On Meet the Press yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg expressed his full confidence in Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to steer us out of the current economic crisis:
“Well, I think number one, Hank’s the right guy for now. He knows what goes on on Wall Street, he understands these complex financial instruments in a ways most people do not and most Treasury secretaries do not. So if I had to have one person at the helm today, I would pick Hank Paulson.”
I’m sure Hank Paulson is a bright guy, but if his public statements over the past week are any indication, he simply doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about. Here is a quote from Paulson just last Monday, September 15:
“I’ve got to say our banking system is a safe and a sound one,” Paulson told a packed briefing room. “The American people can remain very, very confident about their accounts and our banking system.”
Now here’s what Paulson told a group of Congressmen just three days later, on Thursday, September 18:
“We’re literally maybe days away from a complete meltdown of our financial system, with all the implications, here at home and globally.”
I’ll concede that last week was one for the history books with some amazing twists and turns. But still, just how far does Paulson have his head up his ass if on Monday he thought everything was essentially hunky-dory, and by Thursday he thought we were on the brink of armageddon? And if he’s that clueless, why in the world should we “just trust him” that his massive $700 billion bailout scheme is the only possible solution to the crisis?
And of course now they’re talking about making Bloomberg — who has such blind faith in Paulson — the “economic czar” in charge of administering Paulson’s boondoggle. The blind leading the blind. Perfect.
I’ve got a better idea. How about making Ron Paul the economic czar. Unlike Bloomberg, Paulson, Bernanke or any of the other usual suspects, Paul has been warning us for years that this was coming. He also has real solutions, well thought out, not a half-baked scheme that needs to be rushed through Congress with no debate.