Dick Cheney Quick Review: "Born second man".

There was an interesting article in the TMP Cafe:

Cheney's Esurience

By Jacob Heilbrunn - November 21, 2008, 6:06PM

"These have been very enlightening blogs. However, the question of how to reconcile executive power with "conservative" values does not seem so far-fetched: In order to create "free" markets, untie people from the networks of liberal social policies, and give free reign to religious values etc, you need a "strong executive." In unguarded moments, "conservatives" like Michael Ledeen will drop their guards and use the word "dictatorial." Cheney himself was quoted with the word "monarchical" at some point here. It's like Pinochet in Chile, who had to "torture people to free markets," as on Uruguayan writer put it, except in the U.S. you still need to keep it secret.

Without claiming to be able to look into Cheney's soul, it also seems obvious that his craving for unrestrained power does not simply represent a wish to fulfill his job as efficiently as possible (in that sense he is no Thomas Beckett). No, if we look at Cheney's record as a Congressman, it becomes clear that he was one of the most ideological members of Congress, an extremist even among hardcore cultural conservatives, beginning with his opposition to Martin Luther King Day. In his book "Dick," John Nichols chronicles Cheney's extremist votes against any form of gun control, reimbursing states for immunization programs for children, opposing a law to allow federal employees to take time off work to care for sick family members, etc (often Cheney was one of only a handful of Congressmen opposing measures as those above).

Looking at Cheney's career as a whole, it is fair to describe him as a politician who was adept at only one thing: avoiding taking real responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He was the born number two guy, somebody who can afford not to compromise, because he would never put his policies to real tests. That's why he HAD to manipulate, scheme, and outsmart his competitors behind the scenes.

I would even go further (indeed further than any of the contributors here): Cheney is a dilettante, at least as a politician. He dropped out of Yale, he never finished graduate school, his client Gerald Ford lost the 1976 election by following Cheney's advice, the Republican party is in shambles following his policies. Yes, he managed to enrich his cronies. He is a talented criminal I suppose. But otherwise?"

Posted by John
November 22, 2008 12:17 PM

The United States Position on the Current Financial Crisis

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/

Fact Sheet: Plan To Stabilize Financial System Is Limited In Size, Scope, And Duration

The Federal Government Is Acting Swiftly To Preserve Our System Of Free Market Capitalism And Return Our Nation To A Path Of Prosperity, Job Creation, And Long-Term Economic Growth

On October 17, 2008, President Bush visited the United States Chamber of Commerce and discussed the actions that the Federal Government has taken in response to the financial crisis. The President explained that the government took swift action to protect the financial security of the American people. One important element, the equity purchase program, is designed with strong protections to ensure the government's involvement is limited in size, limited in scope, and limited in duration:

• The government's involvement is limited in size. The government's investment is capped for any individual firm that chooses to participate in this voluntary program, so that private investors retain control.
• The government's involvement is limited in scope. The government will not exercise control over any private firm. The shares owned by the government will have voting rights that can be used only to protect the taxpayer's investment – not to direct the firm's operations.
• The government's involvement is limited in duration. This program includes provisions to encourage banks to buy back their shares from the government when the markets stabilize and they can raise money from private investors.

We must never lose sight of the enormous benefits delivered by the free enterprise system. Democratic capitalism remains the greatest system ever devised. Around the world, free market policies have lifted millions of people out of poverty and given them the opportunity to build a more hopeful life. In the United States, it has given our large and dynamic economy the flexibility and resilience to absorb shocks, adjust, and bounce back.

... it continues.

The Timeline of the Great Depression

Study data to determine the parallels with today's events.

