Tuesday, March 24, 2009; A01
The Obama administration is considering asking Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, according to an administration document.
The government at present has the authority to seize only banks.
Ok, so now the government can use taxation to ‘undo’ legal but unpopular contracts (see AIG bonuses) and now they will have the right to seize companies outright? Where are the armies of hyperventilating liberal idiots who said Bush was trying to make himself an evil fascist overlord now, huh? Where did they go? If you’ve got a company that’s related to finance, watch how you run your company, because if it becomes politically expedient for Barack Obama to nationalize your company, he can and will. This is full-bore socialism.
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is set to argue for the new powers at a hearing today on Capitol Hill about the furor over bonuses paid to executives at American International Group, which the government has propped up with about $180 billion in federal aid. Administration officials have said that the proposed authority would have allowed them to seize AIG last fall and wind down its operations at less cost to taxpayers.
Only a fool would actually believe that the federal government would do a better job at crashing these companies. The government is partly to blame in the first place! And this is not about saving investors, this is about saving the owners of these businesses. They won’t be protesting this action (at first) because it will be better than having a golden parachute — it will mean that as long as they are profitable the profits will remain privatized, but once the company starts to fail the losses will become socialized, extending onto the backs of taxpayers.
The administration’s proposal contains two pieces. First, it would empower a government agency to take on the new role of systemic risk regulator with broad oversight of any and all financial firms whose failure could disrupt the broader economy. The Federal Reserve is widely considered to be the leading candidate for this assignment. But some critics warn that this could conflict with the Fed’s other responsibilities, particularly its control over monetary policy.
‘Systemic risk regulator’? We already have a system for that in place - it’s called the free market.
If this goes through, people, America is doomed. DOOMED.
The government also would assume the authority to seize such firms if they totter toward failure.
Where would we draw the line on ‘tottering’? Is a public outcry enough? Would a heartfelt speech by a senator do the trick? All this will accomplish in the long-term is expanding the role of government, and in the short term delay the recovery. The Democrats’ prescription for the economy’s case of temporary walking pneumonia is terminal socialistic brain cancer.
Besides seizing a company outright, the document states, the Treasury Secretary could use a range of tools to prevent its collapse, such as guaranteeing losses, buying assets or taking a partial ownership stake. Such authority also would allow the government to break contracts, such as the agreements to pay $165 million in bonuses to employees of AIG’s most troubled unit.
We’re privatizing profits and socializing the risk.
I’ll say it again - under the Democrats this nation is DOOMED.
No, I’m not joking.
Last 5 posts by Krogenar
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About the author. Krogenar is one of the admins of BuriedPlanet, and is contiguous with all space and time. Small children and animals trust him. When he mails letters without postage… they still get delivered. Read more from this author
We the People let them do it. The Government says if you own a house and someone comes along and says we want to build a super-duper-10 lane express highway through your 150 year old house ancestors house and property, they can seize it and build their super-duper strip mall too.
And yet, the People won’t rise up. Why? A lot of the stuff Obama really wants to do is on the down low. But he will try to do them because he is a smooth-jive-talker who has people duped on his real agenda. This bank thing is only the beginning.
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Between you and me, Javen, I think once Obama starts ‘jive-talking’ then people really will rise up in revolution. That’ll be the last straw.
’smooth-jive-talker’ … LOL! Thank you Javen, that brightened my day considerably.
As far as ‘We the People’ having elected Che Barack, it’s funny you point that out, because that’s his point as well. When asked if they felt that they had a mandate from the people to radically expand the scope of government, ramp up the deficit and muck up the economy, their reply was:
“We won.”
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True dat!
You’re/They’re correct. The people have spoken and gave permission to the administration to do whatever.
I’d like to dedicate a song to Krog by the BeeGees.
“Its just your jive talkin
Youre telling me lies, yeah
Jive talkin
You wear a disguise
Jive talkin
So misunderstood, yeah
Jive talkin
You really no good”
Thank you Javen.
Oh, in other news of the Obama-engineered doomsday economy, China and Russia have both been calling for a new ‘world’ currency to replace the American dollar. Geithner recently said the following about the Chinese suggestion of a new currency:
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It should be noted that when you’re the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury that you need to be careful what you say. Markets have tumbled since Geithner put his foot in his mouth. White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee had an exchange with Wolf Blitzer recently, as reported by ‘The Weekly Standard’:
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Meanwhile, Obama himself has flatly rejected a new ‘world’ currency. So what’s going on? Is this just more bumbling from the Obamatons, or are we seeing a trial balloon being floated?