Bailout has cost us, the taxpayer, a hell of a lot more than $700B

Bailout has cost us, the taxpayer, more than $700B

www.financialsense.com

The Real Cost of the 2008 Recession
by Oliver Garret, CEO
Casey Research | December 10, 2008
It took the statisticians of the National Bureau of Economic Research almost a year to confirm what the rest of us already knew, that the US registered a significant decline in economic activity, thus officially entering a period of recession. While I am pleased that the members of NBER take their duties seriously, thereby ensuring that they don’t leap to any hasty conclusions, I only wish that similar moderation could be displayed by their colleagues at the Fed and the Treasury.

Unfortunately, the facts prove otherwise. Three months before the recession was officially declared, Paulson and Bernanke have embarked on the largest bailout program ever conceived with the blessing of a lame-duck president and a complicit Congress - a program which so far will cost taxpayers $8.5 trillion. This staggering sum encompasses: loans backed by worthless assets ($2.3T), equity investments in bankrupt companies with negative net worth ($3.0T), and guarantees on crumbling derivatives and other hollow collateral ($3.2T).


Back in September I was stunned that Paulson was able to make his case and win the support of Congress for a $700 billion bailout package (more than the total war spending in Iraq to date).
How could Americans (or more accurately, their representatives) agree to give such a broad mandate with so few checks and balances? Have we become completely numb?

While I realize that many of our compatriots have been running large credit card balances and interest-only mortgages with little thought as to how they would repay their debt, one would expect a little more restraint when dealing with the financial future of the largest economy in the world.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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[edit on 10-12-2008 by th3dudeabides]

[edit on 10-12-2008 by th3dudeabides]

The summary is that this bailout has cost us more, INFLATION Adjusted, than WW2,WW1,All monies spent on NASA since its creation, Vietnam, Korean War, Iraq War, The New Deal, the S&L scandal, Afghanistan, the Marshall plan, the Gulf War, the civil war, the American Revolution, the war of 1812 and the Louisiana purchase, COMBINED!!!

That is stunning, outrageous, unbelievable, and damn it takes some freaking huevos to pull this off. ONLY IN AMERICA!!!

The second article addresses the ramifications of such largess and what it means for us.

Off to drink a pint!! Peace


www.financialsense.com
(visit the link for the full news article)