44 The Solari Report / 2018 Annual Wrap Up / Part Two VIII. Launching The Solari Report (November 2008–November 2012) “A financial coup d’état? I could agree with that…. Because the people here really aren’t in charge. Wall Street is in charge.” ~ Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur when asked if the bailouts constituted a financial coup d’état I launched The Solari Report in December of 2008 from a chair in a hospital room in Phila- delphia, where I was caring for a friend, Georgie LaRue, who was recovering from surgery. It was an unusual evening. I was quite worried that Georgie might not make it—but she did. The prayers from Solari readers lifted our spirits, as did the new subscriptions streaming in on my laptop. It was another reminder that no matter how dark things seem, moving forward is the best direction. The mood in the financial markets was ominous. Bernie Madoff was arrested a week later. You could feel the liquidity shortages pulling the plug on a growing number of operations. Because of my understanding of the federal finances and the securities markets, I knew the world was in serious trouble. I had most of my clients out of major stock market positions. Money had continued to disappear, financed in part by significant mortgage securities fraud. If the mortgage securities fraud was as bad as it was, I believed it was more than likely that U.S. Treasuries were being issued off balance sheet as well. Years before, a researcher had sent me documents of a private placement of U.S. Treasuries allegedly issued off-books to mobster Meyer Lansky when he was running the deep state’s money