9/11- The Great Illusion The Endgame of the Illuminati

Pt. 1

 

Pt. 2

The Obama Deception

Get the DVD @
http://infowars-shop.stores.yahoo.net…
http://www.obamaimpeachment.org/
The Obama Deception is a hard-hitting film that completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.

The Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery.

We have reached a critical juncture in the New World Order’s plans. It’s not about Left or Right: it’s about a One World Government. The international banks plan to loot the people of the United States and turn them into slaves on a Global Plantation.

Covered in this film: who Obama works for, what lies he has told, and his real agenda. If you want to know the facts and cut through all the hype, this is the film for you.

Watch the Obama Deception and learn how:

– Obama is continuing the process of transforming America into something that resembles Nazi Germany, with forced National Service, domestic civilian spies, warrantless wiretaps, the destruction of the Second Amendment, FEMA camps and Martial Law.

– Obama’s handlers are openly announcing the creation of a new Bank of the World that will dominate every nation on earth through carbon taxes and military force.

– International bankers purposefully engineered the worldwide financial meltdown to bankrupt the nations of the planet and bring in World Government.

– Obama plans to loot the middle class, destroy pensions and federalize the states so that the population is completely dependent on the Central Government.

– The Elite are using Obama to pacify the public so they can usher in the North American Union by stealth, launch a new Cold War and continue the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.infowars.com
http://www.prisonplanet.tv

 

Obama Names Three to Top Economic Posts

By SHARON OTTERMAN

 

Published: December 18, 2008

Pledging to create “a 21st century regulatory framework” to protect against future financial crises, President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday nominated three veteran financial regulators to top economic positions in his administration.

We will crack down on this culture of greed and scheming that has led us to this day of reckoning,” Mr. Obama said in announcing the appointments at a news conference in Chicago. “We have been asleep at the switch.”

Later in the day, transition aides said that Mr. Obama had settled on a labor secretary and trade representative and was likely to make those announcements on Friday at his final news conference before heading to Hawaii for a vacation.

In the morning news conference, Mr. Obama named Mary L. Schapiro, 53, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency has come under sharp criticism for its failure to detect signs that major Wall Street banks were in trouble before the financial crisis, and more recently, for gaps in its oversight of the New York financier Bernard Madoff, who the authorities say has confessed to running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The Madoff scandal, Mr. Obama said, “reminds us yet again how badly reform is needed when it comes to regulations that govern our markets.”

Ms. Schapiro has headed the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Wall Street’s self-regulator, since 1996. She has also served as a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Republican and Democratic administrations alike.

Mr. Obama also announced the selection of two former Clinton administration economic officials, Gary Gensler and Daniel K. Tarullo, to leading economic posts.

Mr. Gensler, who will head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, was a Treasury official in the Clinton administration. He also worked as a senior adviser to former Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, who wrote legislation to increase oversight of the accounting industry and reform corporate governance.

Mr. Tarullo, a law professor at Georgetown University who was also an economic advisor to President Clinton, will fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve board in Washington. He is currently leading Mr. Obama’s transition team at the Treasury Department, and is considered an expert in international economic regulation.

In announcing the appointments, Mr. Obama was harshly critical of the “disdain for regulation” shown by regulatory agencies in recent years and said the country needed “regulatory agencies ready and willing to enforce the law.”

He pledged to remake the financial regulatory system to adapt to the challenges of a new century. “We will be releasing a very detailed plan on how that regulatory upgrade will take place,” he said.

Mr. Obama also called for a shift in ethics on Wall Street. “We can have the best regulators in the world, but everyone is going to have to ask themselves, not only is this profitable, not only will it lead to a big bonus, but is it right?” he said. “Does it conform to higher standards in terms of how we operate?”

In addition to serving at the S.E.C., Ms. Schapiro was chairwoman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission during the Clinton administration, an independent agency created by Congress to regulate trading in commodity futures and the option markets. Her service at both agencies could suggest that Mr. Obama is considering combining the two regulators, a structure long supported by many experts to streamline market oversight.

Ms. Shapiro, who would be the first woman to head the S.E.C. for a full term, said that the current crisis on Wall Street “requires an aggressive, systemic response” to restore trust and protect investors. She pledged forceful enforcement of current law and said “thoughtful reform of our regulatory structures” would be her top priority.

The selection of Mr. Tarullo to fill one of two vacant seats on the Fed’s board, which is also subject to approval by the Senate, will allow Mr. Obama to begin making his mark on the nation’s bank. All of the current board members, including the chairman Ben S. Bernanke, were hand-picked by President Bush.

