• WHAT THEY DIDN’T TELL US ABOUT THE BAILOUT

We are about to witness more plundering of the American taxpayer. The 700 billion dollar bailout so quickly rushed through Congress under the threat of complete collapse of the U.S. economy, was slipped by American taxpayers who in majority were against the bailout. Democrats jumped in first, Republicans were slower to rush in. Both parties acted while drenched in fear and anxiety. The taxpayers were right. Obama and McCain were not, nor did they do the right thing right.

Taxpayers were threatened that with credit market paralysis, their jobs would be at risk, they would not be able to keep their businesses afloat, and they would not get loans to finance their lives. Without the passing of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, taxpayers would find their whole way of life turned upside down, and the specter of finding solace on a park bench would be just around the corner.

Neither Paulson, nor Congress, provided any real details on some of the critical concerns surrounding the bailout. Even expert analysts didn’t raise objection as to how some of the potentially explosive finer points might in practical terms find implementation. Taxpayers assumed that in such a world shattering moment, on such a historically critical decision, Congress would finally be diligent. Congress, filled with resident and elected lawyers, would understand the fine-print on the legislation. Taxpayers accepted or assumed that someone, somewhere, hopefully someone with talent, would do the right thing, and make sure that the legislation would in turn be subject to industrious and careful execution. Wrong on all counts.

The coming weeks will deliver further anxiety from wildly fluctuating markets, and distressing news that the bailout will finance hundreds of millions of dollars worth of salaries and bonuses. These millions will be paid to incompetent individuals who mismanaged their institutions into becoming beggars standing at the bailout wicket crying for taxpayer handouts. We can expect agreements between executives and their employers to surface, that Congress did not consider during the passing of the legislation. Don't think for a moment that those agreements won't stand. Paulson and his friends at the Treasury and the Fed will not be able to withhold money from those institutions. And that’s just the beginning of the abuse. Lawyers will rush to the trough, and taxpayers will stand-by, helpless, as large amounts of their added debt burden continues to be abused by many responsible for creating this disaster in the first place.

It will also surprise taxpayers that the lending institutions that will receive handouts, will be under no obligation to “lend.” Oops, sorry. Congress also failed on that one. Senators and House Members who rushed this rescue package through, will escape unscathed and untarnished, and one of them will even be rewarded with the Presidency next week. While government cannot be expected to solve all problems that face a nation, it is expected to act with prescience and prudence. Why Congress isn’t, is the real question. Is the mainstream media watching?

Oh, and hiding behind the skirts of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young to “help” in the administration of the bailout should not be accepted as a veil shrouding incompetence, and sanctioning abuse of power.

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• FANNIE MAE & FREDDIE MAC CONGRESSIONAL DONATIONS - NOTHING ILLEGAL?

American taxpayers should be upset at the amount of Congress directed cash from any corporation, private interest or organization. Whether such financial injection is in support of new drugs, insurance, medical services, or guns, corporate donations to Congress or even to election campaigns should be illegal. Entities with agenda currying favor for their products or causes should be run out Washington. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did much worse.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac senior executives have been supplying cash to Congressmen including Obama. Why? Why would organizations that were established by the Federal Government in the first place, and which serve the government and the U.S. taxpayers, be “lobbying” congress? Why would these two entities extend the largess of bundles of cash, sundry benefits and late afternoon caviar and champagne to legislators? Why should they care what a few handfuls of Senators think or do? The answer lies in the shadows that underlie the reasons for the financial “surprise” of this past century.

No-one knew. This disaster caught all experts and manipulators on Wall Street, off-guard. NOT A CHANCE. Don’t believe it.

The executives and all senior management at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as management at numerous other financial institutions knew exactly what they were doing. Pay-offs to Congress maintained “friends” in the Legislative branch so that there would be no questions, and no oversight of their activities. The abuse continued unabated while personal bank accounts filled up quickly before the ships sank.

Discussions of implementing strict regulations or guidelines is simply a vacuous derailing of attention from the challenge. The strange attempt to instill panic into the minds of all Americans may be a slight-of-hand endeavoring to hide something underlying the mess. THIRTY to ONE leverage was no way to run a railroad, but that isn't what needed hiding since everyone was doing it. Misrepresentations in the books was rampant. Risks were hidden to ensure the packaging, flipping and re-flipping of bundled loans, thereby maximizing fees and bonuses.

Why is no-one digging into the credit rating agencies whose AAA ratings applied to securities riddled with risky loans or worse, injected confidence in undeserving investment vehicles, and minimalized capital requirements for too many lenders.

While Congress agrees to a $700 billion backstop which will provide ample confidence to the markets, it should pick and chose which bailouts to fund as they occur. Otherwise, who will be the final arbiter of good taste as to which tattered financial packages will receive the beneficence from the bailout bucket? Paulson? The long list of reasons against that suggestion starts with conflict of interest and lack of objectivity. Who will make sure the banks running to the trough aren’t coming with only their worst garbage bags after cashing in the good stuff they’ve picked over? How will Price for the decayed assets be decided on behalf of the taxpayers? Will the folks who either led or cheered the parade as it headed to the cliff be reliable decision makers in the process? No blank check should be provided to anyone, least of all any so called experts who had more than passing interest in the creation of the mess. Lets remember the, “burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me” caution sign.

The current Congress has shown little propensity for decisive leadership. Today it should not panic, and should not succumb to outrageous demands being made by those who had insufficient foresight to see the looming catastrophe that millions of others pointed to as inevitable. While implementing a solution, Congress should also demand answers to serious questions. Long prison sentences should await executives such as those running investment banks who broke laws, as well as those in Congress who received kickbacks to ignore the duplicitous activities. All cash, and assets accumulated with obscene bonuses extracted through cooked balance sheets should be handed to U.S. taxpayers on a silver platter.

Taxpayers should expect and demand diligence as well as responsibility from Congress, and a monumental blank check is neither diligent nor responsible.

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