The Big Take Over of America

[Count of Montesano]

Excellent article in this month's Rolling Stone that lays out how Wall Street has essentially conducted a Coup d'etat of America, with a little help from politicians from both sides of the aisle.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...big_takeover/1

It's over — we're officially, royally ed. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock, which is what happened as of a few weeks ago, when the buffoons who have been running things in this country finally went one step too far. It happened when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was forced to admit that he was once again going to have to stuff billions of taxpayer dollars into a dying insurance giant called AIG, itself a profound symbol of our national decline — a corporation that got rich insuring the concrete and steel of American industry in the country's heyday, only to destroy itself chasing phantom fortunes at the Wall Street card tables, like a dissolute nobleman gambling away the family estate in the waning days of the British Empire.

The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history — some $61.7 billion. In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That's $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste. Yet in the end, our government had no mechanism for searching the balance sheets of companies that held life-or-death power over our society and was unable to spot holes in the national economy the size of Libya (whose entire GDP last year was smaller than AIG's 2008 losses).

So it's time to admit it: We're fools, protagonists in a kind of gruesome comedy about the marriage of greed and stupidity. And the worst part about it is that we're still in denial — we still think this is some kind of unfortunate accident, not something that was created by the group of psychopaths on Wall Street whom we allowed to gang-rape the American Dream.

[C-Rob]

This article sums up all of our thoughts about these economic issues.

[Chaigidel]

yep if you bet on the stockmarket you lost ; but if you had money in your hand you won, and are still winning --everybody hasnt lost on this deal, just quite a few.

[Zephyrus]

Excellent article in this month's Rolling Stone that lays out how Wall Street has essentially conducted a Coup d'etat of America, with a little help from politicians from both sides of the aisle.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...big_takeover/1

So what happens when a bully takes your lunch money and walks away?

Simple. You tap him on the shoulder, look him in the eyes, and sternly demand that he gives it back.

And if he laughs in your face? Why then, you break his ing nose, take your money back, and walk away whistling at the good deed done.

[Exarch]

So what happens when a bully takes your lunch money and walks away?

Simple. You tap him on the shoulder, look him in the eyes, and sternly demand that he gives it back.

And if he laughs in your face? Why then, you break his ing nose, take your money back, and walk away whistling at the good deed done.

you're a soldier
should the preferred method be placing a gun in his mouth until he gives back the $$?

[Viking Prince]

The author clearly does not understand CDO's. Not his fault though since the bankers do not understand them either. His assumption that AIG is the perfiect explanation for all that is wrong is a huge mistake. AIG is a clear example on why the USA should not bailout any company outside of bankruptcy laws or FDIC. Stay within the rules and do not freelance should be the focus of the article. Both political parties have been doing way too much freelancing on this.

btw -- it was a good read even though flawed. Good find. Thanks.

[JP226]

I'm really getting sick and tired of unqualified opinions. It wouldn't bother so much if they didn't carry any weight. Hell everyone has a right to their opinion, however it should be weighted to your relevence.

[Viking Prince]

I'm really getting sick and tired of unqualified opinions. It wouldn't bother so much if they didn't carry any weight. Hell everyone has a right to their opinion, however it should be weighted to your relevence.

I sincerely hope this was direct to the article and not the post above yours in the thread.

[conon394]

The latest bailout came as AIG admitted to having just posted the largest quarterly loss in American corporate history

Whatever the merits of the argument - this kind of statement is tiresome. Is it really adjusted for inflation, relative to the size of the economy, etc.

In any case it also seems a bit scatter shot - I'll agree failing to regulate emerging instruments like credit default swaps was a bad ideal but the passing shot shot at eliminating parts/all whatever of Glass-Steagall as really been demonstrated as critical to the issue.

But i I would agree with the sentiment of the article American money markets have been for decades profoundly short term in thier goals and destructive to the overall well being of the nation making a tiny elite rich in the process.

So in totality I agree with the ideal being expressed but this kind of article I think looses it punch when it fishes for too many unsupported emotional 'facts'.