The Plan?

[partypup]

[quote=TheBreeze]I think the government does have a plan to ‘resurrect’ the economy, but it does not involve reform, change, or anything that would disrupt the financial oligarchy’s stranglehold on money and power. Instead, I think the government’s plan is to gun the markets, distract the people with sideshows (firing of GM CEO), all the while offloading the tons of bad loans to taxpayers. I agree with Mish that this plan is doomed to fail.

The first part of the plan involved using AIG as a conduit of taxpayer dollars straight to the banks:

Guest Post: The Banks Were Profitable In January And February Thanks To… AIG

Here’s the really amazing/frightening/unbelievable part of the above article:

During Jan/Feb AIG would call up and just ask for complete unwind prices from the credit desk in the relevant jurisdiction. These were not single deal unwinds as are typically more price transparent – these were whole portfolio unwinds. The size of these unwinds were enormous, the quotes I have heard were “we have never done as big or as profitable trades – ever”.

So the government purposely directed AIG to massively overpay the banks on their CDS contracts in January and February. These huge payouts which came straight from taxpayers through AIG to the banks allowed the banks to say they were profitable:

http://optionarmageddon.ml-implode.com/2009/03/27/the-ultimate-bait-switch/

As the news of the banks ‘profits’ started to seep out, the market started going up. This was around early March.

At the end of March (March 29th), Zero Hedge posted the reason for the banks ‘profitability’ (i.e., the massive taxpayer payouts through AIG). The next day, March 30th, Obama asked the GM CEO Wagoner to step down:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20625.html

Coincidence? I think not. This was to distract the bloggers from the massive taxpayer theft that occurred through AIG. It certainly seemed to work on this blog as so many were captivated by Obama’s actions.

Now we have the next part of the plan: obfuscation of the bank’s asset values through suspension of mark-to-market.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/FASB-approves-more-mark-market/story.aspx?guid={33F70684-4207-4EDD-B7C3-1B82B7A7F6B6}

Along with this, you will see the pundits come out and recommend buying the banks. Cramer had an article out this morning saying that Citigroup has to be bought off this news.

By the way, Japan suspended mark-to-market in 1992 when the Nikkei was around 15K. It’s difficult to tell, but it looks like this may have sparked a rally to 20K:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nikkei_225(1970-).svg

However, I think today the Nikkei is around 9K or so.

In any event, I believe the governmet does have a plan. The plan is to help the financial oligarchy maintain power at all costs:

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice

To me, it looks like we are in for a extended decline down (with stock market bumps along the way caused by tricks like those above). The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.

[/quote]

Excellent post, Breezy. We are now witnessing the most elaborate use of smoke and mirrors in history. The recent market activity is a massive set-up, and most sheeple – those who are unfortunately still captivated by Obama (and I’m SO happy to see that you are no longer one of them!) – will believe that we have hit a bottom and that this “rally” has legs. I got an email from Michael Moore this week, nearly orgasmic in its praise of Obama and the Waggoner pink slip. He ended with this comment: “I can’t wait to see Obama’s next superhero move.” Co-opt the Left, co-opt blacks, and all you have to worry about are old people, yuppies and Bubbas. Shrewd move by TPTB.

You know what this reminds me of? The moment in a tsunami when the ocean is sucked out about half a mile or so. There’s a strange silence, a stillness; a sense that nothing is “wrong”, even though things clearly don’t feel “right”.

And then the wave hits before you can run. I firmly believe that this summer the foundation will start to give in a MAJOR way, and it will be clear to everyone that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men won’t be able to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[CA renter]

All excellent posts!

While talking to another poster by phone today, we were musing about what was really going on. Here are some of my thoughts:

After physically seeing a very real deterioration in the economy last fall and winter — once exceedingly busy restaurants and shops were suddenly almost empty, and many people “on the street” telling me about how slow their business suddenly got — there appeared to be a rather significant turnaround around the beginning of the year (around February, and accelerating through March). Stores, restaurants and other businesses are now suddenly busy again, and proprietors are telling me about the pick-up which they can’t explain, but are very grateful for. Addditionally, the housing market has definitely picked up since last fall/winter, when things were finally looking like they might be coming back to sanity.

Concurrent with this pick up in activity are more and more stories about people who have chosen to stop paying their mortgages, while others have renegotiated with their lenders, sometimes getting a principal reduction, and getting much lower rates — often temporary rate reductions (3-5 years), which is a bit mind-boggling. Hasn’t anyone learned anything?

