"There's simply no equal to Hank.". The Bi-Partisan Blank Check was written a long time ago.

[chill_wind]

"What's the worst thing that could happen if Paulson held on to his Goldman stock? It's possible that a government in which the treasury secretary had a gigantic stake in Goldman might recklessly cut marginal income taxes on the very rich so that he and his fellow executives could keep more of their bonuses. Or he might push to cut income taxes on capital gains and dividends so that Goldman employees and clients would pay fewer taxes. He could help enact legislation to reduce and ultimately eliminate the estate tax so Goldman's private banking clients would be able to pass on as much cash to their heirs as they want. Why, such an administration might run up massive deficits so that the bond desks of Wall Street firms like Goldman would have plenty of material to buy and sell! Oh, wait—the Bush administration has already done all that."

The Goldman Rule

Should new Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson be forced to sell his $700 million stake in Goldman Sachs?
By Daniel Gross
Posted Tuesday, June 6, 2006, at 11:43 AM ET


Henry Paulson, who was recently nominated to be the next treasury secretary, is facing a lot of tough choices. Should the former CEO of Goldman Sachs continue to promote environmental causes in an administration that loathes them? What should he say about the dollar? Should he buy a condo in Washington, or a mansion? Then there's the trickiest question of all: What should he do with the mountain of money he's earned at Goldman Sachs over the years?

Not since Nelson Rockefeller served as vice president during the Ford administration has a senior government official arrived in Washington with such a high net worth. Paulson owns some 4.58 million shares in Goldman Sachs (including restricted stock) worth about $700 million at today's price and surely has millions more in other instruments.

Conflict-of-interest laws say senior government officials can't hold on to investments that could benefit from decisions they might make. Meeting this requirement is comparatively easy for an upper-middle-class secretary of agriculture. Sell your stock in Archer Daniels Midland and direct your financial adviser to avoid it and similar stocks. But for a plutocrat who is about to become secretary of treasury, it's a much more difficult call. He can't choose the default mode that worked so well for former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who put his cash into government bonds. Treasury secretaries are forbidden from buying government debt—after all, they issue that debt. (The T-bill strategy worked out remarkably well for Greenspan, who saw his net worth rise every time he slashed rates.) And putting the money in the simplest form of investment—a dollar-denominated savings account—would be both a poor investment for Paulson and a potential conflict of interest. After all, treasury secretaries frequently discuss currency exchange rates.

(...)

Once he sells, Paulson—or whoever will manage his blind trust—will have a new problem. In order to qualify for the certificate of divestiture, the cash must be invested in a diversified fund, such as a stock mutual fund. But Paulson's portfolio is so large that it doesn't make sense to put it into a mutual fund, or even into a whole bunch of funds. A nest egg of this size should be broadly diversified—some real estate and a few hedge funds, a few private equity funds, commodities, stocks from all over the world, a private island or two. And of course, all of these have the potential to be affected by Paulson's actions while he is in office.

more: http://www.slate.com/id/2143018

The Paulson Payoff at the Bush Treasury Department

Posted July 4, 2006 | 07:14 PM (EST)


Reuters reports today that "The incoming Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., was awarded an $18.7 million cash bonus for half a year of work as the chief executive of the Goldman Sachs Group." The massive bonus was, not surprisingly, approved by Goldman Sachs at the very same time Paulson was both CEO and Treasury Secretary designate. This raises a very simple question: What is Goldman Sachs buying with this brazen payoff to someone they knew was headed to one of the most powerful government posts in America?

In my book Hostile Takeover, I note that these sorts of payoffs happen all the time -- and they are made with public policy favors in mind. The most high profile before Paulson's was the payoff Halliburton gave to Dick Cheney in the form of a truckload of "deferred compensation" valued in the tens of millions. At the time, those who raised questions about what such a payoff would buy were dismissed by the Washington Establishment as conspiracy theorists .

more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-paulson-payoff-at-the_b_24379.html

If there is one thing that Congress is good at, it is getting the no-brainers done when it's time for a recess. If you're going to give away the store (IRW, Patriot Act, MCA), why sweat the small things?

Senate confirms Paulson as Treasury secretary
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
June 28, 2006
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) --

(...)


The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote. Bush nominated Paulson, the departing CEO of Goldman Sachs, earlier this month to replace John Snow, who has headed Treasury since 2003.

