But I sure wish someone would take out Christopher Dodd, with extreme prejudice. That slime-ball weasel, sleeping with the fishes, might wake up a few others who have been repsonsible for this travesty.

And Mr De Santis can go to hell.

see: “…The passage of time has only worsened the situation: the size of the challenge has grown and the time to address it has shrunk. The longer we wait the more painful and difficult the choices will become, and the greater the risk of a very serious economic disruption.

It is understandable that the Congress and the administration are focused on the need for a short-term fiscal stimulus. However, our long-term challenge increases the importance of careful design of any stimulus package—it should be timely, targeted, and temporary. At the same time, creating a capable and credible commission to make recommendations to the next Congress and the next president for action on our longer-range and looming fiscal imbalance is called for.”
February 15, 2008
http://blog-pfm.imf.org/pfmblog/2008/02/david-walker-ga.html
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html

be free to choose, though, obviously, it is well known/knowable what/where our problems lie.

you want to talk ’stabilization’, I’m suggesting we move our House off the seashore, there’s real work to be done. That it isn’t discussed/acknowledged, in any serious way, tells, me, at least, there’s something else afoot..

we are entreated to tertiary tales of Phantoms meant to enrage, not to engage..the transmission is suspect, and gains us no traction, let alone, purposeful, action.

though, as I said, feel free to believe what you need..

Tonight on tv Senator Dorgan (D-ND) talking on his 1999 warning the rpeal of safeguards with the Graham Bailey Lesh Act would be what we have today. He claims to be not clairvoyant just observant to history, sighting 1920s.

So what do we need to do for the generation of 2070? An Amendment to the Constitution? Hangings* today? Seems we need to set some policy in stone or set fear in some minds. If not solidified – Mr Slick of the future will get his payday again at someones expense. One way blocks a specific legislatable activity the other way curtails a generality.**

* prefer drowning (less violent at the cross moment) ** prefer generality laws rather than vigilante justice

What locked up the financial system in September when Lehman went under? Was AIG involved in that?

Is AIG responsible for Bear Stearns, Citi, Merrill, Wamu, Wachovia, the Auto Industry, the Housing Bubble, the massive amount of consumer debt?

AIG sold cheap insurance without adequate reserves for sure, but someone took out mortgages for their inflated McMansions, which enabled Wall Street to pool those mortgages to sell to investors, who along with speculators bought CDSs from AIG. Along the way, there was the lack of oversight from Congress, the Fed who started the ball rolling by keeping interest rates at 1% … well Barry is writing a book on the entire daisy chain …

Why do you say it is so very sad some on TBP, myself included, feel AIG was a crucial conduit in the perfection of destroying our and the worlds financial underpinnings by — outrageously — exploiting the repeal of the Glass-Stengall Act and the Commmodities Modification Act or whatever that was called?

CDS’s were explicitly named such to avoid using the word “insurance” so as to cut corners in having to keep reserves in those CDS instruments to assure they had an underlying value that would assure the CDS investmet vehicles would make whole counterparties in the event of a default without unduly putting the losses to such an outrageously broad swath of stakeholders in the investment community.

Who else can you point to, other than Cassano of AIG, that so exploited the vulnerabilities that the repeal of the aforementioned firewalls made bare? Firewalls that were taken down without anyone in finance or government oversight taking the due dilligence to stop and say, why the fuck are we taking down the stop signs our forefathers erected. Nobody asked why where these stop signs put up and why are they being taken down without the proper dialouge, rather then there being repealed so swiftly and yet so in the dark until the results were so apparent to the world?

If you can’t see that many, many people at AIG and in finance in general knew this was all bullshit or had a really good sense what AIGFP was doing was bullshit then you sir are in capable of finding your ass with both hands.

I’m not playing Monday morning Quarterback. After spending 30 years trading paper, scrap paper, I’ve learned nothing stays the same and natures way is a way of increasing and decreasing value cycles and also, as anybody who has been in combat can tell you, it’s when things are going well is when you should be thinking about what needs to be done when the shit hits the fan.

That’s it.

Everything else is an emotional drama and mudslinging.

The mob is filled with anger and envy.

Furthermore, I find that the salaries made were such a minute part of the big picture sickening. Trillions of dollars lost because a handful of selfish jerkoffs wanted to be able to say, “I made a million last year.” And for the record, you’ll never here me complain about A-rod, or anyone else’s salary until I have to pay it.

As Common man says, “If you were a profitable trader you wouldn’t need Wall Street.” Right on.

What you’ve got here is a Self-Esteem Bubble.

People like Jake only sees themselves in the mirror. BTW, who writes almost 1,500 words and their life story just to resign? I smell another “Rick Santelli” copycat here…maybe Jake will on a world tour?

Bottom line is, people whom have absolutely no ties to AIG whatsoever lost their life-saving, houses, etc. vs JAKE, whom thinks his contract should be honor because 1) he earn it with “past” success and 2) decided to stay on for $1 salary during the last 12-months?

$742,006.40, after taxes… and he still haven’t figure out why taxpayers are mad? An U.S president only earns $400,ooo a year… Jake is doing such a great job at AIG that he is better than our president?

I wonder what makes people think they are smarter than the rest of us…I’ll give him a point for narcissistic.

Quick note:
This is exactly why you let failing institutions go bankrupt. When you bail them out, you have employees walking around acting like they deserve something. What exactly would Mr. DeSantis feel he “deserved” if AIG went bankrupt back in the fall? That answer would be decided in a bankruptcy court, where he would have had to stand in line with the company’s debtors, customers and other stakeholders.