It’s official: Congress is not interested in addressing the underlying issues that caused this mess. Instead, they would rather pour trillions of dollars we don’t have into a doomed attempt to maintain the broken status quo.
I predict we’ll be repeating this whole routine in less than six months with a new bailout, after these hundreds of billions fail to fix anything.
Final vote in the House: 263 Yes – 171 No
Here’s how Washington State’s Representatives voted (district map):
YES:
- District 2 – Rick Larsen (D)
- District 3 – Brian Baird (D)
- District 6 – Norm Dicks (D)
- District 9 – Adam Smith (D)
NO:
- District 1 – Jay Inslee (D)
- District 4 – Doc Hastings (R)
- District 5 – Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R)
- District 7 – Jim McDermott (D) (voted YES first time around)
- District 8 – Dave Reichert (R)
Kudos to Jim McDermott (that’s a phrase I never thought I’d use) for actually switching his vote to the responsible side, and to Jay Inslee and Washington’s Republicans for sticking to their principles.
Curious what kind of pork was added to the bill to sway the votes of (at least) 57 congressmen? The Chicago Tribune has a good rundown here.
Update: It looks like my kudos for McDermott were premature. From the Seattle Times:
Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott said his opposition to the economic bailout proposal Friday was a “protest vote” made with the knowledge the bill would pass the House without his support.
…
“I told the speaker [Nancy Pelosi], certainly, if she needed my vote she could have it, but … I didn’t want to vote for it, and I really lodged a protest vote.”
I suppose I should have guessed.
I know this is a dumb question, but they can always repeal this in the future, right?
I know, I know, it will never happen, but as long as the possibility is there….
[...] Update: Here’s the roll call. Here’s how Washington State’s Representatives voted (district map) Hat tip SeattleBubble: [...]
I think it is unwise to judge this measure now. Perhaps, it will be a failure and the taxpayers will lose 15-20% of the $700B (that assumes an ENORMOUS default rate). But there is also a chance that this will help stabilize the economy. Regardless, nobody is arguing that this makes everything fine and dandy. This will hopefully give private equity the confidence to get back into the market. I encourage everybody to watch Warren Buffet’s interview on Charlie Rose from Wednesday night.
http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/10/1/1/an-exclusive-conversation-with-warren-buffett
Yay Jim! he must have read a few of my eleventy-billion letters
Tough to say if it will be a bandage on the wound or just a bandaid. But better then nothing, and a complete melt down.
My guess is that this will be the new “going to Iraq” bill in regards to the presidential election 4y from know. In the same way as voting no to the Iraq war carried Obama to the nomination the same will happen with this vote. I.e any candidate that voted yes will have very little chance if any in the next presidential election. They have pissed off a lot of americans, a lot.
I admire Buffet for his business skills but make no mistake he looks after himself and his company first not he american people. His statements and recommendation are all to favour his business. Nothing wrong with that it’s his job, what is wrong is that representatives for the american people (Obama for example ) is asking and taking his advice thinking it is in the best interrest for the country. MSM does the same thing, pretty scary actually.
The article you refer to states this: ” But history has proven time and time again, and is once again proving as we speak, that markets get it wrong all the time.”
That’s very funny, as the alternative to letting the markets work things out is of course government intervention. :-)
FWIW, I agree with most of that article, but the article doesn’t provide a solution other than the implicit ‘let things collapse and we have the natural balance after that’. Imho, it is naive to think it is desirable to roll back housing prices to what they were in say 2000. You may think it’ll be good for you because you can finally buy a house for a price you like, but surely, the side effects off all the families and businesses in ruins will offset any personal advantages you might have.
How exactly are the success of Berkshire Hathaway at odds with the interest of the American Taxpayer?
I’m disappointed but to be overrun by the power players is nothing new to us Bubble belivers. We’ve been underdogs the whole time but since we have been right things has eventually will gone our way. It happened with home prices and it will happen with the economy and Washington as well. The same strategy applies, patience and in the mean-time play your given hand to secure financial health and live a good social life while watching things unfold in all likelyhood the way you predicted.
I think I will have to differ from the majority view on this blog, in regard to the “bailout” bill. Agreed that this won’t do anything to fix the real issue (house prices declining) but at least the current version is much better than what Paulson had proposed the first time around. If all goes well this bill may end up actually costing a pittance in the long run.
And yes, since this doesn’t address the real issue, house prices will continue to come down (which is what most people on this blog want, including me). Without this bill, it will send the markets into yet another death spiral leading to further credit contraction etc.
