Is it Bush? No. Obama? No. Buffet? No. Gates? Who is the most powerful man in the history of the United States? Hank Paulson. Never elected by anyone to anything. Came from Goldman where he made a bazillion dollars putting the demise of Goldman in place.
The powers to be give him $700 billion to spend as he sees fit with zero oversight. Pinch me, am I dreaming? I have kept a list of the dumbest things Bush has done as president. This was my list a couple of months ago. 1. Sending us into Iraq so he could finish Daddy’s unfinished business 2. Not firing Rumsfeld until the day after the first Democratic thrashing of the Republican party at the polls. 3. Trying to lease our strategic ports to Dubai. That’s a pretty impressive list, but just when you think he can’t screw up any more before he rides off to Crawford, he tops it all.
How does anyone get a blank check to spend $700 billion dollars? Especially when the guy who says he has to have the money gets the money. Then after he spends $300 billion he admits he’s not spending it where he said he would when he asked for it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the inmates are running the asylum. Paulson said he needed the money to help homeowners from defaulting on mortgages and creating a banking meltdown. The Feds would buy these distressed mortgages and sell them at auction to keep the banks from folding. The taxpayer would make money from this. Now, he says he is really giving the money to banks to buy other banks. Whoa!
This is truly remarkable. We have given Paulson almost as much as the Iraq war has cost with zero accountability. My read on Paulson is not positive. I don’t think anyone who operated in the Wall Street climate where bonus money determined actions without long-term consequences should be trusted with a million dollars, let alone $700 billion.
And you wonder why confidence is low and approval ratings are even lower.
A critical post of the republicans who have been running our country for the past 8 years? The spirit of bipartisanship lives here after all!
This is a fair and balanced blog.
Bill