Holy Buck, Fatman!

Does anyone see anything wrong with this?

I mean, weren’t popes, cardinals and priests supposed to take vows of poverty?!!?!

Pope: Fuck the poor!

I challenge one seriously rich guy to tell me that he pays a larger percentage of taxes then I do. Remember folks, base this on the percentage of my income to the percentage of the rich guys income…..because therein lies the actual number!

 From Bloomberg:

Kanjorski, a key member of the House Financial Services Committee and 31 other lawmakers of both parties recently asked the Federal Reserve — which orchestrated the Bear Stearns rescue — to inject cash into the student loan market by using a special lending operation. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke responded in a letter that since a shaky student loan market doesn’t threaten the financial system, it’s not the central bank’s job to steady it.

Again, the rich don’t seem to see a problem. Everyone they know seems just fine.  Besides, the world needs ditch diggers, too!

You see, because within those investment portfolios at Bear Sterns, lived their children’s  college funds, trust funds, etc etc. So, that was A-OK to bail out.

And that is the real story so far….

Is right here. You WILL NOT be disappointed!

I probably STILL pay more tax then these neo maxi zoom dweebies.

The detachment of the uber rich in this country is astounding. The way they see it, this whole economic crisis is nothing more then a media fear mongering issue. The people who live in their neighborhoods, play golf at their country clubs and attend meetings at their children’s schools all seem to be doing just fine. What is all the fuss about? The people who take care of their children, manicure their lawns and clean their homes all see to be doing just fine as well. Besides, they believe that all that chatter about foreclosures is nothing more then a few people making some bad financial decisions. “It’s all their own fault, they should have read the terms of their loans!” is the common phrase repeated.

These unabashed worshipers of complete deregulation really want the person without the personal responsibility to simply read their mortgage terms and stop messing with the investment bankers who are gambling that they will be able to afford to pay back their mortgages.

I remember the days when I was house hunting. when discussing loans, creative loans were described to me as a vehicle to buy an extremely overpriced crappy ass McMansion in Suburban Utopia if you expected your income to increase significantly within a five year period. So, I understood it this way: you want to buy a 500K house? Well, hope your a first year attorney expected to pull in a partner’s salary within the next few years!  I poopooed the idea of Interest Only loans because I didn’t see a SIGNIFICANT increase in my future. Well, folks, I was right. and you know what? No one else has seen significant increases in their salaries, either. the promises of jobs galore have pretty much bitten the dust. The risk that the idiot investment bankers have taken on didn’t quite pan out. So, Overblown prices in housing and stagnant wages have given way to what? Foreclosures!!!!! Instead of people making more cash by their reset l;ike they had expected to, people found themselves either at the same place they were some years ago or worse: out of jobs completely. What’s even worse is the Rich idiots who bought million dollar homes as “an investment” expecting the equity to increase forever only to be told by their banks: “Sorry, we are yanking your HELOC because you have no equity anymore. Sorry, no vacations for you!” Astoundingly enough, some of these homeowners have decided to “walk away” from their investment and simply take the foreclosure. Personal Responsibilty? nahhhh…fuck that. this wasnt what they expected….it was supposed to be a retirement fund.

This is what pisses me off to no end: It’s okay to let the “Market work” when talking about the regular middle class folk who are constantly getting ass raped in the name of Market forces. It’s okay to rail against those same people when they get into trouble and need help because “Market forces” didn’t seem to work when it came to wages. (you know, real wages actually decreased, people)

It’s perfectly OK to use taxpayer money to bail out a HUGE bank who was deemed “too big to fail”. They made some shitty investment decisions and well, it wasn’t really their fault–it was you, stupid homeowner. YOU did this.  We can’t let the rich people drown in their own bathtub of crappy securities…..Market Forces be damned. We have to save OUR INVESTMENT PORTFOLIOS!!!!

and that is the real story so far,,,

if someone offered me 50$ an hour to pick lettuce, weell..I’d take the damn job too! That’s $104,000 a year! HELL YAH I’d Take that job!

As a Matter of Fact, I really would like that lettuce picking job…..seriously. At least i’d be outside for most of the day and woudl only have to work a season to sustain my lifestyle.  o, Senator McCain–can I have that Lettuce Picking job? 50$ an hour is damn good and a lot more then I make here to sit on my ass entering numbers into a computer! Fuck, man—I’m and American and *I* DO    want that job!

While I was gone on my Asian Adventure Vacation, The U.S. Economy simply tanked for lack of a better word. I’m not going to rehash what has happened in the last few months simply because it’s just too depressing. What I will say is this: All your unfettered free market deregulation champions are a BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES. (Yes, Grover, I’m Looking directly at YOU).