Lenders are telling people to stop paying their mortgages so they can re-work them, and someone posted somewhere (here) about HUD telling a borrower to short-sell their house and buy it back through a third party! Basically, that’s letting these over-encumbered scammers to just name the price they want to pay, because agents are not obligateted to send all offers to the lenders (that REALLY has to change, BTW). The FBs can just put in an offer for 30% of their original loan and submit only that offer, getting a 70% discount from the price the originally wanted to pay!

Anyway, how much of today’s economic activity is due to the “hidden stimulus” of people who are no longer making a housing payment…month after month after month? A big deal was made of Bush’s one-time, $600 checks last year. Imagine what $2,000-$3,000 per month, every month, will do.

In the meantime, the new mark-to-market rules will hide all these losses, and the government (that’s us, again!) will buy up all the “toxic paper which cannot be valued” at full price, or even 70 cents on the dollar. Paper that is technically worthless or maybe worth 20-30 cents on the dollar will be bought up by the govt and the bankers/lenders will be made relatively whole at our expense.

Technically, it might work. From a moral hazard perspective, it stinks!

[CA renter]

All excellent posts!

While talking to another poster by phone today, we were musing about what was really going on. Here are some of my thoughts:

After physically seeing a very real deterioration in the economy last fall and winter — once exceedingly busy restaurants and shops were suddenly almost empty, and many people “on the street” telling me about how slow their business suddenly got — there appeared to be a rather significant turnaround around the beginning of the year (around February, and accelerating through March). Stores, restaurants and other businesses are now suddenly busy again, and proprietors are telling me about the pick-up which they can’t explain, but are very grateful for. Addditionally, the housing market has definitely picked up since last fall/winter, when things were finally looking like they might be coming back to sanity.

Concurrent with this pick up in activity are more and more stories about people who have chosen to stop paying their mortgages, while others have renegotiated with their lenders, sometimes getting a principal reduction, and getting much lower rates — often temporary rate reductions (3-5 years), which is a bit mind-boggling. Hasn’t anyone learned anything?

Lenders are telling people to stop paying their mortgages so they can re-work them, and someone posted somewhere (here) about HUD telling a borrower to short-sell their house and buy it back through a third party! Basically, that’s letting these over-encumbered scammers to just name the price they want to pay, because agents are not obligateted to send all offers to the lenders (that REALLY has to change, BTW). The FBs can just put in an offer for 30% of their original loan and submit only that offer, getting a 70% discount from the price the originally wanted to pay!

Anyway, how much of today’s economic activity is due to the “hidden stimulus” of people who are no longer making a housing payment…month after month after month? A big deal was made of Bush’s one-time, $600 checks last year. Imagine what $2,000-$3,000 per month, every month, will do.

In the meantime, the new mark-to-market rules will hide all these losses, and the government (that’s us, again!) will buy up all the “toxic paper which cannot be valued” at full price, or even 70 cents on the dollar. Paper that is technically worthless or maybe worth 20-30 cents on the dollar will be bought up by the govt and the bankers/lenders will be made relatively whole at our expense.

Technically, it might work. From a moral hazard perspective, it stinks!

[CA renter]

All excellent posts!

While talking to another poster by phone today, we were musing about what was really going on. Here are some of my thoughts:

After physically seeing a very real deterioration in the economy last fall and winter — once exceedingly busy restaurants and shops were suddenly almost empty, and many people “on the street” telling me about how slow their business suddenly got — there appeared to be a rather significant turnaround around the beginning of the year (around February, and accelerating through March). Stores, restaurants and other businesses are now suddenly busy again, and proprietors are telling me about the pick-up which they can’t explain, but are very grateful for. Addditionally, the housing market has definitely picked up since last fall/winter, when things were finally looking like they might be coming back to sanity.

Concurrent with this pick up in activity are more and more stories about people who have chosen to stop paying their mortgages, while others have renegotiated with their lenders, sometimes getting a principal reduction, and getting much lower rates — often temporary rate reductions (3-5 years), which is a bit mind-boggling. Hasn’t anyone learned anything?

Lenders are telling people to stop paying their mortgages so they can re-work them, and someone posted somewhere (here) about HUD telling a borrower to short-sell their house and buy it back through a third party! Basically, that’s letting these over-encumbered scammers to just name the price they want to pay, because agents are not obligateted to send all offers to the lenders (that REALLY has to change, BTW). The FBs can just put in an offer for 30% of their original loan and submit only that offer, getting a 70% discount from the price the originally wanted to pay!

Anyway, how much of today’s economic activity is due to the “hidden stimulus” of people who are no longer making a housing payment…month after month after month? A big deal was made of Bush’s one-time, $600 checks last year. Imagine what $2,000-$3,000 per month, every month, will do.

