Earthside Comments: It is unfortunately so ... the un-reclaimed, greedy Scrooge has triumphed in 2008. Bankers and the rest of the elite, insider super corporate rich have stolen from regular middle and working class Americans like never before.
It is also sad that it increasingly appears that Barack Obama is leaning towards facilitating the looting of the U.S. taxpayer. By outlining massive, massive deficit spending, he and the Dimocrats put this generation and many future generations of Americans in hock to the bond dealers and the ultra-elite, wealthy lenders. Not one peep has been heard from Obama, Reid or Pelosi about cutting the budget of the bloated and wasteful Pentagon ... not a peep. The philosophy of the pre-haunted Scrooge is winning.
On a different note, Earthside has not been posting much lately due to a combination of different reasons. One has been a general illness that stems from sinus/allergy maladies rendering us unable or unmotivated to post. Second, since our computer problems have not yet been resolved, we have had to use a different machine so posting has simply not been as convenient. And, thirdly, it is with sadness that we relate to you that the blogging service we have been using -- Typepad -- has made "improvements' to its process that are anything but ... in fact they are terrible. Indeed, at this juncture, we would NOT recommend that anyone thinking about a blogging service sign-up with Typepad.
Nevertheless, we hope that after the new year begins, we can start to make some changes that will let Earthside resume its formerly robust and bold commentary and posting.
Where'd the Bailout Money Go? Shhhh, It's a Secret. | Associated Press
Think you could borrow money from a bank without saying what you were going to do with it? Well, apparently when banks borrow from you they don't feel the same need to say how the money is spent.
After receiving billions in aid from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending it. Some won't even talk about it.
"We're choosing not to disclose that," said Kevin Heine, spokesman for Bank of New York Mellon, which received about $3 billion.
Thomas Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, which received $25 billion in emergency bailout money, said that while some of the money was lent, some was not, and the bank has not given any accounting of exactly how the money is being used.
"We have not disclosed that to the public. We're declining to," Kelly said.
The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?
None of the banks provided specific answers.
"We're not providing dollar-in, dollar-out tracking," said Barry Koling, a spokesman for Atlanta, Ga.-based SunTrust Banks Inc., which got $3.5 billion in taxpayer dollars.
Some banks said they simply didn't know where the money was going.
Obama May Delay Tax-Cut Rollback for Wealthy | Reuters - November 23, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama may consider delaying a campaign promise - to roll back tax cuts on high-income Americans - as part of his economic recovery strategy, two aides said on Sunday. ...... Obama has called for reducing taxes for the middle class, but requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay more than the current top rate of 35 percent.
His aides' comments suggest Obama may be wary of imposing any additional tax burden at a time of deep crisis, despite the outlook for record budget deficits and mounting national debt. He may also be seeking to bolster Republican support for his recovery measures.
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