Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers
Posted By: According to a Nobel Prize winning economist.... on 2009-03-24
In Reply to:
Geithner plan will rob American taxpayers: Stiglitz
Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:12am EDT
By Susan Fenton and Deborah Kan
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The U.S. government plan to rid banks of toxic assets will rob American taxpayers by exposing them to too much risk and is unlikely to work as long as the economy remains weak, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said on Tuesday.
"The Geithner plan is very badly flawed," Stiglitz told Reuters in an interview during a Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to wipe up to US$1 trillion in bad debt off banks' balance sheets, unveiled on Monday, offered "perverse incentives," Stiglitz said.
The U.S. government is basically using the taxpayer to guarantee against downside risk on the value of these assets, while giving the upside, or potential profits, to private investors, he said.
"Quite frankly, this amounts to robbery of the American people. I don't think it's going to work because I think there'll be a lot of anger about putting the losses so much on the shoulder of the American taxpayer."
Even if the plan clears banks of massive toxic debt, worries about the economic outlook mean banks could still be unwilling to make fresh loans, while the prospect of a higher tax burden to pay for various government stimulus plans could further undermine U.S. consumers, he said.
Some Republican lawmakers have also expressed concern over the incentives offered by the government, which could end up providing private investors with more than 90 percent of the funds to buy the troubled assets. But President Barack Obama has said the plan was critical to a U.S. economic recovery,
Stiglitz, a professor at New York's Columbia University and a former World Bank chief economist, also urged G20 leaders at their London summit next month to commit to providing greater resources to developing countries and said China should be given bigger voting rights in the International Monetary Fund.
"The voices of developing countries, and countries like China that will provide a lot of the money, are not heard."
China would be hard pushed to reach its targeted 8 percent economic growth this year, but the important thing was that at least the Chinese economy was still growing, he said.
Stiglitz welcomed China's proposal on Monday for an overhaul of the world monetary system in which Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, said the IMF's Special Drawing Right has the potential to become a super-sovereign reserve currency.
Stiglitz has long called for the U.S. dollar to be replaced as the only reserve currency. Basing a reserve system on a single currency whose strength depends on confidence its own economy is not a good basis for a global system, he says.
"We may be at the beginning of a loss of confidence (in the U.S. dollar reserve system)," he said. "I think there is support for some sort of global reserve system."
LINK/URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52N1IO20090324?virtualBrandChannel=10112
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Geithner, a man who likes to have
WE BETTER BE WATCHING HIM! He might take all the money. Very, very bad decision on Obama's part to pick him. I bet we all could do a better job than this guy.
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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's signature reveals a very secretive man, said forensic handwriting specialist Ronald Rice. He needs to be monitored, as he can be manipulative, sneaky, and narrow-minded. But he does not reveal his hand. His signature suggests a man who likes to use information when necessary, with a watchful eye on others.
Geithner, a man who likes to have
No wonder, so he will not get caught. WE BETTER BE WATCHING HIM! He might take all the money. Very, very bad decision on Obama's part to pick him. I bet we all could do a better job than this guy.
***********
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's signature reveals a very secretive man, said forensic handwriting specialist Ronald Rice. He needs to be monitored, as he can be manipulative, sneaky, and narrow-minded. But he does not reveal his hand. His signature suggests a man who likes to use information when necessary, with a watchful eye on others.
Comments about Geithner for treasury post
Just wondering what everyone else thinks about this. The Senate has just passed him on through, so only one more stop before he's heading up the treasury department. Comments? Concerns?
C-Span is airing the Geithner nomination now.
I am sure he is going to get the job. Some reps are not happy with his tax debaucle, but we cannot afford to drag this out for weeks to try and find someone who would be a better fit.
I'm not happy with this choice at all. Sure wish I would've known about his failure to pay taxes before he was nominated by O, then we could all use the excuse that we forgot to pay our taxes, too. I wonder how many people ARE going to use this excuse at tax time.
Geithner assures Chinese audience that US dollar is sound.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINPEK12423320090601?rpc=44
Why should taxpayers be funding
any network? Just for the record.....it is O'Reilly.
