There have been 75 Treasury Secretaries in history of the United States, and Hank Paulson is a disgrace to the position. He should be charged under RICO.
I have a feeling no one will ever go to jail for this, but I have to say fuck jail, these people need to fucking hang... I am not a violent person but god damn it, a message needs o be sent.
Sickens my stomach to know that in a country that will fine a family 90,000 for selling a few hundred dollars of rabbits.....or have the IRS ruin peoples lives over a few dollars.....that this jerk can make 200 MILLION tax free, at a time when the country is going broke. Steal from the poor, give to the rich......the New American Motto.
@nikto2000 the jewish motto mate, the jewish motto. and it never changed in 2000 years. Now you learn the lessons the pharaoh learned, or eastern europe, or germany and russia learned. Let them into your finance, and see what happens...
I'll take one of the most successful investment bankers of his generation with decades of experience over some weasel like Stears any day. HE IS THE TREASURY SEC, he is going to have a financial background, there will always be a conflict of interest. Hey Stears, don't ask 23 questions and make as many accusations and then complain when the person tries to answer. Your reactive, he had to be proactive, you vulture.
@jjfatscospgs scumbag bankers are nothing but criminals, they all need to hang. Only in America can you rip off $Billions and go scot free. Hey JJfats, are you a shill for the sh*tstain bankers? Apologist for the biggest criminals in the history of the world? How much are they paying you and was it worth it?
@gt40f The "bankers" you speak of are just as at fault as the homeowners that bought homes that they knew they couldn't afford, with ARM's. Paulson is not a banker, he is the treasury sec. He was a banker before but an investment banker, not the same kind of banker that caused the collapse. Blame countrywide, not GS. Paulson, the man in this video actually SAVED our country by going bailout instead of just TARP. If you want someone to hang get the CEO of countrywide you uneducated lemming.
@jjfatscospgs And your neck needs to be introduced to a rope just like Paulson's the rest of those insects and IT'S COMING, so say your prayers lowlife!!
@Moreofthesamez, way to go eThug. Your point is you want to kill me? PAULSON IS THE TREASURY SECRETARY!! HE IS NOT A BANKER!!! He was not even in charge of regulating the bankers. HE WAS ONLY IN CHARGE OF FIXING THE CRISIS and he did it! You uneducated comment gangsters can obviously read, go buy "Crash of the Titans" or "inside Job" or watch "Too big to fail" subprime lending created the crash, NYSE straight down and bailouts were the only immediate solution and they worked. Thank you Paulson
Five Steps to global liberation 1 Cultural preperation 2 Organization building 3 Confrontation 4 Mass political and economic non-cooperation 5 Parallel institution. Go forth and change the world.
Could the US Congress have handled the crisis by immediately spending the same amount of money (I guess $8-9 trillion).. only instead of giving it directly to the institutions... to the homeowners and/or every taxpayer that is supposedly on the hook for this now.
Because now we have a situation where homeowners are being charged double-indemnity. They owe for their mortgage AND for the national debt (which increased 10x to pay for their mortgage...).
We will have this stuttering SOB's head on a post, as God is my witness! He thinks he is above the law, but he is not above the street law. We are so close to utter anarchy here, or at the very least a full scale civil war...the sides are being drawn up, I can feel it in guts. This thinly masked rankor of the working poor of this country will soon be dragged out into the daylight.
you are the only one who makes sense here. I can't imagine if Paulson and Bernanke had stood back and let the firms that posed a huge systemic risk like Goldman, Merrill and co. fail
Letting Lehman fail would definitely go down as probably the worst economic decision made.
Well, he knew he had been exposed. While he was working for Bush, he was very articulate in taking our money and demanding this bailout with the threat of martial law. I'm a conservative, but Bush helped the thieves on Wall St. by stepping back and letting Paulson run the show for the bailout before he left office.
Paulson helped Goldman Sachs steal $15 billion from us taxpayers. He arranged for federal funds to bailout AIG to pay Goldman 100% on its credit default swaps; Goldman under Paulson sold garbage to AIG, took out insurance, then Paulson as Sec'y Treasury had taxpayers pay it off.
