Where'd the bailout money go? Shh, it's a secret

Impeached, shoe'd, have their nards chewed off by rabies infested rats and sentenced to gitmo for some water-boarding. But like usual nobody will be held accountable either in congress or in the boardroom.

Now wait, everyone.  The documentation for this bailout specifically says that there can be no court action, lawsuits, etc., against how this money is used.

No one has to tell anyone how they spend this money.  That's the way Congress set this up. 

The president gets 100 Billion for "discretionary" use. 

Oh well, $700 billion out the window, gone.  And Obama wants something like 800 Billion more, which will also disappear.

What surprises you about this?  In the waning hours of the Bush administration a former wall street executive (Paulson) runs into the 'C Student's Oval Office' and declares a meltdown.  'Can't wait, must act NOW, (ie before Jan 20)! ' The 'C Student' responds (as reported over the weekend) 'is this enough'?  The trucks used to haul the Haliburton cash away are available now, and it's a shorter trip to Wall Street.  This crowd hates big government except when it can be used to siphon off tax dollars to their hoarding pals.   Congress was in the deep end of the pool, and the waters were full of sharks.  Would you want Barney Frank to even negotiate a car loan for you?   Anyone who votes for one penny of the remaining $350 billion to go to these bastards should be tarred and feathered.

Everyone of the Democrats and Republicans who voted for the bailout without strings attached should be impeached.  I am sure there is some kind of grounds to do it.

I couldn't agree more.  But,as usual, "WE the PEOPLE" will stand idly by and be robbed by a bunch of thugs unworthy to tie our shoes.   Until we resolve to clean up Washington, by any means necessary, it will continue.............get a rope!

I have an inside source for the information this article seeks. The banks spent 1/3 of the money on themselves, 1/3 of the money went into their pockets, and 1/3 of the money was used to acquire other banks. Nothing will be "lent" until they recieve their last handout. You are now all well informed.

Wonder what kind of response I would get if were to go to a bank, ask to borrow a million or so without accountability?  I wouldn't tell the bank exactly why I needed the money or how I would spend it.  And if the bank accountants were to ask for a statement, I would say that I don't know where the money is, how I'm spending it or simply say that I decline to answer.  I'm fairly sure they would boot me right out of that bank.  Funny, how as individuals we have to provide accountability, but a bail-out bank provides none. 

If a bank requires the consuming public to provide business plans on loans and can recall loans, then we the taxpayers, as the lenders to the banks have the same right.  Provide or recall the loans!!  This is our money that was expended.

Can "We the People" spell RAPE ? I think it is time that ALL Americans stop paying taxes. Once that happens I want to see how the government is going to go after 100 % of all Americans that refused to pay their taxes. NO TAXATION WITHOU REPRESENTATION. We are being taxed and we are not getting the representation we want. The government works for us and we are being RAPED !!! This system only works if WE believe in it. It is becomming absolutely impossible to believe anymore. We must stop paying taxes until the politicians do what we want them to do....

Is this money from the same group that did all but publicly stone the auto execs?  The ones that demanded oversight, restructure plans and then STILL REFUSED to LOAN the big 3 money??  Maybe it's because they have to pay back favors to the wall street crowd (or just make sure their investments don't dry up) .  Interesting indeed---worthless bunch of ratbastards!!! 

The banks along with Insurance companies, Investment brokers, Real Estate Brokers, Lawyers, and Utility companies and politicians are stealing this country blind! They are all a bunch of crooks! Why aren't the churches speaking out and revolting against this injustice? Where are the leaders in the Church - Are they caught up in this scam against the people also?

Said it before and will say it again. We have been RAPED ! We MUST vote out all politicians that allowed this damned bailout to pass !

All of the offices of your senators and members of congress were flooded with calls, faxes and emails demanding that the Wall Street bailout NOT happen. Capital Hill switchboards could hardly keep up with the volume of calls with people saying NO!

Congress heard us and voted no because they were afraid they would be voted out of office. Polesi even declared martial law on the floor of congress trying to get the bill passed.

Yet the Senate approved the bill, with additional pork, anyway. Congress then passed the new bill giving the treasury secretary unlimited power over this bailout money. Paulson and Bernanke are Wall Street elite and tied in with the Fed Reserve.

The Federal Reserve System is no more “Federal” than Federal Express®!!

The FED was created in 1913 by an abominable act of Congress. With a swift stroke of the pen, President Woodrow Wilson doomed the fate of generations. And enslaved the American citizens to a life of servitude, to an elite group of international bankers.

The FED is in fact a private banking cartel, was created by some of the most prominent bankers of the day. Including J.P. Morgan, Rothschild Banks of London and Berlin, Lazard Brothers Bank of Paris, Israel Moses Sieff Banks of Italy, Warburg Bank of Hamburg, Germany and Amsterdam, Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York, Lehman Brothers Bank of New York, Goldman Sachs Bank of New York,Chase Manhattan Bank of New York (Controlled By the Rockefellers).

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men."
- Woodrow Wilson, reflecting on passage of the Federal Reserve Act

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks...will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered... The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."
President, Thomas Jefferson

In 1921 the same cast of CRIMINALS gave us another non-governmental organization, The Council on Foreign Relations, also known as the CFR. The CFR has run our federal government since its inception. Its aims are clear, and with an ever accelerating
rate of success they are only a few months or few years from achieving their goal… Maybe they already have?

"The main purpose of the Council on Foreign Relations is promoting the disarmament of U.S. sovereignty and national independence and submergence into an all powerful, one world government."

- Admiral Chester
Ward - Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy

We said no and they did it anyway. It is all a scam and we are letting it happen. Vote them all out of office.

