Who's the bigger joke: Obama, Geithner, or Bernanke?

[jayamazin]

Originally Posted by DJprestige21

Originally Posted by andycrazn

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

I didn't even read what he said and might not even agree if I did read it but emoticons are such cop outs, they basically say that you're to stupid to formulate anything so your going to try and put your nose up.

Look at the latest numbers I didn't get them off of whitehouse.gov but then again some of you that think that I am too stupid to formulate my opinion then go research. Obviously Most of you don't know much about whats going on. A lot of world economists are saying this its not some website. But I guess you all have all the answer huh? Hilarious

And judging by the comments and OP's topic is well apparent that this is a right-leaning post. I bet some of you help give Bush 2 terms so his administration can be in the mess we're in now. I think that this government is broken and neither party's incumbent should be safe this year but to say that Obama is a joke after his first year is beyond senseless to say. I want to hear some more independent voices in here.

 

[jayamazin]

Originally Posted by Rexanglorum

wawaweewa wrote:

---

JayAmazin wrote:

---

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

You should question everything you read. Even if it comes from whitehouse.gov.

Boom-Head shot! Obama stans need to realize that Whitehouse press releases and Keith Olbermann are not the Alpha and the Omaga of political and economic information.

For money and for fun I make forecasts and make dossiers on these guys and while I may disagree with Obama and Bernanke, to varying degrees, they are doing what you would expect. They are both professors who carried their views into public office.

Timmy Geithner on the other hand is someone who has to go. While it is good that we live in an age where violence plays a much smaller role in politics than it used to, I rue the fact that I will never get to stick a sword in that rat's belly and make a diagonal slice. Geithner is emblematic of a system where big banks got to function in an environment of privatized gains and socialized losses. People of all political stripes should hate this but he and others have masterfully covered the tracks of his Wall Street friends by advancing the narrative that the collapse of Lehman and others was the result of "free market capitalism" and then asks for "reforms: which will be window dressing. Such reforms will more or less maintain the status quo of a privileged few getting the gains in good times and everyone suffering the losses in the lean times. 

 

Those are facts from the nation's independent economists and even some economists that study global markets so you need to stop all that rhetoric about Obama stans and Ketih Olberman. I don't even watch MSNBC like that or Fox News . They are too biased. Why don't you do some research on what is happened in the economy and look up the latest numbers on GDP growth and jobless claims. Of course Timmy and Summers were both emblems of the system. They were brought in to fix the financial mess they created 12 years ago.

 

[bigballinnv]

Rexanglorum, I haven't agreed with all of your posts but I definitely respect your opinion.  Would you have expanded or contracted the money supply?

 

[rexanglorum]

It is funny how progressives are touting GPD numbers when just a few years ago GDP was meaningless at worse or it was a measure of "turning living things into dead things" and failed to measure true happiness.

I also recall in the mid 2000's, when unemployment was around five percent how progressives said that it failed to account for underemployed people and how five percent was far from full employment and now Obama fans are celebrating the fact that the unemployment rate is now just below double digits.

I do not say this to claim that Bush's policies were vastly superior but merely to show just how much partisanship rots the brain and inhibits critical thinking. The economy is in a huge mess and Obama's policies and his impending set of policies are going to keep it that way. No serious economist will claim that Obama's policies will actually create the growth that will create full employment and reduce the deficit to GDP ratio to a more manageable level (any economist who does make that claim is a cowering sycophant, who is seeking a job in the administration and like Geithner probably deserves the wakizashi through the abdomen treatment)

 

[rexanglorum]

BigBallinNV wrote:

---

Rexanglorum, I haven't agreed with all of your posts but I definitely respect your opinion.  Would you have expanded or contracted the money supply?

