The financial market meltdown: a national crisis at your kitchen table.

by Chris MC

September 21st, 2008 · 13 Comments

Tags: Chris MC · Congress · Connecticut · Economy · Himes

13 Responses so far ↓ “The financial market meltdown: a national crisis at your kitchen table.”

• 1 Anonymous // Sep 21, 2008 at 10:59 pm

  The Federal Reserve said Sunday it had granted a request by the country’s last two major investment banks — Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley — to change their status to bank holding companies.

  So whats its mean to a rookie who knows little about whats going on?

• 2 Anonymous // Sep 21, 2008 at 11:07 pm

  You’ve got me. All I know is, I have no sympathy to the wealthy sort of areas like Ridgefield, New Canaan, Darien and Westport who’ve probably lost their shirts over the past week. Now they’ll have to find out what it’s like to try to exist from week to week, like the rest of us little people.

• 3 Chris MC // Sep 21, 2008 at 11:29 pm

  From the New York Times website:

  Now, Goldman and Morgan Stanley, which have been the subject of merger speculation in recent weeks, can become direct competitors to larger firms like Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Those firms combine investment-banking operations with the larger capital cushions that come with retail deposits, giving them a stability that pure investment banks lack.

• 4 impact on FF County // Sep 22, 2008 at 6:58 am

  Sympathy for the wealthy or not, the principle of trickle down economics means that we “little folks” will certainly feel the imapct as the rich tighten their belts. It’s going to affect small businesses, retail, construction workers, lawn services, car service drivers, waiters, etc, etc, etc. That’s the free market at work…

• 5 Jimdish25 // Sep 22, 2008 at 2:30 pm

  Trust me there’s plenty of sympathy for the rich down in DC. Do you see anyone standing up to Paulsen and Bernanke as they demand a trillion dollar checkbook to disperse as they see fit. This money will go to the same crooks that got us into this mess and may even include overseas interests!

  It just keeps getting better and better under the Bush corporatocracy. Now before the election they can’t wait to bandaid this up to say they did something. So the ticking timebomb of the national debt takes another hit and threatens to undermine any financial stability underpinning our economic system. Can you say deflation!

  Think anyone’s going to jail over this or having their assets seized? I doubt it. We can’t afford to cover health expenses or build bridges, but we can sure prop up the market for a few more months on the taxpayers dime (which just changed into a thousand dollar bill).

• 6 impact on FF County // Sep 22, 2008 at 3:27 pm

  So explain to me again why the “little guys” think the Republicans give a rat’s ass about them — except when it’s time to feed them some BS about “Coutnry First” to get into office so they can continue to give it all away to their big supporters? McCain’s biggest contributions are entirely from the financial industry. Think he’ll tighten the reins on his backers? Unlikely.

  Not that I hold out great hope for the other side either but Democrats at least have some sort of history of helping us down here at the bottom of the food chain.

  And while we’re on the subject of what a lousy ticket this is, do you think the Palins ever met a black person before Obama? Do you think Todd Palin will introduce himself as “first dude” and give Obama a high five — you know, one “homey” to another?

  I think we get rid of both old white guys (McCain and Biden), run a merged ticket of the black dude and the pistol-packin’ hockey mama. At least it makes for better television…and that’s all most people vote anyway.

  Issues? We don’t need no estinkin’ issues…

• 7 Anonymous // Sep 22, 2008 at 3:42 pm

  Tell you what: if it comes down to lack of experience I will go with Obama. My ass is a bit sore from getting bent over for the last eight years by the Republicans. I have had enough of their brand of governance, if you can call it that. Seems to me that when Numbnuts took over there was actually a budget surplus. My income has dropped since then and everything else, including the bulges in GOP pockets, has gone up.

  Let’s hope the unwashed masses get off their asses and think this time before they wrap themselves in the flag and pull the lever.

• 8 Anonymous // Sep 22, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  Morgan Stanley to sell 20 pct stake in itself now how does that happen?

• 9 It's the economy, stupid, part 2 // Sep 22, 2008 at 7:42 pm

  CNN poll: GOP takes brunt of blame for economy; Obama gains

  * Two-thirds say economy is not fundamentally sound, poll found
  * Nearly half of those polled blame Republicans for current financial crisis
  * Obama leading McCain 51-46 percent, according to CNN poll out Monday
  * Majority of respondents viewed Obama as better on economic issues

  By Paul Steinhauser
  CNN Deputy Political Director

  WASHINGTON (CNN) — By a two-to-one ratio, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks, a new national poll suggests.

  That may be a contributing factor to an apparent increase for Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain in the race for the White House.

  In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey out Monday afternoon, 47 percent of registered voters questioned say Republicans are more responsible for the problems currently facing financial institutions and the stock market, with 24 percent saying Democrats are more responsible.

  One in five of those polled blame both parties equally, and 8 percent say neither party is to blame.

  The poll also indicates that more Americans think Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, would do a better job handling an economic crisis than McCain, the Republican presidential nominee.

  Forty-nine percent of those questioned say Obama, D-Illinois, would display good judgment in an economic crisis, six points higher than McCain, R-Arizona.

  And Obama has a 10-point lead over McCain when it comes to who would better handle the economy overall.

  These numbers seem to be affecting the battle for the presidency. Fifty-one percent of registered voters are backing Obama, five points ahead of McCain, who is at 46 percent.

  McCain and Obama were tied at 48 percent apiece in the previous CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted September 5-7.

  Obama’s advantage, while growing, is still within the poll’s sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

  Where did Obama make his gains?

  “In two core McCain constituencies: men, who now narrowly favor Obama, and seniors, who have also flipped from McCain to Obama,” said Bill Schneider, a CNN senior political analyst.

  When including people most likely to vote, the results are pretty much the same. Among likely voters, Obama has a four-point lead, 51 percent to 47 percent.

  A CNN Poll of Polls calculated Monday also shows Obama with a single-digit advantage — 49 percent for Obama to 44 percent for McCain.

  “The economy has always been considered John McCain’s Achilles heel, and the CNN Poll of Polls started to show an Obama edge in the middle of last week — just as the financial crisis began to hit home for many Americans,” said Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.

  The poll also expands to include third-party candidates. When included in the results, independent Ralph Nader has the support of 4 percent of those polled, with Libertarian candidate Bob Barr and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney each at 1 percent. Also, Obama has the backing of 48 percent of likely voters, three points ahead of McCain’s 45 percent.

  A couple of other factors in the survey appear to contribute to Obama’s slight rise and McCain’s slight drop in the polls. Fifty-three percent of those questioned say McCain, if elected, will mostly carry out the policies of President Bush, who remains extremely unpopular with most Americans. Bush’s disapproval is up three points from the previous CNN/Opinion Research poll.

  The survey also indicates Obama’s recaptured the “change” factor. Just after the Republican convention, Obama’s lead had shrunk to eight points when voters were asked which candidate would be more likely to bring change. His lead is up to 14 points in the new poll.

  The margin of error on that question was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

  Another factor could be McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Thirty-five percent of those questioned have an unfavorable opinion of her, up 8 points from a previous survey. And two-thirds believe she and her husband should testify in the Alaska investigation into the firing of a state official.

  “Change has always been Obama’s strong suit, but McCain and Palin clearly made inroads into that issue during the GOP convention,” Holland said. “Palin, in particular, was seen as an agent of change when she made her first appearance on the national stage. That may be changing now.”

  The poll also sheds more light on how Americans feel about the financial crisis. Twenty-two percent are frightened by the crisis, with two-thirds concerned. Eleven percent say they are not worried.

  Most Americans think that the programs to deal with the financial crisis currently being worked on by Congress and the Bush administration will be unfair to U.S. taxpayers, but they think those programs will help the economy.

  Six in 10 think the federal government should step in and address the financial crisis, and 37 percent say the government should stay out. But when it comes to last week’s bailouts, support slips to 55 percent, and given the concerns about how future programs will affect taxpayers, it’s conceivable that public support for the plans that Congress and the administration are working on could be even lower.

  The survey comes out just four days before McCain and Obama face off in the first of three presidential debates. Will the debates make a difference? Probably, since the poll finds that 14 percent of Americans say they haven’t made up their minds yet.

  The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Friday through Sunday. One thousand and twenty Americans, including 909 registered voters and 697 likely voters, were questioned by telephone.

• 10 Anonymous // Sep 23, 2008 at 1:03 pm

  Gov. M. Jodi Rell says the state budget deficit has doubled from last month, to more than $300 million.

  Much of the increase is being blamed on a $75 million drop in personal income tax collections.

  Is Jodi using Norwalk math again?