Geithner participated. So too Bush & Bernanke, and Obama is keeping the scam going by keeping Geithner & Bernanke in charge.
Paulson is EVIl and he makes me sick! How can people be so greedy and evil? Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke shold all be in prison! Ron Paul for President 2012....Peter Schiff for Senate 2010!!!!
@petiemac12 - "Paulson is EVIl and he makes me sick! How can people be so greedy and evil? Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke shold all be in prison!"
Very simple, THEY ARE JEWS. The Jews created the debts. The Jews ran the banks which got the trillions in undeserved "bail out" money. The Jews rub their gnarled hands with glee as the non-Jews starve. The Jews are in charge of the Whitehouse monkey and created the whole TARP scam. The Jew in charge of the Pentagon stole $2.3 trillion. Spot the JEW.
Why is this asshole Paulson still walking the streets and not in prison???? Check out his stuttering and thumb twittering....he needs to be arrested and tried for high treason.
Henry Paulson should be in jail, sharing a jail cell with Bernie Madoff. he is a crook, he is responsible for millions of Americans losing their jobs, and he repeatedly lied to the nation and the Congress to bail out Goldman Sachs. every patriotic American should spit in his face if they are unfortunate enough to be in his presence.
It would be nice to think that Paulson is the main reason why the American people are $700+ billion poorer, but he is just a large cog in a machine that is filled with many, many more!!!! Bring back ethics and morals to this country at the family level and we may have some glimmer of hope for the future.
Am I to understand that a White House lawyer, presumably politically sympatico with the President, gave Sec'y Paulson an ethical "you can do as you please" card? Frak! If not there, then from his ethics lawyer at Treasury, but I dunno which'd be worse. Now, this is the Bush admin. God help us under this new admin! (Or, it proves, actually, how alike they are underneath.)
Was there any doubt that Hank was working behind the scenes with his band of thieves to corner the market for good old Goldman Sachs !!! God Bless Mr. Stearns. Hank you have the cash but no dignity. People will remeber you as a thief.
I'm no economist, but it seems to me we could have, like Mr. Stearns said, bailed out homeowners instead of banks - a bottom up, instead of top down, approach. We could've forced modifications of mortgages, slashed interest rates, and helped people stay in their homes.
But our government offices are staffed with people from the financial industry, like Mr. Paulson. I wouldn't expect them to have a consumer oriented approach to much of anything. Not suprising at all.
We need more Congressmen like Mr. Stearns. Mr.Paulson showed lack of veracity by his inability to answer with conviction. He hesitancy of speech, his nervous demeanor and his vague response shows that he was lying. What a disgrace. Thank you Mr.Stearns.
Paulson watched as GS's competitors failed and didn't act until 'his' firm was in jeopardy. If that doesn't signal conflict of interest, then I don't know what does.
I see Paulson's aged tremendously over the last year. He's lost his swagger and tries to psych himself up: "The next thing I'm going to say to you, and say to you very clearly... um.. o... umh....Totally..."
Weak. He knows full well what he's done, only his wealth and connections protect him.
That grandstanding Congressman was outrageous. Presumably he would have been even more a demagogue if Paulsen were an appointee of Obama - - it was hard to label Paulsen a communist. What in hell did the Congressman want - - that in order not to help out these big banks, we spite ourselves and allow the entire financial system to melt down? Unemployment will stil test 10%, approaching its post-Depression high. Thank heaven we had someone like Pauisen in charge, who knew what he was doing.
Paulson Knew what he was doing ??? Ya think??? While at Goldman Paulson sold and created a large portion of the toxic assets that blew up, which then needed taxpayer money in order to refloat the banks. If you cant see this as crony capitalism at best maybe you need to think about it a little bit. I do agree with the "grandstanding", where were these pointed questions from the senator when Paulson first asked for tarp.
Like most people, he missed the boat regarding the threat posed by all of those mortgage-backed securities, but at least he understood as well as anyone the seriousness of the threat to the financial system last Sept. As it was, the financial crisis triggered the sharpest 2 quarters of contraction in the world economy since WWII. We will never know what would have happened if they simply took the Andrew Mellon approach from 1930 to allow a "therapeutic cleansing" of the banking system.