If you think this doesn’t impact you, you are wrong. Today California requested a 7 billion loan from the treasury because no one is willing to buy their bonds. Why do you think King County/Seattle would fare better than them? If anything real estate revenues are declining sharply (40% down YOY AT lower prices). If the county has to meet its needs it will have to issue muni bonds or something similar.
We need to grease the wheels of credit no matter how much “virtual” money it takes. If the economy does grind to a halt, we wont be just subprime, we will all be bankrupt.
AndyC, I didn’t say that a success of Berkshire Hathaway is at odds with the American Taxpayer. Corporate success achieved fairly and ethically is great for the country and the taxpayer. However there are million ways to achieve success that are not in the interrest of the american taxpayer. One is to take taxpayer money to remove the companies bad debt.
TheHulk, personally I think much cheaper measures could have been implemented to keep things running long enough ( a month or so) to get a resuce plan that makes sense and that the american people could support. But the Washington elite put there pride and credibility on the line and refuse to back down even if they know by now that the bill is crap and lacks support by the people. It’s pretty sad.
If your outraged by the bailout you should be equally or even more outraged by the notion of our government endorsing the purchase of Wachovia by Citigroup instead of by Wells Fargo.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3kLqJLWovqw&refer=home
Wells is apparently offering much more in a totally private deal (i.e., they’re not asking for federal guarantees or money).
A subsidized sale to Citigroup rather than to an indpeendent, private party w/ no subsidy is willing to pay more is ludicrous. Time to email the senators again.
McDermott is a good guy.
Again I came here today to find out how our legislators voted and this site provided timely information.
This is a good site that should be supported financially. Give the Tim $10 for this great work, he has done what so many other reporting agencies should have.
Upper right had corner, it’s just $10.
Thanks David. I do what I can on my little corner of the internet.
Good catch Marc, well we don’t want to let down our middle eastern friends who have invested heavily in Citi do we? Remember this:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601104&sid=aZg5ilZxTufQ&refer=mideast:
Anyone else finding it amazing that the market was up almost 300 points in anticipation of this thing passing, and promptly dropped to negative 150 when it passed – a 450 point swing?
The real issue was the bubble, not the collapse of the bubble. All this does is put a bandaid on the collapse and doesn’t resolve or address how we got into this mess to begin with. The banaid won’t help the wound heal either, because a year from now Wall street will come back asking for another bail out for another $700B.
There will be no incentive for banks to foreclose on anybody from here on out because the US govt will surely purchases these “assets” at inflfated values.
To recover, we have to let prices fall, and have banks realized losses on their bad investments ASAP! Do you think anyone would really invest in a bank when this bill will allow them to continue to hide what their true value is by doing away with ‘mark to market’ on their assets. Asset prices will still continue to go down, stock prices will continue to go down, people will continue to lose jobs, and time it takes to recover will be increased by 2 to 3 times.
I predict we already past the worst, and the bailout will not be used for the most part (too many strings attached for any company that uses it).
Wells Fargo just bought Wachovia for 15 Billion after a very close look at it’s books.
Regional banks will start to be grabbed up now, so that the big boys can stay on top.
Thanks god it passed.! Stocks back to track again…
Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida. “We still have a ways to go to get us out of the woods but this at least puts a GPS in our hands.” (from cnn.money)
I’m glad this passed. Fewer toxic securities owned by banks should help credit to unfreeze and prevent damage to the broader economy. Of course, home prices nationwide and particularly in Seattle will continue to plummet, regardless.
PS I guess McDermott didn’t get my letter.
I don’t think this is a cut-and-dried issue. Yeah, it’s a bad bill, but it’s the only bill passable in the current environment. The question is whether a bad bill is better than no bill at all.
It’s hard to evaluate exactly how bad things will get or what would have happened without a bill, but I think reasonable, informed people can come to different conclusions about the relative merits. Personally, I think a yes vote was the right vote, but that this won’t fix the long-term problem. Hopefully we’ll hold it together long enough to rescue the economy and pass real reforms under an upcoming Obama presidency.
I’ll keep up the praise for the bill. Its not perfect, but is was necessary. As a nation built on credit, we needed it. Of course, this does not mean that we’re out the woods…not by a long shot. Sorry sellers, prices will continue to collapse.
As long as someone with a 600 FICO, 50K a year in income, and nothing down can still buy a 700K house, it should work to help prop up the market. If not, then my children’s children’s children’s children’s children can have fun paying for it.
