| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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which continues us down the path towards socialized banking. my alternate plan would be to create a grant program for homeowners. homeowners can apply for government assistance in repaying mortgages established prior to 9/08. the mortgage would have to be on their primary residence. the size of the grant would be determined based on the financial situation of the household and the details of the loans. the grant would cover a portion of the loan but not the complete loan. the payment would go directly to the bank. the payment would have two components, a large principle payment and a smaller refi allowance, say $500. the homeowner can decide to refi immediately or maintain their current loan. if they maintain their current loan, payments continue as usual but they pay off the loan earlier. the refi allowance is applied to their principle. if they decide to refi, the allowance goes to the bank to cover costs of the refi. the refi would be required to be a fixed interest rate over the life of the loan. this plan would have all the benefit of the current bailout plan: the market would be less skittish about mortage backed securities because the mortgage market would be shored up against defaults. further benefits to the plan: 1. the bailout money is being returned to the benefit of taxpaying americans for the specific purpose of helping them retain their homes. 2. the relief to homeowners would translate to increased spending power. this would help up move our economy in a positive direction. 3. banks would become more liquid and be able to restart lending. |
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I wrote to senators Feinstein and Boxer, and my rep Woolsey yesterday. Not that they'd do anything. Maybe Boxer. California has 25% of the mortgage defaults and is getting 12% of the federal aid. California needs some pork, assholes. That thing about the blue states paying for the red states, how California gets $0.76 back for every federal tax dollar sent in, while the red states make a profit from the government. I've been thinking about that. The blue states are paying for the wars. The blue states are paying for the bailouts. It's time to start listening to the blue states, you middle america assholes. |
It also bothers me that we have such a high electoral vote to population ratio. But I also think Montanans are slowly turning around. Our governor is a Democrat, and he as the highest approval rating in the country. All of our federal representatives are down Democrats as well. So far, though, the polls say that we can't quite be convinced to elect a Democrat for president. Close, though. It could happen. Haven't seen any polls since it was announced that Ron Paul will be on our ballot, though. |
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Clearly something that costs so little couldn't possibly be effective, Sem. Plus, that would be rewarding those irresponsible homeowners who should have been able to see through the lies and see that the market wasn't sustainable. That the professionals failed to see it coming is no excuse. I'm just jealous, really. I'd love to own a house. I've got ideas, man. Something like 15 years ago my dad paid $50,000 for his house. Nowadays, mere mortals can barely manage a down payment. |
100% financing with an interest-only, adjustable rate mortgage? are you fucking retarded? well, yeah: apparently a lot of Americans are retarded about money. this is why we have laws against predatory lending. so the banks have doing some as-of-yet not regulated predatory lending, which has artificially inflated the value of real estate. so now we have all these devious loans backed by insufficient equity. and the governments answer? structure a bailout that will keep the banks from eating the fruit of their own fuck up, allow CEOs to walk away with nice bonuses for a cocked up job, and let joe-blow homeowner suck it. how is this going to help the economy? treasonous. let's hang this fucker. |
The guy's a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. I suspect he thinks the CEOs and their companies *are* the economy -- thinks they're entitled to billions and we should be fucking grateful. I've got my pitchfork. |
my neighbor bought his house in 2004. in the past 4 years his investment has lost 20% of its value. if he'd been renting and socking away the difference between his mortgage payments and the rent, he'd have probably six figures saved. |
Bought house #2 a couple of months ago. House #1 is under contract and, if it goes for the current price, we won't end up losing much. (Maybe a couple of thousand.) All in all a good deal, given the tax deduction for mortgage interest. Dallas has been spared most of the housing price craziness. I've still got my pitchfork, though. |
I just wish I could paint, and fix up the kitchen, and put in a low-water lawn, etc. But hey, that's all money saved, too. At least we can have cats, and our landlord let us tear up part of the back lawn and put in a vegetable garden. On a side note, we rented this place from these two really cool older women, and they still did most of the work on the place themselves. One of them was electrocuted this year in an accident involving a wind-powered generator. I think the other lady is thinking of trying to sell now. |
still, if la révolution does come while i'm alive, i'll be more than willing to have antigone strap pitchforks onto my wheelchair and roll me into battle like a wheelbarrow of death. just so you know. |
