· ...[I]t's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation.--CBS, 7/20/08
· Moral hazard is something I don't take lightly. I never once considered that it was appropriate to put taxpayer money on the line in resolving Lehman Brothers.--Yahoo Business, 9/15/08
Now, suddenly, days before Congress is scheduled to recess--these same economic experts say the economy is crashing.
· “Bernanke called the current problems the ‘most severe financial crisis’ in the post-World War II era. Investment banks are seeing ‘tremendous runs on their cash,’ Bernanke said. ‘Without action, they will fail soon.’”--Politico, 11/19/08
Comedy Central’s Colbert Report put it a little more eloquently:
· Oh My God Society Is Collapsing And We Will Soon Be Devouring Each Other In The Streets Like Dogs And A Crippled One-Eyed Boy Will Be King If We Don’t Fix This By Next Week!-- 9/23/08
There is no need to worry, though. The same economic experts who failed to recognize the problem (or lied about it for months) now have a plan to save the day. All we have to do is hand over at least $700 billion to Treasury Secretary Paulson, along with unprecedented dictatorial powers to do whatever he wants, with no oversight and no review.
· “Decisions by the [Treasury] Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”-- Section 8 of the Bush Administration’s Wall Street bailout plan.
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