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tomm2thumbs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:02 AM
Original message
Bill Moyers- Truths About Banking Fraud Reach Highest Levels of Govt - W. Black
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 05:08 AM by tomm2thumbs
 
Run time: 09:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ4JXW_ErXQ
 
Posted on YouTube: April 04, 2009
By YouTube Member:
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Posted on DU: April 04, 2009
By DU Member: tomm2thumbs
Views on DU: 11411
 
Parts 1-3 and William Black pulls no punches on Democrats and Republicans in the current Banking Crisis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ4JXW_ErXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOA1RpK7ttg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMDLx_-f1L4

Summary: The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with William K. Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout

(update) William K. Black is now an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri.
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Grinchie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:25 AM
Response to Original message
1. This guy sums it up why Obama needs to fire Geithner.
I've had this nagging suspicion that Obama was giving the Fed and the Big Bankers plenty of rope. I just hope that Obama is their watching as they all hang themselves.

WE can all prey that some sort of miracle like that rises up and sanity returns.
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L0oniX Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 08:39 AM
Response to Reply #1
13. Obama should have known better in the first place and it is suspicious.
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fascisthunter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:44 PM
Response to Reply #13
27. yes it is...
Obama is no dummy.
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KT2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #13
36. Holding my fire
on Obama on this. He knows what is up and likely wanted people who would promote solutions smoothly and with the cooperation of international banks and other institutions.
If he puts in a radical reformer, the power of these large institutions and corporations with which they do business will do everything in their power to get rid of Obama - everything.

I think he has put accountability and punitive efforts on the back burner to save the economy so the regular people can still survive. That means giving some to the bad guys.

Maybe they will get theirs - but I doubt it - no matter who is in charge of the economic plan. These predators are psychopaths who have money stashed all over the globe. I am sure they have state secrets they could reveal as well. No matter what, they will survive and thrive.

Congress needs to enact regulations and demand DOJ prosecute.
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:22 PM
Response to Reply #36
41. KT Extremely Naive! Obama Took MOST Campaign $'s From Wall Street
ObamaFans This IS only going to get worse... Thankfully Bill Moyers and others are coming forward w/ the truth. There is only one party and that is the MONEY party. Both parties play for the same benefactors... In this case the FINANCE industry! :think: people! It is sad but true!
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KT2000 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:33 PM
Response to Reply #41
44. I don't think I am naive
The international financial world is criminal and corrupt and our political parties are bit players. Governments are flat out owned by the corporations now. Obama is just not going to take down wall street and I don't think we would want what results from that if he could even do it.

Someone like Nader could go in there and close all the loopholes, put them in jail, take all their assets and guess what. Corporations would bankrupt this country in a minute. That is when China or India assumes dominance and you can imagine what the US would look like.
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-09-09 04:37 AM
Response to Reply #41
80. TRUE, But It's A Shame That EVERYONE Else Has To Suffer Because Of Such Collective IGNORANCE!
:puke:
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lxlxlxl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:22 PM
Response to Reply #13
60. Suspicious? No. Safe? Yes.
Obama, branded a socialist by his crazy opposition, is playing it safe on economics. I don't think its suspicious. I think it shows Obama is a centrist on economics, but we already knew that didnt we.

I think this is the saddest moment politically and socially I've witnessed, but it was clear at the end of last year with all of the hysterics about Palin and the election, that America was too weak to tackle the reality of the economic situation with any real degree of 1) complexity or 2) honor.
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-24-09 07:32 AM
Response to Reply #13
68. KICK!
Boot!
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-14-09 11:12 AM
Response to Reply #68
71. Again!
:)
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 07:13 PM
Response to Reply #71
78. AGAIN!!!
:)
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scentopine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:34 PM
Response to Reply #1
47. Obama, Geithner, Summers Very Weak Team
Watching this team getting rope-a-doped by the bank CEOs is disturbing. Its also like Chamberlain negotiating with the Nazis. These three men are not serving the nation in an honorable way. Where are the leaders organizing a nationwide march on Wall Street? The best way to be American is to be involved. Protest doesn't make you a terrorist no matter what the government says - leaders - you are out there - please get organizing!!!!
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:48 PM
Response to Reply #47
48. This isn't a "weak team" . . . it's a very strong team for the interests they serve -- !!!
I'm quite sure you know that --

When we suggest that our "media"/press is broken we are still a long
way from acknowledging how very much is broken --

our government has been bought by coporate/elites over decades --
including our elected officials.

