So, Bailout 1 never got a chance and I am so glad for that. The Republicans are playing the 'Blame' card. Why should you or I have to pay for what some bozos on Wall Street and the man down there at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are responsible for having put in play? I am not interested in helping anybody that did not have my best interest at heart from the beginning. Show me where Wall Street ever did anything for the man on the street. Show me where all of the middle class jobs went and I will show you where ‘they’ need to go to get the help that ‘they’ need. I am using the word ‘‘they’’ liberally because it is a way of expressing just how far away these people are from me and reality. This situation is 'their' reality check. You can't scare me anymore because I don't believe you anymore.
Here is the cool skinner on how the Bailout went south in the Devil’s hand basket. Bear in mind that the Republican Party in the guise of Phil Graham set all of this up when ‘they’ changed the Commodity Futures Market Act in 2000. That set in motion all of the speculation that sent Enron, WorldCom, and the Electrical Utilities market in a tailspin. The futures market was manipulated and it was apparent to the people on Wall Street and ‘they’ took advantage of it. Everybody made money, bought fancy cars, and big houses in gated communities.
In addition, big business saw that ‘they’ could out-source jobs to wherever. We noticed it as a person that spoke English with a serious accent reading from a script answering the phone and fielding our questions with no idea as to what we wanted. Advanced technology took more people off of the assembly line, further reducing the middle class. With a fine chisel and a never tiring hand big business advanced its assault on our Unions, reducing them to ineffective street crowds. We loss every job that had a value-added tag and Wall Street smiled and said… “This is good”.
Wall Street and Big Business did everything ‘they’ could to strip every dollar from the hands of the very people that were needed to support the American economy. Without money in savings accounts, without people spending money, buying stuff and using stuff, cash flow ceases to exist. What did ‘they’ expect? Didn’t anybody think that this would happen? Drunk with the unbelievable influx of cash, Wall Street and Big Business could care less.
The next area of attack was the housing market. ‘‘they’’ applied the same philosophy to the housing market, giving over-appraised houses to people that wanted to live the American dream, but had no real money to buy into the dream. Mortgage lenders followed the game plan that Wall Street had polished into a money-maker and the boom was on. Everybody that could drag himself into the door was given a fat boy loan.
I say no to the bailout. Let all of those that raked in the big bucks return the favor. Give the money back. Straighten out those loans that you fraudulently put together. Stop the felonious practices that took all of our jobs and sent them overseas.
In response to those that blamed the Democratic Party for the failure of the Bailout to be a reality, let me tell you exactly what happened. The Democrats have enough votes in both the House and Senate to have passed this bill with no problem. The Democrats, and I, believe that since the Republicans are responsible for this mess, ‘they’ should share in whatever method of recovery that was devised. The Republicans would love to see the measure pass, but want no part of the blame if the measure should fail. So, the Democrats had a plan, we will allow so many of our votes to be recorded, but if the Republicans don’t match the vote count, thus insuring bi-partisan support, than we will instruct the rest of the Democratic vote to record a negative vote.
I don’t blame Pelosi for doing what she did. She is nobody’s fool. The Republicans and the ‘lame duck’ down the street had better come up with a plan for saving the economy, or history will not be too kind to ‘them’. The President should stop begging and demand a positive response from his Party!
Showing posts with label Wall Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wall Street. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
How To Rescue The Economy
I want to share with you my thoughts on this bailout situation. We don't need seven hundred billion dollars to repair this problem. In fact, we don't need any money at all. This is why...
1. We should renegotiate all of the loans that are sub-prime and get rid of the ARM forever. All of the loans that are delinquent, or borderline should be extended so that the borrower can meet the payments. In other words, if it takes more than thirty years to repay a loan at three hundred dollars a month, as oppose a fixed thirty year loan with payments of nine hundred, then restructure the loan so that the person can make the payments.
