Fernando Conrado: Lula vem sendo alvo de grandes vaias por todos os lugares que passa

The announcement in the last few days of a deal reached between the U.S. Treasury and the moribund insurance giant, A.I.G. provides a very lucid insight in to the nefarious and destructive world of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, otherwise known as T.A.R.P. Not only have A.I.G. received $152 billion to date and subsequently reported a third quarter loss of $25 billion, now they are to be cleared of their obligation on $53 billion worth of toxic credit default swaps. U.S. taxpayers are now on the hook for $205 billion courtesy of an institution which played in the Wall St. casino that passes for a “Financial Sector” and lost.

Election Fever is over and President Elect Barack Obama has until January to formulate a realistic game plan to address the unprecedented financial morass that he will shortly be inheriting. He will , no doubt, have to have the moral character to honestly inform his electorate of the true gravity of the situation they now face. Gone is the time for platitudes, electioneering and vacuous speeches. The time of “Change we can believe in” is over; now it’s time for “Change we have to Go Through.”