Confirmation came just hours after the Senate Finance Committee approved Paulson's nomination by unanimous voice vote. Paulson testified before the committee for around three hours in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

"(...)
.
Democrats had harsh words for the Bush administration's fiscal policies, but praised Paulson as a strong choice to serve as the administration's top economic policymaker.

"In the world of finance and international markets there's simply no equal to Hank," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who praised Paulson's experience in international finance and relationships with Chinese business leaders and government officials. "We need someone who is seasoned. We need someone who knows markets," Schumer said.


Bush praised the Senate for its quick action.


http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=google&guid={5801D6FE-295A-4326-894B-ACB0454619C5}&keyword=

Paulson: Low taxes key to strong economy
Treasury nominee says China needs to move quicker on currency changes
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:01 p.m. EDT June 27, 2006

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Low taxes and open markets are keys to maintaining U.S. competitiveness on the global stage, Treasury Secretary-nominee Henry Paulson told senators on Tuesday.
(...)

As expected, Paulson, the outgoing CEO of Goldman Sachs , offered no deviation from Bush administration policies on fiscal, foreign-exchange and trade matters.
Paulson is expected to win swift approval.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, asked members to submit follow-up questions to Paulson by 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, with the nominee expected to reply by Wednesday morning, if possible.

The panel could vote on whether to recommend Paulson for confirmation as early as Wednesday morning. A vote by the full Senate is expected before lawmakers leave Friday for the weeklong Independence Day recess.


(...)

"I've known Hank for 15 years. I recommend his nomination wholeheartedly and without reservation. He's an extraordinary leader, financial thinker, businessman and father," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who introduced Paulson to the committee.

Paulson has previous experience in public service. He was a member of the White House Domestic Council during the Nixon administration, serving as staff assistant to the president from 1972 to 1973 and as staff assistant to the assistant secretary of defense at the Pentagon from 1970 to 1972.

more : http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid={B18C218C-3ED7-4514-898C-F7B2D24FAB43}

All the more true when Bush says "Mushroom Cloud. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!".

Congress scrambles on rescue bill

September 22, 2008: 11:05 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com

"We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called on Congress to move swiftly. "We need this to be clean and quick," Paulson said.

President Bush reiterated that sentiment on Monday.

"here will be differences over some details, and we will have to work through them. That is an understandable part of the policy making process," Bush said in a statement. "The whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets and prevent damage to our capital markets, businesses, our housing sector, and retirement accounts."

from: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/22/news/economy/bailout_proposal_Monday/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories




Im Late, Im Late
for a very important date,
No time to say hello, goodbye,
Im late, Im late, Im late
and when I wave,

I run and then I hop, hop, hop,
I wish that I could fly.
Theres danger if I dare to stop
and heres the reason why,
(you see) Im overdue.
Im in a rabbit stew,
Cant even say goodbye, hello,
Im late, Im late, Im late.

Good morning Mister Chatterbox
Id love to stoop and chatter,
but in six and seven eighth minutes
I must meet with the mad hatter
the mad, mad, mad, mad Hatter.

We must chat about a very important matter.
Im off to see the queen of hearts
who lives up in the palace,
and the very moment Im through with her
Ive got a date with Alice.
I cant be late for Alice
or the queen of hearts who lives up in the palace.
Im late.

[chill_wind]

1. 'Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.

Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. 'I don't see any wine,' she remarked.

'There isn't any,' said the March Hare.

'Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.

[chill_wind]

2. "When people sense that someone is short..it's like blood on the streets"

Oil spikes $25 a barrel on anxiety over US bailout

13 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Oil prices spiked more than $25 a barrel Monday — the biggest one-day price jump ever — as anxiety over the government's $700 billion bailout plan, a weak dollar and an expiring crude contract ignited a dramatic rally.


"When people sense that someone is short, it's like blood on the streets. It just accelerates the rally," Flynn said.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

[bertman]

3. That's The Last Supper, isn't it??

Great pic. I love the sheep with the plate.

[chill_wind]

4. It's the work of this artist, Mark Bryan

http://www.artofmarkbryan.com/about.html


He calls it "The Mad Tea Party".

http://www.artofmarkbryan.com/religion.html

(;-) I like the one solitary sheep facing us ...)