Don't forget Pelosi with her husband's involvement in AIG she should be the first out the door!  It's a double standard they operate under for sure with no "viable business plan" for their buddies in banking and insurance.   AIG even has the largest fleet of private jets in the country for their bigshots to run around to spas and take trips.

They don't care how the taxpayers feel about this and quite frankly as long as we vote for their party they never will.  The only way to get them to take notice is to go change your party affiliation to Independent.  If they see mass exoduses from their voter registrations they will start thinking about losing their jobs like the rest of the people in this country.

There should be no more bailouts of any kind until the last $300B is accounted for by the dime.  You can't tell me they don't know where that money has gone.  These are institutions that audit our bank accounts yearly and they don't know where a billion dollars is being spent?  Give me a break.  They just think they are smarter than us and can refuse to answer.

If they had given the money to the taxpayers their buddies would not be sucking it up like pop in the bottom of a glass.  They also could not have controlled how it was spent but I bet every one of us would have known where it went!

If anyone is interested - I wrote the following opinion piece on this and posted it to the politics section - I will not clutter up this thread with the entire article! .. link below:

One Mans Opinion on the bailout - or the opening of pandora's box!

http://mmugwomper.newsvine.com/_news/2008/12/22/2237337-one-mans-opinion-on-the-bailout-or-the-opening-of-pandoras-box

What about Bush? Who set the fiasco up anyway? Bush. You democrat bashers jump at every chance you get to bash Democrats and ignor the village idiot who went on tv and paniced the people and then sen Paulson to congress with the threat od martial law being imposed unless they passed it. Another Bush swindle and congress gave him what he wanted. This rests entirely at the feet of the white house and any mention of Dodd or Fran or Pelosi is just s diversion. Get a life.

Phew what I relief, and I thought the money would be wasted!  Boy, is my face red.

"We're not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking," said Barry Koling, a spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based SunTrust Banks Inc., which got $3.5 billion in taxpayer dollars.

Yet they expect us to provide that info to them in order to get a loan. No wonder GM was in such a hurry for their bailout, they are handing out huge bonuses, as reported by one of the news networks this morning.

Bush is gone so there is nothing we can do about him. Lets begin a phone campaign and start calling Barney Frank , Nancy Pelosi, Christopher Dodd , Harry Reid and your own State Senator and Representative. I will post back when I have made my calls. Who will take this pledge  to do the same? Its time to quit are bitching on only this site and let these folks know how we feel. I agree whoever voted for this bailout should be voted out. Whether you like it or not Hussein and McCain both voted for this bill. So who will take this pledge post it when you do please .

What is it going to take before John USA Doe stands up and says enough? Are we doomed to a total chaotic breakdown of society and a depression that will make the 1930's look like a dress rehersal? I've said it before and I'll say it again. We The People have the power to stop this.

These banks are thieves, or better put slave owners. The average Jane & John are the slaves, going to work hoping to get enough cash to allow their family a roof over their heads and 3 squares a day. Meanwhile Wall St. and the banking industry shuffle paper around, NEVER MAKING A TRUE VIABLE CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY. If you need further evidence that the bankers, not govt. are truly in control you need look no further than last weeks congressional escapades that supposedly overhauled the credit card policies. No changes (and what changes that were made are pitiful and meaningless) until 2010 and even then these banks will still be allowed to charge an usurious rate of 29%.

With the internet, for the first time in recorded history we have the means to develop a society that does not require cash. A society that truly abolishes slavery. In simplest form one adult member of a family goes to work at their current position (or another job that fits their individual talents). They then get credit to obtain food, housing and entertainment to live a modest comfortable lifetsyle. The problem is with greed, the individuals who think they are worth more than the next guy, or the guy who thinks  I've got mine to hell with everyone else- these are the people (regardless of what industry they are in) that should be shot on the spot, or at least imprisoned.

How to fix a broken system? Everyone stand together and refuse to pay the banks on any installment loans, houses, credit cards, autos, etc. Drive the banks and Wall St. into complete insolvency then restructure the industry. Have the people (the sub-humans that are best exemplified by Bernie Madoff should all be dead or imprisoned) in the industry refocus their talents towards balancing commodity distribution, and accounting that at each household is contributing toward the generation of a true contribution (be it hard merchandise or an entertainment or artistic endeavor) toward society. Can you imagine the possibilities of a society that focuses it's efforts on doing what is right from the perspective of what's best for the environment, safety, and the true well-being of this planet and mankind? How many things can you think of that were the right thing to do but were not pursued because the financial payback wasn't sufficient?

We better hurry up and do something about this faulty society, it's a system that really is not capable of self perpetuation without philanthropy or $700B bailouts. If we don't hurry up the world is going to devolve into a Mad Max scenario without the communication that we are currently capable of and the first true opportunity for a really free society will be lost forever.

We all know that not a single American is going to do anything, really.

We are to fat and lazy to do anything but sit on our large backsides and blog.

It's true.  Admit it. 

But it is fun to whine.

This whole thing is joke....let's bring in the Big 3, one of the nations largest industries, and grill them for weeks about money that they need to survive but give the banking system an amount that makes their amount look like chump change and not demand that they show accountability. The people who think that the auto bailout wasn't a neccessity and were concerned that the tax payers would be "footing" the bill for it, take a step back and look at where this already messed up economy would be if the Big 3 would have went under. It wouldn't just be the autoworkers, it would be the "mom & pop" restaurants and party stores on the corner that depend on those exact workers to purchase their products. It would be the gas stations and the guy who sells newspapers and, in some cases, it would be the demise of entire communities. Now, the bank money is on the tax payers as well...I never saw them on the Hill explaining why they need the money, and now, they're not even going to explain what they are doing with it. Where is all the outrage for the tax payers money now?

I was watching Charlie Rose last week (?).

His guest was one of those banking experts, who follows the current "Bailout".  He said that of the first $ 125 Billion given out, that approximately one-half of that money went out to pay DIVIDENDS to the Stockholders in those companies. 

You better believe that those companies do not want to tell where the money went !!!!

Has anyone called their Senators or Representative

$700 billion is nothing until you consider that every man, woman and child just got a bill for $27,000 with more to come. If Bush is this free with your money don't even ask what Obama will do.

I say use the TARP money to build a new prision for all these people because this goes beyond incompetence even though you could argue that to pull some of these stunts and think nothing is wrong might indicate some sort of mental defact. If your dog soils the rug even he knows enough to hide.

Wildwonderful, I have personally written numerous letters to congresspeople.

I have received a response from a few, but it's just a form letter that has nothing to do with this bailout issue.

Folks, it's true, ALL of congress (demos, repubs, everyone) just stole 700 Billion from the American taxpayer, and Obama and congress is about to steal 850 Billion more.

This, my friends, is Obama's definition of change.

(Change = Steal more than Bush)

At least we understand what Obama meant by Change.

I'm with Darrel - since all this money thats being loaned out is the American tax payer, I say we get organized and stop paying any loans to any banking system that borrowed money.  As far as I'm concerned that is the payment in full on my credit cards.  If everyone does this it will be the beginning of a revolution that cann't be ignored.  We cann't count on our government to protect us from these tyrants (their also part of the problem) so we have to take matters into our own hands.  I can feel a "Boston Tea Party" coming right around the corner!  We really need to get the word out and get massive support.

you're absolutely right. they pushed for a bailout, those Demos and Bush administration, without implementing any restraints and rules on how money is spent. those guys should be removed from office for their irresponsible action with expense of our tax payer money.

there should never be a bailout like this and we should send all those who voted for the bailout straightly to jail!

What a load of crap..We need to hold them accountable for this..Why do we accept that.. when I cant even go to any financial aid place without them making me list every single income or expense I have..I think the Greeks have got the right Idea.. they have pretty much taken over that country. This country needs some serious help getting our govt... working for us again.

Phone lines were jammed during congressional discussion of this bail out with the overwhelming majority of Americans screaming "NO BAIL OUT!", a phone campaign at this point is not going to do any good.

It's time to go French Revolution on their sorry asses. After a few bank executives are publicly executed the rest will fall in line. It will also be a wake up call to our elected officials.

Wow, somebody else mentions Greece! I agree. And a big part of it there is perpetuated by teenaged school children. What do the few men and women who really care have to do, go down to the local high school to get some help in getting things under control?

Does any of this actually surprise anyone? My teenaged daughter told me that 1984 is basically banned by the schools today, but is gaining popularity along with the communist manifesto - any wonder why? We are living in 1984. We are just too close to the trees to see the forest.

In Greece, where banks and credit are still new, they haven't been taught to free them - the cops and the politicians aren't sure that they can put them down. No concern here. They have brought  right wing facist government to most of the developed world and rule through terror and debt. I encourage everyone whosw actually interested in the future of the world to reread 1984 or watch one of the various movies based on it like V for Vendetta .... It will make you think!

Yep we are living in 1984...It is funny how closed minded and brainwashed we all are...!! I like the way Bush conveniantly gave up the money a couple weeks before he left office and trumped congress on the issue as well... I am sorry His ass should be run up a flagpole for the patriot act and other "un-constitutional" legislature he has put up.. And the thing that gets me is people believe all this @!$%# about we need to sacrifice all this stuff for our security.. ok well we have better ways of tracking things now.. we have probably never been more secure than we have the last 30-40 years.. yet we are all paranoid... and have cameras everywhere, all you need for a wire tap is to be a suspected terrorist..Anyone can be a damn terrorist!! This is not all Bushs fault but alot of it is. Him and Congress need to be all fired and never be allowed to hold another politcial office...They are all crooks who make their money off driving us to the poor house.. You cant make money without money is a very true statement.. I sure as hell dont live any more comfortable now than I did 10-12 years ago.. my pay goes up and everything else goes up.. Insurance companies are allowed to check credit scores for you to get insurance.. WHY!! Doesnt anyone question some of these swell decisions someone has made to cost us more money?? Guess not because everyone gladly keeps paying their insurance premium like they have no choice... people we have a choice... Again let me bring up Greece.. they all stood up and took action.. it can be done!!

I'm mad as hell and can't do any thing about it!  How pathetic is this? The sh..t part of it is that it's true. Every respondent to this article can only hang their head for allowing this cancer to metastize to every part of our sorry country.

While it is great to read everyone blow off some pure frustrated steam and demand answers (we will never get).  I would like to ask, How do we really clean out the white house?  Even as "We the People" speak out I am not so sure "our" Government will not comply with out force.   They have become so consumed in the Power we gave them...

Greed breeds greed and our Goverment is as greedy as they come.   While we can only hope and pray the there will come a day that "We the People" will have honest answers... 

so effing wrong.......

The highschool/college kids aren't going to help. Young people used to be a reckoning force in this country...but they are too distracted with MTV, thier video games, and what Paris Hilton is up to. I'd go as far to say the majority of the young generation don't even see what is happening or that they even care.

UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Congress needs to immediately put more restrictions on any future handouts that whoever gets it must submit a plan for the $$ first.  This supposed oversight committee needs to then oversee and enforce how it's spent - if they don't comply, then penalties should apply.  C'mon - I am held to a tighter standard when I loan money for a house or car, and if I don't pay- they take my property back.   How can Elisabeth Warren say she "hopes" that the banks will supply information?  I would like to hear stronger language from an oversight committe and withholds and  penalties imposed for non-compliance.  Isn't lack of transparency part of what got us into this mess in the first place???

How about we make a new law, any bank that refuses to account for our taxpayer money faces Capital Punishment for the higher management.

Where did the money go?

Simple. It went towards buying up other banks or financial assets to "improve their Balance Sheets".

It was stupid to give the banks these funds without requiring them to actually make loans with it. With reserve requirements, the $350 Billion should have resulted in $3.5 Trillion in new lending capability. Anyone that voted for it in Congress is a dimwit.

I agree with you all but can anyone say that they are suprised by this article?  Our country continues to sink lower and lower.

This may be a good idea!

It's time to go French Revolution on their sorry asses. After a few bank executives are publicly executed the rest will fall in line. It will also be a wake up call to our elected officials.

I am livid that there is no accountability for the financial institutions rescued by the taxpayer bailout. Why is it that everyday Americans have to disclose every cent they make to the IRS yet financial institutions can opt out from posting where the billions of dollars lent by the taxpayers is being spent?

There was a SERIOUS lack of common sense when this bailout bill was written and passed. How can it be that the members of congress failed to write in an "accountability measure" that ensures the taxpayers that their money is being spent/used appropriately and that ALL OF IT IS ACCOUNTED FOR RIGHT DOWN TO THE LAST PENNY????????

I demand rewritten legislation that requires ALL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND COMPANIES "RESCUED" BY THE BAILOUT TO KEEP WRITTEN DOCUMENTS, REPORTS, ETC. DOCUMENTING WHERE/HOW EVERY PENNY OF TAXPAYER MONEY IS BEING SPENT.

FAILURE TO PROVIDE ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE TAXPAYERS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. WE WILL NOT STAND BY AS WE ARE ROBBED AND SWINDLED JUST TO LINE THE POCKETS OF THE BIG EXECS WHO HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY OF POSTING WHERE AND HOW OUR MONEY IS BEING SPENT.

The financial community cannot disclose where the appropriated funds are headed for fear of a public breakdown in trust, simple as that. Credit Default Swaps are the real story.  These off-balance sheet derivatives have rendered the world's largest financial institutions insolvent and are draining the global financial system. The problem is so dire that the heads of the Fed, Treasury, and Wall Street have had to issued gag-orders to stall public knowledge and deeper financial paralysis.  Just google credit default swaps; read about them; look at the numbers; take another look at Paulson's plan; look at the feds response and actions of late; re-read the cds info and you will certainly be in for a shock! The facts become clear and the consequences ominous (and you will see how they have triggered this recession) with the worst yet to come. This accounts for the  lack of accountability by the fed and treasury after spending billions, the dis-information from the media (clueless?) and the pall hanging over the Congressional and Senate hearings on the subject of credit default swaps. Even greater financial hardships for average wage-earners and taxpayers will be asked because of these derivatives.  Europe is contemplating a cds moratorium, but in the U.S. the lack of Congressional consensus to deem them null and void may provoke a revolution should ever the public realized the expense they are being asked to incur.  It's truly hard to believe the trouble the banking community, with the freedom given by the  Bush administration,  has gotten us in.  Go ahead, read about it, don't expect the experts to lay the case out for you - most of them refuse to believe it too!

The financial community cannot disclose where the appropriated funds are headed for fear of a public breakdown in trust, simple as that.

The public breakdown in trust has already  happened, with good reason, so what will it matter now if they just tell where the money went. The thing is, we already know where the money went, and it DID NOT go toward helping the public. They must really truly think the American public is stupid. How wrong they are.

A deep investigation should be initiated to find direct / indirect beneficiary (including the president) of the bail out fund ( the poor tax payers hard earned money ).

Its not about accountability - its about entitlement. These guys own us through contrived debt. They create money to lend you, and then push to collect this "created" money.

Lets not forget, habitat for humanity has consistently had a foreclosure rate between 0 - 1% with no change in the last 3 months. If we had of left wall st to sink and dumped 700B  into actually creating housing NOT debt we might have made something sustainable .... what has happened is nothing other than a scam to add to 90 years of scams by these guys... and now they want to give them the other 350B - what benefit has the first 350B had? raised share prices on Wall St. Protected hedge funds and executive compensation .... I don't remember where in Paulsons plan that these were the end result of the tarp plan

Jasonax, Could have not said it better my self,

And the Democrats don't hate Republicans. We're not haters. We only look for the best in people.  Republicans look for the money in people.

Well, then, everyone, what do we do?

I, personally, don't recommend anything illegal.  We will all have to continue paying our taxes (I like having policemen and firemen and teachers and good roads and clean air). I don't think writing our DC representatives will help, as many of us have already done that.   Many of us did vote (at least I did), but that doesn't seem to change anything.  (Repubs and demos are hard to tell apart these days.)

We should do something significant, but legal, as a show of our disapproval.

You are right, Greg. We don't want to do anything illegal. I don't think I would do well in jail. :) Some have suggested not paying on our mortgages and credit cards, but I don't think that's a good idea because I have great credit and don't want to 'cut off my nose to spite my face.' One thing I am doing is paying off my credit cards as fast as I can. Can you imagine what it would be like for all the banks if all of us Americans paid off our credit cards? It would hurt. I am all for doing what I can to do something significant, but call me chicken, I would rather not flush myself down the tubes at the same time. Like many people, I have worked and sacrificed too much for too long to let it go by the wayside without a fight.

Any suggestions?

The problem is that the largest banks are sitting with trillions of dollars in off-balance sheet obligations that they cannot meet.  This debt is a result of the leveraging of private insurance contracts (swaps).  These swaps are a game unto themselves and are very profitable to issuers when the underlying loans remain good.  But there has been virtually no institutional oversight or regulation in these products and there are no public exchanges to trade them and thus no way to accurately price their true risk.  Add to this the sad fact that little if no collateral is required to be held against future claims and you have a receipe for disaster - the perfect storm of which we are now experiencing (remember, without these insurance products, lenders would have never underwritten the volume of sub-prime mortgage loans in the first place).  But the dominios have been tripped, and the cascading-ripple effect of claim-against-claim is truly underway - and will likey take us all to the cleaners!  The Fed has come to the conclusion that the taxpayer is the only entity that can cover this bet as banks and underwriters undwind these obligations over time.  A truly unfair situation when you consider that the taxpayer has no real representation in the matter.  Darkness prevails and that is no accident.  Educate yourself about the situation.  Educate others.  That is what you can do.  By creating awareness, it is possible that legislation can be passed to nullify these "weapons of mass financial destruction", as Warren Buffet calls them.  The europeans are taking the lead and considering doing just that.   You said it when you wrote, "...Like many people, I have worked and sacrificed too much for too long to let it go by the wayside with a fight."  This is your chance to fight.

William, your comment "take your bleeding vagina and GTFO of here" is repugnant and extremely offensive. 

Typical politics.......An Oversight Committee that turns a blind eye

The oversight is in the hands of Paulson read the bill. The bill was passed as written by the WH

I don't think the money was lent. It was just given away similar to placing a barrel on the street with a sign "free money".

People think this money was a loan. I don't recall anything in TARP that says these banks have to pay this money back.

So  your saying Hussein, Pelosi, Reid ,Dodd and Frank knew nothing that was in it? 

who is Hussein WILDWONDERFUL?

Barack Hussein Obama, beautiful name isn't it wildwonderful? You must think so since you love to use it. I suppose you think it's an insult by using his middle name, don't you? I hope he uses his full name throughout his Presidency. He should be proud of it, I know I am, as are millions of other Americans. It's pretty comical how you are attempting to blame this whole bailout debacle soley on the democrats, when it was your hero Bush who pulled the wool over everyone's eyes with another lie, AGAIN, with the whole "the economy will collapse if we don't bail out Wall Street and the banks" horse manure. January 20th can't get here soon enough.

Democratic haters, one and all. Your Saviour is now in the White House. Stop with the two faced hatred. The difference between you whining 3 year olds (Democrats) and Republicans is that we dont take our ball home and cry when we dont get our way. We will work with what we've been given (which isnt much) instead of whining and complaining about it.

I wish McCain woulda won so that all you bitching little Democrats would have MOVED TO CANADA like you said you would. STFU.

PURE, you republicans will work with what you've been given (which isn't much)?? instead of whining and complaining???

WOW if I had a dollar for everytime I heard the republicans COMPLAIN I'd be richer than Bush's oil profits!!

I guess you really don't understand the political system? You dont understand the past 8 years either apparently.  The only reason we complain is because of mr. pathetic (bush) .  He has done nothing for 8 years!! what has he done!! oh, got us into 2 wars. oh yea, and we're on the brink of the Great Depression of the New Age!  YIPEE! Sound the horns and bring in the wine! He's an idiot. What don't you get?

And the Democrats don't hate Republicans. We're not haters. We only look for the best in people.  Republicans look for the money in people.

Jason, you just keep believing that. It will get you far in life.

And the Dems dont look for money?!?! WTF are you talking about? They want to "spread the wealth", they're looking for money somewhere!

Pure Capitalism

Democratic haters, one and all. Your Saviour is now in the White House. Stop with the two faced hatred. The difference between you whining 3 year olds (Democrats) and Republicans is that we dont take our ball home and cry when we dont get our way. We will work with what we've been given (which isnt much) instead of whining and complaining about it.

I wish McCain woulda won so that all you @!$%#ing little Democrats would have MOVED TO CANADA like you said you would. STFU.

Hey, guess what, you guys LOST. Which makes you a LOSER. Please run that bimbette Sarah again, so we can laugh again, haha.

Did I mention you LOST. Your sour grapes are funny.

Capitalist:

How does this scam set up by Bush et al convienantly before he was run out of town have anything to do with spreading the wealth? to who the top 1% who support your party ....

What do you propose to fix this?? Bush GOP "capitalism" made this mess. The only problem is that capitalism and this mess our economy has become are mutually exclusive terms. There is probably more capitalism in China than in our country today. Our consumers and small businesses are gouged by large monopolistic multinaitonals who completely control the economy. ...

It is and was a cluster ...K because as usual, we hold no one accountable. 10th ammendment says it all! .........but who cares?

The insanity was giving Money to the same people who F'd it up, and expecting DIFFERENT results.

Of course they are not going to be accountable for the "BAILOUT" money, their lack of accountability is why they where in the Hole in the first place.

Giving them Money was not an inducement to make them "CHANGE"...That is why the Government should have taken over all the Banks and threw the Bums out and Restructured the whole Financial Institutions.

Alas, that would have been too much, as in doing the "SMART and APPROPRIATE" thing in addressing of the problem.

The people who were making these asinine decisions are no different than the people who invested with the MADOFF crook.   Stupid!

They got 350 Billion and have to ask Congress for the other 350.

"They got 350 Billion and have to ask Congress for the other 350."

Which Paulson did last week. He is spewing the whole needing the money immediately or our economy will collapse lie again.