CIA funnelled money to right-wing Senators/Reps over long periods of
time to keep them in office -- Strom Thurmond, for one and
Gerald Ford, for another.

Nixon raised such huge sums by threatening corporations of the time
with anti-trust laws.

We've had political violence over decades -- the only way the right wing
can come to power --

and since the mid-late 1960's we've had computers running our elections.
That was right about the time they passed the Voting Rights Act!
This gave them the ability to steal larger blocs of vote over greater
distances.

There is only one problem with our financial sector -- and that's
DEREGULATION --

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime.

Dems are party of FDR and New Deal -- this is absolute betrayal.

Robert Reich and Alan Greenspan stopped the move to regulate derivatives...
and Congress went so far as to remove the right of to regulate from the
agency which was seeking to regulate them!

We've already had a S&L theft and embezzlement which cost taxpayers from
$500 billion to $800 billion depending on who's doing the calculating.

Much of this is simply crime and there should be no bailouts!

Except for workers and for Main Street by nationalizing and taking over.


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scentopine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #48
49. agree - media is culpable, completely broken
With each new scandal - from Iraq to Wall Street- media is working against good of the public. In the process, we are really becoming the very definition of a fascist state. The capitulation to these CEOs should make everyone's skin crawl. Geithner and Summers are completely out of touch with real working people. They simply do not acknowledge hard working and honest people getting screwed over and over. CEOs Need To Go!!! CEOs Need To Go!!! Right there in front of Goldman Sachs, in front of AIG. Put these greedy nasty SOBs on the hot seat. I'll fly/drive/crawl to NYC to do it - wait - maybe should I invest the cash in a mutual fund, instead? Seems to me investing in a huge march on wall street would have much better return and would be something I could tell my kids I did my best to stop the corruption and fraud.
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defendandprotect Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 09:28 AM
Response to Reply #49
55. I'm all for "in the streets" rebellion everywhere . . . .
and I believe in NYC there is some of that going on -- Code Pink?

It is Obama, however, who put ALL of these people in their positions . . .

As well, as putting the corporate-DLC in the White House.

The right wing is organized -- citizens mainly aren't!

Turn off the TVs . . .
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-16-09 09:55 AM
Response to Reply #55
74. Yep!
:)
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-26-09 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #55
76. HOW Else Do We Stop IT?
:think:
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat May-23-09 05:13 PM
Response to Reply #49
72. Truth!
:)
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The Wizard Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:07 AM
Response to Reply #48
51. "Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime."
Any system left unfettered becomes totalitarian.
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-14-09 09:28 PM
Response to Reply #51
66. NOW People We Are Beginning to Come Around On Our Thinking!
Keep heading down this path and we may just find a solution to this soft fascist maze. :think:
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-01-09 08:47 AM
Response to Reply #51
73. We're Seeing IT NOW!
:puke:
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Oct-03-09 09:27 AM
Response to Reply #51
82. RIGHT ON BROTHER! K&Rec please... !!!
:)
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-03-09 04:22 PM
Response to Reply #48
70. ABSOLUTELY TRUE!
:)
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lxlxlxl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:24 PM
Response to Reply #47
61. Get ready for the next 10 year collapse.
This crisis, if I had to guess, will slowly dissappear without even the slightest bit of justice for normal people or rational economics.