Taxpayers do not fund PBS
You obviously do not watch PBS. It is solely viewer funded and publicly owned. (Although lately I HAVE seen paid commercials on there)
I'm beginning to see the reason some of the posters here sound so ignorant.
Obama robbing taxpayers? Do you
bwitch and moan when we give OPEC 700B a year for oil? With this stimulus, an energy policy will be started to relieve us of that huge bill EVERY YEAR!! Not to mention national security. Just that one fact alone makes it worth the money, IMHO. Also, you would pay taxes anyway, no matter what!! Did you mind paying your taxes so the FAT CATS could get fatter over the last 8 years? Do you bwitch and moan about that? Give me a break.
Keating 5 cost taxpayers $125 billion.
x
Taxpayers will pay for Gonzales' private attorney
This is incredible.
Lawyers from the Justice Department's civil division often represent department employees who're sued in connection with their official actions. However, Gonzales' attorney recently revealed in court papers that the Justice Department had approved his request to pay private attorney's fees arising from the federal lawsuit.
Dan Metcalfe, a former high-ranking veteran Justice Department official who filed the suit on behalf of eight law students, called the department's decision to pay for a private attorney rather than rely on its civil division "exceptional."
"It undoubtedly will cost the taxpayers far more," he said.
According to a person with knowledge of the case, the Justice Department has imposed a limit of $200 an hour or $24,000 a month on attorneys' fees. Top Justice Department attorneys generally earn no more than $100 per hour. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Asked why Gonzales made the request, Gonzales spokesman Robert Bork Jr. said that his client "values the work that the department's civil attorneys do in all cases" but thinks that "private counsel can often be useful where (department) officials are sued in an individual capacity, even where the suit has no substantive merit."
Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, said the department wouldn't have any comment on the reasons for the approval and wouldn't answer questions about the cost to taxpayers.
Bush and the Playboy Playmate - Why are taxpayers paying for this?
Bush team backs Anna in fight over fortune
By Inside Track
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
An unlikely fellow Texan has teamed up with Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith in her U.S. Supreme Court fight to claim her late husband’s fortune: George Bush!
The Bush administration’s top lawyer, U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, filed arguments on Smith’s behalf and wants to take part when the case is argued before the justices.
The high court will decide early next year whether to let Clement share time with Smith’s attorney during the one-hour argument on Feb. 28.
Smith, 38, has been desperately trying to collect millions of dollars from the estate of oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, whom she married in 1994 when he was 89 and she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Houston. Marshall died in 1995 and Smith has been in a legal battle with his only son, E. Pierce Marshall, over his fortune ever since.
In previous rulings, federal bankruptcy judge sided with the Trim Spa spokesgal in her claim on the estate, awarding her $474 million, which was subsequently reduced to about $89 million by a federal district judge, and then tossed out altogether by a federal appeals court.
The current issue is the question of when federal courts may hear claims that involve state probate proceedings. Clement contends the justices should protect jurisdiction in disputes.
The zany reality TV star lost in Texas state courts, which found that Marshall’s son was the sole heir to his father’s estate.
Although both Bush and Marshall graduated from Yale University, were both in the oil business and held government positions in Washington, the Bush administration’s filings in the case are strictly technical.
Yeeeeeeee-haaaaaaa!
http://thetrack.bostonherald.com/moreTrack/view.bg?articleid=118756
Good grief! Taxpayers get stuck with the bill...
and Franklin Raines gets a over a million per year in "retirement..."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/28/national/main663502.shtml
I was brought up Buy American made products, keep American jobs.
Always bought American made cars and bought products from companies where my family was employed. Now look at America? We are definitely connected all around the world.
My feeling? Obama states he wants to start from the poor upward. Not the other way around like it has been for quite awhile. That to me does not necessarily mean just in America, but around the world by taking the poorest countries and working upward so America's pay wages and everything else will be so low and comparable to the poorest countries. After all, we are now connected together.
Cannot wait to see what will happen with the Swine flu this fall with the second wave and what it will do to the economy of all the countries combined at once.
So now we taxpayers are expected to pay for a motorsports racing track facility and a mine rescue tr
What the ... ?
A tax exemption for wooden arrows made for use by children?
And economic development for American Samoa?
An increase in the rum excise tax for Puerto Rico?
Do these senators think we CAN'T read? Or just hoping that we WON'T?
Any child born to American parents is an American -
I am sorry, but I respectfully disagree with you - any child born to American parents is an American even if they are born overseas. The birth has to be registered with the United States, but they are still an American even if they are born in the foreign hospital.
I have 2 cousins who were born in Japan and they have no problems at all being "American".
Plan B.
I can't imagine Bush releasing funds intended for the banks and insurance companies to be released to the auto industry without imposing more stringent conditions on the UAW workers than the republican caucus and parochial southern senators have already tried to enact. Gettelfinger stands behind his "bankruptcy is not an option" statement. If Bush does not step forward, looks like liquidation could be just around the corner. JMHO.
bad plan
I do believe our senators need to go focus on this crisis, but, a few hours spared for a debate is not a waste of time. The election is close and people need to hear what both of the candidates have to say.
More on O's plan for
What I had in mind was his proposal to eliminate capital gains taxes for start-up and small businesses, the making work pay tax credit to help reduce the double taxation paid by self-employed (that "special" self-employment tax you pay if you are an IC) and the proposed $250 million annual investment in the National Network of Business Incubators designed to increase the number and size of small businesses.
Here's part of the answer to the earlier question about small businesses and health insurance cost/fine. He proposes a Small Business Health Tax Credit program of up to 50% of the premiums they pay for health care benefits for their employees. If you want to read more, here's the link:
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/SmallBusinessFINAL.pdf
Under O's plan, you will keep more of it.
x
That's not a bad plan
But the article itself says that France does not have socialized medicine - it's something completely different, especially with the lowered malpractice insurance and the tuition-free universities. I don't see that anything like that would be set up in the US, do you? It's not a bad idea, though. Definitley something to think about.
LOL. I like that plan.
.
God has a plan for everything
His main objective is that none of us die but, as loving as He is, He gives us choices. Many of us will make the wrong choice and die for it.
health plan
I have an idea, why doesnt Bush stop waging immoral wars and use our tax dollars for something constructive and life saving, like health coverage for those who die each year without it? You know why I would love a universal health plan? Because I care about my brother and sister and I care about making every Americans life better. Of course, you conservatives care about no one but yourselves. You make a few bucks, buy a home in a gated community, take the other streets so you dont pass the ghetto..and yet you claim you are christian..that is the most hypocritical statement of all. Do you not realize if Jesus walked this earth today, he would be a liberal democrat, helping the poor, the starving, the sick, the homeless, accepting all. Im so glad Im a liberal democrat. I dont think I could look at myself in the mirror or get a good nights sleep knowing my ideology is actually harming America, not helping it one bit.
Obama's plan
I assume you watched both conventions????? I watched the Dems and now I'm watching the Pubs. I am an INDEPENDENT. I would support Obama were it not for my research of the church he has been associated with for 20 years. This church, in my humble opinion, belongs to an extreme, radical, racist group. We don't need that in the White House. With the exception of illegal immigration, he pretty much addressed all the things that I feel are important to the future of my children and grandchildren and were it not for his affiliation with his chosen church, I would probably vote for him. . At least he had the good sense to select a person as his running mate who actually might be "ready on day one" to lead this country.
Secondly, again in my humble opinion, McCain has a few screws loose rattling around upstairs. He answers every question, even about how many houses he owns, with something like, "well, the longest time I spent anywhere was when I was a POW." Other than that it has been all about bashing Obama and his not having "experience." Then look what he did. Picked a little-known female who has been abroad exactly once and tries to pass her off as "experienced." Truth: She is a female and her state is the second largest producer of oil. Bush governed the biggest oil producing state. Enjoying those prices at the pumps? To this point all the pub speakers have pushed McCain's war record. What????? Do we need more war? I think a peacemaker would be better.
Now, before anyone pounces on me, I support NEITHER of these candidates and NEITHER will receive my vote. Either way, the middle class Americans, to which I expect most MTs belong, lose. Our government will change when and if the majority of Americans quit using their heads as a hatrack for the Democrat and Republican parties, kick them out and bring back government "of the people, by the people and for the people." Won't happen this time but maybe next time won't be too late.
OK. Let's rephrase. How does JM's new plan
x
Obama's tax plan
First of all, let me say I was undecided on this election until yesterday. Obama's tax plan scares me to death. I heard him on an interview yesterday, and he said that the top 5% of the country could *afford to help out those less fortunate to us*, meaning those that make above $200,000. He also said that someone making under $45,000 would *probably* not have to pay income taxes, because all the tax revenue would be generated from the top 5% of the country, again, who could *afford* to help out his fellow man.
So, here's my question. If I work my BUTT off making a great living for my family, who the heck is he to say I have to share it? My husband and I put ourselves through school to get a good education for ourselves, searched for good jobs, worked more than one sometimes, and enjoy or standard of living, because we worked hard for it and EARNED it. How dare he suggest that I have to share that with ANYONE, just because they dont' have as much. We give to quite a few neighborhood organizations and national charities, we do not keep every penny for ourselves.
If he does get elected and puts this new plan in place, why would people work hard to make a good living if quite a bit chunk of it is going to be taken away? Why not just sit back, work as little as you want, stay under that $40,000 radar, not pay income taxes, and have the government give you some other *rich* guy's money because you don't have as much?
This really made my mind up for me. It's time this county taught some personal responsibility and accountability, and I do not think he is the one for the job!
And so how exactly does McCain plan to fix
He could sell Alaska to the Japanese. They need the land & the natural resources, and they most definitely have the money.
McCain's plan...
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/19ba2f1c-c03f-4ac2-8cd5-5cf2edb527cf.htm
Not as described above.
Obama's Plan:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/
They seem very similar to me...big difference is Obama wants the government to control it and McCain wants individuals to control their own health care. I don't see a problem with that.
Which is why I am still voting McCain.
if you plan on voting
you will need to keep things like OBAMA and OSAMA straight. The political system was based on the assumption that voters would know the difference between a tall black man running for president and a tall man in a sheet running for cover. Study up. Only a few more weeks . . . I'm betting you can do it.
Do either of the candidates have a plan
for this financial crisis that does not involve the taxpayers bailing out the US?
So how would this plan affect you?
If it doesn't apply to you, then nothing about your mortgage would change. How is that unfair to you? Would it be more fair to charge the taxpayers, including you, whether in you're arrears or not or owning a mortgage or not, the $700 billion dollars?
I don't get what about this is upsetting to you. You already have a better rate and your credit must be great. Any resolution to this problem should not result in someone making out better than before the problem started.
You are correct about his plan not being...sm
socialized medicine. I don't think the majority of people have insurance through their employers anymore. If you don't you will be insured based on what you can afford to pay, and you will keep your own doctor. Vermont already has such a plan and it works great.
His plan includes ---
He wants to provide coverage for everyone that needs it. If you have coverage already, then you keep it. If you don't have coverage, then you are able to buy the same coverage the federal employees have. He only wants to mandate that a family have coverage for their children and you can get it anywhere you want to.
My state already is using almost the same plan as....sm
Obama's and it seems to be working just fine.
He's changed his plan but yet again..
The McCain-Palin campaign has critized his tax plans as welfare, so Barack’s campaign has come back and tweaked it to add a work requirement. (They will materialize things out of thin air as needed to get elected.) This comes from the New Hampshire Union Leader in reply.
Obama Tax Plan
I haven't been here for a while, and if this has already been posted below somewhere, I apologize for duplicating it.
The following link will take you to a site that will show you how much money Barack Obama will save you on taxes, compared to John McCain. (Remember, McCain will be taxing your health insurance benefits for the first time in American history.) Depending on your income, there is quite a difference between the two plans.
http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/
Obama tax plan
McCain may be taxing us, but he is anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage
the EIC is a tiered plan, Sam -
If you get earned income it is very low paying at the bottom of the scale, then tops out in the middle, and progressively drops out to 0 by the time you get to the top.
You have to work to get it, so therefore it encourages people to work and not just live off the government.
I have been hearing that O plan
of sharing the wealth will put us in the GREAT DEPRESSION just like back when Hoover was in office, exept this time, it will be worse because many more people make more than 100,000 a year than they did years ago. So basically it will be spreading the wellfare around.
Martial law plan?!
Things are really getting delusional now. Bush is probably counting the days til he can get out of there and let it be someone else's problem.
"Welfare plan"
Hate to break the news to you, but it looks as if there has been a welfare plan in place - its called "Corporate Welfare" and we are the ones who they rob; and every single Republican President from Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2 have robbed this country blind
they don't plan to stop it -
they just want to be able to add to it this week - that's the plan!
A plan that will work.....
Take all this money and instead of giving to big businesses and letting them do whatever with (because that worked so well with the bailout huh?) just pay off everybody's mortgage. If my house was paid off, I would buy that 1K TV I want for my bedroom. I'd buy new furniture for my living room because mine is 10+ years old. I'd buy curtains and blinds for my windows. I'd buy some nice rugs to put throughout my house. I'd buy that Thomas Kincaid painting I've always wanted to hang on my wall. I'd buy more fencing material to fence in more pasture for my horses. I'd buy those 2 llamas I've been wanting. My husband could buy another Harley like he has been wanting. We would go out to eat more often. These are just things that I would do if my hosue was paid off. That is quite a bit of money back into the system but I can't do these things because I owe on my house. Think about it.
If you didn't have your mortage, what would you buy?
That's a good plan!
I think I'll start doing that. My dad had trouble with his internet over the weekend (SBC) and when he called the help line, he got somebody that spoke terrible English and when he asked where his call had been answered, the man told him India. My dad promplty hung up on him and is getting a new ISP this week.
The Pickens Plan
The Pickens Plan.
There are several pillars to the Pickens Plan:
- Create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22 percent of our electricity from wind. And adding to that with additional solar capacity;
- Building a 21st century backbone electrical grid;
- Providing incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and
- Using America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel.
While dependence on foreign oil is a critical concern, it is not a problem that can be solved in isolation. We have to think about energy as a whole, and that begins by considering our energy alternatives and thinking about how we will fuel our world in the next 10 to 20 years and beyond.
New jobs from renewable energy and conservation.
Any discussion of alternatives should begin with the 2007 Department of Energy study showing that building out our wind capacity in the Great Plains - from northern Texas to the Canadian border - would produce 138,000 new jobs in the first year, and more than 3.4 million new jobs over a ten-year period, while also producing as much as 20 percent of our needed electricity.
Building out solar energy in the Southwest from western Texas to California would add to the boom of new jobs and provide more of our growing electrical needs - doing so through economically viable, clean, renewable sources.
To move that electricity from where it is being produced to where it is needed will require an upgrade to our national electric grid. A 21st century grid which will, as technology continues to develop, deliver power where it is needed, when it is needed, in the direction it is needed will be the modern equivalent of building the Interstate Highway System in the 1950's.
Beyond that, tremendous improvements in electricity use can be made by creating incentives for owners of homes and commercial buildings to retrofit their spaces with proper insulation. Studies show a significant upgrading of insulation would save the equivalent of one million barrels of oil per day in energy by cutting down on both air conditioning costs in warm weather and heating costs in winter.
A domestic fuel to free us from foreign oil.
Conserving and harnessing renewable forms of electricity not only has incredible economic benefits, but is also a crucial piece of the oil dependence puzzle. We should continue to pursue the promise of electric or hydrogen powered vehicles, but America needs to address transportation fuel today. Fortunately, we are blessed with an abundance of clean, cheap, domestic natural gas.
