OT Confiscatory taxation
 

"HK" wrote in message
m...

No administration in my lifetime was more incompetent than the Bush
Administration.

I wouldn't know about $100 a pound steak. What's it taste like?


Chicken.

Eisboch

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:21:18 -0800, Calif Bill wrote:


It started a lot further back than Bush, or Clinton, or Bush 1.

Bush Basher that I am, I can't blame this on Bush. I believe the
government gets too much blame, *and* too much credit, for the economy.
The government might have developed the framework that allowed this to
happen, but they didn't cause it to happen. No one put a gun to the head
of Wall Street's Masters of the Universe and forced them to make
incredibly risky decisions. No one told Lehman Brothers they had to
leverage themselves 33 to 1. Greed and stupidity did that. This is a
free market, after all.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

thunder wrote:
On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:21:18 -0800, Calif Bill wrote:


It started a lot further back than Bush, or Clinton, or Bush 1.

Bush Basher that I am, I can't blame this on Bush. I believe the
government gets too much blame, *and* too much credit, for the economy.
The government might have developed the framework that allowed this to
happen, but they didn't cause it to happen. No one put a gun to the head
of Wall Street's Masters of the Universe and forced them to make
incredibly risky decisions. No one told Lehman Brothers they had to
leverage themselves 33 to 1. Greed and stupidity did that. This is a
free market, after all.



If you look backwards to some legislation good old Phil Gramm
promulgated, you'll find some answers. Look up the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act. It allowed all sorts of financial mergers, such as the ones between
banks and insurance companies, and, bascially, deregulated the financial
services company.

In other words, it was a license for greed.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:44:54 -0400, BAR wrote:


Are you more concerned with punishing individuals who work at AIG or are
you more concerned with AIG becoming a healthy private enterprise again?

I think AIG is done. I think it's on government life support until they
can safely pull the plug. It was "too big to fail", it failed. Do you
really want to see that monster on the loose again? Break it up, and
sell the parts. Let them start over.


The failed policies are from over regulation by the government and
trying to implement social policy rather than follow sound business
principles.

"Over regulation?" I'd say it was more from deregulation. ;-)

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:35:03 -0400, HK wrote:


If you look backwards to some legislation good old Phil Gramm
promulgated, you'll find some answers. Look up the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act. It allowed all sorts of financial mergers, such as the ones between
banks and insurance companies, and, bascially, deregulated the financial
services company.

In other words, it was a license for greed.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was a mistake, but it allowed this to happen.
It didn't cause this to happen. In the markets, greed has been, and will
be around forever. Nothing wrong with that, but it has to be balanced
with risk. IMO, it's the government's job to protect the economy from
the inevitable greed-risk imbalances. Some smart, hopefully minimal,
regulations have to be put in place to keep this disaster from happening
again. I would start by repealing Gramm-Leach-Bliley.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

thunder wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:35:03 -0400, HK wrote:


If you look backwards to some legislation good old Phil Gramm
promulgated, you'll find some answers. Look up the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act. It allowed all sorts of financial mergers, such as the ones between
banks and insurance companies, and, bascially, deregulated the financial
services company.

In other words, it was a license for greed.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was a mistake, but it allowed this to happen.
It didn't cause this to happen. In the markets, greed has been, and will
be around forever. Nothing wrong with that, but it has to be balanced
with risk. IMO, it's the government's job to protect the economy from
the inevitable greed-risk imbalances. Some smart, hopefully minimal,
regulations have to be put in place to keep this disaster from happening
again. I would start by repealing Gramm-Leach-Bliley.


That's a start. And I would also suggest that *all* financial
institutions be oversighted and regulated by effective state insurance
commissions who have the power to come in at anytime, unannounced, pull
the books and padlock the doors, if deemed necessary. I would also
stipulate more examinations by organizations like A.M. Best, which
investigates and rates insurance companies.

I'm also not a fan of the big national banks, and never have been. The
remaining solid ones out to be broken up into state or at best regional
entities.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:51:57 -0400, HK wrote:



That's a start. And I would also suggest that *all* financial
institutions be oversighted and regulated by effective state insurance
commissions who have the power to come in at anytime, unannounced, pull
the books and padlock the doors, if deemed necessary. I would also
stipulate more examinations by organizations like A.M. Best, which
investigates and rates insurance companies.

