http://www.reuters.com/…

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has informed U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the most populous U.S. state may need to turn to the federal government for short-term financing because of a lack of liquidity in credit markets.

California needs $7 billion to cover short-term expenses and has planned to issue revenue anticipation notes for it.

“Absent a clear resolution to this financial crisis that restores confidence and liquidity to the credit markets, California and other states may be unable to obtain the necessary level of financing to maintain government operations and may be forced to turn to the Federal Treasury for short-term financing,” Schwarzenegger said in a letter to Paulson dated Oct. 2 and provided to Reuters on Friday.

“The economic fallout from this national credit crisis continues to drain state tax coffers, making it even more difficult to weather the continuation of frozen credit markets for any length of time,” Schwarzenegger said, adding he supports a $700 billion emergency financial rescue plan due to be voted on Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives.

It’s not like we’ve had states go bankrupt before. Perhaps California will be the first in modern times. One can only hope.

http://www.spiegel.de/...

The US government is buying bad debt for $700 billion. Now Washington is asking other countries to jump in and help, too, but the Germans are bowing out. Believing that the rescue package sends the wrong signal, experts from the country’s leading economics think tanks argue it’s the right call.

It’s not a call for assistance; it’s a scream for help. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is asking other countries to help buy up bad US debt. The US government is putting up $700 billion in taxpayer money in the hopes that the measure might restore stability in the financial system. Some countries are planning to help. But the German government has answered this call quickly and clearly: no.

Economics experts think that’s the right response. As they see it, in the long run, those responsible for the crisis — who have been cashed out with high salaries and bonuses for years — will not be penalized for billions “but will be let off the hook like everyone else,” says Carsten Meier of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). According to Meier, by injecting capital into the market, the US government is putting everyone who speculated and lost back on their feet and thereby standing in the way of a market cleanup.

Paulson has stated that the US government will pay a fair price for the bad debt, which Meier sees as sending “precisely the wrong signal,” adding that “people shouldn’t be rewarded for taking such high risks.”

Sad that Europe is calling the US too socialistic.

Not to in anyway justify the proposed bailout… but everyone is up in arms about how the taxpayers are supposed to cover the failures of the wealthy. If you look at the tax stats those who pay the bulk of the income taxes are the upper class. In 2005 the top 1% of income tax payers paid 39.38% of all income tax collected, top 5% paid 59.67%, top 10% paid 70.30%, top 25% paid 85.99%, and the top 50% paid 96.93%. While in a way, due to corporate income taxes and other incomes, this bailout is still socialism for the rich… it’s not entirely accurate.

From the email I just received:

On the day following the 221st anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, WTP Chairman and constitutional activist Robert Schulz today filed a federal lawsuit in United States District Court in Albany seeking to halt the execution of the emergency bailout of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) by the United States Government and the Federal Reserve.

The lawsuit asserts that the commitment of public funds and credit for the direct benefit of privately owned AIG is an ultra vires action by the United States Government and Federal Reserve, i.e., beyond the limited legal authority granted by the Constitution. The lawsuit asks for a “show cause” hearing demanding that the Government produce evidence of its legal authority to commit public funds for such a purpose, as well as emergency and permanent injunctions halting the bailout transaction.

Beyond the Constitutional deficiencies, the bailout establishes a dangerous precedent enabling the Fed and/or Government to nationalize virtually any business or property within the United States without legal authority or congressional approval.

The defendants include the Federal Reserve System, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanki, the U.S. Treasury, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson Jr. and the United States Government.

The WTP Foundation today issued a press release citing Schulz:

“Beyond the moral hazard and dangerous precedent established by this action, it is of vital importance that the American people recognize that the present financial crisis is a direct and predictable result of decades of constitutional violations by the Federal  Government.  Through a long-standing policy of disinformation and collusion with the Federal Reserve and Wall Street financial elite, the United States Federal Government has denied public access to information about the secretive operations of the privately owned and operated Federal Reserve and its monopoly control of America’s money system.

“This monopoly control of our currency by a private banking cartel has resulted in increasing distortion, volatility and cyclical (boom and bust) economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad.  America’s fiat currency (produced from thin air) is manipulated by the Federal Reserve for the benefit of its owners, major Wall Street financial institutions and the Federal Government and is not unaccountable to the taxpayers. These abuses of the Constitution have taken our financial system to edge of the abyss. The chickens have come home to roost.”  Click here to read the Complaint, the Memorandum of Law supporting the TRO, and Schulz’s Declaration which includes several recent articles from the New York Times.

As the announcer from Smash TV once said: Good luck! You’ll need it!

This won’t get anywhere but it’s nice to see someone is trying.

Merrill Lynch to Be Bought By BofA for $29 a Share

Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest broker, agreed to be acquired by Bank of America for $29 a share, or $43.5 billion, after being pressured into a deal by federal regulators.

Merrill agreed to the BofA sale, which represents a huge premium to its closing price on Friday of $17 a share, after talking to several other potential acquirers, including Morgan Stanley.

Morgan turned down a possible acquisition because it couldn’t examine Merrill’s books in 48 hours, a person close to the matter said.

Merrill plans to make an internal announcement to employees sometime between 8 and 9 am Monday morning.

Merrill came under pressure to find a merger partner came after its liquidity began “evaporating” Friday and the firm became worried about a sharp decline in share price on Monday, according to people inside the firm.

Merrill is expecting huge job losses with the merger. The brokerage division will stay intact, but there will be large-scale reductions in workforce. CEO John Thain is also expected to leave.