[ihavenobias]

5. Very interesting post n/t

[KoKo]

6. Thanks for pulling this all together. Shows in snips Paulson's connections and why he's not to be

trusted. Also...for the artwork.

[chill_wind]

10. My disgust is that none of this was a secret even at the time--to those responsible

for approving and praising his confirmation. Dems claimed to condemn Bush's fiscal policies-- he was a Bush insider and loyalist and promised to not to deviate, but he was hailed as a frickin financial savior. I remember reading Sirota's piece right after he was confirmed (including the POGO stuff he linked to) and saying WFT????

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson

[KoKo]

12. Yes...I know. One wonders if eithe party does research or just relies on Lobbyists who give

the information to the staffers to put in front of the different Congress critters. It was all known...yet sadly even our Dems seem to approve of these people they have given the power to, who work against us.

[chill_wind]

14. We let ourselves be "rolled by a Wall Street executive

who is masquerading as the secretary of the Treasury."

On Monday, Oregon Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio put a voice to this concern, warning House colleagues against being "rolled by a Wall Street executive who is masquerading as the secretary of the Treasury."

[bdamomma]

7. I do not trust Paulson either another bushie loyal

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. Ditto.

[gratuitous]

9. $700 billion to spend any way he sees fit

No review, no accountability, no appeal, no nothing. The only near parallel I can think of is the unlimited Letter of Credit Thomas Jefferson issued to Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery at the beginning of the 19th Century. Of course, that Letter of Credit couldn't have rung up $700 billion in receipts because the American workers hadn't yet created that much wealth.

[chill_wind]

11. CorpWatch. This is from April... and it's very interesting.

Paulson Blueprint Promotes Insurance Industry Shell Game

Posted by Philip Mattera on April 5th, 2008


There’s something peculiar in the report on financial market regulation issued March 31 by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The plan, touted by some as a bold expansion of federal control over capital markets and dismissed by others as a mere rearranging of the deck chairs on the financial Titanic, includes an incongruous section on the insurance industry.

While insurance is a financial service, it hasn’t been at the center of the implosion of the housing market or (aside from the bond insurance crisis) linked to the instability on Wall Street. The Paulson plan, nonetheless, provides a resounding endorsement of a “reform” that key players in the insurance industry have been seeking for at least 15 years—allowing large national carriers to do an end run around the current state-based insurance regulatory system. Such carriers would be permitted to adopt an “optional federal charter” and thereby put themselves under the supervision of a federal regulatory agency that does not yet exist.

Big Insurance has not sought federal oversight because it wants more regulation. After all, this is the industry that pioneered offshoring when some carriers moved their official headquarters to tax havens such as Bermuda. While it is true that many state regulators have been toothless watchdogs, other states have been aggressive in protecting the interests of policy holders and the public.

In fact, the Paulson proposal comes just a couple of weeks after insurers were celebrating the downfall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a prostitution scandal. During his time as New York’s attorney general, Spitzer pursued major insurance companies such as Marsh & McLennan and American International Group for offenses such as bid rigging. Marsh ended up settling for $850 million in 2005, and AIG paid a whopping $1.6 billion the following year. While it is true that Spitzer went after the industry as a prosecutor rather than a regulator, he did so in the overall context of state oversight.

The insurance industry swears that it supports the optional federal charter in the name of modernization (as does the Paulson report), but it is significant that the reform has been supported by groups such as the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the American Enterprise Institute that are no friends of regulation (some Democrats in Congress are also in favor). When word of Paulson’s insurance proposal leaked out over the weekend, the American Insurance Association rushed out a press release hailing it, saying that the optional federal charter “will be more efficient, effective and rational given the ‘increasing tension’ a state-based regulatory system creates.”

Throughout its history, the insurance industry has avoided “tension” by trying to minimize government interference in its affairs. In 1945 the industry supported the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which responded to a Supreme Court ruling by affirming the regulatory role of the states. In recent times, the industry has wanted the option of federal oversight on the assumption that it would be less onerous. I’ll let the legal scholars decide whether state or federal regulation is inherently more appropriate. The issue is whether an industry not known for generous treatment of its customers (think of Katrina victims denied coverage) is going to be subjected to some strict oversight somewhere.

from: Corp Watch at http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15000

[chill_wind]

13. ...