***SEMI OFFICIAL Pockets Paulson and Spanky Bernanke about to testiLIE thread***

[burythehatchet]

on C-SPAN. Starting momentarily.

[Subdivisions]

1. Watching. No major fireworks yet. Rep. Maloney at bat. n/t

[slipslidingaway]

2. Link to House site with panel members...

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/hr111808.shtml

"Witness List & Prepared Testimony:

Panel 1

The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary, U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Honorable Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
The Honorable Sheila C. Bair, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Panel 2

The Honorable Steve Bartlett, President and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Services Roundtable
Mr. Edward L. Yingling, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Bankers Association
Ms. Cynthia Blankenship, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Bank of the West on behalf of The Independent Community Bankers of America
The Honorable D. Cameron Findlay, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Aon Corporation on behalf of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers

Panel 3

Dr. Alan S. Blinder, Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Center for Economic Policy Studies, Princeton University
Dr. Martin S. Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University and President Emeritus, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
Available Member Statements:

Printed Hearing:
The printed version of this hearing will be posted as soon as it is available.

[spanone]

8. wtf makes them 'honorable'?

[slipslidingaway]

9. They saved the markets! n/t

[halobeam]

10. twilight zone

[slipslidingaway]

14. Yes and speed at which we handed over this money is beyond

comprehension.

[Neshanic]

21. Jesus, right on the mark. Surreal.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

3. Ron Paul is there, that might get interesting.

[LittleApple81]

4. Did everybody here see the article by Michael Lewis where it is clear the "bad loans" don't exist

and that is why they couldn't buy any more of them?

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom#page1

...
But the scarcity of truly crappy subprime-mortgage bonds no longer mattered. The big Wall Street firms had just made it possible to short even the tiniest and most obscure subprime-mortgage-backed bond by creating, in effect, a market of side bets. Instead of shorting the actual BBB bond, you could now enter into an agreement for a credit-default swap with Deutsche Bank or Goldman Sachs. It cost money to make this side bet, but nothing like what it cost to short the stocks, and the upside was far greater.

The arrangement bore the same relation to actual finance as fantasy football bears to the N.F.L. Eisman was perplexed in particular about why Wall Street firms would be coming to him and asking him to sell short. “What Lippman did, to his credit, was he came around several times to me and said, ‘Short this market,’ ” Eisman says. “In my entire life, I never saw a sell-side guy come in and say, ‘Short my market.’ ”

....

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

6. That was a riveting read the other day. I've read it three times now.

[Neshanic]

20. Amazing reading. Should be required for every "bailout fanboy"

[leftchick]

23. it is very clear now why paulson has not touched those 'loans'

it would expose how he and his cronies have been ripping all of us off. It is just a matter of time before this information comes out.

[KoKo]

44. Notice how even the House Panel keeps focusing on "mortgages" and not

the real culprit that the Lewis article exposed. Makes me think either House Banking Committee know and are in on the game...or they are so clueless maybe they couldn't qualify to be on the "Banking Committee" in the first place. :eyes:

[LittleApple81]

48. I bet on the first option, they know and are in on the scheme. nt

[slipslidingaway]

5. Paulson statement bottom line...

we have stabilized the credit markets and will leave some capital for the next administration.

[halobeam]

7. k and r

questions are beginning.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

11. Has anyone mentioned Credit Default Swaps yet?

[KoKo]

46. I haven't heard them mentiond....the "elephant in the room?" Silence...n/t

[bdamomma]

12. I do not trust Paulson at all.

bushies all of them.

[spanone]

13. i don't trust ANYONE connected with george w. bu$h*

[bdamomma]

15. great minds

again Naomi Klein words hold true: Financial Shock and Awe.

The Wall Street bailout looks a lot like Iraq — a "free-fraud zone"
where private contractors cash in on the mess they helped create
-- Naomi Klein,

[Neshanic]

16. Bernanke and Paulson Show, starring all star stupid sqaud grilling them.

They got the cash. They got the rights to do what they want. Everyone up there with Barney could not be more clownish if they wore little red noses and came in the room in a little car.

Bernanke and Paulson have them by the balls.

Great solution Mr. Frank and gang.Thank God the bill passed!

[bdamomma]

17. Maxine Waters takes no crap.

[halobeam]

18. I like Maxine Waters

she doesn't mince words.

[Neshanic]

19. Boiled down. "We got the cash, and you guys gave us the rights to do what we want, so STFU."

[halobeam]

25. If anything this hearing should make it so apparent that we need to

take back their "broad" powers...they have. I don't remember which panel member kept stating their "broad" powers and how it's appropriate... !! NO, sir. Not appropriate at all. This needs to be rectified immediately, but shoulda woulda coulda..ain't gonna happen. (It's a logical and right thing to do, therefore, imo.. ain't gonna happen.)

[Neshanic]

22. Fast talking mouthpiece chick like exclusions on car ads speaking now at light speed.

[bdamomma]

24. FDIC

spokesperson.

[halobeam]

26. and side effects for Ambien ads

[bdamomma]

27. Paulson what a POS he is.

just my two cents

[halobeam]

28. worth much more. Dead on.

[halobeam]

29. If Gonzo didn't OWN, "I do not recall"... Paulson's answers would be much shorter.

[halobeam]

30. LOL Rep. Maloney... nice analogy re: hoping your neighbors house burns down

I love snark.

[Neshanic]

31. Barney should call for lunch. Nothing accomplished here except epic display of being taken...

By two Wall street bastards.

[bdamomma]

32. Ron Paul is up.

Bernanke is dollar is not dead, yea, sure it is, and said dollar is strong, what the hell are these guys bs'ing for.

[bdamomma]

33. I do not like the way they are talking to Rep. Velazquez

that POS Paulson, do not trust him at all.

[spanone]

34. it's the bu$h* way....minorities are a nuisance

[bluesmail]

35. and a woman minority

[DemReadingDU]

36. She told Paulson that she is the one asking the questions!

and asked Bernanke what happened to the $1trillion that they used of our tax dollars.

[rhett o rick]

37. All bailout agreements need to include the firing, arrest, trial of these two thieves.

Rob $20 from a 7/11 and you go to jail, rob trillions from the taxpayers and you get to keep your job and trusted with a trillion more.
This isn't the change I voted for.

[spanone]

38. r-steven latourette is exposing THE FRAUD

banks are buying banks on the back of americans tax money---c r i m i n a l

[halobeam]

39. very well, too

[spanone]

40. the best YET

[spanone]

41. now we can watch paulson dance around the answer....

stammer stammer stutter stutter....blah blah blah...bullshit

[slipslidingaway]

42. Picking and choosing the winners...

Banks Left Out of TARP Bailout Could Face Extinction

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858844,00.html

"The Treasury Department's efforts to stabilize the financial system may push a number of banks out of business. In the past few weeks, as many as 67 financial firms have received a portion of the $700 billion bailout approved by Congress. But absent from the list of companies approved for the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) are a handful of midsize banks, which rank among the 50 largest in the nation by the Federal Reserve. And that has a number of analysts and investors who follow these companies worried. "It's a case of be careful what you wish for," says Thomas Brown, whose hedge fund Second Curve Capital specializes in financial firms. "We asked for the $700 billion, and we asked for capital purchases of bank shares. Now we have a case where if banks don't get approved for this money, they may not be able to stay in business..."

[spanone]

43. and you can bet your ass they will play politics all day long

paulson is LYING HIS ASS OFF

[slipslidingaway]

47. Yup, no confidence in Paulson n/t

[slipslidingaway]

45. Senator Cantwell speech on the bailout, she could see what

was happening...

http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2008/10/senator-maria-cantwell-says-bailout.html

"...But the problem with the legislation before us is that it is choosing winners and losers in corporate America. It is inserting the Federal Government in a role in which they decide, along with the private sector, exactly how funds should be allocated.

I am for the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government backing these institutions. What I am not for is turning the keys to the Treasury over to the private sector...


...I ask you to just think of one institution, in my State, Washington Mutual - which I would not necessarily applaud for its subprime lending rates or for its use and backing of credit default swaps, but I would ask you to consider the fact that as that institution was forced into sale by this Government...


JPMorgan got the assets of that institution and benefited from that. In fact, JPMorgan predicted to me on a conference call the night they acquired Washington Mutual that after one year with their investment, they would have an over $500 million on that investment. That is a 27 percent returned in one year..."

[LittleApple81]

49. Totally off the subject. How does Paulson manage to twist his PINKY the way he does.

Is that his hidden way to give all of us the finger?

[Poll_Blind]

51. "The new model of Reptoid skinsuits allow an unprecedented level of flexibility."

PB

[Poll_Blind]

50. Who's the guy who asked that question just now? That was the best ? yet!

Asked about the airlines possibly failing, if there was a plan C,D, and E, etc...Anyone?

PB

[slipslidingaway]

53. Rep. Randy Neugebauer ??? Missed it, but he is speaking now nt

[Eyerish]

55. It was Gary Ackerman D- NY n/t

[Poll_Blind]

56. Thank you! -THAT- guy asked the questions _I_ wanted to ask. I'm grateful...

...that someone did. The shitty answer he got doesn't affect my pleasure that he just came out and asked it. "Second biggest bait and switch, with the biggest being the Iraq War."

Man, ain't THAT the truth!

PB

[bluesmail]

52. Paulson's jumping all over the map. Good Lord

[MadrasT]

54. Ackerman quotes:

"It appears that you are flying a $700 billion plane by the seat of your pants".

"It appears that this is a bait and switch scheme, similar to the plan that got us into Iraq"

[Poll_Blind]

57. Just the clip of him and the answer should be on YouTube- I hope someone....

...was recording and posts it.

PB