I hate my job sometimes. Another clueless revisionist. The latest apologist for record Wall Street bonuses -- Dan Amira from the Daily Intel.
Amira even invokes Judd Gregg (video: Ratigan annihilates Judd Gregg):
“It’s become demonized on the left and the right by screamers — Glenn Beck and Rachel Maddow — who have no interest in the facts; they’re just interested in hyperbolizing and generating attention,” lamented New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, a key player in guiding the measure through the upper chamber and one of the few Republicans willing to talk about TARP in positive terms. ...
All that, despite a broad consensus of economists who think things would have been worse without the bank rescue — and perhaps far worse: In one simple example, American workers’ paychecks might well not have arrived. Think bread lines and cat food.
“The TARP is probably the most effective large-scale government program that the public has vehemently decided was a bad idea, and, therefore, has only the most tepid political defenders,” said the Brookings Institution’s Douglas Elliott. “Unfortunately, the right thing to do for the public just sounds so wrong to Main Street in this case.”
DB here. TARP did not save the banking system. It was insolvent in 2008 and nothing has changed. The changes to FASB 157 saved the banking system. 'Marking assets at whatever value pleases you' saved the banking system. Dan apparently missed these stories:
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As readers know, several Congressional members have alluded to a private meeting with Paulson and Bernanke in which vague economic Armageddon was threatened if Congress did not immediately hand Hank $700 billion, with no oversight. As the political debate raged over the next 15 days, several members expressed a sense of shock over the severity of the secret warnings, while refusing to divulge the details to a concerned public.
Representative Sherman of California later revealed that members were warned that Martial Law would follow if the $700 bailout plan were not approved quickly. Days later it was confirmed that the warning was delivered by Treasury Secretary Paulson. Listen while Kanjorski relates the fear about an electronic run on the banks that was apparently part of the Congressional scare tactics employed by Paulson and staff. You will notice that he says members were told that within 24 hours, the entire political structure of the United States would collapse. Talk about hitting a Congressman where it hurts, Paulson went straight for their political testes.
Kanjorski has unwittingly revealed evidence that Treasury and the Fed embellished (lied) to members of Congress to further their case for TARP approval. And though never punished directly for their lies, they have been exposed in the aftermath as apologists and protectors of the failed banking class. The integrity of both federal institutions is now openly questioned by taxpayers and elected officials. This is not a good place.
Kanjorski's statement supports the thesis that the Fed and Treasury were not playing by the rules, and that they dissembled and utilized apocalyptic fear-mongering to frighten Congressional leaders who were already intimidated by the seeming complexity of the financial issues. The truth is they utilized the panic for political benefit and hoisted cataclysm upon already cowering Congressional members.
Watch this and learn what the bank bailout really cost:
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