It might be unpopular to say in today’s economic climate, but I join Michelle Malkin in not trusting Henry Paulson’s judgment. Thanks to both parties, we’re about to hand over $700 billion+ to a Treasury Secretary who didn’t see the disaster coming spend it however he wants, without the input or oversight of the public. Didn’t see it coming? Nope.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said…the housing market correction appears to be at or near its bottom and that troubles in the subprime mortgage market will not likely spread throughout the economy.
“We’ve clearly had a big correction in the housing market. Retail housing was growing for some time at a level that was not sustainable,” Paulson said in a speech to The Committee of 100, a business group in New York promoting better Chinese relations.
“I don’t see (subprime mortgage market troubles) imposing a serious problem. I think it’s going to be largely contained,” he added.
That’s from April 2007. Has the subprime mortgage market’s troubles posed a serious problem? If one of the worst financial disasters since the Great Depression is your idea of a “serious problem, then yes. Was the market correction reaching its bottom in April of last year? Hardly. That’s just one example of his lack of foresight on this disaster. And yet we’re about to hand over $700 billion for this man to spend how he wishes.
Is Paulson a conservative Republican? It wouldn’t seem so. Robert Novak looked into Paulson’s lefty DNA back in October ’07.
[T]he former Goldman Sachs CEO does not act or sound much like a conservative Republican to the GOP remnant at the Treasury. “It’s not in Hank Paulson’s DNA,” one official told me. Is he loyal to Bush? “Hank is for Hank,” he replied.
Paulson marched to his own drummer… by naming Eric Mindich, chairman of Eton Park Capital Management, to head the Asset Managers’ Committee of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets. A former Goldman Sachs colleague of Paulson’s, Mindich is a top-level Democratic fundraiser. He was in Sen. John Kerry’s inner circle for the 2004 presidential campaign and backs Sen. Barack Obama for 2008.
Republicans in the administration were amazed that the White House acquiesced in appointing a Democratic activist to lead a group “to develop best practices” for asset managers. These critics wonder why President Bush did not ask Paulson why he could not name a Republican financier for this position…[A] Treasury spokesman replied that “we were looking for somebody who is well respected in the industry” to fill what is “not really a political position.” By that measure, no Treasury job can be considered political.
That includes Bob Steel, under secretary for domestic finance…Brought to the Treasury by Paulson a year ago, Steel is a retired Goldman Sachs vice chairman who worked there with Rubin and Paulson. Federal Election Commission records show no political contributions by Steel since the 2002 cycle, when he gave exclusively to Democrats (including Sen. Charles Schumer of New York). Steel, who is Board of Trustees chairman of Duke University in Durham, N.C., contributed to the North Carolina Democratic Party and its Senate candidates, Dan Blue and Erskine Bowles.
Although Paulson was a generous Republican contributor and prodigious Bush fundraiser (over $100,000) in the 2004 cycle, his earlier political giving was more varied. He contributed to Bill Clinton in 1992, Democrat Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign, the feminist Emily’s List and Wall Street’s favorite Democrat, Chuck Schumer. Most of the Paulson family’s Democratic contributions come from the secretary’s wife, Wendy, who has supported Hillary Clinton.
All this was known to Bush in May 2006 when he tapped Paulson as a Treasury chief who would command respect on Wall Street. It should be no surprise then that he is regarded in his own administration as less a true Republican secretary than a transition to the next Democratic Treasury — a trademark of a lame-duck regime.
Emphasis mine. He’s also supported Al Gore’s global warming policies and has ties to the Chinese Communists. Perhaps that helps explain why foreign banks won’t be excluded from the bailout.
Instead of rushing into handing over $700 billion to a guy that lacks judgment, has ties to Chinese Communists, and wants to bail out foreign banks, how about we take a breather and think about it? Especially since his spending of the money won’t be subject to oversight.
22. September 2008 at 10:33 pm
Now let me understand this. Bail out Paulson wants $700 Billion to $1 Trillion dollars.
That’s one thousand Billion dollars. A Billion dollars one thousand times.
Where’s it going to come from? Don’t you dare let this happen. The minute the money printing presses start cranking out one thousand billion dollars, the dollar in your wallet is going to be worth, maybe, 5 cents.
The more money that gets cranked out into circulation, the less each dollar will be worth. Got $10.00. You’ll have maybe 50 cents. It will be inflation on STEROIDS! Let’s NOT let it happen!
It will be a very cold day in hell when the federal government decides to help Mr. John Smith with his failing family business.
Why should the government help Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, AIG or any other failing businesses? The government is NOT in the business of doing business or owning businesses — unless, of course, you agree to a bit of fascism or communism. NO!
Perhaps a little socialism? I say NO.
And, the failed businesses are scaring the public with the threat of no more loan money if they don’t get their way. Sounds like a Mexican kidnapping and hostage taking with ransom demand — muscle-style. Just say NO!
Besides is Nancy Pelosi threatening to prosecute George W. Bush for certain war crimes or illegalities if he doesn’t acquiesce? It seems he’s a bit too eager to hand over the money. After spending billions on the war, billions on hurricane aid, billions on Homeland security, billions on Freddie and Fannie, billions on the economic stimulus, and billions on broken bridges — it’s time to say: Enough is enough! Stop!
Let those who have made miscalculations and bad judgments face the music. The guys who handle the oil are NOT giving us any breaks at all. Why should we give them anything?
After all they’re just a few brokerage agencies and insurance companies, right? And, how did they all happen to fail at the same time? — along with Freddie and Fannie. Talk about choreographing and orchestrating the Ponzi scheme.
Let them fail. Remember AMC motor cars? Remember Gulf+Western oil? Remember CompUSA? Remember the Amiga and Commodore Computer companies?
We still have cars, we still have oil, we still have computer stores, and we still have computers.
When businesses run out of money and ideas; it’s time for someone else to take the place of those failing businesses.
It’s called Capitalism.
Fight the bail-out. Let them fail-out!