Lehman Brothers Plans to File for Bankruptcy Shortly

CNBC has confirmed press reports that Lehman Brothers is likely to file for bankruptcy protection as soon as Sunday evening.

Among details to be worked out: the accounting treatment for certain derivatives and repurchase positions, an area not currently covered by bankruptcy laws; and the orderly netting out of a variety of securities positions to which Lehman Brothers is contractually obligated.

Federal authorities are expected to be involved in the orderly disposition of Lehman assets if such a filing occurs. Sources knowledgeable about the weekend deliberations tell CNBC that without some government participation in the process, a bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers would cause major disruptions in the financial system.

Officials at the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury are taking steps to mitigate risk to the system and assure the orderly functioning of the markets tomorrow.

AIG, Facing Liquidity Crunch, Reaches Out to Regulator

Insurer American International Group, working to stave off rating downgrades and shore up the capital of its holding company, has made an unprecedented approach to the Federal Reserve seeking short-term financing, media reports said.

Chief Executive Robert Willumstad has reached out to the Fed late on Sunday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Fed normally oversees monetary policy and supervision of banks, AIG was seeking the funds as a temporary measure and planned to repay the Fed with the proceeds from asset sales.

AIG officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company, until recently the world’s biggest insurer by market capitalization, has been attempting to hammer out an emergency strategic plan after its shares fell nearly 50 percent last week on fears it faced a liquidity crisis.

And now we are hearing of another interest rate cut. As if this situation wasn’t scary enough.

Who’s taking bets on the Amero showing up sooner rather than later?

http://www.reuters.com/…

A meeting between top government officials and the heads of some of Wall Street’s biggest financial firms over the fate of Lehman Brothers broke up on Saturday but was set to resume on Sunday, a spokesman for the New York Federal Reserve Bank said.

“Senior representatives of major financial institutions reconvened on Saturday with U.S. officials at the New York Fed. Discussions are expected to continue tomorrow,” the spokesman said. Small groups were continuing to work into the night on unspecified issues that were raised at the meeting.

Efforts are under way among Lehman executives, potential buyers and government officials to craft a buyout plan for beleaguered Lehman, possibly before the weekend is over.

Lehman has become the latest victim of the global credit crunch but Treasury and the Fed have made clear they do not want to see taxpayer funds committed to any deal involving Lehman.

Among government officials at the meetings were New York Fed President Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.

I wasn’t able to pay attention to the market the 11th and 12th as a result of attending the Service Nation Summit so I missed the Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch stock plunge. (Morgan Stanley didn’t do well, Fannie and Freddie dropped quite a bit too.) The Fed claims that they won’t step in with credit because Lehman has been doing poorly for some time and have access to the discount window. Seems last reported was that Lehman was perhaps to be broken up in three ways with “Bank of America would acquire the bulk of Lehman Brothers, including its mortgage assets. Barclays, Britain’s third-biggest bank, would take a smaller parcel including Lehman’s asset management and fixed income businesses, while Goldman would take the rest.” However other sources are claiming Barclays has backed out citing it “couldn’t get guarantees from the government or agree on a private-sector deal to mitigate what it called Lehman’s “open-ended” trading obligations.”

It’s going to be interesting to see what comes out. They really want to figure out something before Asia markets open. Tomorrow could be a really nasty day.

In other news JP Morgan is in talks to buy Washington Mutual. With all these buyups and mergers the results remind me more and more of the 1907 panic where its believed that JP Morgan spread rumors of bank insolvency in order to buy their assets up cheap after the bank run which would inevitably occur. The neo-merchentialist/corporatist system we have continues to increase the power and wealth of the bankers and power elite at the expense of all the rest and the public continues to dig their own grave by playing into the hands of the banks and politicians by requesting more regulation and nationalization which only further expands their power.

For those interested in knowing more about the history of banking in the United States, The Great Depression and why the Federal Reserve System is bad:

America’s Great Depression

• Free: http://mises.org/rothbard/agd.pdf
• Print: http://www.mises.org/store/Americas-Great-Depression-P63.aspx

History of Money & Banking in the United States

• Free: http://mises.org/books/historyofmoney.pdf
• Print: http://www.mises.org/store/History-of-Money-and-Banking-in-the-United-States–P191.aspx

The Case Against The FED

• Free: http://mises.org/books/fed.pdf
• Print: http://www.mises.org/store/Case-Against-the-Fed-The-P69.aspx

I just checked the news and it looks like Bank of America has pulled out too. The Fed is claiming it won’t provide any funds to prevent the collapse. Tomorrow is not going to be pretty. I also noticed that Mr. Greenspan is saying the obvious: “the U.S. credit squeeze has brought on a “once-in-a-century” financial crisis that is likely to claim more big firms before it eases.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/…

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose in Frankfurt after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he will seek approval from Congress to shore up the mortgage finance companies by buying equity stakes and increasing lines of credit.

Fannie Mae gained 31 percent in German trading and Freddie Mac advanced 33 percent after Paulson said he would seek authority to buy unlimited amounts of equity. The Federal Reserve also agreed to lend directly to the two companies to help provide interim financing.

Paulson’s plan may put a floor under the shares, which dropped by about 50 percent last week on concern that shareholders would be wiped out if the companies collapsed or were taken over by the government. Concern that Washington-based Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, may collapse escalated last week, prompting Treasury, Federal Reserve and White House officials to forge a plan to rescue the companies should they be unable to fund themselves.

“Paulson said he would seek authority to buy unlimited amounts of equity.”

Hyperinflation, here we come?!

No wonder the stocks are up. Paulson is talking about turning all the cotton on the planet into FRNs.