Fed Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records

The Fed had argued that disclosure of the documents threatens to stigmatize borrowers and cause them “severe and irreparable competitive injury,”...

Funny how capitalists believe in capitalism when they're doing well, but don't believe poorly-performing companies should be driven out of business when theirs is one of them.

Jeff & Rogers -- looks like Jeff accidentally posted this article twice. I added my post to the other one, since Spud had already posted there and no one else had posted here.

...looks like Jeff accidentally posted this article twice...

An accident you say?

* chuckles *

THAT was no accident.

* strikes ominous chord *

It was a conspiracy!!!1!11!!

Mua Haha haha haha haha ha!

/Yes, lame but wot ya gonna do?
//Spud's been awake a ridiculously long time and is fading fast.

Be Well.

Funny how capitalists believe in capitalism when they're doing well.

It goes right along with singing the praises of laissez-faire competition and the "level playing field" while attempting to influence government regulations so as to corner a market.

I love the way, when something like this happens, it's usually about 10 years from the time the crime occurred to when something is actually just started to be done about it.

In that length of time, I personally could have written 10 different sets of records.

'You want some records? I'll give you all the records you want. Do you want the ones where we are the bad guys, or the ones that make the gov't the bad guy, possibly you would like the ones where this whole economic crisis was just caused by a accounting error in one of our field offices?'

oh,and I forgot to say; 'The federal Reserve is a corporation.' never forget that.

And guess who initiated this process and pushed it along?----Fox and Bloomberg.

Funny how capitalists believe in capitalism when they're doing well, but don't believe poorly-performing companies should be driven out of business when theirs is one of them.

#1 | Posted by Phoenix

Funny........... That ain't capitalism ass hole.

Funny how capitalists believe in capitalism when they're doing well, but don't believe poorly-performing companies should be driven out of business when theirs is one of them.

#1 | Posted by Phoenix

Funny........... That ain't capitalism ass hole.

#8 | Posted by Sniper

Agree with Sniper--- when you're linked to government as closely as these companies, I would call that a form of socialism.

Now his other point about you being part and parcel of a derriere----will not comment on.

"Fed Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records"

OUCH, that's going to hurt.

If this thing ultimately happens, then I would wager Paul's bill would no longer be needed unless it's a bill to intermittently audit the Fed on a rolling 6 month basis.

more meaningless posturing.

translation: hey! eveyone else is getting paid off, why not MEEEEEEEE!?!?!?!!?!?

Funny........... That ain't capitalism ass hole. -- #8 | Posted by Sniper

I think you missed the sarcasm in my original statement.

I'm very patient with children. If you ask nicely, I'll explain it to you.

pho, I guess I missed it. I couldn't help myself.

I am totally against this. It's private info inbetween the banks and their regulators.

Whenever a bank gets a 'memoranda of understanding' from their regulators, it's a stiff warning and NOT public knowledge.

It rejected an alternative argument the individual Federal Reserve Banks are “persons,” for purposes of the law because they would not suffer the kind of harm required under the “privileged and confidential” requirement of the exemption.

Alas, the Roberts court has demonstrated a willingness to take a different view of what are "persons."

This may be appealed to the SC, I would expect it to be so.

Fuck Michael Bloomberg,the originator of this suit.

Good for Bloomberg. Let's see those documents.

LUCY! You have some 'splainin to do!!!

Yes. It is very important every tax payer saves billions of dollars in AIG & Lehman kickbacks.

Whenever a bank gets a 'memoranda of understanding' from their regulators, it's a stiff warning and NOT public knowledge. -- #15 | Posted by DavetheWave

$2 trillion in bailouts, paid out of public funds, goes well beyond a "memorandum of understanding."

The whole truth and nothing but the truth is this.

American Corporations have been running criminal scams against their own customers, foreign and domestic. The USA is a belligerent war machine unable to finance its own belligerence. Once the scams became apparent the war machine became immediately unsustainable (i.e. the foriegn lending stopped). So our leaders decided to screw their taxbase and fully reimburse their foreign war financiers. They cannot reveal these facts to the public they're screwing. Thus the secrecy.

Nutcase,

After the fall of the Soviet, what we're experiencing now is known in the common parlance as "waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Just my two cents.

Cents which, not coincidentally, were debased from copper to zinc under Reagan's tenure.

Ray?

Actually Im using an old computer that is slower than cold molasses.

I guess I became impatient, and hit the enter key twice?

Cents which, not coincidentally, were debased from copper to zinc under Reagan's tenure.
Reagan became president in 1981. The penny went zinc in 1982.

