September 2008 Archives

I hope that Congress will put this awful Paulson bill behind them and focus on creating a better plan. By this time, there have been many alternatives created and there are many other models to follow.

I'd like to get back to regular blogging about Jerry, my lack of discipline, ... but until we have a reasonable way forward, I've got to stay diligent!

More faxes going out tonight. A thank you note to the 228 house members who voted against the bill and more opposition to the 205 who didn't, along with the Senate.

Here's a great article that just reinforces the stupidity and immorality of the current bill. You can read the full text here.

The Treasury plan also does not explicitly include an HOLC-style program to reduce across the board the debt burden of the distressed household sector; without such a component the debt overhang of the household sector will continue to depress consumption spending and will exacerbate the current economic recession. Thus, the Treasury plan is a disgrace: a bailout of reckless bankers, lenders and investors that provides little direct debt relief to borrowers and financially stressed households and that will come at a very high cost to the US taxpayer. And the plan does nothing to resolve the severe stress in money markets and interbank markets that are now close to a systemic meltdown. It is pathetic that Congress did not consult any of the many professional economists that have presented - many on the RGE Monitor Finance blog forum - alternative plans that were more fair and efficient and less costly ways to resolve this crisis. This is again a case of privatizing the gains and socializing the losses; a bailout and socialism for the rich, the well-connected and Wall Street. And it is a scandal that even Congressional Democrats have fallen for this Treasury scam that does little to resolve the debt burden of millions of distressed home owners.

From Roubini. Emphasis mine.

All it takes is a phone call - you don't have to leave your house, your don't have to pledge allegiance. Push pause on the DVR. Delay the gardening.

This is a representative democracy - if we don't do anything, then we CANNOT blame our government. We must blame OURSELVES. This country did nothing to stop the invasion of Iraq, whereas around the world huge protests were held. Are we once again going to go quietly into the night?

House Republicans "have tried to fashion an alternative plan that, instead of relying heavily on taxpayer money, could let banks buy insurance for the troubled assets weighing down their books."

Say it again! A plan that doesn't rely on taxpayer money! A plan that has Wall Street banks who took extreme risk paying for those decisions instead of me!

I pray our elected officials can withstand the temptation to "do something" and instead, do the right thing.

I even called my two senators (Murray and Cantwell) today. Most of the faxes were campaigns thanks to Mish, but I've also been urged on by Jesse, Karl, and others - and I've even authored a few originals.

It helps that I was able to script the delivery of a single letter to multiple senators using some Python and MetroFax.

Admittedly, sending faxes from your house isn't much work for political activism. Nontheless, few things have compelled me to action as much as the recent fear mongering and insanity aimed at bailing out the rich few on the backs of the ordinary.

Senator,

Haste Makes Waste.

The American economy is strong and resilient. The
key to that strength is the creativity,
flexibility, and hard labor of American citizens.
The key to that strength is the belief that
tomorrow is a new opportunity to improve and
prosper and that opportunity is unburdened by the
sins of the past.

Average citizens are they key. Citizens who wake
up with a dream to do something different and
start a new company. Citizens who decide they want
to help their community and become doctors and
teachers. Citizens who decide they want to serve
their country in the military or through public
service.

Citizens like me.

Please do not saddle us with more debt. Please do
not saddle our children and our grandchildren due
to fear and panic. Please do not burden the future
for all due to the sins of the past - sins of the
few who knowingly took risks.

There are alternatives to the Paulson bill.

Take the time to do it right. Even if it you must
wait for a recess.

Please. My child's future depends on it.

Nicholas Kirsch

A middle-class father of one.

The following text was reproduced with permission from Mish. If this compels you, this should also. Act now!

This was the fastest way to spread the word. I have faxed my senators (and those below). I encourage you to do the same.

Fate May Rest With Shelby
CNBC is reporting Fate of Bailout May Rest With Republican Sen. Shelby.

Many members of the U.S. Senate blasted the Bush administration's Wall Street bailout plan Tuesday, but no senator has come forward so far with an explicit pledge to kill the $700 billion proposal.

