Our neighbor across the street sent this tidbit. I won’t give his name, because he doesn’t know I’m posting this.
I’m not usually into this politics crap but I happened to see this interesting editorial from the Chairman of the FDIC that was written back on 10/19/2007:
“A government bailout is not the answer. Bailouts erode market discipline, raising the likelihood of repeat episodes. And efforts to expand refinancing options will help only those borrowers who have enough equity to refinance.”
Interesting article from a year ago. Seems like Georgie and friends decided to make as much money as they could before they decided to go for the bailout plan. Maybe no one in the banking industry or in Georgie’s administration ever looks at the FDIC website….
There it is. The FDIC, the agency in charge of insuring bank deposits, saw what was coming and proposed a solution a year ago.
One has to wonder how a media outlet becomes aware of something like this. Well, having been in the news biz a long time ago I can tell you — somebody calls up and says, “I’ve got something (or done something) I think you’ll be interested in.” Yes, shameless self-promotion is the safe assumption. But, then, with this blog, who am I to talk?
I’m concerned, listening to talk about the bailout bill, that even if approved it won’t help “the confidence of the markets”. These markets aren’t things, they’re people. The very same people who got themselves — and us — into trouble, are apparently looking for an iron-clad guarantee that everything will be all right. “Protect us from ourselves!” is what they’re really saying. These are the risk-taking masters of the universe? If Phil Gramm is looking for a bunch of whiners, I suggest he look to his buddies on Wall Street.
I don’t get why these debt-holding outfits can’t provide an accounting of exactly what percentage of the mortgages on their books is any good? We’re not getting any specifics. This is a huge gamble, and the big boys absolutely refuse to assume any of the risk, yet they demand their huge payouts. This story, for example, is beyond ridiculous.
With the death of singer Connie Haines coming so soon after the passing of the extraordinary Jo Stafford, we are getting very close indeed to the end of the Big Band era. Like Doris Day, Haines got her start when she was only sixteen. Sharing the Tommy Dorsey spotlight with Jo didn’t sit well with Connie, as recounted in the Washington Post.
In her three years with Dorsey, Ms. Haines made several solo recordings, and she bristled a little when Jo Stafford, who died in July, was recalled as Dorsey’s “girl vocalist” during the time Ms. Haines was with the band. Ms. Haines would remind people that Stafford arrived in the band as a member of the Pied Pipers when Ms. Haines was the featured vocalist. Stafford emerged as a soloist later.
A well-known recording of Haines singing with Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey band is “Oh, Look at me Now”.
K3’s popularity isn’t limited to Belgium, it extends all the way north into Holland! In the Netherlands there’s an obnoxious TV host named Robert Jensen. You’ll hear enough English in this chat to appreciate why Jensen somewhat resembles a Dutch Howard Stern, and why at the end the ladies appear increasingly uncomfortable.
In the Netherlands there’s an obnoxious TV host named Robert Jensen. You’ll hear enough English in this chat to appreciate why Jensen somewhat resembles a Dutch Howard Stern, and why at the end the ladies appear increasingly uncomfortable.