Written by: josean, 8 Oct 2008 11:09 AM
From: United States
The REPUBLICANS have come home to roost!
Written by: josean, 8 Oct 2008 11:32 AM
From: United States
Has anybody heard from our local "Free Market Republican Cheerleaders" lately? They seem so "callados" all of the sudden!
I miss their refrences to those of us who disagree with them as:
1. Weenies
2. Wankers
3. Idiots
4. Imbeciles
5. Morons
From: United States
surely, Josean, you must be referring to the resident economists who assured us that the goings-on in the USA would have no bearing on the DR economy, and that we were looking at a bumper tourist season. Arsenio Lembert has always been at pains to point out that the downturn would hit home here, insisting on austerity, and a change in consumption patterns, with a view to saving. but those who know better laughed us off. maybe they can now fire off some insulting e mails to the wankers at UNCTAD, who surely know less than nothing, also.
From: United States
as an aside, the common thinking is that the meltdown in the USA is going to hammer us here. we seem to forget that the meltdown is GLOBAL. the countries with which we have the closest ties in trading and tourism, are the hardest hit. India and China will slow down,but to a far lesser degree; so will Russia. but we do not depend on them. we depend on Europe and the USA for our economic lifelines. we receive no remittances from India. when the British economy is projected to grow by only 1% next year, Thomas Cook and Virgin will feel it. with information asymmerty between Europe and the USA, a natural concomitant of globalisation, the Europeans do not know at this point how severe things are. the crap has hit the fan. i said it was coming, but others told us that the economy was doing great, and the housing market was on fire. maybe houses were on fire, but the market was already in ashes.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 1:22 PM
From: United States, Texas
"Has anybody heard from our local "Free Market Republican Cheerleaders" lately? They seem so "callados" all of the sudden!"
oooo
Not a word from these local gop cheerleaders. Perhaps they've returned to their caves where they reside.
The "free" market has been costly, of late, to the rich in the DR.
If the racketeering element of the US bourgeoisie unloaded a conservatively estimated 100,000 mortgage-backed securities on the rich in the DR, then the DR rich have been looted of $2.5 billion since, at issuance, these bad bonds sell to $25,000 a pop.
Dominican capital, both public and private, was poured into the US stock market which fell an unbelievable ... 2000!!!! ... points in the last month, forcing many investors to sell at catastrophic losses.
US banks in which the DR rich hide their cash ... by the millions ... are falling apart or dropping like flies with only a part of their large deposits insured.
You "free" market cheerleaders, come out of your cave!
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 1:38 PM
From: United States, Texas
"Things are going to be rough for awhile but it will turn around again," TFISKE, like local gop cheerleader, assures us.
0000
Oh, sure "things" will turn around.
But the question is: Will "your thing" turn around. Any given "thing" may be left out when these unspecified "things" turn around. Just because "things" turn around doesn't mean "your thing"
will be among them. Some "things" have already been wiped out before the turn around. And other "things" are on the brink of being wiped out before the turn around.
Sorry, no turn around for the "things" wiped out.
This collapse of capitalism will cause millions of people to starve to death, die from curable disease, move into the streets, drop out of school and lose their jobs while the world prays for the blessed "turn around."
Socialism is the only authentic "turn around."
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 1:53 PM
From: United States, Texas
"Thats a guarantee!" TFISKE, the gop cheerleader, firmly promises.
0000
US FINANCIER: Y'all should take these billions of dollars out of these low-paying US Treasuries and liquidate that gold you got and put that money in high-yield mortgage-backed securities. We call 'em MBSs.
DR RICH: What's a MBSs?
US FINANCIER: Oh, their bonds backed by US homeowners. These bonds are just as safe as US Treasuries, but MBSs often pay twice as much interest.
DR RICH: Are you sure MBSs are as safe as US treasuries?
US FINANCIER: I guarantee it.
COLLAPSE!
Written by: TFISKE, 8 Oct 2008 1:58 PM
From: Canada
Mini van and k car
your a loser climb under your rock and hide
Written by: TFISKE, 8 Oct 2008 1:58 PM
From: Canada
Belial,
Wow.. where do these xxxx heads come from!
Socialism is the fix wow!
Bush was out of control along with his bumb buddies! The banks were lending money to people who should have never been given a loan.
Everybody became a home builder thinking of flipping them to make a buck
Wake up man the middle class and people near retirement are getting hurt and yes the rich are taking a beating somewhat!
If you are poor how and the hell can you get hurt any worse than you are?
Belial,
You should get in the market soon.. see if you can make a buck because i assure you somebody is going to come out of this okay!
But I am pretty sure capitalism will not collapse.. wake up man
You probably not smart enough to remember when CHRYSLER was about to go under and it was all over for the automaker.. Well the guys who bought the stock at the bottom had a hell of a ride to the top and made a shit load of cash.. The mini van a k car saved them
You probably have a min
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 2:02 PM
From: United States, Texas
DR RICH: How much of the $700 billion bailout will Latin American investors in MBSs get?
US FINANCIER: Y'all remember how you all used to say "Yankee Go Home?" Well, Wall Street and the bourgeois US regime got somethin' to tell ya "Latinos, Return to the Backyard."
DR RICH: You mean we ain't gonna get nothin'?
US FINANCIER: I guarantee it.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 2:33 PM
From: United States, Texas
"The banks were lending money to people who should have never been given a loan."
oooo
Say, the personal income of the average borrower rises between 3% and 6% a year, allowing him to keep up with non-predator mortgage payments of $800 to $1300 per month.
Then after a 3 or 4 years, mortgage payments leap 300% to 500% or, in other words, leaps from between $800 - $1300 to between $2400 -- $6500.
Default and foreclosure.
The borrower can pay and did pay and is paying non-predator fixed or non-predator adjustable mortgages with 25% to 125% increases in monthly payments, but the same borrower can't pay predator adjustable mortgage that rises between 300% and 500%.
A "predator adjustable mortgage" is not a mortgage or a loan, it's part of complicated fraud that aims to make suckers out investors in bonds derived from "predator adjustable mortgages"
The 300%-500% jumps in mortgage payements supply fuzzy math for high-yields of 6% to 10% returns on the bonds.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 2:42 PM
From: United States, Texas
"The banks were lending money to people who should have never been given a loan."
oooo
Rather banks peddled fraudulent loans to largely creditworthy borrowers who were fully qualified for non-predator fixed and non-predator adjustable mortgages in order to further a securities fraud scam that robbed investors here and around the world of trillions of dollars.
The fault lies not in the homeowner borrowers but is the securities brokers who demanded predator adjustable mortgages to dupe bond investors with exaggerated promises of return on capital of 6% to 10% based on fuzzy math from these predator adjustable mortgages.
From: United States
Belial, there are many amongst us, our right wing brethren, who assert that the blame for the housing collapse lies at the feet of home buyers who "bit off more than they could chew". they all wanted to live in steak houses, but only had hamburger money. well, there is a concept in business called " superior knowledge". the mortgage lenders knew also, that these were untenable situations. they knew better than some nurse or bus driver, whose limit of understanding of the banking system is how to use a debit card in an ATM . but it was to the advantage of the lenders to make more and more loans. in the end, they outwitted themselves, and over-leveraged their instruments. initially, they were raking in a fortune, and crying for the IRS to lay off their hard earned capital gains. then, when the shell game collapsed around them, they all went running to government, whom they despise, for welfare. in the last decade, the 5 large brokerages, of which only two are left, have lost over
From: United States
80 billion in shareholder money. but, the CEOs, and high ranking principals, have raked in 39 billion in compensation! yes, billion! ain't capitalism great. football coaches get fired for losing games: CEOs get big bucks for losing people's livelihoods.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 3:04 PM
From: United States, Texas
"the housing collapse lies at the feet of home buyers who "bit off more than they could chew".
0000
The buyers could chew what they bit off. But they couldn't chew a lot ... 300%to 500% ... more than they bit off.
Lenders won the trust borrowers and then betrayed the borrowers with the lie "All you have to chew is this apple."
Then, after 4 or 5 years of chewing the apple, the lender "adjusted" or enlarged the size to the apple to the size of car and said to borrower "chew this car."
"Hey man, I can't chew a car" the borrower complained.
"Then you're are a rotten apple," the lender replied.
The lender wanted to sell bonds based on the size of a car rather than a apple so that the lender could sell the bonds for a higher price to bond buyers and promise the bondholders a higher rate of interest to tempt them to buy more bonds.
The racketeering element of US financial bourgeoisie fooled not only millions of homebuyers, but also millions of bond buyers.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 3:10 PM
From: United States, Texas
Then after the lenders ... that is, the racketeering element of the US financial bourgeoisie, people similar to Michael Milken and Charles Keating ... fooled millions of homebuyers and millions of bondbuyers, the lenders hid their billions and trillions of dollars of loot and blamed the homebuyers for the financial crisis.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 3:28 PM
From: United States, Texas
Some people are surprised that the racketeering element of the US financial bourgeoisie would prey on the financial sector of the US bourgeoisie to which these racketeers belong as well as on others like US homeowners.
There is nothing odd about financial racketeers fooling the financial sector to which the racketeers belong.
Milken did it with junk bonds in the '80s.
Robert Vesco did it with accounting fraud on commercial banks in the '60s and 70s.
Using securities fraud and accounting fraud, the thieves at Enron, and the like, preyed on their sector of the bourgeoisie, the energy sector, as well as on the broader financial sector.
The absurd idea that US financiers will not steal from other US financiers as well as from others is something that only imperialist running dogs and reactionary bourgeois rats believe in.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 3:36 PM
From: United States, Texas
In the 1930s, FDR faced a similar problem of thieves, racketeers, and crooks in the financial sector of the US bourgeoisie.
FDR hired one of the smartest and toughest of the securities thieves to clean up or, in other words, regulate the financial pigsty.
The guy whom FDR hired to clean up the pigsty was the father of the US president who later got his head blown off in Dallas.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 4:32 PM
From: United States, Texas
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/octubre/mier8/medical-students.htmlThe total number of students in medical sciences in Cuba has gone up to approximately 200,000 for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to preliminary data provided by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.
Of this total, 173,903 are Cubans and 22,749 come from mainly Third World countries (including over a 100 DR students, but over 100 students are from the USA).
Medical sciences cover the five areas of medicine, dentistry, nursing, technology and health psychology. Cuban enrollment in the five areas is 34,000 in medicine, 7400 in dentistry, 48,000 nursing, 82,000 technology, and 3000 in health psychology.
[The DR and US students are mostly in medicine.]
This academic year sees the highest number of medical science students in Cuban history.
oooo
[Export of medical services, facilities, supplies, and equipment are foreign exchange eaners for the ruling Cuban workers.]
Written by: TFISKE, 8 Oct 2008 5:02 PM
From: Canada
Belia
I would buy some GM stocks if I was you but your probably broke from a bad mortagage the bank should have never gave you! ha ha ha
your probably think thats going under
I have news for you man!!
lowest in 30 yrs its a great buy!
would you car to make a wager?
lets face it your a sad man like josean and a loser
what i learned in life is a loser is a loser and ya cannot change there negative outlook thats what makes them such great losers!!
see ya dumbxxx loser
Written by: josean, 8 Oct 2008 5:05 PM
From: United States
Now I am loser cause I own GM stock now, go figure!
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 6:25 PM
From: United States, Texas
"I have news for you man!! ...lowest in 30 yrs its a great buy!" TFISKE show off his bucket shop skills.
oooo
Since you go for that kind of fuzzy logic, then:
If the stock fell to its lowest in 60 years rather than a mere 30 years, the stock will become a doubly great buy.
So, we should hope it falls a great deal more so that we will get a much greater buy.
Written by: Belial, 8 Oct 2008 7:15 PM
From: United States, Texas
Philistines and reactionary rats are talking about the lost of confidence in "world markets."
But "world markets" and others have really lost confidence in the scum who run the US bourgeois regime, that is, the US and the "world markets" have completely lost confidence in Bush and his filthy gops.
From: United States
I hate to say this but:
I told you so, muchachos!
From: United States
What if they made a Tourist resort and no one came?
From: United States
can we all say two words; OVERCAPACITY anad BREAKEVEN? That is what the fellows who overbuilt the physical plant of the tourist industry are looking at. i hope that the industry does not go into recessionary mode, because these things do not heal in the following year. and if anyone believes that the USA has a clue how to fix their mess in a hurry, then they are dreaming. the problem is the result of comprehensive, structural deficiencies in the way things are being done, and there is no short term fix. we are so closely tied to European economies, there is going to be pain ahead. the only countries with economies that will grow in 2009 are in the East, and it is too late in the day to align our economies to those countries. it sounds pessimistic, but think about it.
does anyone believe that AIG went to the Federal Reserve for another loan of 27 billion because they know what they are doing? it is like a man trying to catch a fly in the dark.
From: United States, New York City
No need for everyone to glory so much in the financial crisis. Plenty saw this coming so no one here is a new age prophet. Ultimately this is more a bank panic than anything else, and sad to say on some level madman McCain is not incorrect when he says there are some sound underpinnings to US economies. I do hope this leads to a center-left turn in domestic US politics but as TFISKE points out no one should expect or even desire a full blown Belial-style socialism.
From: United States
i beg to differ, Manhattanite. there are people in this site who did not see it coming, and who said it was not coming. there are sound underpinnings to the US economy, and not the least of these is the productive capacity of the US worker. but that productivity is an abstraction when you do not have a job to show it. a normally functioning economy the size of the US should be growing the jobs base at 40,000 per month, not losing over 80,000 , culminating with over 125,000 in September. it is a little more fundamental than a "bank panic". loss of manufacturing of durable goods, which make up a tremendous part of the economic stimulus, the weakening dollar, inflation brought about in part by several interest rate cuts, disequilibrium between credit and savings, casino style trading of financial instruments, which ended up being severely overleveraged, and just plain old deficits, all form a part of the equation. nobody suggests socialism as the answer, but the current system is
From: United States
not in the pink of health. the gravamen of the issue is not whether or not a recession is coming; it is how deep it will be, and how long it will last. the need for money from sovereign wealth funds is not a happy vision, but a necessary option to finance the bailouts, because the fed simply cannot put the printing presses to work overtime without the reserves to back the bills.
