Bankers Get $4 Trillion Gift From Barney Frank

[Arraya]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a48c8UpUMxKQ

Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — To close out 2009, I decided to do something I bet no member of Congress has done — actually read from cover to cover one of the pieces of sweeping legislation bouncing around Capitol Hill.

Hunkering down by the fire, I snuggled up with H.R. 4173, the financial-reform legislation passed earlier this month by the House of Representatives. The Senate has yet to pass its own reform plan. The baby of Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, the House bill is meant to address everything from too-big-to-fail banks to asleep-at-the-switch credit-ratings companies to the protection of consumers from greedy lenders.

I quickly discovered why members of Congress rarely read legislation like this. At 1,279 pages, the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” is a real slog. And yes, I plowed through all those pages. (Memo to Chairman Frank: “ystem” at line 14, page 258 is missing the first “s”.)

[jpinpb]

I’m surprised it’s not more. Let’s give them time. Maybe they can increase the amount. It’s like it’s monopoly money growing on trees.

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”

Of course, it doesn’t say when, so maybe it can be paid back before the end of time.

[jpinpb]

I’m surprised it’s not more. Let’s give them time. Maybe they can increase the amount. It’s like it’s monopoly money growing on trees.

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”

Of course, it doesn’t say when, so maybe it can be paid back before the end of time.

[jpinpb]

I’m surprised it’s not more. Let’s give them time. Maybe they can increase the amount. It’s like it’s monopoly money growing on trees.

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”

Of course, it doesn’t say when, so maybe it can be paid back before the end of time.

[jpinpb]

I’m surprised it’s not more. Let’s give them time. Maybe they can increase the amount. It’s like it’s monopoly money growing on trees.

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”

Of course, it doesn’t say when, so maybe it can be paid back before the end of time.

[jpinpb]

I’m surprised it’s not more. Let’s give them time. Maybe they can increase the amount. It’s like it’s monopoly money growing on trees.

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”

Of course, it doesn’t say when, so maybe it can be paid back before the end of time.

[davelj]

[quote=jpinpb]

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”
[/quote]

Yes, technically this is an option on a future loan. While it has some value, it’s some tiny fraction of $4 trillion (albeit still a large number). The headline suggests that Congress just handed the banks $4 trillion that’s never to be seen again.

I find disturbingly little balance in the coverage of this crisis. The media (generically) portray the financiers as evil bungling megalomaniacs while the Officialdom tries to paint the same merely as folks dealt a bad hand (“could’ve happened to anyone”) and thus deserving of extreme levels of assistance.

The answer’s somewhere in the middle.

[davelj]

[quote=jpinpb]

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”
[/quote]

Yes, technically this is an option on a future loan. While it has some value, it’s some tiny fraction of $4 trillion (albeit still a large number). The headline suggests that Congress just handed the banks $4 trillion that’s never to be seen again.

I find disturbingly little balance in the coverage of this crisis. The media (generically) portray the financiers as evil bungling megalomaniacs while the Officialdom tries to paint the same merely as folks dealt a bad hand (“could’ve happened to anyone”) and thus deserving of extreme levels of assistance.

The answer’s somewhere in the middle.

[davelj]

[quote=jpinpb]

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”
[/quote]

Yes, technically this is an option on a future loan. While it has some value, it’s some tiny fraction of $4 trillion (albeit still a large number). The headline suggests that Congress just handed the banks $4 trillion that’s never to be seen again.

I find disturbingly little balance in the coverage of this crisis. The media (generically) portray the financiers as evil bungling megalomaniacs while the Officialdom tries to paint the same merely as folks dealt a bad hand (“could’ve happened to anyone”) and thus deserving of extreme levels of assistance.

The answer’s somewhere in the middle.

[davelj]

[quote=jpinpb]

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”
[/quote]

Yes, technically this is an option on a future loan. While it has some value, it’s some tiny fraction of $4 trillion (albeit still a large number). The headline suggests that Congress just handed the banks $4 trillion that’s never to be seen again.

I find disturbingly little balance in the coverage of this crisis. The media (generically) portray the financiers as evil bungling megalomaniacs while the Officialdom tries to paint the same merely as folks dealt a bad hand (“could’ve happened to anyone”) and thus deserving of extreme levels of assistance.

The answer’s somewhere in the middle.

[davelj]

[quote=jpinpb]

At least they added the proviso: “the Federal Reserve and Treasury Secretary can’t authorize these funds unless “there is at least a 99 percent likelihood that all funds and interest will be paid back”
[/quote]

Yes, technically this is an option on a future loan. While it has some value, it’s some tiny fraction of $4 trillion (albeit still a large number). The headline suggests that Congress just handed the banks $4 trillion that’s never to be seen again.

I find disturbingly little balance in the coverage of this crisis. The media (generically) portray the financiers as evil bungling megalomaniacs while the Officialdom tries to paint the same merely as folks dealt a bad hand (“could’ve happened to anyone”) and thus deserving of extreme levels of assistance.

The answer’s somewhere in the middle.

[Aecetia]

“Buried in the recently passed Dodd-Frank financial reform bill are massive financial rewards for turning in your boss. The SEC is hoping that multimillion dollar rewards amounting to 10%-30% of sanction amounts will drive a stampede of whistleblowers to their doors with evidence of malfeasance and fraud by their employers.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/be-careful-who-you-snitch

[Aecetia]

“Buried in the recently passed Dodd-Frank financial reform bill are massive financial rewards for turning in your boss. The SEC is hoping that multimillion dollar rewards amounting to 10%-30% of sanction amounts will drive a stampede of whistleblowers to their doors with evidence of malfeasance and fraud by their employers.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/be-careful-who-you-snitch

[Aecetia]

“Buried in the recently passed Dodd-Frank financial reform bill are massive financial rewards for turning in your boss. The SEC is hoping that multimillion dollar rewards amounting to 10%-30% of sanction amounts will drive a stampede of whistleblowers to their doors with evidence of malfeasance and fraud by their employers.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/be-careful-who-you-snitch

[Aecetia]

“Buried in the recently passed Dodd-Frank financial reform bill are massive financial rewards for turning in your boss. The SEC is hoping that multimillion dollar rewards amounting to 10%-30% of sanction amounts will drive a stampede of whistleblowers to their doors with evidence of malfeasance and fraud by their employers.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/be-careful-who-you-snitch

[Author]

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