The financial news and quote service, Bloomberg, made New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg a billionaire several times over. The service is used by most traders on Wall Street to get quotes and financial news. Further, it employs more than 10,000 people, so it is a big deal when Bloomberg's starts to doctor the news.
On Thursday, Dallas Fed Chairman Richard Fisher gave a speech before the Money Marketeers of New York University in New York City. In part of the speech, he warned about the Paulson Bailout Plan, aka TARP for "troubled asset relief program". Here are Fisher's exact words as reported on the Dallas Fed's site:
Even before tackling the task of cementing capital adequacy, we need to bear in mind that the TARP places one more straw on the back of the frightfully encumbered camel that is the federal government ledger.
Initially, the Bloomberg reporter dutifully reports what Fisher said:
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions backed by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke would plunge the U.S. government deeper into a fiscal abyss.
The plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy troubled assets from financial institutions would put ``one more straw on the back of the frightfully encumbered camel that is the federal government ledger,'' Fisher said today in the text of a speech in New York. ``We are deeply submerged in a vast fiscal chasm.
This version of the report has been scrubbed by Bloomberg's, but it was caught and posted to the Market Tickers Forum here.
A new version of the story now is at Bloomberg's, identified as Update 1:
"Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. Treasury's proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions would be ``a critical first step'' toward calming markets even while adding to the U.S. government's fiscal burden.
The plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy troubled assets from financial institutions ``is an incremental addition to the federal government ledger,'' Fisher said today in a speech in New York. Existing federal obligations in Medicare and Social Security mean ``we are deeply submerged in a vast fiscal chasm,'' he said. "
Some "Update 1", I can't wait for "Update 2". Bloomberg turned Fisher's speech into happy talk. Update 1 completely removes Fisher's "camel's back"warning about the increase in national debt that will occur because of the bailout. And adds that Fisher called it a "critical first step" toward calming markets, with quotes around "critical first step", even though nowhere in Fisher's speech does he use those words!
Bloomberg labels it's reporting: "Tomorrows news today". How about "Happy talk today, the truth be scrubbed"?
-Robert Wenzel
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