That said, there will be another crisis either sooner or later, and I hope 'progressives' have learned a lesson about what they should focus on, and actually be in a position to do something next time.
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-16-09 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #47
67. AGREED!
!
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lostnotforgotten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:37 AM
Response to Original message
2. The Truth About Obama's Bad Financial Policies Exposed - Nice Videos
eom
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Roadcyclist Donating Member (19 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 02:40 PM
Response to Reply #2
32. Obama is complicit
There is too much sentiment out there that electing Democrats will solve this crisis because the Republicans were so crooked. Indeed true. But, what many don't realize is the machine is corrupt regardless of party. Obama has great potential to do the people's will and to transform Washington but it won't be so easy as simply voting. It must involve agitation and civil disobedience. It must take the form of democracy.
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lostnotforgotten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 03:37 PM
Response to Reply #32
33. Are Geithner And Summers Still On The Job?
eom
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Jun-30-09 10:48 AM
Response to Reply #33
75. Goldman Sachs Running Da Show!
:puke:
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Sep-23-09 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #75
81. Kick It!
:)
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DaLittle Kitty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:27 PM
Response to Reply #32
43. Our Political System Is Corrupt and Is The Cause of this Behavior Both Parties to Blame!
In answer to the question "Why does Obama and Geithner not place failed banks in receivership, pull CEO's and prosecute those responsible?"

Quite simply because Obama et al are close culturally, politically and economically as in political contributions.

Obama won the election not w/o also winning the battle for contributions from these same Wall Street Execs.

Is it surprising that he protects his friends? Protect them and they protect him.

The true cause is our corrupt political system where the quid pro quo between business and the "political class" has destroyed not only our economy but the integrity of American government!
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screembloodymurder Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:38 AM
Response to Original message
3. Who is William Black?
:dunce:
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lostnotforgotten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:47 AM
Response to Reply #3
5. Regulator During The Reagan S&L Crisis In The Late 80s
eom
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rambler_american Donating Member (565 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:47 AM
Response to Original message
4. Not to nit pick....

We can all prey that some sort of miracle like that rises up


We can all pray. We have been prey for far too long.
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:08 AM
Response to Original message
6. The last thirty seconds of segment three provide the substance of a letter.
Mr. Black says that the data on losses is unavailable right now. However it is fairly easy to discover which banks are insolvent. The point is that most, if not all, of the eight largest banks in America are insolvent based on an equation that examines the balance of equity of deposits, first tier assets, market capitalization and how much bailout money they've received.

This basic information needs to be directed to our Congressional representatives to plainly say that (A) we first must get rid of the liars and incompetents like all the bank CEOs, Geithner and Summers. Then we must (B) have a non-partisan (not bi-partisan - there is a difference) discovery process to zero into specific failings, who is responsible for them, and where existing laws should provide a remedy for their failure. The last point of action is (C) deal appropriately with these banks. Shut them down. Put them into receivership. Break them into little pieces. Write off the losses. Prosecute those responsible for fraud and for aiding and abetting fraud.

After all of the above is done then we can start to make our way forward by enacting new laws with stout reinforcement with competent people.
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DemReadingDU Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:38 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. yes, this is what should occur now.

But the way this economic team is going, and they don't look like they intend to change course, I think we will get epic collapse first, before any new laws are enacted.

:(
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pattmarty Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 08:10 AM
Response to Reply #6
12. All that sounds great, but it's the implementation that 's a bitch.
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BelgianMadCow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 04:51 PM
Response to Reply #6
35.  "to discover which banks are insolvent"
may be easy when you know their balance & the bailout they received. Great thinking.

But isn't the majority of the bailout (if you include the parts outside the congressional bill) still under wraps?
They were stating they will not divulge who got what in order to avoid panic runs. That argument fails in the context of a non-partisan investigation partially behind closed doors.

You are right, it CAN be found out easily. But to the best of my knowledge, the excercise you describe is not possible right now by the public, is it?

In other words, "an equation that examines the balance of equity of deposits, first tier assets, market capitalization and how much bailout money they've received" is that already EXISTING?

The amount of crapola and propaganda surrounding the biggest bank heist in history is so staggering that probably even if this equation is known, people still wouldn't (be allowed to) pick it up.


regards
bmc
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 06:53 AM
Response to Reply #35
53. Start with what we know.
As of the end of September 2008, Citigroup had received $45 billion in government money. Other backstop guarantees on losses are distributed among FDIC, Treasury and the Fed to a sum total of $300 billion.