From: United States, New York City
I'm sure plenty on this site didn't see it coming, but calling this place the boondocks of the net would be a compliment. I agree the loss of US manufacturing is a big issue, and it's one of those issues I hope a leftish/populist turn can begin to address. Inflation is also a grave issue, agreed. There is more to US than just productivity though...from the legal system to the culture to the infrastructure there is a lot here not easily replicated elsewhere. That isn't just rhetoric from where I stand. Also while many others are coming up the biggest and baddest of those (China) is well tied into the US. A lot of wealth and power has a stake in seeing that the US system comes through this eventually. Like you said it is a matter of how long, "when" but not really "if".
From: United States
Manhattanite, you are absolutely correct about the importance of the USA in the world economy. a healthy USA is more than a match for anyone. but the USA is not healthy, and has not been for a long time. i am all for competitive advantage, but outsourcing everything you can in order to access cheap labor is nuts; you end up with a population with no purchasing power. try to remember a simple idea of consumption: 10 people with 10, 000 dollars each spend more money than 1 person with 100,000. 10 guys buy a refrigerator each from that 10,000 dollars. the guy with 100,000 does not buy 10 refrigerators. he might buy a more expensive model, but not 10 times more. so the idea of having an economy with CEOs earning 100 million dollars, while cutting the workforce, is insane. only right wing nuts believe that tax breaks for the wealthy adds up to more jobs. the tax rate today is the lowest it has been in recent times, yet the job losses spiral out of control.
Written by: Belial, 9 Oct 2008 7:41 AM
From: United States, Texas
"Ultimately this is more a bank panic than anything else..."
oooo
Neither ultimately nor immediately.
About 75% of the US people disapprove of the job performance of Bush, most of the US people hold Bush and his slimy gops in contempt for their lying about WMDs, Iraqi role in 9/11, for their buck-passing of the blame for the 8 consecutive years of deficits after 4 consecutive years of Clinton surpluses, for cheating at the polls and for disregard for the rule of law.
Face it, there is no confidence in Bush and his filthy gops. The sight of Bush and his gops produces nausea in most of the US people and they can no longer control their involuntary impulse to vomit when either Bush or one of his stinking gops appears.
The revulsion for Bush is more extreme internationally. Instead of only 75% of people disapproves of Bush, maybe 85% dispprove ... strongly ... of him.
US people also see the slime ... the 25% in the US who love Bush ... and wonder who are these people?
From: United States
the major reason for the meltdown of the economy is 8 years of right wing, supply side economics, the kind preached by the Chicago school. it did not work for Bush the first, leaving the economy in ruins. but Bush the second believed it would work for him. the notion of getting government out of the life of society, an idea espoused by the other notable Arizona crackpot, Barry Goldwater, is the root of the ills we see today. tax cuts for the wealthy is an idea espoused in the mid 1960s, as a response to LBJ policies to benefit the less privileged, who, incidentally ,were mostly people of color. why should hard working white folks have to pay higher taxes, so negroes can go to good schools,too? well, you cannot run two wars without revenue. now that the mess is here, nobody is going to see any movement before inauguration day. if McCain wins the election, all bets are off. if Obama wins, people will not spend a dime until Bush hands in the keys to the front door of the White House
From: United States
poor, sad, fossilised old McCain still looks to the old guard for economic solutions. more tax cuts is all he offers. the old Republican default position. oh yes, and Alan Greenspan to cut the interest rate to "stimulate" Wall Street. now he wants to bail out the crooks by having government buy up toxic mortgage paper AT FULL FACE VALUE, NO STRINGS ATTACHED. i beg to differ. make the mortgage lenders reduce the principal on the mortgages, and take a bath like everyone else. the buyers are taking one, so why shouldn't they? as long as the gravamen of economic policy is to protect the rich from the interests of the poor, this type of debacle will be a regular occurrence.
From: United States, New York City
Belial denies the problem is a bank panic and jumps to the unrelated issue of how bad Bush sucks.
dread it is fine to disagree with extreme libertarian philosophy, but you must admit the libertarian impulse is much older than Barry Goldwater and is not entirely without merit. It's real name is classical liberalism, and it is unfortunate that in our age it has been warped. Also I second your comments around outsourcing and related phenomenons...hopefully popular sentiment holds up against it so Obama's rhetoric against it becomes Dem policy.
To revisit the inflation issue though I'd throw out there that it is important to recognize significant risk is in the air of the opposite, deflation. Last few days we are seeing the central banks worldwide move as though this is their main fear.
From: United States
manhattanite, i can understand the purely philosophical and academic impulses which drive libertarianism. however, do not confuse and conflate classical libertarianism with the conservative movement which saw its genesis as a response to LBJ and the civil rights movement. you must bear in mind that before LBJ, the entire south was democratic stronghold. the area became republican in response to LBJ, and aligned itself with Goldwater. the underpinnings of the conservative movement of the last forty or so years are 1) minimal government 2) contempt for liberals and intellectuals, and 3) appeals to racial antipathies. there are libertarians out there that do not espouse those values, who seek only for minimising government intervention in daily society. they are almost quasi-anarchists. but they are not like the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill Oreilly, etc, conservatives, nor the Christian Coalition, who are more dictatorial and tyrannical than their opposition.
From: United States
furthermore, the banks have to move against aggregate demand deflation, because that is precisely what caused the great depression. it was not the stock market crash. it was the decline in consumption, caused by a seizing up of the banking sector. the problem Europe has is that unlike theUSA, there is no bailout plan for the Euro. each country is on its own. Germany is not going to sign on to a bailout which helps feeble economies like Spain. and, incidentally, that is why we are going to get an ass-kicking in the DR, what with all the tourists from that area. do you believe that Germany is going to help Spain, for example, after they went on borrowing sprees to invest in Latin America, buying every avalable plot of land, putting up hotels? a lot of those bonds were backed by securities in the USA. now that the poo has hit the fan, it is every man for himself in Europe. great britain, with the pound sterling, still has its own problems, like everyone else.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Belial said-
"Then after a 3 or 4 years, mortgage payments leap 300% to 500% or, in other words, leaps from between $800 - $1300 to between $2400 -- $6500. "
I guess there is a difference between an educated buyer and an uneducated buyer. I would no way sign any document that said my payment would go up or have the possibility of going up 300-500% you would have to be an idiot. I may not be one of the sharpest knives in the drawer but I will not and have never secured an adjustable rate mortgage. I always have Home owners fees included if possible as well as all taxes. I am currently in my fourth home and they have all been that way. Everyone is here point fingers at politicians and who is right / wrong. If you owned a store that sold farm implements, would you sell to someone who came in and just promised he would pay you back or would you want money down plus some type of security.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Mortgage companies over the last 10 years have been pressed into making loans to meet the guidelines as set up by the U.S. government as dictated by the community reinvestment act. While the idea is sound there have been a tremendous amount of folks who just walked away from thier payments and left not just Freddy and fanny holding the bag, but builders as well. Where I live Kimball Hill was the developer and they were doing that all over the country to make money on the initial finiance by selling the loans. When the investment banking sector realized what was happening and they started to refuse the purchase of builder finiance loans the builders took a hit. Besides Kimball Hill, Pulte and others are in serious trouble. KH actually has class action cases pending and chapter 11 status in the works.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Companies were doing whatever they could to sell the homes including giving nothing down 80 / 20 loans to people who would not qualify for anything else considered "normal lending practices" When they could not sell the homes to other finiance companies WHO DO YOU THINK purchased them, Freddy and Fanny. Took a home that sold for $140,000 valued it at $170,000 and can not offload it for $110,000. Any one who sells platinos in the local market can tell THAT IS NOT A DEAL and they would not touch it. Hell the guy at Wachovia was on the job there 3 weeks and walked away with 7 million in a golden parachute!!!!!!! Who's fault is that?????? What about the guys at Lehman who while seeking redemption from the government held a Senior Mgmt. retreat in California that cost 250k for a weekend, who's fault is that.
