Can Citigroup Carry Its Own Weight?

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First Posted: 11- 1-09 02:44 AM   |   Updated: 11- 1-09 02:54 AM

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New York Times:

OVER the past 80 years, the United States government has engineered not one, not two, not three, but at least four rescues of the institution now known as Citigroup. In previous instances, the bank came back from the crisis and prospered.

Will Citigroup rise again from its recent near-death experience?

Read the whole story: New York Times

OVER the past 80 years, the United States government has engineered not one, not two, not three, but at least four rescues of the institution now known as Citigroup. In previous instances, the bank ca...
OVER the past 80 years, the United States government has engineered not one, not two, not three, but at least four rescues of the institution now known as Citigroup. In previous instances, the bank ca...
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LETS TAKE BACK AMERICA LIKE THEY DID IN 1930's!

1930'S WHICH AMERICA DO WE WANT? CORPORATOCRACY OR DEMOCRACY?

Harold Ickes, Secretary under FDR 1938 asks “What kind of new America will it be?”

Will we fit an economic system of private enterprise to our democracy?
Will Lawless Big Business Be Controlled to Save Democracy?
Will America attain Economic Freedom for Average Man as defined in the Bill of Rights?
Will America reach out in spirit to meet new conditions in modern world?

Or will it be another kind of America?

Has our system disgust people so much we welcome a system in which Liberty is regarded as an 1ntolerable Luxury?

Will Americans yield Democracy to D!ctatorship in exchange for 1llusion of Better Living?

In America it is the 0LD Struggle between Power of Money &Power; of the Democratic 1nstinct.

Economic Power in America does not rest in the People as it must for Democracy to endure.

Wealth is not Equitably Distributed but is so Concentrated it controls Those who Possess it.

America’s wealth is controlled by 60 Families who hold in their hands complete D0minion over the economic &political; life of AllAmericans.

These 60 families lulled Americans promising to put capital to work to raise wages &stocks; plus put 2 cars in every garage. They gained our TRUST!

These 60 families divinely claimed Genius over private enterprise &Promptly; Led Americans into Worst Peacetime C@tastrophe ever known.

Then the disillusioned people changed the government.

http://www.progressive.org/wx041409.html

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:56 AM on 11/02/2009
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New government bailed the 60 families out of their miscalculations and unintelligent leadership!

We preserved their corporate structures from going through the wringer of bankruptcy!

Government preserved the perverse management structure and then sought to modify how business is done to restore confidence and purchasing power of all Americans.

Americans no longer must wait for the gravy of the 60's benevolence to trickle down upon the exploited millions at the bottom.

Government did get the economic system back on its feet; did succeed in doing a job where the 60 families had failed.

By 1936 FDR said the 60 patients are over their panic and are raising their salaries and threw away their crutches.

Last spring government had business running so well it heeded pleas of private enterprise to abandon Economic Initiatives and balance the budget because heads of Biggest US banks were worried about runaway inflation

So the 60 in Private Enterprise took responsibility they eagerly and willingly assumed and what happened?

Several Things the 60 Families Did:

1. Masterminds, proved they learned nothing and repeated same mistakes before 1929.
2. Ran Stock market up and Helped it get started down.
3. Did next to nothing to increase purchasing power of labor to offset government withdrawals
4. They ran prices to the sky so the consumer refused to spend what they graciously let him earn.
5. Unwilling to do business democratically they began to make demands and threats.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:56 AM on 11/02/2009
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FDR and Millions of Americans were threatened by BIG BANKS like The Bank of US did 100 years ago to Andrew Jackson and lost!

Big Banks threatened to refuse to do business at all unless FDR and Congress/People repeal all we gained the Last 5 years and regrant them Su!cida1 License they enjoyed in l929.

Banksters refuses to employ capital unless they are once more given full power over America and its democracy to which every American man and woman over four generations has contributed sweat and b1ood.

Bankster want complete freedom to speculate without regulations protecting the people’s money!

Banksters wanted complete freedom to accumulate wealth and avoid taxes through legal tricks and dominate the rest of us without restrictions on their power.

Banksters threatened a general sit-down strike of 60 families and their capital created using the American people = a big-business Fasc!st America = an ens1aved America.

Can Big Business in Congress be compelled to conform to our laws, accept the Will of Majority, and cooperate with us to make democracy work?

Daniel Webster in a speech at bicentennial of Pilgrims landing said Growth&Survival; of Democracy depends on Equitably Distributed Wealth and everyone having a real chance to acquire an economic stake.

It's unbelievable that there developed a small group of VERY R1CH MEN who seek to dominate millions of Americans.

