Gangster Government, pt 1: Laying the Foundations

[Tilted]

Paulson gave banks no choice on government stakes: memos

Documents: Paulson forced 9 bank CEOs to take TARP

Documents made public on Wednesday confirm former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson gave nine major banks no choice but to allow the government to take equity stakes in them as the Bush administration moved to address turmoil in the financial industry.

The documents, obtained by the public interest group Judicial Watch under a Freedom of Information Act request, include "talking points" used by Paulson at the October 13, 2008, meeting with the banks' CEOs in Washington.

The details of the meeting had been widely reported at the time, but the documents offer a first-hand account of what transpired behind closed-doors.

"We don't believe it is tenable to opt out because doing so would leave you vulnerable and exposed. If a capital infusion is not appealing, you should be aware your regulator will require it in any circumstance," the document said, citing Paulson talking points.

The CEOs wrote by hand the names of their institution and multibillion dollar amounts of "preferred shares" to be issued to the government, the documents show.

"These documents show our government exercising unrestrained power over the private sector," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement.

The CEOs present were Vikram Pandit of Citigroup, Dimon of JP Morgan, Richard Kovacevich of Wells Fargo, John Thain of Merrill Lynch, John Mack of Morgan Stanley, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Robert Kelly of Bank of New York Mellon Corp, and Ronald Logue of State Street Bank.

The documents include an email showing a public relations effort, run in part out of the Bush White House, to tamp down public concerns about nationalizing the banks, Judicial Watch said.

Thereafter, the answer to criticisms of the government's effort to run these private institutions was, 'But, they took TARP money, they took TARP money ...'

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

I thought I was in some horrible, unbelievable movie watching all this unfold last fall.

There is NO way in hell a GOP potus ever does this. And yet, there it is.

I still don't believe it.

[Tilted]

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

As per the Godfather analogy, let's be honest; in business, there is an element of 'making an offer one can't refuse'. I mean, given the choice between accepting a price cut or losing the contract, vendors tend to find a way. Point is, in typical business there IS contract law as the backbone of any given supply and demand activity.

The Godfather, and Obama, needn't trifle with such minutiae.

[Tilted]

Originally Posted by Larry Gude

As per the Godfather analogy, let's be honest; in business, there is an element of 'making an offer one can't refuse'. I mean, given the choice between accepting a price cut or losing the contract, vendors tend to find a way. Point is, in typical business there IS contract law as the backbone of any given supply and demand activity.

The Godfather, and Obama, needn't trifle with such minutiae.

Future history books: 'Although it may be difficult for contemporary Americans to relate, there was a time when our society's progress was bogged down by the minutiae of contract law, and other 'less-evolved', antiquated notions.



Video - CNBC.com

Gotta love Larry Kudlow.

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Tilted

Future history books: 'Although it may be difficult for contemporary Americans to relate, there was a time when our society's progress was bogged down by the minutiae of contract law, and other 'less-evolved', antiquated notions.



Video - CNBC.com

Gotta love Larry Kudlow.

Future History Book:

"USA: United Socialist America; Why Did George W. Bush Socialize the US Economy?"

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

Book title;

"Three Great Lies of Our Age; Man Made Global Warming, Waterboarding and TARP"

[chernmax (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Larry Gude

Book title;

"Four Great Lies of Our Age; Man Made Global Warming, Waterboarding, TARP and Change"

FIXED!!!

[ohstate]

Thank you for posting this. My husband thought I was making this up when I told him about it earlier this year.

[PsyOps]

I see no way out of this. Where do we, as a country, go from here?

How does the GOP recover? They can't explain this away. So what's the strategy for the GOP to come back with this sort of monkey on their backs?