributors were financial institutions. His statement the other day that he really doesn't care that 'porky' amendments have been added to the stimulus bill shows he still places special interests over what's best for the country.
William Donaldson was appointed by Bush as the SEC chairman from 2003 to 2005. Although the SEC did expose Fannie Mae's accounting practices in 2004, he did very little else about looking into the financial soundness or practices of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac despite Senate & Congressional hearings on those subjects during his tenure.
Daniel Mudd, who succeeded Claude Raines as CEO of Fannie Mae, changed the accounting practices to conform to SEC standards, but nothing else of significance. He continued Raines policies regarding sub-prime mortagages until he was fired in 2008 when the government had to take over Fannie Mae operations. He had to be satisfied with the millions he made as CEO while running Fannie Mae into the dirt, as he is one of the few CEOs in this mess that didn't get a huge severance.
Richard Syron who was CEO of Freddie Mac. As early as 2004 he was warned by the company's chief risk officer that financing questionable sub-prime loans was threatening the health of Freddie Mac. It was recommended that Freddie Mac slow the purchase of sub-prime loans, instead these purchases accelarated.
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Post by alcatraz on Feb 14, 2009 13:52:07 GMT -4
This stimulus package is ludicrous. It makes my head hurt, just reading about this sh*t. Somebody wake me up when it's all over, because I must be dreaming; I heard that it just passed. Aaaagggghhh...
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Post by bchevy on Feb 14, 2009 16:48:09 GMT -4
Somebody wake me up when it's all over, Seems like I've seen that somewhere...... ;D The whole thing is sickening, we are what,,, a trillion dollars in deficit? and they think throwing and additional trillion dollars that we don't have at the problem will fix it? What a total joke. The shame of it is, is when this doesn't work they wont take the blame. It'll still be someone elses fault. I liked the idea I heard last week about cutting paroll taxes by 50%, this would immediately STIMULATE the economy by putting cash into the hands of consumers. The stimulus pork package is nothing more than welfare for the rich, big business, and even state government. I find it so hard to believe that states will be handed money and be allowed to put it towards their own deficit...... What happens next year, or the following year? HMMMMM? ? IT WILL BE EVEN WORSE..... Wake Up People...
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Post by linda712 on Feb 14, 2009 22:29:00 GMT -4
...I think it's too late, Bchevy.....it's only a matter of time now.
P.S. ALCATRAZ! So good to "see" you!!! Where you been there, gal!
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