I just forwarded the link to everybody I know.

You should ALL do the same. It will actually GET votes for McCain. It WILL. Especially those voters who are undecided or leaning towards Obama simply because the economy is dicey and they don’t want to vote Rep.

Wachovia will fail next, and it’ll be another shotgun sail… another bank consolidation… as people are already talking about it failing.

Romeo13 on September 26, 2008 at 4:16 PM

Maybe. I think Wachovia CEO Robert Steel is capable, though he inherited a mess. Apparently much of their real estate exposure is direct, rather than through securities. That gives them some flexibility. They were talking to Morgan Stanley, now Citi. Looks like Steel will try to emulate the John Thain model.

The government didn’t encourage WaMu to get into the risky products it did. Their responsibility is to the depositors who Killinger had put in jeopardy.

dedalus on September 26, 2008 at 3:45 PM

WaMU failed because of 3 things…

They didn’t sell all their bad mortgages to Fannie and Freddie, like others did.

They continued in the risky loan business, at the governments behest, thinking they’d get bailed….

AND MOSTLY, because Government people started talking about it failing, which caused a run on its banks.

Wachovia will fail next, and it’ll be another shotgun sail… another bank consolidation… as people are already talking about it failing.

307 Billion in assets were sold to JP for 1.9 Billion… by the government forcing it. Giving the company a loan in order for it to peacefully breakup, the investors could have gotten MUCH more of that money back… instead the government chose winners and loosers AMOUNGST INVESTORS. Thats a forced 305 BILLION DOLLAR transfer of wealth.

Romeo13 on September 26, 2008 at 3:34 PM

If something like the Paulson plan had passed earlier, WaMu might have been able to limp along. If Congress can pass something this weekend it will probably stop some other bank failures.

The government didn’t encourage WaMu to get into the risky products it did. Their responsibility is to the depositors who Killinger had put in jeopardy.

dedalus on September 26, 2008 at 3:22 PM

Corportations do not, but investors do. The way the Feds are acting is picking economice winners and loosers amongst INVESTORS, not just corporations.

307 Billion in assets were sold to JP for 1.9 Billion… by the government forcing it. Giving the company a loan in order for it to peacefully breakup, the investors could have gotten MUCH more of that money back… instead the government chose winners and loosers AMOUNGST INVESTORS. Thats a forced 305 BILLION DOLLAR transfer of wealth.

Please explain to me how you can treat different sets of taxpaying investors differently under the equal protection clause of the Constitution?
Romeo13 on September 26, 2008 at 3:11 PM

Corporations don’t have Constitutional rights. In the case of WaMu, Kerry Killinger turned down $8/share from JPM in April. Shareholders should be angry at him in the same way that Lehman shareholders should be angry with Dick Fuld who ran the company into bankruptcy. AIG, Bear and the GSE shareholders got clobbered even with the government stepping in.

Chakra Hammer on September 26, 2008 at 2:59 PM

Yes, Barry is much worse, but the system is flawed when you can give campaign contributions to someone who is overseeing the laws which impact your business, especialy if they are on the Committee with oversees your industry.

That must have been some seriously potent crack he was smoking in his teen years to have blotted out his home state.

baldilocks on September 26, 2008 at 2:51 PM

Ya think!

dedalus on September 26, 2008 at 2:58 PM

Please explain to me how you can treat different sets of taxpaying investors differently under the equal protection clause of the Constitution?

Remember, these are not just business entities… real American citizens are getting hurt by their investments becoming worth nothing… and by Government whim.

Many of these “investors” are in 401ks and 403Bs, and have NO idea where there money is on a day to day basis.

Its going to be interesting to see how this all plays out in the courts eventually. How can a Government entity pick and choose winners and loosers under the Equal Protection Clause…. I see class action lawsuits coming…

————-

John McCain Has Requested $0 in Earmarks and Pork-Barrel Projects.

Yeah, McCain is taking smaller bites, but still feeding from the same trough.

Gotta LUV our politics.

Romeo13 on September 26, 2008 at 2:33 PM

Senator Barack Obama 2003 – 2008 Top 20 Contributors

Brack Obama
Assumed office
January 4, 2005

How did he raise more money than McCain when he was in office, such a short time?

But upon seizing WaMu IMMEDIATLY sold it at a real fire sale price, to a favored bank? One who in the past had expressed an interest in WaMu, but didn’t like the price?

Why did they not give them a line of credit, like they did to AIG?

Government is PICKING winners and loosers, which is not their job.

Romeo13 on September 26, 2008 at 2:27 PM

I’m guessing because they are reacting and each case is different. The GSE’s were taken over because no one but the government was big enough. LEH failed because they weren’t interconnected enough for the government to care. The government intended to let AIG fail but then realized that it would be catastrophic, so they backstopped them and took 80% of the company.

In the case of WaMu they had a deposit base that was bigger than what the FDIC could handle. Dimon was willing to take the deposits along with the toxic assets. His company is strong enough to handle the billions in write downs and also raise $10B in new equity.

Look for US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, or other strong banks to pick up a few failed banks themselves soon.

Alaska and Hawaii don’t exsist in BHO’s eyes.

upinak on September 26, 2008 at 1:42 PM

That must have been some seriously potent crack he was smoking in his teen years to have blotted out his home state.

Why Goldman Sachs will survive this crisis

Because James Johnson‘s on the board? GS employees better hide their wallets and purses.

Chakra Hammer on September 26, 2008 at 2:30 PM

Yeah, McCain is taking smaller bites, but still feeding from the same trough.

Gotta LUV our politics.

Goldman Sachs $748,880(Obama’s Largest Contributor)

————————————
John McCain 2003 – 2008

Goldman Sachs $234,345(McCain’s largest was $306,813)

—————————————–

Top Contributors
Senator Barack Obama 2003 – 2008

Goldman Sachs $748,880
University of California $625,911
JPMorgan Chase & Co $491,469
Harvard University $473,669
Citigroup Inc $467,849
Google Inc $426,174
University of Chicago $424,539
UBS AG $419,245
Skadden, Arps et al $394,335
Lehman Brothers $393,324
National Amusements Inc $382,303
Microsoft Corp $380,735
Sidley Austin LLP $379,802
Kirkland & Ellis $376,164
Moveon.org $347,463
Morgan Stanley $341,320
Time Warner $338,677
Wilmerhale Llp $335,398
Exelon Corp $314,063(Obama’s 19th highest contributor larger than McCain’s 1st)

Latham & Watkins $299,650

———————————-

Top Contributors
Senator John McCain 2003 – 2008

Merrill Lynch $306,813
Citigroup Inc $277,251
Goldman Sachs $234,345
Morgan Stanley $234,272
AT&T Inc $192,557
JPMorgan Chase & Co $185,325
Credit Suisse Group $165,575
Blank Rome LLP $150,426
Greenberg Traurig LLP $148,787
UBS AG $138,665
PricewaterhouseCoopers $138,320
US Government $137,842
Bank of America $133,975
FedEx Corp $123,953
Wachovia Corp $123,096
Pinnacle West Capital $123,050
Lehman Brothers $120,600
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $104,250
US Army $103,613
Bear Stearns $99,300

The regulators seized WaMu in a manner that kept their liabilities away from taxpayers. It also keeps safe the $2.5B in deposits that were uninsured by the FDIC. The biggest loser was a private equity firm that has seen its $1B+ investment wiped out.

dedalus on September 26, 2008 at 2:17 PM

Um, question, why put Fannie and Freddie essentialy into government hands… and HOLD IT…

But upon seizing WaMu IMMEDIATLY sold it at a real fire sale price, to a favored bank? One who in the past had expressed an interest in WaMu, but didn’t like the price?

Why did they not give them a line of credit, like they did to AIG?

Government is PICKING winners and loosers, which is not their job.