So this is what it's come to...

[GRG55]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Perhaps that is so. But if his people were looking out for him, they could have foreseen the outcome? That the bonus scandal may stick to him? (Thank you for the kind words.)

Looking back could be the AIG fiasco that started the most recent reputational slide for the Fed? If I recall correctly, AIG first received "loans" from the Fed and later was also the recipient of Treasury TARP funds [?]. Seems to have fallen on the Fed to police AIG since they were in first...a circumstance that I'm sure was fine by Geithner, who doesn't need any more heat...:rolleyes:

Doesn't explain why Ben's people didn't warn him though...

AIG'S BONUSES INFLATE TO $454M

May 6, 2009

The $120 million in bonuses that collapsed insurance giant American International Group paid executives is actually more like $454 million -- four times the amount that generated a public outcry -- the company acknowledged in a letter to a top congressional official...

...Meanwhile, A Federal Reserve effort to quietly reign in runaway millions that American International Group is spending to seize founder Hank Greenberg's personal stock horde -- and capture $500 million for more new bonuses -- has flopped.

The Fed has been trying to keep closer tabs on the $182.5 billion in federal aid to AIG, particularly since AIG blew $120 million of it right away on bonuses for executives, including those who helped wreck the company...

[GRG55]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

I wonder about the future of a nation where taxpayer cash is available to subsidize the purchase of hundreds of thousands of new cars but not enough to educate the kids?

In the old days GM and Chrysler had to fund their own rebate and cash incentive programs. Now that they are owned by the people's government, it's "the people" that provide the incentive cash. Seems logical, non?

House approves $2B more for 'cash for clunkers'
By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press,
Fri Jul 31, 4:15 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The House has voted to rush an additional $2 billion into the popular but financially strapped "cash for clunkers" car purchase program.

The bill was approved on a vote of 316-109. House members acted within hours of learning from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the program was running out of money...

If I were a low income, bottom-bracket taxpayer in the USA I would be livid about a program that uses my money and gives it to people that are well off enough to afford a new car...

Read it and weep [highlights mine]...what a surprise...:rolleyes::

Hybrid vehicle rebates produce scant environmental benefits, high cost

Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new UBC study says.

The study finds that hybrid sales have come largely at the expense of small, relatively fuel-efficient, conventional cars, rather than large SUVs, trucks and vans, which produce substantially greater carbon emissions.

"If the intention of rebate programs is to replace gas guzzlers with hybrids, they are failing," says Ambarish Chandra, a professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business and study co-author. He says large vehicle sales have risen steadily since the introduction of hybrid rebates.

"People are choosing hybrids over similarly priced small- and medium-sized conventional cars, which are not far behind hybrids for fuel efficiency and emissions," says Chandra. "The reductions in carbon emissions are therefore not great."

The study also finds that the majority of consumers who purchase hybrids were not motivated to do so by government rebates, says Chandra, whose co-authors include Sumeet Gulati, assistant professor in UBC's Dept. of Food and Resource Economics, and Milind Kandlikar of UBC's Liu Institute for Global Issues and Institute of Asian Research.

"Our estimates indicate that two-thirds of people who buy hybrids were going to buy them anyway," says Chandra. "So for the majority, rebates are not changing behaviour – they are subsidizing planned purchases."

According to the study, the inefficiency of rebate programs rises disproportionately when governments increase rebate levels. "When B.C.'s rebate jumped from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2005, the actual cost of reducing carbon emissions more than doubled," he says, noting that Ontario recently increased its rebate to a maximum of $10,000 per hybrid vehicle.

The study finds that Canadian provinces that offer rebates have spent an average of $195 per tonne of carbon saved or, equivalently, $0.43 for every litre of gasoline that a vehicle consumes over its 15 year average life expectancy.

Chandra says that governments could garner greater environmental benefits by purchasing carbon offsets (currently priced between $3 and $40 per tonne on carbon markets) or investing in green jobs and technologies.

While hybrid rebates help governments to appear environmentally progressive, Chandra suggests that some programs may serve as de facto "bailouts" for the North American auto industry.

"The criteria for Ontario's recent rebate increase seem designed to benefit domestic manufacturers, especially General Motors," Chandra says. "The biggest rebates will be given to purchasers of the Chevy Volt, rather than other hybrids like the Toyota Prius."

Hybrid rebate programs are currently offered by the governments of the U.S. and 13 states, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois and Colorado, and five Canadian provinces, including B.C., Ontario, Quebec, PEI and Manitoba.

