Feb

27

Is the Republican party trying to supplant the skinheads or take market share away from the KKK? There was a day when conservatives had good well thought out ideas. Many were deep thinkers. Buckley must be doing cartwheels in his grave. Reagan too.

“Which kind of revolution would you like” -Sean Hannity question on readers poll on his Fox News sponsored website

“The Left is the enemy” -Tom Delay

“Back in the day, really, when people would talk about our military in a poor way, somebody would shoot ‘em. And there’d be nothing said about that, because they knew it was wrong. ” -Joe the Plumber, the new Republican “regular” guy.

“You be ‘da man, you be ‘da man” - Speaker at CPAC referring to RNC chairman.

At least with the Colbert Report we realize this is poitical comedy. Who are these people trying to appeal to? Their direction and attitudes would be funny, but actually they are scary. Scary in the way that Hitler was scary in the 30’s.

 

Feb

26

No Spin. Here are the real verifiable facts:

- From 1942-1946 the Government deficit spent 186 billion dollars

- It took until 1999, fifty years, until Government surpluses totaled the 186 billion spent from 1942-1945

- From 1947 until 1999 deficit spending amounted to 3.5 Trillion

- The longest consecutive number of years of budget surpluses was from 1920-1928, the years leading up to the great depression

- The last four years of the Clinton administration were decent sized budget surpluses. We went into a recession at the end of his second term.

There are all verifiable facts. The numbers came from statistics readily available at a number of Federal government websites. You might be able to dig up different numbers and say the numbers I present are off by a billion or two. But ,in the grand scheme of things a billion or two off from 3.5 trillion ranks up there will worrying about getting three-cents change back from a ten-thousand dollar purchase.

Some thingsfor you to consider…

1946 was a few generations ago. Could you bullet out for me some things that not servicing this debt for 60 years did to the quality of our lives? Seriously, I really would like someone to bullet out the pain we suffered through the 50’s,  60’s and 70’s for not servicing this debt.

From 1947 until the end of the Reagan administration we racked up 1.8 trillion dollars of government debt. 1.8 trillion in 20 year old debt. Bullet out for me the benefits we would realize as a country for retiring this debt?

Look, when you really start to examine history, and look at the numbers, it becomes quite clear that governments operate under a very different set of economic realities than businesses and individuals. 

 

 

Feb

25

Fish or cut bait

February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

What I have to say here has very little to do with ideology. It has to do with listening, and examining the problems, and helping come up with appropriate solutions.

I heard Obama say he was going through the budget line by line. How about all members of the Congress do the same. He wants to invest in energy independance. This is as visionary as the National Highway act was in the 1950’s. He wants to invest in education. How can investing in education ever be a bad idea?

I just heard FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair say that your home “is not an ATM machine”. “It is not a leveraged investment.” She answered a question whether people should just walk away from their mortgage in a sane and conservative way. You may not find anyone more conservative with money and personal finance than I am. What, I am hearing from this registered Republican are conservative values. Her own party is treating her as some kind of traitor. Thanks Sheila. Another good conservative person that is placing the needs of our nation above the needs of her party. Bravo Zulu.

All the current administration needs to do is show that they can be fiscally responsible. There is good debt and their is bad debt. We need stimulus that represents good debt. We also need honesty. Just keep being accountable and honest in what you are doing.

Republicans, what made you strong in the past was your allegiance to party. It is now what is killing you and will ultimately end you as the other legitimate party in America. All because you are all lined up offering up the same stale ideas that led us into the current mess we are now in. Those of you with a brain left in your head it is time to break ranks, roll up your sleaves and help the rest of us bail water out the this sinking ship.

We will do it with or without you. We will also be successful. Pitch in and help. Many of you have a great deal to contribute to the cause. We could use your help. Real help, that is.

Feb

24

I like your message, I like your vision. You have my trust and have not done anything to lose it. Yesterday I saw a bunch of my co-workers lose their jobs through nothing they did wrong. Real, hard working people cut loose into these uncertain times. After listening to you I feel better for each of them.

Each time I listen to you I get the sense that you are not just another political figure, you are someone that cares about the average American. Years of failed promises, telling us what we want to hear and not delivering makes one jaded.

I think you are different. I don’t think you are divine or anyones second coming. I just think you are a really smart guy who can lead us out of a time run into the ground by a bunch of greedy, crooked bastards.

I look forward to the days when we can return to a nation of fiscal sanity and solving problems with some common sense.

Feb

23

It may have been Stalin that said, “A million deaths is a statistic, a single death is a tragedy.” 

So this is not about death, but it still sucks. Each day we are faced with statistics and numbers concerning our collapsing economy. It is so easy for all of us to forget that behind each number are real people. This hit home for me today as friends and co-workers, many I have known for years lost their jobs.

As I have said before, people that are hard workers, that manage their money and affairs in a responsible way are going to get caught up in this fiasco. But that really does not matter. It always sucks when someone loses their job. It sucks even more to lose a job now.

To think that the crap going on was started by the greed of so few leaders in business. I guess we have seen the end game for “trickle down” economics. 

Did you know that 93% of mortgages are just fine. Of the 7% that are not so fine, you can guess that at least 3-4% of them were taken out by people responsible with their finances that were unlucky enough to buy a home at the wrong time.  Three percent, and a handful of greedy executives setting a foolish direction (okay, if not greed than certainly stupidity).

Anyway, today is not about statistics, at least for me. Tomorrow it may not be your day. No matter what the statistics, never forget that this is about good people, really good people that lost and are lsoing their jobs. It just totally sucks.

 

Feb

22

Okay,

I like you am a bit distrustful of my government and big business these days. I would like to look objectively with you at what just came out of the White House. I am not going to take things out of context.

You should look at the plan yourself (click here for pdf). Full excerpts from the plan are in quotes.
— Item #1 —

“Refinancing for Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Make Their Mortgages More Affordable”

“Enabling Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Refinance: Mortgage rates are currently at historically low levels, providing homeowners with the opportunity to reduce their monthly payments by refinancing. But under current rules, most families who owe more than 80 percent of the value of their homes have a difficult time refinancing. Yet millions of responsible homeowners who put money down and made their mortgage payments on time have – through no fault of their own – seen the value of their homes drop low enough to make them unable to access these lower rates. As a result, the Obama Administration is announcing a new program that will help as many as 4 to 5 million responsible homeowners who took out conforming loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to refinance through those two institutions.”

The following is their example scenario.

“Consider a family that took out a 30-year fixed rate mortgage of $207,000 with an interest rate of 6.50% on a house worth $260,000 at the time. Today, that family has about $200,000 remaining on their mortgage, but the value of that home has fallen 15 percent to $221,000 – making them ineligible for today’s low interest rates that now generally require the borrower to have 20 percent home equity. Under this refinancing plan, that family could refinance to a rate near 5.16% – reducing their annual payments by over $2,300.”

Opinion:

So, I don’t know what is wrong with this scenario. If our government is talking about reducing a conforming mortgage for responsible borrowers whose only crime is buying a house during the bubble I do not see the problem. We are talking about letting them refinance at a 1.5% lower rate. So what? As long as these folks meet all the other credit requirements and are paying their monthly payments I do not see a problem essentially redoing their loan at a lower rate. This deal is really a stimulus if you think about it. Assuming only 50% who qualify take advantage of this situation, with an average annual savings of $2300 a year, you could expect about 3.5 billion going back into the economy either through savings or spending.

In May of 2008, seeing the writing on the wall, my wife and I refinanced a 15 year mortgage we had 8 years left on to a 30 year mortgage so we would be in a better cash flow position. Given the present financial climate it would seem we made a good decision.

As long as there is no funny business or abuse and they are 100% transparent on item #1 I do not have a problem with this. Given that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the government we do not have nearly the mess we would have dealing with the banks.
 

— Item #2 —

“Create A $75 Billion Homeowner Stability Initiative to Reach Up to 3 to 4 Million At-Risk Homeowners”

“Helping Hard-Pressed Homeowners Stay in their Homes: This initiative is intended to reach millions of responsible homeowners who are struggling to afford their mortgage payments because of the current recession, yet cannot sell their homes because prices have fallen so significantly. Millions of hard-working families have seen their mortgage payments rise to 40 or even 50 t apercent of their monthly income – particularly those who received subprime and exotic loans with exploding terms and hidden fees. The Homeowner Stability Initiative helps those who commit to make reasonable monthly mortgage payments to stay in their homes – providing families with security and neighborhoods with stability.”

