People get ready, we're going to get thrown under the bus

[MadHound]

The Fed is day by day sacrificing we the people and the good of this country to rescue corporations and the financial sector. Last week we found out that the Fed will allow mortgage backed securities to be used as collateral for Fed loans or Treasury bond buys, to the tune of 200 billion. That essentially federalizes all these bad loans, and means that you and I wind up paying for them. On top of that, the Fed is cutting interest rates at an insane rate, thus hiking up inflation dramatically. Then there's this Bear Stearns deal, a last gasp attempt to save that corporation, but instead it's only going to weigh down J.P. Morgan, perhaps fatally.

The real kicker about all this is that all of these machinations aren't going to save this economy. We've been building a house of cards for a long while, and now a stiff breeze is blowing, and it will only get worse, inevitably bringing down our economy with it. We'll be lucky to simply get a serious recession. My bet is that it will be a depression before we're all through.

So prepare yourself. Minimize your debt exposure, move your stock holdings to safer havens, safe your money, insulate yourself from inflation as much as possible by gardening, bartering, etc.

We're in for a rough ride, and it's going to get very ugly before we start to recover.

[IDemo]

1. If you needed any further proof of that,

from msnbc.com just now: "BREAKING NEWS: Bush says administration is 'on top of the situation' in dealing with the economy".

We're screwed.

[nels25]

13. Sure the Administration is

and I can walk on water to!!

Look I really do not understand what is going on, but I know it is bad, and I know it will not be corrected in the short term, it will take a while (most likely years).

I sure wish I understood what is going on from a economic stand point better.

All I can figure out to do is pay may current bills to the best of my ability, help my family the best I can as father/husband, and do not go out of my way to spend unnecessarily. Sigh!!:dunce:

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. Isn't that more or less the way they handled the looting of the S&Ls?

Another Bush project that nobody seems to remember or talk about.

It was only after the demise of the S&Ls that the banks began loosening their regulations - they'd proved THEY were safe, after all - which put us where we are today.

And they insisted that it could never happen with the banks.

[SpiralHawk]

3. The republicon homelander Shock & Awe economic plan for Americans

[MadHound]

5. Yeah, somehow I think that this major downturn is welcome in certain circles.

Much like during the Great Depression, this will be looked upon as a buying opportunity for the rich, a chance to buy up even more of America at cut rate prices.

[Junkdrawer]

4. Bottom Line: Yet another transfer of wealth from the middle to the upper classes.

Untold trillions are being raided into corporate coffers. Result will be inflation and dollar devaluation.

If you're lucky, you will have as much money as when they started - it will just buy less and less.

[leftchick]

6. where are the safer havens?

my husband and I have been trying to figure that out for weeks now.

[MadHound]

8. I recently put a recent influx of money into foreign markets.

Yes, they're still exposed, but if you choose wisely you can minimize that exposure.

I'm also planning on taking that check I get from the government, and rather than stimulate the economy, I'm going to buy Euros and hold on to them.

[high density]

21. Euros?

How much stuff do you buy daily with Euros?

I can't wait until Barck Obama gets in there and fixes this nation, and you'll be on here bellyaching that our currency is doing too well and your currency speculation in Euros is losing money.

[NashVegas]

7. Shell Game

And it's going to continue until there's no place left to hide the debt.

[Phred42]

9. This is the same thing that happened For Silverado

The last time the Bush Crime Family looted America

[spanone]

10. all the while, junior touts a 'free market' - bullshit

[AngryOldDem]

11. A question

Today on CNBC the talking heads were all gushing about the Fed's actions and how it could have been a hell of a lot worse today if the Fed hadn't stepped in. To hear them talk, everything's fine now -- move on, nothing to see here. My question is: Just how long will this "fix" last -- isn't this the equivalent of a band-aid that is only delaying the inevitable? How can anyone see the Fed's actions as a long-term positive step?

And yes, there were many talking about what a great time it is to go in and pick at the carcasses to make a profit.

[MadHound]

16. How long have the other Fed bandaids lasted?

It seems as though they're coming out with a new one every week now, yet the economy continues to tank, while every Fed move, designed to prop up the financial sector, only adds that much more inflationary pressure, thus screwing the ordinary American.

Sooner or later, probably much sooner, the Feds are going to run out of bandaids, and we're going to be well and truly fucked.

[AngryOldDem]

26. I think we already are.

I guess my question was probably much more rhetorical than anything else. I just can't see this "solution" as being the "long-term answer" to the problem, as some would like (or like us) to believe. As someone else on another thread noted, it's the very definition of insanity: Bernanke's answer is always to keep cutting the interest rate; now it seems the Fed will be more than happy to step in with bailouts. It's a dual cycle of fruitless action.