This all goes to show how the Federal Government is in bed with big business. Democrats and Republicans. It doesn't matter if it's Paulson or Ruben or anyone else! Congress never should have authorized money to bail out the big banks. It's unconstitutional and now it's opened a flood gate for polititions to stick their nose into private business where it doesn't belong with tax payer money. Bush should be ashamed of himself if at all possible for starting this trend!
Yeah, what we really needed was for Paulson to recuse himself in the middle of this mess, spend several months trying to figure out who an appropriate replacement would be, and in the mean time, watch the banking system and US economy collapse.
Yes if lehman was going bankrupt, some of the other giants in the industry should have gone too. Americans had already voted NO on large bank bailouts. Many capitalist were bracing for the worst, and Paulson only got rid of his former firm's competitors and stepped n, 2 save his favorites or firms who were necessary to achieve pass through operations. The point is, Americans were bracing for the worst and without interference we would b done with CORRUPT New York Hangers On F^cKTaRD bank execs.
Obviously, you know nothing about economics. Don't you understand that the unemployment rate is at 10% partly because of Lehman's collapse. You obviously don't understand the extreme chaos that the Lehman bankruptcy caused: MONEY STOPPED FLOWING (credit markets froze) and if Bernanke and Paulson had not gone to congress to ask for a bailout, THE ENTIRE ECONOMIC SYSTEM OF THE US WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED.
That's total nonsense. You are preaching the same propaganda the government did to ram the Patriot Act through. Bush told Congress not even to DEBATE the Patriot Act because "another attack could be imminent." It's the same thing with the bailouts. We are going to to have a far great crisis down the road as a result of what they did in the form of massive inflation and debased dollar. The dollar crisis will be far worse than anything in 2008.
@daveibukun obviously, you know nothing about economics. Don’t you understand that when you print a large amount of capital and flood it into the economy by giving it to the banks, when that money is spent, by the banks first, that the prices of things like food, clothing, and gas go up and it puts a tremendous amount of pain on lower and middle income families and provides no releif for people losing their homes?
whisky, we would be done with the burden of corrupt banks & their degenerate executives, & would have tolerance left over to welcome better leadership n2 the banking industry.
Yes, absolutely, he should have stepped down&let the other large banks fail. Do not buy n2 argument it would have been too much4the country... It would have been heavy on NY, because N.Y. breeds corrupt bank execs who ruin large businesses. But there were1000s of banks2pick up&move on without these crooks & fops.
You are a grade-A grandstander. Investigations this important should not be conducted with passion, anger, or agenda. I suspect that if you were having a private interview with Mr. Paulson, this exchange would have been civil and actually instructive. Tell the world ONE SINGLE THING that was gleaned from this exchange that the American people did not know already. It seems the only times politicians reveal their true selves is when they don't know the cameras are running.
Actually, there are some things he disclosed that are important. Some representatives feel mislead, and this was one of the first times, some representatives, had a chance to meet with Paulson, since Sept 2008. Paulson does not make himself accessible, except in public hearings. He is an aloof administrator who stone walls people of importance and mainly interacts more immediately with those who are corrupt, or are doing a dishonest work product which is taking advantage of others trust.
Kylem, we learn of the outrage which is appropriate & that Paulson was doing a bait & switch or similar scam, saying he was going2help mortgage holders, but when he got the money in hand, flip-flop acted n fraudulent conversion with money entrusted2 him. The original purpose he was given the money was suppressed, and the real purpose manifested when 2 late. See bankers converting tax payer funds by dishonest tact, into wealth for banks, & executives of same.
kylem, ..And we also learned that Congress is slow in prosecuting white collar criminals and high-officers, because they respect higher officers, even when they are corrupt in-grateful reprobates, who take tax payer money and by dishonest tact, convert it into their own wealth or wealth for their friends. It is called Fraudulent Conversion.
Here we learn that this representative is loosing faith, in top offers, and learning more, they should be in prison, because they exploit public trust.
