Paulson Sounds Way Too Confident
November 20, 2008 – 4:38 pm by Joshua Rosenstock“By proactively addressing the problems we saw coming and being pragmatic enough to change strategy in the face of changed facts and despite the inevitable criticism — we prevented a far worse financial crisis.”
What Hank Paulson calls pragmatism, I call making it up as he’s going along. After receiving $700 million for the “Troubled Assets” Relief Program, Paulson decided not to buy any troubled assets. After initially wanting to be above the law, he eventually learned the hard way that no one, not even Bush Administration Cabinet Secretaries, can be. After initially requesting $700 billion, Paulson decided to spend half of it. After allowing Lehman Brothers to fail (a Goldman Sachs competitor), he decided to bail out AIG (whose survival helps the bottom line of Goldman).
The cronyism and overconfidence of Hank Paulson has done nothing to relieve the credit crisis as stocks continue their plunge below 8,000. It is unknowable what would have happened had we rode this thing out a couple months and let the incoming administration handle it (a more appropriate course of action). Hank Paulson, who decried government intervention his entire career, should never have been put in charge of this bailout. I’m sure he will be back in an executive suite where he belongs in no time. He is just another emperor without any clothes (as we have learned that most of these alleged Wall Street wizzes are nothing more than lucky betters whose collective luck has all run out).
Romney Gets It Right On Auto Bailout
November 19, 2008 – 4:41 pm by Joshua RosenstockWithout that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.
Quote Of The Day
November 17, 2008 – 1:13 pm by Joshua Rosenstock“Some people look at subprime lending and see evil. I look at subprime lending and I see the American dream in action.”
You Can Say That Again
November 14, 2008 – 5:26 pm by Joshua Rosenstock“We have in many ways humiliated ourselves as a nation with some of the problems that have taken place here.”
Jesus Never Would Have Supported This
November 14, 2008 – 12:59 pm by Joshua RosenstockI’ve often asked myself how all these hatemongers know how Jesus would have felt about a procedure that wasn’t in use until thousands of years after his death. The same individuals that claim to speak for Jesus have absolutely no idea what he stands for. Whatever happened to love thy neighbor as thyself?
The pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Greenville, SC, is urging parishioners who voted for Barack Obama not to present themselves for Communion unless they go to confession first because they have cooperated with “intrinsic evil” by voting for a candidate who supports abortion rights over a candidate who does not. The Rev. Jay Scott Newman told the Greenville News that he doesn’t intend to deny anyone Communion, but made it clear that his view is that Obama voters should not present themselves without seeking penance first “lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.”Newman is the only priest in the U.S. known to have taken this position — the Catholic bishops met this week in Baltimore and this idea was not even discussed, at least in public session. Newman has posted on his parish web site the following letter explaining his rationale.
It sounds like there is a lot of evil people in this country. One can only imagine what this nut job was thinking (there were probably voices inside his head) when he saw millions of people screaming in joy after Obama was elected. Instead of concerning themselves so much with politics, religious hatemongers should stick to learning more about their own chosen profession, namely, why someone that professed love and unity would advocate for hate, division and segregation. It would be reassuring to see the Catholic Church publicly repudiate this guy and state their opposition to this type of religious advocacy.
Maybe the IRS should investigate why a religious nonprofit organization is openly supporting one political candidate over another. Either this reverend is removed or the tax exempt status for his church should be immediately revoked. Doesn’t religion also teach respect for laws?