Let it crash

Not that wealthy, or want any more than we have. Funny, but true.

I would agree with that, as long as we also nuke New Jersey.

I think NJ, at least what you can see from the interstate, has already been nuked.

So it appears that the next bank in line to fall will be Wachovia. Probably this weekend if it hasn't already happened.

I didn't know that the nuke option was already practiced, but people are already suffering from radiation sickness?

I'm a banker now you know. Our government has taken over two banks now. So I'm a two banker.

So you should treat me with more respect. Bankers are important people don't you know?

Like all professions, you have good ones and bad ones. I know where you fit into those two categories, and it ain't good.

But you must also know that I respect you as a human, but then I also respect some animals.

Sorry. NJ jokes are too easy. Parts of NJ are quite pretty. The interstate thing is another matter.

you fanancier, you...

His lifestyle is to be admired; he makes money at the bank, and spends most of it at the local pub.

I've earned much less during my career, and spend my money trying to see the world.

He's mostly pullin' yer leg...

Yeah, you may be right, because the first time I read "financier," I read it as "fancier" which describes spendi to a "t."

I barely remember New Jersey from when I was a kid, say driving from Washington. I barely remember it from a few years ago when I landed at Newark, except as an airport bus desolation trail to NYC. But Thomas is there, and that makes it ok, not to suck up. Just that it's true. There are probably some sane people who hang out there.

I barely remember New Jersey from when I was a kid, say on a drive from Washington. I barely remember it from a few years ago when I landed at Newark, except as an airport bus desolation trail to NYC. But Thomas is there, and that makes it ok, not to suck up. Just that it's true. There are probably some sane people who hang out there.

Much has been said how it would be cheaper for the government to insure those holding the bad mortgage paper (sub prime) than to buy it outright. The problem with that has already been mentioned, the government is the only one who can logically give such assurances, and therefore the tax payer is definitely and permanently on the hook for the toxic MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities). But I think Paulson has a good idea: The government takes charge of those assets then holds an auction where the government starts the bidding on them at 10-15 (maybe as high as 25) cents on the dollar (at which it will actually buy those assets at that price). Many Buffet types will recognize an opportunity and, sensing undervalued securities, will bid up the price and buy the paper. This invokes market forces, transmits some clarity in the securities price, and keeps the securities off the Federal balance sheet.

The Beauty of this is that is does not allow the likes of Frank and Dodd to get our government into the sub-prime MBS business. Remember that part of their plan, if the government bought this paper and ultimately made a profit on it, is to take the profit and place it in a fund for "affordable housing". Does this sound at all familiar to anyone? Can you say Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Actually this is even worse. This is what happens when government gets involved with the people’s finances. Do you really think that if the government was so lucky as to make a profit on the MBS , Barney and Chris will send a check to or even provide a tax credit for, say education expenses, to those taxpayers whose necks were on the line given the government's original purchase of the MBS?

Another thing, Congress seems to want to gravitate towards "keeping people in their homes". This is just politician speak to curry favor with the masses and generate votes for specific candidates at the expense of all tax payers. It is well known that people who lost their homes and who will soon lose them were either going to lose them soon or never could afford them to begin with--this is a "Cold and Hard" analysis that is also the truth. The trouble with these misguided congressional efforts (perhaps a redundancy in description) is that they prolong the quest for the bottom of the housing market. Since it was the tanking of the housing market that started this whole mess, these actions prolong the very financial crisis that is headline news.

JM

Actually, rjb, there's a good reason why NJ calls itself the Garden State. Get off the Turnpike and it's quite a pretty state. Stay away from cities like Newark, that's all. They're too close to NYC for comfort.

I agree with Fox that this situation isn't being explained very well to the masses. Perhaps it's because it's an election year and every member of the House and one-third of the Senate is up for reelection in a few short weeks. Perhaps it's because some folks think that those who really control our economy (foreign investors) need to have warm and fuzzy feedback that they should keep paying our salaries. Or, perhaps it's just that they think the average citizen just won't understand (or shouldn't understand) that by being a debtor nation (80% of Americans carry a credit card balance with an average balance of $17,000 -- I don't have numbers for the % of businesses that survive on credit) and living beyond our means from top to bottom and back again both as individuals and businesses that we've allowed ourselves to lose control of the purse strings. This isn't just about the housing market. It's the fact that we live on credit and life as we know it will be very different if there's a credit freeze.

The crisis is purported to begin when the Asian markets open on Sunday for a reason.

I don't think there's anything to do now but figure out a way to move forward, but I would like to see a major push to revamp the American lifestyle to one that isn't based on maximum debt.

I haven't seen or heard the plan yet, which was agareed to after midnight. Whatever it is, if it involves our tax dollars being used to bailout, here's my idea:

1. List the assets on Ebay. All of them. Anyone need a right side cubicle partition and a half used HP red ink cartridge?

2. The mortgage assets (homes, office space and retail space) should be open for all Americans that pay taxes to use. If I need a layover spot on my way to visit Mom, I should be able to look up on the internet an address of a distressed mortgage and show up with my suitcase for the night. No fee, since I've paid it with my taxes.

3. The CEO's of each company that makes use of the bailout should have to take two hour shifts in the dunk tank at the grand opening of the new Yankee Stadium, as well as at every company picnic across the country for the next year.

Looks like the "affordable housing" concept has been dropped - this from the WSJ Online.

Good to see you back on the boards.

JPB, They haven't released the plan to the public, because they still don't have the "finished" project. When that happens, it'll be released. In the mean time, I have written to several congress members including GOP and democrat to express my outrage towards Paulson and Bernanke for demanding this money without oversight. They can't be trusted.

http://online.wsj.com/home/us.

Tentative plan as of today. The site is not free.