This is a classic show of someone squirming in his seat and stammering to get out of answering properly. He stalled long enough for the time to expire.
big talk but in the end it means nothing. i like how they put on a great show for all the suckers and some how the suckers think something is going to change.when all these scum get voted out (congressman and senators) that will be the day there will be change. they had there day they blew it
Paulson never was asked about the shares of Goldman Sachs held by members of his family or trusts. Paulson took the job because he was going to save enormous sums in taxes on the sale of his assets. He could have put the shares of GS in a blind trust. That is what Donald Regan did with his shares of Merrill when he became Sec. of Treas. Folks Paulson should NOT have been given this job, period. You the tax payer have and continue to be bilked by the folks at Goldman.
Good show Cliff, but so what? What's changing? It's only getting worse. Now this government of criminals are going to deal with the toxic commerical real-estate by creating and selling new RIETs as new IPOs, which criminal GS will lead and their going to sell these to those managing 401k, 401b and other types of retirement plans. They will rob us again and you are all asleep, or maybe your involved in this next wave of theft. Who knows anymore.
ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu That was fucking GREAT! Just listen to that dirty rat stammer and shake! WE KNOW THE TRUTH PAULSON, YOU AND YOUR BUDDYS ARE GONNA PAY!!
Way to go Cliff Keep these FED reserve crooks at bay they are killing us. The banks are all crooks 12 of my friends are in foreclosure and no they did not all just go out and buy a house some of them have been paying on the home for years. Keep Helping US. This is the first time I have been glad I voted for some one. You have my vote as long as you act for the people not the companies.
This is not the case, they lost their jobs and had lowered income due to the banks fouling the economy. The man Cliff is speaking to is a Banking crook Paulson is the worst crook in history
abada abada abada....I didn't know Paulson had a speech impediment..thats what happens when crooks gets exposed.
saintlennon9 1 month ago
I'D RUN THIS SLIME SUCKING PIECE OF HORSE SHIT OVER WITH A 18-WHEELER WITHOUT EVEN FLINCHING!!!
jmlew 3 months ago
LIP SERVICE
TheGreatReckoning 4 months ago
There have been 75 Treasury Secretaries in history of the United States, and Hank Paulson is a disgrace to the position. He should be charged under RICO.
TheGreatReckoning 4 months ago
what a stuttering blundering waste of life.
uclakallman 4 months ago
tomato head
unabonger777 8 months ago
Why we don't see yet Jew banksters hanging on the light posts all around the country? I tell you why. Pussies doesn't deserve liberty nor freedom..
MrSzalasiFerenc 8 months ago
I have a feeling no one will ever go to jail for this, but I have to say fuck jail, these people need to fucking hang... I am not a violent person but god damn it, a message needs o be sent.
ptm5150 8 months ago
@ptm5150 They need to use what was used in the French Revolution.
TheGreatReckoning 4 months ago
Sickens my stomach to know that in a country that will fine a family 90,000 for selling a few hundred dollars of rabbits.....or have the IRS ruin peoples lives over a few dollars.....that this jerk can make 200 MILLION tax free, at a time when the country is going broke. Steal from the poor, give to the rich......the New American Motto.
nikto2000 8 months ago 3
@nikto2000 the jewish motto mate, the jewish motto. and it never changed in 2000 years. Now you learn the lessons the pharaoh learned, or eastern europe, or germany and russia learned. Let them into your finance, and see what happens...
TheNonConformative 8 months ago
I'll take one of the most successful investment bankers of his generation with decades of experience over some weasel like Stears any day. HE IS THE TREASURY SEC, he is going to have a financial background, there will always be a conflict of interest. Hey Stears, don't ask 23 questions and make as many accusations and then complain when the person tries to answer. Your reactive, he had to be proactive, you vulture.
jjfatscospgs 9 months ago
@jjfatscospgs scumbag bankers are nothing but criminals, they all need to hang. Only in America can you rip off $Billions and go scot free. Hey JJfats, are you a shill for the sh*tstain bankers? Apologist for the biggest criminals in the history of the world? How much are they paying you and was it worth it?
gt40f 8 months ago
@gt40f The "bankers" you speak of are just as at fault as the homeowners that bought homes that they knew they couldn't afford, with ARM's. Paulson is not a banker, he is the treasury sec. He was a banker before but an investment banker, not the same kind of banker that caused the collapse. Blame countrywide, not GS. Paulson, the man in this video actually SAVED our country by going bailout instead of just TARP. If you want someone to hang get the CEO of countrywide you uneducated lemming.
jjfatscospgs 8 months ago
@jjfatscospgs And your neck needs to be introduced to a rope just like Paulson's the rest of those insects and IT'S COMING, so say your prayers lowlife!!
