[Tfug] OT: Bailout Bill

[Paul Scott]

Jim Secan wrote:
> At 09:56 AM 09/25/2008 -0700, keith smith wrote:
>   
>> Are we not in a pickle?  If we fund this bailout we all pay and the ones who 
>> caused the problem get away with it.  If no bailout what does that do to our 
>> economy?  Will it crash?  Will the world economy crash?
>>
>> It seems we are in a pickle.  You and I will more than likely pay $2000 each 
>> for the bailout, or so that is the figure I am hearing.
>>
>> Do we have a choice?  Do we want another Great Depression? 
>>     
>
> We don't really know, and given the propensity for shading the truth (I'm
> trying to be polite) by the current administration it's hard to tell.
>   
I understand that part of this was caused during the Clinton
administration when the distinction between investment banks and
commercial was removed allowing all banks to invent in ridiculously
leveraged ways.
> Their approach is to propose a solution that is, from what I can tell,
> horrifically bad and then try to force it down our throats because the
> barbarians are at the gates.  Basically, the Bush plan is "give us $700
> billion with no oversight and trust us to do the right thing". 
Which is just a chance to make the leverage even worse.  It's already
totally broken today.
>  Yeah, right.
>
> The fact that they don't want to put limits on the payouts given to CEOs
> bailing out of these failed institutions gives us an idea of where they're
> heads are at (up and locked, pretty much). 
Yes!
>  The argument is that the
> companies in risk of going belly up won't take the US bailout money because
> of all the little niggling strings attached.  That'll show them Democrats.
> I don't see this happening.  If a company leadership turns down a bailout
> because they don't get their golden parachutes and the company then tanks,
> I would hope that their shareholders would take a dim enough view of this
> that heads might literally role.
>   
See your next sentence.
> But, then again, the people in this country have shown a remarkable level
> of stupidity over the past several decades, so anything is possible. 
Paul Scott