Their intra-day market capitalization is $15.61 billion. Enterprise value (a more accurate gauge of the company's true value) is $60 billion. Enterprise value (EV), itself, is the amount of money estimated that one would need to completely take over the company. This figure includes debt that a buyer would have to assume when taking over a company.

So when I look at the simple algorithm comparing bailout cash, backstop guarantees and EV - I see a worthless company being propped up for no apparent mathematical reason. To my mind, this flood of taxpayer capital looks to prop up the incompetent figureheads at the top of the company.
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Junkdrawer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:12 AM
Response to Original message
7. Transparency or Decades of Recession....
Take your pick.
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Kindigger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:44 AM
Response to Original message
9. That was one scary show.
The government, banks, and media HAVE TO continue the deception to keep the masses from knowing how bad it really is, because collapse and chaos would follow.

The part that got me was Black saying something about President Obama continuing the policy of the previous administration, with both being against the law. I'd have to watch it again to get the quote, but it explained why Obama would be hesitant to prosecute the evil-doers for other past crimes (pot meet kettle).

Then there was the media discussion, and how they control the message. I already knew that, but a couple weeks ago something very important happened. It was a short blurb on CNN I believe. I wouldn't even have understood it's significance if I hadn't seen Frontline two nights before. The show basically said, "The day the US fails to sell any of it's debt is the day we are totally screwn."

Three weeks ago Wednesday the US failed to sell any debt/bonds for the first time in history. I immediately went online looking for the story, which never appeared. It was never uttered on CNN again, or any other channel. I even came here to see if someone had already posted it.

I look on the internet now, and find tons of stories about the UK and Germany failing to sell theirs this past week.

So, if someone did post the bond story could you point me to it? We are so pwnd. :(

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Junkdrawer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:46 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. Transcript of the Moyers/Black interview here:
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Junkdrawer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 07:53 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. The UK had a failed long term bond sale...
The pound slumped all the way to $1.4550 after demand at an auction of U.K. bonds, called "gilts" because they are gilt-edged, fell short of the amount offered for the first time in 14 years. Investors bid for 1.63 billion pounds of the 40-year securities, less than the 1.75 billion pounds of 4.25% notes slated for sale.

The ability of governments to sell debt as they expand fiscal programs (and increase their budget deficits in the process) in order to boost sagging economies is seen as a crucial element in a government's ability to mitigate the crisis. The concern in currency markets in this instance was that the BoE might need to print additional currency in order beyond what has already been announced to make up any shortfall in sales. Of course, the same potential risks exist for the dollar should failed bond auctions occur in the U.S.

The BoE recently said it would print additional pound notes in order to purchase up to 150 billion pounds of U.K. debt, a monetary policy known as "quantitative easing" or monetizing the debt. The Federal Reserve last week announced its intention to purchase $300 billion worth of Treasuries.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said during a March 15 interview on the CBS news program 60 Minutes that the Fed was "effectively" printing money by using its computer to increase the balances that large commercial banks hold at the Central Bank.

Longer-dated debt is naturally more risky for investors than that of shorter duration because of the risk that higher inflation in coming years will erode a bond's real interest rate and therefore, prices, an especially risky proposition now considering how fast deficit spending is increasing. Today's gilt auction was for 40 year bonds, the longest-dated debt sold by the U.K.

....

http://www.actionforex.com/fundamental-analysis/daily-forex-fundamentals/dollar-index:-currency-implications-of-a-failed-bond-auction-2009032583041/
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slipslidingaway Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:19 AM
Response to Reply #9
17. Link to story....
not the best link so FWIW. There were a few posts at the time which did not receive much attention.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03262009/business/big_no_confidence_161393.htm

"...Meanwhile, notes from the US Treasury got a tepid reception and an auction of UK bonds flat out failed, signaling the widening distrust of usually safe government debt.

....Meanwhile, the Treasury's auctions to raise $98 billion this week met new investor resistance after a $34 billion chunk offered yesterday in five-year notes failed to dazzle buyers.

The Treasury agreed to a hasty premium of nearly 3 percent added to the yields to complete the sale.

The sale also was propped up by the Federal Reserve's unusual intervention of buying $7.5 billion of available notes -- the equivalent of buying 22 percent of yesterday's offering, the largest targeted intervention in more than 40 years.

