The bailout will pay for the Iraq war

PAULSON: This is not an expenditure. … Money will come back in.

BERNANKE: What’s clear is that the $700 billion is not an expenditure. There’s going to be a substantial amount of recovery.

BUSH: Money will flow back to the Treasury as these assets are sold, and we expect that much, if not all, of the tax dollars we invest will be paid back.

via Think Progress comes the new line of rose colored bullshit from our elected and unelected betters. "Of course the bailout is a lot of money, but not only is it all going to get paid back, we might even make a massive profit. How can you not love this idea?" Why not? I mean we are so flush with cash after those grateful Iraqis paid us back for the Iraq war just like Perle, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, Powell, and Bush said they would. Since that investment scheme worked out so well, let's go bigger and try and turn and even bigger profit by buying worthless stuff with $700 billion. Then we'll bet it all on a horse.

C'mon GDub, you guys aren't even trying anymore. Not even new lies? I've lost faith in you. I have no understanding of markets and I know I'm being sold bullshit. These assets aren't undervalued, they're overvalued. Which is why there's a crisis. Betting that worthless shit is actually secretly made of platinum and diamonds is a bad bet. Paul Krugman so helpfully explains the solution to that "But how can we help the financial situation without making that bet? By taking an equity stake. That way, if it turns out that the feds are pumping money in at above-fair prices, at least they get ownership, just as a private white knight would have."

Which sounds exactly like what Dodd and Frank have decided to do. Which on the flipside means we might own a lot of banks and financial institutions. That at least protects the taxpayer more and it's a step up from hoping we can sell crap we bought high for even higher.