As an Austrian trained economist I tend to see the Fed's power of setting rates and the the size of the money supply as something that is, in and of itself is problematic. However, if I were chair of the Fed, I would use dynamic modeling to approximate the world wide supply and demand for capital and set a FFR that reflected that (while excessively low rates caused this mess, it would be foolish to set rates so high that capital is denied to parties who would have made productive use of it). If I had taken over in the last few years, I would have used the a low rate at the discount window to help banks get extra liquidity but I would not have engaged in the sweetheart deals that our Fed did undertake. In other words, if you created the bad securities you will have to bear the cost but if you are a counter party, you would get help from the discount window.



BTW, Jay, my apologies for linking you to the MSNBC watching, Obamastans. I disagree with your views but I am sorry for theorizing that you got them from Countdown aka The Olbermann Propaganda Hour. 





  

 

[tacc4]

Rexanglorum is putting in WORK, educating the masses. I have a feeling we disagree on about 50% of all legislative decisions, but this is your wheelhouse so keep preaching.

The only thing I'm willing to stick my neck out on is the feasibility of using the discount window to keep some of these institutions afloat. The counter-party risk was so widespread that I'm not sure if 0.25% @the discount window would have been effective. You probably would have had to open up the discount window to pretty much all financial institutions, which the Fed did eventually get around to doing. The problem w/the discount window is pretty much just the timing of it all. At what point does Lehman realize they need capital? And do they borrow enough? They needed almost $130 billion just to break even. So maybe you let them go under but every major firm has Lehman debt so we still haven't stopped the bleeding. I trust your opinion on this but I just don't know that there was a way to avoid some of these collapses. Although the government found a way to protect some of these common shareholders *gags* so I guess if you throw enough money at any problem...

 

[jinkazama]

Did anyone catch Ron Paul questioning Ben Bernanke today? That dude is a joke.

 QFT!

 

[reigndrop]

Originally Posted by JinKazama

Did anyone catch Ron Paul questioning Ben Bernanke today? That dude is a joke.

 QFT!
Ron Paul brought up an extremely valid point.  The Fed has the right and ability to purchase sovereign debt of other nations.  This means AMERICAN TAXPAYERS are essentially bailing that country out.  We'll see what happens as the PIGS get into further trouble.

Notice how Bernanke said he had no plans to do so, but didn't mention anything about the past.

BTW, we beginning to double dip.  Housing is already dipping.

 

[jinkazama]

Originally Posted by JinKazama

Did anyone catch Ron Paul questioning Ben Bernanke today? That dude is a joke.

 QFT!
Ron Paul brought up an extremely valid point.  The Fed has the right and ability to purchase sovereign debt of other nations.  This means AMERICAN TAXPAYERS are essentially bailing that country out.  We'll see what happens as the PIGS get into further trouble.

Notice how Bernanke said he had no plans to do so, but didn't mention anything about the past.

BTW, we beginning to double dip.  Housing is already dipping.

  

 
Let's talk about the past and revisit Paul's comments: he claimed the FED gave Saddam 5.5 billion dollars that he used to buy weapons...well duh Mr. Paul we were allies at one time.  Or does everyone forget that.  We helped Iraq win the Iran/Iraq war and our cozy relationship continued until they invaded Kuwait.  Remember Iraq was in our good graces until about 9 months or so before they invaded Kuwait.  Surely money we gave them before and after the Iran/Iraq war finance their army and weapons...this wasnt' some clandestine plan of the FED this was done IN BROAD DAYLIGHT by our leadership at the time.

Watergate...Mr. Paul's claims are based off money found in the room of the watergate burglars that was numbered in sequence...the conspiracy theory is it cam directly from the FED since it was numbered this way.  Since you know THE PRESIDENT and his staff were the culprits behind that whole thing it stands to reason that they could have had the money printed and given to the burglars.  I get that he was trying to show the FEDs cozy relationship with the congress...but he's gonna have to do better than a weak conspiracy theory that's never been proven, nor would amount to a hill of beans if it was.  Would this headline make you gasp..."The FED gave Nixon $4,000 to pay off watergate burglars" my reaction would be, well duh. 