The five-year note was offered at a yield of 1.801 percent, which shot up to 1.849 percent, signaling prices fell. Bond yields move inversely to bond prices.

The government is tripling the amount of US debt to more than $2.5 trillion this year. Investor fears of an overheated bond market caused bond prices to slump..."






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IrateCitizen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:16 PM
Response to Reply #9
22. Scary, no. Provoking a sense of outrage, yes!
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 12:16 PM by IrateCitizen
Honestly, little that I heard Black say was all that surprising. However, describing the manner in which different layers of the entire Ponzi scheme were structured, from the lower levels to the highest, just stokes the flames of outrage toward all those involved.

At a minimum, Geithner should be fired due to pure incompetence. Just watching him say, "I wasn't a regulator," in describing his position as the Chair of the New York Federal Reserve -- when that was EXACTLY what his job was -- should be reason enough to toss him out. However, Obama's reliance upon folks like Geithner and Summers (and Rubin, during his campaign) speak volumes to where his tendencies lie.

I think that this story ties in well with Moyers' last episode, in which he interviewed William Greider of The Nation. Greider described his own view of what happened during the Great Depression, a description that has a comment on the crisis of today, as follows:
Here's my take on the New Deal and the history of what actually happened. And it conveniently fits my deeper prejudices about the country and how progress is achieved in America. That is, people in the streets or churches or wherever found their voice and made it happen by agitating and informing the higher authorities. In the early '30s, Franklin Roosevelt had a set of things he thought he could do to right the ship of the Depression. He tried some of them. They didn't work very well. Meanwhile, organized labor, others, were all over the country lighting bonfires for bigger changes. Social security came out of that. Labor rights, the first attempt to give people the right to organize their own voices in a company came out of that. A whole bunch of other reforms that we now take for granted. And Roosevelt didn't stand athwart and try to stop them. But he let them roll him. And he- and I think that's what, I hope for now. That people of every stripe will stand up and say, we love you Mr. President, but you don't have it right yet. And we're going to bang on your door until you get it right.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03272009/transcript4.html

I think this comes down to your own view of how history unfolds. Does social change come as the result of the beneficence of enlightened rulers, or is it a groundswell of pressure from the "common citizens" who basically force government to legislate significant change or risk serious social unrest?
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xxqqqzme Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 01:41 PM
Response to Reply #9
31. I heard that as well and like you nothing
else was reported. I started thinking I hadn't heard it right.
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Jeep789 Donating Member (935 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 06:52 PM
Response to Reply #9
42. So you are saying Obama shouldn't continue the deception
and thus allow the economic "collapse and chaos" to follow?
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90-percent Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 08:52 AM
Response to Original message
14. this episode of Moyers
This lays out the entirety of the scandal in simple understandable terms.

Looks like the next bubble to burst is the one where all the trillions we've been bestowing on the greedheads that caused this is the first place vanishes in to thin air.

It's pretty clear all this is the doing of sociopathic greedy fuckers. That bought political favor to un do the rules to let this happen.

Are our political leaders wise, smart and brave enough to prevent this bubble economy bullshit from ever happening in the future?

I doubt it.

Every man for himself. And, if you're investing, if the return rate is too good to be true, you got a ponzi scheme, and it aint rigged in your favor!

-90% jimmy

The imbalance between auto worker treatment and the money handlers treatment by our entire political system is downright obscene.

-90% jimmy

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mckara Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 08:57 AM
Response to Original message
15. Geithner Must Be Fired!

And so should all the corrupt banksters on Wall Street, on Main Street, and in Congress!
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DemReadingDU Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:04 AM
Response to Original message
16. Interesting comments left on the Moyers blog
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Iwillnevergiveup Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:01 AM
Response to Original message
18. So I guess
William K. Black is now gonna get booked solid on all the Sunday morning shows, right? Boy, does this presentation need to go viral.

K&R
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balantz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:31 AM
Response to Original message
19. An excerpt from the Bill Moyers show.

