Is that what TARP is? Looks like it to me. Of course, government can do lots of things that you and I would go to jail for (including the way they keep their books). But this looks even worse, and an actual violation of the law.
It’s easy to guess that Barofsky is looking into the possibility that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson coerced the CEOs of the nine largest banks to accept capital investments from TARP, even though several of them didn’t want the government as a stakeholder. Wells Fargo chairman Richard Kovacevich, for example, says that he was “forced to take the TARP money.” Philip Swagel, who served at the time as assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury, admits that “there is no authority in the United States to force a private institution to accept government capital. This is a hard legal constraint.”
Is that the “public corruption” Barofsky is talking about?
But then again, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the statute that authorizes TARP, doesn’t give the Treasury the power to make direct investments in banks at all. It gives the Treasury the power to buy troubled assets and to write insurance against losses in troubled assets. But there’s not one single solitary word in the act that authorizes the Treasury to buy stock in banks.
And there’s not one single solitary word in the act that authorizes the Treasury to do anything at all for auto companies like General Motors and Chrysler. The act only authorizes helping “financial institutions.” Yet billions of TARP dollars have gone to the two automakers.
I think these people have simply gone mad with power. Acton had it right.
Expect jack lee with a comment about how you’re not allowed to be angry about this because Paulson was a Bush appointee in five… four… three…
But something had to be done! The government had to act! What would you rather, that we waited for democratic authority before investing trillions of taxpayer dollars?!?!
This sounds like a very convenient explanation for why they should be allowed to give back the money and not continue to have the Obama administration in their pants.
Essentially, the CEOs are yelling “rape!” after they took the money and assumed it wouldn’t go past “3rd base”.
” think these people have simply gone mad with power. Acton had it right.”I
Of all the things the Bush people did the one that is being called a criminal enterprise involves financial issues.
Illegal Wiretapping? That gets a pass.
Holding American Citizens without Trial? That gets a pass.
Torture? That gets a pass.
But commit a SEC Violation, well now Bush and his cronies are crooks.
Of course it’s criminal. How is that even a question?
They wasted no time making sure their power is secure.
Game over. I have no faith in this media environment that any serious prosecution will result. Everybody’s dirty.
If you read the article you would know it clearly states Lewis contradicted himself and Cuomo was misleading in his letter to Congress. I also don’t think you can consider Frank a Bush “crony”, nor Cuomo. It also will extend to Obma’s cabinet and Obama so don’t stop so soon. There will be plenty of accusations to go around. Gee, I wonder which ones the networks will focus on?
What torture? The techniques the Democrat leadership was briefed on and agreed to with enthusiasm? Are you calling that torture? The wiretapping that took place was considered legal and did not violate any laws at the time.
Yeah, they should have tried him for espionge and shot him. I guess he lucked out being an enemy combatant. Come on Jack lee, give us a “Bush lied, People died for old times sake.
Illegal Wiretapping? That gets a pass.
Apparently, since jack lee refuses to call Obama on it.
Holding American Citizens without Trial?
Not sure who is being talked about here, but we have learned that Democrats have no problem trying to take lawful bonus money away from people without trial.
He’s mostly talking about Jose Padilla.
say what you want about Padilla, but, he is an american citizen and was entitled to a judicial arraignment in 72 hours and a trial by jury. That the Bushites held him for years, tortured him until he went insane, and engaged in kafkaesque games with his trial, says something about them.
That Leland knows nothing about that, but knows everything about the AIG bonus fund, says something truly tragic about the republicans of today.
Screw the AIG pieces of crap, force them into bankruptcy, same with JPM, Wells Fargo and BofA. Lquidate Goldman, liquidate the street. Now that would be a capitalist outcome. That Leland is whining for AIG says something truly sad.
As for Illegal wiretapping, it’s legal now. FISA reform of 2007 makes it legal. You don’t want Obama listening to your phone calls, change the law. Bush wanted the Unitary executive to listen to everyone’s dirty laundry? Well, that power was given to the NSA.
Jose Padilla had a trial and was found guilty. That’s after several courts reviewed the legality of his being detained. According to the US federal courts, Padilla was lawfully detained, and by my court had at least 4 judicial reviews on that very subject.
That Leland is whining for AIG says something truly sad.
Yeah, I think it is crap the government bailed out AIG. I found it outrageous that Democratic Senator Chris Dodd put in an amendment that allowed AIG executives to receive their bonuses, and then after it was no longer politically advantageous, the same Democratic Senator tried to convince rank and file employees to give up their earned bonuses. You want to know how to keep AIG employees from receiving bonuses from a failed corporation? Let the corporation fail in a free market. Instead Obama bailed them out, and Democratic Senators made sure their political donors got paid.
Oh, and Wells Fargo just announced a profit (it helped that S&P number jack lee was tutting the other day). Wells Fargo also wants to repay the TARP money. Isn’t that what Americans were told the TARP money was for? To get the banks pass a difficult time, and that taxpayers would get repaid with a profit? Well, here it is? But Obama doesn’t want that, he wants shares in the company, which is something the TARP law doesn’t allow. In fact, as some of the TARP money was used for this very purpose, even back under the Bush Administration, federal agencies are not investigating if Treasury Secretaries broke the law. But hey, these are government officials abusing legal authority, but if you mention that, jack lee thinks your just whining.
I have no dog in the hunt (rather didn’t) with Wells Fargo, other than a college friend works there, but earlier this month, jack lee insisted I put my money where my comments were. And well, I should thank jack lee. It’s kinda of nice getting a 50% turn around in investment over a couple of days. SWEET!
Jose Padilla sat 3.5 years in a military prison, before he got the trial he was entitled to on the first day by the Constitution. Remember that? The Constitution?
And as for Profits on Wells? Great. Keep Buying, the future is nothing but up for Wells. Certainly, Hold on. Double Down.
So when Lincoln kept Confederate POWs in detention the length of the civil war, why wasn’t he arrested and thrown in jail? The Constitution doesn’t allow for secession so those prisoners should have been given a trial and jailed or set free. Why aren’t you screaming about Lincoln, he was a Republican too?
Executive power which is part of the Constitution gives a President broad powers. As far as the claptrap about an insane Padilla, anyone trying to damage THIS country in the name of Islam may not be legally insane but they are pretty stupid.
Bill
I know the Conservatives would like to roll our society back to the 19th century, but most of us prefer the 21st century.
When I was in School, I was taught that Lincoln’s suspension of Habeus Corpus was considered a poor treatment of the constitution and that we should never find ourselves there again. Why don’t I spend time on Lincoln? Because he was judged by history in both the good and the bad.
“I know the Conservatives would like to roll our society back to the 19th century …”
You know that. Since you know that, how’s Elvis? History has taught us that the Constitution can’t address every single situation that comes up. The founding fathers did understand that. So the powers given to the executive branch were broad in scope but the funding was left with the people’s House with the Judicial branch as a final arbiter. The leftist history instructors around today use any temporary extraodinary circumstance as a chance to use their 20/20 hindsight clubs to criticize decisions most of them would pee their pants over if they had to make the choice.
Why don’t I spend time on Lincoln? Because he was judged by history in both the good and the bad.
Why spend time on Bush? He’ll be “judged by history”.
Another way to rephrase the quoted trite line is that, aside from John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln was not judged by anyone who mattered.
And as for Profits on Wells? Great. Keep Buying, the future is nothing but up for Wells. Certainly, Hold on. Double Down.
No way man. A quick turn is one thing, but banking on Obama relinquishing federal control over banks is a bad investment. Now Ford Motor Company, they are looking pretty smart and putting out a car with a specified 700 mile range.