How the chips are tumbling.....AIG looking for $40 billion handout

[kaiser soze]

Seriously wtf is going on with this meltdown and when will our government and the fed admit that the U.S. is teetering on a depression?

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/aig-seeks-fed-aid-to-survive/index.html?hp

The American International Group is seeking a $40 billion bridge loan from the Federal Reserve, as it faces a potential downgrade from credit ratings agencies that could spell its doom, a person briefed on the matter said Sunday night.

Ratings agencies threatened to downgrade the insurance giant’s credit rating by Monday morning, allowing counterparties to withdraw capital from their contracts with the company. One person close to the firm said that if such an event occurred, A.I.G. may survive for only 48 hours to 72 hours.

ON top of the steady bleed from two endless wars, natural disasters from all angles, privately owned companies getting MASSIVE handouts, andthe beloved tax breaks...how will the taxpayer today and twenty, fifty, 100 years from now fare from this?

This is welfare in it's most perverse form...how many welfare recipients expect to get "Golden parachutes" (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/14/AR2008091401698.html?hpid=moreheadlines) ????


The trough is getting mighty crowded

Privatized Profits for Socialized Loses - not my quote but a good one

[RobMoney$]

Greenspan isn't denying it.



http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/greenspan-to-st.html

Greenspan to Stephanopoulos: This is 'By Far' the Worst Economic Crisis He's Seen in His Career

Share September 14, 2008 11:07 AM

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos Reports: Former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan said this morning that this is "by far" the worst economic crisis he has ever seen. "There's no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I've seen, and it still is not resolved and it still has a way to go," he said in an exclusive "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" interview.

Greenspan also noted, "let's recognize that this is a once-in-a-half-century, probably once-in-a-century type of event."

Looking ahead, Greenspan changed a previous prediction on whether the economy is headed towards a recession. When asked if the chances of escaping a recession were greater than 50 percent, Greenspan responded "no, I think it is less than 50 percent." But in a "This Week" interview last December, Greenspan predicted "that the probabilities of a recession have moved up close to 50 percent, whether it's above or below is really extraordinarily difficult to tell. I think it's correct.

On the fate of investment bank Lehman Brothers, Greenspan said he did not know enough of the details to comment on whether the government should step in and help. However, when asked if we will see the failure of more financial institutions, Greenspan affirmed "I suspect we will."

"But in and of itself that does not need to be a problem," he explained. "It depends on how it is handled and how the liquidations take place. And indeed we shouldn't try to protect every single institution. The ordinary course of financial change has winners and losers."



The sub-prime lending and credit card crunch is what started this whole mess. People re-financed to pay off their credit card debt, burning up their equity and raising their mortgage payments. Now that went away, and people are stuck with mortgages they can't afford and are now racking up the credit cards again. There's no personal responsibility, people want the Government to bail them out of everything and that just can't happen.

There are soo many financial institutes going down. You have this chronic problem that there are many regions of the world (Europe, China, India, Mexico, US, etc.) all growing and competing on the world marketplace in a situation where there are ZERO emerging buyers. You need to find SOMEONE to buy your goods, but everyone is out there trying to SELL goods. That's why the world economy looks ill.

Historically, this only gets resolved by war. War kills people, breaks things, and inadvertently creates NEW markets and NEW buyers for the survivors. That's a gruesome solution but it seems to be unavoidable. This doesn't mean I want war, I'm saying no matter what we do, we are probably heading in that direction.

[Documad]

I don't think that war can solve our economic problems anymore. The economy, and the US, has changed dramatically since WWII. In fact, engaging in a war based solely on borrowing from foreign countries was a huge factor in putting us where we are today.

[yeahwho]

Historically, this only gets resolved by war. War kills people, breaks things, and inadvertently creates NEW markets and NEW buyers for the survivors. That's a gruesome solution but it seems to be unavoidable. This doesn't mean I want war, I'm saying no matter what we do, we are probably heading in that direction.

If your voting for McCain the odds are we'll be in a war. The very dearth of ideas coming from this man makes for very few possibilities outside of war.

your beginning to sound like a true republican there, nice speech.

[D_Raay]

Exactly yeahwho, it's that kind of backwards thinking that has us in the economic and social situation we are currently in.

[alien autopsy]

these wars are bankrupting our economy. in addition to the latest news. BRING IT ON! change will come.

[kaiser soze]

YES!

More war.....with what money? We can borrow and borrow and borrow until our hearts content but with who will we wage war against and how would we win?

So a REAL War would bring economic change? Because Iraq and Afghanistan did not, some would still consider those proxy in comparison to WWI and II.

I think the U.S. is headed towards war because those with the power are too lazy to make change

[Dorothy Wood]

I'm gonna start making my real plans to build a tiny house using plans from tumbleweedhouses.com and move to the woods, so when the bombs come, I'll be growing my own food and talking to woodland animals instead of getting blown up.

[alien autopsy]

cute. lets start a garden

[DroppinScience]

After all these meltdowns, people are STILL willing to vote for a Hoover-like figure?

Unbelievable.

[D_Raay]

Let's take a look at America 's “resilient economy.” Let's see…the entire financial system is in the process of blowing up. Already there have been over $500 billion in bank losses, with over $1 trillion more to come. Over one dozen banks have failed, with hundreds on deck. A handful of large hedge funds have blown up, with hundreds more on the way. Already, over $1 trillion has been transferred from the Fed to the banking cartel. But I estimate another $1.5 trillion will be needed to maintain liquidity as banks de-leverage over the next few years. Unemployment is now over 6% and inflation is over 5%, even with Washington 's manipulation of the data. Virtually every metric in the housing market is at multi-decade lows, except for foreclosures which are hitting new highs.

Taxpayers are now on the hook for billions of dollars of potentially worthless debt held by Fannie and Freddie. It's now official. America 's free market economy is really a socialist system for corporations. One could argue this to be a form of Fascism. My best estimate for losses due to the Fannie and Freddie taxpayer bailout are between $200 to $500 billion. The worst case scenario would be $800 billion. If this economy is resilient, I can't wait to see how it magically bounces back.

[travesty]

Taxpayers are now on the hook for billions of dollars of potentially worthless debt held by Fannie and Freddie. It's now official. America 's free market economy is really a socialist system for corporations. One could argue this to be a form of Fascism.

Everyone study up, your going to need to know this (http://www.freechineselessons.com/)

[Echewta]

I thought we were having a war on terror. We need another war? We are breaking our own stuff quite well i thought.

Scary stuff.

[alien autopsy]

dont be scared, embrace it.

[alien autopsy]

Everyone study up, your going to need to know this (http://www.freechineselessons.com/)
talking with my pops the other night, he said:

"pretty soon we will be the ones shipping off fireworks to china"
heh, funny thought.