I watched a Congressional hearing yesterday where state's AG's
testified how their investigations in the financial area are seriously
hampered by federal rules which end up protecting fraudsters from
investigation and prosecution.
Barney Frank - who chaired - wasn't happy listening to them, and did
his best to brush their criticisms aside.
I don't trust this asshole at all, and he's running that show.
He's so busy covering his ass for his past malfeasance that he's
rendered himself ineffective.
The very people who allowed this mess to happen are now trying to fix
it. Best argument for term limits I've ever seen.

--Vic

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

Vic Smith wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:51:57 -0400, HK wrote:


That's a start. And I would also suggest that *all* financial
institutions be oversighted and regulated by effective state insurance
commissions who have the power to come in at anytime, unannounced, pull
the books and padlock the doors, if deemed necessary. I would also
stipulate more examinations by organizations like A.M. Best, which
investigates and rates insurance companies.

I watched a Congressional hearing yesterday where state's AG's
testified how their investigations in the financial area are seriously
hampered by federal rules which end up protecting fraudsters from
investigation and prosecution.
Barney Frank - who chaired - wasn't happy listening to them, and did
his best to brush their criticisms aside.
I don't trust this asshole at all, and he's running that show.
He's so busy covering his ass for his past malfeasance that he's
rendered himself ineffective.
The very people who allowed this mess to happen are now trying to fix
it. Best argument for term limits I've ever seen.

--Vic


Just more evidence that the "free market system" is only free at the top
for those who want to abuse it.

We need to bust up these huge financial services companies. Your typical
small business owner wouldn't dream of committing the sort of fraud the
big guys engage in every day.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

thunder wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:44:54 -0400, BAR wrote:


Are you more concerned with punishing individuals who work at AIG or are
you more concerned with AIG becoming a healthy private enterprise again?

I think AIG is done. I think it's on government life support until they
can safely pull the plug. It was "too big to fail", it failed. Do you
really want to see that monster on the loose again? Break it up, and
sell the parts. Let them start over.

We, the US tax payers could have saved 150 billion dollars if we had let
AIG go into bankruptcy last fall. But, Geithner and Paulson stepped and
and put forth the view that AIG was too big to save. Barney Frank and
Chris Dodd had to earn the political contributions they received from AIG.

The free market folks, like me, wanted to clear a path for AIG and the
to the nearest bankruptcy court.

The failed policies are from over regulation by the government and
trying to implement social policy rather than follow sound business
principles.

"Over regulation?" I'd say it was more from deregulation. ;-)

Deregulation works. I can pay the same for a plane ticket from
Washington DC to Miami as I did 30 years ago.

OT Confiscatory taxation
 

On Mar 21, 10:36*am, BAR wrote:
Calif Bill wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
....
On Mar 19, 8:16?pm, wrote:
On Mar 19, 11:12?pm, wrote:

On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:18:38 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:
On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:30:20 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:
They already threw that sweet Bernie Maddof fellow in jail for life..
He wouldn't harm a fly. ?Now they're going after his wife.
The best way to insure that Bernie rots in hell is to take all of his
wife's assets. ? :-)
No the best way to make the last years of his miserable life more
miserable is to throw his wife in the cell with him.
Imagine looking forward to a lifetime of bitching, moaning and "I told
you so Bernie". ?
He would be swinging from the bars on his belt in a week.
I like John's quote.. Obama lied and the Economy died...- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

*I would respectfully remind everyone that this financial mess started
while Bush had the helm. *While he and his friends had the helm.....
for eight long years. *And did little except trample our civil rights,
and allow the Wall Street Mob to do whatever they wished. *So here we
are...Probably be better to concentrate our attention and efforts on
saving the future.

It started a lot further back than Bush, or Clinton, or Bush 1.

While the USA is burning Obama is picking his NCAA brackets.

While the USA is burning Obama is eating $100 per pound steak.

While the USA is burning Obama has put incompetents in charge of the
government.-

idiot. obama wasn't president when the dow dropped 50%. that was the
ultra right wing that was busily destroying unions, writing energy
policy to favor exxon and sending americans to die in war with no
purpose.

bush had 8 years to do something besides make the rich richer. he
didn't.