The rules of the Senate, unlike the House, give individual lawmakers substantial power to delay or halt legislation, but three Senate aides said there were no clear signs yet of that power being exercised.

As the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the plan put forward by the Treasury Department, aides said much would depend on Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the committee's top Republican, who was sharply critical at the hearing.

The outlook for Treasury's plan would dim greatly if Shelby were to move to block the bill that is expected to emerge soon from congressional debate over the plan, the aides said.

Other senators, including Republicans Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have expressed strong concerns.

But the aides said these lawmakers also have stopped short of warning they would work to block the bill.

Another Fax Needed

Fax Title "Senator Shelby, Block This Bill"

Senator Shelby

You are correct when you say the crisis was created by "sloppy underwriting and reckless disregard for the risks they were creating, taking, or passing on to others."

Most importantly you are correct when you state "There are no credible assurances that this plan will work. We could very well spend $700 billion and not resolve the crisis."

Senator, the odds of failure are 100%. The Paulson plan will not create any jobs or help homeowners pay their bills. Instead it diverts $700 billion of taxpayer funds to failed banks that took excessive risks. The sheer size of the bailout will cause interest rates to rise, further adding to taxpayer woes.

Robbing taxpayers to pay failed banks cannot possibly work!

Printing money and giving it away cannot work either. If it did work, Zimbabwe would be the most prosperous nation in the world.

Senator Shelby, our prayers are with you that you have the courage to stand up for what you know you must do: Block This Bill.

I ask that you approach fellow Senators Jim Bunning, Chuck Grassley, and Jim DeMint in hope that one or more will have the courage to join you to in preventing what is still a preventable disaster.

Your Name
Your Phone Number

Fax For Bunning, Grassley, DeMint, Ensign, Reid

Dear Senator

Earlier today I asked Senator Richard Shelby to have the courage to stand alone, if necessary, block the Paulson proposal.

Senator Shelby is correct when he states "There are no credible assurances that this plan will work. We could very well spend $700 billion and not resolve the crisis."

Senator, the odds of failure are 100%. The Paulson plan will not create any jobs or help homeowners pay their bills. Instead it diverts $700 billion of taxpayer funds to failed banks that took excessive risks. The sheer size of the bailout will cause interest rates to rise, further adding to taxpayer woes.

Robbing taxpayers to pay failed banks cannot possibly work!

Printing money and giving it away cannot work either. If it did work, Zimbabwe would be the most prosperous nation in the world.

Senator, our prayers are with you that you have the courage to stand up with Senator Shelby and do what you know you must do: Block This Bill.

Your Name
Your Phone Number

Sen. Richard Shelby (R) 202-224-3416 or 202-224-5137 (both seem to work, I fax both)
Sen. John Ensign (R) 202-228-2193
Jim DeMint (R) 202-228-5143
Sen. Jim Bunning (R) 202-228-1373
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) 202-224-6020
Sen. Harry Reid (D) 202-224-7327

The Odds Of Success Improve With Every Fax!
Your Fax Counts.
This is a critical Juncture, please act now.

Pass this email to 10 others and have them do the same.

My co-worker Chris and I just finished our 3-country press and analyst tour. We were in Hong Kong for 5 days, Tokyo for 2 and Seoul for 2. It was my first press tour and a good experience. The last day was especially interesting as I went on a customer visit to some Korean scientific agencies and then they took me out for sushi. It was a lot of fun to build a personal relationship with people from a different culture.

Here are a few pictures:

Our shepherd, Hedy, who helped us brave Hong Kong.
Explaining OneFS 5.0 and Accelerator-x to a reporter.
The two studs.

Somehow, I happened on the blog of Michael "Mish" Shedlock - everything must be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but I think a lot of his analysis is spot on. I've also started following some articles on http://seekingalpha.com/ as I try to make sense of the current investment climate.

Being in the middle-class, capital preservation is very important in volatile times - otherwise there will be nothing to invest when the market rebounds.

Mish often talks of deflation and an "L"-shaped recession (or depression). Him and others (i.e. this article) has me very nervous... are we screwed?


This above picture linked from here.