WTF

[digitaldiscipline]

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/1/10453/2389/196/616108

Seriously? Seriously?

I'm listening to the smart folks on my flist who explain why letting shit collapse might be a bad thing (yeah, I haven't finished stocking up on dry and canned goods yet, but I've started), but the ongoing disconnect here, coupled with what marchenland wisely observed yesterday (to wit, paraphrased: "I don't feel like we're getting the whole story here; nothing moves this fast, with so much pressure out of nowhere, without the public being left very seriously in the fucking dark about something behind the scenes that's probably really fucking important.")....

Yeah, I'm one of those angry constituents who don't want a bailout passed yet, and I think I've got a good case for my reservations.

Additional bitchery: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/09/30/bailout/

Or, as I said elsewhere via IM: ELECT ME GOD AND GET OUT OF THE DAMNED WAY, PEOPLE.

Comments

[auroara.livejournal.com]

I'd like to get some more information. I'd like to know why the government doesn't want to tell us or claims not to know how much this is going to be. We wanted to pick a really big number is not acceptable. The bank won't let you money without you telling them how much you want first, and we shouldn't blindly lend money either.

Show me some actual numbers, people. We should be angry. Until this shit gets a little less murky, I don't think I want to bail out anyone.

Also, I want this money paid back. If the market picks up they better not be making mega-profits without paying us back. I'm pissed off enough about the oil companies making insane profits while I'm paying insane prices.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

The exact figure is really, really hard to pin down because we don't really know the rate at which the sub-prime loans go bad. We've got decades of history with traditional mortgages, we know how SOME sub-prime loans go, but there's been a LOT of wierd mortgages written in the past five years, and many of them are wierder than we've got a good feel for. Especially tricky are the ones that are basically interest-only with giant balloon payments at the end that were written with the presumption that the house would be worth much more than its purchase price in 10-20 years, which may or may not be true. We don't know how many of those are written either, and they can be ticking timebombs if the borrowers aren't assiduous about paying down the balloon at the end.

[auroara.livejournal.com]

While I understand all of that, they are going to have to come up with some real number. It's simply not acceptable to say "bail us out" for some unknown number. How can we make an educated decision if we don't have all the facts? That's all I'm saying. I don't want to be held responsible for some unknown number. If there is no number that we can come to then we need to at the very least come to a number that we limit it to.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that you don't find it acceptable. Unfortunately, the number isn't knowable until it's over, just like the 1989 version didn't know that the total would be until the Resolution Trust Corporation finished its job. It was originally stated in 1989 that $50 billion would take care of it. Two years later, RTC asked Congress for another $77 billion. By the time it was done, $160 billion was spent.

[auroara.livejournal.com]

It is simply my opinion, and clearly not a directive from on high. I don't think attempting to set limits is unwise. It is clear to me that just making things up really helped to get us here and it's doubtful that it will be helpful in getting us out. I'd rather the bail out be well thought out and responsible and not a knee jerk reaction.

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

It's the internets; everyone may as well have a directive from on-high.

More seriously, I think essentially we're in a situation very, very much like twenty years ago, with the same threats, same causes, same goddamned *people* involved (Oh, look, a Bush and a Keating Five member!), just likely a different SCALE. And I think similar solutions would work, and it'll just take longer than ten years to finish cleaning up. We got a precedent; why don't we have a plan?

(And maybe learn from it this time. That'd be a win, wouldn't it?)

[auroara.livejournal.com]

For directives from on high, please see my actual blog. I'm sure there are some there as well as my usual stream of complete and utter crap.

I agree with you. This will not be fixed or cleaned up overnight. I'd love to believe we have learned our lesson, but unfortunately, only time will tell.

[y2kdragon.livejournal.com]

It's the same reason the Wizard of Oz hid behind a curtain, while using an overglorified light show to instill fear and command respect in people. If we knew the whole truth, we'd see the Emperor has no clothes on.

[auroara.livejournal.com]

I wonder who would actually be surprised to find that out?