In the meantime, the new mark-to-market rules will hide all these losses, and the government (that’s us, again!) will buy up all the “toxic paper which cannot be valued” at full price, or even 70 cents on the dollar. Paper that is technically worthless or maybe worth 20-30 cents on the dollar will be bought up by the govt and the bankers/lenders will be made relatively whole at our expense.

Technically, it might work. From a moral hazard perspective, it stinks!

[CA renter]

All excellent posts!

While talking to another poster by phone today, we were musing about what was really going on. Here are some of my thoughts:

After physically seeing a very real deterioration in the economy last fall and winter — once exceedingly busy restaurants and shops were suddenly almost empty, and many people “on the street” telling me about how slow their business suddenly got — there appeared to be a rather significant turnaround around the beginning of the year (around February, and accelerating through March). Stores, restaurants and other businesses are now suddenly busy again, and proprietors are telling me about the pick-up which they can’t explain, but are very grateful for. Addditionally, the housing market has definitely picked up since last fall/winter, when things were finally looking like they might be coming back to sanity.

Concurrent with this pick up in activity are more and more stories about people who have chosen to stop paying their mortgages, while others have renegotiated with their lenders, sometimes getting a principal reduction, and getting much lower rates — often temporary rate reductions (3-5 years), which is a bit mind-boggling. Hasn’t anyone learned anything?

Lenders are telling people to stop paying their mortgages so they can re-work them, and someone posted somewhere (here) about HUD telling a borrower to short-sell their house and buy it back through a third party! Basically, that’s letting these over-encumbered scammers to just name the price they want to pay, because agents are not obligateted to send all offers to the lenders (that REALLY has to change, BTW). The FBs can just put in an offer for 30% of their original loan and submit only that offer, getting a 70% discount from the price the originally wanted to pay!

Anyway, how much of today’s economic activity is due to the “hidden stimulus” of people who are no longer making a housing payment…month after month after month? A big deal was made of Bush’s one-time, $600 checks last year. Imagine what $2,000-$3,000 per month, every month, will do.

In the meantime, the new mark-to-market rules will hide all these losses, and the government (that’s us, again!) will buy up all the “toxic paper which cannot be valued” at full price, or even 70 cents on the dollar. Paper that is technically worthless or maybe worth 20-30 cents on the dollar will be bought up by the govt and the bankers/lenders will be made relatively whole at our expense.

Technically, it might work. From a moral hazard perspective, it stinks!

[CA renter]

All excellent posts!

While talking to another poster by phone today, we were musing about what was really going on. Here are some of my thoughts:

After physically seeing a very real deterioration in the economy last fall and winter — once exceedingly busy restaurants and shops were suddenly almost empty, and many people “on the street” telling me about how slow their business suddenly got — there appeared to be a rather significant turnaround around the beginning of the year (around February, and accelerating through March). Stores, restaurants and other businesses are now suddenly busy again, and proprietors are telling me about the pick-up which they can’t explain, but are very grateful for. Addditionally, the housing market has definitely picked up since last fall/winter, when things were finally looking like they might be coming back to sanity.

Concurrent with this pick up in activity are more and more stories about people who have chosen to stop paying their mortgages, while others have renegotiated with their lenders, sometimes getting a principal reduction, and getting much lower rates — often temporary rate reductions (3-5 years), which is a bit mind-boggling. Hasn’t anyone learned anything?

Lenders are telling people to stop paying their mortgages so they can re-work them, and someone posted somewhere (here) about HUD telling a borrower to short-sell their house and buy it back through a third party! Basically, that’s letting these over-encumbered scammers to just name the price they want to pay, because agents are not obligateted to send all offers to the lenders (that REALLY has to change, BTW). The FBs can just put in an offer for 30% of their original loan and submit only that offer, getting a 70% discount from the price the originally wanted to pay!

Anyway, how much of today’s economic activity is due to the “hidden stimulus” of people who are no longer making a housing payment…month after month after month? A big deal was made of Bush’s one-time, $600 checks last year. Imagine what $2,000-$3,000 per month, every month, will do.

In the meantime, the new mark-to-market rules will hide all these losses, and the government (that’s us, again!) will buy up all the “toxic paper which cannot be valued” at full price, or even 70 cents on the dollar. Paper that is technically worthless or maybe worth 20-30 cents on the dollar will be bought up by the govt and the bankers/lenders will be made relatively whole at our expense.

Technically, it might work. From a moral hazard perspective, it stinks!

[NotCranky]

[/quote]

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[/quote]

Partypup,
We are not going to stop anything.Nor are we going to sink into chaos as a result of “globalism”. Look for something somewhere on a continuem,between Chaos and life as you know it or knew it, with shocks like the current “crisis”, on the way to a lower standard of getting and spending for Americans on average.