Now let’s all go out to Starbucks and support the local economy!
deejayoh@18
Yes -> I just check the DOW between meetings. I though the bailout touted as fixing this mess.
I wonder what the political fallout will be if the stock market continues to stay where it’s at, or go lower in the short term. I had though this bailout would have moved it positive for at least a short period of time.
Its good that this bill passed. As a country, we needed it. That said, it doesn’t mean that Real Estate prices are suddenly going to stabilize/ recover!
Well, at least the logjam is broken.
Now the flood can begin in earnest.
Welcome to the New Depression, Day 1.
Brought to you by The Party that Wrecked and now Killed America; GOP.
For a Reminder that is specifically, Bushco, Cheneyburton, Paulson, Greedspan, Bernanke and many, many others.
Oh Yes, that includes John Herbert Hoover McCain as well…
Enjoy the Ramen Noodles!
“Brought to you by The Party that Wrecked and now Killed America; GOP.”
A different opinion here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-democrat-fingerprints-are-all-over-the-financial-crisis-949653.html
(I like the pic of the guy banging the monitor to get the stock charting going again.)
the Grand ‘Ol Party caused a Grand ‘Ol Hangover
Don’t worry, Obamessiah will save us!!!!! Bow down to him and open up your bank accounts so that all may flourish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This isn’t a bandaid. This is bloodletting.
I had been HAMMERING McDermott to vote NO, looks like he listened to his peeps. Kudos to him for standing up when his entire party folded like a lawn chair.
Looks like my DOW 8k call is going to be too conservative by the end of the year. We are plunging into the abyss.
There were very few bids on the XLF today (financials), no one is buying right now, they can ban short sellers all the want, its not going to make a difference.
There are no buyers in the market right now. Anyone that wasn’t out of the market sold the brief rally today. We are headed straight down. Cash out now.
David McManus @ 32, you post is just more ludacris partisan BS. McCain was promoting the bailout just the same.
Remember, the bailout began with the republicans who didn’t even want any oversight to the whole thing.
Each of the parties share blame. I’m not voting for either since they both voted for this. There is no way with a straight face you can solely place blame singularly on Bush for this. Everyone had a part.
No one here is telling bailout is saving us or healing the wound but it is what is required right at that late moment.
I don’t know how many of you are really interested in corporate investments lately but no major corporate is able to get credit to extend their services or deploy any ideas just because of credit crisis. 3rd and 4th quarter of this year was a total silence..This is causing high unemployment as well as laying off many full time employees and contractors. This bail is a late one- it should have been realesed much earlier before the wall street crashed..
So really I want to hear opposing geniuses ideas to heal the credit crunch in a shorter term. I think US regained a big reputation again showing the greens in global exchanges…
Curtis, when I hear things like “we can’t make payroll because of the credit crunch”, I get really bothered by that. If you are paying people off of credit from a bank instead of cash you have in the bank, you are destined to fail. The government is just prolonging the pain.
My solution to the credit crisis: Don’t buy crap I don’t need on credit.
Well one lady found a way out of the foreclosure mess…
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/03/eviction.suicide.attempt/index.html
Nice commentary:
http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/uptotheminute.cfm?recid=20613&userID=0&referer=dailyUpdate
Cheapseats now I have another option for home sellers who call me incessantly on what they can do to get their home sold. I’ll put that one at the bottom of my list. I say it only works for about 80 years old and higher.
can anybody who supported the bailout help explain some questions i have? what will this do for the economy? what was broken, and what does this bailout attempt to fix? why did it need to be passed as urgently as it did?
thanks.
Call all your Reps/Senators that voted for it and ask them why the market was down over 150 pts today if the bailout was supposed to help!
The subprime mortgages that were bundled and labled “derivitives” (to remove them from the purview and vetting of regulators became “non-performing assets on the banks books. It threw their balance sheets out of whack because mortgages in default become due and payable in full and useless as collateral. The banks began offering “hot deals” for new deposits. They operate on huge volumes and low margins. They are profitable on a, say, a 2% defualt margin. Then 3% weakens them and 4% throws them way out of whack. Then deposits start leaving and matters become worse. They have no surplus to loan and they are unable to borrow their wayout of it because their long term pals are in the same fix. They can’t afford to spend the time to do workouts with defaulting lenders. There are many big banks in this trap. Along comes the gov’t and they buy up the non performing assets, restoring the banks liquidity which opens up credit lines again. The gov’t sells packages of these loans to people who have the time and experience to recover some of this money. They often sell off packages of loans at a discount to resourceful people with cash. These folks then set out to work with the defaulting home or business owners to restructure the debt (if the home or business owners wish to save the asset) or sell the collateral to third parties who have a use for it. It is not perfect, but it has worked in the past and will likely help in the short term. Properly overseen it can be a real boost to the economy. I know that many people disagree with this approach and I respect their positions as well. It is just that in some instances I believe we are all “our brother’s keeper”.
