Well, not really. Not any more at least but I could get it back in a month or so. The ear is still pretty good but I struggle with the vocab and construction and wondering whether something is male of female--but then again in these times when restaurants proudly advertise that in THEIR establishment boys and girls can go potty in the same place one wonders if even the French care any more. We'll all have to learn it I suspect as yesterday The Leader made it very clear that his goal is to turn this country into the Seventh...or is it the eighth Republic before he's done.
The arrogance is sunning, the stupidity unimagined and the question as to whether ANYTHING The Leader proposes will stand the test of constitutionality remains out there. It is clear he doesn't care. Like FDR he is determined to install his vision of this nation in stone and hope that it lasts. Getting it there is important for he realizes that once enacted, givaway programs are very hard to undo. And so the transfer of wealth continues this time from the hated banks to the UAW, to the lower middle class to every Democratic support group to be found without any concern as to effect. This administration has become entirely political in every action it takes. It exists only to survive and grow like some giant Hydra, devouring every thing to feed itself and its young.
To place a tax on the 50 largest banks is merely a cover-your-ass procedure to deflect attention from the monumentally failed programs of the president and the Democratic party: Fanny and Fred, GM, GMAC, Chrysler and the mortgage protection program. Yes, I am making assumptions but is there any doubt when just this week the "New" GM made it clear that there success depends on...wait for it...TRUCKS! Where have we heard that before.
Now France is a wonderful country and I, unlike many Americans, have never had a problem in France or with Frenchmen. Besides, the food is fabulous. But I fear this reshaping of this country: I fear the spirt a individualism that has shaped and is so much a part of what has made this country grate is being squeezed out of it in favor of an elitism of the political left who for the most part have never struggled with making a deadline, making a payroll or a mortgage payment. They are the new Elite, the children for the most part of privilege and of the eastern finishing schools referred to as Universities, offspring of those who grew up with the sounds of eastern European socialism argued around the dinner table. I grew up with their grandparents and their parents. I recognize the music. I am afraid they are the only band in town.
The Leader then gave another of his vacuous speeches about all we (he says "I") am going to do for that poor, benighted country, Haiti. Am so we should. But The Leader doesn't recognize that we are still capable of perhaps bringing this situation back from the brink because of what America has been, not what it will be in his vision of the future. Great nations are great because they stand apart, not blend in. They do this because of the will of the their people who refuse to be just another face in the crowd. The are great because their people have a overwhelming desire to overachieve; who when asked to lead and motivate and overachieve they say, "I will" not, "why should I?" The fruits of that attitude and labor allow us to save Haiti. As I said, I love France, but I don't want to be France. Every day The Leader and his mob gets us closer. Pour moi, NON! Sorry for the rant
_________________________________________________________
I though I was on to a really great idea as I mentioned, but as I worked on it it didn't come together. Hence nuttin' happened yesterday. I'm still working on it. Sorry again
Showing posts with label GM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GM. Show all posts
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES
Boy, was I wrong when I said not much was going on. Today exploded with action on the regulatory front all of which stank.
First, The Leader and his boys let it drop that they were trying to figure out ways to insure that the American Taxpayer gets all of his money from TARP back. Of course they couldn't give a damn about the taxpayer but here presented itself another way to lay a tax on the banks which they believe no one in the country cares about anyway. These guys are like Willie Sutton , who wen asked why he robbed banks replied,"Because that's where the money is." Actually, they are worse than Willie; he didn't lie about his reasons.
Anyway, what we have seen is that almost all the "banks" have repaid their TARP funds, with interest and with an additional healthy return generated for the USG by way of the sale of the warrants that were part of the deal. But it would appear that there might be a few problems along the way because if one remembers, a whole bunch of taxpayer money went to GM (now owned by the Gov.), GMAC, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial and AIG. That aint comin' back soon. Then of course there is the little matter of Fanny and Freddie, the makers of the feast about whom we have spoken ad nauseam over the months. So why tax the banks for the decision to bail out this bunch? Think Willie Sutton. Actually, if the actions of the Government were to be viewed from the prospectus of Cui Bono, why not tax the United Auto Workers? How far do you think that idea would get? Or better yet, is there a way to garnish the salaries of Congress? Just a little midwest populist jibe there, don't take me seriously. I'm a little past my "use by" date, but in my lifetime I have never seen a more venial, useless bunch than has been put together by The Leader and his handlers. These guys are the worst.
