POTUS Emergency Meeting with the Super Bankers.
Late in the week, 13 super bankers, led by the crypto-bankrupts Ken Lewis, Vikram Pandit, John Stumpf, were ordered to walk up and down the White House driveway in order to meet with the world famous community organizer, Mr. Obama. If this occasion was about a rent strike, or a voter turnout drive, or an EPA lawsuit, the results of "no change" would have been acceptable. Instead, the occasion was a revolt by the bankers against the Obama administration's class warfare campaign. The one and only issue was money. The super bankers have already decided that the TARP fiasco is a virus that has infected their command and control, and they aim to shed TARP asap while keeping as much of the Fed credit backstop as possible. The super bankers have also decided that the White House telling them how they pay themselves and their crowd is unendurable. The rupture is complete. No trust. No hope for trust. Low intensity warfare in place
now as the bankers pick off members of Congress to see the money their way. Does POTUS know he has lost the respect of the super bankers? Yes. That is why he went through the infantilizing exercise of calling on the lords one at a time. This is the POTUS style from his organizing days. Try to get folk involved by making them speak out their anxiety or their contempt. The aim here was not to persuade anyone. The aim here was to make POTUS believe he is in charge. What do you think?
During the meeting, the president called on the executives one by one, starting with Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, and asked them to offer their views on their banks and the broader industry. The topics included regulatory reform, mortgage refinancing, the "stress tests" that federal regulators are now applying to large banks, and the proposed program to buy their troubled assets. The executives emphasized that their banks were making loans, despite critics who say they are not.
Meanwhile, the Community of the G20 Has Already Turned to Farce.
You will recall, Gordon Brown and his Chancellor of the Exchequer (and heir apparent?) Alistair Darling need the G20 to support their general quarters call for more and more spending for the collapsed and helpless British economy. Also, Germany has now secured the eager obedience of the rest of Europe to lead the anti-Britain, anti-American offensive at the G20. Germany's PM Angela Merkel emerges as Bismark II:
"The crisis did not take place because we were spending too little but because we were spending too much to create growth that was not sustainable. It isn't just that the banks took over too many risks. Governments allowed them to do so by neglecting to set the necessary [financial market] rules and, for instance in the US, by increasing the money supply too much."
An old rule is that you should never take a meeting unless you already know what the result is. The Obama administration and the Brown government are the only two who don't speak aloud what everyone else (G18) know to be true. Germany triumphant. The hard work work in London will be face-saving by the American and British teams. Mr. Obama may again try his community organizing skills, calling on the other 19 potentates to state their concerns. If POTUS does say, "And you, Prime Minister Brown?" we can expect a growl and, in the background, the laughter of the crowds. Does POTUS know that the G20 has failed already? Yes. Does Gordon Brown? Unknown. The London Times knows:
The likely deadlock at this week's meeting will kill any remaining hope that Alistair Darling's April 22 budget will offer significant tax cuts.
The assault by European Union leaders also represents a defeat for President Barack Obama, who is desperate for other big economies to copy his $800 billion stimulus plan.
"There will be a very long communiqué, but there won't be much in it," said a Washington economist.
Adding to the disarray, a draft of the agreement Brown hopes to secure was leaked to a German news magazine, prompting suggestions of "dirty tricks" by Berlin.
The Obama Team Searches for Life After G-20.
The new language of the new Washington regime includes the word "flexibility" in place of the old, ugly, unhelpful word, "defeat." From Calculated Risk:
From the WaPo: Obama Signals Flexibility Ahead of G-20 Summit
The Obama administration on Saturday appeared to back away from calls for other nations to mirror the United States in combating the financial crisis with ramped up government spending ...
U.S. officials yesterday dismissed any notion of a rift, saying they would not press nations to adopt specific spending targets. "Nobody is asking any country to come to London to commit to do more right now," said Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, Michael Froman. ...
Experts say the U.S. stance may reflect a recognition that the White House may simply not be able to convince their European counterparts to spend more. Some said it may herald a modest outcome for the summit.
Those expecting anything of substance from the G-20 meeting will probably be disappointed ...
Then Again, the G20 Will Feature Twitter Pranks.
"Put People First" is my favorite new NGO (left), and is an example of a fashionable disorganization waiting to be called upon by POTUS one at a time:
There are growing fears that protests at the summit venue, the ExCeL centre in London's Docklands could be marred by violence. Scotland Yard will be deploying specialist officers trained to use 50,000-volt Taser stun guns.
Some's titled Obama as the Hamster-in-chief. Seems fitting.
How does restructuring in C11 benefit? Piece parts, emanating from manufacturers are specific and not universally interchangeable. Suppliers/ manufacturers would be forced by bankruptcy court to accept less than their outlay in settling for 20 cents on the dollar. Just speculating, at the best, their net margins are probably less than 20%. So, the domino effect of bankruptcy/ insolvency would be forthcoming.
GM CEO manager resigned because FORD's position proves that involved and forward looking management is compulsory for any business. GM rode the dog in the good years. and went off on tangents. Good riddance!!
GM and the Banks are different animals in comparison of why one should go and another should stay.
That recent seismic activity may have been Pierpont Morgan rolling over in his grave!
I’m wondering if Europe has figured out yet who started this whole mess. I’m also wondering if Europe has taken note of the fact that the same people who caused this mess are now in charge of fixing it. Short of pointing fingers – which is entirely too vulgar for people who consider themselves continentals – I would run as quickly as I could over to the other team to ask them if I could play on their side for a while.
The price of a cup of coffee at various airports: Newark - $2.50; Frankfurt - $5.00; Bombay - $3.00.
There's a truism in Bridge that the partner who had the last chance to save a bidding error but did not do so gets assigned most of the blame. Based on that logic, Paulson still has to shoulder most of the blame, with our esteemed Democratic leadership running a close second. GWB is up there too for not sticking to his professed ideals in a time of crisis.
As for the bankers... Listen, blaming bankers or insurance men for causing this crisis is like leaving a dog alone in the house all day and then coming home and wondering why there's a mess on the floor.