Written by: josean, 9 Oct 2008 2:11 PM
From: United States
"you would have to be an idiot"
texasshoe,
I am sure that identifying IDIOTS is an area in which you and Chauncey have much expertise, since you hepled get that brain surgeon, GeorgeYALE MBA Bush, elected!
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
There sure are a lot of people here who always throw out diatribe and BS but when it comes to the preverbial "nut-cutting" are never willing to face up to the problem that THE PROBLEM NEVER GETS FIXED" All that ever happens is that another law is created, a bailout is proposed or other crap and the reason why WE are in this mess still exists regardless of how or who was responsible for it. Socialism is not the answer to anything more complicated than city bus service. This election cycle should be to throw out all incumbant senators and representatives and start over.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Josean,
At least when I have discussion on this site I call no one names, the idea is to discuss the issue at hand, if you failed to grasp what I was saying perhaps the requisite mental capacity is not your forte'. ARM mortagages have been the bane of homeowners since they were first rolled out why on earth would ANYONE want one. DO YOU HAVE ONE???
I would bet that if you ran your own business instead of working for someone else you would see things in a different light. You see when you are the owner, YOU are responsible, no one else, not the government, not your neighbor, you. Think about it.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
P.S. Most idiots, need no help being identified by anyone, they advertise for themselves quite nicely on thier own.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Ignorance of the law is no excuse, signing a contract to purchase a home and not knowing what you signed is well, ignorant. There is a cure for ignorance but stupidness is forever.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Dread,
Aside from political differences in the philisophical areas that you and I have, you hit the nail on the head. There is something to be said for experience and yes there is wisdom in years. The younger waifs here would do well to pay attention to all sides of an issue before jumping to conclusions, the conversational tones would be different here. I can assure you that the commentators you mentioned are not the standard bearers for people like myself. You left out Michael Savage and G. Gordon Liddy by the way. Savage has got to be one of the farthest right individuals that I have ever listened to and I can not stand him.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
As I had mentioned in a post here a month or so ago, the guys that have the yachts and private jets that own multi-million dollar homes in the DR will not seriously be affected by this, but then again they have already spent thier money in the DR. The run of the mill middle class folks who take the vacation for two weeks before they have kids or the long weekend getaway types wont be coming because of the cash crunch that happened prior to the meltdown. Those are the folks that fill the majority of the hotels in the DR. Same goes for the Bahamas, the V.I, Puerto Rico and all other tourist destinations in the Caribbean. The real effect of this has yet to be felt there and it wont be pretty.
Written by: josean, 9 Oct 2008 3:56 PM
From: United States
And what type of buisness might you own Warren Buffet wannabe, texasshoe?
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Josean,
It is on my profile, take a look. I doubt that I will ever be as wealthy as Warren Buffet but it sure is a goal to shoot for. Do you have a goal? You should go out and buy the book called "The millionaire next door", a very insightful look at what real people with substantial resources are like.
Here is an excerpt-
"Interestingly, self-employed people make up less than 20 percent of the workers in America but account for two-thirds of the millionaires. Also, three out of four of us who are self-employed consider ourselves to be entrepreneurs. Most of the others are self-employed professionals, such as doctors and accountants." * Many of the types of businesses we are in could be classified as dullnormal. We are welding contractors, auctioneers, rice farmers, owners of mobile-home parks, pest controllers, coin and stamp dealers, and paving contractors.
* About half of our wives do not work outside the home. The number-one occupation for those wives-Teachers
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Here is some more-
* Our household's total annual realized (taxable) income is $131,000 (median, or 50th percentile), while our average income is $247,000. Note that those of us who have incomes in the $500,000 to $999,999 category (8 percent) and the $1 million or more category (5 percent) skew the average upward.
* We have an average household net worth of $3.7 million. Of course, some of our cohorts have accumulated much more. Nearly 6 percent have a net worth of over $10 million. Again, these people skew our average upward. The typical (median, or 50th percentile) millionaire household has a net worth of $1.6 million.
* On average, our total annual realized income is less than 7 percent of our wealth. In other words, we live on less than 7 percent of our wealth.
* Most of us (97 percent) are homeowners. We live in homes currently valued at an average of $320,000. About half of us have occupied the same home for more than twenty years.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Last bit, you can read the book-
* Most of us have never felt at a disadvantage because we did not receive any inheritance. About 80 percent of us are first-generation affluent.
* We live well below our means. We wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority of us drive the current-model-year automobile. Only a minority ever lease our motor vehicles.
Written by: josean, 9 Oct 2008 4:35 PM
From: United States
Picking up aluminum cans, although honorable work, hardly qualifies as Fortune Five Hundred venture, little Adam Smith.
Also, wives of "rich guys" like you allege to be are usually called DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES!
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
There you go again with the insults. BTW I never alleged anything, what I said was-"I doubt that I will ever be as wealthy as Warren Buffet but it sure is a goal to shoot for. Do you have a goal?"
Written by: josean, 9 Oct 2008 9:01 PM
From: United States
My goal, to return Republicans to the Stone Age where they belong!
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
And who will you work for, If the independent, fiscally conservetive businessman is out of work and you have to continue to work for those mean mega-corporations? Who's rule will you have to toil and labor for?
Written by: josean, 10 Oct 2008 12:56 AM
From: United States
You sound like Sarah Failin!
Written by: josean, 10 Oct 2008 10:28 AM
From: United States
texasshoe,
Your hero Ronald Regan was right not just ideologically but when he answered the question as to whether the US would go broke trying to out spend the Russians in military programs! "Ronald Reagan said well will go broke but they will go broke first!
Well the Soviets did go broke and now we have also.
The End Of American Capitalism?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-....008/10/09/AR2008100903425_pf.htmlFrom: United States, Richmond, Texas
Well I guess here is your chance to go start a socialist / communist commune with Belial, ABC and others. There is always opportunity if you look for it. Just remember this;
"Capitolism is where man takes advantage of his fellow man, under socialism its just the opposite."
And;
"One of the consequences of such notions as "entitlements" is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.” - Sowell (like people have a right to own a home, and the banks have to give them a loan)
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”-Churchill
From: United States
texasshoe, might some of those people who have contributed NOTHING, but still have a sense of entitlement, be found within the ranks of wall street stockbrokers? i mean like the guys who lost 89 billion dollars of shareholder equity, but pocketed 39 billion in compensation? i have promised myself that i will remain calm this time around, and stay away from this kind of partisan foolishness. but it seems that once again we are hearing about those who deserve what they have, because they "WORK HARD", and those who have very little, because they are lazy. the hard workers , from the freshly -bailed out AIG, get to take a vacation weekend, at taxpayer expense, costing 458,000, manicure, jacuzzi and spa included. then, to compound the felony, they want to spend millions of dollars on a TV ad, to apologise to the country when somebody rats them out.
if this was 1789, heads would be rolling in the streets, and with just cause!
Written by: josean, 10 Oct 2008 11:35 AM
From: United States
texasshoe,
Some time you might try thinking for yourself and not cutting and pasting rhetorically cute statements. It might allow you to see the different shades in the world not just the white and black and us versus them paradigm that has got you right wing necons in so much trouble.
From: United States, New York City
TS you need to let go of this CRA blaming. You seem like a smart enough guy, so try some serious sources. In another thread I challenged you to answer a series of question that might point you in the right direction, and you came back by simply repeating your claim and pointing at opinion pieces. On the one hand you rightly poke fun at the commies, but on the other you are letting your own ideology blind you to actual information. You claim to be a businessman so you should have the ability to read and understand financial terms. Here is a link which summarizes and points to gads of info on why this is false for the benefit of others. It adds 14 questions to the ones I'd posed. Sorry it is a quasi-technical article by a financial journalist, but this a technical issue;
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/10/misunderstandin.htmlBanks did this to themselves, government (both parties) encouraged it but most certainly did not force banks to securitize on such a scale.
From: United States, New York City
Additionally for those with time to read a real, 90+ page paper on the topic written by financial professionals for central bankers here is a good one:
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/sympos/2008/Gorton.08.04.08.pdfTS believe what you will, but if you insist on repeating the CRA canard in public then you are in the same boat as the local party comrades; seeing with ideology and not reason. The same type of commentators and pundits you condemn above are the only ones behind this notion.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Dread,
Good to have you back!. Those comments were in response to Josean.
The folks who took that weekend junket should be publicly flogged in my book, The guy who worked at Wachovia for three weeks and walked away with, what was it 7 million should be made to pay it back. No where do my comments justify or condone the foolishness that the shareholders let take place in those companies. Who are the members of those compensation committees and what do they stand to gain. It just goes to show how out of touch the run of the mill corporate director or board member is to allow this to take place. Besides Enron, there was also Worldcom, and Tyco if I am not mistaken where is was blantent abuse of the companies and over compensation of those CEO's. Wasnt they an outcry then about having to rectify the problem and once again nothing gets done.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
Manhatten,
I did respond to you with a timeline of events, links to the actual bills that were written and passed, links to the actual bills that attempted to curb the actions of Freddy and Fanny and to provide the nesessary oversight to stop this in 2003. I also provided the link to show the vote results on all above bills as well as who was recieving the donations from Freddy and Fanny and the link that also showed the vote to squash the bill and how those same individuals are on the committe that is in charge of the current oversight (or lack thereof). I have stated multiple times before and I will say it again, the problem as I see it is not who is president, but the overwhelming greed by both parties of the members of congress. What WE have is a group of professional politicians who could care less about the people who elected them.
From: United States, New York City
TS I'll go look for your link. If it is the MotherJones one I have seen it before, and it does a good job of explaining the problems with the GSE collapse. The crisis is far bigger than the GSE's though, and for once the politician's blame is secondary to the blame of the stewards of our banking and financial systems. Your philosophical instinct is to assign blame to the state for market interference, but the info is out there to show you the direct causes of the problem are identifiable and is not decades old legislation. Hope you are able to make time to explore the links from the BigPicture article or the KC Fed report.
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
The state of Texas' legislators meet once every two years and for only 6 months. One of the things this ensures is that everyone of them must also maintain a real life job that keep them in touch with reality. It also ensures that the important business at hand for the state gets attended to first as they have no other time to waste on issues like the US senate and House does.
these For example are from the 70's when I was in School and read the congressional record as part of my curriculum;
There was hundreds of thousands of dollars to study why the Aborigines of Australian smelled the way they do- And the point is what, and how does this apply to the US.
Why a frisbee flys the way it does. -This is important for what
When I lived in Louisiana a newly elected member of the state legislature immedaitly wanted to changed the state motto on the license plates- Lets see, bad roads, high unemployment and you are worried about the state motto?
Written by: josean, 10 Oct 2008 12:23 PM
From: United States
From: United States
thanks for your welcome, texasshoe. i made mention of these vermin from AIG, in order to point up the idea of entitlement. here is a bunch of guys who went, hat in hand, for a bailout. yet, instead of judicious use of public funds, they treat themselves to a luxury weekend. worse yet, they had planned a second junket to a seaside resort, but cancelled, because of public outcry. these are the same swine who criticise welfare mothers in the south bronx, because they "have steaks in their shopping carts that i cannot afford to buy". talk about a sense of entitlement! and manhattanite, thanks for your due diligence in sending in those links. it helps us to better understand what is going on, and it keeps away the people who post for posting's sake.
From: United States
Manhattanite, thanks again for the links. the second article, THE PANIC OF 2007, needs a little time to read, but the first is a wonderful blog. some real level headed offerings. even the wingnuts sound intelligent! it is a relief to look at a site like that. now i understand why you say that DT is the boondocks of the internet!!
From: United States, Richmond, Texas
From: United States, New York City
dread & TS there are a lot of fine blogs by high-level investment pros or respected academics, across the spectrum from libertarian to left. They explain things much better than the mass media, though obviously it takes some work to follow if you aren't into finance. Here is a feed of items I found informative. I personally have a center-left bias, but I also link libertarian & Austrian economists sometimes..oh and other unrelated stuff as well:
http://www.google.com/reader/shar....443266769684001616?c=COy32_XMgZYCFrom: United States, Richmond, Texas
Manhatten,
Great blog site and better explanation. Like Dread mentions, the second one will need to be read and digested at length.
Written by: abc200, 12 Oct 2008 10:33 AM
From: United Kingdom
It would seem the answer is to part nationalise the banks- UK is leading the way as usual.
http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=10080141This can lead to a fairer society.
The UK has the good sense to Nationalise the Bank of England and set up a healh service in 1948.
As a UK taxpayer I will the proud owner of a stake in the Commerical banks.
DR could take similar action and cut imports, save any embarassing collapes etc.
S.