Moreofthesamez 8 months ago
@Moreofthesamez, way to go eThug. Your point is you want to kill me? PAULSON IS THE TREASURY SECRETARY!! HE IS NOT A BANKER!!! He was not even in charge of regulating the bankers. HE WAS ONLY IN CHARGE OF FIXING THE CRISIS and he did it! You uneducated comment gangsters can obviously read, go buy "Crash of the Titans" or "inside Job" or watch "Too big to fail" subprime lending created the crash, NYSE straight down and bailouts were the only immediate solution and they worked. Thank you Paulson
jjfatscospgs 8 months ago
Hey Paulson, you sh*tstain on the face of this great country.
Someone needs to wipe this sh*tstain off. Where's a guillotine when you need one.
gt40f 11 months ago
These criminals acted in their own self interest and screwed the taxpayers.
bertly71 1 year ago
"No conflict of interests" says the Great Gaon of Vilna.
kosiasko 1 year ago
i count on you US-guys pulling this rat out of his fortified den
vomit55 1 year ago
Five Steps to global liberation 1 Cultural preperation 2 Organization building 3 Confrontation 4 Mass political and economic non-cooperation 5 Parallel institution. Go forth and change the world.
RandallSteen 1 year ago
Could the US Congress have handled the crisis by immediately spending the same amount of money (I guess $8-9 trillion).. only instead of giving it directly to the institutions... to the homeowners and/or every taxpayer that is supposedly on the hook for this now.
Because now we have a situation where homeowners are being charged double-indemnity. They owe for their mortgage AND for the national debt (which increased 10x to pay for their mortgage...).
votingronpaul2008 1 year ago 2
scum scum scum.............
Jacksonville166 1 year ago
Hankie looks a bit nervous here. Good job Rep. Stearns
humanrights2u 1 year ago
this congressman is a prick he's not even letting paulson speak. this guy doesnt even understand the markets.
iceman15167 1 year ago
what sort of a country allows a fucking scumbag like this to run wild - off with his fucking head
Moreofthesamez 1 year ago 2
Stuttering fool.
pbmdh 1 year ago 2
We will have this stuttering SOB's head on a post, as God is my witness! He thinks he is above the law, but he is not above the street law. We are so close to utter anarchy here, or at the very least a full scale civil war...the sides are being drawn up, I can feel it in guts. This thinly masked rankor of the working poor of this country will soon be dragged out into the daylight.
pjamesbda 1 year ago 2
hang him and all the rest of them with him
k1a1t1h1y1 1 year ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
you are the only one who makes sense here. I can't imagine if Paulson and Bernanke had stood back and let the firms that posed a huge systemic risk like Goldman, Merrill and co. fail
Letting Lehman fail would definitely go down as probably the worst economic decision made.
daveibukun 2 years ago
Well, he knew he had been exposed. While he was working for Bush, he was very articulate in taking our money and demanding this bailout with the threat of martial law. I'm a conservative, but Bush helped the thieves on Wall St. by stepping back and letting Paulson run the show for the bailout before he left office.
dwtolar 2 years ago 2
This guy has trouble forming words, much less complete sentences, and he was the Secretary of the Treasury? WOW!!!
xXU2BerXx 2 years ago 4
Hey, he is paid to act and not to talk.
daveibukun 2 years ago
Paulson helped Goldman Sachs steal $15 billion from us taxpayers. He arranged for federal funds to bailout AIG to pay Goldman 100% on its credit default swaps; Goldman under Paulson sold garbage to AIG, took out insurance, then Paulson as Sec'y Treasury had taxpayers pay it off.
Geithner participated. So too Bush & Bernanke, and Obama is keeping the scam going by keeping Geithner & Bernanke in charge.
Quite a racket, eh?
