October 21, 2009
Der Kommissars Have Spoken…
…or at least that’s the impression I get.
Government regulators threatened to remove top Bank of America executives if they backed out of a buyout of failing brokerage giant Merrill Lynch, and offered to provide taxpayer funds to compensate for Merrill’s poor performance, according to company records obtained by The Washington Times.
Well!
“It’s highly unusual for a government agency - let alone a Treasury secretary and a Fed official - to virtually order a company to do something like this under threat of removal,”said Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at the Boston University School of Law. “It raises a fascinating question which is, if you’re Bank of America and you have a shareholder’s interests paramount in your mind, what is your liability if you go against those interests in the interests of the country?”
I don’t really see this as being in the interests of the country, more in the interests of the Obama Administration which, much as I hate to say it as I’ve always believed in supporting the President, whoever he might be, but I draw the line at Obama. I believe that electing him was a mistake of the highest order, one I think will even be acknowledged as such, eventually, by the majority of the voters responsible.
Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch - and the government’s role in the deal - are the subject of a hearing Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Bank of America executives said they were told their top brass would be fired if they attempted to renegotiate their bid for Merrill by declaring what’s known as a “material adverse change” (MAC) - a clause in their acquisition agreement that would allow them to walk away or renegotiate the price in light of Merrill’s mounting losses.
“The Treasury and the Fed strongly stated that if we were to invoke the MAC clause and fail to close this transaction, they would remove the board and management due to the risk we would create in the system,” according to draft talking points prepared by company attorneys for Mr. Lewis ahead of a Dec. 22, 2008, board meeting.
Bank executives say financial regulators assured them that taxpayer money from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund was available to compensate them for Merrill’s disappointing fourth-quarter financial results if they followed through on the deal.
Hmmmm, TARP… wonder where they get the money for that?
If I’m not mistaken, I think some well heeled guy who never runs out of money is treating the government to that one, um, a dude by the name of Joe Taxpayer.
Anyway, Tarp’s available to compensate them for Merrill’s disappointing failure to perform for their clients and shareholders fourth-quarter financial results.
Der Kommissars have spoken.
Step right up! We got Obama, we got czars, we got kommissars…!
UPDATE
http://hardastarboard.mu.nu/wp-trackback.php?p=1060
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
If my understanding of history is correct, the ‘Kommissars’ wouldn’t mess with bailouts, but rather nationalize the banks and execute the executives. If I’m not mistaken, the current gov’t
‘czars’ derive from big banking and will return henceforth?
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
BB-Idaho,
I know what Seth would say and we are completely in agreement. He’s not the only “neocon” on the block.
The politicians on the left don’t seem to be overwhelmed with the burden of conscience. They will literally stop at nothing to achieve their goal of tax and spend micromanagement of the people; Unfortunately, there are obstacles like the Constitution, public awareness and The Law to be overcome, and sometimes this requires some unctuousness supreme to be necessary in order to slip a stealth agenda past the voters.
Therefore, O and his left leaning congress make do with pushing the envelope. Right now, they’re whittling away at the Second Amendment, plugging abortion and homosexual marriage, promoting sexually deviant behavior on “First Amendment” grounds. Spending the taxpayer’s money in tons and bunches and concealing their zealous spending from the voters by stashing it inside an unrelated bill. Attacking conservative commentators and media via legislation or infantile presidential displays.
They don’t like the two party system, they’d prefer to have only one. Guess which.
So they go farther and farther, in increments. O and his kongressional kohorts just keep pushing the B.S. and slapping away dissent without presenting any specific counterpoints.
The consequences of most of the bills of major import they peddle are borne 90% by the working class, the very people they still tirelessly (and tiresomely) pretend to sympathize with to get votes, and when they push these bills they do so without providing specifics, in effect telling all opposition “Trust me, I’m one of your nation’s leaders, so of course I have your best interests at heart.” They get a bill passed that’s worded with so many generalities they can interpret it any way they want and force still more inept bureaucracy on the American people.
They’re wrecking our economy, screwing the pooch on global affairs and attempting to silence their media opposition, and whenever anything goes wrong, they blame it on Bush or “racism!”.
People like this will stop at nothing, just like all leftists in politics.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Yep, that’s what Seth would say.
October 24th, 2009 at 11:53 am
BB-Idaho
Yer darned tootin’, though not so eloquently as I.