I'm beginning to live from day to day financially. If I can pay my bills today, great; I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow. I don't like living like this, but I really don't have much choice. And it is very cold comfort in knowing that I'm not alone. NONE of us should be in this position.

[Selatius]

12. The fractional reserve banking system is inherently unstable because it's using "fuzzy math"

Creating electronic money using accounting entries. That way lay inflation and collapse. Before the Revolution, instead of taking out loans from private bankers and paying them back at interest, the colonial governments simply cut out the banker entirely and issued green-backs. They controlled inflation by retiring out of circulation excess green-back notes. The colonial government would set up a public bank that loans out these green-backs at low interest, using land as collateral. The interest revenue generated helped defray the operating costs of the colonial government, resulting in lower taxes. Excess notes were retired out of circulation, generally making it easier to avoid inflation entirely.

With the current system, if the reserve ratio is 10% and you deposited 10 dollars with me, I could loan out 9 of those dollars and charge interest for it. Some of that interest comes back to you if you have a savings account, but if it's a checking account, no. However, if you did a balance inquiry, you'd find that my books still say you have 10 dollars in your account. I just created 9 dollars out of thin air with a simple accounting entry in my ledgers. That is what causes inflation, which in its effect is little different than a very regressive form of taxation.

Banks do this to everybody, and if everybody went to the bank to withdraw their money, the people will discover the bank only has a fraction of the money it indicates it has on its account ledgers. The bank would have to declare bankruptcy to protect itself from liquidation of its assets by angry depositors if possible.

What happened to Bear Stearns was investors there all came and wanted to get their money back. The Federal Reserve bank and JP Morgan stepped in to keep BR from collapsing from an old-fashioned run on the bank.

[ensho]

14. agree

the neo cons want the US finances to crash. therefore, we will crash.

(have we stopped them from doing anything so far? no.)

[debbierlus]

15. You have a month - those 200 billion dollar loans are good for one month

I assume the elite will be taking advantage of this month reprieve to invest in gold, rearrange their investments, & quietly put their ducks in a row before the crash occurs. This will not be stopped.

However, you also have a month. I am buying my wood stove for next winter, buying the paint for my house, materials for our house renovation, filling the oil tanks to full, and stocking up on some surplus food. All this week, we are buying. Turning soon worthless cash into durable goods.

I know it is frightening people, but this is NOT chicken little. This has been coming on for a LONG time. We Are Screwed.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. If the problem is inflation

... then paying off my existing debt is a bad idea. I'll pay it off later with the dollar equivalent of a tank of gas.

If the problem is an imminent depression, then finding a safe haven for cash is important.

[high density]

18. Minimizing debt exposure is the worst thing you could do if we're entering an inflationary period

If you think we're in or will be in a period of steep inflation, it's better to pay off the debt later with "cheaper" dollars.

I guess I shouldn't expect logic in these Henny Penny posts.

[nashville_brook]

20. now's the time to RUN UP those credit cards...please tell us more!

[high density]

22. Nobody's talking about running up credit cards

What was said is if you have debt and believe like the poster that we're going to have some rampant inflation, then paying off debt now is a stupid thing to do.

[nashville_brook]

24. sorry -- i'm a little coffee jerk this morning -- this actually makes some sense

now that i think about it. i've been reading a lot lately on credit card co's raising rates unexpectedly and rapaciously. you know the stories...people with perfect credit and no late bills getting their rate raised from say 16% to 26%. generally, when people call to ask WTF, often the company offers to reset the rate (this particular phenomena was talked about on NPR's Day to Day during a segment on personal finance by Michelle Singletary (who really rubs me the wrong way).

given the common wisdom that we're heading into a giant head of inflation, and that money is likely worth more now than it will be in a year, it makes sense that credit co's would be trying to sneak in rate increases at this point in time. they are trying to get in front of the gathering storm, so to speak.

[RB TexLa]

19. it's only going to weigh down J.P. Morgan, perhaps fatally.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:



:spray: :spray: :spray: :spray: :spray:



Too funny!

I've got this bridge not far from Bear Stearns, $10 super cheap. You can just paypal me, I'll e-mail the title.

[undeterred]

23. I live under the bus,

Where are they gonna throw me?

[Subdivisions]

25. Behind in your bills? Deep in debt? Just call the Fed and they

will bail you out. I'm going to hit 'em up today for about $2000.

[superkia]

27. What should those of us in debt do, maybe put our heads...

between our legs and hold on. I was in a motorcycle accident that left me bedridden for most of 07, had no insurance and no income and have used up my savings and run up debt to survive, pay medical bills and now this...damn it. I hope it holds on for more time because if it hits too soon, I will be pushed into bankruptcy and ruin my credit that I have worked on so I could someday get a great rate and own a home.

Housing market crashed and I thought, wow, I might be able to get myself into a house now that the prices are coming back down, but I don't think thats happening now.