| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
 Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:30 am Post subject: Secretary Paulson badly misled President Bush |
 |
|
Primary link from boom2bust.com but cited from the Washington Post, in case we want to play the source game.
http://www.boom2bust.com/2008/10/06/did-secretary-paulson-mislead-president-bush-on-the-bailout/
| Quote: |
Along with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has quickly become a household name in recent days. As one of President Bush�s top economic advisers, Paulson has helped spearhead the movement to rescue Wall Street and the financial system on behalf of Main Street and the U.S. economy.
His efforts to date have resulted in the $700 billion bailout legislation that was signed into law by President Bush over the weekend. The bailout authorizes the Treasury Department to buy bad mortgages and other troubled securities associated with them from banks and other financial institutions. It is hoped that these purchases will allow credit to flow more freely throughout the financial system.
Earlier today, Dean Baker, an economist and co-director of the Washington, D.C.- based Center for Economic and Policy Research, questioned whether or not Secretary Paulson presented all the available options to the White House. He wrote in the Huffington Post:
According to the Washington Post, after the initial defeat of the bailout package in the House last Monday, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson went to see President Bush in the White House. The Post reports that President Bush asked Paulson about �Plan B.� According to the Washington Post, Paulson told Bush �there is no Plan B.�
Of course this was not true. Paulson could have easily designed a bailout plan that was centered on the direct infusion of capital in the banking system, as was suggested by George Soros in a Financial Time column later in the week. Virtually every economist who has written on the bailout argued that a direct infusion of capital is a far more effective approach to dealing with the financial crisis than the approach outlined by Paulson.
Clearly Paulson had not invested a great deal of time in crafting the initial proposal he submitted to Congress since it was just three pages and few of the details of the plan had yet been decided. This means that Paulson easily could have switched gears and developed a plan along the lines advocated by economists.
Baker, who has been warning of an economic crisis for years now, added:
If the Post accurately described the meeting between Paulson and Bush (there is no source given for this account), then Secretary Paulson badly misled President Bush on the most important economic decision of his presidency.
Do you think it�s possible Hank Paulson may have had an ulterior motive when he allegedly told President Bush there was no other option available? |
Paulson scared the shit out of the public and government to bailout his former employer. Will there be any consequences applied to him? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Do you think it�s possible Hank Paulson may have had an ulterior motive when he allegedly told President Bush there was no other option available?
Paulson scared the shit out of the public and government to bailout his former employer. Will there be any consequences applied to him? |
The final sentence in the article destroys the credibility of the article, in my opinion. Tippy toeing into conspiracy theory territory damages any claim, in my eyes.
'Mislead' is a nice word for 'lie'. Is there evidence, not just disagreement with the decision, that Paulson was not acting to save the entire economy as he saw it? Paulson was not sitting in a room alone when he drew up the plan. He talked to a lot of people. The fact that he chose one approach over another does not mean he had evil intent. He may have made a mistake, but mistakes are not criminal. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Dean Barker has no credibility issues. Trying to throw the "conspiracy" pejorative is weak dude. You got swindled by being made afraid. I told you so.
Baker said:
| Quote: |
| If the Post accurately described the meeting between Paulson and Bush (there is no source given for this account), then Secretary Paulson badly misled President Bush on the most important economic decision of his presidency. |
Baker is a "liberal", like you. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
Guess who Paulson put in charge to manage that 700 billion?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iuaB6oiGq2NrDrkG9vR7HLqoysugD93L537G0
| Quote: |
WASHINGTON (AP) � The administration has selected a former Goldman Sachs executive to be the interim head of its $700 billion rescue effort for financial institutions.
Neel Kashkari, the Treasury's assistant secretary for international affairs, was selected Monday to be the interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability.
The designation was made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was the head of Goldman Sachs before he joined the Bush administration in 2006. Kashkari, 35, will head the office created by the emergency legislation enacted Friday to fund the largest government bailout in history.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) � An official says the administration has decided to pick a key Treasury Department official to be the interim head of its $700 billion rescue effort for financial institutions.
The official said Monday that Neel Kashkari, Treasury's assistant secretary for international affairs, will soon be announced as the interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability. The official asked not to be identified by name because the selection has not been announced publicly.
The 35-year-old Kashkari is a former Goldman Sachs Inc. banker, the investment giant once headed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The new office was created by the emergency legislation enacted Friday to fund the largest government bailout in history. |
35 years old, Goldman's banker. Yup. Par for the course.
Was this a financial rescue or coup?
http://gawker.com/5060145/neel-kashkari-americas-new-head-of-money
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10072008/news/nationalnews/mr__rescue_is_kash__kari_132501.htm
I'm sure the world feels relived that such an accomplished man is now going to oversee the bailout and reconstruction on the American financial economy. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I would rather they choose Warren Buffett to do this. He is an economic conservative and social liberal. What's going on over here? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I believe Bill Gross offered to do it for free. And he has infinite more experience than some 5 years out of an MBA banker. But he doesn't work for Goldman's. Buffett would be excellent too and he has experience in turning shit into gold with Salomons.
But they picked a 35 year old banker. What does this tell us? When you pass up one of the most talented and experienced professionals on earth, who offered to work for free, for a 35 year old banker. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
OneWayTraffic
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
|
| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject: Re: Secretary Paulson badly misled President Bush |
|
|
| mises wrote: |
Paulson scared the shit out of the public and government to bailout his former employer. Will there be any consequences applied to him? |
As I understand it Goldmann Sacs made a packet out of this whole affair in shorting subprimes. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:49 am Post subject: Re: Secretary Paulson badly misled President Bush |
|
|
| OneWayTraffic wrote: |
| mises wrote: |
Paulson scared the shit out of the public and government to bailout his former employer. Will there be any consequences applied to him? |
As I understand it Goldmann Sacs made a packet out of this whole affair in shorting subprimes. |
Yes. They were both the first to sell (package) them and the first to short them. Given the bailout, it all worked out ok. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KOREAN_MAN
Joined: 01 Oct 2006
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 2:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| 'Mislead' is a nice word for 'lie'. |
Good one. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