What a freaking joke.  To the banks...it's our money and you will tell us the "who, what, where and why."  The banks are ignorant of that fact...and yet they have the right to deny my loan.  Well Congress just gave them one hell of a loan, interest free, by breaking the backs of the American Worker.  To Congress...you had better get off your collective anal orifices and start getting these answers...because if you don't...we, the American People, will ensure your political career ends at the next election cycle.  It's time for us all to send letters to the House and Senate requesting immediate action.

I'm with you, even thought the Big 3 didn't do a great job in their dealings, atleast they are asking for a loan, not a gift. They paid it back the last time and with all the scrutiny they are under, I'm sure they will pay it back again. Will the banks? Yea....right, just more bonuses for the big-wigs!

Have you called any Senators and Representatives

Are you referring to the one's that delayed the Big 3 bailout and gave the banks their money at the drop of the dime? Seems pointless....

Have any of you bought guns!  You better start now!   

I have called, they have it set up so you will never ever talk to a human being.  I have emailed, it is also set up so it goes into a whirlwind of prefabricated canned answers when you check what your concern is.  I know our elected officials are aware of the huge amounts of calls and emails, but it just goes into their electronic bull@!$%# dispenser, they don't hear a word we are saying.

I haven't used banks in 30 years. Credit Unions are the only trustworthy way to go. You can not and have never been able to trust banks.

Planning to loan to non profits and health care companies next year...

What happened to the Mom and Pop store on Main Street?  Why are they not considered for loans to keep their business afloat?  How many bank executives are on the board of these non profits and health care companies?

This was just the latest in a long line of Bush & Co. megabuck giveaways - the whole goal of this administration was to redistribute the wealth of the American public to their personal friends, families, business associates and political donors, and to push our economy to the point where we would not be able to afford the social programs they hate.  The billions in tax cuts for the already embarrassingly rich ($300,000+ in tax cuts to Cheney in just year 1 of the cuts - think about the savings to the Bush family and Cindy McCain!) and the "American" companies who got to pay no taxes on all the funds they were paid for government contracts by registering in the Caribbean and  keeping their money outside the USA (Accenture anyone?) The fake war that fed dollars to the war industry companies like Halliburton and Blackwater, the huge pots of cash to the oil companies (including the bin Laden family - who are personal friends of the Bushes - gee I wonder why we haven't found Osama?), the pork barrel garbage (bridge to nowhere), equal anti-terror money to red states like Illinois and Nebraska (let's protect them from crop circles!) instead of appropriate amounts to New York and California (blue states) where it is actually needed, billions in missing "cash" for bribes and so forth in Iraq, billions more to keep the fake war going and keep overpaying Halliburton and its subsidiaries for delivering embroidered towels (4x the cost of the plain ones, of course...) and non-existent food and water to our folks in Iraq and now for a prize-winning mega-buck finale, $700 billion+ in unrestricted funds to the major Republican donors and an ACTUAL "socialist" nationalization of the banks - but one in which the owners (us)  have no say, control or info about how our money is being spent!!!  They get the funds and we still get the foreclosures and bankruptcies.  This is the REAL Bush doctrine - Steal from the poor and middle class and redistribute to their rich friends.  Just one more theft that they will not be held accountable for.

lol, and think of the tax cuts to the Kennedy's and Obama, nad the Clintons, and every other rich power hungry fool we have in office. They are all the same, taking lobbiest money and tossing us to the wolves. Dodd, Mcain, Bush, Pelosi, Reid, Obama, the whole crowd.

Congress passed this bill with no thought, congress controlled now by the Democrats, not that it somehow removes Republican responsibilty, they are all to blame for this idiocy. At least they are asking for a plan from the next group of beggars. But now this request is no longer seen as common sense but as an attack on the working class. Sad day, yes, that these idiots had a thought and it happened on the working class, but hopefully it will happen from here on out. For everyone asking the Government for a handout.

The People do not own the banks, they are owned by individuals and boards. Credit Unions are a different story. Sorry to break that one to you.

New York will never get a fair share of the Federal spending. Has nothing to do with being Red or Blue. We never got help in the 90's under Clinton who then had the nerve to run for Senate in NY (and win, but the people who voted her in cannot list a single accomplishment for us since 2000). The Welfare Reform Act by Clinton caused our property taxes in NY to rise as the counties had to pick up the full tab on these losers. But the list continues under Bush and will only grow under Obama. NY is about to get slammed with taxes as Wall Street makes less and generates less taxes, the social handouts continue in NY. Just read the new budget here.

Oh well, you have all been had by the people you keep voting in except maybe the guys like Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ who actaully voted against the bill. My Reps in NY all jumped on that bandwagon even as they lambasted the process in the press. Thanks Hillary and Chuck. We all owe you one.

Whats this?

Christmas bonus,

But they dont' have to.  It's written into the bailout "plan."

Funny how each and every American has to account for every penny we make (IRS).

Apparently Chase doesn't know much of anything.  My mortgage is with Chase and is at 5.5%.  Every month I get letters from them offering to refinance my mortgage.  Last month the rate they offered was 7%.  Duh!  Why in all that is sacred would I change my 5.5% mortgage for a 7.% mortgage? 

Greg's right on this one.  Many are complaining about the accountability, but the expectations of the recipient institutions was not well spelled out.   IMHO the root (not total) problem with this mess (no, it's not a 'correction') is our failure to educate our youth on financial fundamentals (what % of income should go to mortgage etc) and healthy financial skepticism.

Stay strong friends, 

No accountability for banks/investment houses, but No Child Left Behind and School District Report Cards for schools, and no bid contracts for Haliburton and Black Water.

