Buffett sends love letter to Uncle Sam
The Oracle goes against the grain and praises the government for guiding the economy through crisis.
By Dan Freed, TheStreet
Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Warren Buffett toils in financial markets amid a sea of critics who bash the government from all sides, but going against the grain in the same way that has made him rich, he wrote a letter to Uncle Sam thanking the government for its work since the 2008 financial crisis.
When "businesses and people worldwide race to get liquid, you are the only party with the resources to take the other side of the transaction," Buffett said in an open letter to the U.S. government published today in The New York Times. "And when our citizens are losing trust by the hour in institutions they once revered, only you can restore calm."
Buffett singled out Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former and current Treasury secretaries Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair for praise, saying they "grasped the gravity of the situation and acted with courage and dispatch."
Geithner, who worked alongside Paulson during the crisis as New York Fed chief before succeeding him as Treasury Secretary, and Bair, who has remained atop the FDIC through the transition from the Bush to the Obama administration, have often been portrayed in the press as being at odds with each other.
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I agree with Mr. Buffet. The actions taken were similar to those taken by FDR when he became president and were vital to stabilizing the U.S. and ultimately, the global economy. You might read The Politics of Upheaval which gives you the parallel.
There are a lot of reasons other than the government for the economy taking. Private industry must take most of the responsibility.
Buffett is pandering to the Fed and especially the Goldman Sachs cronies who run this nonsense. Ask yourself "Has Warren addressed anything regarding the quadrillion-dollars or so of OTC derivatives?" Bear in mind, Mr. Buffett himself warned so many others of the destructive outcome this Mount Everest of paper garbage brings. I believe he's worried his investment in GS will likely tank. A word to the wise that Gold and Silver will win this economic war, and if you doubt any of what I've said, simply check and find out for yourself that GS is long gold, no freakin' surprise when Jim Sinclair opined months ago to the effect that even the enemies of gold are likely long, despite what jawboning to the contrary they make.
Bernanke is a M0R0N except when it comes to the printing press. I fully expect a QE3 because the Fed has really no other ammo to use, other than unpopularly-high interest rates.
Every rich person is in bed with George Soros. Soros is the one who collaped economies the world. If we don't wake up, US is next. We are already printing money at alarming rate to buy longterm treasury bonds by the way 500 billion.
I don't praise anyone because we are heading for the toilet.
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