This bill will finish off the economy. Aside from language that allow judges to break, then renegotiate, contracts between private parties, and a host of other provisions that will further discourage private lending, it offers no real help.
As long as housing prices continue to fall, more and more mortgages will be driven into default. There are about $12.5 trillion in outstanding mortgages at this time. The multiplying effects of derivatives increase current exposure into the hundreds of trillions.
The only thing that will stop the bleeding is to increase home prices back to levels where people will fight to hold onto real equity, and make their payments. The only permanent way to make that possible is to increase real wages at a rapid rate. But instead of increasing wages, the additional national debt represented by the bailout, along with the increased taxes needed to carry the debt, will suppress increases in spendable income. This $7.0 trillion “investment” doesn’t create one new job, one new company, one new tech breakthrough, one increase in productivity. Wages are currently growing at a rate 2% BELOW inflation, leading to negative net gains in consumer income, and the falling asset prices that forces on the economy. All this money does is provide temporary solvency to firms that are likely headed down in the long run anyway.
All we’ve done is dig ourselves in deeper for the long haul, while bailing out the Chinese, etc. The market has figured this out, despite the claims of the politicians. I predict the market will tank hard in the next week or two once the reality of where the money is going, and what little effect it will have, sinks in more fully. Hang on!
If this bailout doesn’t work, we are going into depression for sure. Dow is at 10k and people are hurting already. What will they do if it goes to 8000 and lower?
“If this bailout doesn’t work, we are going into depression for sure. Dow is at 10k and people are hurting already. What will they do if it goes to 8000 and lower?”
That would be the least of our worries the Dow at 8000 and lower really isnt that terrible compared to the 29 crash when the market went from 370 to 40 thats a huge change compared to a 14000 point Dow going down to the 8000 range where we were just 6 years ago.
Scottsman, I’m sure no Republicans voted for this as it was a complete democrat bill with that bastion of Democrats George Bush signing it into law.
It’s cash, called “found money” in business.
The bail out is cash outside of the huge savings corporations are hoarding.
Cash is king.
If you have cash and the ability to crash financial markets you stand to make substantial profits.
When Bush leaves office it will be the end of an era. It makes no difference whether he schemed this, or relied on the wrong people. Multinational corporations have had the ability to move cash around the world.
We see the stock market triple in ten years, we see real estate prices double in seven years, we see commodities double, triple, quadruple in a year. Let me repeat about the commodities because they are a little more liquid.
These are huge blocks of cash used to manipulate markets to make more profit.
Right now the “financial markets” know they have to cash in.
John McCain and Barack Obama are a couple of boy scouts. Look at them compared to Dick and George, who made millions by destroying to rebuild an oil producing country like Iraq, and we let ‘em.
I just don’t see another administration being that callous.
Cudos to who?
Republican’s failed policies got us here in the first place. They sunk this ship, and now they’re abandoning it too. They failed to take responsibility for their mistakes by coming up with serious alternatives to the original bailout plan.
Former President Bill Clinton: “I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress, or by me when I was President, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” (ABC’s “Good Morning America,” 9/25/08)
http://thepage.time.com/mccain-camp-veep-debate-release-obama-silent-on-fannie-freddie/
Did stock injection make it into the Paulson plan?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/
Maybe?
The Democrats and Republicans have their ugly hands all over this capitalist crisis. Under Carter, federal usury laws were abolished, under Clinton, Glass-Steagall was abolished. And the Republicans, they were the cheer leaders for this failed laissez-faire fundamentalism. Both of the major parties are guilty of essentially being racketeers for the banksters.
DJO said:
Anyone else finding it amazing that the market was up almost 300 points in anticipation of this thing passing, and promptly dropped to negative 150 when it passed – a 450 point swing?
.
I asked an Edward Jones broker about this very thing today. He said the drop was due to day-traders taking profit from the previous uptick.
.
Did anyone see Roubini tonight? Yikes!