BILL MOYERS: Yeah. Are you saying that Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury, and others in the administration, with the banks, are engaged in a cover up to keep us from knowing what went wrong?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: You are.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Absolutely, because they are scared to death. All right? They're scared to death of a collapse. They're afraid that if they admit the truth, that many of the large banks are insolvent. They think Americans are a bunch of cowards, and that we'll run screaming to the exits. And we won't rely on deposit insurance. And, by the way, you can rely on deposit insurance. And it's foolishness. All right? Now, it may be worse than that. You can impute more cynical motives. But I think they are sincerely just panicked about, "We just can't let the big banks fail." That's wrong.

BILL MOYERS: But what might happen, at this point, if in fact they keep from us the true health of the banks?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Well, then the banks will, as they did in Japan, either stay enormously weak, or Treasury will be forced to increasingly absurd giveaways of taxpayer money. We've seen how horrific AIG -- and remember, they kept secrets from everyone.

BILL MOYERS: A.I.G. did?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: What we're doing with -- no, Treasury and both administrations. The Bush administration and now the Obama administration kept secret from us what was being done with AIG. AIG was being used secretly to bail out favored banks like UBS and like Goldman Sachs. Secretary Paulson's firm, that he had come from being CEO. It got the largest amount of money. $12.9 billion. And they didn't want us to know that. And it was only Congressional pressure, and not Congressional pressure, by the way, on Geithner, but Congressional pressure on AIG.

Where Congress said, "We will not give you a single penny more unless we know who received the money." And, you know, when he was Treasury Secretary, Paulson created a recommendation group to tell Treasury what they ought to do with AIG. And he put Goldman Sachs on it.

BILL MOYERS: Even though Goldman Sachs had a big vested stake.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Massive stake. And even though he had just been CEO of Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury Secretary. Now, in most stages in American history, that would be a scandal of such proportions that he wouldn't be allowed in civilized society.

BILL MOYERS: Yeah, like a conflict of interest, it seems.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Massive conflict of interests.

BILL MOYERS: So, how did he get away with it?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: I don't know whether we've lost our capability of outrage. Or whether the cover up has been so successful that people just don't have the facts to react to it.

BILL MOYERS: Who's going to get the facts?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: We need some chairmen or chairwomen--

BILL MOYERS: In Congress.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: --in Congress, to hold the necessary hearings. And we can blast this out. But if you leave the failed CEOs in place, it isn't just that they're terrible business people, though they are. It isn't just that they lack integrity, though they do. Because they were engaged in these frauds. But they're not going to disclose the truth about the assets.


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sabrina 1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #19
23. AIG was used to launder the money from the
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 12:18 PM by sabrina 1
bailouts. Just as many ordinary people suspected.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: What we're doing with -- no, Treasury and both administrations. The Bush administration and now the Obama administration kept secret from us what was being done with AIG. AIG was being used secretly to bail out favored banks like UBS and like Goldman Sachs. Secretary Paulson's firm, that he had come from being CEO. It got the largest amount of money. $12.9 billion. And they didn't want us to know that. And it was only Congressional pressure, and not Congressional pressure, by the way, on Geithner, but Congressional pressure on AIG.

Where Congress said, "We will not give you a single penny more unless we know who received the money." And, you know, when he was Treasury Secretary, Paulson created a recommendation group to tell Treasury what they ought to do with AIG. And he put Goldman Sachs on it.

BILL MOYERS: Even though Goldman Sachs had a big vested stake.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Massive stake. And even though he had just been CEO of Goldman Sachs before becoming Treasury Secretary. Now, in most stages in American history, that would be a scandal of such proportions that he wouldn't be allowed in civilized society.


A 'massive conflict of interest' for Paulson as a former CEO of Goldman Sachs.

In the documentary, 'Inside the Meltdown', it outlines how Paulson allowed Lehman Bros. to fail and claims he did it to 'send a 'tough love' message to Wall St. that the government would not be stepping in, as they did with Bear Stearns. The dreaded 'Socialist' label was what they feared, far more than they feared a total collapse of the world's economy.

In the documentary it claims he totally underestimated what would happen if Lehman Bros. failed, eg he didn't take into account how many other obligations Lehman Bros had, and was SHOCKED at the reaction after it happened!

If all this is true, and these are the geniuses of our economic system, it's little wonder that we are now where we are.

Funny, the people, and a few members of Congress such as Marcy Kaptur and Kucinich, 'got it' from the moment they saw Paulson's performance on Sept. 15th.

What is happening is they are desperately trying to preserve the 'system', the failed system of runaway Capitalism, but are caught in a trap of their own making, as over and over again, they have been forced to go the government, proving their system is unsustainable, that the 'market will take care of it' is nonsense (which they still deny) but continue to use the people's money to bail themselves out. Conservatives especially ought to be outraged by these people, as they are the cause of the failure of Capitalism, unregulated Capitalism was bound to fail, but taking human nature into account, was never something they did. Corporations have 'personhood status', people don't matter to them and this is the result of that kind of thinking.

Reading Black's interview, and several others by Bill Moyers, and watching 'Inside the Meltdown', it's hard to believe that Obama has gotten behind this 'scheme' to try to save a system that has failed so massively, and has a history of failure (the S&L scandal) where the bill for the greedy capitalists always goes to the tax-payers, who never benefit in any way from all the money they are forced to pay to bail out these fraudulent scam artists, over and over again.

If you haven't watched 'Inside the Meltdown' it is well worth watching. It is on Frontline's site, here http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meltdown/view/

Funny that Madoff is in jail for operating HIS Ponzi scheme, but many of those who operated a far bigger one, are running off with their profits, and some are in this administration trying to convince us they know what they are doing.

Who will stop this? Congress is basically bought and paid for. One of those interviewed by Moyers, I forget which one, says that the only hope is to see massive outrage from the people themselves.
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balantz Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #23
24. And Paulson and all were/are just doing the bidding of Goldman Sachs. n/t
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bobshin Donating Member (165 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:33 AM
Response to Original message
20. For all of you saying there are bigger fish to fry than indicting * etal
This is the entire reason this happened. The S&L scandal was never fully investigated. The players are still in the game proving that the rewards are much greater than the risk. The Bushes were at the center of that scandal. The Democrats are just as much to blame as the Republicans. Clinton's, and even Nixon's, impeachments were pitifully entertaining nuggets meant to cover up the real crimes in our government.
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KoKo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:45 AM
Response to Original message
21. An excellent watch...all the way through but Part 3 if you already know
the background and don't have time to go through it again.

K&R
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ihavenobias Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
25. BIG K & R n/t
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Kaleko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:38 PM
Response to Original message
26. Terrifying.
I don't see Obama listening to guys like William Black and changing course.

Now what?
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pauldp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
28. This guy makes so much sense.
I wish I could recommend this more than once.
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frylock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 01:16 PM
Response to Original message
29. knr
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 01:17 PM by frylock
watched this last night. people need to open their eyes, cuz we're being bamboozled bigtime.
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pam4water Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 01:34 PM
Response to Original message
30. K & R I watched it twice.
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BelgianMadCow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
34. Back when DU still had videos posted in GD, this would get as many recs as it has views
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 04:25 PM by BelgianMadCow
on Youtube. 317.
317.
:-(

Very concise and digestable. I didn't know about the law MANDATING receivership in cases like this.
And the non-followed up FBI memo warning of disaster...

"we never could have imagined they would use derivatives as financial weapons of mass destruction"
:sarcasm:
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pam4water Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-08-09 08:40 AM
Response to Reply #34
64. What is GD? On the plus side some people may hav watched in the PBS site. Maybe not.
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polichick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:13 PM
Response to Original message
37. A "moral crisis" indeed!
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sallylou666 Donating Member (135 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:35 PM
Response to Original message
38. Thanks, junkdrawer
junkdrawer, thanks for the link to the transcript for us hard of hearing folk! :-)
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JFKfanforever Donating Member (145 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:37 PM
Response to Reply #38
39. Here is a K&R!
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rollingrock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 05:50 PM
Response to Original message
40. Th eObama team promised to run the most transparent admin in history
so far, the trillion dollar bailout process has been anything but transparent.

for the first time in history, the solution turns out to be a greater fraud than the scandal it was meant to address. the obama team seems determined not on putting out the fire but turning it into a raging inferno.