It was inconceivable that legal entities called Corporations would grow into Fr@nkenste!ns that threatened to destr0y liberty.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:57 AM on 11/02/2009
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Since Earliest Days of America, we have been taught to fe_ar concentration of private economic power especially d0minating influence of large corporate enterprises, and not without reason.

It’s a hard fight to preserve a free Democracy with Individual Enterprise against Concentrated Power.

Some say the fight cannot be won because government cannot control concentrations of private economic power.

But we can prove the f!ght can be won so that private economic power can master OUR government. Big business must be controlled if our democracy is to survive. Our government knows no privi0eged c1ass and acknowledges none.

Concentrated wealth &power; in hands of a few is just as da_nger0us today as it has been in times past to preserve our human rights.

In other nations and times, people were f0rced to carry the Ar!st0cracy on their backs but in America we have developed even more oppressive money ar!st0crats, corporate ear1s, and economic over1ords an even greater menace to our institutions than a titled class.

It is intolerable that Our Democracy depends upon Self-Restraint of Corporate Men strang1ing our Freedoms.

Fasc!sm is defined as “controlled capitalism,” but before long there is always someone ready and able to se!ze control of “controlled capitalism” and if our New America starts out as big business Fasc!sm, it will end with the methods of War1ords.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:57 AM on 11/02/2009

Not to rub salt in the wound, but it's not taxpayer money that is funding these bailouts, it's money that the taxpayers are BORROWING. We have a meganormous deficit remember?

So, not only do we supply the bailout money, but we pay interest on it. Money that bailed-out companies turn around and charge us interest for!

Wait, it's worse, we are borrowing this money from countries that aren't exactly our friends. Countries that our government allows our corporations to send our jobs to, countries that send us toxic goods!

But we are so divided and conquered, manipulated, and bamboozled that we don't care! Nothing else matters as long as our _____ * wins!

* Fill in the blank. Possible choices include political party, sports team, reality show contestant, etc...

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:21 AM on 11/02/2009
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Yes it is Money the Secret and Corrupt FED Reserve is Printing to INFLATE our Currency so that Wall Street can make FABULOUS Profits!

We the Taxpayers are paying through the Silent Taxes of Inflation and lost Opportunities!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:54 AM on 11/02/2009
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Past 80 years US has RESCUED CIT FOUR TIMES and Came Back to Prosper!

CIT has 276,000 employees+200 Million Clients = World’s Largest Bank a year ago!

CIT=A culture of deal-makin­g/CHURNING that trumped existing business talent+growth

If CIT remains stuck then taxpayers are on HOOK for OUTSIZED LOSSES.

CIT was once “too big to fail”=Paul­son+Geithn­er GAVE TARP WELFARE=$4­5Billion+F­DIC backed $300Billion in SOURED Assets

Capitol Hill worries US never gets back CIT bailout money+$300 Billion guarantee

CIT wrote down $Tens Billions+$873 Billion in credit cards it Charges 29.99% = “Queen of zombie dance!”

CIT equity is worth Near ZERO so bondholders must pay

CEO PANDIT focus on global banking+Shed insurance& brokerage+pay back $45 Billion in TARP

CIT Banking=retail banking worldwide+­investment banking+in­stitutiona­l client services

Unloading=Asset mgt. +Consumer/ Commercial real estate+ auto loans+ student loans+other acquired cos. at ROCK BOTTOM PRICES to G0LDMAN+JPM...

Geithner seems “unwilling to commit to conduct an analysis, despite.. specific request!”

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:57 AM on 11/02/2009
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Barofsky=TARP inspector general said “guarantees raise important oversight concerns.”

CIT was player in l929 CRASH, vi1ified as “bankster” using unlimited credit like today!

CIT underwrote Securities+Did Sales to depositors­=Glass-Ste­agall Separating activities

CIT’s Reed+Weill deployed an armada of lobbyists + Sen. GRAMM to Congress to remove Glass-Steagall

So CIT joined Travelers Group Insurers/I­nvestments under dealmaker Sanford Weill.

CIT=“franc­hises..the envy of the world. It was a remarkably powerful institution.”=$18Bn

Weill ousted Jamie Dimon 8 mos. after merger = Dimon to JPM with top talent following

Prince followed Weill and assets ballooned from $1.49 trillion to $2.19 trillion 2005-07

Dubious mortgage loans+CDOs on mortgages+other debt securities undermined CIT’s finances

2008 CIT had $57Billion in CDO’s on books-couldn’t sell=Played Ponzi scheme of recycling CDO’s

CIT used various accounting gimmicks to conceal assets that soured=Many pending LAWSUITS

Officials at OCC+ NY FED’s Geithner=regulators at time CIT Scammed+lost $35Billion

CIT relies heavily on uninsured deposits in overseas locales where customers quickly pull money at first sign of trouble

CIT accounting to temporarily move assets off balance sheet to look good backfired

Pandit’s hoping economy improves so Derivatives sold with big returns+mortgages are paid off

Squaring CIT will take more low interest+taxpayer assistance=NO CHANCE in HECK!

