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Jan
23
Written by:
bobo
1/23/2009 7:13 AM
It's really not a surprise.
After all, the logic, or rather the gun to the head of the taxpayer by Hank Paulson, was that the economy would vaporize if we didn't take taxpayer money and give it to Wall Street banks and insurance companies, to, er, lend, or to relieve them of the burden of having to carry the toxic paper they created on their books any longer.
At the time, I said that was clearly a lie, and all this would be is a redistribution from the Treasury, to the Wall Street buddies of Paulson's who got us into the mess in the first place.
Now we discover, gasp, that Merrill took $10 billion of your money (from TARP - we don't know how much more they've gotten through the Fed, because the Fed refuses to disclose that, or what collateral they took in return), and paid out $15 billion in compensation, even as the company went BK in all but signing the papers. $4 billion was bonuses, as in above and beyond the large salaries already committed (an earlier report had it as all $15 billion as bonuses, but that was erroneous). So almost half the TARP money they took went to bonuses.
And nobody will stop them, or do anything. Oh, there may be some fist shaking and pretend anger, maybe a hearing or three, but in the end, Wall Street got your money after screwing the world by getting the global banking system pregnant with toxic crap (and keeping the massive profits made from doing so), and instead of using it to shore up balance sheets as advertised, put it directly into their pockets without the least bit of pretense.
You paid your taxes/worked for 7 or more months for the government, and Wall Street took your money, the fruits of your labor, and walked away with it, even as the new/old administration demands far more sacrifice from you - i.e. more of your money, and your children's money.
This was in fact predicted, by among others, your humble bunny. It isn't at all a surprise. I could see it coming within seconds of hearing the demand for TARP - blackmail, basically, by Wall Street. Give us the keys to the Treasury, or the world will end. Simple extortion.
And it worked. It worked. They won, you lost. Game over.
Oh, sure, you'll need to part with far more of your retirement and your kids' legacy before this is over, as the goal is to rid you of all that material garbage cluttering up your life so you can focus on your spiritual betterment. Best to allow those with serious experience selecting the best Pomerol or the ideal private jet to hit Saint Tropez from NY deal with the big bucks - you would just screw it up. In fact, given that 60+% of the population is obese, it probably isn't such a bad thing for it to go on a diet, which it will have to in order for the "too big to fail" banks and insurance companies to pay out their big bonuses this year, too. You will need to buck up and work a little harder in this time of crisis - unless you work for Merrill, in which case it's coke, hookers and champagne on ice. Business as usual.
It cracks me up when I see Yahoo's finance area, with helpful articles on getting a second job, or viewing going to work at McD's at 70 as an opportunity for reinvention, or making soup out of fingernails and bits from the KFC dumpster to stretch what is left of your paycheck after the tax bite...but nothing on massive delivery failures, outright theft of your funds, and the end of the world as we know it. My favorite recent one was how the massive decline in the markets represents an opportunity for new 401K holders to put their savings into the market. Gotta start them young, after all...
Think it was questionable when AIG got so much money from you, when the big beneficiary was really Goldman due to their exposure to credit default swaps? Think it was all a transparent lie that Merrill took ten billion of TARP money, only to pay out fifteen in bonuses? That money was taken because the company was on its last legs, ready for the oxygen tent....but apparently, not really, as it could have just cut the bonus pool down to $5 billion and not required any of your money. But that wasn't how it played, is it?
You'll read angry articles about it, no doubt, but at the end of the day, your money's gone, and they got it. Just as predicted.
Because you're the food. They run things. Now shut up, work harder, cinch your belt a few notches, and get ready to pay a bunch more, because this is how things really work. The gloves are off, and you aren't even going to get a kiss this time. Just lay back and think of England, as you don't really have a choice. Now it is just blatant.
And if you think the new Treasury Secretary, who ran the NY Fed while it allowed record delivery failures by these same banks, and has set up special purpose entities (a la Enron, or Refco) to circumvent the Constitutional ban from the Fed doing lending to anyone but banks, is going to do anything but assist the bad guys in looting the remainder of the nation's worth, think again. The Geithner confirmation hearings conveniently ignored the massive delivery failures in government bonds (which forces the prices lower, so it has to issue even more debt for the same capital) he allowed, and didn't even mention the off balance sheet entities created by the Fed to violate their charter, and you won't hear any of the "deeply concerned" politicians mentioning any of that - it's not part of the theater, you see. Instead, an easily fixed tax issue was the flavor du jour to keep the masses distracted. And again, it worked.
This is nothing more than the wholesale theft of the nation's wealth by Wall Street and the banking cartel that it is in bed with. And it is going splendidly - now I am reading more and more that it could require $3 trillion or more to "right the ship". Or pay bonuses and guarantee further polarization of wealth in the top tier of those running things. Same difference.
Any questions?
As always, Digg it if you think it deserves wider readership. The more diggs, the more exposure. Please take the 10 seconds to do so, as it does make a difference.
Copyright ©2009 Bob O'Brien
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14 comment(s) so far...
Re: Merril Pays $15 Billion in Bonuses After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
But Bobo - Robert Shapiro is advising Obama and he knows all about naked shorts, FTD's and stuff....
I give the Obama team 30 days to make any statement about the settlement system - after the time passes and they don't....someone please turn off the lights.....