CNSteeleEcon 2 years ago 21
GOSH, these Congressmen are idiots. Paulson is the man.
powerbookg 2 years ago
@powerbookg
ROFL, you're remarks have got to be sarcasm!!!You can't possibly be serious,LOL!
xXU2BerXx 2 years ago
Squirm!
enddebtslavery 2 years ago
Amazing!!!
roosboom 2 years ago
Former secretary Paulson is having a hard time answering this simple questions.
Maybe his conscious is not so clear at all. Quilty as charged.
Teigetje62 2 years ago 2
only in america
fawaba 2 years ago
Paulson is EVIl and he makes me sick! How can people be so greedy and evil? Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke shold all be in prison! Ron Paul for President 2012....Peter Schiff for Senate 2010!!!!
petiemac12 2 years ago 29
@petiemac12 - "Paulson is EVIl and he makes me sick! How can people be so greedy and evil? Paulson, Geithner and Bernanke shold all be in prison!"
Very simple, THEY ARE JEWS. The Jews created the debts. The Jews ran the banks which got the trillions in undeserved "bail out" money. The Jews rub their gnarled hands with glee as the non-Jews starve. The Jews are in charge of the Whitehouse monkey and created the whole TARP scam. The Jew in charge of the Pentagon stole $2.3 trillion. Spot the JEW.
Matrix29bear 4 months ago
I would love to water board this ass on a daily basis. Make him watch barnie at massive volume for the rest of his life
Steelman442 2 years ago 2
Why is this asshole Paulson still walking the streets and not in prison???? Check out his stuttering and thumb twittering....he needs to be arrested and tried for high treason.
kellinger 2 years ago 6
Henry Paulson should be in jail, sharing a jail cell with Bernie Madoff. he is a crook, he is responsible for millions of Americans losing their jobs, and he repeatedly lied to the nation and the Congress to bail out Goldman Sachs. every patriotic American should spit in his face if they are unfortunate enough to be in his presence.
tsartodd 2 years ago 4
It would be nice to think that Paulson is the main reason why the American people are $700+ billion poorer, but he is just a large cog in a machine that is filled with many, many more!!!! Bring back ethics and morals to this country at the family level and we may have some glimmer of hope for the future.
Paulson and his kind should be banished!!!!
stevetundra 2 years ago
Am I to understand that a White House lawyer, presumably politically sympatico with the President, gave Sec'y Paulson an ethical "you can do as you please" card? Frak! If not there, then from his ethics lawyer at Treasury, but I dunno which'd be worse. Now, this is the Bush admin. God help us under this new admin! (Or, it proves, actually, how alike they are underneath.)
atsdroid 2 years ago
Was there any doubt that Hank was working behind the scenes with his band of thieves to corner the market for good old Goldman Sachs !!! God Bless Mr. Stearns. Hank you have the cash but no dignity. People will remeber you as a thief.
1967plexi 2 years ago
I'm no economist, but it seems to me we could have, like Mr. Stearns said, bailed out homeowners instead of banks - a bottom up, instead of top down, approach. We could've forced modifications of mortgages, slashed interest rates, and helped people stay in their homes.
But our government offices are staffed with people from the financial industry, like Mr. Paulson. I wouldn't expect them to have a consumer oriented approach to much of anything. Not suprising at all.
mcmiljr 2 years ago 2
@mcmiljr Exactly! SO what do we do about this now?
votingronpaul2008 1 year ago
great work congressman, right on the dot, paulson helping his buddies. paulson shame on you assh...!
juanjuliodc 2 years ago
We need more Congressmen like Mr. Stearns. Mr.Paulson showed lack of veracity by his inability to answer with conviction. He hesitancy of speech, his nervous demeanor and his vague response shows that he was lying. What a disgrace. Thank you Mr.Stearns.
ravilai 2 years ago
All just words. They did what they wanted, and you ain't gonna do shit about it.
Have a nice day.
wutdaflek 2 years ago 3
Great work, representative Stearns.
Paulson watched as GS's competitors failed and didn't act until 'his' firm was in jeopardy. If that doesn't signal conflict of interest, then I don't know what does.
I see Paulson's aged tremendously over the last year. He's lost his swagger and tries to psych himself up: "The next thing I'm going to say to you, and say to you very clearly... um.. o... umh....Totally..."
