An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for 23 September 2008
Excuse Me????
Student, car debt quietly added to bailout plan
In the dark of night over the weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other “troubled” assets held by banks.
The changes, which were included in draft language that also opened the bailout program to foreign banks with extensive loan operations in the United States, potentially added tens of billions of dollars to the cost of the program.
Although it was a major addition to what was already the nation’s largest-ever bailout, it did not become part of the debate between Democrats and the Treasury over details of the program. A Monday counterproposal by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd included such consumer loans as well as mortgages, just as the Treasury’s draft did Saturday night.
“The costs of the bailout will be significantly higher than originally considered or acknowledged,” said Joshua Rosner, managing director of Graham Fisher & Co., who charged that the Treasury and Federal Reserve have not been “forthright” about the ultimate cost to the public. The plan gives Treasury the discretion to buy the non-mortgage loans and securities in consultation with the Fed.
Are they out of their freakin’ minds???? Dear Lord in Heaven! Does anyone in D.C. have a clue what they are doing?
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. stressed that the additions were needed to ensure that student loans and credit cards – which have become indispensable to the spending habits and career plans of many Americans – do not become victims of the widening credit crunch.
Student loans, which Wall Street firms packaged and sold to investors just like mortgages, already were hit hard in the widening credit crisis earlier this year, with much of the private loan market disappearing. That forced the government to step in and beef up its direct loan programs for college students.
Is NO ONE responsible for their actions anymore? Should the government buy me a new vehicle? We really could use a truck around here. Nothing big or too fancy of course. And the balance on our credit card is a little higher than it normally is, will Congress pay it off for us? Brat still has some student loans she and Ick are paying down. Maybe they should just send the payment book to Paulson, and he can take care of the remainder. Of course, the grandkids could use a good education (unlike what they’re getting in public schools), so how about a big loan to send them to an exclusive boarding school?
ENOUGH! Everyone needs to take a major step back, and think of the consequences. Do we really want our nation foreclosed?
H/T: Stop the ACLU
Congressional Math: 1+1=483,086
I Lived!
Yep, kind of dopey. Ok, dopier.
And I’m sitting here trying to listen to Ahmadinnerjacket, and either these pills are a LOT strong than I thought, or that man is rambling in worse than his usual irrational manner.
Maybe I need to take another pill, so I will pass out. Jiminy crickets. What a fruitcake. I’m assuming the transcript of his ‘speech’ will be online at some point in time. May have to actually read it to get a grasp. Cuz from what I can figure out, there is no rationality in his tiny little leisure suit mind.
ACK!