The Bush administration seems to think public schools are the only institutions that should show accountability.

The hundreds of billions blown in Iraq (and they don't know where much of that went either) just wasn't enough for them.  Before they left office they had to spew a couple hundred more billions that won't be accounted for to their Wall St. buds.

If I believed in hell, I'd figure there are seats of honor there just for them.

And they certainly wouldn't come to you to give you money. Remember, this was a giveaway, not a loan like what is going to the auto companies.

Exactly...  quit complaining and do something.

Every penny should be pulled from these banks and moved to ones that have shown stability and transparency. They deserve to fail.

I've looked everywhere for info on marching in Washtington to protest the theivery perpetrated by the GOV and Wallstreet. I can't find a darn thing!

I'm pretty fired-up and want to do something...

I agree, it won't stop until we make it stop!

Others said the money couldn't be tracked. Bob Denham, a spokesman for North Carolina-based BB&T Corp., said the bailout money "doesn't have its own bucket." But he said taxpayer money wasn't used in the bank's recent purchase of a Florida insurance company. Asked how he could be sure, since the money wasn't being tracked, Denham said the bank would have made that deal regardless.

Some banks say the use of bailout money isn't being tracked. Hmmmmm right, I guess that could mean some of it may have found its way back to Congress in some for or another and no one would be the wiser. Hell, they could have done just about anything they want to with it and never have to make any kind of disclosure.

March on Washington?

I hate to use a cliche, but I can't think of anything more appropriate:  LOL

We are all too lazy, really, to do anything but blog and eat junk food all day long.

If I'm going to freeze my ass off in a march in Washington, I'd better damn well get something out of it besides frostbitten buns or there will be hell to pay. :-) 

Tad, please tell me you're not serious with that attitude. If so, just stay home. The rest of us who really care will try to think of you as we are getting our asses frozen trying to get our collective s__— together.

Greg i agree.  It's about time that we have a march in Washington!  But who's going to go?? We're all gonna just sit in front of the tube and watch Wolf talk about nothing. We have a right to talk about this face to face with anyone in congress. Put down the donut! We can change government. That's why we elect them to office!!!

Well I "NEED" some damn money.. so I can get a big screen tv or some other senseless Item like I am sure they justified their NEEDS.

Stand up, speak out,

 That was a joke, see the smiley face at the end. I am all for the march. Sometimes we have to vent with a little humor just to keep our sanity.

March on Washington in the summer - around July 4th ought to do it, when the kids are out of school - they should come too, because America's children are on the hook for the huge tax bill as well.  Get the retirees whose pensions have tanked to come also. 

Some of the protest signs can say "TERM LIMITS" for Congress.

July 4th is on a Saturday 2009.

How do you force a change in banking?

It is very hard to "protest" bank fees and other unfair behaviors, because all banks have the same policies.

Unless you think you can bury your money in your back yard, what do you do with it?  I would like to simply withdraw all or even most of my money, but then what?

My son got himself into a pickle with bank fees and policies when he was a freshman in college out of state.  After that I had him move everything back to our home town bank, and I put my name and his on all of his accounts.  We have joint accounts.  Now, whenever he gets screwed I go in and tell the branch manager to undo those fees, or I am moving all of my money across the street.  (I did do this once when a bank I had thousands of dollars in would not cash the kid's first paycheck, a whopping $38!  I closed the account on the spot and took the money elsewhere.)

I am fed up, but I am not sure what to do about it.

I write my congressmen, but I feel it's like pissing in the wind.

REALISTICALLY, what can we do?

Ohh yep that would do it all right... sounds very interesting.. ! Would be fun to see..Drastic situation, drastic measures!

"The world is REALLY going downhill when people start quoting what Patrick Swayze said in Roadhouse," I always say.

...at least it wasn't a quote from 'Red Dawn' :-)

I love Red Dawn, so underrated!

I'm 5'7" and worked as a bouncer for about six years.  You wanna guess how many times I heard, "I thought you'd be bigger"?

It is not the size of the package, it is the ATTITUDE of the package. Big surprises come in small packages. A lot of people are fooled by my size too. I am 5'2" and almost 110 pounds. Gets pretty funny sometimes. LOL.

Funny thing is the real estate people are still selling the houses for the same inflated prices... one house has been on the market over a year and it is still 265K for a 3 bedroom house.. outrageous!! You would think they would drop the price to sell it.. they could have taken the loss and not had to have the property on their books for the last year...

Bobby, good luck with that.

You'll wind up in prison, and if there aren't enough prisons for everyone who doesn't pay their taxes, Congress will vote on another 800 Billion to be spent on new prisons, and hire Blackwater to manage them.  Or China.

We live in a global economy.  Somebody somewhere will be more than happy to build more prisons.

i agree, this is the most effective tool we the people have. to withold payment.  are they gonna reposses the whole country? no, they can't.  We need to put a protest note instead of a check, and tell them they can either do business correctly or go broke.

I said much the same thing when gas prices were on their way to the moon. What would they do if we all sat at home and refused to move? What would they do if we all refused to pay our mortgages for a month? They can't foreclose the country. The trouble is no one did anything about gas prices except grumble and whine and no one will do anything about this either. What is wrong with us !?!? They are thieves...we know this...I am so fugly about this whole deal.

They wouldn't give US any money without knowing exactly where it was going.

This is exactly the problem...we hate what is happening and are waiting for someone else to do something about it.  We need a leader to step up and start making changes, and I am not talking about Obama or any of the "new" government.  We The People...need to get off our butts and take some chances or it will never change, ever.

Steve421605

I'll meet you in Washington with my great big angry sign if you meet me with yours. LOL. We will be the only two angry people there I bet.

