More from Hank Paulson's Congressional testimony last week.
The following exchange is extremely important, especially considering this background of Kanjorski on C-Span discussing the closed-door Congressional meetings where Paulson made threats of chaos and Martial Law if the bank bailout (TARP) were not passed.
Rep. Kanjorski: "Please describe the meltdown. I'm hoping that you may remember whether questions of law and order were asked. Whether questions of the capacity to feed the American people, and for what period of time, were asked? I'm not going to say what I remember the answers to be."
Paulson begins speaking at the 3-minute mark: "If no action were taken...it could lead to chaos or even people questioning the basic [banking] system (5:15)."
Kanjorski offers him: "People who say we would have gone back to the 16th century were being optimistic."
Pauslon responds: "I asked Bernanke the same question. He said look at the depression, there's your answer."
What a friggin' joke. This is the exact same fear-mongering that was used during the crisis to get the bailout heist passed originally. And it's an example of the disingenuous behavior that Rep. Kaptur complained about so bitterly. By the way, they are talking about a run on the banks in this exchange but of course in abbreviated code-speak.
Rep. Kanjorski set off a firestorm a few months ago with this C-Span clip about the secret meetings with Paulson and Congressional leaders during the crisis last Fall. If you have not seen it, I recommend that you find the time to do so. It will leave you perplexed and angry.
