Senator Bunning Says Paulson Acts Like Socialist, Should Resign

[Nambe]

Source: Sept. 9 (Bloomberg)

Senator Jim Bunning said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, by rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is acting like China's finance minister and both Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke should step down.

``I sincerely believe that Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke should resign,'' said Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky on the Senate Banking Committee. ``They have taken the free market out of the free market.'' ...

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=alpUsTv3.upI&refer=home

[chill_wind]

1. Too late for tears now. Republicans and Dems alike unanimously

rubber stamped his appointment in a whole whopping couple of hours-- by Senate voice vote.
Everybody must have had a big golf game to get to that afternoon.

[hadrons]

2. Isn't this guy senile????

Sadly he's more consistent than McSame or George S. Bush

I actually have a partial broadcast of Bunning's 1964 perfect game against the Mets via Wide World of Sports (it has the bottom of the 9th plus an interview) ... seemed like the fundie type back then but I would never guess what an a-hole he would have become.

[MiniMe]

9. Yes

[rfranklin]

10. "Downloading failed policies...." That's a great piece of art!

That idea has to be hammered home again and again--failure, failure, failure, worst president ever and McCain shares bodily fluids with him!

[MiniMe]

12. Got it from punditkitchen.com

They have some good ones there.







:hi:

[Johnny Potpie]

3. WTF????

All of them should resign. Immediately.

[chill_wind]

4. The Paulson Payoff at the Bush Treasury Department (Sirota, 2006)

David Sirota

The Paulson Payoff at the Bush Treasury Department

Posted July 4, 2006 | 07:14 PM (EST)



Reuters reports today that "The incoming Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs Group." The massive bonus was, not surprisingly, approved by Goldman Sachs at the very same time Paulson was both CEO and Treasury Secretary designate. This raises a very simple question: What is Goldman Sachs buying with this brazen payoff to someone they knew was headed to one of the most powerful government posts in America?

In my book Hostile Takeover, I note that these sorts of payoffs happen all the time -- and they are made with public policy favors in mind. The most high profile before Paulson's was the payoff Halliburton gave to Dick Cheney in the form of a truckload of "deferred compensation" valued in the tens of millions. At the time, those who raised questions about what such a payoff would buy were dismissed by the Washington Establishment as conspiracy theorists . The insiders who populate this Establishment, of course, are addicted to the revolving door, and they didn't want anyone questioning it. Now, just a few years later, we found out that, indeed, Halliburton's generosity to Cheney was a payoff, as the Vice President used his office to help the oil company secure huge government contracts in the aftermath of the Iraq War.


So again, a simple question: With Goldman Sachs handing incoming Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson an $18.7 million bonus for six months of service, what is the company looking for in return? After all, Goldman Sachs has had a lot of business before the government that Paulson's Treasury Department has been involved in and can influence. Here are just a few factoids about the Goldman Sachs-Government connections that raise questions about the Paulson payoff:


(...)

(see it for yourself: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-paulson-payoff-at-the_b_24379.html

[phantom power]

5. Oh noes! He's not privatizing the profits and socializing the risks!

Manchurian Treasury Secretary!11111!

[chill_wind]

6. "Simply no equal to Hank!"

The confirmation:

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid={5801D6FE-295A-4326-894B-ACB0454619C5}&keyword=

The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote. Bush nominated Paulson, the departing CEO of Goldman Sachs, earlier this month to replace John Snow, who has headed Treasury since 2003.

Confirmation came just hours after the Senate Finance Committee approved Paulson's nomination by unanimous voice vote. Paulson testified before the committee for around three hours in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

"Members on both sides of the aisle came away very impressed with Mr. Paulson as ... an intelligent nominee who appreciates the concerns of senators and will try to work with senators to address those concerns," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Democrats had harsh words for the Bush administration's fiscal policies, but praised Paulson as a strong choice to serve as the administration's top economic policymaker.

"In the world of finance and international markets there's simply no equal to Hank," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who praised Paulson's experience in international finance and relationships with Chinese business leaders and government officials.
"We need someone who is seasoned. We need someone who knows markets," Schumer said.

Bush praised the Senate for its quick action.

(...)

[faulknercindy]

7. Without even reading the complete article...

I can unequivocally say that Jim Bunning is a blabbering idiot and I wish that somebody would defeat him in the election so that he wouldn't represent my state anymore.

[OmahaBlueDog]

11. While he is an idiot, that doesn't mean that he is wrong

The Bernanke plan: Stabilize the financial markets through unprecedented intervention, taxpayer debt financing, and printing more money.

It isn't good free market capitalism. It isn't good socialism (since society as a whole isn't benefiting). It isn't good economics. I have to say, I'm with Bunning on this one.

[superconnected]

8. They should resign but not because they're acting like socialists.

And they aren't acting like real socialists - which are a good thing, they are acting like corporatist and raiding our treasury to bail them out of a situation they may not even actually need the money to be bailed out of. Are there plans for them to pay us back? Didn't think so.

[aquart]

13. Well, yeah. Oh wait. He actually bought that free market crap?

Oh dear. Sweetie, they were lying.