$34,000: the amount of federal taxes that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (D) failed to pay during his employment at the International Monetary Fund despite receiving extra compensation and explanatory brochures that described his tax liabilities.
$75,000: the amount of money that the head of the powerful tax-writing committee, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), was forced to report on his taxes after the discovery that he had not reported income from a Costa Rican rental property. His excuses for the failure started with blaming his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.
$93,000: the amount of petty cash each Congressional representative voted to give themselves in January 2009 during the height of an economic meltdown.
$133,900: the amount Fannie Mae "invested" in Chris Dodd (D-CT), head of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown. Said meltdown helped touch off the current economic crisis. In only a few years time, Fannie also "invested" over $105,000 in then-Senator Barack Obama.
$140,000: the amount of back taxes and interest that Cabinet nominee Tom Daschle (D) was forced to cough up after the vetting process revealed significant, unexplained tax liabilities.
$356,000: the approximate amount of income and deductions that Daschle (D) was forced to report on his amended 2005 and 2007 tax returns after being caught cheating on his taxes. This includes $255,256 for the use of a car service, $83,333 in unreported income, and $14,963 in charitable contributions.
$800,000: the amount of "sweetheart" mortgages Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) received from Countrywide Financial, the details for which he has refused to release details despite months of promises to do so. Countrywide was once the nation's largest mortgage lender and linked to Government-Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their meltdown precipitated the current financial crisis. Just days ago in Pennsylvania, Countrywide was forced to pay $150,000,000 in mortgage assistance following "a state investigation that concluded that Countrywide relaxed its underwriting standards to sell risky loans to consumers who did not understand them and could not afford them."
$1,000,000: the estimated amount of Foundation in an apparent quid pro quo deal that resulted in a pardon for Mr. Rich. The pardon was reviewed and blessed by Obama Attorney General and then Deputy AG Eric Holder, despite numerous requests by government officials to turn it down.
$12,000,000: the amount of TARP money provided to community bank One United despite the fact that it did not qualify for funds, and was "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses." It turns out that Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), a key contributor to the Fannie Mae meltdown, just happens to be married to one of the bank's ex-directors.
$23,500,000: The upper range of net worth Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) accumulated in four years time according to The Washington Post through earmarks of "tens of millions of dollars to groups associated with his own business partners."
$2,000,000,000: ($2 billion) the approximate amount of money that House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) is earmarking related to his son's lobbying efforts. Craig Obey is "a top lobbyist for the nonprofit group" that would receive a roughly $2 billion component of the "Stimulus" package.
$3,700,000,000: ($3.7 billion) not to be outdone, this is the estimated value of various defense contracts awarded to a company controlled by the husband of Rep. Diane Feinstein (D-CA). Despite an obvious conflict-of-interest as "a member of the Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Feinstein voted for appropriations worth billions to her husband's firms ."
$4,190,000,000: ($4.19 billion) the amount of money in the so-called "Stimulus" package devoted to fraudulent voter registration ACORN group under the auspices of "Community Stabilization Activities". ACORN is currently the subject of a RICO suit in Ohio.
$1,646,000,000,000 ($1.646 trillion): the approximate amount of annual United States exports endangered by the "Stimulus" package, which provides a "Buy American" stricture. According to international trade experts, a "US-EU trade war looms", which could result in a worldwide economic depression reminiscent of that touched off by the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Act.
It's not just a culture of corruption. It's a culture of corruption and stupidity. And, unlike Republicans, Democrats appear to be above the law. All of the aforementioned clowns are still in office, ruling like the royalty they've become.
posted
Won't defend Geither's tax problem. That was stupid.
Won't defend Rangel's tax problem. That was even more stupid.
The petty cash statement is misleading. It is actually much worse. Each Congressperson gets somewhere between 1.3 and 1.6 Million per year to 'keep in touch with the constituents'. Congress has voted to increase this already bloated number by $93,000 per year. Random note: Each Senator gets roughly twice this amount for petty cash.
While I agree it doesn't look good in hindsight now that Fannie is under conservatorship by the government there is noting illegal or immoral about Fannie donating to campaign funds. It is the same thing as Enron with Republicans. Nobody cared or paid attention to it until after the ship sank and then in hindsight the connection glared like a beacon. The statement
quote: presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown
is libelous and inflammatory without any evidence to corroborate the inference of collusion.
Daschle disappointed me greatly. I am a big fan of Tom as a person and was a big fan of him as a political figure. I thought he had more integrity than that.
Antonio Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide, was charged with fraud last month. As chairman of the banking and housing committee Chris Dodd could not have been unaware of what type of deal he was getting and should have refused. He has profited off the backs of the men and women (mostly lower class economically speaking) who Mozilo was taking advantage of. While I doubt there is anything illegal about the transaction I do believe it violates the rules of ethics that political leaders must abide by and at the very least he should be forced to step down from the chair of the committee for lack of judgment.
The pardoning of Marc Rich happened in the Clinton era when Eric Holder was the Assistant AG. During his confirmation hearings as Obama's pick for Attorney General Mr. Holder admitted that not objecting to the Presidents decision to pardon Mr. Rich was a mistake. Otherwise Eric Holder's reputation is quite impressive and shows a history of willingness to investigate political officials.
If you are looking for who is responsible for TARP funds being distributed to One United this article's aim is off with Maxine Waters. It was actually Barney Frank who wrote a provision into the TARP bill with language specifically related to One United and followed up with calls to regulators to disburse fund despite poor lending and executive pay abuses such as having a Porsche as a company asset for executives to drive. It should be noted that multiple bank executives in multiple states have inferred that lawmakers were more influential in the process of obtaining TARP funds than the official regulator channels. It should also be noted that all of this took place during the Bush administration and has nothing to do with the Obama administration. (yet. We will see how the second half of TARP ends up getting dolled out by Geither)
I'm really not sure what the Mollohan statement is even about. I see two big numbers and an unidentified quote. I'm not going to research this one until someone can tell me what it is talking about.
Again with the unidentified quotes. This is an amateur piece CCM. Craig Obey (Dave Obey's son) is the Senior Vice President for the National Parks Conservation Association. More money for National Parks was something Obama campaigned on and it is no surprise to see it inside the Stimulus Bill. In response to the allegations of misconduct brought by Darrell Issa (R-CA) the NPCA has stated that not only Craig Obey but the entire organization of the National Parks Conservation Association refrains from lobbying Dave Obey so as to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
Defense Contracts during the years 2001-2005? Do we really want to get started on Defense Contracts during the G.W.Bush years??
I wanted to get through this all tonight but other items need attention. Hopefully more later...
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quote:Originally posted by The Bigfoot: Won't defend Geither's tax problem. That was stupid.
Won't defend Rangel's tax problem. That was even more stupid.
The petty cash statement is misleading. It is actually much worse. Each Congressperson gets somewhere between 1.3 and 1.6 Million per year to 'keep in touch with the constituents'. Congress has voted to increase this already bloated number by $93,000 per year. Random note: Each Senator gets roughly twice this amount for petty cash.
While I agree it doesn't look good in hindsight now that Fannie is under conservatorship by the government there is noting illegal or immoral about Fannie donating to campaign funds. It is the same thing as Enron with Republicans. Nobody cared or paid attention to it until after the ship sank and then in hindsight the connection glared like a beacon. The statement
quote: presumably to repel oversight of the GSE prior to its meltdown
is libelous and inflammatory without any evidence to corroborate the inference of collusion.
Daschle disappointed me greatly. I am a big fan of Tom as a person and was a big fan of him as a political figure. I thought he had more integrity than that.
Antonio Mozilo, former CEO of Countrywide, was charged with fraud last month. As chairman of the banking and housing committee Chris Dodd could not have been unaware of what type of deal he was getting and should have refused. He has profited off the backs of the men and women (mostly lower class economically speaking) who Mozilo was taking advantage of. While I doubt there is anything illegal about the transaction I do believe it violates the rules of ethics that political leaders must abide by and at the very least he should be forced to step down from the chair of the committee for lack of judgment.
