Bushton. Roveston. Greenspan Heights.

Uhm, have you not been paying attention?

The Federal Government is funded by us, down here, in the lower-to-middle-class. George Bush’s administration gave the ultra-wealthy many, many tax breaks.

The rich are rich because they figured out ways to not have to give up money that came into their hands.

Having the federal government ‘bail out’ this problem is like bailing from one boat into another.

P.S.: Encouraging people to not pay the debts that they are /legally required/ to pay is Incitement – in and of itself a crime. I’m not a lawyer, so don’t take my word for it, ask your own lawyer.

Ontario Stakes out its new rules for Tent City

We look forward to a cultural renaissance and blossoming of gritty new art and writings in the grand tradition of the Dust Bowl and the Gangster Years!

The film alone will be magnificent! Too bad about all the blighted lives, misery and suffering. Ahhh, well, whaddya gonna do?

First, whoever said Bear Stearns is insulated from their actions, they lost 98% of their value and lost the company over the course of 12 months. That is not insulation, so your argument fails.

There is a huge difference between “bailing someone out” (which the government has specifically not done) and providing liquidity to the system. … But then again, if you don’t even know the very basics of what the problem is, how could you possibly identify a possible solution even when it is being carried before your very eyes.

The problem is inflation. Creating more inflation to stave the withdrawal symptoms is not a solution. “Creating liquidity” is creating inflation! Having the Federal Reserve give JP Morgan a “discount window loan” and forcing them to buy Bear Stearns at $2/share with that money is a bail-out. Bear Stearns should fail like any other insolvent business would have to; anything else is corporate welfare.

Furthermore, there is a big difference between the fact that investors know Bear Stearns should fail which is what their collapsed stock price indicates, and the market action of actually going insolvent. Stock price is really only tangential to the cashflow of a business. Stock price has as much to do with the solvency of a business as a fuel gauge has to do with gasoline providing fuel for your car.

I was thinking about another common cause of recession – people getting laid off and fired, and how you can make the same kind of hard-line personal responsibility argument:

“Look, those people got those jobs knowing they could be fired at any time – they should’ve read their employment contract more closely. If they were smart they would’ve gone to night school and studied to become tenured professors! They made a gamble to stake their livelihood on a risky factory job, and now they have to take responsibility for it.”

It’s interesting how the same argument seems absurd when taken out of the context of loans and debt. I think this is because we have a deep cultural ethos linking debt to a sense of personal responsibility – if you can’t or won’t pay back what you owe, you’re worthless and a social failure…much more so than if you just lose your job.

I think we need to get away from feeling sorry for people because they were greedy and/or stupid and get into a house they would inevitably be unable to afford.

I feel badly for them that they are homeless, as I do for all homeless people. But to blame their homelessness on having their home repossessed? I just don’t buy that.

only if it’s under a million

Indeed, it is somewhat surprising that there is not already rioting in the streets, given the gigantic fraud perpetrated by the financial elite at the expense of ordinary Americans.

There’s still plenty of time for that. Now where did I put that length of rope?

Long-haired preachers come out every night
To tell you what’s wrong and what’s right
But when asked how about something to eat
They will answer in voices so sweet:

You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
That’s a lie

And the starvation army they play
They sing and they clap and they pray
‘Till they get all your coin on the drum
Then they’ll tell you when you’re on the bum:

You’re gonna eat, bye and bye, poor boy
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
(Dirty lie)

Holy Rollers and jumpers come out
They holler, they jump, Lord, they shout
Give your money to Jesus they say
He will cure all troubles today

And you will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, boy, live on hay,
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.

If you fight hard for children and wife
Try to get something good in this life
You’re a sinner and bad man, they tell
When you die you will sure go to hell

You will eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky
Work and pray, live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die

Workingmen of all countries, unite
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When this world and its wealth we have gained
To the grafters we’ll sing this refrain:

Well, you will eat, bye and bye
When you’ve learned how to cook and to fry
Chop some wood, it’ll do you good
You will eat in the sweet bye and bye

Yes you’ll eat, bye and bye
In that glorious land above the sky, way up high
Work and pray, and live on hay
You’ll get pie in the sky when you die
That’s a lie….

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Monday, March 17, 2008

Propel This! – Submit to Propeller.com

A leading economic journalist has described the current financial crisis as a “gigantic fraud”, the fallout of a deliberate and preconceived profit agenda to enslave the middle classes in a debt bubble.

The economics editor of the London Guardian, Larry Elliott, has hit out at the global financial elite in a refreshing piece that marks a rare shift away from the establishment hackery we are used to from the corporate media.

In an article titled America was conned – who will pay? Elliot writes:

Indeed, it is somewhat surprising that there is not already rioting in the streets, given the gigantic fraud perpetrated by the financial elite at the expense of ordinary Americans.

[...]

People conned into a sub-prime mortgage, often when they were not told of other options or if they were presented with distorted facts could hardly be called “greedy and/or stupid”. Don’t lose sight of where the real greed lies in all of this: the bankers and the credit corporations that since the Reagan deregulation orgy have had carte-blanche.

Ethics classes should be mandatory…

Halleluah brother!

America was conned – who will pay?

“The politics of failure have failed. We need to make them work again.”

Of course, a “new New Deal” will be born of exactly the kind of state of emergency where we’ll really see the fascism kick into high gear. Each successive day is looking more and more like Alex Jones will be vindicated.

Try renting with a low FICO and a foreclosure on your record. Landlords do check, you know. Most people who get foreclosed spend every last dime trying to prevent it. That leaves them with no first /last/deposit. It’s not that simple.

And now Americans have alternatives to traditional houses.

I’m kinda disappointed at some of the “tough shit” posts here. These people didn’t necessarily KNOW the trouble they were getting into. Believe me- new home salesmen in particular a few years ago should have the same reputation as a lot of car salesman. You could walk into any development anywhere with terrible credit and dubious income and they would put you into any home you wanted. Builder’s buy-down incentives and variable-rate mortgages with no-money-down made it relatively easy. They all sold people on the “American Dream” of home ownership. Was this a mistake? Of course- but it’s more the fault of the banks and builders that did it than the people who were enticed by it.

It’s important to keep in-mind too- everyone expected housing prices to continue to go up (even though real estate has been artificially high in many parts of the country for years) and at least hoped that interest rates would stay low. The majority of people don’t “expect” that the economy is going to tank. They also have a reasonable expectation that their wages will increase as time goes on, which also didn’t happen for most.

There are a lot of people in really bad situations right now- and just callously blaming them for it is wrong. The blame lies with the banks and other corporations who were responsible for allowing the situation to happen to begin with, and with the government for their complete lack of any real economic plan (short of bailing out said banks and corporations, and their multi-millionaire board members).

And- just TRY renting somewhere with bad credit. It doesn’t happen. You can live in a cash-only run-down motel, but you are probably safer and better off on the street or in a tent on a vacant lot. You can’t even get into a trailer park without good credit anymore.

I’m guessing the people who think otherwise have either jerked their landlord around or haven’t rented to any large degree.

I too feel badly for the loss of their homes but WTF were they thinking to accept these HORRIBLE loans in the first place!?! I too have sympathy but I also admit that my sympathy is limited.

If you are offered a home loan where your first year (or more) of payments goes toward the interest and nothing toward the principal – gambling on a hypothetical increase in property value – then you cannot afford to buy a home.

It is really sad that this is happening. Yet again, I am ashamed and embarrassed for my country.