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I think I will find these valuable over the next month and a half winning line: "Where will the money trickle down from when China owns everything? I think I just wrote a rhetorical poem!" |
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we are giving all of our post-tax dollars to china, so they can loan it back to us to pay for war and corporate bail-outs, with interest. when it comes to money, americans are ultra-retarded. spend spend spend! |
dammit |
nice comment from an obscure reader. I liked it. Sums up nicely. media seems to think that the financial crisis detracts from Palin's fashion statements... her international experience is that Alaska is close to Russia. omg. |
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I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude. I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you. I am working with Mr. Phil Gram, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe. This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred. Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds. Yours Faithfully Minister of Treasury Paulson (shamelessly stolen from The Nation) |
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i could be wrong. |
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And Nate is correct: though the colour of my spelling may have a distinctly Canadian whiff, I am not, in fact, Canadian, although I did end up going to Toronto once when my Pakistani International Airlines flight got hijacked by a tax evader who was afraid the Feds were waiting for him in New York. Really. |
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why can't you people let the good Dr define you? it's Pepper world. you're just a figment in it. |
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of course, he wants the debate pushed back to Oct 2, which was supposed to be the Veep debate, and have that one postponed to who-knows-when. Survey USA did snap polls and found around 85% of people disagree or strongly disagree with what he did. I think we're gonna look back on today as the 'stick a fork in him' moment. he was going for the maverick moment, but instead he came out looking like a total pussy. |
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I just got my voter's guide, and it is *hilarious*. There's this awesome Lifetime Channel-style "true story" in the arguments for Prop 4 that totally made my morning, in that way that I wish there was a disclaimer with the actual facts, like that she lived in TEXAS, not California, and was MARRIED, and therefore not subject to parental notification laws anyway. |
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on the surface, you're right, it does appear like a motion of avoidance to ask to postpone the debate. but McSame also was quoted, saying "It's time for everyone to recall that the political process is not an end in itself, nor is it intended to serve those of us who are in the middle of it. In the Senate of the United States, our duty is to serve the people of this country." and then "For the Congress, this is one of those moments in history when poor decisions made in haste could turn crisis into a far-reaching disaster if we do not act." but Congress passed a bill today on the immediate issue at hand, so i don't see why they shouldn't go forward with the debate tomorrow. |
maybe he's panicked |
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well he should be panicked anyway. you know what's going to be inarticulate hilarity? the biden vs palin debate. fool me once! |
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there is a recent study about how ideology trumps facts. such that presenting facts contrary to an ideological belief only strengthens the belief. |
Haven't we already had something similar to prop 4 on the ballot umpteen gazillion times? Will the fucking morons never give up? Also, more on WaMu for you, Rowlfe, since you seem so fascinated. |
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http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/09/19/03 |
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its sleazy i'd even say its unpatriotic, traitorous slease. "Country first" my shining asshole |
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i was just racially profiled by the cops. i feel so violated. |
i read that and somewhere outside bells began tolling. i never hear bells. where the hell are these bells coming from? i live next to a graveyard. i hope this doesn't mean.. shit. |
the perfect distraction |
I'm thinking this is probably not the case, but I am supportive of both universal health care and moore's call to action. It is a bit scary when michael moore and newt are approaching the same conclusions from different sides. |
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the odd thing, is 'the dow' was down 777, or about 6.8%. it actually fared pretty well today. the nasdaq was down nearly 10%. the s&p 500 and the wilshire 5000 were both down over 8%. i wonder who that jackass was who was critical of you for being interested in US politics. the whole world should be interested in US politics: we have the power to take the whole world down. watch the asian and euro markets today. they already didn't do well today, and we had a bill that was supposedly going to pass. i've got my piece of land and the guns to hold it. |
Stephen Harper actually put out an ad where he said the fundamentals of the economy are strong. If Layton and Dion don't run it against 'em, they deserve to lose. Probably still will anyways. |