On Friday, Mr. Obama is expected to announce that Representative Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, will be his transportation secretary.

Mr. LaHood, who is retiring after seven terms in the House, has overseen major spending projects as a member of the House Appropriations Committee. Known for his bipartisan alliances and his moderate views, he will be the second Republican named to the cabinet, after Robert M. Gates, the current defense secretary who has agreed to stay on.

Mr. Obama is also expected to nominate Representative Hilda Solis, Democrat of California, as his labor secretary and Ron Kirk, a former mayor of Dallas, as his trade representative, transition aides said Thursday.

Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 30, 2008
An article on Dec. 18 about President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of Mary L. Schapiro to be the next chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission misstated the name of Ms. Schapiro’s current employer. She heads the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, not the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. The error was repeated in an article and editorial on Dec. 19 and in an article on Dec. 25.

Senator Sanders Blocking Key Obama Nomination

By Ken Silverstein

I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.

Military Industrial Complex Prepares Mass Graves for U.S. Citizens

Shepard Ambellas
Infowars
March 25, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A usually quiet U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Cemetery, has been unusually active lately. The National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona is a beautiful 225 acre facility located in Phoenix.

For the past 30-45 days in the early hours of the morning until sunset, a massive construction operation has been underway. Major amounts of earth have been excavated out about 9-10 feet deep and 600-1000 feet wide. There is multiple locations on the property like this. From the satellite view there appears to be more sections that have been covered with the concrete lids and backfilled to look as if nothing is there. ABC rock is put in place under the burial vaults for good drainage and solid bedding. This will help not contaminate ground water sources from decomposition of human bodies.

The cleanliness of the heavy equipment operation and the large perfect cuts of earth is im pressive. These Massive concrete boxes are transported from a nearby storage yard on various privately owned flatbed semi-trucks, then unloaded and put into place a half mile away at the actual mass grave site. They are installed tight together side by side with no space in between.

An interview was conducted between my friend and a truck driver involved in this operation. After beating around the bush for ten minutes, the driver admitted “ I got paid a whole lot of money to speak good english.” Take it for what it’s worth but that sounds suspect. The truck driver also admitted “Each burial vault holds four caskets.”
I took note that if caskets were not used you could fit 40 bodies or more in each one.

So if these were to hold four troops each and the truck driver did know what he was talking about; this would mean that there are plans in advance for over 4000 U.S. soldiers deaths.

If these are not to contain caskets and only bodies are inserted there could be room for over 40,000 civilians bodies.

See additional photos: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4.

Editor’s note: On February 11, 2009, D. H. Williams, writing for the Daily Newscaster, reported on the revelations of an Indiana county municipal official in the vicinity of Chicago who revealed how FEMA and DHS were attempting to prepare “county officials to prepare a Hazard Mitigation Plan to deal with flooding, fires, high winds and tornadoes.”

“FEMA inquired to where mass graves could be placed in the county and would they accept bodies from elsewhere,” writes Williams.

See Inside source reveals FEMA & DHS preparing for mass graves and martial law near Chicago.

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t
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Research related links

1. Is FEMA & DHS preparing for mass graves and martial law near Chicago?
2. Military Industrial Complex 2.0
3. John Cusack on Military-Industrial Complex: ‘The gig is up’
4. Coverup of Afghan mass grave?
5. Denver Readies Cages for Mass DNC Arrests
6. New nuclear plants to protect against jet strikes
7. Update: Marine “Military Presence” Confirmed in San Bernardino County
8. ACLU Prepares Lawsuit Against Denver DNC Plans for ‘Free Speech Zone’
9. Internment Camps Readied For Mass Illegal Alien Influx?
10. Australia’s Cops Want Mass Surveillance System
11. Another Neocon Demands Mass Amnesia
12. U.S. Troops Asked If They Would Shoot American Citizens

Yet another problem with the 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

I know there are scores of people who still subscribe to this track of thinking despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary. How truly sad- truthwillrise

Diary Entry by Steven Leser

I was reading Karen Fish’s poll when I realized one of the problems with these theories::::::::

Let me preface this by saying, for those of you who do not know, that I lean rather strongly to the official government explanation of 9/11. I acknowledge some real deficiencies with that explanation, and I do not regard people who believe in the conspiracy theories as dumb or the tinfoil hat set (crazy). I simply view the conspiracy theories as several orders of magnitude worse and more deficient than the official explanation.

