Oh, That’s What You Meant.
By Johnny Roosh
When Barack Obama expressed concern over the deficit, and pledged to cut it in half, I suppose there were some taxpayers that actually thought that implied a reduction in government spending.
Nope. What he meant was he was about to invent another tax and wrap it in fabricated righteousness.
President Barack Obama may propose a fee on financial-services companies as a way to fulfill a vow on cutting the budget deficit in half, administration officials said.
Despite the fact that by some miracle the government is well on it’s way to recovering much of the infusions made last year in the interest of preventing further disaster, Obama wants more. How dare the financial sector recover from a crisis seeded by the government and admittedly germinated by the avarice of a few bad apples and actually start turning a profit again!
Banks repaid the U.S. $165 billion last year, letting the government recoup about two-thirds of its total investment in the banking system through the $700 billion financial rescue, according to a U.S. Treasury Department report released today.
The Troubled Asset Relief Program also collected $12.9 billion in fees, dividends and interest, the Treasury said. So far, the U.S. has made an 8 percent return on its bank investments, a Treasury official told reporters.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said he expects the government to be repaid for the funds put into banks at a profit.
You can’t have it both ways.
A few banks exhibit risky behavior while the government looks the other way. Risk is realized. The government bails the banks out just as the banks expected, thereby rewarding them by mitigating the risk normally realized by this behavior.
No one should be surprised that some banks are picking up where they left off, and the government is just as culpable as the banks.
Public sentiment has turned against last year’s government rescue of the financial-services industry. Almost two-thirds of Americans believe bailing out the banks was a bad idea, a Bloomberg National Poll taken Dec. 3-7 showed.
Just over half of respondents said banks should be subject to stricter regulation and 31 percent would allow troubled banks to fail.
Americans are pissed off – and they should be – but not just at the banks, rather at the bureaucrats that saw fit to reward risky behavior with taxpayer dollars.
…and ironically now seek to create yet another tax to repair the damage caused by the misuse of taxpayer dollars in the first place.
One must never underestimate a liberal’s creativity in finding new ways to confiscate capital and turn something into nothing.
January 12th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Things were chugging along until September 18, 2008. That’s the day ‘the wheels almost came off’ per the Bush Administration, causing McCain to suspend his campaign to deal with the crisis and Obama eventually to win.
What they meant was that massive, unexpected, coordinated withdrawals of cash hit the US financial system. What they never explained was how that happened or who was behind it.
Did George Soros engage in more of his famous currency speculation to tilt the elections toward the more socialist candidate?
If we don’t know what went wrong and who caused it, how can we tell if we still have a problem or what the solution is? The reason the public hates the bailout is we can’t see that it fixed anything – it just transfered more power to the government and our cash to . . . well, we don’t really know who, since bailout funds are unaccountable.
.
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January 12th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Haha, yeah that’s it, nate. George Soros brought down AIG, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, GM and Chrysler, using his magical “currency speculation.”
January 12th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Angry Clown thinks that “currency speculation” is magical.
Hey, AC, has Geithner figured out how to fill out 1040 yet? That guy’s sharp as a marble. He’ll do well against any magical currency speculators, it’s only the real currency speculators that we have to worry about.
January 12th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I’m perfectly willing to be educated, AC.
AIG, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns were damaged by Chris Cox’s decision to enforce Mark-to-Market on pooled mortgage-backed funds which we now know Fannie and Freddie were artificially propping up by lying about the value of their paper. Those were being worked out before the cash withdrawal hit.
If you don’t think George Soros had anything to do with manipulating the US economy (despite his having made his billions in currency speculation), tell me who did launch the coordinated cash withdrawals that so rocked the foundation of the US financial system our Treasury Secretary said the wheels nearly came off, and how you (1) know who it was and (2) know that event was unrelated to the stimulus and bailout packages the followed.
January 12th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
Paulson: “We need to commit 5% of our nation’s GDP to bail out my friends! I mean my banking friends! I mean the banking system!”
Congress: “Well, that’s an . . . interesting . . . proposition. Let’s deliberate about it awhile.”
Paulson: No time to deliberate! Just do it! Look at this old picture of people standing in a soup line! Do you want to be responsible for this! Year-end bonuses will be canceled, fer gawd’s sake!
Congress: Okay, then. Where do I sign the check?
January 12th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Haha, yeah Terry, even Johnny Doosh backhandedly admits that “the government is well on it’s [sic] way to recovering much of the infusions made last year in the interest of preventing further disaster.”
The Treasury has made a *profit* on the bailout money it gave to the banks and they paid back.
Silly, stupid Terry!
January 12th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Gee, that mewling might have made sense, Angry Clown, if I had actually said anything about the government not being paid back.
Tell me more of this interesting theory you have about currency speculators being magical creatures. Do they have pointy ears? Can you only see them in mirrors?
January 13th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Huh, Terry, kinda missed that amid all the wingnut tomfoolery:
Paulson: “We need to commit 5% of our nation’s GDP to bail out my friends! I mean my banking friends! I mean the banking system!”
January 13th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
Not wanting the government to hand public money to bankers without deliberation and oversight by the people’s congress is wingnuttery? Better tell tham that at HuffPo.
I’m still waiting for your explanation re: pixie currency speculators, Angry Clown. Also your estimation of our treasury Secretary’s ability to fill out a form 1040 this year.
You know what? Forget it. You ceased to be interesting a long time ago. your command of facts and logic is weak, as is your ability to follow the narrative of an expository statement is non-existent.
You may no longer read my comments, Angry Clown. If you wish, you may instead read all of Dog Gone’s comments twice.