Golden Parachutes

Tell me why these men got these sums, are not in jail, and haven't had all their assets confiscated to pay for the billions they have robbed from their customers, stockholders, and now the taxpayers?

Executive Final Compensations

Perfect example of the rich and arrogant, Rick Santelli.

So Rick Santelli went on a rant on CNBC about how he doesn't want to pay people's mortgages who bought homes they couldn't afford. How he sees the Obama plan (admittedly doomed to failure IMO) as anything more than supporting bad decision making.

First of all Rick isn't a poor man, he's not Middle Class, and he probably doesn't even know what it's like to lose a home or be on the verge of losing a home, having problems feeding his family or even losing a job. Second his rant was more likely a publicity stunt to give himself some show and tell. But let's take a look at a few things about him "paying" for failing mortgages.

There are three peoples at fault in this housing situation.

The first are the investors who bought property throughout the nation on speculation of the real estate markets. They thought they could buy one, two, three or more homes and lease them, rent them, or just sit on them. They were counting on the prices of the homes going up and up and up to the sky and then making big money (think dot.com companies). The markets in growing areas had a lot of these types of investors who then found their homes dropping in value. And dropping. And dropping. And dropping. So they started to bail and dump their homes, lots of them. Or they couldn't afford them any longer because their other investments (Wall Street, Commodities, the area Rick Santelli works in) started to fail and they got scared. And LOTs of these investors decided to just take a walk on their mortgages putting a greater burden on the banks and then they in turn pressured the good mortgage buyers who were starting to strain under the economy. These investors should not get a dime of help. They took a risk, they blew it, tough.

The second group of people are the ones Rick Santelli is ranting about. There are *SOME* people out there who purposely bought what they knew they couldn't afford. They wanted the grandiose house, they wanted the image, they wanted the house to match their BMW (which they also couldn't afford). The husband and wife worked two jobs and cared more for their parties than their children. They too have no sympathy from me and deserve Ricks' rant, and shouldn't get a dime.

Then there is the vast majority for the rest. The third group that Rick seems to have forgotten about (or due to his position probably doesn't even know exists). That's the regular working class family, the Middle Class people, even some poor people, who went to Ameriquest, Countrywide, and other lenders trying to afford just a house. We're not talking about the $250K or higher (probably MUCH higher in Rick's case) homes, but just basic, decent family homes. They went believing that these lenders, these TRAINED EXPERTS, would work with them to be able to afford a home. They asked about their financials, they put together the sheets, they explained it all in details. These are the people who can't afford the attorneys and accountants that Rick can to review every document and every detail. These are the people who were lead to believe they actually could afford their homes. But in the end when shifts came to the economy, when the banks decided to play games with interest rates, fees, etc. they found they couldn't. They are the ones in trouble. Seniors, newlyweds, working class, retirees, and others.

These people are the ones you're helping to save Rick. Or don't you give a damn about your fellow man? Probably not. I don't know if you agreed with the bank bailout, but I'll bet you did. And it was those banks that caused these people to be where they are. It was those banks that mislead them on their abilities to pay, and it was those banks that KNEW these people couldn't pay but GAVE THEM the money anyway. Had those banks actually lent money ONLY to the amounts people could truly afford, based on NET not GROSS income, then we wouldn't be in this mess.

But greed was what the banks were looking to invest in, and it's what they got. The CEOs and their officers still have their homes. Probably several of them. Hell, the head of Ameriquest was made a US ambassador by President Bush. They aren't suffering, they aren't scared where they will live, where their kids will go to school, or if due to their now ruined credit they will ever own a home again.

How about you Rick? I'll bet you sleep really safe and sound at night don't you? Maybe you should lose your job, your home, your savings and see how it feels. Then let's see you rant like a moron about "paying your neighbors mortgage."

Two Complaints.

I have two major complaints this time, I guess I'm on a roll!

The first is about our old friends, the banks. It's been clear to anyone that has read my comments that I feel the banks should be allowed to fail. I also believe their officers should be tried and imprisoned for the raping they have done to the citizens of this nation, their employees and the overall national economy. And yet their greed knows no bounds.