The pardoning of Marc Rich happened in the Clinton era when Eric Holder was the Assistant AG. During his confirmation hearings as Obama's pick for Attorney General Mr. Holder admitted that not objecting to the Presidents decision to pardon Mr. Rich was a mistake. Otherwise Eric Holder's reputation is quite impressive and shows a history of willingness to investigate political officials.
If you are looking for who is responsible for TARP funds being distributed to One United this article's aim is off with Maxine Waters. It was actually Barney Frank who wrote a provision into the TARP bill with language specifically related to One United and followed up with calls to regulators to disburse fund despite poor lending and executive pay abuses such as having a Porsche as a company asset for executives to drive. It should be noted that multiple bank executives in multiple states have inferred that lawmakers were more influential in the process of obtaining TARP funds than the official regulator channels. It should also be noted that all of this took place during the Bush administration and has nothing to do with the Obama administration. (yet. We will see how the second half of TARP ends up getting dolled out by Geither)
I'm really not sure what the Mollohan statement is even about. I see two big numbers and an unidentified quote. I'm not going to research this one until someone can tell me what it is talking about.
Again with the unidentified quotes. This is an amateur piece CCM. Craig Obey (Dave Obey's son) is the Senior Vice President for the National Parks Conservation Association. More money for National Parks was something Obama campaigned on and it is no surprise to see it inside the Stimulus Bill. In response to the allegations of misconduct brought by Darrell Issa (R-CA) the NPCA has stated that not only Craig Obey but the entire organization of the National Parks Conservation Association refrains from lobbying Dave Obey so as to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
Defense Contracts during the years 2001-2005? Do we really want to get started on Defense Contracts during the G.W.Bush years??
I wanted to get through this all tonight but other items need attention. Hopefully more later...
GW probably has just as long of a list himself, but why does everyone want to go BACK in time? This is CHANGE! HOPE! This is the now, and what Obama promised to do differently...ITS ALL THE SAME SHI* MANNN!!! The only change I see is the amount of government growing
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posted
so..iask you, cow..what do you want to do about all this crap you keep posting?It seems like you see yourself as some sort of defender of the ritgt...but evrytime you post you get shot down...look..obama is the prez and he has and is making huge strides toward getting us on the right track,,,bush got us off for 8 yrs. it will take time to turn this mess around..do you get it, little one?..obama is fighting an uphill battle with the right fighting him all the way.its tough,but he is making progress. in spite of your rhetoric..i know you cant be as dumb as your posts make you out to be and you really do understand the complexity of things.But I gotta tell ya,,you seem like you have a brick wall wall around you and nothing can get thru..are you really this ignorant or are you just funnin us?........and,one more thing,,this idiotic statement about going back in time, you always bring up ,is untrue...no one wants to go back in time! How stupid would that be?? we are trying to correct the crap that went on during the bush years! (this is like trying to explain things to a 6 yr old)..and bush was in power back in time!..so sometimes the past must be brought up so those same mistakes wont be repeated...understand???if we forget those lies and errors and missteps and illegalities that happened BACK IN TIME, that would be a huge mistake! right??.. make sense yet? good god, cow boy, grow up and start being an adult...just cuz you can shoot a gun and drink beer and drive and vote doesnt mean much if you still behave like a mommas boy..stop your dang whining and grow a pair!!
posted
Funny thing is if you give TARP money the credit for saving the economy then the credit has to go to GWB administration.
As far as when the economy really tanks in two years Obama gets to take credit for that. Stimulas plan, health care, cap and trade. He's following his big government strategy and soon small business jobs will disappear under overtaxing.
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: Funny thing is if you give TARP money the credit for saving the economy then the credit has to go to GWB administration.
uh, that's (ironic) funny, since it's true.