The Canadian government offered hybrid rebates during 2007-2008.

Researchers used Canadian vehicle sales data over a 17-year period from 1989 to 2006. Results are believed to extend to the U.S. market, given the similarities between auto industries, in terms of vehicle buying patterns, pricing structures and car models.

[touchring]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

it's hardwork.



Source: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/engli...ea/369591.html

So what does the Bill Clinton experience tell us?

Clinton net worth before Presidency:<$1M

Clinton net worth after Presidency: $34.9M

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/...mag/index.html

[cjppjc]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Read it and weep [highlights mine]...what a surprise...:rolleyes::

Hybrid vehicle rebates produce scant environmental benefits, high cost

Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new UBC study says.

The study finds that hybrid sales have come largely at the expense of small, relatively fuel-efficient, conventional cars, rather than large SUVs, trucks and vans, which produce substantially greater carbon emissions.

"If the intention of rebate programs is to replace gas guzzlers with hybrids, they are failing," says Ambarish Chandra, a professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business and study co-author. He says large vehicle sales have risen steadily since the introduction of hybrid rebates.

"People are choosing hybrids over similarly priced small- and medium-sized conventional cars, which are not far behind hybrids for fuel efficiency and emissions," says Chandra. "The reductions in carbon emissions are therefore not great."

The study also finds that the majority of consumers who purchase hybrids were not motivated to do so by government rebates, says Chandra, whose co-authors include Sumeet Gulati, assistant professor in UBC's Dept. of Food and Resource Economics, and Milind Kandlikar of UBC's Liu Institute for Global Issues and Institute of Asian Research.

"Our estimates indicate that two-thirds of people who buy hybrids were going to buy them anyway," says Chandra. "So for the majority, rebates are not changing behaviour – they are subsidizing planned purchases."

According to the study, the inefficiency of rebate programs rises disproportionately when governments increase rebate levels. "When B.C.'s rebate jumped from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2005, the actual cost of reducing carbon emissions more than doubled," he says, noting that Ontario recently increased its rebate to a maximum of $10,000 per hybrid vehicle.

The study finds that Canadian provinces that offer rebates have spent an average of $195 per tonne of carbon saved or, equivalently, $0.43 for every litre of gasoline that a vehicle consumes over its 15 year average life expectancy.

Chandra says that governments could garner greater environmental benefits by purchasing carbon offsets (currently priced between $3 and $40 per tonne on carbon markets) or investing in green jobs and technologies.

While hybrid rebates help governments to appear environmentally progressive, Chandra suggests that some programs may serve as de facto "bailouts" for the North American auto industry.

"The criteria for Ontario's recent rebate increase seem designed to benefit domestic manufacturers, especially General Motors," Chandra says. "The biggest rebates will be given to purchasers of the Chevy Volt, rather than other hybrids like the Toyota Prius."

Hybrid rebate programs are currently offered by the governments of the U.S. and 13 states, including Washington, Oregon, Illinois and Colorado, and five Canadian provinces, including B.C., Ontario, Quebec, PEI and Manitoba.

The Canadian government offered hybrid rebates during 2007-2008.

Researchers used Canadian vehicle sales data over a 17-year period from 1989 to 2006. Results are believed to extend to the U.S. market, given the similarities between auto industries, in terms of vehicle buying patterns, pricing structures and car models.

Is it surprising that people who like SUVs don't buy hybrid cars. Or that people who like small high milage cars do like hybrids. All this finagling, by all these (maybe) well intentioned people is enough to make you pull your hair out.

[seanm123]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Don't get sucked into the US Hybrid Car tax credit, if you fall into AMT you won't get it. The cash for clunkers in a much better deal since it is up front and if you trade in an old Ford F150 that gets 18 MPG for a brand new one that gets 21 mpg you qualify!

[metalman]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

The cash for clunkers in a much better deal since it is up front and if you trade in an old Ford F150 that gets 18 MPG for a brand new one that gets 21 mpg you qualify!

that. is. sick.

[GRG55]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Without Prospects, They're Prospectors

Metal's High Price, Economy's Low Ebb Create New Gold Rush

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 24, 2009


COLUMBIA, Calif. -- Maybe it was the nail in Ray's head. Maybe it was the economy. His wife said one as much as the other drove the decision to auction off everything that wouldn't fit in the trailer and leave Vermont for the mother lode.

