Any time I go away the server gets attacked. It’s annoying, so next time Steven shouldn’t say anything. I’ll try to keep the site up as best I can. What’s on your mind?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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test test test
No kidding? Mum’s the owrd from now on.
Well if I may plug my own diray, we’re still at war, horse races and sex scandals notwithstanding.
Yea, welcome back.
Steven D went giddy after all that rum.
give a flail I can get you more.
Sorry about the car, dude. It’s really only a scratch.
Does anyone realize what a HUGE event took place on Friday? The nation’s 5th largest bank was hours from complete collapse when JP Morgan, via the (private, not federal) Federal Reserve, injected billions in capital reserves to keep Bear running. If Bear was not able to raise these billions so quickly, the bank would have failed and there would be a huge painful void in the midst of our capitalist system.
I’m no financial geek, but in discussions with a geek friend last night, it became clear how astounding and dangerous this event really is to the general economy. The news reports are just kind of la-de-da about it, we’re so numb to big numbers these days — 9 billion a month in Iraq, 40, 50, die per day in Iraq, 10, 20 Palestinians killed in Gaza each week, 7? 9? trillion national debt — we don’t realize that Wall Street is a big casino On-the-Hudson, and what happens there really does matter to our little lives. My buddie impressed on me the magnitude of this: the 5th largest bank in the US, which means it’s up there in the rankings with international banks, just went to the emergency room with a massive heart attack, and despite life-support, might die any moment from the damage. Difference is with this patient, it brings down it’s fellow banks and brokerage firms with it. Shades of 1929.
My friend laughed at me, called me an “ultra-liberal” and surmised that I was probably happy to hear that such a thing was happening — watching the rot of capitalism gone wild once again — just to prove how greed is not an equilibrating force in our lives, but sharing is. I got quite the chuckle from his labeling of me (since it’s true), and I am happy to see one of the major Greed Machines collapse and take down the rest of them with it.
We will not have justice and restitution in this world until the financial system of glorified gambling and usury crumbles and is shattered into a halt.
We will not have justice and restitution in this world until the financial system of glorified gambling and usury crumbles and is shattered into a halt.
Well said!
Your friend won’t be laughing shortly as I get a sense there is really a change wanted, even among my more conservative friends, have seen the need for more oversight.
Yes, we of the 5-digit incomes have been kept blind to the machinations of capital. You have to move up to the 6- and 7-digit range to actually care enough to get involved, having a stake in things. Us 5-digit types don’t know to laugh or cry, but Mr/Ms 6-digit and above certainly will not be laughing to the empty bank.
The taxpayers are going to pay for the greed and irresponsibility leading to the Bear collapse.
Let’s see if we can get our Congress to include the top 1% in that role of paying taxpayer instead of their opt-out clauses of the last 7 years.
For more on a related collapse, see http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/3/13/161627/617 .
Just to be clear, Baer Stearns is the fifth largest investment bank in the U.S. Wells Fargo is the fifth largest commerical bank.
Don’t want to start a run on commercial banks. At least not yet.
Thanks for the clarification.
My favorite CSPAN comment of the morning was the caller who said Hannity’s attack against Obama last night regarding Rev Rice stirred up the wrath of God and that was why the Tornado hit Atlanta last night.
Course Anderson Cooper got a little sharp with Obama as well and they lost part of their atrium.