Well, let me rethink that. Came today Shelia ("Poo") Bair, head of the FDIC with another idea. With a split vote, the FDIC is now proposing a tiered level of deposit insurance to be paid by banks based upon the perception of risk that SOMEBODY will determine exists on the banks' balance sheets. To put it another way, she is proposing to tax liabilities (she claims it's not a tax) according to some credit determination made by SOMEBODY (you see, she doesn't have nearly the talent in house) at some point for some non-defined period of time. This is a Bair of very little brain. When questioned about this on TV this morning she was unable to come close to explaining her theory behind this. Nor has she apparently considered the fact that the cost of this hair brained scheme will be passed right through to the consumer depositors in the form of either lower interest payments, additional fees, reductions of service or all of the above including a few other delicious charges all of which will be blamed on the FDIC. Nor has she considered the fact that the two biggest risk takers, Goldie and Morgan Stanley have little if any consumer deposits but as bank holding companies they now come under the FDIC umbrella and the implied protection that that brings. If there is a X rated version of "Dumb and Dumber," she should be the star.
Finally, it now appears that Helicopter Ben may well be back in trouble as to his re-confirmation. He deserves it, the jerk, and on top of it all he is now in a nasty little open-air brawl with John Taylor, now of Stanford over the "Taylor Rule" which the good prof feels Mr. Bernanke has deliberately mis-catorgorized. Academics at each other's throats!! Hide the Children! I could care less if the Chairman gets himself into this little brawls except that it does no good for his institution in these times. Somebody had better start standing up for the only group of people who actually know what the hell is going on out there otherwise we are heading for a real mess if not catastrophy .
First, The Leader and his boys let it drop that they were trying to figure out ways to insure that the American Taxpayer gets all of his money from TARP back. Of course they couldn't give a damn about the taxpayer but here presented itself another way to lay a tax on the banks which they believe no one in the country cares about anyway. These guys are like Willie Sutton , who wen asked why he robbed banks replied,"Because that's where the money is." Actually, they are worse than Willie; he didn't lie about his reasons.
Anyway, what we have seen is that almost all the "banks" have repaid their TARP funds, with interest and with an additional healthy return generated for the USG by way of the sale of the warrants that were part of the deal. But it would appear that there might be a few problems along the way because if one remembers, a whole bunch of taxpayer money went to GM (now owned by the Gov.), GMAC, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial and AIG. That aint comin' back soon. Then of course there is the little matter of Fanny and Freddie, the makers of the feast about whom we have spoken ad nauseam over the months. So why tax the banks for the decision to bail out this bunch? Think Willie Sutton. Actually, if the actions of the Government were to be viewed from the prospectus of Cui Bono, why not tax the United Auto Workers? How far do you think that idea would get? Or better yet, is there a way to garnish the salaries of Congress? Just a little midwest populist jibe there, don't take me seriously. I'm a little past my "use by" date, but in my lifetime I have never seen a more venial, useless bunch than has been put together by The Leader and his handlers. These guys are the worst.
Well, let me rethink that. Came today Shelia ("Poo") Bair, head of the FDIC with another idea. With a split vote, the FDIC is now proposing a tiered level of deposit insurance to be paid by banks based upon the perception of risk that SOMEBODY will determine exists on the banks' balance sheets. To put it another way, she is proposing to tax liabilities (she claims it's not a tax) according to some credit determination made by SOMEBODY (you see, she doesn't have nearly the talent in house) at some point for some non-defined period of time. This is a Bair of very little brain. When questioned about this on TV this morning she was unable to come close to explaining her theory behind this. Nor has she apparently considered the fact that the cost of this hair brained scheme will be passed right through to the consumer depositors in the form of either lower interest payments, additional fees, reductions of service or all of the above including a few other delicious charges all of which will be blamed on the FDIC. Nor has she considered the fact that the two biggest risk takers, Goldie and Morgan Stanley have little if any consumer deposits but as bank holding companies they now come under the FDIC umbrella and the implied protection that that brings. If there is a X rated version of "Dumb and Dumber," she should be the star.