Weak. He knows full well what he's done, only his wealth and connections protect him.
zaz25full 2 years ago
God bless us!
djshajeb73 2 years ago
That grandstanding Congressman was outrageous. Presumably he would have been even more a demagogue if Paulsen were an appointee of Obama - - it was hard to label Paulsen a communist. What in hell did the Congressman want - - that in order not to help out these big banks, we spite ourselves and allow the entire financial system to melt down? Unemployment will stil test 10%, approaching its post-Depression high. Thank heaven we had someone like Pauisen in charge, who knew what he was doing.
dcohensing 2 years ago
Paulson Knew what he was doing ??? Ya think??? While at Goldman Paulson sold and created a large portion of the toxic assets that blew up, which then needed taxpayer money in order to refloat the banks. If you cant see this as crony capitalism at best maybe you need to think about it a little bit. I do agree with the "grandstanding", where were these pointed questions from the senator when Paulson first asked for tarp.
anolmec 2 years ago
Like most people, he missed the boat regarding the threat posed by all of those mortgage-backed securities, but at least he understood as well as anyone the seriousness of the threat to the financial system last Sept. As it was, the financial crisis triggered the sharpest 2 quarters of contraction in the world economy since WWII. We will never know what would have happened if they simply took the Andrew Mellon approach from 1930 to allow a "therapeutic cleansing" of the banking system.
dcohensing 2 years ago
Comment removed
daveibukun 2 years ago
This all goes to show how the Federal Government is in bed with big business. Democrats and Republicans. It doesn't matter if it's Paulson or Ruben or anyone else! Congress never should have authorized money to bail out the big banks. It's unconstitutional and now it's opened a flood gate for polititions to stick their nose into private business where it doesn't belong with tax payer money. Bush should be ashamed of himself if at all possible for starting this trend!
escomments 2 years ago 3
That was brutal. And Paulson earned every minute of it.
gat867 2 years ago 4
Wow. this is brutal. for a second there i started to feel bad for Paulson........... for just a second though.
mashleyeverett 2 years ago
Yeah, what we really needed was for Paulson to recuse himself in the middle of this mess, spend several months trying to figure out who an appropriate replacement would be, and in the mean time, watch the banking system and US economy collapse.
whiskytangofoxtrot1 2 years ago
Yes if lehman was going bankrupt, some of the other giants in the industry should have gone too. Americans had already voted NO on large bank bailouts. Many capitalist were bracing for the worst, and Paulson only got rid of his former firm's competitors and stepped n, 2 save his favorites or firms who were necessary to achieve pass through operations. The point is, Americans were bracing for the worst and without interference we would b done with CORRUPT New York Hangers On F^cKTaRD bank execs.
s3tt4h 2 years ago
Obviously, you know nothing about economics. Don't you understand that the unemployment rate is at 10% partly because of Lehman's collapse. You obviously don't understand the extreme chaos that the Lehman bankruptcy caused: MONEY STOPPED FLOWING (credit markets froze) and if Bernanke and Paulson had not gone to congress to ask for a bailout, THE ENTIRE ECONOMIC SYSTEM OF THE US WOULD HAVE COLLAPSED.
daveibukun 2 years ago
@daveibukun
That's total nonsense. You are preaching the same propaganda the government did to ram the Patriot Act through. Bush told Congress not even to DEBATE the Patriot Act because "another attack could be imminent." It's the same thing with the bailouts. We are going to to have a far great crisis down the road as a result of what they did in the form of massive inflation and debased dollar. The dollar crisis will be far worse than anything in 2008.
rmccay88 1 year ago
@daveibukun obviously, you know nothing about economics. Don’t you understand that when you print a large amount of capital and flood it into the economy by giving it to the banks, when that money is spent, by the banks first, that the prices of things like food, clothing, and gas go up and it puts a tremendous amount of pain on lower and middle income families and provides no releif for people losing their homes?
Ultravis66 1 year ago 2
whisky, we would be done with the burden of corrupt banks & their degenerate executives, & would have tolerance left over to welcome better leadership n2 the banking industry.
