Rants Raves & Rebellion
"Dedicated to Americans who choose liberty over tyranny"May 18, 2009
What happened Pinocchio?
PINOCCHIO of the United States ... who knew?
.... OH, REALLY?Who's "accountable" for the $10,500,000,000,000.00 in new spending?
(translation: Ten point Five Trillion U.S. Dollars)
Does anyone know how many trees it takes to print $10.5 trillion?
By cutting so many trees, will that accelerate Global Warming?
(*note: Today, Treasury Notes are made of Cotton )... is it made in America?
Oh Grand Messiah! Please save us from our inherited greed and don't let this "mountain of money" crush us!
And would anyone like to know who, what and where all that "Pulp" is headed?
"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." ~ Thomas Jefferson
“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough” ~ A. Einstein
Take a Peek...
| Program | Commited | Invested | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| American International Group | $70 billion | $69.8 billion | $40 billion in preferred shares were converted to so-called non-cumulative shares that more closely resemble common stock. Treasury later offered another $30 billion in preferred shares for up to 5 years, in return for a 10% dividend. |
Asset Guarantee Program
| $12.5 billion
| $5 billion
| Funds set aside to backstop potential losses to government from Citigroup and Bank of America loans. |
Auto Supplier Support Program
| $5 billion
| $5 billion
| Program to help stabilize auto suppliers by guaranteeing debt owed to them for shipped products, and providing financing to continue operations. |
Automotive Industry Financing Program
| $30.7 billion
| $30.6 billion
| Program that provides capital on a case-by-case basis to systemically significant auto and auto-financing companies that are at substantial risk of failure. |
| Capital Purchase Program | $218 billion | $199.1 billion | Preferred investments in banks to prop up capital reserves and encourage lending, in return for dividend payments and stricter executive compensation requirements. |
Consumer and Business Lending Initiative
| $70 billion
| $20 billion
| Programs to support private lending purchases of toxic assets and backing SBA loans. Also sets aside funds to backstop potential losses to government from purchases of mortgage-backed securities and other securities backed by consumer loans. |
| Making Home Affordable | $50 billion | $15.1 billion | Multipronged foreclosure prevention plan to help as many as 9 million borrowers by modifying or refinancing loans. |
| Public-Private Investment Program | $100 billion | $0 | Taxpayer funds used in partnership with private investment that will buy up at least $500 billion of toxic assets from financial institutions. |
Targeted Investment Program
| $40 billion
| $40 billion
| Emergency funding, in addition to previous $25 billion capital investments, for Citigroup and Bank of America |
| New initiatives | $128.8 billion | n/a | |
| Estimated payback | ($25 billion) | ($1.2 billion) | Estimate of how much banks participating in Capital Purchase Program will return to Treasury. |
| TARP total | $700 billion | $383.4 billion |
Program Commited Invested Description Bank of America loan-loss backstop $97 billion $0 Funds set aside to insure against bank's potential losses from Merrill Lynch merger. Bear Stearns bailout $29 billion $25.7 billion Program to guarantee potential losses on Bear Stearns' portfolio; smoothed the way for JPMorgan Chase to buy the failed investment bank. Citigroup loan-loss backstop $245 billion $0 Funds set aside to insure against bank's potential losses from mortgage-backed securities investments. Commercial Paper Funding Facility $1.4 trillion $168.5 billion Purchases of short-term corporate debt aimed at boosting the struggling market and providing critical three-month financing to businesses. Foreign exchange dollar swaps Unlimited $249.3 billion Exchange of dollars to 13 foreign central banks for collateral. Aim is to provide liquidity to foreign financial institutions. GSE debt purchases $200 billion $71.5 billion Program to buy debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Aim is to reduce rates on home loans. GSE mortgage-backed securities purchases $1.25 trillion $365.8 billion Program to buy mortgage-backed securities held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Aim is to reduce rates on home loans. Money Market Investor Funding Facility $540 billion $0 Programs to help money market funds by lending to funds directly. Primary Dealer Credit Facility n/a $600 million Long-time lending facility for commercial banks that was opened to investment banks for first time in March 2008. Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility $1 trillion $6.4 billion Program to buy consumer loan-backed securities. Aim is to revive the securitization market for consumer loans like credit cards and auto loans. Term Auction Facility $600 billion $403.6 billion Lending program that allows commercial banks to unload hard-to-sell assets, including mortgage-backed securities: Fed takes assets as collateral and banks get cash. Term Securities Lending Facility $200 billion $32.6 billion Federal Reserve facility that loans Treasurys to banks against hard-to-sell collateral like mortgage-backed securities. U.S. government bond purchases $300 billion $92.2 billion Federal Reserve will buy up to $300 billion of U.S. debt to support Treasury market and help keep interest rates down for consumer loans. Fed total $6.2 trillion $1.4 trillion Program Commited Invested Description Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 $168 billion $168 billion Refundable tax rebates of up to $600 for individual filers and $1,200 for couples in effort to boost the economy. Businesses also received tax breaks. Unemployment benefit extension $8 billion $8 billion Federal funds to extend benefits for the unemployed. Student loan guarantees $130 billion $9 billion Program to purchase federal student loans from private lenders. Aim is to provide financing to companies that provide student loans. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act $787.2 billion n/a Infrastructure spending, funding for states, help for the needy and tax cuts for individuals and businesses to stimulate the economy. Stimulus total $1.1 trillion $185 billion Program Commited Invested Description Asset purchases $52.5 billion $36.3 billion $30 billion from New York Fed for purchasing clients’ collateralized debt obligations and $22.5 billion for purchasing clients’ mortgage-backed securities. Bridge loan $25 billion $45.5 billion Loan to be reduced from $60 billion to $25 billion as government takes shares in AIG subsidiaries and receives cash flows from life insurance policies. AIG must pay 3% plus 3-month Libor rate to government in interest on the 5-year loan. Government stakes in subsidiaries $26 billion $0 Government to hold preferred interest in entities holding all the common stock of American Life Insurance Company and American International Assurance Company, two life insurance holding company subsidiaries of AIG. TARP investment $70 billion $69.8 billion $40 billion in preferred shares were converted to so-called non-cumulative shares that more closely resemble common stock. Treasury later offered another $30 billion in preferred shares for up to 5 years, in return for a 10% dividend. Other $8.5 billion $0 Government giving AIG $8.5 billion and, in exchange, is receiving cash streams from the premiums of blocks of life insurance policies. AIG total $182 billion $151.6 billion Program Cost to fund 2008 FDIC bank takeovers $17.6 billion 2009 FDIC bank takeovers $5.4 billion FDIC total $23 billion Program Commited Invested Description Credit union deposit insurance guarantees $80 billion $0 Temporary guarantee of all corporate credit union deposits above former $250,000 limit. Money market guarantee program $50 billion $0 Treasury program to help money market funds by insuring against losses. NCUA bailout of U.S. Central and WesCorp credit unions $57 billion $57 billion Cost to NCUA credit unions, with backing of government, to place two troubled credit unions into conservatorship U.S. Central Federal Credit Union investment $1 billion $1 billion Cost to NCUA credit unions, with backing of government, to help troubled credit union cover anticipated losses on asset-backed securities. Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program $1.5 trillion $327.1 billion Guarantees on newly issued bank bonds backed with assets on company balance sheets with maturities of more up to ten years. Aim is to restore liquidity to the corporate bond market and provide long-term financing to banks. Other financial total $1.7 trillion $385.1 billion Total $10.5 trillion $2.6 trillion
Note: Figures as of May 12, 2009
Now, READ THIS... "The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time." ... Read More
What was Einstein's definition of Insanity... ?
"BROKEN PROMISES"
PROMISES, PROMISES, PROMISES ... "514 promises to be exact!"
"Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will eliminate taxes for 7 million seniors -- saving them an average of $1,400 a year-- and will also mean that 27 million seniors will not need to file an income tax return at all." To reduce bills rushed through Congress and to the president before the public has the opportunity to review them, Obama "will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." "No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration." "During 2009 and 2010, existing businesses will receive a $3,000 refundable tax credit for each additional full-time employee hired." "Obama and Biden are calling for legislation that would allow withdrawals of 15% up to $10,000 from retirement accounts without penalty (although subject to the normal taxes). This would apply to withdrawals in 2008 (including retroactively) and 2009." "Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term 'genocide' to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
No. 24: End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000
No. 234: Allow five days of public comment before signing bills
No. 240: Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials
No. 505: Create a $3,000 tax credit for companies that add jobs
No. 508: Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009
No. 511: Recognize the Armenian genocide
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