Bailing -Out Billionaires?

The NYTimes is reporting that a new far-reaching and financially stupendous rescue plan is being advanced by King Henry at the Treasury and Chairman Bernanke at the Fed--two unelected, appointed officials--to address the systemic exposed by the collapse of Capitalism being played out on Wall Street.

The Dynamic Duo, who hitherto had preferred the quite and isolation of boardrooms to hatch their thievery, have deigned to brief members of the Legislative Branch on their scheme, the details of which have not been announced to the public, and might not have been briefed to the legislators either.

The Times reports that the plan centers around the Treasury, the Federal Government purchasing from private organizations securities that are essentially worthless, and doing this with countless hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.

No details have been reported regarding any financial sacrifices these bailed-out private entities will be compelled to endure. But it is clear the taxpaying public will, once again, be compelled to foot the bill for the gross miscalculations of individuals whose annual earnings, perhaps whose monthly earnings, surpass the lifetime earnings of the vast majority of United States citizens.

They ask a question in courtrooms: cui bono? Translated: who benefits?

We are going to be deluged with the usual platitudes: "All of society benefits." "We are saving the system." "Every citizen will be better off by what we propose to do."

That should not be enough this time around.

How much is Bill Gross, who runs the Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) going to make off this public handout? His firm manages approximately $162 Billion of credit securities (bonds.) Pimco reportedly saw their net asset value increase by almost 2% immediately following the announcement of the Fannie and Freddie bailouts. Two percent of $162 Billion equals $3,240,000,000. Not a bad day's work, huh? [Please do not misinterpret this as an attack upon Mr. Gross; he's one helluva bond guy who enjoys a stellar reputation as a straight-shooter. I do not know him personally, but have followed his commentaries for years, and have no reason to disagree with the straight-shooter rep he has earned.]

But how many Wall Street and hedge fund already-multimillionaires are going to find their pockets swollen by the Paulson-Bernanke Plan?

AT ALL COSTS, THAT CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN.