EXTEND & PRETEND IS WALL STREET’S FRIEND

by ilene - March 31st, 2011 11:53 am

Courtesy of Jim Quinn, The Burning Platform

“We now have an economy in which five banks control over 50 percent of the entire banking industry, four or five corporations own most of the mainstream media, and the top one percent of families hold a greater share of the nation’s wealth than any time since 1930.   This sort of concentration of wealth and power is a classic setup for the failure of a democratic republic and the stifling of organic economic growth.” - Jesse –http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

Source: Barry Ritholtz

“All of the old-timers knew that subprime mortgages were what we called neutron loans — they killed the people and left the houses.” - Louis S. Barnes, 58, a partner at Boulder West, a mortgage banking firm in Lafayette, Colo

…

Tags: Bank of America, Bernanke, Citigroup, Commercial real estate collapse, cover-up, CRE, extend and pretend, FASB, FDIC, Fraud, Geithner, IRS, JP Morgan, Obama, Paulson, SEC, TARP, Wall Street, Wells Fargo

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The Anniversary of 9/11

by ilene - September 10th, 2010 11:46 am

The Anniversary of 9/11

Courtesy of George Washington’s Blog 

Don’t want to hear this?

Tough. Grow up.

9/11 Commissioners:

• The 9/11 Commission’s co-chairs said that the 9/11 Commissioners knew that military officials misrepresented the facts to the Commission, and the Commission considered recommending criminal charges for such false statements (free subscription required)

• 9/11 Commission co-chair Lee Hamilton says "I don’t believe for a minute we got everything right", that the Commission was set up to fail, that people should keep asking questions about 9/11, and that the 9/11 debate should continue

• 9/11 Commissioner Timothy Roemer said "We were extremely frustrated with the false statements we were getting"

• 9/11 Commissioner Max Cleland resigned from the Commission, stating: "It is a national scandal"; "This investigation is now compromised"; and "One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9-11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up" 

• 9/11 Commissioner Bob Kerrey said that "There are ample reasons to suspect that there may be some alternative to what we outlined in our version . . . We didn’t have access . . . ." He also said that the investigation depended too heavily on the accounts of Al Qaeda detainees who were physically coerced into talking

• And the Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission (John Farmer) – who led the 9/11 staff’s inquiry – recently said "At some level of the government, at some point in time…there was an agreement not to tell the truth about what happened". He also said "I was shocked at how different the truth was from the way it was described …. The tapes told a radically different story from what had been told to us and the public for two years…. This is not spin. This is not true." And he said: "It’s

…

Tags: 9/11 Commissioners, Anniversary of 9/11, Bob Kerrey, cover-up, Daniel Ellsberg, false statements, John Farmer, Lee Hamilton, Max Cleland, military officials, misrepresented facts, Timothy Roemer, U.S. government officials, William Bill Christison

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Matt Simmons Says Gulf Clean Up Will Cost Over $1 Trillion

by ilene - July 21st, 2010 4:04 pm

Matt Simmons Says Gulf Clean Up Will Cost Over $1 Trillion, Sees BP At $1, Says "We Have Now Killed The GoM"

Courtesy of Tyler Durden

Matt Simmons shares some startling revelations in his latest Bloomberg TV interview, in which he says none of the propaganda matters on TV 24/7 (photoshopped or not) as the ultimate clean up cost will likely be well over $1 trillion, and a result he is unconcerned about his BP short. He ultimately see the stock going down to $1. What Simmons alleges however is far more startling and audacious: that this is a joint cover up effort between the administration and BP, in which both entities keep throwing sand in the eyes of observers while distracting everyone from the matter at hand: "What we don’t know anything about is the open hole which is caused by the drill bit when it tossed the blow-out preventer way out of the hole…and 120,000/day minimum of toxic poison has now covered the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. So what they’re talking about is the biggest environmental cover-up ever. And they knew that that well, that riser, would finally deplete. And then they could say it’s over."

On blaming the catastrophe on Transocean: "For two days they kept saying it’s a rig fire. When the rig sank they could no longer call it a rig fire. It’s a riser leak…Because if they said the truth they would all go to jail." The conclusion: "Unfortunately, we now have killed the Gulf of Mexico."

On whether the well pressure should be a concern:

“No, it’s a total diversion – that’s the gas condensation that was trapped in the drilling riser which blew off the wellhead at 10:01 PM CT on April 20th, it’s a mile-long compressed natural gas."

"What we don’t know anything about is the open hole which is caused by the drill bit when it tossed the blow-out preventer way out of the hole…and 120,000 minimum of toxic poison has now covered the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. So what they’re talking about is the biggest environmental cover-up ever. And they knew that that well, that riser, would finally deplete. And then they could say it’s over. And unfortunately, we now have killed the Gulf of Mexico.”