I was reading Karen Fish’s poll and the comments and I realized another issue with the conspiracy theories. For 9/11 to have been an act by our government, it would mean the entire US Intelligence Apparatus would have to be involved. That means CIA, NSA, Military Intelligence, etc. It would also be hard not to have the FBI involved. If this were a conspiracy, an FBI investigation would lead to too many unanswered questions. If the FBI is involved, that would mean the entire justice department were involved. But lets concentrate on just the intelligence agencies for now.

I realize that much of the progressive left views anyone in an intelligence agency as evil and corrupt, but I know better. I knew people in Air Force intelligence when I was a blue suiter and they were not evil or corrupt. In the CIA, we have the example of Valerie Plame as a whistleblower completely willing to do what is necessary to ensure the truth emerged about the decisionmaking to go to war in Iraq. There are a LOT of good and principled people in the intelligence agencies. But you dont even have to believe that.

To believe the 9/11 conspiracy theories, you would have to believe ALL, and I mean ALL of the people in these agencies would have to be in on it.

This is too bizarre of an idea to even contemplate. But it gets worse.

If we look to examples in the past of intelligence agencies that were corrupt and evil, such as the STASI and German SS, and then imagine what the STASI and SS would do in the aftermath of such an act, you see incongruencies with what we have now. I’ll explain what I mean.

If you lived in East Germany during the reign of the STASI, or in Germany during the Nazi era, if you voiced an idea that was subversive to the government, you had a good chance of ending up in a prison or camp. If it was a REALLY dangerous idea/comment in the view of the government, you would likely end up dead or “disappeared”. Latin American intelligence agencies serving corrupt governments had a tendency to “disappear” people who were considered subversive. For even suggesting that people who believe in the 9/11 theories to not be crazy, as I have, would probably have been enough.

So, those of you saying that the government and intelligence agencies were behind 9/11, how do you account that the government would do this, and leave all of us around to discuss it afterwards without any harassment or worse? You are arguing that these agencies have no problem with killing thousands of Americans and deceiving all of the rest. Why have they stopped there? I dont know how you account for that.

Put yourself into the mind of the leader of an intelligence agency that was part of a corrupt government that has perpetrated something like 9/11. Why would you not disappear M, Walter Whitten, Rob Kall, and any other people trying to spread the word about this. None of us have any real visibility. There would be no media outcry if any or all of us suddenly disappeared. Why, in the opinion of those of you who believe these theories, have they not “dissappeared” us?

 

 

An OEN Editor, Steven Leser specializes in Politics, Science & Health, and Entertainment topics. He has held positions within the Democratic Party including District Chair and Public Relations Chair within county organizations.

GIVE Act outlaws citizens’ right to protest

It is another sound good piece of legislation. H.R. 1388 has a creative title; The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. 321 representatives of the people voted approval for this legislation which, among many other things, strikes a blow to the rights of people to mount any protests against legislation. Listen closely, it outlaws the right to mount protests against proposed legislation.

This act is being presented as part of Pres. Obama’s goal of establishing a national service program. In his speech delivered in Colorado Springs, CO he wanted “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the the military.” As Rahm Emanuel further explained, “It’s time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service.”

 

 

 

National Service Corps Bill Clears Senate Hurdle

By Kate Phillips

Following overwhelming House passage last week, the Senate tonight voted 74 to 14 on a procedural move that essentially guarantees a major expansion of a national service corps, a cornerstone of volunteerism that dates back to the era of President Kennedy. It’s akin to a call to arms by President Obama, who has harkened back to those early days to demand giving back by those who voted for him.

In fact, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the senior Democrat from Massachusetts whose battle with brain cancer has oft kept him absent from the Senate these days, appeared on the floor to welcomes all around as he cast his approving vote as a co-sponsor.

From President Kennedy’s days to the creation of Americorps by then President Bill Clinton, the notion of public service has become a rallying cry. Tonight’s vote, propelled by President Obama’s urging of an expansion, would mean a growth in such work from 75,000 community service jobs to 250,000.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of the Senate bill at least would be an outlay for the fiscal year 2010 of $418 million to about $5.7 billion from 2010 through 2014.

It’s an historic vote in the sense that a national service corps, an army dispersed to help with education, health services and the environment, would vastly enlarge the notion of “community organizing,” and allow, as Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, said tonight, for about 7 million people to be engaged in such work.