2. Identify all loans and the circumstances that are presently making the borrower delinquent in payments - resolve it by one of two ways. Re-finance the loan terms in such a way that the borrower can make payments, or place that loan at high risk for further evaluation and resolvement.
3. Those mortgage lenders that stretched the parameters for making loans to borrowers that were marginally qualified should be prosecuted for fraud.
4. No golden parachutes for CEOs and administrative officers that were at the helm of companies that failed - retroactive. In other words, if the culprit is gone, go get him! Limit the retirement package for all CEOs.
5. No money to investment banks that are going under.
6. Re-instate the regulations that were withdrawn with the Commodity Futures Market Act of 2000. Increase the transparency of all markets wherein there is the possibility for speculation - oil, electricity, etc. Severe penalties for violators.
7. Institute national projects that would create jobs (bridge and road repair, technical skills) Setup centers dedicated to the re-tooling of the job market so that individuals can make themselves employable. Make it a goal to reduce the pollutions of automobile by setting the bar for carbon reduction and using the money that was accepted by the auto industry to retool that industry.
8. Re-structure the tax code so that the taxes for those making less than fifty thousand are not taxed as much as those making between fifty thousand to one hundred fifty thousand, and those making more than one hundred fifty thousand will pay a little less than those making more than one hundred fifty thousand. Let's rebuild the tax structure in the shape of a vase - small at the bottom, fat in the middle, and somewhat bigger than the bottom at the top.
9. Increase Social Security taxes by raising the taxable group to those making two hundred seventy thousand.
Those in a position to set policy should began to understand that this economy is not trickle down, it is trickle up. The reason that you don't have cash flow is because the work force is reduced and can't spend enough money to support a substantial cash flow. With a reduction of the people that were making fifty to sixty thousand dollars a year, we lost cash flow.
We should, all as one, resist the notion that if we don't do something tomorrow, the world will cease to exist as we know it. The Bush administration has used 'fear' tactics more than enough times to let me know that it 'ain't so' folks. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq. Bush lied about Al Qaeda in Iraq. He has not kept his promise to get Osama Bin Laden. The Bush administration cannot be trusted with seven hundred billion dollars just before they walk out of the door. Personally, I think Bush and Cheney and the rest of the gang are seeking their severance pay (golden parachute) before bailing out.
Here is your cue... the banking system was supposed to have crashed last weekend - it didn't. It was supposed to crashed on last Monday - it didn't. Now it is supposed to crash on this coming Monday (September 29, 2008); my prediction - it won't!
Don't believe the hype; we don't need a bailout! If you agree with me, send this letter to your Congressional representatives in both houses asap!
1. We should renegotiate all of the loans that are sub-prime and get rid of the ARM forever. All of the loans that are delinquent, or borderline should be extended so that the borrower can meet the payments. In other words, if it takes more than thirty years to repay a loan at three hundred dollars a month, as oppose a fixed thirty year loan with payments of nine hundred, then restructure the loan so that the person can make the payments.
2. Identify all loans and the circumstances that are presently making the borrower delinquent in payments - resolve it by one of two ways. Re-finance the loan terms in such a way that the borrower can make payments, or place that loan at high risk for further evaluation and resolvement.
3. Those mortgage lenders that stretched the parameters for making loans to borrowers that were marginally qualified should be prosecuted for fraud.
4. No golden parachutes for CEOs and administrative officers that were at the helm of companies that failed - retroactive. In other words, if the culprit is gone, go get him! Limit the retirement package for all CEOs.
5. No money to investment banks that are going under.
6. Re-instate the regulations that were withdrawn with the Commodity Futures Market Act of 2000. Increase the transparency of all markets wherein there is the possibility for speculation - oil, electricity, etc. Severe penalties for violators.
7. Institute national projects that would create jobs (bridge and road repair, technical skills) Setup centers dedicated to the re-tooling of the job market so that individuals can make themselves employable. Make it a goal to reduce the pollutions of automobile by setting the bar for carbon reduction and using the money that was accepted by the auto industry to retool that industry.
8. Re-structure the tax code so that the taxes for those making less than fifty thousand are not taxed as much as those making between fifty thousand to one hundred fifty thousand, and those making more than one hundred fifty thousand will pay a little less than those making more than one hundred fifty thousand. Let's rebuild the tax structure in the shape of a vase - small at the bottom, fat in the middle, and somewhat bigger than the bottom at the top.
9. Increase Social Security taxes by raising the taxable group to those making two hundred seventy thousand.
Those in a position to set policy should began to understand that this economy is not trickle down, it is trickle up. The reason that you don't have cash flow is because the work force is reduced and can't spend enough money to support a substantial cash flow. With a reduction of the people that were making fifty to sixty thousand dollars a year, we lost cash flow.
We should, all as one, resist the notion that if we don't do something tomorrow, the world will cease to exist as we know it. The Bush administration has used 'fear' tactics more than enough times to let me know that it 'ain't so' folks. Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq. Bush lied about Al Qaeda in Iraq. He has not kept his promise to get Osama Bin Laden. The Bush administration cannot be trusted with seven hundred billion dollars just before they walk out of the door. Personally, I think Bush and Cheney and the rest of the gang are seeking their severance pay (golden parachute) before bailing out.
Here is your cue... the banking system was supposed to have crashed last weekend - it didn't. It was supposed to crashed on last Monday - it didn't. Now it is supposed to crash on this coming Monday (September 29, 2008); my prediction - it won't!
Don't believe the hype; we don't need a bailout! If you agree with me, send this letter to your Congressional representatives in both houses asap!
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Fundamentals on Bushonomics…
Well… America’s chickens on Wall Street have come home to roost. Banks are failing, financial institutions are failing, and the real estate industry is in the toilet. How the heck did we get here? What caused this to happen? Who is responsible? Who do we blame?
The President, a few weeks ago, told reporters in what was supposed to be a private – no cameras - discussion that Wall Street is the cause of the problem. To quote him “Ya see Wall Street got drunk…” Really? If we are to believe a person that I think is a habitual liar, then we must blame the regulatory entity that was suppose to oversee Wall Street for the dilemma that we must endure for the next two or three years. That is the case, if you believe the lie. I don’t think that Wall Street is totally to blame for the current financial situation we are experiencing.
Does anyone remember the speech that President Bush made in March of 2001 on the economy? In that speech, the President made a statement that was heard around the world, but especially on Wall Street and the other financial institutions. Big business heard it too! The President said… “We are in a recession…” From that moment on we were in deep you-know-what as consumers. That was the signal for big business to start laying off blue collar workers. United Airlines ‘pink-slipped’ thousands of its people. United Airlines went into bankruptcy and stole the pension fund of its retirees – pension checks went from 2000.00 on average per month to 250.00 - take it, or leave it. Enron went under after the Bush administration refused to prop up their failed policies. Enron failed as a result of the policies that McCain and the Bush administration pushed through Congress.
From the Baltimore Chronicle dated May 28, 2008: "A McCain aide told me that the Arizona senator opposes the farm bill because it “rewards lobbyists” by granting rich farmers lucrative subsidies, although he would support “a reasonable level of assistance and risk management to farmers when they need America's help.”
But the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee also opposes the farm bill because Gramm advised McCain that he should resist its regulatory language on the energy futures market.
Democrats have dubbed that gap in energy futures regulation the “Enron loophole,” but it played a part, too, in the more recent attempt by the Amaranth Advisers hedge fund to corner the national gas market by shifting trades to the unregulated “dark markets” of the Intercontinental Exchange.
The “Enron loophole” also has become part of the debate over the soaring price of oil. Last week, a study sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, concluded that speculative futures markets were partly to blame for the surge in oil prices that have pushed gas at the pump toward $4 a gallon."
