They Put a Gun to Your Head, Take Your Money – And Then Tell You It’s Good For You

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September 25, 2008 12:22 PM EDT by Cody Willard

They Put a Gun to Your Head, Take Your Money - And Then Tell You It's Good For You

Laws not working for the guys who took on too much risk and now are losing their shirts? Just change 'em mid-game.

The Treasury Secretary and his lover, the head of the Federal Reserve, suddenly get bearish AFTER the market's down 30% and the credit markets have ALREADY stopped working? Throw out all contract laws and bankruptcy laws and anything else that resembles the Constitution and create ad hoc policies like outlawing the right to privately borrow someone else's stock and sell it to someone who wants it because you believe the stock might go down. Oh, and also making shorts who got this debacle right get formal approval and scrutiny so they have to cover.

Oh, and let's also extort a trillion dollars out of the system from my mom and dad because they obviously have no idea and therefore no right to decide how to allocate that capital effectively anymore.

Those two lovers got bearish, remember? And if they don't come to your house and take your money with a gun to your head, then you're going to really regret. Trust the guys with guns. NOT!

Then the politicians who see a major opportunity for the greatest power grab ever tell me and Rebecca on Happy Hour last night that my mom and dad just need to be educated and then they'd definitely want the guys with the guns to come take their money.

Look, these guys with guns who want to take your money ain't on your side. If Warren Buffett and Bill Gross truly believe that there's money to be made by buying up these distressed assets from these formerly very rich financials, then buy all means I think they should go for it. But not by cheering on the guys with the guns who want to come to my mom and dad's house and take the money they've saved running their small town veterinary practice for the last 35 years.

Pimco's got $800 billion in assets. If you, Mr Gross really believe those assets are a great buying opportunity, then dude -- take your $800 billion and make the bet! Don't do it with my parent's money unless they choose to give it to you.

To summarize these bankers and bureaucrats and politicians position then:

(While holding a gun to your head) "Buy these assets from us. We promise that it's a great time to buy them."

We probably hit DJIA 10,000 in a heart beat if we don't pass this bill. We probably spike 500 or 1000 points in the near term if we do pass this bill....and then we'll eventually see DJIA 9,000 or lower because central allocation of capital is always politically-driven and not profit-driven...and only profits make stocks go up. These guys who think this destruction of capitalism and the right to profits is a bullish thing are dead wrong.

8 Comments

andy48

NEWS FLASH, My 24 year old daughter just graduated from college and six months later all her student loans are due. Because banks are not lending she couldn't consolidate her loans . As a result she has to make minimum payments on all 18 loans or $2000 a month payments. I her father am disabled and her mom drives a school bus. We can't afford $2000 monthly payments. THANKS CAVUTO'S ZOMBIES for passing this bill. ANDY AND FAMILY

October 4, 2008 at 1:26 pm

A GEN Next View: By Cody Willard - They Put a Gun to Your Head, Take Your Money - And Then Tell You It’s Good For You « Mcauleysworld’s Weblog

[...] think this destruction of capitalism and the right to profits is a bullish thing are dead wrong. http://cody.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2008/09/25/they-put-a-gun-to-your-head-force-you-to-let-them-alloc... CHECK OUT THIS “20 SOMETING’s” Perspective on Fox Business [...]

September 29, 2008 at 10:58 am

Mike

GOLD, GOLD, GOLD!! WHY CAN'T THE GOVERNMENT PAY ITS OWN DEBT WITH THE TRILLIONS OF OUNCES OF GOLD IT ALREADY HAS??? ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL IN THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO LIQUIDATE THEIR ASSETS TO PAY THEIR DEBT -- BY LAW.

September 25, 2008 at 6:17 pm

Bryan Judah

When the phone calls to the congress men do not work, the votes will. Remember for many of our elected officials this is an election year. If your representative votes for this bailout, be sure to VOTE him/her out of office. Maybe we can get some people in Congress that will do what is best for average Americans for a change.

September 25, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Paul

History has shown us that whenever the federal government interferes with capitalism, it only causes a delay in the recovery. We need to lower spending and taxes; remove roadblocks to the startup of new business and get government out of the way. The best thing we could do now is to demand a responsible government ruled by the constitution. If it needs to be modified, so be it. Just don’t make law that is not supported by the constitution. If congress isn’t restrained by the constitution, why do we have to obey any law created under it? Perhaps it is time to start over, hold a constitutional convention and decide how we will live and under what forms the constitution will take. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us to make the right decision.

September 25, 2008 at 2:07 pm

Eric

Cody: You seem to one of the few voices screaming that this bailout is a very Bad deal and nobody’s hearing you. Hey, cheer up…things can only get worse. The money to back this up is not there so they will be printing money to fund this deal. Inflation will go up and everything will be worth less, jobs will shrink, revenue will go down and more will jostle for suckling position on the government teat. Enjoy this small rally because this ‘fix’ will not do anything for the underlying problem Facing us: There are no profits and there is no money to buy anything. And this just in from Reuters: China banks told to halt lending to US banks. Are we having fun yet?

September 25, 2008 at 1:58 pm

Jeff

Amen. I'm not sure I understand the political motivation for the urgency, but I'm sure they see this as a great time for a power grab. Let the market decide on these issues. It will be painfull, end sooner, and we will come out of this much stronger.

September 25, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Justin

I have my doubts about the very legitimacy of this entire nation. It's really fascinating studying the history and the erosion of freedom within a constitutional republic. It's all been down hill since the Whiskey Rebellion. From there we can move to Lincoln's war of northern imperialism. The development of state education in the late 1800's. The establishment of the federal reserve (this really sealed the deal). A tax on income (a form of feudal serfdom). New deal/Great society (more properly named medical industrial complex formation and war on the middle class). More recently, eminent domain in Texas for a NAFTA highway no one wants, the Patriot act (I'm probably on some government watch list as I type this) and the nationalization of the mortgage industry. Reagan and Coolidge talked a good game, but the government never secedes any of it's power gained without my consent. Kennedy tried to put a stop to federal reserve notes. We all know what happened to him. We are the slaves on the plantation and the vast majority of the population doesn't even know it. A perfect system for the people benefiting at the top of this ponzi scheme. The illuminati watching us work like dogs. Leeches that do as they please while taking their cut from the slaves that don't know any better.

September 25, 2008 at 1:35 pm

about this blog

Cody Willard is an anchor on the FOX Business Network. Willard is also the principal of an investment management company. He was a long-time featured columnist for the Financial Times and TheStreet.com as well as a regular featured economist and stock picker on CNBC's ''Kudlow & Company."
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They Put a Gun to Your Head, Take Your Money - And Then Tell You It's Good For You