“Some 5-10 miles away is what the NOIA research vessels have now proved is a deep…

Tags: BP, cover-up, gulf clean up, gulf of mexico, Matt Simmons, Oil Spill, transocean

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Prominent Oil Industry Insider: “There’s Another Leak, Much Bigger, 5 to 6 Miles Away”

by ilene - May 27th, 2010 5:27 pm

Prominent Oil Industry Insider: "There’s Another Leak, Much Bigger, 5 to 6 Miles Away"

Courtesy of Washington’s Blog

Matt Simmons was an energy adviser to George W. Bush, is an adviser to the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre, and is a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. Simmon is chairman and CEO of Simmons & Company International, an investment bank catering to oil companies.

Simmons told Dylan Ratigan that "there’s another leak, much bigger, 5 to 6 miles away" from the leaking riser and blowout preventer shown on the underwater cameras:

I have no idea whether or not Simmons is right. The government should immediately either debunk or admit his claim.

If accurate, the bigger leak could have been caused by the destruction of the well casing when the oil rig exploded. That is Simmons’ theory.

Or it could be caused by a natural oil seep, although the odds of a seep of that size occurring right around the time of the Deep Horizon disaster is nearly zero.

There is another possibility.

It is well-known that there were previous accidents at the Deepwater Horizon rig. For example, as AP notes:

From 2000 to 2010, the Coast Guard issued six enforcement warnings and handed down one civil penalty and a notice of violation to Deepwater Horizon, agency records show.

On 18 different occasions during that period the Coast Guard cited the vessel for an "acknowledged pollution source."

It is therefore possible that there has been another ongoing leak which BP has tried to cover up.

Tags: BP, coast guard, cover-up, Deepwater Horizon, leak, Oil Spill

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Geithner and the NY Fed Accused of Willfully Ignoring Fraud and Covering Up Lehman’s Bad Assets

by ilene - April 21st, 2010 12:32 pm

Important (i.e. share it) article by Mish on William Black’s account of how Tim Geithner and the NY Fed covered up Lehman’s inflated asset values and lack of liquidity, long before the financial meltdown in 2008. – Ilene 

Geithner and the NY Fed Accused of Willfully Ignoring Fraud and Covering Up Lehman’s Bad Assets, by Senior Regulator During the S&L Crisis

Courtesy of Mish 

Inquiring minds are digging into a 27 page statement made by William Black before the Financial Services committee. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law, at the University of Missouri.

Professor Black’s statements regarding the collapse of Lehman and the role the Fed played in that collapse are refreshingly candid.

Please consider "Public Policy Issues Raised by the Report of the Lehman Bankruptcy Examiner". Emphasis, highlighting, and subtitles are mine.

I begin with a short description of my background that is relevant to your questions. My primary appointment is in economics. I have a joint appointment in law. I am a white-collar criminologist. My research specialization is financial fraud by elites and financial regulation. I was a senior regulator during the S&L debacle (and had the honor of testifying many times before this Committee).

Valukas Report Documents Three Major Deficiencies In Lehman Governance

The [Valukas] Report documents at least three major deficiencies in Lehman’s corporate governance that need to be addressed globally. First, it points out that Lehman, and many other Delaware corporations, have eliminated the fiduciary duty of “care.”

… Alan Greenspan has admitted that he had a similar view and that events have falsified this naïve account. It is insane to withdraw accountability for negligence. Doing so encourages negligence. Congress should mandate that corporate officers and directors be subject to the fiduciary duties of care and loyalty. They will still, of course, have the very substantial protection of the business judgment rule.

Second, the same individual should not serve as the CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of a large corporation. The imperial CEO is a consistent problem in this and prior crises.

Third, Lehman ignored its stated risk “limits” and simply increased its limits retroactively to accommodate its violations of its risk limits. In plain English, that means it had no meaningful limits. ….

I have a different view than Mr. Valukas about the overall state of Lehman’s

…

Tags: Ben Bernanke, cover-up, Federal Reserve, Fraud, Lehman Brothers, Liar Loans, NY Fed, regulation, regulators, SEC, Tim Geithner, William Black

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Toyota And Lexus Vehicles Are Unsafe

by ilene - January 27th, 2010 4:51 pm

Timothy warned me about Toyotas several months ago, and this is his previous article with updates in the comments at the very end – scroll down. See also my previous article, M-m-m-my Toyota - featuring my first attempt at song writing, for my car of all things (thankfully not on the recall list!!).  It goes to the tune of My Sharona.  (Okay, I had some time on my hands.)

Timothy was subject to one of my interviews back in October, in case you missed it.  - Ilene   

Toyota And Lexus Vehicles Are Unsafe

Courtesy of Timothy D. Naegele[1]

All Toyota-produced vehicles sold in the U.S. today—including Toyota cars and trucks, and Lexus automobiles—are unsafe.  It will take years before new models roll off the company’s assembly lines that are completely safe.  Also, millions of Toyota vehicles are on American roads already that are unsafe to drive.  Any recent-vintage Toyota product, model years 2002[2] and later, potentially can turn into a runaway vehicle at a moment’s notice.  Driving one or being a passenger is like playing Russian roulette.  Query whether Americans, especially young families with small children, will trust their lives to Toyota?

Tragically and irresponsibly, the company has lied for years and it is lying now.  First, Toyota claimed it was a floor mat problem.  Next, the problems were related to the accelerator pedal[3]; and on and on the company’s lies go.  Toyota has had 10 years to investigate these issues, and determine and implement solutions, but its management has lied repeatedly and it is still doing it.  The runaway vehicle safety problems, which are confronting the giant automaker, are of a magnitude equal to or greater than those that brought down the storied Firestone tire brand, and the same thing may happen to Toyota.  Every American needs to read about runaway Toyota-produced vehicles.  The facts are sobering.

After the sudden-acceleration problems surfaced in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said “more motorists have died in Toyota vehicles associated with sudden acceleration in the last decade than in cars made by all other manufacturers combined.”[4] Consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s trail-blazing and Herculean efforts helped launch the automobile safety movement.  His speeches and writings on behalf of Americans (see, e.g., “Unsafe at Any Speed”) helped expose

…

Tags: acceleration, accelerator, accelerator pedal, auto safety, auto safety defects, automaker, automobile safety, cover-up, death, die, Firestone, Firestone tire, Firestone tire brand, floor mat, floor mat problem, giant automaker, government, Ken Bensinger, LA Times, Lexus, Lexus cars, Lexus vehicles, lie, lied, lies, Los Angeles Times, lying, Martin Zimmerman, massive cover-up, media, model year 2002, model year 2003, model year 2004, model year 2005, model year 2006, model year 2007, model year 2008, model year 2009, model year 2010, model year 2011, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, passenger, Ralph Nader, Ralph Vartabedian, runaway, runaway car, runaway car safety problem, runaway safety problems, runaway truck, runaway vehicle, runaway vehicle safety problems, sudden acceleration, Times, Times Investigation, Toyota, Toyota cars, Toyota trucks, Toyota vehicle, Toyota vehicles, Toyota-produced vehicles, unsafe, Unsafe at Any Speed, unsafe cars, unsafe trucks

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Toyota And Lexus Vehicles Are Unsafe

by ilene - January 5th, 2010 2:59 am

If you missed my recent interview with the outspoken D.C. attorney Timothy Naegele, it’s here. – Ilene

Toyota And Lexus Vehicles Are Unsafe

Courtesy of Timothy D. Naegele[1]

All Toyota-produced vehicles sold in the U.S. today—including Toyota cars and trucks, and Lexus automobiles—are unsafe.  It will take years before new models roll off the company’s assembly lines that are completely safe.  Also, millions of Toyota vehicles are on American roads already that are unsafe to drive.  Any recent-vintage Toyota product, model years 2002[2] and later, potentially can turn into a runaway vehicle at a moment’s notice.  Driving one or being a passenger is like playing Russian roulette.  Query whether Americans, especially young families with small children, will trust their lives to Toyota?

Tragically and irresponsibly, the company has lied for years and it is lying now.  First, Toyota claimed it was a floor mat problem.  Next, the problems were related to the accelerator pedal[3]; and on and on the company’s lies go.  Toyota has had 10 years to investigate these issues, and determine and implement solutions, but its management has lied repeatedly and it is still doing it.  The runaway vehicle safety problems, which are confronting the giant automaker, are of a magnitude equal to or greater than those that brought down the storied Firestone tire brand, and the same thing may happen to Toyota.  Every American needs to read about runaway Toyota-produced vehicles.  The facts are sobering.

After the sudden-acceleration problems surfaced in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said “more motorists have died in Toyota vehicles associated with sudden acceleration in the last decade than in cars made by all other manufacturers combined.”[4] Consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s trail-blazing and Herculean efforts helped launch the automobile safety movement.  His speeches and writings on behalf of Americans (see, e.g., “Unsafe at Any Speed”) helped expose and remedy auto safety defects.  Today he believes: “[The NHTSA] is a broken agency that has to be rebuilt.”[5]

The Los Angeles Times’ fine investigative reporters have been shining light into the dark recesses of Toyota—notwithstanding the company’s massive cover-up that has spanned a decade so far.[6] Rather than attempt to distill the wisdom contained in the Times’ articles, the links to the most recent ones are set forth below.  I encourage you to read them carefully now and in the future, especially if you are…

Tags: acceleration, accelerator, accelerator pedal, auto safety, auto safety defects, automaker, automobile safety, cover-up, Firestone tire, floor mat, floor mat problem, government, Ken Bensinger, LA Times, Lexus, Los Angeles Times, media, NHTSA, Ralph Nader, runaway car, sudden acceleration, Times, Times Investigation, Toyota, Toyota cars, Toyota trucks, unsafe, Unsafe at Any Speed, unsafe cars, unsafe trucks

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The Ongoing Cover Up of the Truth Behind the Financial Crisis May Lead to Another Crash

by ilene - October 15th, 2009 2:52 pm

Perhaps the best introduction to this terrific article by (the other) George Washington is in the comment section. So why should we care about the crimes and the cover ups?  Our freedom depends on our government enforcing and abiding by the law. It’s apparent that we are headed down the slippery slope Justice Louis Brandeis describes in Olmstead v. United States (1928):

"In a government of laws, the existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipotent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If government becomes a lawbreaker it breeds contempt for law: it invites every man to become a law unto himself. It invites anarchy."

We have the Federal government’s massive and flagrant display of lawlessness, and population somewhere on the way from apathy to dependency in the Fatal Sequence cycle of civilization.  Not winning a combination if you ask me. – Ilene

The Ongoing Cover Up of the Truth Behind the Financial Crisis May Lead to Another Crash

Courtesy of George Washington’s Blog

William K. Black – professor of economics and the senior regulator during the S & L crisis – says that that the government’s entire strategy now – as during the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are ("the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts").

Indeed, as I have previously documented, 7 out of the 8 giant, money center banks went bankrupt in the 1980′s during the "Latin American Crisis", and the government’s response was to cover up their insolvency.

Black also says:

There has been no honest examination of the crisis because it would embarrass C.E.O.s and politicians . . .

Instead, the Treasury and the Fed are urging us not to examine the crisis and to believe that all will soon be well.

PhD economist Dean Baker made a similar point, lambasting the Federal Reserve for blowing the bubble, and pointing out that those who caused the disaster are trying to shift the focus as fast as they can:

The current craze in DC policy circles is to create a "systematic risk regulator" to make sure that the country never

…

Tags: bubble, corruption, cover-up, Dean Baker, Financial Crisis, Geithner, Janet Tavakoli, Obama Administration, Pam Martens, Simon Johnson, subprime loans, systematic risk regulator, the Federal Reserve, Thomas Palley, Wall Street, William Black

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Ah, The Game Is Afoot!

by ilene - August 27th, 2009 3:55 pm

Ah, The Game Is Afoot! 

Courtesy of Karl Denninger at The Market Ticker

You knew it wouldn’t be that easy…..

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve argued yesterday that identifying the financial institutions that benefited from its emergency loans would harm the companies and render the central bank’s planned appeal of a court ruling moot.

"Harm the companies" eh?  You mean reveal that they are and have been insolvent, and The Fed has been engaged in covering them up?

“What has the Fed got to hide?” said Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who sponsored a bill to require the Fed to submit to an audit by the Government Accountability Office. “The time has come for the Fed to stop stonewalling and hand this information over to the public,” he said in an e-mail.

The Fed is hiding the insolvency of banks.  They, along with their handmaidens in Congress (which is where you work Mr. Sanders) even went further and twisted the arm of FASB to legalize intentional accounting distortions that I argue amount to fraud.

The truth of what has been done keeps peeking around the corner in the form of bank failures and FDIC deposit insurance fund losses, with the latest charade being Colonial Bank that was carrying assets thirty seven percent above where its acquiring bank believes is a reasonable mark on the day prior to being taken over, and which in the FDIC’s last published release was considered "well-capitalized!"

These losses and the costs of this cover-up are being forcibly extracted from The American People literally at gunpoint through the issuance of hundreds of billions of Treasury Debt which we, our children and grandchildren will have to repay – a staggering total that the CBO and Obama Administration now admit will total nine trillion dollars over the next ten years.

“Experience in the banking industry has shown that when customers and market participants hear negative rumors about a bank, negative consequences inevitably flow,” Norman Nelson, vice president and general counsel for the group, said in the document.

Experience in the banking industry has shown that when you countenance false and inflated marks on assets losses inevitably flow (to the taxpayer) and the longer and more-involved the conspiracy to cover…

Tags: cover-up, emergency loans, FDIC deposit insurance, financial institutions, insolvent banks, Senator Bernie Sanders, the Federal Reserve

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