If the whole world is too much to think about, let’s narrow the question down to our beloved America. Let me ask you this. What do the Bank of America, the Federal Reserve, Joe Biden, Obama and his Alinsky acolytes and, the OWS crowd have in common? The answer: they have all gone mad, as in crazy, as in insane. They all seem hell-bent on crashing this country to the ground. Is it a conspiracy or is just bad karma that has become contagious?
If it sounds like the old gringo in Venezuela is hyperventilating, it’s because HE IS! Folks, I couldn’t sleep last thinking about the bizarre crap I’m about to share with you. I am boiling over mad, as in angry, as in I want to punch somebody’s lights out and I am scared; very, very scared. here is what put me in this state of mind. As I was finishing up my rounds of my favorite blogs last night, I visited the great Spellchek blog where the author was upset about this Bloomberg article about the Bank of America (BoA). I then went by the always informative Frankenstein Government blog where Brian was also talking about the same story.
That the deposit banking side of Bank of America Corporation (BAC) is Bank of America (BoA) is in trouble and in serious need of recapitalization is not new news. Please read the Bloomberg article. It is a bit difficult to follow so let me try to simplify it. The parent company has an investment arm called Merrill Lynch and a deposit banking arm called Bank of America (BoA). The parent company’s investment rating has been severely down graded by Moody’s to barely investment grade. BoA, a deposit bank protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has also been down graded by Moody’s but not nearly as much as for the parent company. The problem for the parent company has to do with the fact that Merrill is sitting on, now get this, $75 trillion of derivatives (think high risk). So, the parent company has this great idea on how to protect their investors. They will transfer $53 trillion of these derivatives to the deposit bank side of the business, BoA, which is protected by FDIC. When I say FDIC, I mean you and I, the taxpayers. And guess what? Mr. Bernanke at the Fed thinks this is a good idea. The FDIC not so much.
Think about this, folks. We are not talking about millions of dollars or even billions of dollar but TRILLIONS of dollars of derivatives. Do you suppose Moody’s will see this a good thing for BoA? Are you beginning to see why I am so upset? This is INSANE! In the Frankenstein Government’s post, Brian linked a short article at The Golden Truth where the author sums up my feelings perfectly:
That the BAC upper management would be so completely devoid of ethics and do something like this is a tragedy. That Bernanke, Geithner and Obama would allow BAC to do this is a testament to the fact that our system is collapsing.
So, going back to the question I raised at the beginning of this post, what do the Bank of America, the Federal Reserve, Joe Biden, Obama and his Alinsky acolytes and, the OWS crowd have in common? I said they were all hell-bent on crashing this country to the ground. No I don’t think it is a conspiracy. I don’t think that Obama and Bernanke and the Bank of America sat down and planned an Armageddon for America. But that is what is coming, my friends. Think about it , please! Look at what is happening in Greece today as they enter their second or third day of a nation-wide strike and hundreds of thousands of people are rioting in the streets. Do you really think that can’t happen here? Well it can happen here.
If the credit bubble burst first in Europe or here in America is not important. When it burst, and it will burst, there will be a world-wide economic meltdown. We already have the OWS idiots in the streets claiming all our problems are due to capitalism. And, who is behind the scenes fanning the flames of violence. Obama and friends, that’s who. Take a look at this post by William McCullough at Political Realities yesterday. He is referring to comments made by Joe Biden while in Ohio:
Biden while addressing a crowd of public safety employees in Ohio declared that if Chairman Obama’s ‘jobs bill’ was not passed then police, firemen and teachers were going to lose their jobs. He also added the horrible specter of rampant crime and mayhem taking to the streets as a result. (emphasis added)
That of course made me wonder was he encouraging that type of violent reaction from not only criminals, but from the anarchists and radical socialists running the ‘occupy’ Wall Street debacle? One might speculate that given Obama’s Alinskyite agenda to tear down and rebuild the country in his own ideological image, that Biden’s statements might possibly be a segway into events of that nature.