I’ve recently learned that in the mind of a rich person lurks a pretty selfish line of thinking. They honestly believe that the root of all the financial problems that have happened are simply because people “made poor choices”. No one should be bailed out if they are stupid enough to get into loans that are over their head. No one should be helped, they did it to themselves! Read the papers! Understand your risk! Know what you can afford! {/sarcasm}

BUT—when you are an investor and you stand to loose millions off of weird financial products that a precious few understand, well…the Government better help out right away! It doesn’t matter that investing is a known risk and if you choose to invest in something that is strange at best, well…it’s like betting at the craps table in Vegas—you could loose everything.

Ever see the disclaimers on investment websites like E-trade and stuff? They clearly state that none of their accounts are FDIC insured like your bank is because—INVEST AT YOUR OWN RISK. Do your homework, make sure that you understand what it is you are investing in before you do it. I know that. I take my time to read. It’s a simple lesson my dad taught me early on—-read read read everything and know what your risk is, even if you percieve it to be minimal–just be informed.

It just BOGGLES MY MIND that all these high powered investors don’t want any sort of regulation, but seem to believe they “deserve” to receive MY TAX DOLLARS to make sure their investment house doesn’t go bankrupt and they get their money’s worth from their investment. It would be like me buying a bunch of scratch off tickets only to realize that I spent thousands on something that I LOST money on! So, I’ll just ask the State for my money back! I won’t see a dime of their investment money. For all I care—they should all loose the shirts off their back, loose their jobs, go into forclosure on their over priced homes, cars and credit cards and go back to be regular joe standing in line at the unemployment office.

Isn’t that what happens to us when we make “Poor Choices?”

UPDATE: See? The Fed can Bill the Treasury! SEE, FOLKS?!?!?  Government handouts are OK when the uber Rich stand to loose a buck.

It’s 1:30pm on a Tuesday afternoon and I am sitting in my Downtown DC office listening to my streaming public radio station, WYPR. Except there is something inherently wrong with the whole scene. Right now, I’m used to listening to the Marc Steiner show which allows me participation in discussion about issues that effect me directly as a resident of Baltimore City. As of Friday, February 1, 2008, there is no Marc Steiner show. Instead, I’m half listening to some bullshit broadcast out of New York City. What the fuck do I care about some stupid ass NY Giants ticker tape parade or Mardi Gras coverage out of New Orleans? Where is the community discussion regarding issues effecting Baltimore City and Maryland as a whole? WTF?!?!?!!?!?

Marc has read several of my e mail responses on the air regarding several issues of importance to me. When Gerry, the older guy who calls in every day to rant loudly, Marc listened and always politely told him when his time was up BUT–always gave him an audience. He wasn’t ever rude to his listeners even when they had an opposing viewpoint. His guests ranged from John Waters and Cal Ripken Jr. to Governors O’ Malley, Ehrlich, as well as various Congress Critters, Senators and State, City and County Legislators. (even Molly Ringwald which delighted my inner sixteen year old to no end) He always reminded his guests that each of them would have a chance to respond equally and discouraged ad hominem attacks and yelling. His special broadcast about the Vietnam war and the vets who fought were both touching and haunting.

I tuned in yesterday and thought, “Oh, must be a day off”. I didn’t it give much thought. Imagine my surprise when I caught the Today section of the Sun Paper on my way to DC this AM. HUH?!?!?!?!? While I enjoy the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU, it’s not very informative regarding Baltimore/Maryland issues. Sheiliah Kast’s Maryland Morning is a fine show, but it doesn’t really allow for much audience participation. Today she spoke with Marc and Tony Brandon regarding the separation. Tony blames ratings as his number one reason to let Marc go.

I call total and utter bullshit.

Marc responded today on his blog. His decision to leave without taking the “hush money” is admirable. We are now witnessing the death of community radio and real community coverage of issues effecting all of us at a local level.

I haven’t listened to FM radio since clear channel invaded the airwaves changing how we are fed information. Local news is all owned by large conglomerates and only reports sensationalists news beside human interest fluff pieces that lend little or nothing to the efforts of local community leaders in their work to improve our lives. I can’t stand foolish morning shows on silly radio stations and crave intelligent discourse on issues either national or local. When JHU changed to WYPR, I made the switch permanent.

It’s insane to take away the only show that the local audience directly participated in and state that it had to do with ratings. Ratings? What are you measuring the ratings against? Tony Brandon’s letter to the listeners explaining the rash decision tells us that all other shows such as Fresh Air, The Diane Rehm show and a host of other NPR sydicates won’t be affected. Uh…But….what about local discussion?

It’s seems that some of Marc’s discussion topics were really making the corporate underwriters very unhappy. Feathers were ruffled some time back and this separation, as Marc details in his latest blog post, was a long time coming as they slowly removed him from decision making positions over time. Of course, I’m speculating, but what other conclusion can I arrive at? I’ve always maintained that control of the public will NOT be from the government, but from corporations that manipulate the flow of information to the people. They need us and will go to great lengths to ensure that we, the public, believe they are acting in OUR best interests. ha. riiiiiiiiiight.

Local Maryland/Baltimore discussion will have to reinvent itself in the last bastion of free expression: the internet. We see a ton of local blogs that highlight local issues, events and discussions happening around the city and the state. While some are personal anecdotes of dealing with crime, BG$E rate increases, Property taxes, The suckitude of the Orioles and various commentary on local events, we do have some informative community blogs that tackle straight news and announcements about town. We need more.

Don’t let the discussion on local issues die with a few rich assholes who claim they’re going to keep local discussion alive. At this point in time I can only assume that if they even allow the public a forum to discuss issues, it won’t be on topics that damage the reputation of the almighty corporation. Clean, nice fluff that appeals to more *ahem* dare I say it, conservative viewpoints will probably be showcased.

I was going to donate this year. I’m not any longer. As for listening at work, I’ll have to settle for Kojo. He might not deal with issues effecting my locality, but at least he prompts local discussion.

I’m not an economist by any means; I just play one on the internet with my simplified understanding of how things should work. I have read a ton of books, had some interesting discussions and studied the historical implications of other policies that were executed in the past. I often yield to more experienced blogs when it comes to more complicated opinions. My opinions come from the experiences of the common lay person. I suppose that makes me what they call an “armchair Economist” In light of what has recently been happening, here is my take.
The stupidest possible thing the government can do is put together a stimulus package. This has been hammered home in tons of economic blogs, but no one is really listening. Take for instance this quote from the Daily Reckoning: ( a Baltimore Based News letter about global economics. These guys are NOT your typical talking heads you see on 24 hr Business news channels. These guys called the Big Shit pile some years ago and they were spot on.

“I just don’t get it! What would make these people think that? We’ve never been in a debt situation, government or public, like we are today, so I’m wondering how they think a stimulus package that puts money into people’s hands that go out and spend it and it’s gone, whoosh, vanished into thin air, is going to be the magic elixir for the economy”

Lets hear it for B-more. We’re a little unconventional in thought on many issues, but damn—someone needs to listen.

The village idiot we have in the white house has sent out three tax rebates in the past. The first rebate I remember I did not get a check. The second rebate I received a $400 check. This time, I think the government needs the fucking money more then I do. Wtf am I expected to do with this money? Oh yeah—That’s right—I am expected to go out and put a down payment on a flat screen television. Or a Blueray DVD player or buy me some new clothes. Fuck THAT!

One of my guilty pleasures on Teeveee is “Clean House” on the Style network. There are other shows similar to it, but I like Nicey, so…Clean house it is. Mister Fatman groans every single time I put it on, but I’m just fascinated by it. There are major reasons I watch the show. First, It is terribly apparent that shopping/consuming and hording things are the quick fixes for every problem from depression to issues people refuse to face. Stuff is the comfort that makes someone feel good about themselves. It makes them feel wealthy. It brings satisfaction that they got it on “sale”. Stuff defines them as a person and sometimes consumption can get out of control. The other reason I watch the show is—well….YOu should see my effin office. It’s a shithole of stuff that I need to get rid of!!!! After watching several episodes of the show I have come to realize I realllllly don’t need that much shit and my money is better saved then spent. When it’s time for a purchase, it better be functional. It’s taken me a long time to realize that the shit I have, I’m not using. I need to get rid of it or put it to use. I can’t wait to organize my own purge. Lastly–I saw the end results of a friends recent purge and Damn…I’m jealous. Downsizing is good.

WE’ve been told from the very beginning of the bush administration that we need to spend spend spend. From the moment those first tax rebate checks came in to today. Shopping is what holds us afloat. what if everyone decided to take their rebate checks and save it? what if we all decided to open an add on CD at our local bank or Credit union and started to add on to the damn thing? It would benefit the banks and would start a trend of saving like our Asian friends across the pacific pond.
Hell no. No saving in “murka. I just heard on the news today that China is a bit worried about the ‘murkin consumer’s inability to shop. They’re worried about their jobs.

Guess what, china? So are we.