Lies

Lies, dripping off your mouth like dirt
Lies, lies in every step you walk
Lies, whispered sweetly in my ear
Lies, how do I get out of here?
Why, why you have to be so cruel?
Lies, lies, lies I ain't such a fool! 

Lies-Rolling Stones

Lies, whispered sweetly in my ear. Today I happened to catch our President signing the 2300 page nightmare of a bill called the "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act". And as he is wont to do, states emphatically that, "This reform will help foster innovation, not hamper it." And my favorite, "Finally, because of this law, the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes. There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period." 

Wow, so if I understand my President correctly (after all he did say, "Period") the government's (i.e., yours and mine) support of bankrupt Freddie and Fannie ends today!

Well, not so fast. Why, why do you have to be so cruel? Later in the day I caught a great interview with Neil M. Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program ("SIGTARP"). SIGTARP and Mr. Barofsky's job is to conduct and supervise audits of the TARP programs to protect the interests of the American taxpayers. A very noble job indeed. In his interview on the Dylan Ratigan Show he states, "When I ask people if the amount of Federal support for the nation's financial system has increased or decreased over the last year, their unanimous answer is, decreased." Unfortunately nothing can be further from the truth, taxpayer support has grown by 23% over the last year from $3.0 trillion to $3.7 trillion! Mr. Barofsky is screaming the truth, but is anyone in Washington listening? The simple fact, that the President refuses to acknowledge, is that the new Fin-Reg bill does nothing to stop this robbery. Lies and taxpayer funded bailouts continue. 

Here is the link to his interview:

White House continues bailout bonanza
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32450072/vp/38349626#38349626

And here is an excerpt from his just released report. The full report can be found here:

Executive Summary

"An examination of the broader context demonstrates that the overall Governmental efforts to stabilize the economy have not diminished. Indeed, the current outstanding balance of overall Federal support for the nation’s financial system, in actual expenditures and guarantees, including ongoing initiatives run by the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Department of Treasury (“Treasury”), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and other Federal agencies, has actually increased more than 23% over the past year, from approximately $3.0 trillion to $3.7 trillion — the equivalent of a fully deployed TARP program, largely without additional Congressional action — even as the banking crisis has, by most measures, abated from its most acute phases. This increase has focused primarily on additional Government support of the still-distressed housing market and the financial institutions whose fate has been so closely tied to it throughout this crisis, with additional support of asset prices and low interest rates (predominantly via the Government’s expanded role in the mortgage market) through increases in HUD programs and support of Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”)  more than offsetting the decline in amounts outstanding under TARP and in the winding down of several Federal Reserve liquidity programs." 

On a much more uplifting note, a website devoted to the truth:

Computational Knowledge Engine:

If knowledge is power...consider yourself more powerful!

This is one of the most amazing knowledge sites I've ever seen, please share!

http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/wolframalphaintro.html

Be careful out there,

Chris Wiles

www.rockhavencapital.com

This article contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of the Rockhaven Capital Management.  The author’s opinions are subject to change without notice. This article is distributed for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein are based upon proprietary research and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed.