5 Powerful Men Who Were Catastrophically Wrong About the Economy—But Reaped Rewards Anyway
http://www.alternet.org/economy/5-powerful-men-who-were-catastrophically-wrong-about-economy-reaped-rewards-anyway
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1. Lawrence Summers. Economist Dean Baker has the lowdown on Summers. Bill Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary is well-known in economic circles for such accomplishments as his brutal hectoring of Brooksley Born over her prophetic warnings about mortgages, and his open mockery of IMF chief economist Raghuram Rajan financial reform as a “Luddite” because Rajan was—oh, what’s that word again?—oh, yes: correct.
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2. Tim Geithner. We all remember Geithner’s tenure as Treasury Secretary. He ignored repeated warnings about unemployment, and as a result he presided over the longest and deepest jobs depression in many decades. His stewardship of the TARP bailout program was so lax that, as the US Inspector General reported, bankers were allowed to receive bonuses so large they were apparently illegal.
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3. Alan Simpson;and 4. Erskine Bowles. They’re funded by anti-government billionaire Pete Peterson. They were made co-chairs of President Obama’s “Deficit Commission.” And they’re repeatedly, remarkably wrong. They also very right-wing, according to the polls, which consistently show that their proposed government cuts are too extreme for many Republicans and are widely disliked by the public at large. And yet, in the distorted worldview of Washington and the major media, they’re repeatedly presented as “moderate” or “centrist.”
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5. Rick Santelli. Government officials aren’t the only ones who can get their predictions spectacularly wrong and be rewarded for it. Tea Party hero Rick Santelli, who prognosticates on the economy for CNBC, has shown that economic ineptitude can be privatized.
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or
George Bush
or
The South,
or
The Red States,
or
"The Fringe Left",
or
"The Naderites",
or
"We were already in a hole"
or
"It takes a long time to turn a ship at sea"
or
Whatever other excuse we have all heard too many times.
[font size=3]These four were Executive Appointments.
NONE of them had to be "approved" by Congress or The Senate:
*Lawrence Summers
*Tim Geithner
*Alan Simpson
*Erskine Bowles.[/font]
These men where chosen by President Obama,
and appointed to positions of immense power
because they most represented President Obama's Vision for America's Economic Future.
Read 'em and weep,
......unless YOU happen to be a current member of America's 1%.
In THAT case, pop the champagne and PARTY!!!
You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS,[/font]
not by their speeches, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=firebrick]Solidarity99%![/font]
[font size=4]Now THIS is Bi-Partisanship!!![/font]
You will know them by their [font size=3]WORKS,[/font]
not by their promises or excuses.
...where the passing of TARP was announced.
I was surprised that Paulson was given the Lead Position over the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader in this announcement.
I am STILL disturbed that Paulson was even allowed in the building for this announcement.
"They" clearly knew their place in the Governmental Hierarchy.
I guess the man who delivered the 3 Page extortion Note
wanted to pick up his Trillion Dollar Check in person to make SURE there were no strings attached.
The Congressmen and Senators later all crowded in front of the cameras,
congratulating themselves for their heroism in "voting against the Special Interests" 
and "Saving the Economy".
Their claims of "Saving the Economy" is debatable,
but what is NOT debatable is that most (if not ALL) of the people voting to Give Wall Street the MONEY saved the Quarterly Profits of their OWN portfolios,
and dumped the cost on the backs of the American taxpayers.