By Clearthinker on
1/23/2009 9:23 AM
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Re: Merril Pays $15 Billion in Bonuses After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Huh. And I suppose nobody associated with Treasury or Congress knew all about taking taxpayer dollars under false pretenses and then running for the door with them as bonuses?
It has never been for lack of understanding, Clearthinker. That's part of the lie. "We didn't understand!" You really think the SEC didn't understand that grandfathering as part of SHO would allow thieves to keep the cash they stole, in perpetuity? Or that squashing investigations into Pequot would hide fraud and insider trading? Or do you think that nobody in Congress understands that the Fed ISN'T ALLOWED TO LEND TO ANYONE BUT BANKS, and yet has set up special purpose entities to violate that Constitutional limitation/protection?
Come on. I'm a holiday rodent, and I can call these with startling accuracy and prescience. You really believe that it is for lack of understanding that the nation is being robbed at gunpoint by its protectors?
I'll give it 30 days, and celebrate any statements, but will pretty much confine my enthusiasm to actual, meaningful actions, not words. Again, the short sale ban, which was great headline stuff, did nothing to prevent short selling - it tripled during the ban. So words are really neat, but it is action that matters.
I will continue to bet that the casino keeps winning, while we lose. Been a safe one so far. Would love to be wrong on that.
By bobo on
1/23/2009 9:29 AM
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Re: Merril Pays $15 Billion in Bonuses After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
China has it right. The top two milk perpetrators are going to be shot, and soon. And the woman prez gets life in prison. We could learn from them. Set up the guillotine on Wall St. "Just a whisper on the back of the neck".
CC
By Cre8tiveClyde on
1/23/2009 1:37 PM
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Re: Merril Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Thanks bobo - I share your sentiments. The history has been to use rhetoric to act as a smokescreen to continue the corruption and I do not expect that to change. In fact, the new administration offers the perps more time to offer the "This time we really mean it" BS while they steal more....
I have decided that until there are mass arrests for stock manipulation, that nothing has changed.
Guns and badges? I don't see any, do you?
By clearthinker on
1/23/2009 2:59 PM
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Re: Merril Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
As you have said before,
"how blatant does it have to be?"
By mhatmccane on
1/23/2009 3:26 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Goldman's mission to control the banking system.
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2009/01/07/Goldman-Sachs-Alumni-in-Finance?print=true
http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2009/01/07/Goldman-Conspiracy-Theories
By Joe 'The Real Plumber' on
1/23/2009 5:04 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Interesting and relevant interview from an ex-fraudster.
http://www.abagnale.com/Catching_Frank_Abagnale.mp3
By oldfeller on
1/23/2009 8:40 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
WALL STREET A BUNCH OF CROOKS..THUGS LED BY COX AND STU GOLDSTEIN AT THE DTCC..WE SHOULD SEND THEM BOTH TO CHINA THEYVE SOLD OUT THE USA TO LINE THEIR OWN POCKETS....
By Golden on
1/24/2009 12:51 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
I'll just bet Lehman employees wished they could have got the big payout before their company vaporized. Thain was considered a hero by many for saving his reputable company, but exactly what did he save?
By bushwhacker on
1/25/2009 2:32 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
I have pretty much pulled all my money (such as it is) out of the equity market to the extent possble. FDIC insured CDs, GNMAs, and a bit of agency-only mortgage REITs to juice the yield a bit. I laugh whenever some talking head chatters on about the time to buy. My fantasy is everyone refusing to play until there is meaningful change. Won't happen, of course, but we have it in our power to hit them where it hurts. Tote up the amount of defined-contribution money out there and imagine if all of it were transferred to the "guaranteed income" fund that every plan has. Again, not perfect, but imagine the wailing on Wall Street! Whaddayu think?
By Honkytonker on
1/25/2009 8:04 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Honky, reality is that nobody should be playing in a rigged casino unless they want to lose. Vegas is actually far more tightly regulated than Wall Street.
Really, the problem is that virtually everyone at the top is a bad guy these days. The new Treasury Secretary stood by while Wall Street failed to deliver trillions in bonds, effectively driving down the price that the government could get - and he did nothing. Ignored all feedback.
See this link - Dr. Trimbath spells it out as clearly as one could like.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45472
We have crooks running the show, and they tend to favor the interests of the other crooks. That's a simple problem to identify, but a tough one to fix as long as there are only crooks to choose from to run things.
By bobo on
1/25/2009 8:09 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
How do we( the taxpayer) lend Citigroup/bank 45 billion in bailout funds and they buy a brand spanking new 50mill jet? How does that work? WHERE's ThE OUTRAGE???
By Sean on
1/26/2009 2:52 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
Somewhere, someone MUST be doing something about this. It is just way to obvious now. WAY TO OBVIOUS!!! I believe I smell change in the air and there are those that know its coming and are preparing the path "eh Cramer".
By Sean on
1/26/2009 9:55 PM
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Re: Merrill Pays $15 Billion in Compensation After Taking $10 Billion in TARP Funds
People stopped investing in the Market and pulling their money from the Banks. Hard to take money that is not in the Market so they took it directly from you thru your Government and indebted not only you but future Generations for their Greed.
By Waterfallsparkles on
2/4/2009 4:55 PM
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