The bill enjoyed extraordinary bipartisan support, including namely the major co-sponsor, Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, who tonight even recommended reading the biography of R. Sargent Shriver, relative by marriage to the Kennedys and who directed the original Peace Corps from 1961 to 1966.

In addition, Senator Hatch mentioned that the Rev. Rick Warren, the evangelical minister of Saddleback Church and author of “A Purpose Driven Life,” was an enthusiastic supporter of this effort, as was Senator John McCain, the former Republican presidential nominee. The latter’s support, to Senator Hatch, demonstrated the exceptional bipartisan backing of the expansion.

Eleven senators did not cast a vote. The 14 Republicans, some of whom cited the cost in voting against the proposal, are: Senators Sam Brownback of Kansas, James Bunning of Kentucky, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Michael Crapo of Idaho, Jon Kyl of Arizona, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, John Ensign of Nevada, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jim Risch of Idaho, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, both of Alabama, Tom DeMint of South Carolina and John Thune of South Dakota.

Our roll call, thanks to Derek Willis.

Senate Rubber Stamps National Enslavement Bill

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Senate last night rubber stamped a nightmare domestic draft bill that legislates mandatory national service and creates an “army” of at least 7 million civilian enforcers working at the the behest of the government, while also containing language that threatens to ban free speech and the right to protest.

Last week, we reported on the House passage of the  Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, known as the GIVE Act, which was carried with a 321-105 margin vote.

A passage contained in section 6104 of the original House version entitled “Duties,” in subsection B6, states that a commission will be set up to investigate, “Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed.” This language has been dropped from the version passed by the Senate.

However, Section 120 of the bill discusses the “Youth Engagement Zone Program” and states that “service learning” will be “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.” This part remains in the version passed by the Senate.

Roles which will be staffed by members of the programs, labeled “Required National Service Corps,” include “criminal justice,” “environmental stewardship,” and “public safety”.

Aside from the programs aimed at college students and young people, others will be specifically targeted towards, “Retired and other former law enforcement, fire, rescue, and emergency personnel, and other individuals with backgrounds in disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery.”

The bill was rubber stamped by the Senate last night in a 74 to 14 motion, in what is described as a “procedural vote,” a move that creates “An army dispersed to help with education, health services and the environment, (which) would vastly enlarge the notion of “community organizing,” and allow, as Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, said tonight, for about 7 million people to be engaged in such work,” reports the New York Times.

The Senate will meet tomorrow morning to formally ratify the bill and finalize amendments. Call your Senator and demand that at least the mandatory language contained in this bill be removed.

References to the program as the creation of a civilian “army” have dominated mainstream news coverage of the legislation.

7 million members of this civilian “army” equates to about one member for every 50 Americans, a similar figure to the number of East Germans who collaborated with the Stasi and informed on their own citizens during the cold war.

The GIVE Act is just one of many pieces of legislation that vastly expand service organizations in line with Obama’s agenda to create a “national civilian security force”.

In January we also reported on the introduction by the Department of Defense of a “civilian expeditionary workforce” that will see American civilians trained and equipped to deploy overseas in support of worldwide military missions.

The DoD report states, “Management retains the authority to direct and assign civilian employees, either voluntarily, involuntarily, or on an unexpected basis to accomplish the DoD mission.”

Though the civilian expeditionary workforce program is restricted to DoD employees, similar programs have already been established for public sector workers.

One such program has seen hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and utility workers recently trained and dispatched as “Terrorism Liaison Officers” in Colorado, Arizona and California to watch for “suspicious activity” which is later fed into a secret government database.

Similar initiatives have been introduced in other western countries, including recently in the UK with the announcement that MI5 is currently training up to 60,000 UK citizens as part a civilian network of terrorist spotters, according to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and home secretary, Jacqui Smith.

In addition, Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, publicly stated his intention to help create “universal civil defense training” in 2006.

In an interview with Ben Smith of the New York Daily News, Emanuel outlined the agenda for military-style training, essentially a domestic draft, aimed at preparing Americans for a chemical or biological terrorist attack.

Asked by Smith about the universal service plan and whether people would have to live in military barracks, Emanuel laughed before responding, “We’re going to have universal civil defense training, somewhere between the ages of 18 to 25 you will do three months of training….but there can be nothing wrong with all Americans having a joint similar experience of what we call civil defense training or civil service in service of the country, in preparation, which will give people a sense of what it means to be an American.”

“It will be a common experience and we will be prepared, God forbid, God forbid that there is a chemical hit, another terrorist act or natural disaster becoming more frequent – there’ll be a body of citizens who are ready and capable and trained – that’s all you have to think about,” said Emanuel before smugly declaring, “We’re all here for you OK? It’s a circle of love.”