In 1982 the composition of US one cent coin changed. Before 1982 the penny was composed of 95% copper, 5% zinc and weighed 3.11 grams. After 1982 all pennies are made from an alloy of 99.2% zinc and 0.8% copper which is then plated with pure copper giving it a weight of 2.5 grams. Both pennies were produced in 1982; therefore, when you see reference to a 1982 zinc penny, it is referring to a copper plated zinc penny just like all of the pennies minted today. To tell the difference between a 1982 copper and zinc penny you must weigh them. The "Zinc" pennies are 20% lighter than the "Copper" pennies, but they are both copper in color. To further add to the confusion, there are both large and small date versions of each. From the Philadelphia mint there are four variations: copper and zinc, large and small dates. From the Denver mint there are three variations: copper large date and zinc large and small dates. penny-trader.fl-ink.com

The Federal Reserve usually ignores the courts and there is no chance the AG will issue an order to subpoena the records. To appreciate why nothing will happen, try to imagine the magnitude of the political scandal.

I think the bailout info should be published.

That said, I know there was strong-arm tactics used to make "good" banks accept bailout money.

I hope they publish the details, not just the names of the banks that took loans.

Through top secret contacts inside the Department of Secret Shit, I happen to have a break-down of the Fed's budget;

Bribing Politicians - 2% (i was sort of surpised it took so little of their total for this activity).

Funding war-lords - 10%

Funding countries to fight warlords - 10%

Funding propaganda to make it look like there is no funding or propaganda - 30%

Party favors (rubber chickens, balloons, dildos, hookers, etc) - 63%

Accountants - 19%

I know there was strong-arm tactics used to make "good" banks accept bailout money. -- #26 | Posted by 1libertarian

You're thinking of the bailouts that were authorized by Congress.

This decision concerns the $2 trillion in public funds the Fed doled out without ANY authorization or oversight. Very scary. There are 5 people on the Fed's Board of Governors (www.federalreserve.gov), we didn't elect a single one of them, they are not directly accountable to us in any way, and they decided to dole out $2 trillion after the $750 billion bailout barely passed?

Who knew Bernanke, Donald Kohn, Kevin Warsh, Elizabeth Duke and Daniel Tarulla could decide to spend $2 trillion of our money, in obvious defiance of our preferences, without even telling us where our money was going?

#28 | Posted by Phoenix

You may want to consult the Federal Resrve Act of 1913

And it's all okay because they own the money. They are just kind enough to let you borrow it, with interest, of course.

Hey Lip, I know you're being sarcastic but --

You may want to consult the Federal Resrve Act of 1913 -- #29 | Posted by Lipzoidial

Why?

On the day before Thanksgiving in 1991, the U.S. Senate voted to vastly expand the emergency powers of the Federal Reserve.

Almost no one noticed.

The critical language was contained in a single, somewhat inscrutable sentence, and the only public explanation was offered during a final debate that began with a reminder that senators had airplanes to catch. Yet, in removing a long-standing prohibition on loans that supported financial speculation, the provision effectively allowed the Fed for the first time to lend money to Wall Street during a crisis.

That authority, which sat unused for more than 16 years, now provides the legal basis for the Fed's unprecedented efforts to rescue the financial system. www.washingtonpost.com

And remember, there's no consensus even among professional economists and bankers that Bernanke is doing the right thing. From the same article:

The repeated use of the once-dusty law has surprised and alarmed a wide range of people, including economists and members of Congress. It has even raised worries among presidents of the regional banks that make up the Federal Reserve system.

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and Philly Fed President Charles Plosser are among those who have gone on record opposing Bernanke's $2 trillion bailout program. See, e.g., www.bloomberg.com

Moreover, it IS public money. From the Post article linked above:

Many critics are concerned that an institution not accountable to voters is risking vast amounts of public money and choosing which companies get help. Others are concerned that the Fed's new role will interfere with its basic responsibility for regulating economic growth.

The Federal Reserve usually ignores the courts and there is no chance the AG will issue an order to subpoena the records. To appreciate why nothing will happen, try to imagine the magnitude of the political scandal.

I wouldn't put it beyond Obama to throw his "fellow" Democrats under the bus.

But it likely won't happen unless it makes Republicans look even worse than Democrats.

I get the sense most Americans feel we're due for a purge.

What? They have to tell you which relatives they gave the money to?

What a novel concept.

You don't get it Phoenix. The list of 19 tarp banks is public information. The list of banks the gov has on their watch lists IS NOT public information.

If that were the case all the borderline banks would fold....that was part of the problem with WaMu.

that 2 trillion you were refer to includes saving mm accts at mutual funds. vanguard and Fidelity and ALL the others would have broken the buck.

TALF is now being pulled back, the stop gap no longer needed.....