Lastly buying the debt of other nations is not a bad investment...see china...as it is a pretty good bet you are going to get your money back with interest.  I'm not saying we should do it, I'm just saying the ability to do that or doing that is not a ridiculous notion. 

 

[djprestige21]

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

Originally Posted by DJprestige21

Originally Posted by andycrazn

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

I didn't even read what he said and might not even agree if I did read it but emoticons are such cop outs, they basically say that you're to stupid to formulate anything so your going to try and put your nose up.

Look at the latest numbers I didn't get them off of whitehouse.gov but then again some of you that think that I am too stupid to formulate my opinion then go research. Obviously Most of you don't know much about whats going on. A lot of world economists are saying this its not some website. But I guess you all have all the answer huh? Hilarious

And judging by the comments and OP's topic is well apparent that this is a right-leaning post. I bet some of you help give Bush 2 terms so his administration can be in the mess we're in now. I think that this government is broken and neither party's incumbent should be safe this year but to say that Obama is a joke after his first year is beyond senseless to say. I want to hear some more independent voices in here.

That wasn't directed at you Jamazin, that just shows how stupid you are.

 

[lazyj10]

Originally Posted by oO Master Chief Oo

Originally Posted by LazyJ10

Originally Posted by HigherGround

Originally Posted by LazyJ10

Originally Posted by HigherGround

Ben Bernanke is a genius, it is kind of sad when bums who are not half the man he is, degrade him like he is some tool of off the streets.

If you're going to jock him, at least spell the man's name correctly.

I'm not concerned about the mans name, it is his accomplishment that says alot. None of you would even reach the level he did yet you've the nerve to criticize him.

I'm not a fan of students and scholars of the Great Depression running the Fed. Great, he's very accomplished and a scholarly hero, that doesn't mean his policy is any good. 

For the record, I think Timmy is the worst of all.   I don't like Uncle Ben, but I didn't like Volker or Greenspan a whole lot, either.

higher ground is on his jock but lazy u pontificate like a !%%#+##+!%%$  plz tell me what u dont like about volker, and ben

Volker's overall policy from a Fed/Treasury stand point isn't necessarily terrible.  At the time it helped strengthen the core.  However his intuition is more government involvement, which I'm not in favor of.

Greenspan is a joke.  My dislike of him dates back to the handling of Long-Term Capital Management and his overall policy, which was an incubator of bubbles.

 

[cruthik3]

Uh Oh it's starting already>


Critical Q&A between Bernanke And Dodd earlier:

Bernanke:

     "Yes,Senator, I just want to say first of all we are looking into a numberof questions relating to Goldman Sachs and other companies and theirderivatives arrangements with Greece and this issue as well. As you know credit default swaps are properly used as hedging instruments."

Sen. Dodd:

     "Agreed."

Bernanke:

    "The SEC, of course, has been interested in this issue. Obviously usingthese instruments in a way that potentially destabilizes a company or acountry is counterproductive. The SEC will be looking into that. We'llcertainly be evaluating what we learn from the activities of theholding companies that we supervise here in the U.S."

Sen. Dodd:

    Well, let me make the request of you here and we'll make a similarrequest to the SEC. I'm sure all of us on the committee would like to
herevery quickly what the response is going to be, if any, either from youor recommendations you would make as well as from the SEC. I'll makethat formal request this morning. It's a critical issue for all of us.

 

[DownByLaw]

Originally Posted by F A Y B A N

d. CruThik3

Did anyone catch Ron Paul questioning Ben Bernanke today? That dude is a joke.

  

 

[kix4kix]

So if the demand for gold plummits 

 

[whipwrecker]

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

I agree with you.

 

[jedimaster23]

OBAMA

He has not made 1 damn change since he's been in office, I am personally sick of him.


(coming from a black man)

 

[essential1]

Originally Posted by JediMaster23

OBAMA

He has not made 1 damn change since he's been in office, I am personally sick of him.


