The Observation Deck

The money quote is:

"If you got the right lobbyist and the right representative .....you get the tap on the shoulder".

National City did not have the political connections necessary to survive.

Our congressional representatives do not understand the political environment in which they operate.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123258284337504295.html

the corollary is that companies which had experienced great success in the past benefited from similar methods. Enron. Microsoft. General Motors. Standard Oil. Ma Bell. Al Capone.

The residential mortgage banking business at PNC Bank of Pittsburgh earned $226 million for the first quarter of 2009 driven by strong loan origination activity and favorable income from servicing rights.

PNC did not have much of a mortgage banking business before it was paid several billion in taxpayer dollars to acquire National City. National City was the 11th largest mortgage lender in 2007, originating almost 400,000 loans in that year.

Right now, with interest rates pretty much at an all-time low, all the giant mortgage lenders are once again making money hand over fist. Wells, by way of its Wachovia acquisition. BofA, by way of Countrywide. And PNC, by way of National City.

National City was the only top 20 bank that was not bailed out, but rather was forced to merge. So what happened is that Northeast Ohio taxpayers basically paid to hand over one of our Fortune 500 companies, rather than get the bailout money like all the other big banks got.. Now we get to watch National City churn out profits for the Pittsburghers.

Admittedly, National City was shaky at the time, and its mortgage loan operation and portfolio could still be an albatross if home prices continue to decline. But if home prices firm up, and interest rates stay low, “distressedâ€

[quote="Tim Liston"]And I am very distrustful of the PPIP initiative where government gets to hand-pick who gets to invest in “distressedâ€

Perhaps if you're going to use the word so much, Bill, you might take a second to look up the proper spelling of 'fascism'.

</internet pet peeve>

Brian Pedaci wrote:Perhaps if you're going to use the word so much, Bill, you might take a second to look up the proper spelling of 'fascism'.

</internet pet peeve>

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

Brian Pedaci wrote:Perhaps if you're going to use the word so much, Bill, you might take a second to look up the proper spelling of 'fascism'.

</internet pet peeve>

Thanks for the spelling lessen!

I for got the "s".

Here it is: s

http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews ... 4c.article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism