Hussman Funds: Timothy Geithner Meets Vladimir Lenin - January 4, 2010 - 0 views
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Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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“In effect, the Federal Reserve decided last week to overstep its legal boundaries – going beyond providing liquidity to the banking system and attempting to ensure the solvency of a non-bank entity. Specifically, the Fed agreed to provide a $30 billion “non-recourse loan” to J.P. Morgan, secured only by the worst tranche of Bear Stearns' mortgage debt. But the bank – J.P. Morgan – was in no financial trouble. Instead, it was effectively offered a subsidy by the Fed at public expense. Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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the Treasuries purchased by the Fed have always been accompanied directly or indirectly by revenue to the government that could be spent on behalf of its citizens for government programs that had the vote of Congress.
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Prior to 2008, the total amount of monetary base created in the history of the United States was about $800 billion.
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What has happened over the past two years is that the Federal Reserve has purchased about $1.25 trillion dollars in mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – securities that the Treasury has now made an unlegislated (or at minimum, unintentionally legislated), bureaucratic decision to fully back.
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the Treasury has committed to “allow the cap on Treasury's funding commitment under these agreements to increase as necessary to accommodate any cumulative reduction in net worth.”
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In a sharp break from the past, the issuance of these Treasury securities will not be accompanied by any revenue to the government for Congressionally approved programs.
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Every dollar of bad mortgage debt that should have been written off is now enshrined as two dollars of government-backed debt. One dollar as the original debt, which will now be made whole, and one dollar of new Treasury securities, which must be issued to make that original debt whole. Accordingly, the holders of both securities will have claims against our national assets and future wealth.
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Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.
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“In effect, the Federal Reserve decided last week to overstep its legal boundaries – going beyond providing liquidity to the banking system and attempting to ensure the solvency of a non-bank entity. Specifically, the Fed agreed to provide a $30 billion “non-recourse loan” to J.P. Morgan, secured only by the worst tranche of Bear Stearns' mortgage debt. But the bank – J.P. Morgan – was in no financial trouble. Instead, it was effectively offered a subsidy by the Fed at public expense. Rick Santelli of CNBC is exactly right. If this is how the U.S. government is going to operate in a democratic, free-market society, ‘we might as well put a hammer and sickle on the flag.'
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“The deal was made under duress, to the benefit of a private company, on the basis of financial assurances that the bureaucrats involved had no business making.
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the Fed is now engaging in unlegislated, back-door fiscal policy. excerpt: "The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency." Vladimir Lenin, leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution Last week, while Congress and the nation were preoccupied with the holidays, the Treasury made a Christmas eve announcement that it would be providing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unlimited financial support for the next three years. Put simply, in a single, coordinated stroke, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have encroached on spending powers that are enumerated for the Congress alone. Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), the Treasury has no such open-ended authority. Indeed, the applicable portion of the Act explicitly limits the total amount of mortgage principal (not losses, but total principal) as follows: .......... In a sharp break from the past, the issuance of these Treasury securities will not be accompanied by any revenue to the government for Congressionally approved programs. The Treasuries will be issued, the money will be handed over the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and those funds will go largely to the Federal Reserve and other holders of existing mortgage debt simply to replace the bad, but bailed-out agency securities with cash as they mature. The public gets nothing for something - the issuance of the Treasuries is in itself their expenditure.