Forget AIG Bonuses — The Next Bailout is Here

Ruth Conniff
Global Research
March 21, 2009

Democrats from Andrew Cuomo to Barney Frank to Barack Obama are demanding that the 418 AIG employees who received bonuses give them back. Sure, it’s outrageous that the very people who drove AIG off the cliff, along with a whole lot of other financial firms, walked away with million-dollar bonuses paid with taxpayer bailout money. But as the Wall Street Journal opinion page points out, “Taxpayers have already put up $173 billion, or more than a thousand times the amount of those bonuses, to fund the government’s AIG ‘rescue.’”

And there is more to come.

The Obama Administration is putting the finishing touches on another big bank bailout. Called the Public Private Investor Partnership (PPIP), it is the brainchild of the Treasury Secretary from Wall Street, Tim Geithner. Under the plan, the government will give our money to hedge fund managers to buy “toxic” assets for more than they are worth. The banks that created these toxic turkeys will use the money from the sales to recapitalize themselves. Everyone comes out ahead except, of course, the taxpayers, who are essentially funneling money to hedge funds to buy bad assets for more than they are worth. The other bonus for the banks in this plan, as Yves Smith points out, is that they get to avoid giving the toxic assets any real market value. Less transparency and more transfers of wealth from taxpayers to hedge fund managers.

So much for the “free market.”
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Ter·ror·ist (noun): Anyone Who Disagrees with the Government

Reposted from: George Washington’s Blog

The Department of Homeland Security and police forces label anyone who they disagree with – or who disagrees with government policies – as “terrorists”.

Don’t believe me?

Well, according to a law school professor, pursuant to the Military Commissions Act, “Anyone who … speaks out against the government’s policies could be declared an ‘unlawful enemy combatant’ and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens.”

And according to an FBI memo, peace protesters are being labeled as “terrorists”. Indeed, police have been terrorizing children, little old ladies and other “dangerous” people who attempted to peacefully protest.

And a 2003 FBI memo describes protesters’ use of videotaping as an “intimidation” technique, even though – as the ACLU points out – “Most mainstream demonstrators often use videotape during protests to document law enforcement activity and, more importantly, deter police from acting outside the law.” The FBI appears to be objecting to the use of cameras to document unlawful behavior by law enforcement itself.

And the Internet has been labeled as a breeding ground for terrorists, with anyone who questions the government’s versions of history being especially equated with terrorists.

Now, the state of Missouri has labeled as terrorists current Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters, former Congressman Bob Barr, libertarians in general, anyone who holds gold, and a host of other people.

In other words, anyone who disagrees with the “acceptable” way of looking at things is a terrorist.

How is this different from Stalin or Mao’s use of labels such as “enemy of the state”?

Army Reserves Watch End The Fed Rallies

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CHANGE??? Obama National Security Advisor takes orders from Henry Kissinger

Note: This is NOT edited in anyway whatsoever. This is taken directly from CFR.org (Council of Foreign Relations)

Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Published February 8, 2009

U.S. National Security Adviser Jones gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.

“Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.

Full Remarks at CFR.org

WaMu sues FDIC for more than $13 billion over forced sale

Stephen C. Webster
Published: Saturday March 21, 2009

Washington Mutual, the bankrupt, seized and “under investigation” financial institution which saw some operations forcibly sold off to JPMorgan Chase in 2008, is suing the agency that guarantees Americans’ deposits, and that agency is running low on funds.

Washington Mutual (WaMu), formerly one of the nation’s most prestigious banks and alleged holder of over $307 billion in assets, is suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for more than $13 billion over the roll-up of its banking division into JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Washington Mutual was seized by federal regulators in Sept. 2008; the company filed for bankruptcy immediately thereafter. The ensuing investigation “one of the largest and most complex federal investigations ever undertaken in Western Washington,” a US Attorney told the Seattle Times

“In a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the thrift’s former parent accused the FDIC of having on January 23 made a ‘cryptic disallowance’ of its claims, prompting the lawsuit,” reported Reuters.

“It also accused the FDIC of agreeing to an unreasonably low price in arranging the a $1.9 billion sale of the banking business to JPMorgan on September 25, when regulators seized Washington Mutual and appointed the FDIC as receiver.”

“On a Friday night in September 2008, the government forced WaMu into a shotgun marriage with new owners at pennies on the dollar. The FDIC seized the bank and then sold it to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion,” reported MSNBC.

“[A] federal task force continues to comb through a mountain of documents looking into possible criminal charges against WaMu executives. It’s looking for fraud in how the company built such an unstable business based on subprime mortgages.”

When banks insured by the FDIC are seized or declare bankruptcy, the agency returns depositors’ funds up to $100,000.

“The thing is, the FDIC that is supposed to pay customers is running low — there have just been a lot of bank failures…” noted NPR’s Jim Zarroli when JPMorgan Chase agreed to purchase WaMu’s banking division.

On the same day the United States saw its 20th bank failure of 2009.

An FDIC spokesman would not comment on the suit to Reuters.