F-ING MORON Clause

F-ING MORON Clause
Originally uploaded by the_real_cjs

A Fair Bail-Out Plan: Make My Day-style

Instead of bilking the US Taxpayer, here's what Henry Paulson should have suggested:

Make a comprehensive list of all the executives and so-called finance specialist who made any money on the front end of this scandal - this list would take time to make, but it could be done fairly and equitably by people of Paulson's caliber. Paulson could oversee the making of the list personally with hundreds of MBAs and ex-Lehman bankers working 24 hours a day to get it done in a timely fashion. It would be a riot for him. He would be smiling and laughing the whole time just like he and Shrubling laughed and giggled as they raped America financially, watched New Orleans rot, and killed its children in an unjust, illegal war.

Once the list is made, Hank would make a simple calculation (compared to inventing new derivatives products for Goldman to peddle): how much money did each so-called financier make from the origination of bad mortgages, the creation of radio-active CMOs, the devising and selling and betting on high leverage Debt Swaps etc.

Then Hank and his team should simply submit each of these participants a bill for their pro-rata share (on a pre-debacle profit basis) of the mess they created, payable immediately.

If immediate proceeds don't cover the bail-out's requirements, Hank should divide the shortfall by the number on the list, have the US Treasury cover the remainder, and send each of the list members a loan certificate for their pro-rata share-of-debacle outstanding, payable over 5 years at Prime + 12% (hey why not gouge them a bit on behalf of the honest Americans their irresponsibility or licentiousness screwed).

Payments of these debts should be made to a US Government account set up expressly to manage complete payment of the entire cost of the bail-out, including interest...and no shenanigans allowed.

If any debt-owing list-member defaults, they should be hit up for the remainder by the IRS, every year *forever* until their debt is paid.

This would be straightforward and JUST.

All of them can (or will be able to) afford it.

Not one politician has proposed any such rational plan.

NO BAILOUT! MAKE THE BASTARDS PAY.

Stop the Graft! $1Trillion Gift for Hank & Pals

The current distressed asset repurchase being proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson is an outrageous affront to all hard working fiscally conservative Americans.

Wake up Americans and see Paulson's plan for what it is: a massive redistribution of value (theft) from the American people that benefits a certain minority professional banker/financier class.

You must oppose this plan and the dictatorial financial powers being requested by the Fed and Treasury.

Most importantly, any legislation empowering a "bailout" of distressed financial institutions at this time must prevent the following misuse of taxpayer dollars:

1) Banks, especially newly created bank-holding companies like Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan must be barred from borrowing funds at the Fed Discount Window as "banks" and investing those funds in "distressed-assets" being sold by the Treasury after being purchased from failing institutions with taxpayer bailout funds. This kind of egregious round-tripping from Fed to Bank to Treasury must be prohibited.

2) Bail out funds paid to a bank or financial institution (such as Goldman, JPMorgan, etc.) for distressed assets must NEVER be used to subsequently buy similar (and especially not higher quality) distressed assets being sold by the Treasury after purchase during a bailout. This sort of covert balance sheet swapping at taxpayer expense cannot be tolerated.

Call, email and write your Senators, Representatives and influential friends. Let them know that you yourself are financially sophisticated and must be represented -- that you are intolerant of the carefully veiled graft that has been laid on the table by Treasury Secretary Paulson and his minions.

San Francisco says NO to China Olympics Torch Run

IMG_0741
Originally uploaded by sbove

Yesterday, I was particularly proud to be a San Franciscan. My city-mates (and apparently thousands of people from all over California and even the US at large) converged on the embarcadero with great enthusiasm and compassion, and sent a powerful message to the Chinese government: "We are not trying to penalize the Olympics or the Athletes who will participate in them, but we will NOT stand by idly while a country of China's international stature advocates policies of genocide, criminal brutality, and political/religious oppression. We will not stand for it from China and we won't stand for it as our own Federal government does EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS to Iraq and Afghanistan. Troglodytic, reptilian, fear based foreign policy is a dangerous and obsolete mode. China, step it up! Tolerance and individual freedom are plenty compatible with economic prosperity.

More photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbove/sets/72157604467857786/