The Trillionaire! Hank Paulson…..

In 1955, a famous television show called “The Millionaire”…featured one of the most distinctive voices from radio and television….Marvin Miller.  Miller would appear on screen meeting a variety of people from all walks of life and with the following provisio…..”I represent John Beresford Tipton who wants to give you a million dollars!”  Hank Paulson is asking the people of the United States to let him do the same thing…….with a billion dollars or more per instance!  Giving money to literally thousands of unknown bankers, brokers and market traders…for securities, stocks, bonds and assets which have an unknown “real value”. 

How can anyone set the price on a piece of property….when that property is located in say, a “Foreclosure Zone”…like that of Stockton, California?  The likely scenarios will be clouded even further by being supported and asking to redeem steeply leveraged Hedge and Derivative Mortgage and Pension Fund investments!  Does anyone doubt there will be egregious and outrageous misrepresentations along the way?  Is there any doubt that the prices paid will be inflated without doubt…at the first go round?  In the words of Senator Chuck Schumer….from New York: “Why do you need the entire $700 billion before you start the process?  What’s wrong with starting with $150 Billion?”

Will this whole stampeding financial process come down to just knowing Hank Paulson’s cell phone number?  If you have it …like “The Millionaire”.. you will have access!  If not, you will be standing in a long line behind all his buddies at Goldman-Sachs and Morgan Stanley.  For those that don’t know.. those two entities are no longer “Investment Banks”….they are now considered “Investment Holding Banks”.  Sort of like changing the deck chairs on the Titantic…we suppose!  They are still the guys jacking up the price of oil futures….jacking up commodity prices from the sale of ill gotten gains on highly leveraged Hedge and Derivative funds.   In the last two days, as Goldman-Sachs and Morgan Stanley …along with their ilk….have rid themselves of so-called “Toxic Investments”…..they take that money and immediately move it into Oil and Natural Gas….which will raise prices at the pump for all of us back up to the $5 to $6 dollars a gallon level….thus shutting down our entire economy!  Where are Mr. Paulson’s suggested regulatory constraints on Oil and Natural Gas trading in this process?  We need to immediately cease all leverage buys on Oil and Gas….saving that …….we need to shut down that market.

Mr. Hank….mentions that “Experimentation” will be required to further the process in the bail out.  Mr. Paulson should “Experiment” with his own money and not the money of the citizens of the United States!  Where is the due diligence to gage the Institutional integrity of each Investor group that wants money from the Government?  How do we know that there will be a schedule or scale of punitive recourse for those that misrepresent their positions?  Whoever comes to this party with their hands out, wanting a part of the $700 billion dollars….has a Moral, Ethical and Economic responsibility to represent their positions openly, without collusion and must pay the price for such actions. We must have full “Recourse” in the event that these “Toxic Investments” are illegally liquidated, over priced or misrepresented.

We strongly agree that Senator Schumer’s suggestion be followed and this process begin with the $150 billion dollars first.  We can then access how well the process has ascended and accomplished in the near term.  Paulson probably doesn’t need to “Experiment” with the full Trillion dollars..initially!

Those taking Corporate Gifts or Kick-Backs…….for getting this Federal Cash should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law….at whatever level of government or private industry.  No flowers or Gucci Bags…thank you!