Drawings + Sketches

Hank’s Dirty Boys’ Club

Henry M. Paulson Jr. announced today, from the headquarters of his newly formed “Dirty Boys’ Club” $800 billion in new loans and debt purchases to steer America away from another Great Depression. (Drawing after jump.) Hank hopes that this latest infusion of federal funds and guarantees will help thaw out credit markets, which in turn, it is hoped and prayed, will add vim and vigor to the housing market, consumer spending and business investment.

I drew this sketch today, it’s based on a photo of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson as he fields questions about the ever-expanding financial bailout. I have the feeling that he is no longer even pretending to act as if any of this will work. Instead, he and his pal Ben Bernanke at the Fed seem to be bent only on saving the failing institutions, both private and public, that got us all into this mess. The financial bailout is resembling a rescue of the “Dirty Boys’ Club”, and nothing more. Hundreds of billions are being poured into a giant, bottomless pit, in the form of equity infusions and guarantees on toxic assets. The massive amount of debt being accumulated to save the fools who created this mess will sap future economic growth and cripple the value of the dollar. But the members of Paulson’s club will never feel any of the pain – what a shame.

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© 2008 Splendid Marbles.