Bush most definitely created the crash and the absolute dire need to save US from a depression worse than or equivalent to the 30's that was the reason he had no choice but to go against "conservative" principles and bail out the banks.
fact is? Banks are still failing at a steady rate. they will for quite awhile. because of policies they put in place five six seven years ago.
what triggered teh credit crisis? Bush sent Paulson to China to ask them to increase their lending to US and they refused. It was July of '07.
The tougher part of Paulson's China trip will follow in Beijing, where he will meet Vice Premier Wu Yi and Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan on Tuesday and President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.
He said he would again press for faster appreciation of the yuan and other reforms, such as rebalancing China's economy away from exports and toward more domestic consumption and increasing foreign access to China's financial services sector.
Paulson's visit comes as U.S. lawmakers, frustrated with slow progress in reducing U.S. trade deficits with China, are advancing legislation aimed at pressuring Beijing to allow open markets to set the yuan's value.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week passed a bill that would allow companies to seek anti-dumping duties against products from countries that have "fundamentally misaligned" currencies and eventually intervention by the Federal Reserve.
DURING that trip? i posted bloomberg articles that have since been SCRUBBED form the internet on Paulson requesting more MORTGAGE investment from the Chinese.
it is very rare for articles to be scrubbed, but these were.
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: Glass, Did Goldman-sacks really need a bail out?
Are they having record profits because their competion was allowed to fail?
Is there a conspiracy involving present and past goldman-sacks employees. Who's running our monetary policy past and present.
We were taken down for profit and our government fell for it.
did goldamn need a bailout? i doubt it.
is there a conspiracy... d'uhhhh, of course there is.
however, and this is a very important point, the conspiracy does not make the collapse "fake". it only makes it contrived
JP Morgan was the main "recipient/beneficiary" of the 29 crash.. they haven't done too bad in this either.
July 15 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank to repay government bailout funds, may say trading revenue helped the company weather rising defaults on consumer loans for a second straight quarter.
JPMorgan, which reports second-quarter results tomorrow, will probably say it earned $1.59 billion, or 5 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The New York-based company’s yearlong profit slide slowed in the first quarter, even as more consumers defaulted, because fixed-income trading revenue rose to a record.
another major question to keep in mind is why has the dollar not collapsed on the world market?
wasn't/isn't it a slam dunk to short it?
who is supporting it and why?
anybody who believes this system is anything like "freemarket" is delusional.
the global financial market is full scale war.
most everybody else has lost more than we did. China? look how they responded to this catastrophe. they are actually loaning money.
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in 2006, Goldman Sachs underwrote $76.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities, or 7% of the entire market. Of that $76.5 billion, $29.3 billion was subprime, which is bad enough — but another $29.8 billion was what’s called “Alt-A” paper.Alt-A mortgages are characterized, mainly, by crappy documentation and lack of equity: no income verification, no asset verification, little-to-no cash down. So while “only” 38% of the mortgage-backed securities Goldman underwrote were subprime, more than three-fourths of their securities were what is called “non-prime,” ie either subprime or Alt-A.
but they SOLD it to others instead of keeping it.
now ask yourself? who did they sell it to, and why would anybody be dumb enough to buy them if they knew they were really sub prime or non-prime?
cuz Moody's and S&P over-rated them that's why.
guess who the large part AIG bailout money went to? Goldamn that's who. they were AIG largest single customer.
AIG’s death spiral was triggered not so much by its bets going sour, but by companies like Goldman that demanded that AIG put up cash to show its ability to pay. These collateral calls were what killed AIG last September, and Goldman was one of those creditors pulling the trigger: what makes this fact even more obnoxious is that ex-Goldmanite Henry Paulson then stepped in and green-lighted an $80 billion taxpayer bailout.
Goldamn was also the broker that intitaited th eFed call on Semco.. th eone that ran oil from 120 to 147 last year..
keep in mind that profits of 2 bllion/quarter do not account for the losses of other players in a zero-sum game.
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