“It is now clear that the US financial system – and now even the system of financing of the corporate sector – is now in cardiac arrest and at a risk of a systemic financial meltdown. I don’t use these words lightly but at this point we have reached the final 12th step of my February paper..”
http://www.rgemonitor.com/roubini-monitor/253853/financial_and_corporate_system_is_in_cardiac_arrest_the_risk_of_the_mother_of_all_bank_runs
By some estimates there’s over $5 trillion in cash sitting in hedge funds and PE funds. If there were any equities worth buying out there you’d think they’ would be making a move.
I heard U.S. Bank advertising home equity loans on the radio this morning. With that being true, how bad can the “crisis” be? I’m beginning to think some aspects of the situation are completely manufactured, or, at a minimum, not exactly what they appear. There’s something else going on here.
I’m glad we can count on Obama/Biden to clean this all up once they’re elected. With their more than 30 years combined senate experience, coupled with the expertise of Barney Frank, Nancey Pelosi, and all we’ll be in good hands.
Euro says:
You seem a bit consused. Do you think market forces should be allowed to return house prices to traditional price/rent and price/income multiples or don’t you? If you don’t, just how that is going to be prevented?
There used to be a major power that was founded on the ideology that asset prices should not be based on fundamentals. Remember what it was called?
Scotsman, hedge funds have made some moves. Citadel helped out Etrade last year, Lone Star bought Merrill Lynch loan portfolio for 22 cents on the dollar. Pershing Square bought 9% of Wachovia after the Citigroup deal and before the Wells Fargo buyout. They made half a billion dollars in a few days. Texas Pacific Group got burnt by Wamu.
I am shifting between bearish and hopeful. If Warren Buffett is wiling to buy some Goldman Sachs and GE, it may not be a bad time to hunt for your own bargains. I know he is getting a good deal but it won’t look good if Goldman goes bankrupt next year or GE goes to $10. John Paulson, the guy who made $3 billion shorting subprime, is raising funds to provide capital to distressed companies. Jim Chanos, who was first to call Enron’s demise, said financials are nearing a bottom. A few big bank stocks have already doubled off their July lows so the situation is not as dire as the politicians make it out to be. Many banks will fail but enough will survive.
Buffett bought preferred shares yielding around 10% in Goldman and GE, not the common.
As long as the common shares are worth anything at all, Buffett gets his return.
Buffett’s GE investment is no ordinary stock tip
Democracy negates having a high IQ because the majority rules. Translated to English, that means the bubbleheads are screwed.
Ok,
So we have a bunch of economists for the a bail out:
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/10/01/dueling-economists-experts-voice-support-for-bailout-bill/
And a bunch of economist against the bail out:
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/mortgage_protest.htm
Figured I’d attempt to formulate my own opinion, so read about markets and alternative plans etc, but quite honestly, trying to read thru all this financial “chocolate” just makes my head hurt.
If the experts whom I’m assume actually enjoy this stuff and understand it are divided on this, then aren’t all of our arguments for or against the plan here philosophically/financially/emotionally biased, and not even actually based on the actual solution or lack of solution to this problem.
McDermott deserves ZERO kudos!!! He voted Yes when it was close and counted. He said himself (KIRO news) that he only voted No as a protest vote but “that if the party would have needed me to vote yes, I would have”. Note not the people, but the party. This was a stay elected vote…nothing more.
The bailout will prove to possibly delay the real pain that is gonna get worse. And then there will be “son of bailout” and then “grandson of bailout”.
There is no escape from this financial black hole.
At some point in the future all the government intervention in the supposedly “free market” will have proven to be precisely the wrong to do. But I digress…..
“This was a stay elected vote…nothing more. ”
I’m not a Jim McDermott fan, but it was not a “stay elected ” vote. McDermott could convert to Islam and call for assassinations and he’d still get re-elected. He’s safe in his seat for as long as he wants it, Congressman For Life.
Jon,
I’m not here to defend Bill Clinton or the Democrats. I am saying the Republican Party sunk this ship and now they’re abandoning it too.
The Republican Party exists to dynamate sane government regulations. They don’t deny it. They crow about it. That’s why John McCain picked a nut like Phil Gramm as his chief economic advisor and the party faithful cheered.
Your Clinton quote just confirms it. Bill Clinton rolled over and let the GIngrich congress screw the country, more than once.
No cudos for the Republicans on the list. They are biggest cause of the mess we’re in, and they’re doing nothing to fix it.
Ira- what you say about McDermott is so true!
