The View From 1776

2008 Market Crash Should be Investigated
By Jeff Lukens

Almost two years after the mortgage crisis and stock market crash, no one seems to wonder about the “September surprise” that shifted the 2008 presidential election to an unknown leftist politician who had been elected to the Senate only two years before. A pulp-fiction writer could hardly have created a more contrived and bizarre story. But this was not make-believe. No, it is now our own gritty reality show that we only wish we could turn off.

The week of Sept. 15, 2008, was a debacle of huge proportions. On Monday, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy while other lending institutions lined up like dominoes teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But the week was hardly over. On Thursday, an electronic run on the banks occurred. In an unprecedented move, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve had to act together to stop what had become a full-fledged panic. On Saturday, Sept. 20, The Wall Street Journal recounted events of that previous Thursday:

“Instead of lining up at bank windows, investors were unloading financial assets on their PCs. Credit markets had seized up, to the point that even routine daily settlements had stopped until banks had the actual securities or cash in hand.”

“Investors were rushing out of these [Treasury and Federal Reserve] funds—$105 billion out of $1.8 trillion on Thursday alone—which in turn caused the funds to redeem their commercial paper investments.”

“Issuers of that paper then had to find new funders, which in a pinch are banks. But jittery banks were refusing to accept paper from even worthy companies amid the panic, creating a larger credit breakdown. In response, Treasury will now insure nonbank money-market fund deposits for the next year, to slow money-fund redemptions.”

For such a large and coordinated exodus of funds to occur in U.S. markets, something more than individual “investors” at their PCs had to be in play. Large and well-managed hedge and mutual funds were undoubtedly behind much of the move.

A few months later on a C-Span interview, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, House Capital Markets Subcommittee Chair, described that day:

“On Thursday at about 11 o’clock in the morning the Federal Reserve noticed a tremendous drawdown of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion was being drawn out in a matter of an hour or two. The Treasury opened up its window to help. It pumped $105 billion in the system and quickly realized that they could not stem the tide; we were having an electronic run on the banks. They decided to close the operation, close down the money accounts and announce a guarantee of $250,000 per account so there wouldn’t be further panic out there.”

The $550 Billion withdrawn in an hour or two that Rep. Kanjorski refers to in his statement has never been independently confirmed or refuted.

In mid-September, John McCain was ahead of Barack Obama in some polls by about 3 percent. By Oct. 10, the S&P 500 Index had lost 25% of its value from what it had been a month before. The crash was a major calamity for the McCain Campaign. And now, with Obama in the White House, it has become a calamity for us all.

The fact remains that the identities of those who withdrew their money that week were never disclosed. And, knowingly or not, they created a panic that altered the course of the election. One can only wonder whether something more than normal market forces was at work.

Courtesy of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, the crisis came about by the uncertain value of subprime securities held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, banks, saving and loans, and other lending institutions. A declining market in itself is not noteworthy, but to induce a panic in the midst of a presidential campaign, if ever proven, would be reprehensible and an outrage to the American electorate.

While the stock market collapse was a disaster for your average IRA or 401(k) account, some investors benefited handsomely. It is widely agreed that hedge funds profited by selling short the collapsing market in 2008, and chief among them was George Soros’ hedge fund. Soros may have personally had the motivation, method, and opportunity to trigger the crash.

Soros’ overseas-based hedge fund evades much scrutiny, and its activities that week left almost no trail. Could Soros and his hedge fund be behind many of the withdrawals of that week, and particularly on that Thursday? We need to know. The massive outflow of U.S. funds to offshore accounts that critical week during the campaign could be a coincidence, but it is doubtful.

George Soros is a multi-billionaire answerable to no one. Hastening a market meltdown to give the election to Barack Obama would fit his pattern of profiting while destroying the social order of his target country. Triggering a crash in 2008 would also serve his political investments.

Soros is obsessed with power. He wants a One World Government, redistribution of wealth, open borders, and universal health care. He is determined to change America forever by deconstructing its sovereignty and ability to defend itself. Soros was a huge backer of Barack Obama, and now his anointed president is determined to change America to their mutual view.

Soros made his fortune by short selling currencies and then pouring substantial amounts of his private wealth into organizations to subvert various nations. He nearly bankrupted the Bank of England by shorting the pound in 1992. He wrecked the Malaysian economy in 1998, and subsequently that of Indonesia as well. He is responsible for stirring-up instability in Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet republics.

Over the years, Soros has positioned himself to take control of the Democrat Party through the hundreds of 527 organizations he has helped financed. These organizations have become a “Shadow Party” unto themselves, and manipulate public opinion for their own end.

Among them: the National Education Association, ACORN, AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, The Media Fund, the Open Society Institute, Planned Parenthood League, the Sierra Club, America Coming Together, the Huffington Post, Moveon.org. If a left-wing organization is in the news, it has probably received money from George Soros.

Why have the identities never been reported of those who withdrew funds that week? Shouldn’t there be even some curiosity about an event that wiped out the jobs and life savings of so many people? And why has there been no follow-up inquiry by into Rep. Kanjorski’s statement?  There needs to be a public investigation concerning the amounts and offshore destinations of the funds withdrawn from U.S. markets that precipitated the crash.

Did an unwritten partnership exist between George Soros and Barack Obama? Could Soros, through Obama, be seeking a “velvet revolution” in the dismantling of our nation as he has done elsewhere? These questions need further investigation. With the Alinskyite tactics employed by Team Obama, none of this is beyond the realm of possibility.

Americans recoil at the thought of having their elections manipulated by outsiders. As long as Democrats control Congress, there surely will never be an effective inquiry into this affair. Perhaps a GOP victory this November will allow a thorough examination finally to begin. Add this to the many investigations the GOP will need to make when they finally take back Congress.

Jeff Lukens is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets. He can be contacted at http://www.jefflukens.com