The international gatherings of “leadership” the last few days are about how to get to,or continue on the path to, Global Oligarchy and mitigate the shocks along the way. The planet is going there. We are not going to stop it.What is that going to do to you over the next 20-50 years? What are you going to do about it. These are the questions because we are not going to stop it.

I think it will help preclude massive war, so that is a plus.In fact it might be the only possible alternative to nuclear destruction of half the planet. Not going to stop a few countries from being further destroyed though … unjustly so, in my opinion.

[NotCranky]

[/quote]

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[/quote]

Partypup,
We are not going to stop anything.Nor are we going to sink into chaos as a result of “globalism”. Look for something somewhere on a continuem,between Chaos and life as you know it or knew it, with shocks like the current “crisis”, on the way to a lower standard of getting and spending for Americans on average.

The international gatherings of “leadership” the last few days are about how to get to,or continue on the path to, Global Oligarchy and mitigate the shocks along the way. The planet is going there. We are not going to stop it.What is that going to do to you over the next 20-50 years? What are you going to do about it. These are the questions because we are not going to stop it.

I think it will help preclude massive war, so that is a plus.In fact it might be the only possible alternative to nuclear destruction of half the planet. Not going to stop a few countries from being further destroyed though … unjustly so, in my opinion.

[NotCranky]

[/quote]

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[/quote]

Partypup,
We are not going to stop anything.Nor are we going to sink into chaos as a result of “globalism”. Look for something somewhere on a continuem,between Chaos and life as you know it or knew it, with shocks like the current “crisis”, on the way to a lower standard of getting and spending for Americans on average.

The international gatherings of “leadership” the last few days are about how to get to,or continue on the path to, Global Oligarchy and mitigate the shocks along the way. The planet is going there. We are not going to stop it.What is that going to do to you over the next 20-50 years? What are you going to do about it. These are the questions because we are not going to stop it.

I think it will help preclude massive war, so that is a plus.In fact it might be the only possible alternative to nuclear destruction of half the planet. Not going to stop a few countries from being further destroyed though … unjustly so, in my opinion.

[NotCranky]

[/quote]

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[/quote]

Partypup,
We are not going to stop anything.Nor are we going to sink into chaos as a result of “globalism”. Look for something somewhere on a continuem,between Chaos and life as you know it or knew it, with shocks like the current “crisis”, on the way to a lower standard of getting and spending for Americans on average.

The international gatherings of “leadership” the last few days are about how to get to,or continue on the path to, Global Oligarchy and mitigate the shocks along the way. The planet is going there. We are not going to stop it.What is that going to do to you over the next 20-50 years? What are you going to do about it. These are the questions because we are not going to stop it.

I think it will help preclude massive war, so that is a plus.In fact it might be the only possible alternative to nuclear destruction of half the planet. Not going to stop a few countries from being further destroyed though … unjustly so, in my opinion.

[NotCranky]

[/quote]

[quote=TheBreeze]The only way to stop it will be to unhinge the oligarchy’s death grip on money and power.
[/quote]

Bingo. So how are we going to accomplish that? THIS is the real question that needs to be addressed globally, because this is clearly no longer an “American” problem. The oligarchs are making a power grab worldwide, and Obama is one of their 20 or so grinning fools/tools.

[/quote]

Partypup,
We are not going to stop anything.Nor are we going to sink into chaos as a result of “globalism”. Look for something somewhere on a continuem,between Chaos and life as you know it or knew it, with shocks like the current “crisis”, on the way to a lower standard of getting and spending for Americans on average.

The international gatherings of “leadership” the last few days are about how to get to,or continue on the path to, Global Oligarchy and mitigate the shocks along the way. The planet is going there. We are not going to stop it.What is that going to do to you over the next 20-50 years? What are you going to do about it. These are the questions because we are not going to stop it.

I think it will help preclude massive war, so that is a plus.In fact it might be the only possible alternative to nuclear destruction of half the planet. Not going to stop a few countries from being further destroyed though … unjustly so, in my opinion.

[Arraya]

[img_assist|nid=10732|title=G-20|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=909|height=600]

Oh, come on Rus, don’t be such a pessimist.

[Arraya]

[img_assist|nid=10732|title=G-20|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=909|height=600]

Oh, come on Rus, don’t be such a pessimist.

[Arraya]

[img_assist|nid=10732|title=G-20|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=909|height=600]

Oh, come on Rus, don’t be such a pessimist.

[Arraya]

[img_assist|nid=10732|title=G-20|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=909|height=600]

Oh, come on Rus, don’t be such a pessimist.

[Author]

Posts