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lostnotforgotten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 06:55 AM
Response to Reply #40
54. And Yet - Obama Still Makes Headlines In Prague By Saying "Yes We Can"
It is getting old!
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BelgianMadCow Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:46 PM
Response to Reply #54
57. He also said "jump"
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 07:46 PM by BelgianMadCow
and we said, how high?

I'm real sad to say I'm sickened by his appearance. First item in the news here: Obama saying we have to walk the walk w/rgds to military involvment because "another attack is as likely, if not MORE likely, to happen here (in Europe)".

Really now, take your fearmongering and go home.

Alas, we seem to lap it up just because someone smarter than a chimp is relaying the message.

I remember the tears of joy on election night - I video'd DU and my 5-year old still knows why I was happy and who Obama is.

Seems distant now..:-(
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whathappened Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:27 PM
Response to Original message
45. something smells like fish
maybe this goes back to when jr wanted our ss money in the stock markets , that did'nt fly so well , so they could'nt steal that money , so new plan , crash the whole system and then steal the tax money , jr and crash cart had a plan , and maybe this was there end game plan , my 2 cent
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MelissaB Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:47 PM
Response to Original message
46. Bookmarking for a closer read tomorrow.
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SlowDownFast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:57 AM
Response to Original message
50. Rec'd. Everyone needs to watch this. n/t
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Sky Masterson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:58 AM
Response to Original message
52. I love Bill Moyers, but this story should be on 60 minutes instead.
Or CNN,MSNBC,Hell even FAUX could have a hell of a time pushing this story.
I need more Coffee. :P
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lxlxlxl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:27 PM
Response to Reply #52
62. lack of real interest on the other networks is...appalling?
It's not like i expect spokespeople/talk tv types to even try to get to the bottom of the mess. They can't even get to the top for all I can tell.

the thing that bugs me the most is how HOMOGENOUS and repeated everything is on the other networks. they all run with the same scripts like robots sometimes. at first, the subprime crisis was all about poor people getting loans, and look how far that was from reality.

make sure you track the other interview down with William Black on Ian Masters show on KPFK (Background Breifing)
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Overseas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 10:44 AM
Response to Original message
56. Kick n/t
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Dinger Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 12:17 PM
Response to Original message
58. This Is From A Man who Voted For And Worked Hard To get Obama Elected
Just keep that in mind in case anyone wants to start slinging shit.
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lxlxlxl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 04:18 PM
Response to Original message
59. More William Black on Ian Masters show on KPFK
Ian gets into a little more detail on Sunday's Background Breifing...

Covers some crazy stuff I havent heard of yet like UBS executives smuggling diamonds, and at the end of the show he reminds us who purchased Enron's trading operations -- AIG.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-07-09 11:08 PM
Response to Original message
63. this is a GREAT interview
Summers and Geithner need to go now.

This, along with Simon Johnson's article in The Atlantic Montly tells the truth.

Obama needs to make some corrections on his financial team. Summers and Geithner got rid of the real watchdog - they are part of the problem.

for the good of this nation, they should both resign over the space of a few months and Obama needs to get some people who are not neo-libs. They are part of and helped to produce the poblem.
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OnceUponTimeOnTheNet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-08-09 09:51 AM
Response to Original message
65. Kick
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KansDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Apr-24-09 12:04 PM
Response to Original message
69. Update the pledge to read, "one nation under fraud..." (nt)
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Uncle Joe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jul-26-09 12:55 PM
Response to Original message
77. Kicked and too late to recommend.
Edited on Sun Jul-26-09 12:55 PM by Uncle Joe
Thanks for the thread, tom2thumbs.
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abelenkpe2 Donating Member (274 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 07:33 PM
Response to Original message
79. Dont worry
Yes there will probably be another leg down and the reality of economic situation will be evident here around the globe. I have faith that eventually there will be investigations similar to the Pecora commission of the great depression. The CEO's of banks and financial systems will be replaced and so will Giethner, Summers, etc. The pendulum is swinging our way....away from corporatism and the belief that markets will regulate themselves...and towards a more social democracy. It's a cycle.
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