F. George McDuffee wrote:
On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:42:41 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

snipped
You are definately confused as to how the Federal Government runs. The
Congress is the only group who can pass a spending bill, the only ones who
can say we spend this money. The Executive Branch can approve or veto the
bill with their Check and Balance part of government. But it is only
Congress who can first say lets spend money and tell the rest of government
to spend money and how much they can spend. And the Democrats have been in
control of the checkbook for nearly 2 years. Bush and the Republicans sux.
But so does the Democrats and Pelosi, expecially Pelosi, and Reid.

-------------
From a theoretical standpoint you are correct, and I wish that
this was the way it worked in the real world.


It's not theory, it's the law.


In several cases, for example the Federal Reserve Bank, the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Pension Benefit
Guarantee Corporation and several others, *PRIVATE*
organizations, ==backed with the full faith and credit of the US
[i.e. the taxpayers],== are burning through money at a truly
amazing rate, with nomimal to no oversight.

In one instance the FRB is refusing to say which banks [and most
major American financial organizations are now banks or are
becoming "banks" such as American Express, GE Capital, Merrill
Lynch, Goldman, and CIT] have borrowed, how much they have
borrowed, and ==what securities or other collateral they have
pledged.== {can you say "toxic securities?" Can your say
"pig-in-a-polk"}

The insurance companies are not far behind. Several majors have
just applied to become S&Ls, thus qualifying for the FDIC "tit".


We have a Congress which has abdicated it's obligations and
responsibilities.

We have an illegitimate government.


----------
Insurers Mull S&L Status; Request Could Come Today (Update1)

By Andrew Frye

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Several U.S. insurers have asked
regulators about applying for status as savings and loan
institutions, a step that could give them access to Treasury
funding.
snip
-----------
for complete article see
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...BaY&refer=home

In less than 3 months, over 5 trillion dollars has been
"injected" into the market. The exact amount cannot be
determined.
for complete article click on
http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/11/1...12bailout.html


To put this in perspective the total annual production of all
goods and services in the United States [GDP] is estimated at
slightly more than 13 trillion dollars. 5/13 = 38% of GDP IN
SLIGHTLY OVER TWO MONTHS WITH NO END IN SIGHT, AND NO
ACCOUNTABILITY.

There are several other mechanisms that bypass Congressional
control and oversight of governmental spending, but currently
this is the major money leak.


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).


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"strabo" wrote in message
...
F. George McDuffee wrote:
On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:42:41 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

snipped
You are definately confused as to how the Federal Government runs. The
Congress is the only group who can pass a spending bill, the only ones
who can say we spend this money. The Executive Branch can approve or
veto the bill with their Check and Balance part of government. But it
is only Congress who can first say lets spend money and tell the rest of
government to spend money and how much they can spend. And the
Democrats have been in control of the checkbook for nearly 2 years.
Bush and the Republicans sux. But so does the Democrats and Pelosi,
expecially Pelosi, and Reid.
-------------
From a theoretical standpoint you are correct, and I wish that
this was the way it worked in the real world.


It's not theory, it's the law.

So, reconcile that with the actual federal budget process, and all of the
"supplemental" funding bills for the war in Iraq.

Tell us who initiates them.

--
Ed Huntress

distro pruned to alt.machines.cnc, rec.crafts.metalworking

On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:41:39 -0500, strabo
wrote:

We have a Congress which has abdicated it's obligations and
responsibilities.
Indeed, we do.

We have an illegitimate government.
Its the only one we got, and the only one we are likely to get.
---------------------
Item two follows from item one.

Congress represents the people, and what the people want is a
"reinflation" of the real estate, stock/bond and credit bubbles,
[people in hell want ice water too] not a systematic evaluation
of the current solution, investigation of how we got here,
determination of the people/institutions accountable, and
long-term solutions to make sure we don't have this occur in
another generation or two.

The original post observed that the palliative measures to
overcome the fiscal crisis taken to date have largely proven
ineffective. This appears to be correct, but the amount
indicated was low by about a factor of 2 [or more]. This also
appears to posit that it was "all W's fault," when in fact this
took at least a generation to fully develop.

In their favor, the Federal Reserve Chairman and the SecTres do
appear to have read some history and are not repeating the
actions that brought the country to its knees in 1929, such as
restricting credit/raising interest rates, import/trade
restrictions, and attempting to "liquidate" the excesses of the
market, such as the housing inventory, at fire sale prices.

Unfortunately, they [and Congress] appear to be unable [or
unwilling] to recognize that this is *NOT* in general a liquidity
or credit problem, but rather a solvency problem, in that huge
sectors of the domestic economy [e.g. automotive] are "flat
broke," as is a large fraction of the population, with the result
that one of the major SYPMTOMS is lack of liquidity/credit.
Indeed, many of our major corporations and unfortunate citizens
are *WORSE* than "flat broke," because they have accumulated debt
of all types far beyond their ability to ever repay. THUS NO
MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY IS INJECTED INTO THE ECONOMY, IT CANNOT
CURE THE PROBLEM, OR EVEN MAKE MUCH OF AN [IF ANY] IMPACT ON THE
SYMPTOM.

This very serious problem is further compounded by the fact than
many of the most accountable organizations are bankrupt in many
more ways than just fiscal, specifically they are bankrupt
ethically, they are bankrupt innovatively, and they are bankrupt
intellectually.

Everyone and everything but their own actions and decisions are
blamed for the fiscal problems, from the new FASB "mark to
market" accounting rules, to the union contracts they were
"forced to sign" back in 1965. Still *THEIR* good times roll on,
with lavish corporate "retreats," private jets, "performance
bonuses," and "golden parachutes," even as their employees and
stockholders take it in the shorts.


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).