Unfortunately, Mr. McCullough does not give us a link to Biden’s remarks. Be that as it may, I do belive these kinds of remarks are a subtle means of fanning the flames of violence. At the risk of being tagged a tin hat, I beg of you, do not under estimate what Obama and friends are capable of doing to stay in power. These are not rational America loving patriots. They are insane with their vision of transforming America.
Let me say this bluntly. Obama, Biden, Reid, Pelosi, Geithner, Bernanke, et. al., are certifiabley crazy for what they are doing. Yet, most of my fellow conservatives think that it is the one man who has seen this coming and has warned us that it is coming and who has a plan to save America is the one who is crazy. I’m referring, of course, to Ron Paul.
If the credit bubble should burst before the elections, there will be riots in the streets of America. people will be in a state of panic. And, Obama and friends, including the MSM, will claim it is the fault of capitalism and because people will be so scared, they may just believe it and that will be the end of the America as we know it story.
If the credit bubble does not burst until after the elections, we are all going to wish we had Ron paul at the helm to guide us out of the chaos and restore the America we all love.
One last thought. This story about the Bank of America and the Fed needs to go viral. The American people deserve to know what is going on.
Well, that’s what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?
Delmarva Progressive
October 20, 2011
Unfortunately, as with most Conservative blogs I read, you are misleading and twisting facts to fit your outlook and perspective. I agree with you about the unconscionable intent of Merrill, BoA and other Wall Street banks to continue the fleecing of America, but the “conspiracy” angle you knit and weave is a little too self-serving for me to accept on it’s face. ALSO, when you attempt to paraphrase a speech or quote, at least do so with the same intent that the speaker had. In fact, better yet: COPY AND PASTE the quote so that your reader may decide for him/herself the degree of credibility to attribute to your remarks.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
Thank you for visiting Conservatives on Fire and sharing your opinion. Your criticism that I did a poor job of paraphrasing a speech I assume has do with with the Joe Biden speech. You seem to have missed that the paraphrasing was by another blogger and I did say that it was unfortunate that he didn’t provide a link to the original speech. Maybe you would care to share with us a more accurate rendition of Mr. Biden’s speech.
Bunkerville
October 20, 2011
Anyone who thinks we are wearing tin hats should try looking at my post:
Natural Gas Drilling conflicts with mortgages. Yes, the world has gone mad. Fannie and Freddie are in the last stages of demolition. There, I said it.
:
http://bunkerville.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/natural-gas-drilling-conflicts-with-mortgages/
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
Every department in this administration is working overtime to find more ways to screw this already sick economy.
Freedom, by the way
October 20, 2011
That is a tale of corruption, indeed. The taxpayers should never be left holding the bag for investors that weren’t originally on the books of BOA. But I’m quite sure those indiviual investors have a lot more than $200 or $250k (can’t remember which it is) invested–which is all the FDIC insures per depositor. However, it’s still criminal.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
It’s not just the depositors that will have to saved it’s the TBTF bank that will want to be saved
Pat
October 20, 2011
I’m almost finished reading “Confidence Men” by Ron Suskind. You really should read it. The section I read last night plays right into your post today. One of the things that happened was that Obama and his economic team had the bankers right where they wanted them in 2009. The bankers were scared. They knew they’d screwed up. They were actually prepared for a regulatory hammer to come down and change the way they were doing business. Then, Obama let them off the hook. He talked tough in public, but in private he let them know that he wasn’t going to hammer them. Geithner and Summers felt restoring confidence in the banking sector was more important than having the bankers pay the price for their incompetence. Bernanke used monetary policy to put the banks in a position where they were flush with cash with nowhere to go with it (given the rest of the economy is still stagnant), so the banks went right back to making money with their derivative trading. Worse still, Bernanke was putting money out of the Fed at almost zero interest, and the banks were then able to buy Treasuries that paid interest. “Money for nothing and your chicks for free” (where “chicks” are more money). I sure wish Bernanke had given me a billion dollars that I could use to buy Treasury Bonds so I could reap the interest having risked nothing.
