I don't really think of myself as a tinfoil hat kind of guy (although I do doubt that Oswald Acted Alone). So I try to tread carefully when I consider two separate items from the sinister-motives file.
One is Barry Ritholtz's suggested explanation of the first bailout--TARP, that exploding fireplug of money that so many banks are trying to run away from today. Barry's suggestion: it was all a smoke-and-mirrors cover allowing Hank Paulson to save Citibank. Before you dismiss this as too weird for words, consider one strong argument in its favor: nobody otherwise has ever come up with the slightest good reason for TARP as originally adopted. On the principle that one reason trumps no reason, I'd say that Barry's offering is worth a whirl.
Two, from a friend of a friend: under cover of the GM takeover, the pinheads in the Obama administration are terminating profitable auto franchises as vengeance upon dealers who support Republicans.
Okay, there are just too many holes in this one. First as Joel says, we can assume that about 99 percent of all car dealers are/were Republican to begin with. Second, no car dealer ever admitted responsibility for anything, so if you are a terminated dealer, you are certainly going to point the finger at somebody else. Etc.
Still, as the poet said, politics ain't beanbag, and I haven't the slightest doubt that the upper echelons of the Democratic people are loaded with people who would do it if they thought they could get away with it. Might make for a fun Congressional hearing.
Update: Wichita, who thinks I am full of baloney on this one, adds that this is the kind of rumor that Dems would want to spread to mess with Wingnut heads. Hadn't thought of that, might be right.
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