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i love apple pie. #2 on nate's list of fantastic desserts. |
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i've got all my money stuffed in my mattress. |
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Second best pie: blueberry. Third best: any random assortment of berries, but keep the strawberries out, plzkthx. They screw up the texture. Strawberry rhubarb pie is okay, but it doesn't place in my best list. |
That said, Danish apple soup really intrigues me. |
i should learn how to disarm someone with a gun. i made an apple pie not too long ago that had sour cream mixed into the filling. it was outrageous. my favorite pie is blueberry. |
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p.s. michael moore and newt are probably busy having a dittohead orgyfest as we speak! |
A week ago the analysis was completely inversed in McCains favor. Dick Morris sure knows how to be a moron in both extreme directions |
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Gonna be working in the newsroom tomorrow, the stock guy is always entertaining. I'm sure he'll horrify me somehow. |
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and i know there are blackberry canes where you are. there must be. i had several quarts of blackberries picked FOR me this summer. and my mom made me a pie. it was brilliant. i just heard some australian guy asking us to put aside our partisanship and pass this fucking thing. if the global economy is so dependent on us, does that mean the earth is our empire? my mom made a spice cake for me today. one of my favorite cakes. |
and i know there are blackberry canes where you are. there must be. i had several quarts of blackberries picked FOR me this summer. and my mom made me a pie. it was brilliant. i just heard some australian guy asking us to put aside our partisanship and pass this fucking thing. if the global economy is so dependent on us, does that mean the earth is our empire? my mom made a spice cake for me today. one of my favorite cakes. |
Although I did go picking with my friend Laurel a few weeks ago, but she has celiac, so we didn't make pie, we just ate a lot of blackberries. And some Asian pears. |
i'd be pissed if someone stole my blackberries. but then, there are always plenty along the creeks. goddamn i love blackberries. |
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First there was no oversight board provided in the legislation except for the persons in fact responsible for this mess; not a good thing to have Treasury, FDIC and SEC folks over seeing their own. This bill was just Paulson's gift to his wall street chronies. Secondly, there was no cap on executive compensation, just a 20% extra tax, so that the government actually can make money on golden parachutes. No mention at all of caps for exec's. So it was voted down for good reason. Loans, for cars and houses, are still available in St. Louis. Cash still comes out of the atm's. I love the Casino's 777 loss too, some cruel irony for sure. But I am loading up on cash and guns and ammo and detergent and toilet paper as always. |
axe. tree. build. you know whats fun? being in the middle of escrow during all this. thankfully it seems wells fargo is stable, triple a rated etc. our broker told us last night he feels really secure but im not sure that means anything. 17 days until close and it can't come fast enough. im pretty sure something aint right with me in that i really can't get down on any kind of fruit pie. there's so many freaky textures that give me the heebee jeebees. for that i regret. |
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/opinion/30herbert.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin Patrick, my little 2760 sqft 3 storey 4 bath log cabin in the woods was somewhat more than axe tree build though I commend the concept for a smaller place. |
That bill failed because Republicans thought they could pull a dump (thanks Newt for helping out) and leave it all on the Dems shoulder and make it their baby, and because such an awful job was done explaining the bill that it made it a re-election worry for over half the people voting. Only in certain cases do I think principle had a single thing to do with it. |
"...The initial proposal from the Treasury Department ran three pages; the latest version exceeds 450..." NYT "Well, it's not real money because these distressed properties have no value...so ..." if there is no value, why do Mr and Mrs Main Street, not the McSame, Palin, or Obamas, or Bushes and cheneys by the way...have to buy them out of bankruptcy.??? I pay my bills, borrow money and pay it back with interest, and never had a debt forgiven, and have never been given anything free. But because of greed of the wealthy few the rest of us and our grandchildren will pay the inevitable price of the dissolution of our free market. Get the government the hell out of it. Bad investments need to fail in a free market. Good investments (name one?)succeed. The people spoke on Monday, and we will lose to the political process in the Senate and House this Friday. We can't have cake and coke both: yes we lost money on Monday, so what? There is NO guarantee that any bailout ever worked...only exacerbated the problem in the end. Let's vote every incumbent out, clean house, impeach Bush and cheney for war crimes and crimes against humanity, outlaw lobbyists, and imprison the likes of Paulson, the FDIC and SEC chiefs who allowed this mess to happen, to profit their friends. Fed up, yes, I am fed up. |