Yes, it is an extremely polarizing position. My issue here is that the same media pundits that always criticize socialism are the ones cheerleading for this bailout bill. It's not that they don't like socialism. Their ideal system is to have socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.

You hear them refer to the "welfare state", but they are not talking about corporate welfare. They complain about high government spending, but they never criticize these expensive no-bid corporate contracts, they only criticize spending on things like education and social programs. They talk about how high the taxes are, but they never mention lowering regressive sales taxes that hit the poor harder, they only complain about progressive taxes like the income tax. And now with regard to this bailout bill, you don't hear them saying we need to help out the people who are losing their homes. They only seem to be concerned with fixing wall street and the banking system.

Enough is enough already. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Make up your mind which system you want and be consistant. If you are in favor of a "free market", then that means when a company makes poor business decisions and has no more money, they can declare bankruptcy and go out of business. All these people always rave about how the free market adjusts to new conditions on its own. So if there is a need for more banks after these banks go out of business, then I'm sure new banks will eventually open up. And if they don't, then obviously the system simply does not work without central planning (i.e. socialism).

:iagree: 100% Without some regulation people will do all they can to lie cheat and steal.

It would almost be like abolishing all the laws because most people don't break the law. Society needs rules as long as they don't interfere with life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

For most people who don't break the law regulations will not make a difference. However there are a lot of unscrupulous people who feel that taking advantage of others is their life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For them the law is a must.

Quick note: You have laws and regulations against murder, still happens daily :)

Not sure you can legislate away greed and corruption.

True. You can't stop a thief who is hell bent
on stealing your X5 But why leave the key
in the ignition as an invitation.

I would like to see Congress to be forced to add a statement describing what "wrong" this law was intended to correct and why each amendment/rider was added on

We had a body to over see this, SEC, they didn't do their job. You don't need more regulation, you need enforcement.

BigR, I sorta agree, but:

The SEC was either asleep, playing pocket pool, footsies or, just thought
everything would be "fine". Cox of the SEC said the other day:

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,” he said in a statement
. The program “was fundamentally flawed from
the beginning, because investment banks could opt in
or out of supervision voluntarily. The fact that investment bank
holding companies could withdraw from this voluntary supervision at
their discretion diminished the perceived mandate” of the program,
and “weakened its effectiveness,” he added."

What the fook is a "regulation" when a party can choose to participate in
the regulatory process, or not? :rolleyes:

The SEC is a surprisingly lightly staffed operation...I'm not defending
Cox and his gang of merry pranksters, but they were given water pistols instead of Glocks.


Meanwhile, back at the GoingBrokeRanch, no one, and I mean No One, is overseeing, looking at,
or even wondering why the Credit Default Swaps keep boogieing along like they are the best deal(s) in town.

Last I looked there were ~$65 to $70 Trillion Dollars worth of this crap floating around inside/buried in most
portfolios...for reference there are ~ $One Trillion Dollars worth of sub-prime mort loans out there in UnderwaterVille.

Buffett, Warren not Jimmy, categorized CDSs as "weapons of financial mass destruction." :wow:

No arm wrestle here and in reality, this collective board could not bring an iota of pressure to bear on some
of these Ponzi schemes and rigged card games. There are a few/several economists floating around that I have
great regard for in their commentary and ideas; most of "gov't" pays them little more attention than a bastard step child someone has stuck out in the tool shed. It's a pity, imo.
BR, mD

Edit/PS: sorry for the bad indents and "look" of the paragraphs; somedays
the site won't allow me to fix/edit some of my rambling stuff...:confused:

:iagree:

Peter Schiff is one such visionary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfascZSTU4o