Famous Quotes of Prominent Americans in Our History

If you never considered our nation's past leaders as men of conscience toward Almighty God, the Bible & Christ, with regard to our nation's liberty and our freedom, then ponder their thoughts below.
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George Washington:
It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

Jim Elliot
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. (Lay hold onto Eternal Life.)

Thomas Jefferson:
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk (charge, sic) by the hour?

It is in our lives and not our words that our religion must be read.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

When a man assumes a public trust he should consider himself a public property.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Benjamin Franklin:
Rebellion against tyrants (tyranny) is obedience to God.

The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either.

Patrick Henry:
I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.

The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

I know not what others may choose but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death.

Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? The great object is that every man be armed.

John Adams:
Democracy... while it lasts, is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

The Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations.

There are two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live (the Bible).

Samuel Adams:
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.

The Constitution shall never be construed... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.

Abraham Lincoln:
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.

My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

Ronald Reagan:
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.

We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.

We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

Thankful...

It's time to take a respite from all the negative news that surrounds us, and take stock of what I'm truly grateful for. Granted, you cannot put all the pros & cons on a scale, and see which outweighs the other; it doesn't really work that way. Often, burdens & blessings are intertwined, inseparable. If God has no other intention toward us, it's to make us see the unseen, to look beyond the visible, and know the intrinsic pricelessness of all that is in spirit.
My most priceless blessing; my wife. She's the greatest earthly reason I awake each morning; to have the joy of her companionship each & every day. No other person enriches my life, moment to moment, day after day, year after year. She is my heart & soul.
Number Two: My children & my parents & grandchildren. I'm one of the few people my age who still have both mother & father still living. Plus, I am also blessed with two wonderful step-parents. All in their late 70's to mid-80's, in relative health, they live independently, able to reasonably function, and do as they can. I love, honor and pray for their welfare daily, and am oh so thankful for each day I have them. There's nothing quite like being able to call or go see them, and say, "Hi Mom, Hi Dad, I love you." And they respond, "I love you, too". I know these days are numbered, so I cherish each & every one.
I am also exceedingly blessed to have a collage of seven children; 5 boys, 2 girls, ages 21 to 38. All healthy, with all their faculties (sometimes questionable) & appendages. Never a serious illness or impediment; All working, 5 on their own, 2 at home in college. Ever a mixed blessing, they are as much pride & joy as trial & tribulation.
But let me tell you about my 3 granddaughters...
They're the most beautiful, most intelligent, most thoughtful, most loving, most considerate, most everything good of any creation God ever made. And there's ABSOLUTELY no bias in this statement! ABSOLUTE Truth! I've just got to figure out how to keep them just as they are, never growing up, sitting in my lap & beside me, reading them stories.
Last, but not least, are my joys of brothers & sisters, relatives & friends, whom I've shared so many countless, unforgettable times with. So many years of memorable moments, tears & elation, friendship & bonds, work & play, births and deaths. I wouldn't, nor couldn't, trade anything for a single one.

Yet, I count all this but loss for the one single greatest blessing I never deserved. And in this blessing, I know I will never lose all my aforementioned gifts. I shall see them again for all eternity. They will never grow old, never be sick or infirm, never experience pain nor sorrow, nor ever again be separated from me.
What is this one glorious gift of grace? The Gift of Christ.
"For YHWH GOD so loves me that He gave up His only Son, that if I will believe on Him, I SHALL not perish, but have eternal life." "Moreover, everyone, I declare unto you the Good News, how that Christ died for my sins & your sins, ACCORDING to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again the third day, ACCORDING to the Scriptures."

Do you have this gift? Do you have Christ? Do you have the joy of eternity with Him and your parents, children, grandchildren, family members & friends? Do they have Christ? Claim Him today by faith, and such joy is yours. Thankfulness will never be so sweet, so reassuring, so complete. "Behold, I stand at your door and knock. If you hear my voice, and open unto me, I WILL come in, and abide with you, and you with me." "The universe will pass away, but my words SHALL NEVER pass away."

I am thankful...

Grasping at Straws; Gasping for Air

Another bailout for business, nothing for American families & workers...Talk about wealth redistribution!
Imagine if you will, a large freshwater sea (taxpayers) regulated by a hydro-economic dam (our gov't), fed out through pipelines (finance, banking, business, industries, etc) to destinations everywhere (goods & services sold), with a portion (although somewhat polluted) fed back into our sea. Through age, dereliction, mismanagement, greed, and myriad other degradations, the machinery begins to operate inefficiently, ineffectively & out of control.
The dam had long allowed too much outflow from the sea (taxes, credit, mortgages, loans, mergers, buyouts, et al), while the pipelines swelled and soaked up as much as the dam would let out. (When the dam & pipelines exceed our sea's supply, they "borrow" more water from neighboring seas, but put the bill on our sea's tab.) The end destinations seemed watered enough simply through the over-saturation of the pipelines. The pipelines report, "all is well", and all the machinery churned harder with gluttony. Meanwhile, the polluted portion returning to the sea increases & begins to contaminate the entire waters, and ultimately, the entire system.
Yet, the dam continues to demand outflow greater than the quality & quantity the sea is capable to feed the bloated, asthmatic pipelines. Finally, the sea begins to dry up & die...and still the dam drains the sea.
While this analogy is simplistic, it is utterly succinct. Our gov't is killing our nation with bailouts and "bad" loans to businesses. Putting a band-aid on the cancre, while the cancer eats up the body, accomplishes nothing. The worsening pain & agony of the heart, body & soul of our nation will leave no one untouched.
Make no mistake. The Day of Reckoning is soon upon us.
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Citigroup gets massive government bailout

By Dan Wilchins and Jonathan Stempel Dan Wilchins And Jonathan Stempel 2 hrs 11 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The government rescued Citigroup Inc, agreeing to shoulder most of the potential losses from $306 billion in its risky assets and inject $20 billion in new capital, its biggest effort yet to prevent a big bank from failing.

The bailout, announced late Sunday, gives the government the right to buy another 4.5 percent equity stake, and marks its latest effort to contain a widening financial crisis that has already brought down Bear Stearns Cos, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Washington Mutual Inc.

U.S. President George W. Bush called the bailout necessary "to safeguard our financial system," and said the government would, "if need be," make similar decisions in the future.

Shares of Citigroup surged as much as 72 percent on Monday. The price of insuring Citigroup bonds against default fell by half.

"All in all, these actions should settle market jitters surrounding the company for now," CreditSights Inc analyst David Hendler wrote.

The package also gives Chief Executive Vikram Pandit more time to shed assets, slash payroll and boost efficiency after soaring losses from toxic debt led to $20.3 billion in losses in the last year. Analysts expect billion of dollars of further losses. Pandit became CEO in December.

Pandit "deserves a vote of confidence," Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup's largest individual investor, told CNBC television. "I am personally committed to Citigroup. No doubt about that." Alwaleed agreed last week to increase his Citigroup stake to 5 percent from less than 4 percent.

Citigroup received the latest government infusion after its shares plunged 60 percent last week to below $4 amid growing concern it would need large amounts of capital to survive the recession, and less than a week after it set plans to slash 52,000 jobs, leaving it with 300,000 employees.

The stock rose $1.92, or 51 percent, to $5.69 on the New York Stock Exchange after trading as high as $6.50. The annual cost to insure $10 million of Citigroup debt against default for five years fell to about $250,000 from $500,000, according to Phoenix Partners Group.

The Citigroup deal broadly lifted shares in the U.S. banking sector. In afternoon trading, Bank of America Corp jumped 23 percent to $14.07, JPMorgan Chase & Co advanced 17 percent to $26.66, and Wells Fargo & Co rose 14.5 percent to $24.91, all on the NYSE.

ON THE HOOK

The $20 billion of government capital comes after it injected $25 billion last month. In this round, the government is buying preferred stock that will pay an 8 percent dividend.

"Authorities will do whatever they feel is necessary to ensure that the Great Depression will not return," said Gavin Graham, director of investments at BMO Asset Management in Toronto. "The effect on confidence is too great." Graham manages about $50 billion and owns some Citigroup debt.

In exchange for the bailout, Citigroup slashed its quarterly dividend to a penny per share from 16 cents. It cannot raise the payout for three years without U.S. consent.

Even so, taxpayers are now on the hook for nearly $250 billion of potential losses in the $306 billion portfolio, including commercial real estate loans, leveraged loans, and other assets representing 15 percent of Citigroup's $2.05 trillion balance sheet.

Citigroup will absorb the first $29 billion in losses on the $306 billion portfolio, plus 10 percent of additional losses, for a maximum total exposure of $56.7 billion. The Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Federal Reserve would absorb the rest.

In return, Treasury and the FDIC will get $27 billion in preferred shares, of which $7 billion are a fee that Citigroup pays in exchange for the government guarantee.

The government is also getting warrants to buy $2.7 billion in Citigroup common stock at $10.61 per share for a potential he 4.5 percent stake. That's on top of the roughly 3.3 percent the government is entitled to buy under a previous deal.

"To stabilize the equity, we had to put behind us the issue of Citigroup's ability to withstand whatever would come," Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said in an interview on Monday.

Citigroup estimated the injection will give it a Tier 1 capital ratio of 14.8 percent, more than twice what the government requires. The government also increased Citigroup's access to the Fed's discount window, adding liquidity.

TEMPLATE

The Fed, the Treasury Department and the FDIC called the actions "necessary to strengthen the financial system and protect U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. economy."

Citigroup has one of the farthest international reaches of any U.S. bank, with operations in more than 100 countries. Investors have long speculated the government deemed it too big to fail because a collapse could cause global financial havoc.

The government package may become a template for other U.S. banks expected to face growing losses as the economy contracts. Losses once concentrated in mortgages are bleeding into other areas such as credit cards and commercial real estate.

The rescue magnifies the U.S. government's burden following bailouts of insurer American International Group Inc, Bear Stearns and mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury also has injected more than $300 billion into banks and other financial institutions.

Already, more than $1 trillion of taxpayer money is at risk, and the Big Three automakers are seeking $25 billion more to avert bankruptcy. President-elect Barack Obama may also seek up to $700 billion for economic stimulus.

Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said a $700 billion industry rescue package to soak up toxic assets from troubled banks, like Citigroup, will instead only be used to inject capital into banks.

That decision sent mortgage and other debt markets into a steep decline.

Citigroup's problems were compounded by its decision to move back onto its books or buy back the tens of billions of dollars of assets it had held off its balance sheet.

The bank's market value on Friday was just $20.5 billion, down from more than $270 billion two years ago -- and even below the $25 billion initial U.S. capital injection.

Unlike in the bailouts of AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Pandit and other top executives were not asked to resign, though the government will have the final say on their compensation. Not all investors were pleased.

"You're seeing an inept management team being rewarded by the U.S. government," said William Smith, whose Smith Asset Management in New York has seen its Citigroup stock plunge in value over the years.

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Dow ends up nearly 400 after bailout of Citigroup

By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer Tim Paradis, Ap Business Writer 30 mins ago

NEW YORK – Wall Street barreled higher Monday for the second straight session, this time in a relief rally over the government's plan to bail out Citigroup Inc. — a move it hopes will help quiet some of the uncertainty hounding the financial sector and the overall economy. The Dow Jones industrials soared nearly 400 points and the major indexes all jumped more than 4.5 percent.

The advance gave the market its first two-day advance since Oct. 30-31. Although investors sensed last week that a rescue of Citigroup was forthcoming, investors nonetheless were heartened, even emboldened, by the U.S. government's decision late Sunday to invest $20 billion in Citigroup and guarantee $306 billion in risky assets.

Wall Street's enthusiasm surged not only because the bailout answered questions about Citigroup but also because many observers saw the move as offering as a model for how the government might carry out other bank stabilizations.

"This could be the template for saving the banks," said Scott Bleier, founder of market advisory service CreateCapital.com.

"The government has taken a new quill out, they've gone to where they didn't go before in terms of trying to secure the system," Bleier said. "Some of that vulnerability seems to be gone now."

Still, the market remains wary, especially with the economy in a serious downturn. The Dow was up more than 500 points in the last hour before giving up some of its gains — many investors wanted to take some money off the table before the next bit of bad news arrives. And the market has frequently done sharp reversals since the start of the credit crisis 15 months ago.

The efforts from the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to help stabilize Citigroup are only the latest this year to support a banking system troubled by bad debt and flagging confidence. Besides implementing its $700 billion bailout plan for the overall financial industry, the government has bailed out insurance giant American International Group Inc. and taken over lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"You're definitely seeing relief," said Anthony Conroy, managing director and head trader for BNY ConvergEx Group. "More than anything, the Fed repaired some of the psychological damage that was being done to the sector. I think the Fed is poised to do whatever they possibly can to help the financials get through the current turmoil."

"Not all banks are unhealthy, so knowing that the Fed is there is enough," Conroy said.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 396.97, or 4.93 percent, to 8,443.39.

Broader stock indicators also jumped. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 51.78, or 6.47 percent, to 851.81, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 87.67, or 6.33 percent, to 1,472.02.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 30.25, or 7.44 percent, to 436.79.

Trapped in the "Matrix"; Prayer, Foreign Loans, Detroit, CitiGroup

I know everyone is disheartened by the ongoing avalanche of political, financial & economic morass. Many have asked, "Where's the bottom?" Assume there is none...We're in freefall.
In all reality, there's very little we can do physically to prepare for the days ahead. Our preparation must be spiritual, mental & emotional. If there was ever a time for prayer in Yeshua's (Jesus') name, this is it. Our forefather's did exactly this very thing, and they weren't concerned about political correctness. On July 27, 1775, they (our first Congress) held our first National Day of Prayer. They attended it at the old Christ Church in Philadelphia, PA. In attendance were John & Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock among others. They didn't have any qualms or question in re to whom they were praying, now did they? This is a historical & spiritual fact published in newspapers all over our young nation. Look it up yourself. I'll even send you the front page PDF myself.
I'm asking each & every one to do just this. Set aside a short time this Sunday, even if you've never done it before, and pray in Yeshua's (Jesus') name for our land. Pray it, mean it, believe it. No matter your persuasion, do it anyhow. If our forefathers considered it important enough to call a nation to prayer in Yeshua's name, how much more should we take heed now? Sadly, our present Congress wants nothing (in truth) to do with Yeshua, save for lip service. YHWH may not spare our land because of our backsliding away from Him, but He should be our first resort, not our last...
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US seeks $300Bln from Arab Gulf states

Thu Nov 20, 2:29 am ET

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.

Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.

Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.

The daily said the United States plans to use the funds to help the ailing automobile industry , banks and other companies suffering from the global financial turmoil.

The four nations, all members of OPEC, produce together 14 million barrels of oil per day, around half of the cartel's production and about 17 percent of world supplies.

The four states are estimated to have amassed close to 1.5 trillion dollars in surplus in the past six years due to high oil prices that rocketed above 147 dollars in July before sliding to just above 50 dollars.

The daily also said that the United States has asked Kuwait to forgive its Iraqi debt estimated at around 16 billion dollars.

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November 22, 2008

Editorial, NYTimes

If Bankruptcy Hits Detroit

Congress has given Detroit’s flailing automakers less than two weeks to come up with a restructuring plan that would justify giving them tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and ensure that they have a reasonable path back to profitability. We hope it is a good plan, because the lame-duck Congress does not have a choice.

Michigan’s three car manufacturers have said that they would go bankrupt this year without an infusion of taxpayers’ money. Failing to provide it would be a truly irresponsible act that could obliterate one or more companies, potentially causing other bankruptcies and costing many hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Unpalatable as it seems to underwrite the proven record of failure of Detroit’s automakers, Congress must provide sufficient money to shore them up until the Obama administration takes office. Then, the new president and new Congress can decide how to manage either a rescue package with tight strings attached or a bankruptcy process that ensures the fallen companies have a reasonable shot at picking up the pieces.

Bankruptcy proceedings are designed to allow ailing companies to be restructured into profitable businesses, but that is by no means guaranteed — and it requires infusions of credit.

In the current financial environment, where even the soundest companies are having trouble getting loans, the government would have to guarantee that financing is available so that any car company under bankruptcy protection could keep operating and paying its workers and suppliers while it is restructured.

A bankrupt carmaker would face another tricky problem: how to keep consumers from shunning its cars out of fear that it might not be around to honor its warranty. Any bankruptcy financing given to a car company should be enough to buy warranty insurance to cover its fleet.

None of this guarantees an orderly restructuring. A company in bankruptcy proceedings could try to avoid making tough choices and coast through on the government dime. Insuring warranties might create an incentive for the company and its workers to relax on quality control. But these concerns might be addressed by tying worker and executive incentives to car quality and establishing a ceiling for government bankruptcy credit.

To get America’s carmakers back on their feet, difficult choices will have to be made — including cutting labor costs and the cost of health insurance. That is likely to mean selling off some product lines, laying off workers and closing the least productive plants. It could mean renegotiating the deal with the auto workers’ union to pay billions into a fund to cover retiree medical costs.

Taxpayers will end up with a big liability even if the company turns around and is able to repay its debt to the government. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation is required to cover a substantial portion of the underfunded pension liabilities of any bankrupt company.

Economists Luigi Zingales and Joshua Rauh of the University of Chicago estimated that if General Motors were to collapse, underfunded pension liabilities would cost taxpayers roughly $23 billion.

It would still be our choice that the restructuring of blundering auto companies occur in an orderly way and be combined with a national strategy to deliver more fuel-efficient cars. Congress, so far, has failed in its duty to help make that happen. What must be avoided at all costs is for a big car company to spiral into liquidation.

My Reply: Everyone of you "bailout" proponents miss the "BIG PICTURE" in all this mess. For the sake of short term expediency, you're all willing to undermine the very principles our nation was founded upon. Sadly enough, we've done a great job of destroying these foundations these last forty years, with the Reagan years perhaps being a slight exception.
We've gotten in the bad habit of looking to Washington as our "Heavenly" father to fix all our ills. It isn't working and hasn't ever worked in the long run. Privatizing the wealth & socializing the debt is bad for everyone, regardless of the perceived need. We (our gov't) should not have done it at all, ever. I do feel for Detroit, same as I feel for all of us in these times. I'm suffering as well as many small business owners here, but Uncle Sam isn't bringing me any billion dollar check. I wouldn't take it anyhow, because the debtor is slave to the lender. Yet, we're already there...
Long term, we've embarked down the path of no return with the prevailing philosophy of toying in socialism, no matter how you want to veil it. In reality, it's not socialism, but an oligarchy masquerading as such. The inevitable outcome is higher taxation, loss of liberty, more gov't oppression & social dependence, with even greater poverty. All these increasing ills spell America's demise as a world power, bookmarking us in the pages of history as how moral deterioration & spiritual cancer led to another empire's downfall. The "handwriting" is on the wall, you're just in fatal denial.
The bankruptcies will & have come anyway, not just in Detroit, but everywhere. Truth be told, our nation is already bankrupt. Just wait until our foreign creditors call in their markers. Can't happen? Don't hold your breath...
The "tremors" across our nation over the last 100+ years weren't merely "natural" or cyclical calamities. Economists and the like would deem it so, based on past events, yet the words, "unprecedented", "once in a century", "uncharted territory" are now their bylines. The "tremors" have become more intense & more frequent, and this one's a major shocker. But, the really "BIG ONE" is still yet to come...
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Citigroup on the Ropes

By BEN WHITE and VIKAS BAJAJ

Less than two months ago, Citigroup emerged from the wreckage of the financial crisis as one of the last titans left standing on Wall Street.

Now, in a stunning turnabout, the banking giant has sunk to its knees after a series of blows that have driven its stock price to a mere $3.77 on Friday — and left it running short on time and options.

In the decade since Citigroup was born from the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group, it weathered many storms that threatened to pull it apart. But the current turmoil can be traced back to the last weekend of September, when it sought to reassert itself by swallowing Wachovia, the stricken bank based in Charlotte, N.C., whose vast deposit base would have turned Citi into one of America’s dominant lenders.

As the global financial crisis drove Wachovia toward collapse, the government frantically engineered their marriage. At a bargain price of $1 a share, Vikram S. Pandit, Citigroup’s chief executive, was happy to oblige: The deal would have greatly enhanced Citi’s retail banking presence and added more stable consumer deposits to a balance sheet staggered by billions in write-downs on bad mortgage loans and related securities.

But like so many other things for Citigroup over the last several years, it fell apart. Less than a week later, Wells Fargo, the powerful San Francisco-based bank, swooped in with a higher offer. Citi was left in the lurch, without a business that was vital to its future.

That collapse began a steady decline in Citigroup shares that snowballed this week as speculation grew that the bank might require a government bailout, a forced merger that would crush common equity holders, or an ouster of Mr. Pandit.

In the last five days alone, more than half of Citigroup’s market value was vaporized, and investors and analysts intensified calls for the bank to find ways to lift its stock price, including splitting the company, selling pieces or selling itself outright.

“They don’t have the sovereign wealth funds or other big investors to turn to anymore,” said William Fitzpatrick, an equity analyst for Optique Capital Management. “There are two remaining options: a federally forced merger or nationalization.”

The bank has fought back vigorously with assertions that its capital position is strong. It announced plans Monday to cut costs and slash 52,000 jobs. On Thursday, Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal, Citi’s biggest individual shareholder, said he would increase his stake in the bank to 5 percent from 4 percent.

But none of that has appeased investors, some of whom believe Citigroup must raise $20 billion or more in new capital to offset expected losses — and may have trouble doing so.

To some extent, Citigroup’s fortunes have declined as the storm in the broader financial industry has grown angrier.

Many analysts argue that the globe-spanning conglomerate, largely built by Sanford I. Weill, had never really worked as a cohesive unit. Different divisions have consistently battled, and promised synergies between units have rarely emerged.

“They never spent the time, the money or the energy to integrate all of the businesses,” said Meredith Whitney, analyst at Oppenheimer. “And so the credit card business speaks Mandarin while the mortgage business speaks Cantonese. It’s not a functional family. And because it’s not a functional family, it’s extraordinarily expensive to operate all the separate businesses, and you don’t get any of the advantages.”

Many of these problems were masked during the credit boom this decade. But with the financial crisis in full swing, the bank’s failure to unite its empire has become more exposed than ever.

“A lot of the issues facing Citigroup are not new issues, they have simply grown greater in severity,” said Michael Mayo, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

These strains intensified significantly in recent days, when a near three-week grace period in financial markets came to an abrupt halt. Credit markets had begun to thaw as a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry took effect, and the United States presidential elections breathed a temporary euphoria into markets worldwide.

But financial stocks came under renewed assault last week after Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said the agency was abandoning its plan to buy troubled assets from banks — including the likes of Citigroup. While the program was not a panacea for the banking industry’s ills, investors had been expecting the government to absorb vast amounts of troubled assets from bank balance sheets, putting the companies on the path toward financial health.

The price of these securities had seen a nascent recovery in late October and early November as investors awaited more details about the plan. Policy makers had suggested the government would have paid higher prices for the securities than they could fetch on the open market, something that would have helped reduce the financial pressure on Citigroup.

Allen L. Sinai, president of Decision Economics in New York, said that while the original plan to buy assets was poorly conceived, the decision to scrap it severely damaged banks like Citigroup that were holding billions of dollars of mortgage-related assets.

Now “those balance sheets will continue to contract as long as housing prices continue to go down,” said Mr. Sinai. “What the flip-flopping has done is put another nail in some of our financial institutions.”

Investors pounded financial shares further as continued dire news about consumers and unemployment made clear that banks will face larger losses on consumer loans, as well as the prospect of billions more in mortgage-related write-downs. While financial shares fell across the board, Citigroup, with its large costs and troubled holdings, quickly became viewed as the most vulnerable, spurring huge sell-offs that worsened as hedge funds bet on a decline in its stock.

Then, on Tuesday, a report about imminent defaults on two large commercial mortgages sent the price of bonds backed by those loans tumbling. The first $209 million loan was backed by two Westin hotels in Arizona and Hilton Head, S.C., and the second was a $125 million loan backed a shopping complex in Southern California.

These problems renewed fears that a vast wave of damaged commercial loans would course through banks — including Citigroup — already hit by a tsunami of toxic mortgage products.