The U.S. Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, defendedtoday the government's move to use public money to prop up Bear Stearns.
Paulson said those worried about the government rescue creating a "moral hazard" should keep in mind that Bear Stearns (BSC.N) shareholders face considerable losses with the sale of the investment firm to JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) for $2 a share.
Hello, aren't we supposed to be living the age of personal responsibility (corporations are supposed to be persons under the law), and the most holy of holies - free market capitalism?
Should we feel bad that investors lost money? I think we should. Does that we save them when other people can't afford food, gas, healthcare? I don't think so. If you have money to invest, then you are doing better that many Americans. You played the game, and you lost.
To facilitate the deal, the U.S. Federal Reserve committed to fund up to $30 billion of Bear Stearns' less liquid assets. The problems faced by the New York investment firm underscored a loss of investor confidence in the health of the U.S. financial system.
So this means that in order for JP Morgan to even consider the purchase (at 2 dollars a share) the government (us, the taxpayers have to guarantee 30 billion dollars in mortgages that WILL GO BAD. That's hardly a loan folks, the $30 billion free for JP Morgan.
He also said mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) needed to raise capital, and urged Congress to enact reform measures for the Federal Housing Administration to help beef up the slumping housing market.
Anyone want to guess what this means? They are both in trouble. They could fall over too. Do you think we get give the vultures who swoop in on their remains billions of dollars? It's not much of a gamble.
And finally:
"I'm not going to speculate on hypotheticals about intervention," Paulson said. "I will just again say to you what you've heard me say before: We have a strong-dollar policy. It's very much in our nation's interest. Our economy has ups and downs."
What strong policy would that be? The trade deficit is gigantic. The national debt is gigantic. This man is worse than Scott McClellan when it comes to throwing piles of steaming shit to the media. YOU SIR, ARE AN ASSHOLE.