What if they MEANT to do that?

What if the bailout doescn’t work out the way they planned?  Will hostile takeovers and corporate raiding become the norm?  What if the banks foreclose on the government? (yeah, right)

I just watched CBS Evening News and was fascinated by their story Lawmakers Blast Shifts in Bailout Plan.  Senators Issa, Kucinich and Cummings were questioning Neel Kashkari, Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability in the United States Department of the Treasury.  He also heads the Office of Financial Stability.

What a title.  Does this guy get paid by the letter?

It seems that constituents and Congressmen are not exactly happy with the reports and actual performance of the Bailout Program.  The Department is being accused of the diversion of funds designated for the purchase of assets (mortgages) to providing banks with capital in order to shore up credit card, auto loans and other non-bank business.  This bait and switch tactic is breaking with congressional intent.  The people are highly dissatisfied and are accusing the Department of not caring about the people.  Kashkari also defended enormous corporate bonuses (while some companies may be seeking bankruptcy protection in the future or bailout funds) as being part of a previously guaranteed agreement from a separate fund.

Go figure.  At least the price of gas has come down.  But my utility bills went up.  And the price of food.  There are more people living (with stuff under bushes) full-time in the park.  Eight people went through my garbage can this morning looking for aluminum cans to recycle.  One thousand people lost their jobs today.  Hundreds defaulted on mortgages.

This got me thinking about the Federal Reserve.  Must be all the money that is counted with billions and trillions.  Lots of zeros.

Every once in a while a new argument comes out concerning the legality of the Federal Reserve.  The Federal Reserve has the power to determine legal tender, regulate banks and protect the credit rights of consumers, maintain the stability of the financial system and to provide financial services (lend money) to the US government.  The term “Federal Reserve” is used in a general way.  It is actually the Federal Reserve Board (14-year terms) supervising twelve Federal Reserve Banks.  It gets worse.  These banks are private corporations performing a part-time governmental service.  As private corporations, they can be sued, but as part-time government, they don’t have to pay taxes.

It has been stated that the Federal Reserve is an evil institution intent upon the rape and pillage of the American middle class, that it exists merely to profit at the expense of the people.  These banks hold most of the paper attached to credit debt of all types.  Credit is highly encouraged in this country, to the extent that many people are hopelessly in debt and in default.  The Federal Reserve has been accused of using that debt to control the economy and the American people.  The Federal Reserve lends money to the government, who never pays it back, but keeps accruing interest.  The United States Government owes money to practically everyone on the planet.

When this great money making machine was started in 1913 the national debt was just over one million dollars.  Today that debt is over TEN TRILLION DOLLARS!!!  Think of the interest on that.  My calculator won’t go that high.

However, at that rate, no wonder the Reserve wants to keep the money machine going.  Why should they care about the average guy?  They already have all of your cash, and they feel entitled to all the cash that you will have because they are nice enough to lend money to you.  They lend you money so you can buy stuff sold by corporations that are owned by the banks.  The Private Banks.  The Federal Reserve.

Think it is all getting out of control?  What else has been concealed from the general public?  What if it was all on purpose?  What if they meant to do that? The people of the WORLD are at their mercy now.  We were before, but now it is forever.  Oh, and who, exactly, owns the Private Banks controlled by the Federal Reserve?

OK, so, if the Federal Reserve regulates banks and credit, aren’t they in charge of lending practices in general?  It seems the buck stops there.  Was the Reserve Board negligent in not enforcing standards in mortgage lending that allowed so many more-than-risky loans?  Why is their financial irresponsibility being rewarded?  Bad debts are written off on corporate taxes as a loss, including money that was supposed to be made but wasn’t.  Since the banks are private corporations and able to be sued, will all those people get together in a class act law suit?  Is anyone going to prison?  As tax-payer funds are used to buy stocks in publicly held corporations, will each American tax payer receive dividends?  Can I keep my shares until the market recovers?  By the way, when will I see my copy of the papers?

This whole situation is such a disaster.  If I had a ka-jillion dollars, I could buy the United States.  If there was anything left to buy.

I couldn’t do any worse.