From: Canada
The economic situation that is affecting the U.S is affecting many countries. Dominican Republic, because of its dependency on the American economy can suffer serious turmoil if the American economy keeps on melting. The way to prevent our own economy from collapsing is by continue to use the services provided in our country, this will keep people working and if people keep their jobs the money in and outflow maintains a healthy economy. On the other hand, we need to increase our social spending to help those who lose their jobs due to the global economic downturn.
http://nicolasdelvalle.wordpress.com/From: United States
ndelvalle, sadly the actions of the DR government are not helpful. imports have risen dramatically this year, and exports have gone down at the same time. which means that the current account deficit continues to increase. people are all cheering the advent of these call centers, which pay wages like 300 us dollars per month to university graduates. i am aware that it is better than nothing, but dominicans have to buy foreign goods at foreign prices. these foreign companies are saving a fortune on rental of space, residential rentals, and other costs. they should look to paying a living wage. no college grad in north america would leave home for 2 dollars per hour!
Written by: abc200, 12 Oct 2008 12:40 PM
From: United Kingdom
Self-sufficiency, economy in fuel use etc., import reduction, creating more farming to reduce food imports, creating more infrastructure etc. are all important. But the foundation is the banking: the system that is under pressure and the national plan needs to be implemented through private/partnership. Responsible banking is an essential key to this. Social spending should be directed to prdviding jobs, for example urban farming, land improvement ( irrigation systems, terracting and levelling etc.) roads, education, social housing, research, tha arts etc.
S
From: Canada
Dreadlocks, it look like we are on the same picture and I would like to talk to you, send me a comment with your email at my blog. I belive that there are ways in which we can colaborate with everything that happens in our country.
http://nicolasdelvalle.wordpress.com/From: United States
i will send you a message in the forum, with my email address. that way we can communicate off the air
Written by: Belial, 12 Oct 2008 4:23 PM
From: United States, Texas
p. 1 or 2
When banks and mortgage companies financed home sales with fixed and non-predator adjustable US mortgages (jumping between 25% to 100%), the housing market grew and the bonds [MBSs] based on these fixed and non-predator US adjustbles were relatively safe.
But these bonds paid interest at roughly the same rates as US Treasuries, between 3% and 5%, which are considered low.
To solve the problem of low interest rates on MBSs, banks and mortgage companies began to push predator adjustable mortgages on home buyers, which jumped between 300% and 500%. Bonds based on predator mortgages could offer bond buyers a higher rate of interest --between 6% and 10% -- than bonds based on non-predator US mortgages or US Treasuries.
Demand for high-yield bonds, paying between 6% and 10%, based on predator US mortgages grew insatiable worldwide.
Did the key mortgage brokers and bond brokers know that the high-yield bonds based on predator mortgages would blow up?
Yes.
Written by: Belial, 12 Oct 2008 4:27 PM
From: United States, Texas
p. 2 or 2
Once the predator mortgages jumped between 300% to 500%, most homeowners had to either refinance or default.
Refinancing restores the monthly mortgage payments to the vicinity where they were before the predator mortgage adjusted upward 300% to 500%.
But to refinance, the house prices must rise, for it's the gap between market value and mortgage that's being refinanced.
For house prices to go up, the demand for houses must exceed the supply of houses.
The US government as well as private real estate sources have release data ... at no cost ... on the supply and demand in the housing market every month for over 60 years.
About 2002, supply exceeded demand in the housing market. But disruptions were strangely slow in coming.
When supply exceeded demand for houses, house prices fall and the housing bubble burst.
The burst of the bubble means homeowners will default, banks would foreclose, and bonds based on bad mortgages would become worthless.
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I miss their refrences to those of us who disagree with them as:
1. Weenies
2. Wankers
3. Idiots
4. Imbeciles
5. Morons
oooo
Not a word from these local gop cheerleaders. Perhaps they've returned to their caves where they reside.
The "free" market has been costly, of late, to the rich in the DR.
If the racketeering element of the US bourgeoisie unloaded a conservatively estimated 100,000 mortgage-backed securities on the rich in the DR, then the DR rich have been looted of $2.5 billion since, at issuance, these bad bonds sell to $25,000 a pop.
Dominican capital, both public and private, was poured into the US stock market which fell an unbelievable ... 2000!!!! ... points in the last month, forcing many investors to sell at catastrophic losses.
US banks in which the DR rich hide their cash ... by the millions ... are falling apart or dropping like flies with only a part of their large deposits insured.
You "free" market cheerleaders, come out of your cave!
0000
Oh, sure "things" will turn around.
But the question is: Will "your thing" turn around. Any given "thing" may be left out when these unspecified "things" turn around. Just because "things" turn around doesn't mean "your thing"
will be among them. Some "things" have already been wiped out before the turn around. And other "things" are on the brink of being wiped out before the turn around.
Sorry, no turn around for the "things" wiped out.
This collapse of capitalism will cause millions of people to starve to death, die from curable disease, move into the streets, drop out of school and lose their jobs while the world prays for the blessed "turn around."
Socialism is the only authentic "turn around."
0000
US FINANCIER: Y'all should take these billions of dollars out of these low-paying US Treasuries and liquidate that gold you got and put that money in high-yield mortgage-backed securities. We call 'em MBSs.
DR RICH: What's a MBSs?
US FINANCIER: Oh, their bonds backed by US homeowners. These bonds are just as safe as US Treasuries, but MBSs often pay twice as much interest.
DR RICH: Are you sure MBSs are as safe as US treasuries?
US FINANCIER: I guarantee it.
COLLAPSE!
your a loser climb under your rock and hide
Wow.. where do these xxxx heads come from!
Socialism is the fix wow!
Bush was out of control along with his bumb buddies! The banks were lending money to people who should have never been given a loan.
Everybody became a home builder thinking of flipping them to make a buck
Wake up man the middle class and people near retirement are getting hurt and yes the rich are taking a beating somewhat!
If you are poor how and the hell can you get hurt any worse than you are?
Belial,
You should get in the market soon.. see if you can make a buck because i assure you somebody is going to come out of this okay!
But I am pretty sure capitalism will not collapse.. wake up man
You probably not smart enough to remember when CHRYSLER was about to go under and it was all over for the automaker.. Well the guys who bought the stock at the bottom had a hell of a ride to the top and made a shit load of cash.. The mini van a k car saved them
You probably have a min
US FINANCIER: Y'all remember how you all used to say "Yankee Go Home?" Well, Wall Street and the bourgeois US regime got somethin' to tell ya "Latinos, Return to the Backyard."
DR RICH: You mean we ain't gonna get nothin'?
US FINANCIER: I guarantee it.
oooo
Say, the personal income of the average borrower rises between 3% and 6% a year, allowing him to keep up with non-predator mortgage payments of $800 to $1300 per month.
Then after a 3 or 4 years, mortgage payments leap 300% to 500% or, in other words, leaps from between $800 - $1300 to between $2400 -- $6500.
Default and foreclosure.
The borrower can pay and did pay and is paying non-predator fixed or non-predator adjustable mortgages with 25% to 125% increases in monthly payments, but the same borrower can't pay predator adjustable mortgage that rises between 300% and 500%.
A "predator adjustable mortgage" is not a mortgage or a loan, it's part of complicated fraud that aims to make suckers out investors in bonds derived from "predator adjustable mortgages"
The 300%-500% jumps in mortgage payements supply fuzzy math for high-yields of 6% to 10% returns on the bonds.
oooo
Rather banks peddled fraudulent loans to largely creditworthy borrowers who were fully qualified for non-predator fixed and non-predator adjustable mortgages in order to further a securities fraud scam that robbed investors here and around the world of trillions of dollars.
The fault lies not in the homeowner borrowers but is the securities brokers who demanded predator adjustable mortgages to dupe bond investors with exaggerated promises of return on capital of 6% to 10% based on fuzzy math from these predator adjustable mortgages.
0000
The buyers could chew what they bit off. But they couldn't chew a lot ... 300%to 500% ... more than they bit off.
Lenders won the trust borrowers and then betrayed the borrowers with the lie "All you have to chew is this apple."
Then, after 4 or 5 years of chewing the apple, the lender "adjusted" or enlarged the size to the apple to the size of car and said to borrower "chew this car."
"Hey man, I can't chew a car" the borrower complained.
"Then you're are a rotten apple," the lender replied.
The lender wanted to sell bonds based on the size of a car rather than a apple so that the lender could sell the bonds for a higher price to bond buyers and promise the bondholders a higher rate of interest to tempt them to buy more bonds.
The racketeering element of US financial bourgeoisie fooled not only millions of homebuyers, but also millions of bond buyers.
There is nothing odd about financial racketeers fooling the financial sector to which the racketeers belong.
Milken did it with junk bonds in the '80s.
Robert Vesco did it with accounting fraud on commercial banks in the '60s and 70s.
Using securities fraud and accounting fraud, the thieves at Enron, and the like, preyed on their sector of the bourgeoisie, the energy sector, as well as on the broader financial sector.
The absurd idea that US financiers will not steal from other US financiers as well as from others is something that only imperialist running dogs and reactionary bourgeois rats believe in.
FDR hired one of the smartest and toughest of the securities thieves to clean up or, in other words, regulate the financial pigsty.
The guy whom FDR hired to clean up the pigsty was the father of the US president who later got his head blown off in Dallas.
The total number of students in medical sciences in Cuba has gone up to approximately 200,000 for the 2008-2009 academic year, according to preliminary data provided by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.
Of this total, 173,903 are Cubans and 22,749 come from mainly Third World countries (including over a 100 DR students, but over 100 students are from the USA).
Medical sciences cover the five areas of medicine, dentistry, nursing, technology and health psychology. Cuban enrollment in the five areas is 34,000 in medicine, 7400 in dentistry, 48,000 nursing, 82,000 technology, and 3000 in health psychology.
[The DR and US students are mostly in medicine.]
This academic year sees the highest number of medical science students in Cuban history.
oooo
[Export of medical services, facilities, supplies, and equipment are foreign exchange eaners for the ruling Cuban workers.]
I would buy some GM stocks if I was you but your probably broke from a bad mortagage the bank should have never gave you! ha ha ha
your probably think thats going under
I have news for you man!!
lowest in 30 yrs its a great buy!
would you car to make a wager?
lets face it your a sad man like josean and a loser
what i learned in life is a loser is a loser and ya cannot change there negative outlook thats what makes them such great losers!!
see ya dumbxxx loser
oooo
Since you go for that kind of fuzzy logic, then:
If the stock fell to its lowest in 60 years rather than a mere 30 years, the stock will become a doubly great buy.
So, we should hope it falls a great deal more so that we will get a much greater buy.
But "world markets" and others have really lost confidence in the scum who run the US bourgeois regime, that is, the US and the "world markets" have completely lost confidence in Bush and his filthy gops.
I told you so, muchachos!
does anyone believe that AIG went to the Federal Reserve for another loan of 27 billion because they know what they are doing? it is like a man trying to catch a fly in the dark.
oooo
Neither ultimately nor immediately.
About 75% of the US people disapprove of the job performance of Bush, most of the US people hold Bush and his slimy gops in contempt for their lying about WMDs, Iraqi role in 9/11, for their buck-passing of the blame for the 8 consecutive years of deficits after 4 consecutive years of Clinton surpluses, for cheating at the polls and for disregard for the rule of law.
Face it, there is no confidence in Bush and his filthy gops. The sight of Bush and his gops produces nausea in most of the US people and they can no longer control their involuntary impulse to vomit when either Bush or one of his stinking gops appears.
The revulsion for Bush is more extreme internationally. Instead of only 75% of people disapproves of Bush, maybe 85% dispprove ... strongly ... of him.
US people also see the slime ... the 25% in the US who love Bush ... and wonder who are these people?
dread it is fine to disagree with extreme libertarian philosophy, but you must admit the libertarian impulse is much older than Barry Goldwater and is not entirely without merit. It's real name is classical liberalism, and it is unfortunate that in our age it has been warped. Also I second your comments around outsourcing and related phenomenons...hopefully popular sentiment holds up against it so Obama's rhetoric against it becomes Dem policy.
To revisit the inflation issue though I'd throw out there that it is important to recognize significant risk is in the air of the opposite, deflation. Last few days we are seeing the central banks worldwide move as though this is their main fear.
"Then after a 3 or 4 years, mortgage payments leap 300% to 500% or, in other words, leaps from between $800 - $1300 to between $2400 -- $6500. "
I guess there is a difference between an educated buyer and an uneducated buyer. I would no way sign any document that said my payment would go up or have the possibility of going up 300-500% you would have to be an idiot. I may not be one of the sharpest knives in the drawer but I will not and have never secured an adjustable rate mortgage. I always have Home owners fees included if possible as well as all taxes. I am currently in my fourth home and they have all been that way. Everyone is here point fingers at politicians and who is right / wrong. If you owned a store that sold farm implements, would you sell to someone who came in and just promised he would pay you back or would you want money down plus some type of security.
"you would have to be an idiot"
texasshoe,
I am sure that identifying IDIOTS is an area in which you and Chauncey have much expertise, since you hepled get that brain surgeon, GeorgeYALE MBA Bush, elected!
At least when I have discussion on this site I call no one names, the idea is to discuss the issue at hand, if you failed to grasp what I was saying perhaps the requisite mental capacity is not your forte'. ARM mortagages have been the bane of homeowners since they were first rolled out why on earth would ANYONE want one. DO YOU HAVE ONE???
I would bet that if you ran your own business instead of working for someone else you would see things in a different light. You see when you are the owner, YOU are responsible, no one else, not the government, not your neighbor, you. Think about it.
Aside from political differences in the philisophical areas that you and I have, you hit the nail on the head. There is something to be said for experience and yes there is wisdom in years. The younger waifs here would do well to pay attention to all sides of an issue before jumping to conclusions, the conversational tones would be different here. I can assure you that the commentators you mentioned are not the standard bearers for people like myself. You left out Michael Savage and G. Gordon Liddy by the way. Savage has got to be one of the farthest right individuals that I have ever listened to and I can not stand him.