"Thought we'd try to make a living at it," Kim Lague said, standing in a mining camp that was busier during the Great Depression than it was in the Gold Rush of 1849, and is busy once again.

And so, 18 months after a co-worker's pneumatic hammer drove a 2 1/2 -inch stainless-steel nail into Ray Lague's skull -- "the plunger of the gun brushed my hat and discharged" -- the once-thriving contractor took his place among the prospectors lining the steep banks of the South Fork of the Stanislaus River, 40 miles west of Yosemite National Park.

The bearded man helping him drag the mining gear into the water was a jobless logger who lost his home to foreclosure.

Fifty feet downstream, an unemployed concrete-truck driver scoured the river bottom beside a laid-off furniture mover, back to prospecting after a day spent wrestling with the unemployment office.

"You have to consider the economy," said Gary Rhinevault, caretaker of the Lost Dutchman's Mining Association campground, where 45 prospectors pay as little as 30 cents a day to pitch their tents. "In 1932 there were more prospectors out trying to make a living than in the 1850s."...

[GRG55]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Suspect in his 70s robs bank in San Diego

Oct 10, 3:49 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A man in his 70s has robbed a bank branch inside a San Diego supermarket.

Police investigators say the man handed a teller a note demanding cash Friday at the U.S. Bank inside a Vons supermarket in the Carmel Valley neighborhood. The man said he had a gun, but no weapon was seen.
He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash...

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Suspect in his 70s robs bank in San Diego

Oct 10, 3:49 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A man in his 70s has robbed a bank branch inside a San Diego supermarket.

Police investigators say the man handed a teller a note demanding cash Friday at the U.S. Bank inside a Vons supermarket in the Carmel Valley neighborhood. The man said he had a gun, but no weapon was seen.
He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash...

It's amazing that what this guy did is labeled "robbery," but what the Wallstreet banks have done is called "bailouts." Perhaps the 70's y/o guy was doing a "bailout" and the banks have been doing "robberies."

[jk]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Suspect in his 70s robs bank in San Diego

Oct 10, 3:49 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A man in his 70s has robbed a bank branch inside a San Diego supermarket.

Police investigators say the man handed a teller a note demanding cash Friday at the U.S. Bank inside a Vons supermarket in the Carmel Valley neighborhood. The man said he had a gun, but no weapon was seen.
He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash...

just shows how nobody can afford to retire anymore.

[cjppjc]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Investigators say the suspect may be responsible for similar robberies at banks in La Jolla and Santee in August and September. In one robbery, a suspect with a similar description was carrying an oxygen tank.


Well two things. How do they know he's in his 70's? He could be in his 60's and just look bad. Also if he is responsible for other robberies, it's not about retirement. While I'm no expert on bank holdups, some experience must help to get away with it more than once.

[jk]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

i'm just glad to hear stories of seniors who are still active and participating in the economy.

[cjppjc]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

i'm just glad to hear stories of seniors who are still active and participating in the economy.

Maybe he's 50 and is a makeup artist.

[jk]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

Maybe he's 50 and is a makeup artist.

just trying to play on our natural sympathy for geriatric criminals!

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: So this is what it's come to...

It's amazing that what this guy did is labeled "robbery," but what the Wallstreet banks have done is called "bailouts." Perhaps the 70's y/o guy was doing a "bailout" and the banks have been doing "robberies."

From Jesse's http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot...estrained.html

12 October 2009

Stiglitz: The Banks Must Be Restrained

"We will have another armed robbery unless we prevent the banks, the banks that are too big to fail. We should say that if you’re too big to fail then you are too big to be. They need more restrictions, such as no derivative trading.” Joe Stiglitz

If a Nobel Prize winnter in economics says the obvious, besides a few diligent bloggers, perhaps other economists will obtain 'air cover' in speaking about the economic and regulatory absurdity taking place today in the US and the UK. Winning the Nobel is even better than tenure.

Here is a video of his speech in Brussels, because this Bloomberg article leaves out some of the more 'pithy' remarks on the Wall Street banks from Joe Stiglitz from the Brussels banking conference, although characterizing the bailout pushed through Congress as "armed robbery" strikes a resonant chord.

Can you imagine if Joltin' Joe was the Fed Chairman, and not Gentle Ben? An exchange between Congressman Grayson and Fed Chairmain Stiglitz could be a smash hit on Pay-Per-View.