Paulson's Economic Recovery Plan is an Unqualified Success!
At the time we experienced the economic meltdown during the death throes of the Bush Administration, I was alarmed to hear the names that were suggested as the economic "experts" who would save us from this impending disaster. Paulson, Geithner, Rubin, and Bernanke could all be seen as the elite who held major sway over Wall Street during the run-up to the meltdown caused in large part by the deregulation of our financial industry. On top of it all, these men were a fairly incestuous group overall with ties to a mere handful of the most powerful among the largest of Wall Street "Investment Banks," particularly Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and AIG (as their "insurer").
The sense of alarm I felt was intensified greatly when the very first recommendation to resolve this crisis was to hand over upwards of $800 BILLION dollars to former Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO and then Treasury Secretary Paulson to buy up troubled assets ("toxic assets") from GS and the other Wall Street firms. Most incredibly, these funds were to be distributed solely at Paulson's discretion without Congressional or Judicial oversight and without any assignment of ownership equity to the taxpayer in exchange for this massive infusion of cash into these "private" firms.
This arrangement was not a problem of an appearance of a conflict of interest. No, the conflict of interest here was irrefutable. Yet, to my astonishment, the blank checks were written and the U.S. taxpayers mortgaged our future to underwrite the effort of these "experts" to save our economy.
How ironic is it that we never actually engaged in the purchase of toxic assets, even though this was a supposed key component of the recovery plan as proposed at the time we forked over billions of dollars for the Paulson Recovery Program?
How ironic is it that there was never any effort made to forestall homeowner foreclosures, even though the rising number of such foreclosures was identified as the key threat to our economy?
How ironic is it that Lehman Brothers - among the greatest competitors to GS - was allowed to fail into bankruptcy at great cost to the taxpayers less than a year before GS claimed almost record profits?
How ironic is it that we hear increased pressure for U.S. Corporations to ship jobs offshore and reduce employee wages and benefits as a means of becoming more "competitive" even though the recession is reportedly caused primarily by the lack of "consumer confidence" and the lack of consumer spending by these same domestic employees?
How ironic is it that we now learn that Citigroup (among others) are now trying to repackage their toxic assets (or, ahem, "legacy assets" fer chrissakes!) into new instruments that can be awarded AAA status?
How ironic is it that GS and Citigroup are among those business interests that are now leading the way in the fight against increased regulation of the financial industry?
There really is no irony to any of this at all. The "experts" we put in place certainly identified from the start that the fiscal health of Wall Street was really all that mattered in terms of an "economic recovery," and Wall Street has recovered quite well, thank you very much!
And so, quite simply, those of us who suffer under this jobless recovery and who face the same, ongoing yet deepening threats presented by increased home foreclosures and unemployment are seemingly invited to go out and get our own recovery plan. Paulson, et. al., are finished with theirs, and the champaign flows on Wall Street and plans are underway to determine just how the spoils of their success will be distributed in bonuses to be handed out.
Don't be surprised if the taxpayers are not invited to the parties underway on Wall Street to celebrate its success. If you go, however, be sure to pick up the condom at the doorway reserved for you to wear as a party hat for a dickhead. After all, we the taxpayers have been afforded no more consideration in any of this than that, and we are left with little choice here but to resign ourselves to playing the role that has been assigned to us by the "experts" who have saved this economy.
The sense of alarm I felt was intensified greatly when the very first recommendation to resolve this crisis was to hand over upwards of $800 BILLION dollars to former Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO and then Treasury Secretary Paulson to buy up troubled assets ("toxic assets") from GS and the other Wall Street firms. Most incredibly, these funds were to be distributed solely at Paulson's discretion without Congressional or Judicial oversight and without any assignment of ownership equity to the taxpayer in exchange for this massive infusion of cash into these "private" firms.
This arrangement was not a problem of an appearance of a conflict of interest. No, the conflict of interest here was irrefutable. Yet, to my astonishment, the blank checks were written and the U.S. taxpayers mortgaged our future to underwrite the effort of these "experts" to save our economy.
How ironic is it that we never actually engaged in the purchase of toxic assets, even though this was a supposed key component of the recovery plan as proposed at the time we forked over billions of dollars for the Paulson Recovery Program?
How ironic is it that there was never any effort made to forestall homeowner foreclosures, even though the rising number of such foreclosures was identified as the key threat to our economy?
How ironic is it that Lehman Brothers - among the greatest competitors to GS - was allowed to fail into bankruptcy at great cost to the taxpayers less than a year before GS claimed almost record profits?
How ironic is it that we hear increased pressure for U.S. Corporations to ship jobs offshore and reduce employee wages and benefits as a means of becoming more "competitive" even though the recession is reportedly caused primarily by the lack of "consumer confidence" and the lack of consumer spending by these same domestic employees?
How ironic is it that we now learn that Citigroup (among others) are now trying to repackage their toxic assets (or, ahem, "legacy assets" fer chrissakes!) into new instruments that can be awarded AAA status?
How ironic is it that GS and Citigroup are among those business interests that are now leading the way in the fight against increased regulation of the financial industry?
There really is no irony to any of this at all. The "experts" we put in place certainly identified from the start that the fiscal health of Wall Street was really all that mattered in terms of an "economic recovery," and Wall Street has recovered quite well, thank you very much!
And so, quite simply, those of us who suffer under this jobless recovery and who face the same, ongoing yet deepening threats presented by increased home foreclosures and unemployment are seemingly invited to go out and get our own recovery plan. Paulson, et. al., are finished with theirs, and the champaign flows on Wall Street and plans are underway to determine just how the spoils of their success will be distributed in bonuses to be handed out.
Don't be surprised if the taxpayers are not invited to the parties underway on Wall Street to celebrate its success. If you go, however, be sure to pick up the condom at the doorway reserved for you to wear as a party hat for a dickhead. After all, we the taxpayers have been afforded no more consideration in any of this than that, and we are left with little choice here but to resign ourselves to playing the role that has been assigned to us by the "experts" who have saved this economy.
