So damn true!
The following has been circulating. Thought it was kinda neet. ; )
From: Minister of the Treasury Paulson
Subject: REQUEST FOR URGENT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
Dear American:
I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.
I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 700 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.
I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.
This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used o protect the funds.
Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson
I perfectly understand that we need to do something about the current financial crisis if we don't want to create some sort of New Depression. But 700 BILLIONS?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I mean, we can REVERSE climate change with that amount of money!! We can paved roads throughout all of Africa and give away thousands of car to go with it! We can eradicate poverty for 5 years at least !! (ok, all these numbers come out of my head by they seem pretty plausible. In fact, I remember reading that we could eradicate poverty with the profit of the ice cream industry only, which worldwide amount to 13 billion annually, so not 5 years, 60 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I MEAN, COME ONNNN!!
It's not as if we didn't know something fishy has been going on for years, with golden parachutes here and there, the Enron warning and creative accounting, speculation as an acceptable financial behavior, the secrecy of hedge funds, etc. etc. This is even without talking about the fact that the most lucrative funds are weapons, tobacco and the like!
I much will the world need to throw at these voracious ludicrous profiteers ? How was it at the beginning of the summer? 300 billions from the EU or something similar? I know Japan and China too threw money in the system to keep it afloat.
And then there is still ridiculous people like McCain to say : let's cut tax! (whispering behind his hands "for the rich!") grrr.
Damn neo-capitalist ideology and damn stupid Americans who thinks that liberty equals no rules.