It is on my profile, take a look. I doubt that I will ever be as wealthy as Warren Buffet but it sure is a goal to shoot for. Do you have a goal? You should go out and buy the book called "The millionaire next door", a very insightful look at what real people with substantial resources are like.
Here is an excerpt-
"Interestingly, self-employed people make up less than 20 percent of the workers in America but account for two-thirds of the millionaires. Also, three out of four of us who are self-employed consider ourselves to be entrepreneurs. Most of the others are self-employed professionals, such as doctors and accountants." * Many of the types of businesses we are in could be classified as dullnormal. We are welding contractors, auctioneers, rice farmers, owners of mobile-home parks, pest controllers, coin and stamp dealers, and paving contractors.
* About half of our wives do not work outside the home. The number-one occupation for those wives-Teachers
* Our household's total annual realized (taxable) income is $131,000 (median, or 50th percentile), while our average income is $247,000. Note that those of us who have incomes in the $500,000 to $999,999 category (8 percent) and the $1 million or more category (5 percent) skew the average upward.
* We have an average household net worth of $3.7 million. Of course, some of our cohorts have accumulated much more. Nearly 6 percent have a net worth of over $10 million. Again, these people skew our average upward. The typical (median, or 50th percentile) millionaire household has a net worth of $1.6 million.
* On average, our total annual realized income is less than 7 percent of our wealth. In other words, we live on less than 7 percent of our wealth.
* Most of us (97 percent) are homeowners. We live in homes currently valued at an average of $320,000. About half of us have occupied the same home for more than twenty years.
* Most of us have never felt at a disadvantage because we did not receive any inheritance. About 80 percent of us are first-generation affluent.
* We live well below our means. We wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority of us drive the current-model-year automobile. Only a minority ever lease our motor vehicles.
Also, wives of "rich guys" like you allege to be are usually called DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES!
Your hero Ronald Regan was right not just ideologically but when he answered the question as to whether the US would go broke trying to out spend the Russians in military programs! "Ronald Reagan said well will go broke but they will go broke first!
Well the Soviets did go broke and now we have also.
The End Of American Capitalism?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-....008/10/09/AR2008100903425_pf.html
"Capitolism is where man takes advantage of his fellow man, under socialism its just the opposite."
And;
"One of the consequences of such notions as "entitlements" is that people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.” - Sowell (like people have a right to own a home, and the banks have to give them a loan)
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”-Churchill
if this was 1789, heads would be rolling in the streets, and with just cause!
Some time you might try thinking for yourself and not cutting and pasting rhetorically cute statements. It might allow you to see the different shades in the world not just the white and black and us versus them paradigm that has got you right wing necons in so much trouble.
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/10/misunderstandin.html
Banks did this to themselves, government (both parties) encouraged it but most certainly did not force banks to securitize on such a scale.
http://www.kc.frb.org/publicat/sympos/2008/Gorton.08.04.08.pdf
TS believe what you will, but if you insist on repeating the CRA canard in public then you are in the same boat as the local party comrades; seeing with ideology and not reason. The same type of commentators and pundits you condemn above are the only ones behind this notion.
Good to have you back!. Those comments were in response to Josean.
The folks who took that weekend junket should be publicly flogged in my book, The guy who worked at Wachovia for three weeks and walked away with, what was it 7 million should be made to pay it back. No where do my comments justify or condone the foolishness that the shareholders let take place in those companies. Who are the members of those compensation committees and what do they stand to gain. It just goes to show how out of touch the run of the mill corporate director or board member is to allow this to take place. Besides Enron, there was also Worldcom, and Tyco if I am not mistaken where is was blantent abuse of the companies and over compensation of those CEO's. Wasnt they an outcry then about having to rectify the problem and once again nothing gets done.
I did respond to you with a timeline of events, links to the actual bills that were written and passed, links to the actual bills that attempted to curb the actions of Freddy and Fanny and to provide the nesessary oversight to stop this in 2003. I also provided the link to show the vote results on all above bills as well as who was recieving the donations from Freddy and Fanny and the link that also showed the vote to squash the bill and how those same individuals are on the committe that is in charge of the current oversight (or lack thereof). I have stated multiple times before and I will say it again, the problem as I see it is not who is president, but the overwhelming greed by both parties of the members of congress. What WE have is a group of professional politicians who could care less about the people who elected them.
these For example are from the 70's when I was in School and read the congressional record as part of my curriculum;
There was hundreds of thousands of dollars to study why the Aborigines of Australian smelled the way they do- And the point is what, and how does this apply to the US.
Why a frisbee flys the way it does. -This is important for what
When I lived in Louisiana a newly elected member of the state legislature immedaitly wanted to changed the state motto on the license plates- Lets see, bad roads, high unemployment and you are worried about the state motto?
I want to be the first to thank the REPUBLICANS for this milestone achievement!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aP5mpMUORBWM
http://news.cnet.com/Anti-P2P-col....in-House/2100-1028_3-6218834.html
http://www.google.com/reader/shar....443266769684001616?c=COy32_XMgZYC
Great blog site and better explanation. Like Dread mentions, the second one will need to be read and digested at length.
http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=10080141
This can lead to a fairer society.
The UK has the good sense to Nationalise the Bank of England and set up a healh service in 1948.
As a UK taxpayer I will the proud owner of a stake in the Commerical banks.
DR could take similar action and cut imports, save any embarassing collapes etc.
S.
S
When banks and mortgage companies financed home sales with fixed and non-predator adjustable US mortgages (jumping between 25% to 100%), the housing market grew and the bonds [MBSs] based on these fixed and non-predator US adjustbles were relatively safe.
But these bonds paid interest at roughly the same rates as US Treasuries, between 3% and 5%, which are considered low.
To solve the problem of low interest rates on MBSs, banks and mortgage companies began to push predator adjustable mortgages on home buyers, which jumped between 300% and 500%. Bonds based on predator mortgages could offer bond buyers a higher rate of interest --between 6% and 10% -- than bonds based on non-predator US mortgages or US Treasuries.
Demand for high-yield bonds, paying between 6% and 10%, based on predator US mortgages grew insatiable worldwide.
Did the key mortgage brokers and bond brokers know that the high-yield bonds based on predator mortgages would blow up?
Yes.
Once the predator mortgages jumped between 300% to 500%, most homeowners had to either refinance or default.
Refinancing restores the monthly mortgage payments to the vicinity where they were before the predator mortgage adjusted upward 300% to 500%.
But to refinance, the house prices must rise, for it's the gap between market value and mortgage that's being refinanced.
For house prices to go up, the demand for houses must exceed the supply of houses.
The US government as well as private real estate sources have release data ... at no cost ... on the supply and demand in the housing market every month for over 60 years.
About 2002, supply exceeded demand in the housing market. But disruptions were strangely slow in coming.
When supply exceeded demand for houses, house prices fall and the housing bubble burst.
The burst of the bubble means homeowners will default, banks would foreclose, and bonds based on bad mortgages would become worthless.