Sorry, that statement isn’t going to fly. I’d love to hear who “some” people are who are making these estimates because there aren’t even $5 trillion in ASSETS in hedge funds – Much less cash. Plus this it ignores the fact that most of these funds are leveraged insanely – they can’t afford to sit on cash. If they are sitting on any cash at all it is because they are quaking in their boots anticipating withdrawals
Total Hedge Fund Assets Approach $3 Trillion
Hedge funds are a branch, an arm of the Financial Markets. They don’t keep or use cash. They are meant to be leveraged to the hilt, that’s how that branch makes money.
The cash is in Corporations, Financial Institutions, Holding Companies, Pension Funds, Banks, and probably another hundred ways investors squirel away cash.
The problem as I see it is this massive transfer of funds globally.
Help me out here but with my computer I can do business in Peru. I can do business in Spain by having Pay Pal and Fed Ex.
That’s just me, a nobody. What could I do if I were a multi national global Trading Company? The other thing I see is that these corporations are massive, global, inter connected, monopolies.
Chase is my best example. They can lend credit card debt, convert that to a home loan and do a debt consolidation loan all for the same person or family.
Here’s the preditory lending part. With a computer you can track a person’s spending patterns if you have the data. Using logic you can see that businesses have the right to share data and they do.
I still think this mess is the result of technology more than anything else. We have the ability to keep, store, use, data more than at any other time in history. When you couple that with the number of people in the world it’s possible to create great wealth quickly.
Let’s take the Tim and his $10s, a click away in the upper right hand corner of this web site. If a thousand people click that button today and give the Tim $10s he makes money. If ten thousand, or one hundred thousand people click that button he makes more money.
The possibilities are endless in today’s world.
George
This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue. All the politicians as well as their constituients are resposible. Everybody wants to make quick bucks. Poltiticians would dare to say the opposite. The apathetic attitudes contribute the downfall.
Wow, McDermott listened to me! ;)
DJ- sorry, I can’t remember the source, as I was moving through a lot of material, but the number stuck in my head. Remember, we’re talking about both Hedge and other private funds, private being non-gov. It doesn’t seem that much of a stretch to me. Many of these funds have deleveraged significantly since the article you quote was researched and printed (Mid Aug?)
Ask yourselves how much cash and equivalents do MSFT, etc. have sitting around? How much do wealthy individuals and small companies have sitting, pulled from the markets over the last year as it became clear change was in the air? I personally know several folks who have tens of thousands of cash sitting in safes at home, not to mention hundreds of thousands that have been moved to treasuries and spread through FDIC accounts.. There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines, many times over what the bailout has to spend. If it seemed at all obvious this was a good time to pick up some deals, more of that money would be moving into equities. It’s not. Because most with money realize the main event has not happened yet, and the market fundamentals haven’t even begun to really correct. That’s the only point I intended to make. Cheers.
By all accounts MSFT has about $45 billion in cash.
Scottsman, Did any Republicans vote for this including the president, or was it solely Democrats? Please educate me on this.
This bill was not about stabilizing the markets, so please get that through your heads. It was all about opening up the free flow of credit that had pretty much frozen for much of the country. THAT is what threatened to throw the country — perhaps even the planet — into a deep recession, or even a worldwide DEPRESSION were it allowed to continue much longer.
It wasn’t meant to REPAIR anything, but rather to simply PUT OUT A RAGING FIRE that threatened to go completely out of control. Now that the fire is out, we can take a breath and start to discuss rational ways to fix the system, and hopefully, hold those responsible, ( the de-regulators, IMO ) for putting the country in this position in the first place.
IMO, Congressman Inslee voted “no” to appease his constituency and preserve his job, rather than look a the big picture and vote “yes” to save the people’s jobs, as well as this country’s economy. I emailed him my intention to vote against him unless he changed his no vote from the first try. He did not, and I will not give him my vote as I believe he put his own interests first rather than the country’s.
Uh, mikal, the vote totals are available at the top of the post. I assume you can read. What’s your point?
Interesting… My earlier posts seem to have vanished. Have I been dubbed as an undesirable by some automated filter?
Sniglet, I just checked and found a comment of yours on the 1873 post that was incorrectly marked as spam by the system. I pulled it out of the spam bin. Is that what you were referring to?
Tim,
Thanks. That solved the issue. I wonder why my posts were flagged as spam?
SoCalXplant,
Liquidity is not the problem.
Central banks and governments cannot transform unprofitable investments into profitable ones. They cannot force institutions to increase lending when they are so exposed. This is why calls for throwing more money at the problem are so totally misguided. Injections of liquidities started more than a year ago and have had no effect in preventing the situation from getting worse. Such measures can only delay the market correction and turn what should be a quick recession into a prolonged one.