Note: I will let you read the rest on your own.

Opinion:

I think this is the item that has everyone so up in arms. First, this part of the plan truly does reward risky behavior on both the part of the lender and the borrower for what the government sees as 3-4 million at-risk homeowners.

Not long ago I was for a program that allowed these people to be bailed out with the government owning a piece of the homeowners equity pie. I am not any more. There were many good, responsible people that sat on the sidelines and continued to rent during the period when just about anyone could qualify for a home. These people knew what was going on was too good to be true. To bail out the irresponsbile people would be a slap in the face. There are going to be extenuating circumstancses to what I am about to say but for the most part this group is going to need to default on their homes. I do believe, however, that the government should allow people in this group that were sold homes above their means that were required to put down good sized down payments should be allowed to lay claim against the financial institutions that put them into a mortgage they could not afford. Let our courts decide where the chips fall on this.

In closing

The plan does not address the borrowers that have ARM’s that are resetting higher, interest-only mortgages, ballon mortgages, and other poorly-written instruments. For people that have these type of mortgages and have been making payments I can see our government offer them a deal similar to the deal the folks in Item #1 are getting. But, they must surrender an equity stake in their house to acquire a new loan. Sorry, we cannot forgive risk-taking without a price. It is just not fair. The government becomes a lien holder on these type of refinances. They will be complicated to sort out all the rules.
 

Feb

22

My hat is off to both Charlie Crist and and Arnold Schwarzenegger for working with the new Administration as well as their local governments in solving the current problems we face. In my eyes you are both still conservatives and have not “sold out.” The majority of Americans applaud you.

Feb

19

Banker to the Poor

February 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In a time when we are falling from the reckless greed and corruption of so many politicians and business leaders is a story we all need to read. Muhammad Yunus in the face of his culture and so many other odds created a bank that loaned money to the poorest of the poor. It is truly one of the more remarkable stories I have every read. It is a human story that will humble you.

The book is titled “Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty.” It is a story of hope and promise. It is worth reading.

To find out more about Dr. Yunus and the Grameen bank head off to http://www.grameen-info.org/

 

Feb

16

We have been hearing this lately from the political right. How about we take a look at some numbers. Since 1913 we have had 48 years of Republican presidents, and 46 years of Democratic presidents.

In the 48 years the Republicans held the Oval Office they collectively deficit spent 6.7 trillion dollars or an average of 140 billion a year. In the Democrats’ 46 years they racked up 5.02 trillion or roughly 109 billion a year. To be fair I adjusted these numbers for inflation (using the CPI) so that the dollars spent in 1913 and through the years were equivalent to the dollars spent in 2007.

My figures came from statistical data freely available from the US Treasury website and other government sites. Budget Data 1913-2007

Also to be fair there are two other branches of government responsible for this spending. My point is that the argument for uncontrolled spending made by people in the conservative media or the Republicans does not seem to match this pretty significant metric. Both parties would seem equally guilty.

Also, I have been hearing from both the conservative and liberal media statements to the effect of “we need a plan on how we are going to pay for these stimulus bills like we did for WWII.”

Did you mean we need to come up with a plan? Or, we actually need to pay off this expenditure? Not sure where you folks are getting your information, but from 1942 through 1945 the government opened its wallet and spent 170 billion (these are NOT inflation-adjusted dollars).

Hmmmmmmm, if we add up all the budget surplus years from 1946 until 1998 the total comes to 33.4 billion. From 1946 until 1998 the deficit years add up to 3.5 trillion (non inflation-adjusted dollars). So when exactly did we pay for WWII. Possibly there is some obscure accounting standard I am not familiar with. Care to share with us?

 

Feb

13

These are for business leaders that claim to be conservatives.

How is taking depositors money, aggressively making questionable loans without doing proper credit checks, then bundling up the paper and selling it on Wall Street conservative business?

How is paying out millions in executive bonuses when your company is losing billions of dollars capitalism?

How is asking for government money to save you from the poor business decisions your made capitalism?

I think many of you owe us answers to these questions.

— keep looking »

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