Whether by planning or incompetence the administration basically saved the banks and then put them in a position to re-inflate the same bubble that caused the problem in the first place. Suskind seems to lean toward incompetence, as Obama just does not know how to lead. Even when Obama’s leanings were to do something that would make a difference, he never made the decision, stuck by it, and made sure it happened.
The derivatives bubble is back to being hundreds of trillions of dollars, by the way. There are people on Wall Street–old schoolers–who are complaining that all of these derivatives and all this arbitrage simply does not provide anything to the economy in general, but only provides wealth to the bankers and their clients. In terms of providing capital that enables business that create something real (real wealth creation from ongoingly providing goods and/or services), Wall Street is in that business less and less, because it’s less profitable. As far as providing the service of reducing risk utilizing the derivatives and arbitrage, that isn’t even as real as it should be when the bank is trading it’s own portfolio (as well as clients’ portfolios) because the banks earn money taking the other side of the transaction from their clients and win either way. Bankers and bank shareholders can win when the clients whose money they are supposed to be safeguarding or increasing lose.
It is a royally f-ed up mess. Politicians, who benefit from Wall Street contributions to their campaigns, not to mention after-”public service” jobs on “the Street”, are not willing to handle it. The Democrats can blame the Republicans, but that’s complete crap. The revolving door from the Clinton administration, onto Wall Street to earn tens of millions of dollars, then back into government in the Obama administration puts the big lie to that, combined with the overwhelming support Wall Street gave to Obama in 2008. Democrats talk tough about Wall Street while carrying, not a big stick, but a bottle of massage oil and a promise of a happy ending.
Frankenstein Government
October 20, 2011
Thank you Pat for posting this. I hadn’t read that book. I simply watched what Obama did.He was bought and paid for. Interestingly enough, Obama has the opportunity right now to put Bank of America in receivership. This is a guy who took over GM. If in fact, Obama could grow a pair and put BAC in receivership, he might singlehandedly resurrect his presidency.
I disagree with one point. I don’t think Obama is incompetent. He was paying off the bankers by not prosecuting them. Time and time again, I have seen this man pay off his crony supporters with taxpayer money. Unions, Solyndra, Obamacare waivers for democratic friends. That is not incompetence. That is intentional. This dude is just flat out crooked.
I wrote a blog about BAC today called Obamas Last Chance. The good news is that Obama is too self absorbed to see his way out of this mess.
Pat
October 20, 2011
Can’t argue, Frankenstein. The Chicago way is written all over this administration. Cronyism is deeply embedded in this administration and the entire Democrat party.
However, you have to admit that Obama is also incompetent. His own staffers say so. Summers was quoted as saying, “There is no adult here.” Which is funny, since Democrats see the Obama administration as the adult in the room when talking about the White House and Congress. The American people elected a teleprompter and expected to get a president. We got worse than a teleprompter. We got an incompetent narcissist with a Progressive philosophy and complete ignorance of economics.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
I agree with you, Brian. Obama has set his course and he has no intentions of changing that course.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
Thanks for the fantastic comment, Pat. It really adds to the conversation.
I miss out out on so much because I don’t have access to American books.
Chakam
October 20, 2011
If you’re paying attention, (and we are!), you will see the beginning of the end for the Obama Regime.
–Biden going off the reservation to spout his drivel, and the MSM is lapping it up!
–The OWS protest and supporting it, and the public has heard it!
–Fast and Furious debacle with both Holder’s and Obama’s fingerprints on it!
–Louis Farrakan (sp?) calling Obama, “…a murderer in the White House!” due to the wonderful extermination of Gaddafi at the hands of other Libyans.
–Solyndra and Obama’s fingers all up in that pie.
–The lack of attendance and enthusiasm at Obama’s public appearances.
–The Congressional Black Caucus vilifying Obama.
New Camelot is crumbling. And rightly so.
