Cheer Up!

Could it be possible? Can we "think" our way around all of these economic problems? Heck, I'll give anything a shot right about now!

Zachary Karabell: Enough already

The financial markets are again getting pummeled, both domestically and globally; the nearly $800 billion stimulus package signed with fanfare by President Obama has done little to alter the mood. In fact, if you read through financial websites and assorted blogs on politics, economics, or anything related to those, you will find a nearly endless sea of misery. The level of anger, pessimism, despair, and sheer hopelessness seems to reach new peaks every week, in inverse relation to [...]

Stimulus Package, Barack Obama

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Worse And Worse

How much longer can these headlines continue?
GM and Chrysler need another $21.6 billion

General Motors and Chrysler LLC presented their updated turnaround plans to the federal government Tuesday and said they could need an additional $21.6 billion in federal loans between them because of worsening demands for their cars and trucks. The two firms also detailed plans to cut 50,000 jobs by [...]

Chrysler, General Motors

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It's All About PR

I watched the eight goobers from the big banks answering questions today in Washington. It's just so darn obvious that they've been caught with their collectives hands in America's tax-supported cookie jar. The Citi guy said something along the lines of "We failed to respond fast enough to the changing situation". If so, why the heck has he been making mega-millions every year?  Isn't that supposedly for his ability to do just that? And, that's just the beginning. The story below is truly mind-boggling.

Bailed out Wall Street firm caught on tape: tells staff to deny payout is a bonus

Your tax dollars at work. Bush rolled out TARP with little oversight and this is why almost no one has sympathy for the banks and financial firms that have done everything in their power to keep living the high life on your dime. This [...]

Your Friday Oversite

The amazing stories continue. There was some coverage of this report on the early morning newscasts, but not everybody seemed to pick up on it. At least not early in the day. Another sad testament to Washington's lack of ability to do things right! Can the new administration do better? They're not having much luck with the new stimulus bill.

Bush paid too much for bailout

The Bush administration overpaid tens of billions of dollars for stocks and other assets in its massive bailout last year of Wall Street banks and financial institutions, a new study by a government watchdog says.The Congressional Oversight Panel, in a report released Friday, said [...]

The Wall Street Whine

I'm not sure I completely understand the legality of the president's salary cap for executives at financial institutions that get big handouts to stay afloat. I understand the philosophy behind it - to cap what appears to most normal Americans to be ridiculous bonuses, salaries and perks. I will say one thing, Wall Street ain't happy.

Wall Street Insiders Whine Over Obama Executive Pay Limits: ‘$500,000 Is Not A Lot Of Money’

Today, President Obama announced that top executives’ pay at companies accepting TARP funds would be capped at $500,000, with any additional compensation coming only in the form of stock options that could not be cashed until the government had been repaid. As news of the plan leaked last night, wealthy Wall Street went into panic [...]

Good TV

This kind of stuff on early morning TV will certainly help wake you up!  CNBC's Mark Haynes goes ballistic over something Arianna Huffington said. Ya' got yer transcript and a video clip on the link.

CNBC’s Mark Haines Unleashes His Inner Dick Armey

After Arianna Huffington was on Morning Joe making the argument that taxpayers should get for their money what Warren Buffet got for his money when he put money into failed banks, CNBC's Mark Haynes unleashed his inner Dick Armey: "I was listening to Arianna Huffington. What's the word I'm searching for...clueless? Hey look, in the future you might want to[...]

You Go, Claire!

Stopping by the house, in between errands, I wanted to take the time to post the video that goes along with something I meant to mention yesterday - Senator Claire McCaskill pummeling the executives who got big bonuses at the same time their companies were taking billions from the government. Enjoy. She's good!

An Angry President

Oh, my. Obama went off on the Wall Street honchos who took home huge bonuses after asking for a federal bailout! Gotta say this got my blood pressure rising, too...

Wall Street pays out more than $18 billion in year-end bonuses

Ugh: By almost any measure, 2008 was a complete disaster for Wall Street — except, that is, when the bonuses arrived. Despite crippling losses, multibillion-dollar bailouts and the passing of some of the most prominent names in the business, employees at financial companies in New York, the now-diminished world capital of capital, collected an estimated $18.4 billion [...]

And, here's how NBC Nightly News reported on the President's Wall Street reaction and the overall economic situation.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Holiday Week

 I'll be primarily tied up with holiday doings this week, so blogging may be sporadic.  Not that it's been impressively regular lately, anyway! Still, some things catch my eye and this one certainly did.  It is simply wrong. Does the administration  not know the meaning of the word "oversight"?

Report: $1.6 billion went to executives at bailed out Wall Street banks last year.

An Associated Press analysis finds that the executives of Wall Street firms that have been bailed out by taxpayer dollars received “$1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and other benefits” last year. “Benefits included cash bonuses, stock options, personal use of company jets and chauffeurs, home security, country club memberships and professional money management.” Meanwhile, the [...]

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Sunday Suffering

 It's still Sunday around here. Cold. Frigid. And my blood is boiling over stuff like this:

Bailed-Out Execs Still Fly Corporate Jets

Crisscrossing the country in corporate jets may no longer fly in Detroit after car executives got a dressing down from Congress. But on Wall Street, the coveted executive perk has hardly been grounded. Six financial firms that received billions in bailout dollars still own and [...]

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In Charge at Citibank

It makes ya' wonder, doesn't it?  If anyone's in charge at Citibank, they certainly made some serious errors in judgement.