"I'll meet you in Washington with my great big angry sign if you meet me with yours. LOL. We will be the only two angry people there I bet."

In the 1960's and 1970's we rioted in the streets and made the establishment listen to our grievances. Now we can't sem how to get organized. I think this meltdown and the give away of our money is worse than the WAR.

Vince I'm with you 100%. Stop making these payments -period- not just for one month but forever. Please read my other posts in this thread #1.22 & #23.2

Good luck folks.

I hope you like your new roommate, Bubba.

Bubba might be a welcome change considering our leaders are giving it to us without without even having to be incarcerated!

What if every American in this country did not pay any bill for one month, or even longer, wouldn't that be a wake up call to all of these companies?  I am not just talking about mortgage payments, I mean credit cards, phone bills, cable bills, etc. I am sure that there are still a select few who have taken a large bonus this year, while many thousands in the banking industry have been let go.

The idea is nice but who can really afford NOT to pay their bills. You have to pay the mortgage because you will be foreclosed on, then what ? We just have a country full of homeless people ? If you don't pay a credit card guess what ? They will garnish your paycheck and take it all instead of your minimum monthly payment. Too bad we don't have the option to do the same. Maybe file a civil suit for your taxes saying they unlawfully took that money ? Imagine all taxpayers doing that and the impact.

What I am getting at here is there is no way around this. They will get their money by any means necessary without any regard to what your point may have been not to pay it in the first place. Americans are not lazy and uncaring about what is happening. The problem we see now is there is no outlet for people to really express themselves. It's a collective feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. We are censored in every form of the word. You go protest in Washington and I assure you they show up with the National Guard and 2 tons of pepper spray to shut you up.

I wish I had a better solution. For now we remain helpless. The IRS will take our money, the government will waste it and we will go to work tomorrow and earn more for them to spend. It's a vicious cycle with no end in sight.

Pam, true, Bubba might be easier to deal with, at least we could see who, exactly, is doing what to whom.

BOA is losing so much on credit card defaults that they are penalizing those who are making payments just to make up for their losses. They take taxpayer's bailout money and yet bite the hand that feeds them.

The best thing to do is to try to pay off your debt if at all possible and drop their card. Credit unions usually offer rates on on their credit cards if you have bank accounts with them. 

I had a similar situation with my credit card with HSBC. Talk about rape. If your starting to get control of things these thieves will kick you back in the rut. A lot of this stems from a large banking package that went through congress in the late ninties. I remember a program on public TV concerning what the banking industry had put before congress and they got everything they wanted. It pretty much gave them the rights to change interest rates at their own whims and fantasies, to write mortages they knew would fail and to pretty much write off every stupid thing they did on their customers. We are experiencing the results of this legislation now.

How would you even be able to do that? They take my taxes before I even see my paycheck .. money I have never ever seen nor will I ever get to see again in the future. I calculated my tax rate out and right now 28% of my pay goes directly to the government in the form of State and Federal taxes. We have absolutely NO control over what they do with our money. Pretty sick considering we bust our butts every single day to barely make it without them dipping their hands in our bank account.

the original plan was voted down by a number of Senators and Representatives.  THEN the PORK (bribes) was added.  Look and see who benefitted from the pork and you will see who the biggest hypocrites are.

John McCain was going to vote AGAINST the bill but ultimately voted for it.  Reason - he was told he wouldn't stand a chance of winning the election if he opposed it.  Guess what - he lost anyway!!

Unfortunately they get our taxes before we see our paychecks. Nice system!

I for one have, in the past, emailed state officials and government Representatives, on several issues, and get the same auto reply back, saying that the issue is currently being addressed, and that's as far as it goes.  Leaving voice mails does absolutely nothing either.

That has happened to me as well, but I have also used regular mail and phone calls and gotten a response from my actual reps.  Maybe it's different here in NH (yeah, I know, that opens me up to a whole bunch of ribbing), but sooner or later if many people speak out you've got to believe that we will be heard.  Letters to the editor in the newspapers are a great way to be heard as well.  Trying is better than sitting on our hands and doing nothing.  There is also the government transition website set up by President elect Obama which is http://change.gov/.

I have an idea that the undisclosed portion is going back to a select group of congress as a pay back for rushing the bill thru.

I'm sure that is just a portion of the corruption going on.

The fleasing of America, at it's best.

Canyou say, "legalized crime?

At least our government could have done, was sent each and every one of us tax payers a jar of vasoline.

Hmmmm. Wooden arrows and Rum. Always getting their noses browned up somewhere.

Can they not do ANYTHING for the actual people in this country?

Uh. No.

So any underhanded thing they are doing at the moment is totally in character for them.

It's not that "NO ONE IS CARING".  It is that our elected representatives are not listening and we have no recourse.  

I voted in November against my Senator who supported the bailout.  However he was re-elected by a huge majority.  There had been a lot of grousing against him on the public forums, but he got re-elected.  How did that happen?  Is the voting in this country rigged too? 

no public outcry.  Grousing on these forums only get us riled up.  We can't get our message to the masses because it costs too much to put out an ANTI campaign message.  TV time is way too expensive and most people don't listen to radio anymore.  I attempted to get a 15 second "public service" message broadcast on my local TV station during the evening news time slot.  I couldn't afford the 92,000 dollar cost!

Yeah well unfortunately Americans as a whole have lost their backbones to stand-up for things...Very sad indeed....It was Americans of the old days that decided to stand-up to a government that wasnt working for our people back in 1775-6. If we were going to make a stand on anything everyone would have to do it.. or at least a majority would.. We definitely need to make some tough decisions and grow some backbones when it comes to our own interests!!!