CIT bondholders will have to pay with lost investments!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:57 AM on 11/02/2009

They were in the middle of the last great crash too right?

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:50 AM on 11/02/2009

Citi filed bankruptcy today. How is that Hope and Change working out for you? Interesting to see yet another sector of our economy crumbling under Obama. Maybe he should care more about the economy than his golf game as he has placed around 26 rounds of golf this year.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:36 AM on 11/02/2009
- Chazmania I'm a Fan of Chazmania 58 fans permalink
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And Bush inc the Cheney Mafia kingpin? and what of there crimes and contributions to this mess? right! more denial born out of a self deluded ideology based on narcissism fear and duplicity!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:48 AM on 11/02/2009
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Of course Citigroup can carry its own weight, it owns the government.

Now that's a flawless business plan.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:29 AM on 11/02/2009
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Yes but a P00R Second Cousin to G0LDMAN+JPM!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:16 AM on 11/02/2009
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Citigroup Inc campaign donation to Obama: $701,290

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:18 AM on 11/02/2009
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Best Video Ever about American's financial situation: Elizabeth Warren: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A

PUT UP THESE POSTERS TO SHOW YOUR DISCONTENT:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21261649/Corporate-Lobbyists-Are-At-War-With-America
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21261436/Corps-at-War
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21140663/wallst

STOP THE BIG BANKS!!!
I pulled my money out and put it in a credit union!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:23 PM on 11/01/2009
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MIldmannered, that is a good post.

The government should have done that with all the big banks!

Nationalize them, Clean them up, and Sell the parts.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:42 PM on 11/01/2009

Great. Just let the government clean up the waste and corruption from itself first and then I would be on-board.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:45 PM on 11/01/2009
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The government owns 8 billion shares in CITI. It's in all our interests to see it succeed.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:53 PM on 11/01/2009

buyinbg shares was our first mitake, citi and golgman and the rest should have been allowed to fail and let the responsible banks pick up the pieces.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:56 PM on 11/01/2009
- jwalter I'm a Fan of jwalter 5 fans permalink

If you audited the Federal Reserve and found out who actually owns it, you would understand why certain banks are "too big to fail".

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:53 PM on 11/01/2009
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The only organization with even less credibility than CITI is the obama administration!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:46 PM on 11/01/2009
- BigBagel I'm a Fan of BigBagel 20 fans permalink

How so?

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:45 PM on 11/01/2009

Citi going Bankrupt will have a huge impact to the commercial real-estate industry the ripple effects will be felt by us all, the reality unfortunately it should have happen last year and we could have gotten through all of this a lot faster. Now another year of serious pain to the economy.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:02 PM on 11/01/2009

Wasn't Iceland and its banks totally bankrupt at the start of this year and somehow or other they are on good financial footing now?

How did they do it?

That might be a good article for Hu_f_f-Po.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:55 PM on 11/01/2009
- BigBagel I'm a Fan of BigBagel 20 fans permalink

They went back to cod fishing.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:45 PM on 11/01/2009

I have posted a number of times over this year that the federal government should nationalize citi, strip it of its toxic assets and toxic management and privatize it.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:54 PM on 11/01/2009
- BigBagel I'm a Fan of BigBagel 20 fans permalink

What do you do with the stripped toxic assets

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:46 PM on 11/01/2009

My mother had a Citibank credit card that I paid the monthly payment on every month, because she had a stroke and couldn't work. They raised the interest rate sky-high even though we hadn't missed a payment. The monthly payment was too much for me to able to afford and when we called and told them that we couldn't pay it, they could have cared less. So, we just stopped paying it and spoke with a bankruptcy attorney for my mother. After three months of no payments, Citibank called and tried to work out a deal for a lower interest rate and a lower monthly payment. My mother told them it was too late, and that she was going bankrupt and retiring! When she wanted to work with them, they wanted no part of it!

Might be why they needed the bailout!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:32 PM on 11/01/2009
- BigBagel I'm a Fan of BigBagel 20 fans permalink

Her balance is causing a default?

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:47 PM on 11/01/2009
- Tunde15 I'm a Fan of Tunde15 6 fans permalink

Pandit says, "We are not a troubled bank...we have assistance from the feds." Is that the new definition of a capitalist economy...the federal government pumping billions of dollars into failing banks to keep them from a total collapse? That's a new paradigm, isn't it? Is that what success looks like nowadays?

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:08 PM on 11/01/2009
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They will file for bankruptcy this week.

Place your bets.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:31 PM on 11/01/2009
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