Finally, it now appears that Helicopter Ben may well be back in trouble as to his re-confirmation. He deserves it, the jerk, and on top of it all he is now in a nasty little open-air brawl with John Taylor, now of Stanford over the "Taylor Rule" which the good prof feels Mr. Bernanke has deliberately mis-catorgorized. Academics at each other's throats!! Hide the Children! I could care less if the Chairman gets himself into this little brawls except that it does no good for his institution in these times. Somebody had better start standing up for the only group of people who actually know what the hell is going on out there otherwise we are heading for a real mess if not catastrophy .
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I HATE IT WHEN...
...I have to correct myself, but a loyal reader called to tell me that I should have said, "...it appears that Mr. Feinberg will refuse..." He is of course correct. The pay czar has made no final decision but I will lay 8-5 that what we will get in this case is a lot of, "Outrageous, Unconscionable, Undeserved," blah, blah and little else. I tend not to get too excited about this pay czar thing, stupid though it might be, because it will certainly whither and disappear as the financial sector emerges from this latest collapse which if the Fed continues to hand out free money will not be too long from today (mind the regionals, however). The signs are already emerging in the U.K. where the FSA blinked on the supposed mandated pay schedules, and are speaking only in terms of pay "guidelines" as the outlook for the sector improves. I suspect that good deal of this is to let bygones be bygones, after all boys will be boys and all of the stuff we love, what--but let us remember that the FSA has already been pronounced dead and buried by the Conservative Party if it is successful in the next election (less of a bet but still odds-on) and why get the City all riled up at this stage? The feeling on the Street here across the pond is that this too shall pass.
However, this tendency on the part of The Leader and Our Hero to control practically everything is not just a passing fancy. Has one noticed that not only are there discussions as to the need for the free flow of credit to resume but that in addition, there is a very clear undercurrent as to what locations it should be directed? The cash for clunkers program, while great for dealerships is about as dumb a use of money the country doesn't have as one can find. (Full disclosure: I checked on my clunker with messrs.Toyota and Honda: my old Acura was made with two different catalytic converters; one qualifies the other doesn't. Of course there is no way to tell which is which. You can't make this stuff up). I though we had seen this movie before when, in an attempt to eliminate "Redlining," mortgage lending was expanded by government fiat with, shall we say, somewhat uneven results. Or billions to the UA...ah, GM and Chrysler on the biggest come-line bet ever made. Oh, as an aside, GM announced its Chevy Volt yesterday with a milage rating of 240 per gallon if you have a 400 mile extension cord. I's supposed to have unlimited milage in city driving. Memo to The Leader: WE DON'T WANT BLOODY CARS IN THE BLOODY CITY!!! But of course, it's clean; it's a shame 2.5 billion Chinese and Indians aren't. In the good old days we used to say,"Hell, it's not our money it's the depositors." Wonder what these guys say?
As a final note to this week, jobless claims went up, retail sales were lousy and the Dow was up 36+ points. Go figure. I guess the continued uptick was based on the fact that France and Germany said the recession was over and it was onward and upward. Did someone, somewhere, care?
See you on Monday. It's too nice outside to write inside
However, this tendency on the part of The Leader and Our Hero to control practically everything is not just a passing fancy. Has one noticed that not only are there discussions as to the need for the free flow of credit to resume but that in addition, there is a very clear undercurrent as to what locations it should be directed? The cash for clunkers program, while great for dealerships is about as dumb a use of money the country doesn't have as one can find. (Full disclosure: I checked on my clunker with messrs.Toyota and Honda: my old Acura was made with two different catalytic converters; one qualifies the other doesn't. Of course there is no way to tell which is which. You can't make this stuff up). I though we had seen this movie before when, in an attempt to eliminate "Redlining," mortgage lending was expanded by government fiat with, shall we say, somewhat uneven results. Or billions to the UA...ah, GM and Chrysler on the biggest come-line bet ever made. Oh, as an aside, GM announced its Chevy Volt yesterday with a milage rating of 240 per gallon if you have a 400 mile extension cord. I's supposed to have unlimited milage in city driving. Memo to The Leader: WE DON'T WANT BLOODY CARS IN THE BLOODY CITY!!! But of course, it's clean; it's a shame 2.5 billion Chinese and Indians aren't. In the good old days we used to say,"Hell, it's not our money it's the depositors." Wonder what these guys say?
