GEITNER, PAULSON, BERNAKE - THE BANKING TAKEOVER

You know, I'm not really sure if the folks in DC are so arrogant they believe us to be fools, or idiots. Or are we the people really blind to what they are doing in DC. Or are we really the fools and idiots they believe us to be?

Lets talk about Tim Geitner for a moment or two. For typing sake I will call him Mr T.

Hopefully we all have heard about Mr T's tax problems. They came up during his conformation hearings, and were dismissed as mistakes anyone could make. Except his were made over and over again over several years. But I don't want to talk about that. If you remember he was the only man who could do the job.

At the time we thought that meant saving the economy. We may have to rethink just what his job was supposed to be. Saving the economy seems to be the last thing on his agenda. The takeover of American Business seems to be at the forefront.

Mr T came from the NY Federal Reserve. Strike one in my book. He is a bureaucrat, who has never actually run a business of any sort in his life. So it only makes sense that he is now running the entire financial industry of the United States.

Here is an odd connection for you to ponder. When our Dear Leader was a boy in Indonesia, his mother worked for Mr T's Father. I can picture the two of them playing together now.

In his capacity on the Federal Reserve, he and Mr Paulson (Mr P) strong armed the banking CEO's into taking TARP money. It has come to light that Bank of America and Wells Fargo neither wanted or needed the infusion of government money. They were told by Mr T and Mr P that they did not have a choice. The government was buying in. That only made minor headlines at the time.

This made even less headlines. Ken Lewis, who was the CEO of B of A, remember, he didn't need or want any government money, was told by the Dynamic Duo he had no choice, so he acquiesced. At the time B of A stock was worth over $50 a share I believe, though I might be off.

I believe Ben Bernake was in there somewhere as well. I will call him Mr B.

We the public, were told this TARP money was to buy the TOXIC ASSETS from the banks so they could stay solvent. We the people also voiced our firm opinion that this was yet another bad idea. We the people were ignored again, and they went ahead with the plan.

What we were not told is the buying of Toxic Assets was never the plan. And to this day, not one single dollar has been spent buying these assets. What the money was for, is the buying of other failing entities.

Mr T, Mr B and Mr P told Mr Lewis from B of A that he was to buy Merrill Lynch. Mr Lewis discovered that Merrill Lynch had hidden millions of dollars in losses on their books, and like any good businessman, wanted out of the deal

Put on them tin foil hats, because this is where you're going to say, this could never happen here.

Andrew Cuomo, the Attorney General from NJ has been trying desperately to find a case that will put him in the National spotlight. He tried with an AIG witch hunt, but that just led back to Congress (tin foiled again). So he decided to go after Mr Lewis.

Mr Lewis was called to NJ to give his testimony. What, you didn't see this on CNN?

Oh well, Mr Lewis said, under oath, that Mr T, B and P were all informed that he wanted to get out of the Merrill Lynch deal because he discovered millions in losses that were not disclosed at the beginning. Which in itself is against the law. He was told by Mr T, P and B, that he was to go through with the deal as planned anyway.

Mr Lewis said he would go to the SEC, and tell them what the situation was. He was then told by Mr T, P and B that if he did that, not only would he be removed, but so would the entire Board of Directors of B of A.

A tough place to be for sure. Up against three of the most powerful men in the country. Mr Lewis went along with their plan. B of A stock dropped to next to nothing once the real losses of the Merrill Lynch deal became apparent. Once again, a whole lot of Americans lost their retirements. Do you see a pattern here?

Now here is the part of the story that I really love. After Mr Lewis was called to testify, somehow his testimony leaked out. Mr Cuomo once again found the end of his trail in the government. Confounded again.

Mr Lewis however, was turned over to the SEC by the same folks that forced him to make the deal. The next week he was tossed out as CEO of B of A. A company he had built into the single biggest private bank in the country. I haven't heard how the SEC investigation is going. But I do hope he is cleared.

And, Mr T got pushed on the fast track to Secretary of the Treasury. Because he is the only man for the job.

I'll talk more about Mr T. later