Asked if the training would be military style, with people wearing uniforms, Emanuel stated, “If you’re worried about are you going to have to do 50 jumping jacks the answer is yes,” adding that the service could be done through state national guard.

Shockingly, the GIVE legislation also contains language that could completely demolish the 1st amendment.

The 12th amendment to the act states, “Amendment to prohibit organizations from attempting to influence legislation; organize or engage in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes; and assist, promote, or deter union organizing.”

As Gary Wood writes, “Those in support of this legislation will argue this amendment is limited in scope and is not meant to interfere with the rights of citizens to protest, petition, boycott, or strike in resistance to government proposed laws. However, the people associated through service under the GIVE Act are considered volunteers, still free citizens, yet it will be unlawful for them to take part in any protests against any legislation. This is as close to a sedition act, a violation of 1st Amendment rights, as has been proposed in recent history. A basic right as a part of our natural, inalienable rights, is to resist government. Our founders not only knew it was a right but it was a responsibility. This legislation begins to break that down significantly.”

Fears about Obama’s plans to create involuntary servitude and domestic spy squads were first stoked in July 2008, when Obama told a rally in Colorado Springs, “We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded.”

Despite denials that Obama plans to institute a mandatory program of national service, his original change.gov website stated that Americans would be “required” to complete “50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year”. The text was only later changed to state that Americans would be “encouraged” to undertake such programs.

Numerous other national service bills have been introduced which target everyone from schoolchildren to the elderly. They include the Service For All Ages Initiative, the Summer of Service Act, the Semester of Service Act, the Encore Service Act and the ACTION Act.

Regarding the GIVE Act, “The bill’s opponents — and there are only a few in Congress — say it could cram ideology down the throats of young “volunteers,” many of whom could be forced into service since the bill creates a “Congressional Commission on Civic Service,” reports Fox.

“We contribute our time and money under no government coercion on a scale the rest of the world doesn’t emulate and probably can’t imagine,” said Luke Sheahan, contributing editor for the Family Security Foundation. “The idea that government should order its people to perform acts of charity is contrary to the idea of charity and it removes the responsibility for charity from the people to the government, destroying private initiative.”

Lee Cary of the conservative American Thinker warns that Obama’s agenda is to, “tap into the already active volunteerism of millions of Americans and recruit them to become cogs in a gigantic government machine grinding out his social re-engineering agenda.”

The passage of such shocking legislation with barely a whimper from political activist groups goes to show how well the corporate media has performed in camouflaging the legislation with flowery characterizations of helpful volunteerism, when in reality the bill creates the pretext for mandatory national service and the creation of a multi-million man domestic civil defense unit who will be tasked with spying on their fellow Americans under the justification of protecting the country from terrorism.

Research related links

1. House Passes Mandatory National Service Bill
2. Senate To Push Carbon Tax Enslavement Bill
3. Democrats Introduce Public National Service Bills
4. Senate Passes $819 Billion Economic Stimulus Bill
5. Senate Passes Bill to Grab 2 Million Acres in 9 States
6. Rahm Emanuel Wants “Compulsory Service” for Your Kids
7. The Bill Nobody Noticed: National DNA Databank
8. Obama’s Civil Defense Program Resembles Domestic Draft
9. “This is not a draft”
10. National “DNA warehouse” bill passes
11. FISA Overhaul Set to Clear Senate
12. Bailout Bill Sent Back to House After Senate Passage

Decrying AIG, top officials ask strong new control

I cannot believe what I read. These criminals who should be behind bars, have the audacity to pull an attempt at grabbing even more power. The sad part is there apparently are those in Washington who are either gutless or do not give cares about the American People. What is even worse is the people who actually think actions such as this are the right thing to do! When will these people wake up!??-truthwillrise

By TOM RAUM and JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writers Tom Raum And Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press Writers –

WASHINGTON – Pointing with dismay to the AIG debacle, the nation’s top economic officials argued Tuesday for unprecedented powers to regulate and even take over financial goliaths whose collapse could imperil the entire economy. President Barack Obama agreed and said he hoped “it doesn’t take too long to convince Congress.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a rare joint appearance before a House committee, said the messy federal intervention into American International Group, an insurance giant, demonstrated a need to regulate complex nonbank financial institutions just as banks are now regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ”

AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system,” Geithner told the House Financial Services Committee. “We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again.