(coming from a black man)

Start following politics then

 

[jayamazin]

Originally Posted by JediMaster23

OBAMA

He has not made 1 damn change since he's been in office, I am personally sick of him.


(coming from a black man)

We live in a democracy in which we have a balance of powers known as checks and balances. Since when does I'm tired of people expecting the president to do everything. He does not have that type of power. This dude has a year of office under his belt and you already talking about so much for change? How about give the man his 4 years at least to make that happen before we can judge his administration and this congress. If we gave an idiot like Bush and his administration 8 years to screw up the economy then that says something about us as a whole. I sure didn't vote for Bush but a lot of people who didn't want a continuation of Clinton's policies did and did it twice. It took us years for the country to get to the way it is. I don't expect any of the changes to take effect overnight. I would say after 4 years if we are still in the same position or have not made progress then Obama doesn't deserve re-election. But hey both Parties are responsible for getting us into this mess.

 

[jayamazin]

Originally Posted by DJprestige21

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

Originally Posted by DJprestige21

Originally Posted by andycrazn

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

I didn't even read what he said and might not even agree if I did read it but emoticons are such cop outs, they basically say that you're to stupid to formulate anything so your going to try and put your nose up.

Look at the latest numbers I didn't get them off of whitehouse.gov but then again some of you that think that I am too stupid to formulate my opinion then go research. Obviously Most of you don't know much about whats going on. A lot of world economists are saying this its not some website. But I guess you all have all the answer huh? Hilarious

And judging by the comments and OP's topic is well apparent that this is a right-leaning post. I bet some of you help give Bush 2 terms so his administration can be in the mess we're in now. I think that this government is broken and neither party's incumbent should be safe this year but to say that Obama is a joke after his first year is beyond senseless to say. I want to hear some more independent voices in here.

That wasn't directed at you Jamazin, that just shows how stupid you are.

How  does that show how stupid I am? How? Its a vague statement that you made so its not hard to assume from that.

 

[jayamazin]

Originally Posted by WhIpwReCkEr

Originally Posted by JayAmazin

I guess of you say Obama is a joke then he must be because he saved the auto industry, the economic backbone of this country that made us great, Economy that was contracting at a 3% rate and now has just posted 2 straight quarters of growth with 5.7%, slowed down the job losses that were bleeding from 700,000/month when he took office to less than 200,000. The unemployment rate was 10.5% and now is 9.7%. All the steps he has taken has spurred economic growth in the country and now he wants reinstate some of the regulations that the financial system was under before the Glass-Steagall act was repealed which caused this crisis in the first place. So I guess he is joke then.

I agree with you.

Back your claim with facts and an intelligent opinion.

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Originally Posted by Rexanglorum

(any economist who does make that claim is a cowering sycophant, who is seeking a job in the administration and like Geithner probably deserves the wakizashi through the abdomen treatment)

Easy way to avoid arguing w/ them

 

[neptunebeats187]

I hate you.

Edit:

Dislike.

 

[senatorjeffsmith]

at people calling our system a "democracy"...

If anyone objectively studies our electoral process and the debate commission one should quickly determine it is not.

 

[cruthik3]

Obama May Prohibit Home-Loan Foreclosures Without HAMP Review
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By Dawn Kopecki

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration may expand efforts to ease the housing crisis by banning all foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

The proposal, reviewed by lenders last week on a White House conference call, “prohibits referral to foreclosure until borrower is evaluated and found ineligible for HAMP or reasonable contact efforts have failed,

 

[vagixxer]

Obama May Prohibit Home-Loan Foreclosures Without HAMP Review
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By Dawn Kopecki

Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration may expand efforts to ease the housing crisis by banning all foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program.

The proposal, reviewed by lenders last week on a White House conference call, “prohibits referral to foreclosure until borrower is evaluated and found ineligible for HAMP or reasonable contact efforts have failed,