For all the angst when the bill failed, the passing of the mildly modified (i.e. with added pork) bill seems to have me with a mass attack of underwhelmment. The stock markets still went down, and nobody seems all that happy with the bill as it stands, particularly when many more comprehensive alternatives that actually looked at the underlying solvency issues rather than simply addressing liquidity problems had been mooted by various pundits. That a degree of oversight has now been established is good, but it it enough?
If anyone has read anything especially insightful about the passing of the amended TARP bill, please drop a link in comments.
On another note, IT BEGINS. Anybody else received an email like this yet?
Dear Friend,
I regret to inform you that as of recently, me and my father both have lost our life savings due to the stock market crash. My mother and Grand-mother are devastated. My brothers and I will have no funding available for school or to start our career.
Please, for the love of god, help us through our time of need!!
Any grant or funding information would be most appreciative!
Regards,
P*** M**** M***
29 S*** R*** ST.
H***, MA ***** (address redacted)
I’m worried how rampantly cynical I instantly am about that email. But I’ve probably been reading too many articles about “the poor victims of this financial crisis, their billions wiped away and now clutching, desperately, to their remaining pitiful tens of millions”.
I’m skeptical because it sounds like all of the 419 scams.
Yeah, uh, PMM, my mother’s 401K is basically nil, so stfu.
Certainly does sound like all the 419 scams – I probably should have mentioned that in the post, but it seemed so obvious!
Totally a scam-spam, I reckon.