Take for instance fees, interest rates, and harassment. To show how high up in their Mount Olympus these lords are all you have to do is see how they treat their customers. For they know people are struggling, namely the majority of their customers, so do they make it easier for them to pay their debts to them? No. On the contrary, they make it even harder. As Dave Ramsey has said "the system is designed for the consumer to fail." Miss a payment by a day? They will slam your interest rates up, forget about how good a customer you are or are even trying to be. Miss it by a day and you get phone call after phone call after phone call. Fees? Well hell, they will not only hit you with a late fee but if THEIR fee manages to kick it over your limit they will hit you with an over limit fee! Oh and let's not forget the fees for paying your bill via phone or computer, which mind you costs them jack. More and more they screw you over, the people trying to do the right thing and pay their bills.

And for this harassing and miserable treatment we should give them OUR tax money? F'em.

The second is the overall ignorance, blind ignorance, of the American people. Not everyone of course, but sadly too many. I read many different newspapers and am always fascinated by the blind ignorant following of the two Parties that make up this nation's political system. The arguments between rabid Republicans and diehard Democrats always seems to say to me "you are both being just so totally led by the nose."

The Democrats always argue that they are the more superior species because they are more open-minded. That they seek greater equality and fairness between all. That if you wear a suit and tie something must be wrong with you to be in the "upper class." Obama is the saviour of the nation and defender of all that is good. That those who do not agree with them clearly are nothing more than fascists and right wing nutcases.

The Republicans always argue that they are the more superior species because they are more family oriented. That they have a deeper sense of God's true purpose and believe that the strong should survive. That if you were flip-flops, boots, or jeans that something must be wrong with you to be in the "lower class." That Bush was the righteous leader and protector of the people from the evils of others. That those who do not agree with them are clearly damned and God will punish them accordingly.

Well, to both you ignorant peoples I say, wake the hell up! Listen to yourselves! For God's (and any other deity's) sake just listen to the way you are talking about your fellow man? READ SOME BOOKS! Study how Stalin, Hitler, King Louis, Czar Nicholas, and other national leaders and their governments played people in this same fashion to be sure there was always a "slave" class to do the work and bidding of the "upper" class. The minute that anyone looks "down" or "wrong" at someone else you are dooming our nation to fail and suffer the upheavals of those who came before us. Once you put anyone on a pedestal, such as our politicians and CEOs, you guarantee they will run with it and take everything they can get away with. But keep everyone on the same level, to the same standards, to the same insurance, same levels of pay and evaluation, to the same medical care, and you will NEVER see what is happening right now.

The two party system is the single most destructive thing to the United States of America. It causes the people to be divided while those in the Parties make the calls that rule our lives and manipulate everything to go their way. And while the ignorant masses are yelling "it's their fault" and "we're better than you" nobody is noticing that our government, their friends in the banks and corporations, are screwing us over more and more every day.

How many people have lost their jobs? How many are BOTH Democrats and Republicans? How many people have lost their savings? How many are BOTH Democrats and Republicans? How many people have been working their asses off every single day, mothers and fathers, and can't even see their kids enough to really give them what they need? How many are BOTH Democrats and Republicans?

That's because NONE of you are EITHER Democrats or Republicans (nor Blacks and Whites, Jews or Gentiles, or any other such labeled crap)!! You are ALL AMERICANS! And right now you should stop the bickering, the crying, the whining, the belly-aching about how much some politician is your savior/enemy and start realizing that NONE of them care one damn bit about you in reality, they only care about what they are getting out of it and how ignorant you stay so they can keep getting it.

And if the recently passed Stimulus isn't an example of how our government, our politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, don't give a damn about the American people, nothing is.

History Repeats Itself.

It's pretty clear as a nation we haven't learned a thing from history. More and more people I've been talking to have said that they don't understand how any of this could happen. Or they say how screwed we really are because they have a clue.

The citizens of this nation need to read about its history now. Not later. And they need to seriously educate themselves about the two self-absorbed parties running this country.

To start with read up on Presidents Harding and Hoover (forget Coolidge, he was a do nothing between the two). Wikipedia is fine. As you read about the two think Bush and Obama respectively.

Then read about Economic Efficiency: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficiency_Movement

And then be afraid, because you'll see how everything that is happening now happened before. The end result then was the Great Depression, and we didn't have 1/4 of the mess we've got now. The only way we made it out of that mess was World War II. I don't believe (and I sincerely hope) we won't have another World War to help us recover from what will be the mother of all Depressions this nation, and this world will see.

(And how I hope I end up being wrong about our future!)

Another Year has Passed

So here we are, more than a year from my last comment and after one of the most nasty, brutal, long elections in our nation's history. Mud slinging doesn't even come close. From blatant racist attacks (thank you Gov. Palin) to shrill crying of foul play (thank you Sen. Clinton) to turning on a dime to win votes (thank you Sen. McCain) to making overly broad promises (thank you now President Obama), it was an embarrassing year of US politics.

And where are we now? Exactly where even a lowly guy like me said we would be, in a financial pit and getting worse. The Bush Administration and the Republicans ran the Working Class into the ground for six years of total control of the government. Then the Democrats, those saviors of the Working Classes and the Poor, came in and ... did not one damn thing. They let the free ride continue and Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Reid were about as worthless as two cardboard cutouts.

During this time there was only one politician who said what would happen and kept trying to get his message across. He even ran for President, but was constantly laughed at by the economically ignorant Sen. McCain, and joked as being a fanatic about something we should have been fanatical about. That person was Rep. Ron Paul. From day one Dr. Paul has predicted nearly every single financial disaster that has occurred in this nation, and continues to do so. But nobody is listening.

Nor is anyone listening to such economists as Schiff or Davidowitz. Who are saying very clearly, get ready as 2009 is going to be one step into economic hell for the United States. And we'll likely take most of the civilized world with us. The Great Depression will seem pretty small compared to what's coming due to the enormous ties and connections our once great nation now has to China, Germany, and others. Our debtor nation will bring down those other nations just because we owe so much and it'll be impossible to ever pay them back, and they are realizing it.

As for President Obama? I don't envy him. Hell, I wouldn't envy anyone that inherited this disaster. He is grasping at straws, hoping against hope that something works. He's trying, hard, to be open to the Republicans, but those dinosaurs to the Dark Ages and Crusades, don't give a damn about working with anyone. The Republican Party is dead. Roosevelt, Reagan, and even Nixon are turning over in their graves to the disgusting mess it has become.

And the Democrats? Well they are fawning all over their new leader, and in the process again trampling over the Working People of the nation. Putting in stupid perks and plans into the stimulus bills that Obama is trying to work through to attempt, in vain, to help the economy of this nation.

Both parties and the President are as out of touch with reality and the people as the King of France and Czar of Russia before their revolutions. They make faces, use strong words, and admonish the disgustingly rich (thieves) that run the banking industry and pretend to care, but in reality they are again handing them billions of OUR tax money and we won't see a dime of it, just like the first half of the $720 BILLION.

I have heard and read in several places that if that $720B was instead divided up among the tax paying people of this nation who made under $250K a year, that would mean each person would get $150K. Those people would then decide what to do with it, whether to save it (into banks), invest it (into banks or Wall Street), pay bills (into banks), or spend it on cars and houses (into banks). In the case of spending it, that would then increase the housing, auto and other industries raising them out of the pit. It's a win-win situation to give the taxpayers back THEIR money and NOT give it to these idiot bankers.

In any other business where an employee so totally fracked up his business or job, they would be fired and lose their benefits. But the banking CEOs and CFOs who get multi-million dollar salaries and perks instead get billions of our tax money.

Tell me, isn't this really a form of our government saying to the people of the nation "Let them eat cake?"

I suspect by the time another year passes we'll see ourselves into that Depression. I just hope to God that finally people wake up to reality and decide that both the Republicans and Democratic parties are only playing to about 10% of the nation really, and of that only 1% who are the wealthiest do they actually give a damn about.