As a final note to this week, jobless claims went up, retail sales were lousy and the Dow was up 36+ points. Go figure. I guess the continued uptick was based on the fact that France and Germany said the recession was over and it was onward and upward. Did someone, somewhere, care?
See you on Monday. It's too nice outside to write inside
Monday, June 1, 2009
WHAT'S GOOD FOR GENERAL MOTORS...
The Leader, at the end of his press conference today quoted this famous American "truism" in a different context. Back in 1953 when Charlie Wilson, then GM's Chairman first used the phrase at his Senate hearing concerning his nomination for Defense Secretary, he was excoriated by the political left in the harshest of terms. Not so this morning as the United States taxpayers became the owner of GM thanks to the Obama Administration. To call the Leader's little speech today crap would be boarding on the statement of an untruth but I suppose that suggestion is better here that to suggest the same in regard to the President of the United States. It was simply appalling. How the hell anyone can believe this...ah...crap is beyond me. "GM will be run by its management and an independent board of directors..." Yeah, until the decision as to what kind of cars to make and where to make them comes up. Then, as Mr. Gettlefinger admitted on TV the other day with nary a query from the adoring press, it will be made by the UAW and the White House. "GM will make the kind of cars the American people want..." Gang I live in the midwest and regularly drive 200 miles to visit the grandkids over some of the most heavily traveled highways in this country. I do not want to travel those roads in a Fiat Cinque Cento or in an Obamamobile. And that view is not going to change in the future---like after the 2010 elections--when the federal gasoline tax is raised to a level deemed sufficient to FORCE consumers to buy the kind of cars The Leader wants built. A bad day. By the by, where does he find those people to stand behind him during these moments? This some kind of, "got your back" thing?" Shouldn't they be working?
Now POTUS is one thing, but I think I can call Paul Krugman more or less a liar. You know the Leader's mob is getting worried about how things might turn out when they start finding new people to blame for what is about to happen and Krugman is more than happy to prostitute himself once more to the cause. If this doesn't work, we can blame Ronald Reagan. His column today in the Times is a compilation of half-truths, misrepresentations and outright lies. Time and space prevents one from commenting fully so all I can do is suggest that the column be read, keeping in mind a few inconvenient facts (from Mr. Krugman's standpoint) while so doing. Among these might be the Viet Nam War (guns and butter), The Great Society, Jimmy Carter, the Community Re-Investment Act, the difference between debt as a percentage of GDP (GDP rose tremendously during Reagan's administration) and the actual number and the fact that the major regulations placed on financial institutions in the Depression were overturned by Bill Clinton and his Sec of Treasury, Bob Rubin who went on to even greater accomplishments at Citicorp. Liar, liar, pants on fire!
On the left side, the leading article is entitled, "Owning G.M." In this, the editorial board of the Times states, "The administration's insistence that it has no intention of getting involved in the day-to-day decisions of General Motors is a reasonable response to concerns that the vagaries of the political process could run the company into the ground." The Times has always been more concerned with words than actions. They continue: "The decisions of G.M.'s new managers should not become entangled with the government's other policy priorities--such as maximizing employment in the United States or reducing job losses in Michigan." In other words, it should not be the decision of management to build fuel efficient cars in the most economical place but to insure that they are built in Michigan at a couple of billion dollar tool-up cost under labor rules and costs that insure every vehicle made is sold (if at all) at a dead loss. Stupidity such as this is breathtaking (one of the Time's favorite words) even for the Times.
