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November 13, 2008

A Billion Here, A Billion There...

and pretty soon it add up to real money

For all the fury over Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's $700 billion emergency economic relief fund, it seems downright puny when compared to the running total of the government's response to the credit crisis.

According to CreditSights, a research firm in New York and London, the U.S. government has put itself on the hook for some $5 trillion, so far, in an attempt to arrest a collapse of the financial system.

The estimate includes many of the various solutions cooked up by Paulson and his counterparts Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve and Sheila Bair at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., as the credit crisis continues to plague banks and the broader markets.

Nice, huh? We're on the hook for trillions, and they're still running up the tab. And in the interest of open government they have put the Fannie and Freddie trillions off budget. Our children are so screwed.

David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights, says it looks as if government is left holding the bag, and of course that translates into everyone.

"The losses have to be taken, but no one wants to take them," Hendler said at a conference Wednesday, speaking about the banks and their handling of troubled assets. "It seems like the taxpayers are going to be taking a good portion of that."

We need to take control. Take back our local and state offices from these entrenched parties; Repubs or Dems, there's no difference. Get rid of all of them.

Change this course why we still can.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at November 13, 2008 09:10 AM

Comments

Getting rid of them is always good advice. The problem is that it's too late to make much of a difference.

The only thing that can really make any difference is to castrate the government's power and return to a very strict observance of the 10th Amendment. As it is now, there is nothing that the federal government doesn't think is within their grasp, from the size of our toilets to what we watch on our television.

Power breeds corruption. The more power we allow them to have, the more desparate people become to wield that power.

The only way to change things is to take power away from the federal government.

Any other solution is like a "Hello Kitty" band aid on a sucking chest wound.

Posted by: Skyler at November 13, 2008 10:02 AM

I'm afraid Skyler is right. Arthur Anderson did (for fun--accountants are weird, I know that because I have this degree that I've been ignoring for decades) an audit of the US gov back in the 80's and gave a "going concern" opinion. (A CPA will get that immediately - if you don't know what it means, here it is in simple English: "Change what you are doing or you are going to be bankrupt.")

The GAO (Government Accounting Office) essentially pretty much did the same last year. That's a lot more serious. And that was BEFORE all the bailouts.

Posted by: Kathy Kinsley at November 13, 2008 07:40 PM

Taxpayer Asset Removal Project(TARP)

Take Away the Republic from the People(TARP)

Posted by: yojimbo at November 13, 2008 11:32 PM

Remember Ross Perot.Everyone mocked him as an idiot.
He foretold all this.No industry , massive debt,plus uncontrolled illegal immigration,leads to collapse.
An idiot is one who repeats the same thing over and over and expects different results.The US government is lead by traitors,not idiots-that would be forgiveable.Traitors!

Posted by: greg newson at November 14, 2008 01:16 AM