...the next song after opener "Darkness, Darkness" on the Youngbloods Elephant Mountain, so it's been going through my head since the Morning Becomes Meta thread...

Nothing that you say
Nothing that you do
Nothing that I feel
Can hide what is true
That you have cheated me
And you have cheated you

There's so much that's wrong with what's going on, with what's happened in the financial sector, with how this Paulson Fix (Is In), aka Doing the Hanky Panky, is structured.

I would really appreciate suggestions as to the best points to make, brief and pithy--and hopefully the most compelling.

It sounds as if this is being sold as "the taxpayers won't be left on the hook, because the govt is going to recoup its bailout by selling the assets":

"Many of these assets still have significant underlying value, because the vast majority of people will eventually pay off their mortgages," President Bush said yesterday in his weekly radio address. "In other words, many of the assets the government would buy are likely to go up in price over time. This means that the government will be able to recoup much, if not all, of the original expenditure."

[source]

ORLY? The mortgages will be paid off - in what? Spun hay?

posted by 'Simply Stupid'

"It is funny how politics has diametrically changed where the Republicans are the ones looking out for the little guy while the Dems are vested with special interests. McCain should finally be able to say that Obama is Bush III rather than the opposite. McCain went back to Washington and can counter the Schumer dem offensive that will be the Sunday talk show agenda. I think he did not want to let cat out of bag Friday at debates since the devil is in the details."

Ya think?

of the articles, even the most armageddon-sounding ones, about the bailout. Those are the smiles of people who fucked over the voters again and still won't lose their jobs or their money troughs. Ugh.

repeated in the thousands of emails and calls to Congress.

We must make them afraid.

Afraid of consequences for their behavior.
Afraid of losing their prestige and their salaries and their cushy lifestyles.

And we have 36 days to do it.

We can admit that we're killers ... but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill today! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0

I'm sorry, the smiling Republicans are hard to see in the picture. Too many Democrats are in the way.

This was being run by Democrats folks, not Republicans. Don't you trust your fellow Democrats? Republicans were out numbered seven to two and they had no choice but to accept that. Paulson and Bernanke provided some guidance for this rescue/bailout bill. Make no mistakes folks, our money guys and the president sent a three page proposal to Congress. The Democrats there expanded it, or as Speaker Pelosi said, "improved it." They worked hard over the weekend. I'm sure it was a lot like herding cats.

Warren Buffet said we need this bill.

As for the media...they continued to use the "bailout" instead of "rescue" in their narrative. Bailout implies that money won't be seen again. this money, the majority will be seen again. The HOLC program FDR instituted saw a modest profit. This program will be obtaining assets. Houses, some foreclosed on, some about to be foreclosed on. Their will be payments received from mortgage holders along the way as well a proceeds from the eventual sale of the mortgaged properties. Foreclosed upon or vacant properties will also see proceeds coming in when they are sold off.

The government has the ability to wait this downturn out. As we have seen recently, banks and lending institutions don't. The economy will turn around, and these properties will be occupied again by a better qualified mortgage holder. The loan sold to a private concern shortly thereafter. the Fed pays a heavily discounted rate for distressed properties and is able to recoup that plus add to it. A greater return than the previously mentioned HOLC program FDR had.

And, who knows, another HOLC program may follow soon.

The "toxic stuff", there are I believe some million to 1.2 million foreclosed upon houses. At the median price of $160,000, that amounts to 192 billion. There's going to be mortgages heading into default also involved here. Other mortgages with late payments too.

As for the timing, the hurried movements here. Go look up the Basel Accords. They may be the answer to that. I said 'may' there, not 'are'. September 30th 'may' be the trigger, not the Asian markets which open today at 6 PM. But, protecting the markets, rescues all of us with 401k's and the like retirement accounts from a loss in value. Main Street can breath a sigh of relief!

"The Bush/Paulson selling point is the hope that when the mortgages are eventually repaid, these derivatives will regain their hypothetical value."

Why should ANYBODY but the derivatives' holders give a FLYING FUCK about their value? It's the mortgages that have real-world value and consequences for regular people. This piece of shit doesn't sound like it will do anything BUT bail out the investment banks and bankers.

"You'd better get this straight. Wise up before it's too late." -- Sister Sledge

Why, this is what you do after you've dumped a rather difficult and uncomfortable load, of course. It's called relief. lol

And, Pelosi's grinning extra hard (is that even possible?) because she knows that her San Francisco congressional district is hers for life regardless of any kind of legislation she gets passed.