Finally in the Observer section, someone named Cohen uses the Pringle case in England to support the nomination of Ms. Sottomayor to the SC. and the cause of liberal jurisprudence. I often wondered why the Times does not have a section for comic strips. With writings like those found today, there is no need.
Sorry, got wound up over the events of the day. I'll get back on track tomorrow.
Now POTUS is one thing, but I think I can call Paul Krugman more or less a liar. You know the Leader's mob is getting worried about how things might turn out when they start finding new people to blame for what is about to happen and Krugman is more than happy to prostitute himself once more to the cause. If this doesn't work, we can blame Ronald Reagan. His column today in the Times is a compilation of half-truths, misrepresentations and outright lies. Time and space prevents one from commenting fully so all I can do is suggest that the column be read, keeping in mind a few inconvenient facts (from Mr. Krugman's standpoint) while so doing. Among these might be the Viet Nam War (guns and butter), The Great Society, Jimmy Carter, the Community Re-Investment Act, the difference between debt as a percentage of GDP (GDP rose tremendously during Reagan's administration) and the actual number and the fact that the major regulations placed on financial institutions in the Depression were overturned by Bill Clinton and his Sec of Treasury, Bob Rubin who went on to even greater accomplishments at Citicorp. Liar, liar, pants on fire!
On the left side, the leading article is entitled, "Owning G.M." In this, the editorial board of the Times states, "The administration's insistence that it has no intention of getting involved in the day-to-day decisions of General Motors is a reasonable response to concerns that the vagaries of the political process could run the company into the ground." The Times has always been more concerned with words than actions. They continue: "The decisions of G.M.'s new managers should not become entangled with the government's other policy priorities--such as maximizing employment in the United States or reducing job losses in Michigan." In other words, it should not be the decision of management to build fuel efficient cars in the most economical place but to insure that they are built in Michigan at a couple of billion dollar tool-up cost under labor rules and costs that insure every vehicle made is sold (if at all) at a dead loss. Stupidity such as this is breathtaking (one of the Time's favorite words) even for the Times.
Finally in the Observer section, someone named Cohen uses the Pringle case in England to support the nomination of Ms. Sottomayor to the SC. and the cause of liberal jurisprudence. I often wondered why the Times does not have a section for comic strips. With writings like those found today, there is no need.
Sorry, got wound up over the events of the day. I'll get back on track tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Mother's Day was wonderful. We visited Number Two Son and the wife reveled in a passel of grandkids. Stayed longer than expected, hence the slippage. Apologies.
Well, as predicted, The Leader and the mob pounded the secured lenders involved in Chrysler into submission and the quickey bankruptcy can move forward apace. The TARP banks involved had already folded like a bunch of cheap suits as chronicled in a wonderful front page story last week on good ol' Jimmy Lee at J.P.Morgan who talked tough and carried a limp noodle when it came to backing it up. The pundits on both political spectrums have been having a field day with the secured guys, one set wailing about the trampling of the 5th. amendment while the other has been proclaiming the brilliance of The Leader and his team in doing the "right thing" in the face of heartless opposition. Don't know why such a big deal is being made of all this. The secured guys for the most part, were bottom feeders who owed the stuff at a considerable discount hoping to make a quick killing. That being said, the law was on their side and the "willingly" agreed to relinquish their claims not being prepared to stand up to the political and financial pressure but knowing that their downside was certainly way less than 100 cents on the buck. Sometimes you win, sometimes...In any case, the GM situation is considerably different and it is here we shall see if anyone has the guts to stand up to The Leader.
The fall-out, however, may well well be the mother of all unintended consequences. The price of finance just went up for everybody and the financing normally available in bankruptcies may well disappear. Ask yourself: would you be dumb enough to provide debtor in possession financing to an entity that possibly could have a politically connected class of creditors...i.e. unions? Count me out. The landscape could change. I also look forward to watching the UAW bargaining with themselves in the future with taxpayer's money in the balance. This is a sorry scene but for blog writers, a gold mine. I think I'll be around for a while.