Citibank Never Figured That Housing Prices Would Drop

There is an article in the NYT on the fall of Citibank that has some startling admissions, but none more shocking than this: I'm watching a lot of CNBC these days (which I admit is like standing next to a roulette table), where they are arguing right now about who is responsible for the Citibank disaster, which is being described as "a slow moving train wreck." WSJ op-ed wonders "Why are[...]

How Many Millions Make A Trillion?

Absolutely astronomical numbers being tossed around today. This had better work.  Seriously.

The new price tag being bandied around: $7.4 trillion 

Forget the $700 billion Bush bailout. And forget the additional $700 billion proposed by the Obama team and favored by Congressional Democrats.That's small talk, folks. Look at this plan and [...]

Today's "Bad Guy"

Yesterday, we had a trifecta - all three Detroit guys who flew to Washington on their private jets to beg for tax dollars.  Today, we're jumping over to the banking industry for another stellar example of a "bad guy"...

Pro Publica: Golden Parachute Soars, We Pay

From Paul Kiel: "The South Financial Group, South Carolina's largest bank, announced earlier this week that it had been approved to receive $347 million from the U.S. government. But the bank's founder and longtime CEO Mack Whittle won't be sticking [...]

UPDATE: He might not get away with it...

Suit Seeks To Block Whittle's Executive Pay

Mack Whittle is being sued by a shareholder of South Financial, who is trying to block his $18 million compensation package. The shareholder, Vernon Mercier, said the suit was prompted by last week's announcement that South Financial would receive bailout [...]

If Ever

If ever I had a fleeting thought that giving some money to the automakers might be a good thing, these idiots at the helm killed it today. At least they killed it for me.  Congress better sit on the cash.

Annals of Bad PR

Detroit CEOs fly private jets to DC to seek taxpayer bailout [...]

UPDATE:  Still more details and they paint an even uglier picture.  These guys' heads are so far into the clouds that they truly can't see what's happening down below.

Yet another reason why Big Auto is failing

Clueless. Absolutely clueless. Anyone who is serious about keeping their company afloat - let alone snag billions - needs to re-think the way they do business. Management always loves to criticize the unions for costing too much but this royal [...]

GM, Ford, Chrysler, Private Jets

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Good Golly!

What a sweet deal! Doncha just kinda, sorta, think that there might be a tax dollar or two in this deal? That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach is the new norm, I'm afraid.

AIG paying $3 million to executives who were fired

Amazing that AIG does not yet get it. It's time to use the power that the government has over there and cleanhouse. The excuse from AIG is that this was deferred compensation that was previously earned. Um, yeah, but that previously earned revenue has been shown to be complete rubbish which is [...]

AIG, Bonuses

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About That Bailout...

The questions are being asked.  Seriously.  I'm not hearing much in the way of convincing answers...

Did Bush/Paulson Scam Us? Were We Fooled Again?

...According to my sources in DC, many in Congress are beginning to
believe that Bush and Paulson bailed out their friends on Wall Street,
with few conditions to lend the money out. Many now feel that's all
they really wanted. There are rumors flying around DC that [...]

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Paulson, Bush

Here We Go, Again

Looks like this week could shape up to be more of the same, thanks to the economy.  I'm not sure that lower consumer prices is really a BAD thing, but the market probably won't like it.

Housing starts expected to hit half-century low: Consumer prices falling at fastest pace in 60 years

Few observers have ever seen anything like the economic data that will be released in the coming week, with the consumer price index and housing starts each expected to breach records dating back to the late 1940s. With the global economy [...]

Technorati Tags: Housing Starts, Consumer Prices

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Crazy Day

Oh, what a day this Thursday is starting to be.  The stock market is bouncing around like a rubber ball, confused by the economic bailout program. Sarah Palin held a news conference unlike any I've ever seen - just three or four questions.  What's up with that? 
Meanwhile, the House and Senate both hold oversight meetings to try to figure out what the heck is going on. Paulson is taking a real beating and rightfully so.

No oversight of $700 billion bailout: "it's a mess."

This shouldn't be a surprise. The Bush administration provided no oversight of Iraq. No oversight of the economy. No oversight of the country. So, this shouldn't be a surprise: [...]

Technorati Tags: Economy, Paulson

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Haines Goes For The Jugular

This takes my "quote of the day" honors, hands down. There's video on the link and it's going to become a classic.

CNBC's Mark Haines Thinks Treasury Treats US Like Mushrooms: Kept In Dark, Fed BS

CNBC's Squawk On The Street anchor Mark Haines had a unique analogy for the way he thinks the Treasury Department has been handling the economic rescue plan. He's pretty steamed about a perceived lack of transparency and consistency in Treasury's communications.When discussing the economy with CNBC's Steve Liesman and co-anchor Erin Burnett, Haines said he said he no longer wanted to be treated like a "mushroom." [...]

Technorati Tags: Mark Haines, CNBC, Erin Burnett

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Flip

Meet Flop - better known as Hank Paulson.  What the heck is up with the bailout plan? That was the most confused/confusing news conference I've watched in a long time.

Paulson: TARP? What TARP?

Remember that $700 billion plan to buy toxic waste assets that we had to pass immediately or it would be the end of the world? Well, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson never bought those toxic assets. Instead he ran around giving money directly to bad banks. Have you noticed how much better [...]

Technorati Tags: Economy, Financial Bailout, TARP

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