Reverse Midas Touch

What a piece of SHIT the new Indiana Jones movie was.

Aliens??? Really now. Aliens? Area 51?

Now if you happen to be a South Park fan, you saw the episode "The China Problem", that contains a sub plot where the kids have the police arrest George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg for raping Indiana Jones. I saw the South Park episode before I saw the movie.

Needless to say, I tend to agree with the creators of South Park. Aliens DO NOT belong in an Indiana Jones movie. Kind of like the lost Arc Of The Covenant does not belong in an alien movie.

In other news - this bailout thing is looking like nothing more than another jewel in the Bush Administrations CROWN OF FAILURE. The Bush Administration can not seem to find its own ass - using both hands AND a mirror.

City Group needs to be bailed out. Again. And they got the bailout they need.

But they already got one bailout. And what did they do? They bought Wachovia. They declared dividends for shareholders. They tried to shore up stock values. And they FAILED. So hey - give them more money!

And now it comes out that City Group wants their name plastered all over some stadium. They PAID TO SPONSOR A STADIUM. While asking for bailout money.

Of course, I do not know why people are so shocked over this. The mess is on par for Bush. Remember the war? The weapons of mass destruction? The grave threat? Act now OR ELSE GET NUKED??? So the war was authorized by congress based on these "truths". And when they turned out to be bullshit, the reasons were changed. From "weapons of mass destruction" to "spreading freedom".

And how does that relate to this bailout? The plan pitched to Congress called for the government to buy some "toxic assets" in a reverse auction deal so that the government got the lowest price the banks were willing to take. Once the bad assets were off the bank books, the bad mortgages could be refinanced. And then once the bad was made good - the government could sell them back to the banks. The government was also going to buy stocks or some such shit - but because we are not "socialist" the government would not buy shares with voting rights, or otherwise mess with the all mighty bank boards of directors.

So Congress said "well we do not really like this plan, but we can live with it. It is better than nothing". So they approved it.

And then what happened? Vast sums were handed out. Just given away. Need money?? HERE YOU GO!! Take it!

And the toxic assets? What happened to those?

Nothing.

And bank stocks? How many of those were bought by the government?

Apparently none.

Is there any oversight on the boards of directors?

Nope. Because that shit is "socialist" or "communist" or whatever.

Does the government have ANYTHING to show for the money handed out?

Nope. Not a single thing. The grand plan was a LIE. Bullshit. Not going to happen.

And that is why it is another jewel in the crown of failure.

So with no (or at best very little) oversight as to how the money is used - should be be surprised that banks in trouble used the money to buy up other banks, have their name plastered all over some shitty ass stadium, declare dividends, and otherwise do everything EXCEPT what the money was supposed to be used for?

Well that depends. On one hand there is the insane idea that free markets will ALWAYS do the right thing.

On the other hand, Adam Smith himself said "man is self interested and greedy".

But what the hell does that Marxist communist socialist goofball Adam Smith know? I piss on him and that communist "Wealth Of Nations"book he wrote.

If the government is going to give banks money - THEY BETTER HAVE PEOPLE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS! If the government is going to buy stock, THEY BETTER HAVE VOTING SHARES!

Otherwise the banks get the money, and we get shit.

Everything King Midas touched turned to gold. Well Bush is the opposite of that. If he touches gold it turns into dog shit.

It is simply amazing. But not really. It plays into the idea that if you just trust the self interested and greedy - everything will work out. Somehow. Using magic.

And meanwhile - as of right now - taxpayers have NOTHING, and I do mean NOTHING, to show for the money spent on the bank bailouts. There is NOTHING being held by the government that can be sold back later to recover the money.

If this was the sales pitch given to Congress - there is no way it would have passed.