McCain Says U.S. Should Let AIG Fail to Prevent `Moral Hazard'

[soleft]

Source: Bloomberg

Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential nominee John McCain said the U.S. government should let American International Group Inc. fail to prevent the financial burden from being placed on taxpayers.
``I think you have to, but I also know that there are great efforts being made to try to raise sufficient capital to keep AIG in business,'' McCain said in an interview with CNBC from Miami.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3Q...

[whistle]

1. Smart money must be out of AIG

[apnu]

2. If McCain is so worried about it, why isn't he screaming at Hank Paulison's 50 Billion handout? (nt)

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Oh, Jesus...he's like the wingnuts who just repeat what they hear on Rush

Moral fucking hazard. Neoliberal claptrap, that. There's nothing moral about any of this.

[Lerkfish]

4. translation: AIG never bribed McCain.

[bluesmail]

5. That came from a morally bankrupt politician.

[tannybogus]

6. Isn't it a moral hazard to waste all that money in Iraq while the US economy goes up in smoke?? nt

[Betty]

7. Rethugs are the biggest socialists around

when it comes to "moral hazard". They want the middle class to pay for these assholes' law breaking ways. Profits are private, risks are public. And Obama should drive home the point that Mcnuts' financial guru Phil Gramm is one of the architects of this steal from the poor give to the rich mess we are in.

[harun]

8. Great post, all good points.

[Billy Burnett]

9. What you describe is NOT socialism. It's fascism.

I keep hearing lefties say that the repukes are the biggest socialists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#Economic_policies

[redqueen]

17. Thank you.

Sad seeing that claim become so popular.

[high density]

10. The thing with AIG is that...

it has a consumer level business in addition to selling services and insurance to other businesses. I am surprised John McCain wants to be the guy that tells people a life insurance claim will not be paid because it was decided AIG should fail.

[halobeam]

11. He just wants to be the guy "looking" like he gives a damn about the taxpayers.

He knows, most people aren't going to understand or look into much more beyond that. It's another.. "Oh lookie here what I said, and who I care about"... Total lies.

[T_i_B]

12. I'm guessing McCain's not a Manchester United fan!

Isn't it funny haw many of the companies who've been really badly wacked by the credit crunch sponsor Premier League football team's shirts. AIG sponsor Man U, West Ham's sponsors (XL Travel) went bust last week, and Newcastle are still sponsored by the (now nationalized) Northern Rock bank.

[Hugin]

13. Sorry John the 'Moral Hazard' moment was a few months ago... Bear Stearns. FAIL

[Odin2005]

14. Sounds like Andrew Mellon at the start of the Great Depression...

"Liquidate capital! Liquidate labor! Liquidate! Liquidate! Liquidate!"



You know what I say? NATIONALIZE! NATIONALIZE! NATIONALIZE! If a company is too big to fail it's too big to be privately owned. A company that is too vital to be allowed to fail should be under public control.

[Psephos]

15. He's right. So are broken clocks, twice per day. n/t

[MaineDem]

16. Glad he's on top of things. The Fed is baliling out AIG. n/t

[gratuitous]

18. Yeah, just like the savings & loans, right John?

An entire industry, built on writing mortgages for first-time home buyers, was completely obliterated in the 1980s thanks to the machinations of the greedheads with the active connivance of Senators like Straight Talkin' Johnny Maverick. Not content with that debacle, Phil Gramm and his privateers (another word for pirate) launched their legislative assault on Glass-Steagall, the Depression Era legislation that got banks back on a firm footing. Suddenly freed to work both sides of the investment street (loans and venture capital investments), banks plunged into all sorts of chancy and dicey areas of capitalism, instead of being the bulwark against speculation. And now Phil "You're All A Bunch of Whiners!" Gramm, who never cashed a private paycheck in his first 60 years or more of life, is one of STJM's economic gurus.

Why does big business continue to support these idiots? Do they like to go bankrupt, or do they think they're immune to the fate that has befallen so many others?

[Crowman1979]

19. I would prefer that we let McCain fail. LOL

[damntexdem]

20. That's right -- let the world economy fail but stay ideologically pure.

If AIG goes, so does much of the world economy. Better learn to shoot and field-dress moose!