But it makes for some fantastic blog topics!
Woo-hoo! It will be a sad day indeed when the Obama Regime is kicked out of the White house….I won’t have that much to write about anymore…:(
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
It’s good to see that some are still optimistic, Chakam. I think we will still have plenty to write about after Obama, my friend. We must never again take our eye off the ball.
Infidel de Manahatta
October 20, 2011
Yes. the world is crazy. There will be a meltdown. Capitalism will be blamed and Obama and his buddies will usher in a socialist workers paradise.
Time to move to a free country like China.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
Not China, my friend. Might be better to look for a job in the military industrial complex. The idiots always think war is their salvation.
Frankenstein Government
October 20, 2011
I gotta friend that worked in China. He says those poor bastards work 16 hours straight, no overtime no benefits. Sleep at the work site because they cannot afford to commute. On cots. Screw up and there are a few billion more people waiting to take your spot.
5etester
October 20, 2011
Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.Seems fitting anyway.Of course you’re right on here per usual.Thanks for linking.
Technically,it really can’t be a conspiracy because they are doing it right out in the open for those who are willing to see it.The roadmap of history doesn’t lie.If it seems like they’re sending us over a cliff,it’s because they are.
Conservatives may still see the GOP as the only viable option at this point,but they have to stop with the denial.The left/right statist establishment is one and the same.Plenty of blame to spread around equally.
Ron Paul is,of course,the biggest threat to that establishment.Pretty telling.When you’re getting hammered from both sides,you must be hitting pretty close to the mark.They also know his career ends after this run,so it will be Rand Paul down the road to carry the torch.
So maybe we call it planned chaos?It’s definitely gone mad.
Conservatives on Fire
October 20, 2011
Planned chaos. That sounds about right. Having observed Chavez for thirteen years and now observing Obama, the parallels are very disturbing.
5etester
October 20, 2011
BTW-for those who dislike the conspiracy talk altogether,read up on the 21st Century Statecraft.Despite the appearance of spontaneity,these events are all choreographed,structured and pre-planned.Courtesy of your government.
http://www.laborunionreport.com/portal/2011/10/21st-century-statecraft-meet-the-private-public-partnership-supporting-arabspring-occupywallst/
John Scotus
October 20, 2011
Has the whole world gone mad? Looking out my window at an Asian one-party state where the rich and powerful feed upon the poor and powerless in the name of promoting equality and freedom, while at the same time many in the US hold up this state as a model for America, I would say “yes”, the whole world is completely out of its ever-loving mind.
Conservatives on Fire
October 21, 2011
The evolution of mankind still has a long way to go, doesn’t it?
MK
October 21, 2011
I agree that it’s not a vast conspiracy of some sort, it’s largely just stupidity, ignorance and arrogance. Time to buy and stock real, tangible wealth folks, things like gold and silver. I don’t think those things are the way to creating wealth, rather they help you to preserve what you’ve work for.
I doubt very much that we’re all going back to the gold standard and i doubt it’s the real solution, but this fiat currency sham is exactly that.
“If the credit bubble does not burst until after the elections, we are all going to wish we had Ron paul at the helm to guide us out of the chaos and restore the America we all love.”
I’m quietly confident that whoever is in charge, they’ll come to their senses, not because they want to, but because they’ll have to.
Conservatives on Fire
October 21, 2011
Americans are know for having a lot of commonsense. Those on the left and politicians in general, not so much.
Trestin
October 22, 2011
I’m glad to see this covered. I’ve been warning people about this derivatives mess since January. Basically the Fed is going along with this, is because the BIS (the European central bank that controls them) is over it’s head in this mess. We need to cut get the Fed out of our monetary policy. This will likely bankrupt the FDIC and crash many U.S. banks.
Conservatives on Fire
October 22, 2011
The Fed does have to go; but I fear the damage has already been done. The depositors will be screwed because as I understand it, the derivative holders are first in line for the FDIC moneys.
mralwaysonwatch
October 24, 2011
Test.