Yes, absolutely, he should have stepped down&let the other large banks fail. Do not buy n2 argument it would have been too much4the country... It would have been heavy on NY, because N.Y. breeds corrupt bank execs who ruin large businesses. But there were1000s of banks2pick up&move on without these crooks & fops.
s3tt4h 2 years ago
@whiskytangofoxtrot1 hahahahaha, it's collapsing anyway fool!
djherich 1 year ago
Mr. Stearns,
You are a grade-A grandstander. Investigations this important should not be conducted with passion, anger, or agenda. I suspect that if you were having a private interview with Mr. Paulson, this exchange would have been civil and actually instructive. Tell the world ONE SINGLE THING that was gleaned from this exchange that the American people did not know already. It seems the only times politicians reveal their true selves is when they don't know the cameras are running.
kylem8654 2 years ago
Actually, there are some things he disclosed that are important. Some representatives feel mislead, and this was one of the first times, some representatives, had a chance to meet with Paulson, since Sept 2008. Paulson does not make himself accessible, except in public hearings. He is an aloof administrator who stone walls people of importance and mainly interacts more immediately with those who are corrupt, or are doing a dishonest work product which is taking advantage of others trust.
s3tt4h 2 years ago
Kylem, we learn of the outrage which is appropriate & that Paulson was doing a bait & switch or similar scam, saying he was going2help mortgage holders, but when he got the money in hand, flip-flop acted n fraudulent conversion with money entrusted2 him. The original purpose he was given the money was suppressed, and the real purpose manifested when 2 late. See bankers converting tax payer funds by dishonest tact, into wealth for banks, & executives of same.
s3tt4h 2 years ago
kylem, ..And we also learned that Congress is slow in prosecuting white collar criminals and high-officers, because they respect higher officers, even when they are corrupt in-grateful reprobates, who take tax payer money and by dishonest tact, convert it into their own wealth or wealth for their friends. It is called Fraudulent Conversion.
Here we learn that this representative is loosing faith, in top offers, and learning more, they should be in prison, because they exploit public trust.
s3tt4h 2 years ago
This is a classic show of someone squirming in his seat and stammering to get out of answering properly. He stalled long enough for the time to expire.
jsyc07 2 years ago 3
big talk but in the end it means nothing. i like how they put on a great show for all the suckers and some how the suckers think something is going to change.when all these scum get voted out (congressman and senators) that will be the day there will be change. they had there day they blew it
soloM81 2 years ago
Paulson never was asked about the shares of Goldman Sachs held by members of his family or trusts. Paulson took the job because he was going to save enormous sums in taxes on the sale of his assets. He could have put the shares of GS in a blind trust. That is what Donald Regan did with his shares of Merrill when he became Sec. of Treas. Folks Paulson should NOT have been given this job, period. You the tax payer have and continue to be bilked by the folks at Goldman.
Boatmedici 2 years ago 2
Good show Cliff, but so what? What's changing? It's only getting worse. Now this government of criminals are going to deal with the toxic commerical real-estate by creating and selling new RIETs as new IPOs, which criminal GS will lead and their going to sell these to those managing 401k, 401b and other types of retirement plans. They will rob us again and you are all asleep, or maybe your involved in this next wave of theft. Who knows anymore.
ea32da32 2 years ago
Thank you! If you and your peers keep speaking up the people will support you!
busta57 2 years ago
ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu That was fucking GREAT! Just listen to that dirty rat stammer and shake! WE KNOW THE TRUTH PAULSON, YOU AND YOUR BUDDYS ARE GONNA PAY!!
ElOmarco 2 years ago
Way to go Cliff Keep these FED reserve crooks at bay they are killing us. The banks are all crooks 12 of my friends are in foreclosure and no they did not all just go out and buy a house some of them have been paying on the home for years. Keep Helping US. This is the first time I have been glad I voted for some one. You have my vote as long as you act for the people not the companies.
vendarsr 2 years ago
your friends went into foreclosure because they brought a house to expensive for there income. don't blame your friends stupidity on the banksters.
prickett233 2 years ago
This is not the case, they lost their jobs and had lowered income due to the banks fouling the economy. The man Cliff is speaking to is a Banking crook Paulson is the worst crook in history
vendarsr 2 years ago