McCain has stated that he will keep in place the majority of the initiatives that Bush put in place over the last eight years. To ensure that things remain status quo, he has chosen Phil Gramm to be his ‘economical advisor’. The same Phil Gramm that was Bush’s advisor and helpmate in Congress when the Republicans were pushing through these deregulatory initiatives that started the ball rolling for big business. Even when Phil Gramm called America’s working class ‘a bunch of whiners’, McCain pretended to fire Gramm, but a few weeks later Gramm was back on the job.
Who do I blame? I blame Bush for signing off on faulty legislation, with the advice of Phil Gramm; that created the loopholes that allowed Enron and others like Enron to take advantage of the consumer with disastrous results. I blame a Republican dominated Congress that supported the derailment of our economy. We got here through the greed of a few people who were trusted with the well-being of our economy. This is what can happen every time the everyday guy walking on the street does not pay attention to the inner workings of our economy and how it is regulated. I blame the President and his cronies for allowing this to happen.
The bottom-line, you cannot deregulate anything unless there are built-in checks and balances!
The President, a few weeks ago, told reporters in what was supposed to be a private – no cameras - discussion that Wall Street is the cause of the problem. To quote him “Ya see Wall Street got drunk…” Really? If we are to believe a person that I think is a habitual liar, then we must blame the regulatory entity that was suppose to oversee Wall Street for the dilemma that we must endure for the next two or three years. That is the case, if you believe the lie. I don’t think that Wall Street is totally to blame for the current financial situation we are experiencing.
Does anyone remember the speech that President Bush made in March of 2001 on the economy? In that speech, the President made a statement that was heard around the world, but especially on Wall Street and the other financial institutions. Big business heard it too! The President said… “We are in a recession…” From that moment on we were in deep you-know-what as consumers. That was the signal for big business to start laying off blue collar workers. United Airlines ‘pink-slipped’ thousands of its people. United Airlines went into bankruptcy and stole the pension fund of its retirees – pension checks went from 2000.00 on average per month to 250.00 - take it, or leave it. Enron went under after the Bush administration refused to prop up their failed policies. Enron failed as a result of the policies that McCain and the Bush administration pushed through Congress.
From the Baltimore Chronicle dated May 28, 2008: "A McCain aide told me that the Arizona senator opposes the farm bill because it “rewards lobbyists” by granting rich farmers lucrative subsidies, although he would support “a reasonable level of assistance and risk management to farmers when they need America's help.”
But the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee also opposes the farm bill because Gramm advised McCain that he should resist its regulatory language on the energy futures market.
Democrats have dubbed that gap in energy futures regulation the “Enron loophole,” but it played a part, too, in the more recent attempt by the Amaranth Advisers hedge fund to corner the national gas market by shifting trades to the unregulated “dark markets” of the Intercontinental Exchange.
The “Enron loophole” also has become part of the debate over the soaring price of oil. Last week, a study sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, concluded that speculative futures markets were partly to blame for the surge in oil prices that have pushed gas at the pump toward $4 a gallon."
McCain has stated that he will keep in place the majority of the initiatives that Bush put in place over the last eight years. To ensure that things remain status quo, he has chosen Phil Gramm to be his ‘economical advisor’. The same Phil Gramm that was Bush’s advisor and helpmate in Congress when the Republicans were pushing through these deregulatory initiatives that started the ball rolling for big business. Even when Phil Gramm called America’s working class ‘a bunch of whiners’, McCain pretended to fire Gramm, but a few weeks later Gramm was back on the job.
Who do I blame? I blame Bush for signing off on faulty legislation, with the advice of Phil Gramm; that created the loopholes that allowed Enron and others like Enron to take advantage of the consumer with disastrous results. I blame a Republican dominated Congress that supported the derailment of our economy. We got here through the greed of a few people who were trusted with the well-being of our economy. This is what can happen every time the everyday guy walking on the street does not pay attention to the inner workings of our economy and how it is regulated. I blame the President and his cronies for allowing this to happen.
The bottom-line, you cannot deregulate anything unless there are built-in checks and balances!
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