Excerpt:

ECONOMIC TIMELINE

The following timeline shows the order of economic events during the Great Depression. Notice the effect that deficit spending had on economic growth:

Receipts: Tax receipts as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product

Spending: Federal spending as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product

GNP: Percent change in the Gross National Product

Unemp.: Unemployment rate

       Tax       Federal    GNP       Unemp.
Year   Receipts  Spending   Growth    Rate
-------------------------------------------------
1929      --       --         --      3.2%  < Hoover era, Great Depression begins
1930     4.2%     3.4%     - 9.4%     8.7
1931     3.7      4.3      - 8.5     15.9
1932     2.9      7.0      -13.4     23.6
1933     3.5      8.1      - 2.1     24.9   < FDR, New Deal begins; contraction ends March
1934     4.9     10.8      + 7.7     21.7
1935     5.3      9.3      + 8.1     20.1
1936     5.1     10.6      +14.1     16.9
1937     6.2      8.7      + 5.0     14.3   < recession begins, May
1938     7.7      7.8      - 4.5     19.0   < recession ends, June
1939     7.2     10.4      + 7.9     17.2
1940     6.9      9.9 
1941     7.7     12.1 
1942    10.3     24.8  
1943    13.7     44.8  
1944    21.7     45.3  
1945    21.3     43.7

Wall Steet Shocked as Farmboy Paulson Repents

Quoting from Washington Post November 18th, By David Cho, "A Coversion In This Storm" 2008:



What I saw as a few key points of the article:


"A Republican, Paulson would bring government into some of Wall Street's most private quarters. He said banking regulators should have a major say in how financial firms compensate their executives and that the Federal Reserve should have the power to regulate any financial company it considers crucial, including hedge funds and private-equity firms. He added that the policy statement he crafted on hedge funds in January 2007, which stated they should not be regulated, was wrong.

In reshaping his philosophy, he has had to feel his way even as the once-familiar financial landscape shifted around him. Some senior government officials who worked with him said he invented much of the government's response on the fly."

"Paulson had long believed that free markets work only if companies, no matter how big or vital to the financial system, could pay for their mistakes by failing. Nothing is as powerful a motivator as the possibility of a collapse, he would say."

"While critics on Wall Street now accuse Paulson of inconsistency, some senior government officials said he has been ideally suited to grapple with a fast-moving and complicated financial meltdown. His shifting views, while startling, are not that surprising because his beliefs have never been grounded in ideology, these officials said.

"These are unprecedented times," said Sheila C. Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who has worked closely with Paulson and occasionally clashed with him. "He doesn't have an ideological bias one way or the other. He's tried to be receptive as he developed responses, and to his credit, he is willing to go where folks have dared not to go in terms of regulation.""

"Paulson said he has become far more comfortable in Washington than in New York. An Illinois farm boy, he never adapted to the New York lifestyle, never enjoyed swinging deals along a golf course.

Even from the beginning of his tenure at the Treasury, it was clear that Paulson might break the mold. When he accepted the administration position in the summer of 2006, his allies on Wall Street urged him to revise the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was adopted in 2002 in response to a string of accounting scandals at Enron and other firms. The legislation had increased accountability for public companies but at some expense to their bottom line."

"Paulson said he has become far more comfortable in Washington than in New York. An Illinois farm boy, he never adapted to the New York lifestyle, never enjoyed swinging deals along a golf course.

Even from the beginning of his tenure at the Treasury, it was clear that Paulson might break the mold. When he accepted the administration position in the summer of 2006, his allies on Wall Street urged him to revise the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was adopted in 2002 in response to a string of accounting scandals at Enron and other firms. The legislation had increased accountability for public companies but at some expense to their bottom line."

"Paulson said he will urge Congress and the administration to grant the Fed broad discretion to examine the books of any firm, regulated or unregulated. This would require large hedge funds, private-equity firms and other now-unregulated financial entities to accept a charter from the Fed and open their financial records to its officials.

He added that executive compensation for financial firms also needs substantial reform, which could be accomplished partly through banking regulation.

Paulson said he pushed the five major federal banking agencies over the past weeks to release a guidance document that would require firms to eliminate compensation that encourages risky behavior by traders and executives."

"If the rescue does work, that will be a huge part of his legacy," said Bair, the FDIC chairman. "Even if it doesn't and we have to do other measures . . . I think history will view him favorably as someone who tried programs and took some risks and tackled this crisis with the best information that was available to him."