Currently, domestic natural gas is primarily used to generate electricity. It has the advantage of being cheap and significantly cleaner than coal, but this is not the best use of our natural gas resources.
By generating electricity from wind and solar and conserving the electricity we have, we will be free to shift our use to natural gas to where it can lower our need for foreign oil - helping President Obama reach his goal of zero oil imports from the Middle East within ten years - by replacing diesel as the principal transportation fuel for heavy trucks and fleet vehicles.
Nearly 20% of every barrel of oil we import is used by 18-wheelers moving goods burning imported diesel. An over-the-road truck cannot be moved using current battery technology. Fleet vehicles like buses, taxis, express delivery trucks, and municipal and utility vehicles (any vehicle which returns to the "barn" each night where refueling is a simple matter) should be replaced by vehicles running on clean, cheap, domestic natural gas rather than imported gasoline or diesel fuel.
A plan that brings it all together.
Natural gas is not a permanent or complete solution to imported oil. It is a bridge fuel to slash our oil dependence while buying us time to develop new technologies that will ultimately replace fossil transportation fuels. Natural gas is the critical puzzle piece that will help us keep more of the $350 to $450 billion every year at home, where it can power our economy and pay for our investments in wind energy, a smart grid and energy efficiency.
It is this connection that makes The Pickens Plan not just a collection of good ideas, but a plan. By investing in renewable energy and conservation, we can create millions of new jobs. New alternative energies allow us to shift natural gas to transportation; securing our economy by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and keeping more money at home to pay for the whole thing.
And here is another workable plan.
A. Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.
B. Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.
C. Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.
D. In three generations, there will be no Democrats.
AIG and the Fed. Pension Plan
Hey---don't feel bad, I had egg on my face a few times before I got it through my pea brain that it was alot less embarrassing to check it out on Snope's before I forwarded it. LOL
According to the article on snope's. No private company insures federal pensions. One thing I did discover, you can't cut and paste from snope's I tried to post their comments. Again if you go to the snope's website and key in AIG and congress pension you will find the whole artice. The part about no private insurer is at the very bottom.
GOP Budget & Tax Plan
Among the alternatives that the GOP is proposing for the 2010 budget:
1. Roll back a significant portion or all of the stimulus that has not yet been distributed as of 2010.
2. Indiiduals earning less than $50,000 or couples earning less than $100,000 could either file under the current tax provisions or pay a flat 10%. Others earning more would pay a flat 25%. All who choose the flat tax rate could literally file their taxes on a form the size of a single index card.
You have to think about some of the implications of these tax ideas to understand the less obvious benefits, among which would be the stanching of the flow of investment outside the country and attraction of foreign investment, and an enormous savings in the waste of time and money that presently go to nothing more productive than filing taxes. A simple scheme like this would also be much more difficult to defraud than the complex system currently in place.
On this last point, just consider all the back taxes that Obama has collected from his tax-scofflaw political appointees - over $100,000! Not one of the excuses that any of them offered for not paying their taxes - i.e., that the tax laws are too complicated even for that "brilliant" idiot, Geithner (who now heads up the IRS). Not one of them could have skated by "paying their back taxes" while apologizing that they just couldn't get a handle on what they're supposed to pay. Now, multiply just those people by all the other tax cheats in this country who couldn't use similar excuses (or schemes, whichever term you prefer).
It's simple: What do you make? Withhold 10% and you owe nothing at the end of the year. Fill out your card, send it in, and you're done. And you tax accountants who have helped your clients avoid taxes for years...we need accountants for other purposes, so you won't starve either.
What worries me most about his plan...
isn't that the supermax prisons won't be able to hold them safely, but what if even one or two aren't convicted? What do we do with them then? Send them home or set them up in the US with their own Medicare card? That possibility isn't even being discussed.
What worries me most about his plan...
isn't that the supermax prisons won't be able to hold them safely, but what if even one or two aren't convicted? What do we do with them then? Send them home or set them up in the US with their own Medicare card? That possibility isn't even being discussed.
So, you're not American?
I see the trap you're setting here...and this conversation is over.
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