• 11 Old Timer // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:15 pm

  This is an excerpt from a column in the Huffington Post yesterday. If it is accurate, it is probably unconstitutional. Nothing done by anybody is beyond court review, especially, spending taxpayer money.

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/22/dirty-secret-of-the-bailo_n_128294.html

  A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that’s so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one’s hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:

  Decisions by the 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.

• 12 Anonymous // Sep 23, 2008 at 8:31 pm

  What “deficit”??? I was just reading a week or so ago that we had a SURPLUS.

• 13 Anonymous // Sep 24, 2008 at 9:59 am

  Where is the outrage?

  John McCain decries greed on Wall Street and suggests a commission be formed to look into the problem. This is like Casanova coming out for chastity.

  Sep. 24, 2008 | It’s just human nature that some calamities register in the brain and others don’t. The train engineer texting at the throttle (”HOW R U? C U L8R”) and missing the red light and 25 people die in the crash — oh God, that is way too real. Everyone has had a moment of supreme stupidity that came close to killing somebody. Even atheists say a little prayer now and then: Dear God, I am an idiot, thank you for protecting my children.

  On the other hand, the federal bailout of the financial market (YAWN) is a calamity that people accept as if it were just one more hurricane. An air of crisis, the secretary of the Treasury striding down a hall at the Capitol with minions in his wake, solemn-faced congressmen at the microphones. Something must be done, harrumph harrumph. The Current Occupant pops out of the cuckoo clock and reads a few lines off a piece of paper, pronouncing all the words correctly. And the newscaster looks into the camera and says, “Etaoin shrdlu qwertyuiop.” Where is the outrage?

  Poor Larry Craig got a truckload of moral condemnation for tapping his wingtips in the men’s john, but his party proposes to spend 5 percent of the GDP to buy up bad loans made by men who walk away with their fortunes intact while retirees see their 401K go pffffffff like a defunct air mattress, and it’s business as usual. Mr. McCain is a lifelong deregulator and believer in letting brokers and bankers do as they please — remember Lincoln Savings and Loan and his intervention with federal regulators on behalf of his friend Charles Keating, who then went to prison? Remember Neil Bush, the brother of the C.O., who, as a director of Silverado S&L, bestowed enormous loans on his friends without telling fellow directors that the friends were friends and who, when the loans failed, paid a small fine and went skipping off to other things? Mr. McCain now decries greed on Wall Street and suggests a commission be formed to look into the problem. This is like Casanova coming out for chastity.

  Confident men took leave of common sense and bet on the idea of perpetual profit in the real estate market and crashed. But it wasn’t their money. It was your money they were messing with. And that’s why you need government regulators. Gimlet-eyed men with steel-rim glasses and crepe-soled shoes who check the numbers and have the power to say, “This is a scam and a hustle and either you cease and desist or you spend a few years in a minimum-security federal facility playing backgammon.”

  The Republican Party used to specialize in gimlet-eyed, steel-rim, crepe-soled common sense and then it was taken over by crooked preachers who demand we trust them because they’re packing a Bible and God sent them on a mission to enact lower taxes, less government. Except when things crash, and then government has to pick up the pieces.

  Some say the tab might come to a trillion dollars. Nobody knows. And Mr. McCain has not one moment of doubt or regret. He switches from First Deregulation Church to Our Lady of Strict Vigilance like you might go from decaf to latte. Where is the straight talk? Does the man have no conscience?

  It wasn’t their money they were playing with. It was yours. Where were the cops?

  What we are seeing is the stuff of a novel, the public corruption of an American war hero. It is painful. First, there was his exploitation of a symbolic woman, an eager zealot who is so far out of her depth that it isn’t funny anymore. Anyone with a heart has to hurt for how Mr. McCain has made a fool of her. Never mind the persistent cheesiness of his attack ads. And now this chasm of debt and loss and the gentleman pretends to be shocked. He was there. He turned out the lights. He sent the regulators home.

  Mr. McCain seems willing to say anything, do anything, to get to the White House so he can go to war with Iran. If he needs to recline naked in Macy’s window, he would do that, or eat live chickens, or claim to be a reformer. Obviously you can fool a lot of people for awhile and maybe he can stretch it out until mid-November. But the truth is marching on. A few true conservatives are leading a charge against the bailout. Good for them. But how about admitting that their cowboy economic philosophy was at fault here?

  By Garrison Keillor

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