It's almost as though the web has been scrubbed clean of any background on this man of the hour. What else can you dig up on him-- on the web, with phone calls to committees, the treasury, etc.

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 10:03:50 AM

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Isn't giving 30 something MBA's too much power a large part of what got us into this mess in the first place?

by Mary Callaghan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:06:24 AM

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On a non-serious note, let's hope it is not Palin-ese for "Cash and Carry".

by Jim Grant (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:25:30 AM

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It goes from bad to worse. I am sorry I don't mean to rip on someone we know very little about, I am sure this guy is very bright and capable, but for crying out loud he is 35 and all he has know is the past 2 decades of Wall street greed and bubbles. How in the world is this guy going to provide any new insights into what could be done to get out of this mess? I want someone who at least has 35 years of experience in Finance .... not someone who is only 35 years old.

by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:26:18 AM

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Yes - I have nothing against bright young people taking responsibility, but... some things require foresight and calmness rooted in deep experience. I also would want to see a US president who is emberrassingly superior to me, and not in at least some respects significantly inferior to many 14 year olds here in Western Europe (at least when it comes to languages and knowledge about international affairs and geography). I am not arrogant. I simply know both sides of the Atlantic well. To me it seems as if the insanity is destined to continue. When will they ever learn, someone sang.

by Stefan Thiesen (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 7 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 5:10:28 AM

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I'm more concerned by his position in International Affairs to be managing a domestic bailout.  Unless the money's supposed to go overseas...

by UncleSim (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 511 comments [74 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 12:20:34 PM

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I say let's see. Remember this is temporary as the electon nears and he likely will have not had time to do much before a new administration takes office.

I am rooting for Obama over McCain because I feel a person who graduated with honors from Harvard trumps a bomber-jock ( who wrecked 3 planes ) who graduated 5th from the bottom at the Naval Acadamy, has better judgment in choosing people to deal with our economy. Look who McCain picked to be his VP!!  He might offer the treasury post to Mr. Palin for all we know.

 McCain would hire a former lobbyist from the banking industry.

by Paul Kruger (39 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 304 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 1:19:18 PM

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According to articles in Zoom Info, Mr. Kashkari is an Indian American. He has a background in engineering as well as finance.

Kashkari was one of the drafters of Bush's "20 in 10" plan, to reduce energy consumption by 20% in 10 years, as by increasing the use of biofuels and other alternative energy sources, a plan featured in Bush's State of the Union Address, in 2007 I believe.

Kashkari has also commented upon the need for larger firms to buy up smaller firms, which are more innovative, as in areas of IT security.

by Douglas Drenkow (38 articles, 352 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:21:32 AM

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he may have worked for Nasa but according to some who knew him, he's no rocket scientist especially when it comes to handling something of this magnitude. This comes from the Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/6/21348/9760

by Michael Shaw (12 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 439 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:22:56 AM

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But I don't want a rocket scientist trying to figure out a worldwide economic mess. Just like I wouldn't want a rocket scientist trying to figure out how to do a heart transplant.

 Who cares what he did at NASA. What does he know about finance? He clearly is a bright individual. The qualifications and awards he has won puts him above just about everyone else that the Bush administration has working for them. But that still means nothing when it comes to figuring out a very complex situation that the greed of his generation helped to create. 

by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:36:37 AM

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Mr. Nelson but by all accounts this guy made a most peculiar leap from NASA into finance. He is a very briliiant engineer from what I've read, yet has very little experience to handle something of this magnitude. Can a puppy be expected to handle the job of a bulldog? I would also remind that the department of the treasury is now the department of Goldman-Sachs and we are giving our money in this so called bail out to the very people who helped cause this economic problem in the first place. Now some might believe this bailout is our lord and savior. I'm not one of them and in fact I see it as the last great raping of the coffers before Bush retires happily into obscurity.

by Michael Shaw (12 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 439 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 12:34:52 PM

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He doesn't exactly have a deep resume in finance. If the Bush administration didn't have a track record of one disaster after another people might not attempt to pre-judge but I agree with you that the days of giving this administration any benefit of the doubt is long since gone.

I just wish someone had some better answers and someone had the common sense to bring in a bipartisan expert that at least the American public and the markets would have some confidence in. I don't know who that would be. 

But it is clear none of the international markets have ANY confidence that the Bush administration can show any leadership and guide us towards a solution. 

by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:58:20 PM

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by Steuart Knox (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:44:13 AM

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And I think Neel was recently promoted to Assistant Secretary Treasurer by Bush in the past year. Haven't nailed down that link.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2006/07/14/

July 14, 2006, 10:09 am
Paulson’s Personnel Picks

New Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson looks to the State Department for his chief of staff and deputy, hiring Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s aide — and White House veteran — Jim Wilkinson as chief of staff and Taiya Smith, an aide to former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, as deputy chief of staff. Matt Rees, a former speechwriter for President Bush and former SEC Chairman William Donaldson, comes to write speeches. Paulson also taps a young Goldman Sachs investment banker, Neel Kashkari and Tony Ryan, from bearish money manager GMO, as aides. More changes at top rungs of Treasury are expected. 

by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 11:55:31 AM

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Neel has been navigating and Paulson has been driving the bus for the past two years that is about to go off the cliff.

Could we maybe think about bringing in an outside expert? Although I guess the downside is the speed and urgency that is needed (if of course you believe they honestly want to do something to fix the problem). No one could get up to speed and understand what is already in place to really be effective in the short.

Man what a complete disaster. If anyone thinks voting and rewarding anyone from the Republican party is a good idea they deserve to be shot. 

by E. Nelson (40 articles, 8 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 511 comments [57 recommended, 2 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 12:03:20 PM

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E. Nelson writes:

Man what a complete disaster. If anyone thinks voting and rewarding anyone from the Republican party is a good idea they deserve to be shot. 

Did the Democrats oppose the bailout and it never made the news, or was I just not paying attention?

Man, I feel like a total idiot. I had absolutely no idea that the Democrats opposed the bailout and deserve to be rewarded. Maybe I should turn on the TV once in a while so I don't miss out on important stuff like that?

by Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 2:00:48 AM

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by Munich (1 articles, 86 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1125 comments [86 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 12:17:31 PM

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is a complete investigation into the remarks made by Rep. Sherman on the House floor. His claim is several congressmen/people were threatened with invocation of martial law if they voted nay on the bailout bill. Isn't this extortion? Of course no mention has been made in the MSM, but it should be.

Mention was made in an article I just read that $61 billion of the $85 billion 'gifted' to AIG has already been spent, and the $700 billion figure (admitted by Paulson) is likely to be even $1.3 trillion. Want to bet they'll both be sliding their hands into our pockets for more?

Another thing that gripes the hell out of me is listening to this BS about the poor poor stock market falling 777 points last Monday. What these creeps fail to mention is the market rebounded almost 500 points the very next day. Some pretty one-sided fear mongering, and lies by ommission, I'd say. 

by Paul Magill Smith (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 135 comments [46 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 3:47:44 PM

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check out hiddenmysteries.com , click on Headlines.......scroll down to "Top Stargate Area 51..........", this article tells A LOT about this man. I don't know if this article is true, half true or false.....but it's scary. Please read.

by Linda Bailey (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 68 comments) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 5:31:51 PM

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Who in the heck is Sorcha Faal ? Top Area 51 'Stargate Commander' Given Total Control Of $700 Billion US Bailout

Monday, October 06 2008 @ 07:16 AM CDT Contributed by: Admin Views: 35 BAD IMAGE - http://hiddenmysteries.net/geeklog/images/topics/news.jpg (must exist and begin with http) By: Sorcha Faal Russian Military reports circulating in the Kremlin today are stating that the entire $700 billion bailout package just signed into law by President Bush has been put into the hands of one single man by the US Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson in one of the strangest moves yet committed by the United States in its managing the total collapse of the World’s entire financial structure. What makes this move so strange is that the man being tasked with saving the entire Western banking structure is an Indian-American named Neel Kashkari [photo second left] who though currently serving as the senior advisor to the US Treasury Secretary is better known in Russian Intelligence circles as the American aerospace engineer known as the ‘Stargate Commander of Area 51’ as prior to his entering the higher echelons of the US financial structure was one of NASA’s top scientists who created, among other technological wonders, the James Webb Space Telescope which is due to replace the failing Hubble. Mr. Kashkari, these reports state, was employed by the American defense conglomerate TRW, which among its many government contracts includes its ultra secret projects at the Groom Lake, Nevada, otherwise known as Area 51: “Area 51”, officially designated as an "operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada", is the nation's leading-edge aerospace research, development and testing complex, managed by the Air Force Flight Test Center Detachment 3 (AFFTC DET 3), headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. This sprawling Nevada site is one of America's most vital conglomerate defense R & D complexes with a primary emphasis on weapons systems integration with avionics and aeronautics, employing an average of anywhere from 1200 to 1800 defense contractors personnel who work with various projects under highly compartmentalized programs and in various shifts and durations, such as on daily basis, weekly or even months-long assignments. The huge complex is equipped with fully sufficient accommodations for the contractors personnel who need to stay on the base until their assignments or projects are completed.” These reports further state that Mr. Kashkari had just returned to the United States from Iraq where he was the lead investigator into the mass suicide of American troops attempting to ‘open’ what is described as a ‘stargate’ in the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon, and as we had previously reported on in our September 10th report “US Troops Commit Mass Suicide After Babylon ‘Stargate’ Opened”. This task was particularly suited to Mr. Kashkari, these reports continue, due to his previous work with what is described as the ‘ancient technology’ currently being held by the United States at their Area 51 complex, and which has long been rumored to also hold the remains of aliens and their spacecrafts retrieved by the Americans over the past 60 years, and which earned him the Russian Intelligence codename of ‘Stargate Commander’. Though it will most certainly pass without either knowledge, or comment, among the American people why the staggering sum of $700 billion entrusted by them to their government is going to an aerospace engineer instead of a World-Class economist, it has not escaped ours, especially when viewed in the light of these Americans last attempt to open the Babylon Stargate which resulted in the near destruction of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which was being used as the ‘power source’ for this attempt to ‘contact the gods’, and which we had reported on previously in our September 11th report “CERN Attempt To ‘Talk To God’ Nails Heart Of Earth…Again”. Further to be noticed of these events is that Pope Benedict XVI has begun the historic reading of the entire Christian Bible from Rome, and which is one of the most ancient, and feared, rites of Christendom meant to presage what they term as the beginning of the “Last Days”. This particular event should be particularly noticed as it is occurring at the same moment that Britain is preparing to end a 300-year-old exclusion of Catholics from the line of succession. The greater significance of Pope Benedict’s actions we had, also, previously reported on in our April 23rd report “US-British Leaders Swear Allegiance To Pope As England Destroyed”, wherein we had detailed the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s sudden resignation and nearly immediate conversion to Catholicism in Rome. Not to be overlooked in this “Grand Trine of Ages” [the merging of Rome-London-Washington D.C. into a new Babylon] being led by the British Empire is what is being called in some Russian Intelligence circles as the ‘final pegging’, where the United States will fall completely under the authority of the British Crown, and which for the first time in American history is now possible with the likely ascendancy of Barack Obama to the Presidency as under the British Nationality Act, 1948, his Kenyan father was a British citizen, along with all of his children, making the future American President a subject of the Queen as he has never renounced his allegiance to her throne. To our most ancient of history we must look too as during the last age when the attempts were made to open the Babylon Stargate our World was met with near total destruction, and as told in the most ancient of stories surrounding what is now called the Tower of Babel. From those most ancient of days the surviving physical reminders are the 30 Egyptian obelisks that have survived into our times for our warning/instruction, and of which only 7 remain in Egypt as 13 were removed to Rome as the ‘New Center of Babylon’, with the others being strategically placed in London, Israel, Turkey, France and New York. But, to the ‘newest’ of these obelisks, and the modern one meant to ‘merge’ the power of the ancients, one need only look to the center of Washington D.C. where the largest of these ancient monuments rears it defiance to the heavens and is called the Washington Monument. It goes without our saying that it is neigh impossible for all but the most initiated in these matters to fully comprehend the fullest imports of these events, and of our words herein describing them. But, to our greatest understanding of these things it lies with the coming Full Moon as Mercury ends it retrograde and our Sun aligns once more with Neptune this coming week wherein the greater mysterious will be revealed more fully for those truly seeking knowledge, and which, and as always, we will dutifully report on. © October 6, 2008 EU and US all rights reserved.

by Munich (1 articles, 86 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1125 comments [86 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Monday, Oct 6, 2008 at 8:14:22 PM

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Does this guy write for Hollywood?

by Gallaher (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 990 comments [34 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 1:16:10 AM

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I wish someone would bail me out!

by Gallaher (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 990 comments [34 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 1:10:54 AM

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Might as well appoint Barney Frank

by Robert Woodburn (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 2:16:01 PM

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

by CW Blanchett (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 34 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 7, 2008 at 3:25:26 PM

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