May the money floodgates open wide

[fccool]

The who bailout situation begins to resemble the pre WWII Germany in 1920.

http://www.nowandfutures.com/us_weimar.html

Notice the stock market Indexes ended up going up .... and up... and up... until in January 1923 it rose from 21,400 to 26,890,000. And somehow these people were not jumping for joy. There was an overwhelming feeling of "oops".

The current bailout is nothing short of dumping a whole lot of money to pay for the current debts of people at risk. Now we are hearing that 700 billion is just an arbitrary number, and it could potentially be measured in trillions, as the bailout comes with nicely packaged laws that would allow the Treasury to borrow the money as it deems right, and that would allow the Federal Reserve to control the management of large corporations.

It's interesting to point out that Fascism followed the economic failures of Germany. People were in shock and were enveloped in propaganda. They believed and blamed whoever they were told to blame... the terrorist Communists who burned down the Reichstag... whoever.

Lenin once stated that you can bring any nation to its knees by debauchery of nation's currency. Image is worth a thousand words...

[Woody]

Quote:

The current bailout is nothing short of dumping a whole lot of money to pay for the current debts of people at risk.

Hmmm. That's not what I am hearing on Fox. On Fox they are trying to debate what to do with the profits the American public will receive from the bail out. Most of the 'assets' will come home to prosper.

[fccool]

Fox News should be officially named... the Government PR network.

[Neil D]

Fox News should be officially named... the Government PR network.

That's "Republican Government PR Network"!

[Dr. Shane]

What should MSNBC be named?

[Woody]

What should MSNBC be named?

SICK.

[aldona]

Here's the "Sydney Morning Herald" editorial's view on the bailout:

Quote:

George Bush was unable to help the hurricane-battered poor of New Orleans but somehow he's located a spare trillion dollars for his distressed friends on Wall Street. It's a rescue package for bankers - dropped from the skies above Manhattan. You wonder what's in it. Bespoke suits? Stripy shirts with white collars? Braces?

The bankers have been thrilled to receive the help. Offered a trillion dollars of other people's money, they find themselves instant converts to the world of socialism and government assistance. All that talk about the free market; all that sneering about central government: that is sooo last month. Welcome to the Wall Street branch of the People's Collective for Distressed Bankers. It's like watching an atheist on his death bed begging for a Bible; you half expect the bankers to sing The Red Flag at the start of each day's trade.

[Woody]

Not exatly true. The poor hurricane battered people of New Orleans refused the help of GWB. It was their mayor and governor who told the FEDS to back off. They have since learned of their mistake ... but GWB remains the villan.

[Dr. Shane]

At the time, the US federal government was not in charge of hurricane preparation or evacuation. That was the responsibility of the local and state government. That has since been changed.

[carolaa]

Never mind preparation/evacuation. They were terrible at coming in after the event. And it wasn't much better after Ike.

[Dr. Shane]

At the time of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA's role was not to officially begin until 72 hours after the storm. That was a supportive role. They were to support state and local government. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, the local governments didn't have their act together so that complicated FEMA's supportive role. That role has now changed.

Hurricane Ike was a huge storm - not just powerful. FEMA did as good as anyone expected but it was an overwhelming task.

[carolaa]

No, that's not true. FEMA did not do as good as anyone. There were semis that came in from grocery stores and other businesses from San Antonio and other places that got there long before the FEMA trucks - which were supposedly on their way the day before Ike even struck. It wasn't until 2 days afterward that anyone saw a FEMA truck.

And then they announced to the public that they could apply for FEMA aid only by telephone or the website - this for people who are without electricity or phone service, or even gas to be able to drive anywhere IF their car wasn't totaled.

Furthermore, Ike was a Category 2, while Katrina was a Category 3.

[fccool]

The worst thing to me, was the fact that FEMA was blocking the help, and especially the foreign help that other countries were ready to provide. It was ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the fact that there were warnings about possible collapse of the levies given days in advance.

[Dr. Shane]

Ike was bigger than Katrina - not more powerful. Katrina was a Cat3 which means it was more powerful. It was not as large as Ike was.

There is no government response that is going to be flawless. If we are looking to criticize the effort we will always find things wrong that we can criticize. FEMA is now in a new role and it is expected they will get better at it the more they do it.

[carolaa]

If Houston's mayor Bill White and Harris County's CEO Judge Ed Emmett had been in charge, things would have run much smoother. Those are 2 excellent administrators, and one thing they learned is to not count on FEMA. I think that's one thing the entire SE Texas area learned. You may be right, that they will improve over time, but it's probably best not to count on them.

[Dr. Shane]

Well we have Louisiana and the blame-Bush crowd for the change in the rules.