from what i understand the money isn't going to be used the way bush used the first half .
On Jan 14, 1:43 am, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[email protected]> wrote: > Obama, Bush team up behind another $350 billion for the banks > 14 January 2009 > > First things first. Even before President Bush makes his farewell > address on Thursday and Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president > next Tuesday, the outgoing and incoming administrations are engaged in > a concerted drive to release the second $350 billion installment of > taxpayer funds to bail out the banks. > > Obama telephoned Bush Monday morning and asked that he formally > request the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief > Program (TARP) windfall for Wall Street approved by Congress on > October 3. Bush complied almost immediately, starting the clock on a > 15-day period during which Congress can block the Treasury Department > from transferring additional billions to financial institutions only > if both houses reject the president's request. Even in that highly > unlikely event, the president can vacate the congressional action by > issuing a veto, which would require a two-thirds majority in both the > House of Representatives and the Senate to override—virtually a > political impossibility given overwhelming Democratic support for the > bailout and Democratic control of both congressional chambers. > > Such is the priority given to the bailout money for the banks that > Obama and his top economic aides are devoting themselves nearly full- > time to meeting with leading Democrats and Republicans and lobbying > Congress for support. Obama's $800 billion economic stimulus package, > itself tailored to the demands of big business, can wait until mid- > February, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pledged to hold a > vote on the TARP money by this Friday at the latest. > > The joint Bush-Obama push for the second half of the TARP money has > occasioned a flurry of complaints from both sides of the congressional > aisle over the refusal of the banks to use the billions they received > in the first installment to increase their lending and protests from > Democrats over the failure to provide relief for homeowners facing > foreclosure—the ostensible purposes of the program. There is also much > bluster over the lack of any restrictions on how the banks used the > money, the absence of serious limits on executive pay and the fact > that the banks were not even required to inform Congress or the public > what they did with the government funds they received. > > Of the $350 billion already distributed, $250 billion went to banks > and financial institutions, including $125 billion to the nine biggest > banks. Another $40 billion was added to the $100 billion previously > paid out to rescue the insurance giant American International Group, > $19 billion went for emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler, > $20 billion went to other firms, and $25 billion was injected into > Citigroup as part of a bailout involving over $300 billion in > government loans and guarantees. > > It is well established that the banks used the money to shore up their > reserves and, in the case of some of the biggest firms, to buy up > smaller institutions with the aid of a tax break unilaterally enacted > by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, formerly the CEO of Goldman > Sachs, to facilitate a further concentration of financial power on > Wall Street. > > Obama himself on Monday noted "the absence of clarity, the lack of > transparency, the failure to track how the money's been spent and the > failure to take bold action with respect to areas like housing," > saying he was "disappointed." He promised to "fundamentally change > some of the practices in using this next phase of the program." > > This, and similar statements from leading Democrats in Congress, are > little more than window dressing designed to placate public anger over > the handover of federal funds to shore up the balance sheets of the > very institutions whose pursuit of super-profits and financial Ponzi > schemes precipitated the deepest economic crisis since the Great > Depression. Some political cover is needed to continue placing the > assets of the American people at the disposal of this discredited > financial elite. > > But such demagogy and associated political maneuvering cannot disguise > the total subordination of the government and both parties to the most > powerful sections of the ruling class. The indecent haste with which > both the outgoing and incoming administrations are rushing to satisfy > the demands of Wall Street for a new infusion of cash provides an > object lesson on the class relations that underlie American > "democracy." > > One day before Obama requested $350 billion more for the banks, he > explicitly affirmed that his administration would seek to impose major > funding cuts and structural "reforms" on the bedrock social programs— > Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—upon which tens of millions of > workers and retirees depend. In an interview on the ABC News "This > Week" program, Obama was asked whether he would carry out "entitlement > reform, including Social Security and Medicare, where everybody in the > country is going to have to sacrifice." > > "Yes," Obama replied, adding that "what you describe is exactly what > we're going to have to do... Everybody is going to have to give." > > Everybody, that is, except for the multi-millionaires and billionaires > who comprise the financial aristocracy. > > There is not even an attempt to explain why it is the critical social > programs on which the working class relies that must be cut to offset > the explosive growth of budget deficits resulting from cash infusions > to the banks and corporations. Indeed, as with the initial passage of > the TARP program, there is to be no public discussion or serious > congressional debate—no assessment of the failure of the first > installment to prevent the economic catastrophe it was supposedly > implemented to avert, or explanation of how the second installment > will work, whom it will benefit and how it will address the economic > crisis any better than the first half of the Wall Street slush fund. > > Once again, a proverbial gun is being held to the head of the American > people. In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama's top economic > adviser, Lawrence Summers, wrote that "President-elect Obama believes > the need is imminent and urgent. We cannot afford to wait." > > In his letter to Congress, Summers wrote that companies receiving > "exceptional assistance" would be subject to "tough but sensible" > limits on executive pay and other restrictions. One can judge how much > such assurances are worth from the resumés of Summers and Obama's > designee as treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, who will head up the > TARP program. > > As treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, Summers promoted > the dismantling of bank regulations and the cheap credit policies that > fueled the housing and credit bubbles which imploded 18 months ago. > Geithner, as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, played > a central role along with Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke in > engineering the government loans, cash infusions and guarantees to the > banks and financial markets that now total some $8 trillion. > > Bernanke weighed in on Monday to push for the additional TARP money. > In a speech at the London School of Economics, he endorsed Obama's > stimulus plan but added that further taxpayer infusions into the > banking system were essential. Bernanke suggested that the second > installment should be used to buy up bad mortgage-related bonds and > other "toxic" assets weighing down the balance sheets of the banks. > This was the plan originally marketed by Bernanke and Paulson, only to > be dropped within days of congressional passage in favor of direct > cash infusions into the banks. > > Whatever form the next transfusion of cash takes, it will not solve > the deepening economic crisis. It will not, and cannot, address the > fundamental contradictions and deep-seated structural problems of > American and world capitalism. No amount of handouts to the banks can > resolve the crisis of profitability in basic production and the > conflict between globalization and the nation-state system that > underlies the crisis, or reverse the massive decay of manufacturing in > the US that is the product of decades of financial speculation and > parasitism. > > Like every other measure taken since the crisis erupted, it will be > directed toward defending the interests of the financial elite and > leave untouched the foundations of a failed economic and political > system. > > From its origins, TARP was conceived not as a serious solution to the > economic and social crisis, but rather as a means of exploiting the > crisis to implement a vast transfer of wealth to the financial > aristocracy that would have been impossible under normal conditions. > The cost of this plundering of the economy is to be born by the > working class. > > The united front of Obama and Bush behind the bank bailout is yet > another demonstration of the fraud of Obama's pose as the agent of > "change" and one more expression of the basic continuity between the > outgoing and incoming administrations. More fundamentally, it > underscores the fact that government policy cannot be changed in any > progressive way by elections or the replacement of the Republicans by > the Democrats. Behind the increasingly worm-eaten façade of American > democracy, all essential questions of social life, of war and peace, > of democratic rights are determined by the class interests of the > ruling elite. > > This situation can be changed only through the independent political > and revolutionary mobilization of the working class in the fight for > socialism. > > Barry Grey > > On Jan 13, 1:42 am, "florida mike !" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Mythbusting the Obama Recovery Package > > http://www.truthout.org:80/011109E > > The self-serving myths about President-elect Barack Obama's economic > > recovery plan are starting to fly so thick and fast > > ... > > read more »- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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