Also last week was the Treasury's $16 billion 10 yeqr auction. It wasn't a disaster but it was close. Yield shot up to 4.3% on tepid demand. For those of you who don't know how this works, there is in place a group of financial institutions know as "Primary Dealers." At one time they numbered around 40; today they are fewer than half that number. To be in this club you have to bid on Treasury auctions, assuring the "success" of the issuance by the Treasury. The price at which you bid is very much dependent on the demand you have from the market into which you resell the issue. If things go as they are supposed to go, you are guaranteed a profit, but if you miscalculate demand...well, lets just say you're wearing Treasury paper for a while and if this situations persists you may well sell it at a loss. Predictably, the dollar was hit but not as hard as some thought would happen. Nevertheless, the predicted future is coming into focus. The Fed keeps pumping money out short term and medium to long term rates continue to rise on fears of the future inflation that is all but a certainty. On top of all this, the CBO revamped its budget deficit numbers upward (they are still underestimated) and commodity prices continued in their rise. As The Yogi Man used to say about left field in the Big Ball Park in October, "It gets late early out there." But with yield curve, the banks should make a bundle short term--the big banks that is with big trading operations--and it was a beautiful Mothers Day. What, me worry?
And speaking of banks, Our Hero has been all over the place--including another unfortunate little skit on SNL--preaching the gospel of regulation, redistribution and redemption, in language so flowing that it is nearly impossible to understand what the hell he is really saying. He's still flogging the idea of his public/private partnership although one would think that any rational human being witnessing the treatment of the private sector in the car business would run like hell in the opposite direction. We shall see. He also wants a systemic risk regulator: I thought we had one in the Congress of the United States as Per Freddie and Fanny...who by the by, just announced that they had lost another gazillion dollars and need another $8 billion or so of new taxpayer money. Those regulator-things sure do work. He was speaking to the itsy-bitsy bankers' association today and promised that he was going to take money from the big guys and give it to them. Huzzahs all-around. Boy sure know how to wow a crowd.
Finally, a political comment. I watched The Leader this morning accepting the pledge of the Congressional leadership to have the reform of health care settled before the August recess. Joy unbounded. At the end as he was about to head North, Nancy Pelosi planted a kiss on his Southernmost feature in a manner unseen even in a town famous for such drooling acts. Now it is well-known that Nancy has gotten both of hers in a wringer over these "torture briefings" and Rahm's buddy Stenny has expressed the view that maybe their should be some hearings on what Nancy didn't hear and why, but this?! Is Nancy long for the Speaker's Office? Jeeze, she may have to fly commercial.
A follow-up tomorrow
Well, as predicted, The Leader and the mob pounded the secured lenders involved in Chrysler into submission and the quickey bankruptcy can move forward apace. The TARP banks involved had already folded like a bunch of cheap suits as chronicled in a wonderful front page story last week on good ol' Jimmy Lee at J.P.Morgan who talked tough and carried a limp noodle when it came to backing it up. The pundits on both political spectrums have been having a field day with the secured guys, one set wailing about the trampling of the 5th. amendment while the other has been proclaiming the brilliance of The Leader and his team in doing the "right thing" in the face of heartless opposition. Don't know why such a big deal is being made of all this. The secured guys for the most part, were bottom feeders who owed the stuff at a considerable discount hoping to make a quick killing. That being said, the law was on their side and the "willingly" agreed to relinquish their claims not being prepared to stand up to the political and financial pressure but knowing that their downside was certainly way less than 100 cents on the buck. Sometimes you win, sometimes...In any case, the GM situation is considerably different and it is here we shall see if anyone has the guts to stand up to The Leader.
The fall-out, however, may well well be the mother of all unintended consequences. The price of finance just went up for everybody and the financing normally available in bankruptcies may well disappear. Ask yourself: would you be dumb enough to provide debtor in possession financing to an entity that possibly could have a politically connected class of creditors...i.e. unions? Count me out. The landscape could change. I also look forward to watching the UAW bargaining with themselves in the future with taxpayer's money in the balance. This is a sorry scene but for blog writers, a gold mine. I think I'll be around for a while.
