I didn’t want to find myself in this position.

Hank Paulson looks awful. He’s sweating, uncomfortable, and clearly would rather not be where he is. He looks like he has a gun to his head. Maybe he does… judging from his choice of words—“quickly,” “action is needed,” “strongly urge”—something dire is about to happen.

Indeed, Paulson’s got himself into a real fix. In July he asked Congress for a blank check—a “bazooka” as he called it—to potentially bailout Fannie and Freddie. At the time, his argument was that if the market perceived him as having this “bazooka” he wouldn’t have to use it.

Well, Hank DID have to use the bazooka… the bazooka didn’t do anything… and now Hank is back asking for a nuclear warhead. And this time he wants it without any judicial review or oversight.

Rather than delving into the actual testimony of the various officials, I’d rather focus on the subtext or real message they were trying to communicate without doing so explicitly. That message is the following…

We have lost control.

Last 5 posts by Graham Summers

• We're Soooooooo Close! - October 9th, 2009
• Kiss the “New Bull Market” Theory Good-bye - October 8th, 2009
• The One Investment That Might Be About to Bottom - September 30th, 2009
• What the Fed Doesn’t Want You To Know About US Debt - September 30th, 2009
• How to Prepare For China’s Coming Derivative Default - September 13th, 2009