American Banking Oligarchs: Bill Moyers Journal

PBS Transcript:

February 13, 2009

BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal.

The battle is joined as they say — and here’s the headline that framed it: “High Noon: Geithner v. The American Oligarchs.” The headline is in one of the most informative new sites in the blogosphere called: baselinescenario.com. Here’s the quote that grabbed me:

“There comes a time in every economic crisis, or more specifically, in every struggle to recover from a crisis, when someone steps up to the podium to promise the policies that — they say — will deliver you back to growth. The person has political support, a strong track record, and every incentive to enter the history books. But one nagging question remains. Can this person, your new economic strategist, really break with the vested elites that got you into this much trouble?”

Full story and podcast

Related Media from PBS website:

James Galbraith
Bill Moyers sits down to talk about the economic future with James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Galbraith is the author of six books, the most recent, THE PREDATOR STATE: HOW CONSERVATIVES ABANDONED THE FREE MARKET AND WHY LIBERALS SHOULD TOO. (October 24, 2008)

George Soros
Bill Moyers talks with one of the world’s most successful investors George Soros about the global capital meltdown, how he saw it coming, and what can be done now. (October 10, 2008)

Kevin Phillips on BAD MONEY
Bill Moyers sits down with former Nixon White House strategist and political and economic critic Kevin Phillips, whose latest book BAD MONEY: RECKLESS FINANCE, FAILED POLITICS, AND THE GLOBAL CRISIS OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM explores the role that the crumbling financial sector played in the now-fragile American economy. (September 19, 2008)

Joe Nocera
JOURNAL guest-host Deborah Amos speaks with NEW YORK TIMES business columnist Joe Nocera about the bailout mania in Washington and who’s next in line to get federal assistance. (November 21, 2008)

Winners and Losers
NEW YORK TIMES business and financial columnists Gretchen Morgenson and Floyd Norris discuss who wins and who loses in the financial turmoil. (September 19, 2008)

Facing up to the Economy
Bill Moyers talks with economist Dean Baker and journalist Bob Herbert about the economic challenges facing the government and the populace. (August 8, 2008)

Mortgage Mess
THE JOURNAL travels to ground zero of the mortgage meltdown — Cleveland, Ohio. Correspondent Rick Karr takes viewers to Slavic Village, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in the nation when it comes to the spate of foreclosures caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. (July 18, 2008)

References and Reading from PBS website:

“Geithner Said to Have Prevailed on the Bailout”
By Stephen Labaton and Edmund L. Andrews, NEW YORK TIMES, February 9, 2009.

“Bank Test May Expand U.S. Regulators’ Role “
By Eric Dash, NEW YORK TIMES, February 11, 2009

“Bailout Plan: $2.5 Trillion and a Strong U.S. Hand”
By Edmund L. Andrews and Stephen Labaton, NEW YORK TIMES, February 10, 2009.

“Congressmen Hear from TARP Recipients Who Funded Their Campaigns”
by Lindsay Renick Mayer, CAPITAL EYE, February 10, 2009.

“So what is the plan?”
By Mark Thoma, THE ECONOMISTS VIEW, February 10, 2009.

“Special Report: A World of Trouble”
Get up-to-date international news and perspective from GlobalPost.

Simon Johnson

“Axelrod And Emanuel Were Right (On The American Bank Oligarchs)”
By Simon Johnson, THE BASELINE SCENARIO, February 10, 2009.

“High Noon: Geithner versus the American Oligarchs”
By Simon Johnson, THE BASELINE SCENARIO, February 8, 2009.

“Baseline Scenario for 2/9/2009 (11pm edition, February 8)”
By Peter Boone, Simon Johnson, and James Kwak, THE BASELINE SCENARIO, February 9, 2009.

“Global Economic Outlook (Senate Testimony)”
By Simon Johnson, THE BASELINE SCENARIO, January 29, 2009.

Published February 6, 2009.

Related Links:

Financial Crisis for Beginners

Naked Capitalism

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Newsweek Business: We Are All Socialists Now…

We Are All Socialists Now

In many ways our economy already resembles a European one. As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French.

By Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas | NEWSWEEK

Published Feb 7, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Feb 16, 2009

The interview was nearly over. on the Fox News Channel last Wednesday evening, Sean Hannity was coming to the end of a segment with Indiana Congressman Mike Pence, the chair of the House Republican Conference and a vociferous foe of President Obama‘s nearly $1 trillion stimulus bill. How, Pence had asked rhetorically, was $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts going to put people back to work in Indiana? How would $20 million for “fish passage barriers” (a provision to pay for the removal of barriers in rivers and streams so that fish could migrate freely) help create jobs? Hannity could not have agreed more. “It is … the European Socialist Act of 2009,” the host said, signing off. “We’re counting on you to stop it. Thank you, congressman.”

Read the full story

Jody’s Wall Street Plan – Confiscate Bonuses, Cap CEO Compensation & Fire Top Executives

Update:  Wed., February 04, 2009

Obama Limits Bailed-out Bank CEO Pay To $500,000 

Veiw Obama Press Conference

I fell asleep with my television on last night and woke up to CNN reporting on Claire McCaskill calling for a $400,000.00 compensation cap on bailout recipient pay. I was hardly inspired, in fact I was so irritated that I couldn’t go back to sleep.  Instead I made coffee and I drafted my own dreamy, dream world plan for Wall Street.

First, these are the people who made bad decisions, gave themselves obscene bonuses despite devastatingly poor performance, laid off everyone around them and then handed the American taxpayers the tab. Now it seems that Washington is coming up with ideas and plans to make sure these individuals behave more responsibly in the future.

My question is: Why do they still have jobs?  They made very bad decisions in the recent  past, why legislate against willfully negligent, irresponsible, treasonous behavior when they should have been fired and then  figuratively tared and feathered?

Since Americans are hellbent on spouting the virtues of capitalism then technically bailouts don’t exist, the death of a corporation is a cleansing act, the good filtered from the bad. Obviously, we can only tolerate capitalism when the greenbacks are flowing but when it comes to the harsh reality of being a capitalist it appears we don’t have the stomach to pull the trigger…so we’re really only situational capitalists.

If we don’t have the stomach to let them tank as part of a natural capitalistic process then at the very least we should have the good sense to filter the crap from the pool by firing the top executives. Then  legislate against negligence, irresponsibility and idiocy without worrying about controlling specific idiots…idiots who have already demonstrated their unabashed willingness to defecate all over the American people. After that cap, not just pay but ALL compensation,  confiscate the bonuses and call their conduct what it is: TREASON…even better HIGH TREASON!

Definition High Treason: Criminal disloyalty to one’s country.

Definition Treason : Oran’s Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: “…[a]…citizen’s actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation].”

Traitor: a person who betrays (or is accused of betraying) their own nation, family, friends, ethnic group, religion, social class, or other group to which they may belong.

Huffington Post: Claire McCaskill on compensation cap

The Hill: Senate Banking Chairman, Confiscate Bonuses

John Thain