Also last week was the Treasury's $16 billion 10 yeqr auction. It wasn't a disaster but it was close. Yield shot up to 4.3% on tepid demand. For those of you who don't know how this works, there is in place a group of financial institutions know as "Primary Dealers." At one time they numbered around 40; today they are fewer than half that number. To be in this club you have to bid on Treasury auctions, assuring the "success" of the issuance by the Treasury. The price at which you bid is very much dependent on the demand you have from the market into which you resell the issue. If things go as they are supposed to go, you are guaranteed a profit, but if you miscalculate demand...well, lets just say you're wearing Treasury paper for a while and if this situations persists you may well sell it at a loss. Predictably, the dollar was hit but not as hard as some thought would happen. Nevertheless, the predicted future is coming into focus. The Fed keeps pumping money out short term and medium to long term rates continue to rise on fears of the future inflation that is all but a certainty. On top of all this, the CBO revamped its budget deficit numbers upward (they are still underestimated) and commodity prices continued in their rise. As The Yogi Man used to say about left field in the Big Ball Park in October, "It gets late early out there." But with yield curve, the banks should make a bundle short term--the big banks that is with big trading operations--and it was a beautiful Mothers Day. What, me worry?
And speaking of banks, Our Hero has been all over the place--including another unfortunate little skit on SNL--preaching the gospel of regulation, redistribution and redemption, in language so flowing that it is nearly impossible to understand what the hell he is really saying. He's still flogging the idea of his public/private partnership although one would think that any rational human being witnessing the treatment of the private sector in the car business would run like hell in the opposite direction. We shall see. He also wants a systemic risk regulator: I thought we had one in the Congress of the United States as Per Freddie and Fanny...who by the by, just announced that they had lost another gazillion dollars and need another $8 billion or so of new taxpayer money. Those regulator-things sure do work. He was speaking to the itsy-bitsy bankers' association today and promised that he was going to take money from the big guys and give it to them. Huzzahs all-around. Boy sure know how to wow a crowd.
Finally, a political comment. I watched The Leader this morning accepting the pledge of the Congressional leadership to have the reform of health care settled before the August recess. Joy unbounded. At the end as he was about to head North, Nancy Pelosi planted a kiss on his Southernmost feature in a manner unseen even in a town famous for such drooling acts. Now it is well-known that Nancy has gotten both of hers in a wringer over these "torture briefings" and Rahm's buddy Stenny has expressed the view that maybe their should be some hearings on what Nancy didn't hear and why, but this?! Is Nancy long for the Speaker's Office? Jeeze, she may have to fly commercial.
A follow-up tomorrow
Monday, April 27, 2009
WITH FRIENDS LIKE THIS...
Fascinating story in the Times today, front page, left lead, above the fold on Our Hero and his connections on Wall Street. Like much of the top stories of the past few years in what used to be a great newspaper it is long on hard speculation and gossip and soft on real facts. Anyway, to boil down the 10 columns, Our Hero has been, and remains awfully close to the people he was trying to regulate to the point that he was once offered the job of the successor to Sandy Weil as the CEO of Citigroup while sitting as the President of the New York Fed.
There are the standard clips to Provide "balance;" testimonials to the fact that Mr. Geithner would never place personal relationships or the thought of personal reward before his duty as a public servant. Nor is there any real hint as to what might have motivated Mr. Geithner to take some of the positions he has taken over the past five years from which he might have personally benefitted. On the contrary, at about 400 Large a year, Our Hero seems to have severely underpaid given the company with whom he broke bread.
But this wasn't a puff piece, far from it. Nor was it intended to inspire confidence in the director of the finances of the western world. This was a hit job...an elegant hit job but a hit job none-the-less. So the question is, as my friend Guido would put it, who let out the contract on Our Hero? An even more interesting question would be why, and the final piece would be why the Times Mob would allow themselves to be used as the contractor and who is the button man in the organization?
The Times and Democratic politics are pretty much joined at the hip. Disagreements with the policies of this Administration are hardly drawn in bright, vivid colors but in shades and degrees of gray. Then why, one may ask, would they choose to place the supposed architect of the Administration in such a tenuous position as to suggest...nay...imply that he might be severely conflicted as a result of his relationships and past actions? The Times has for quite some time been suspect as the harbinger of policy shifts and pronouncements for their political favorites, not only through their editorial pages but through their news reporting as well (these days, admittedly, the distinction may be without a difference). Is this a warning to Our Hero that his actions are being watched verrrry carefully and a scenario being created for his ultimate demise, or is it just The Times sending a message on it's own that you are not doing what WE want you to do and you better start listening to us and in particular our op ed page guys and girls a lot more closely. Either way, the ante in this game has just gone up for Our Hero in a most unpleasant way. I must admit, however, that the reporting delivered more tid bits from inside the New York Fed than have been revealed in years. I'd certainly like to be in a couple of senior officers' luncheons over the next few days.
In a related financial event today (understatement) the new CEO of GM announced the long-awaited restructuring plan that ills Pontiac as a brand and, if agreed, turns over ownership of the company to the UAW and the government. The equity guys and the bond holders get it in the neck but as Maria Caruso Cabrera said on CNBC today that EVERYONE knew the union would come out in first place, so shed no tears gang, the fix was in. Smart lady. Now it is going to be interesting to see if the bond holder fold and take at best 10 cents on the dollar for a company who's future chance of success is somewhere between unknown and who cares. Actually, it will be important to witness how brutal the Administration plans to be in forcing this "solution" down the throats of the Bond guys in relation to their possible tactics with the banks. Bets anyone.
Sorry, it's a slow day when one has to get John LeCarre-like and talk about non-deals, but that's life in the mid west.
There are the standard clips to Provide "balance;" testimonials to the fact that Mr. Geithner would never place personal relationships or the thought of personal reward before his duty as a public servant. Nor is there any real hint as to what might have motivated Mr. Geithner to take some of the positions he has taken over the past five years from which he might have personally benefitted. On the contrary, at about 400 Large a year, Our Hero seems to have severely underpaid given the company with whom he broke bread.
But this wasn't a puff piece, far from it. Nor was it intended to inspire confidence in the director of the finances of the western world. This was a hit job...an elegant hit job but a hit job none-the-less. So the question is, as my friend Guido would put it, who let out the contract on Our Hero? An even more interesting question would be why, and the final piece would be why the Times Mob would allow themselves to be used as the contractor and who is the button man in the organization?
The Times and Democratic politics are pretty much joined at the hip. Disagreements with the policies of this Administration are hardly drawn in bright, vivid colors but in shades and degrees of gray. Then why, one may ask, would they choose to place the supposed architect of the Administration in such a tenuous position as to suggest...nay...imply that he might be severely conflicted as a result of his relationships and past actions? The Times has for quite some time been suspect as the harbinger of policy shifts and pronouncements for their political favorites, not only through their editorial pages but through their news reporting as well (these days, admittedly, the distinction may be without a difference). Is this a warning to Our Hero that his actions are being watched verrrry carefully and a scenario being created for his ultimate demise, or is it just The Times sending a message on it's own that you are not doing what WE want you to do and you better start listening to us and in particular our op ed page guys and girls a lot more closely. Either way, the ante in this game has just gone up for Our Hero in a most unpleasant way. I must admit, however, that the reporting delivered more tid bits from inside the New York Fed than have been revealed in years. I'd certainly like to be in a couple of senior officers' luncheons over the next few days.
In a related financial event today (understatement) the new CEO of GM announced the long-awaited restructuring plan that ills Pontiac as a brand and, if agreed, turns over ownership of the company to the UAW and the government. The equity guys and the bond holders get it in the neck but as Maria Caruso Cabrera said on CNBC today that EVERYONE knew the union would come out in first place, so shed no tears gang, the fix was in. Smart lady. Now it is going to be interesting to see if the bond holder fold and take at best 10 cents on the dollar for a company who's future chance of success is somewhere between unknown and who cares. Actually, it will be important to witness how brutal the Administration plans to be in forcing this "solution" down the throats of the Bond guys in relation to their possible tactics with the banks. Bets anyone.
Sorry, it's a slow day when one has to get John LeCarre-like and talk about non-deals, but that's life in the mid west.
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