So let me get this straight: the BANKS took the CITIES to the CLEANERS, and now THEY get the BAILOUT?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!
Also see: Buses For Banks
What is with the POLITICIANS WORKING for the BANKS?
Time to VOTE 'EM ALL OUT!!!!!
"Cities, government agencies took global gamble" by Charles Duhigg and Carter Dougherty, New York Times News Service | November 2, 2008
NEW YORK - On a snowy day two years ago, the school board in Whitefish Bay, Wis., gathered to discuss a looming problem: how to plug a gaping hole in the teachers' retirement plan.
It turned to David W. Noack, a trusted local investment banker, who proposed they borrow from overseas and use the money for a complex investment that offered big profits. The board and four other nearby school districts invested $200 million in Noack's deal, most of it borrowed from an Irish bank. Without realizing it, the schools were imitating hedge funds.
Across the country, New York subway officials were also being wooed by bankers. Officials were told that just as homebuyers had embraced adjustable-rate loans, New York could save money by borrowing at lower interest rates that changed every day. For some of the deals, the officials were encouraged to rely on the same Irish bank as the Wisconsin schools.
During the go-go investing years, school districts, transit agencies, and other government entities were quick to jump into the global economy, hoping for fast gains to cover growing pension costs and budgets without raising taxes. Deals were arranged by armies of persuasive financiers who received big paydays.
But now, hundreds of cities and government agencies are facing economic turmoil. Far from being isolated examples, the Wisconsin schools and New York's subway system are among the many players in a financial fiasco that has ricocheted globally. The bank at the center of their saga, named Depfa, is now in trouble. The Wisconsin schools are on the brink of losing their money, confronting educators with possible budget cuts.
Also see: Birmingham Bailout
Interest rates for New York's subways are skyrocketing and contributing to budget woes that have transportation officials considering higher fares and delaying long-planned track repairs. And the bank's problems have threatened the stability of its parent company in Munich, forcing German officials to intervene with a multibillion-dollar bailout to stop a chain reaction that could freeze Germany's economic system.
The trail through Wisconsin, New York, and Europe illustrates how this financial crisis has moved around the world so fast, why it is so hard to tame, and why cities, schools and many other institutions will probably struggle for years.
Bush's TRUE LEGACY!!
To see how they ripped of New York, go HERE