” But the two appeared divided over where the authority should reside. Geithner suggested his Treasury Department’s powers be expanded. Bernanke was noncommittal, even suggesting the FDIC.

Both officials sought to channel the widespread public outrage over the millions of dollars AIG spent in post-bailout bonuses into support for regulatory overhaul. Geithner was expected to lay out more details on the administration’s plan Thursday when he appears again before the committee.

Democrats in the Senate say the administration wants the proposal on taking over non-banks to move separately from the larger financial industry regulatory bill, to get it going more quickly.

At the White House, Obama told reporters, “We are already hard at work in putting forward a detailed proposal. We will work in consultation with members of Congress. That will be just one phase of a broader regulatory framework that we’re going to have to put in place to prevent these kinds of crises from happening again.”

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the committee chairman, said that “when nonbank major financial institutions need to be put out of their misery, we need to give somebody the authority to do what the FDIC can do with banks.

” The government has given AIG over $180 billion in bailout funds since it first intervened last Sept. 16. The U.S. now owns nearly 80 percent of the giant insurer.

“If a federal agency had had such tools on Sept. 16, they could have been used to put AIG into conservatorship or receivership, unwind it slowly, protect policyholders and impose haircuts on creditors and counterparties as appropriate,” Bernanke said.

Both Geithner and Bernanke told the panel they did not become aware of the $165 million in AIG bonuses until March 10, just days before the payments were made. However, lower-level officials at both agencies were aware of the payments.

At the time of the first AIG bailout, Geithner was the president of the New York Fed, which helped oversee the government intervention.

 AIG is a globally interconnected colossus, with 74 million customers and operations in more than 130 countries.

 “Its failure could have resulted in a 1930s-style global financial and economic meltdown, with catastrophic implications for production, income and jobs,” Bernanke told the panel.

Bernanke said it was “highly inappropriate to pay substantial bonuses” in such a situation. He said he had asked that the payments be stopped but was told that they were mandated by contracts.

 “I then asked that suit be filed to prevent the payments,” he said.

 But Bernanke said his legal staff counseled against this action “on the grounds that Connecticut law provides for substantial punitive damages if the suit would fail.”

Separately, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the Fed “never contacted me or my office concerning the applicability of the Connecticut wage law to the AIG bonuses. If the Fed had called, we would have given the green light for litigation blocking these unconscionable bonuses.”

Dealings between Congress and Geithner have been tense. But they were a little more relaxed in the afterglow of Monday’s nearly 500-point surge in the Dow Jones industrials, though the Dow gave back about 116 points on Tuesday. The rise came in large part in response to the administration’s unveiling of a public-private program to buy up to $1 trillion in bad loans and toxic mortgage-related securities clogging bank balance sheets.

 Still, there were a few pointed exchanges Tuesday.

 Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., warned Geithner about any requests by the Obama administration for more taxpayer money to support financial bailouts.

“I assume that you recognize there’s not an awful lot of sympathy up here to necessarily provide additional funds — not going on the merits of whether the funds are necessary,” he said.

 “We recognize it will be extraordinarily difficult,” Geithner acknowledged. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., told Geithner: “What I fear here is that we are doing a kabuki theater in three acts.

“The first act: Washington tells the American people, `We understand your anger at Wall Street.’ In the second act, we nitpick to death any proposal that actually adversely affects Wall Street. And then, in the third act, we bestow another trillion dollars on Wall Street under extremely favorable terms.”

Geithner made it clear he believes the treasury secretary should be granted broad powers — after consultation with Federal Reserve officials — to take control of a major financial institution and run it. The treasury chief is an official of the administration, unlike the FDIC, which is an independent regulatory agency.

AIG has become a symbol of reckless risk-taking on Wall Street. The bonuses came even as AIG reported a stunning $62 billion fourth-quarter loss, the biggest in U.S. corporate history. The government has bailed out AIG four times, to the tune of more than $180 billion altogether.

 New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Monday that 15 employees who received some of the largest bonuses from AIG have agreed to return the money, totaling about $50 million.

 The House last week voted overwhelmingly to slap 90 percent taxes on the largest bonuses. But Republicans in the Senate are blocking similar legislation, and White House reaction to the legislation has been tepid at best.

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters on Tuesday Democrats were considering other alternatives.

“The issue is not over,” he said.

 But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said, “If the money is returned, the legislation may no longer be necessary.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Geithner should get credit for trying to fix the financial system.

“That’s the real issue. And at least he’s grappling with that,” McConnell said.