tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post6977269973104695684..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Holder & Donovan Open Comedy Act in VegasKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-27316370813853323802012-02-18T09:49:31.291-05:002012-02-18T09:49:31.291-05:00I think there will be serious trouble either way i...I think there will be serious trouble either way if things don't substantially change in this country, but I think the descent to violence will be faster under a Republican White House and Congress. it will set a national tone, particularly with law enforcement and the military: Okay boys, the gloves're off, go get 'em! And, believe me, they will.James F Traynornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-72205099506535430472012-02-17T10:54:06.448-05:002012-02-17T10:54:06.448-05:00@James Traynor
Nothing personal, but I see it dif...@James Traynor<br /><br />Nothing personal, but I see it differently. <br /><br />Who do you see as being the ones causing 'violence, civil unrest, maybe even incipient revolution' if Romney or Santorum were elected? The Democrats??? Those who are now sitting on their hands with their mouths clamped shut while Obama caters to Wall Street, demolishes the Constitution, and conducts stealth wars all over the globe? I can only wish!!! Why bother? We will hardly notice any difference in policy. If anything, I think if a Republican wins, things will go on as usual. The only difference right now is in rhetoric, not in action. The politicians are merely puppets serving Wall Street. <br /><br />The big difference I see is in the attitude of the people. The Republicans have deliberately been worked into a frenzy with hatred for Obama, and by extension, with hatred for all Democrats. I do see the potential for violence, but not if Santorum or Romney win. I see violence coming if Obama wins.<br /><br />Obama's protective ego makes him averse to personal confrontation, so he has let lie after lie go unchallenged, and that has allowed himself and the entire Democratic Party to be demonized and loathed. If Obama is re-elected, and especially if Obamacare is ruled Constitutional, I can envision civil unrest and possibly violent uprising occurring which could make all Democrats the target. Keep in mind that the hate pump has been primed for over 3 years without any effort by Obama to counter the lies. <br /><br />Obama's continued silence over these years is similar to any of us standing around listening to the N word about Blacks year after year without speaking up. Unhindered, it becomes normal and acceptable and is allowed and encouraged to grow, and the entire target group ends up suffering, even if we ourselves are not personally affected. <br /><br />I guess that's just one of the many principled, sanctimonious purist things that Obama threw under the bus in order to serve his corporate masters.Anne Lavoienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-73921895535864743012012-02-17T10:08:21.563-05:002012-02-17T10:08:21.563-05:00Stuart Zechman’s questions:
“Isn't immunity f...Stuart Zechman’s questions:<br /><br />“Isn't immunity for banks that have stolen people's homes and wrecked the economy a small price to pay to make sure that Obama gets elected to a second term in office?”<br /><br />“Which is more important to you: a working system of elite accountability in America, or Obama's reelection?”<br /><br />“Don't you want Obama to do whatever he has to in order to get reelected...whatever it takes?”<br /><br />“Or --and here's the final question-- are there some things that are more important than the reelection of a Democratic president, some things without which our country can't be successful, and our people can't have the nation that we deserve after these long years of failure and stupidity and avarice and corruption on the part of our government, banks, giant industries, institutions...our elites?”<br /><br />“Are there some things that simply can't be sacrificed on the altar of Barack Obama's reelection campaign?”<br /><br />“If things keep going the way they're going, we're going to have to choose one way or the other. Movement liberals are either going to be a movement primarily about accountability for everyone in America, or we're going to remain pawns on an 11-dimensional chess board for the foreseeable future.”<br /><br />“If you find that there's not much to love about robo-settlement, then ask yourself 1) what does it say about what's wrong with our country at this moment in our history, 2) what won't you tolerate to see Obama in the White House for another four years, and 3) isn't long-overdue accountability what America needs most right now to put us on the path to a just and sustainable future? Or just ask yourself one thing: What are you willing to lose...to win?”<br /><br />“I'm Stuart Zechman, and this has been...the Z-Files.”<br /><br />http://sideshow.me.uk/sfeb12.htm#1202161653Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-73635800005200967162012-02-17T09:30:35.998-05:002012-02-17T09:30:35.998-05:00Karen, in her Timothy Egan comment, said, “Look wh...Karen, in her Timothy Egan comment, said, “Look who is funding the candidates: fabulously wealthy white guys with arcane agendas.”<br /><br />Glenn Greenwald looks at one,an Idaho billionaire named Frank VanderSloot, “Billionaire Romney donor uses threats to silence critics.”<br /><br />Vandersloot is the national finance co-chair of the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and his company has become one of the largest donors to the Romney SuperPAC, Restore Our Future.<br /><br />“But it is VanderSloot’s chronic bullying threats to bring patently frivolous lawsuits against his political critics — magazines, journalists, and bloggers — that makes him particularly pernicious and worthy of more attention.”<br /><br />“Numerous journalists and bloggers in Idaho — who want to write critically about VanderSloot’s vast funding of right-wing political causes — are petrified even to mention his name for fear of these threats. As his work on the Romney campaign brings him national notoriety, he is now aiming these tactics beyond Idaho. To allow this scheme to continue — whereby billionaires can use their bottomless wealth to intimidate ordinary citizens and media outlets out of writing about them — is to permit the wealthiest in America to thuggishly shield themselves from legitimate criticism and scrutiny.”<br /><br />http://www.salon.com/2012/02/17/billionaire<br />_romney_donor_uses_threats_to_silence_critics/singleton/Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-83142696087775076362012-02-17T09:10:06.741-05:002012-02-17T09:10:06.741-05:00An Obama sellout is a sellout that never stops giv...An Obama sellout is a sellout that never stops giving.<br /><br />“Quelle Surprise! Taxpayers Will Be Paying for Part of Mortgage Settlement,” Yves Smith.<br /><br />“The whole purpose of a settlement is that a party pays damages to rid themselves of liability, and the amount they pay (and “pay” can include the cost of reforming their conduct) is less than what they expect to suffer if they were sued and lost the case (otherwise, it would make more sense for them to fight).<br /><br />“But in the topsy-turvy world of cream for the banks, crumbs for the rest of us, we have, in the words of Scott Simon, head of the mortgage business at bond fund manager Pimco, in an interview with MoneyNews, lots of victims paying for banks’ misdeeds: “A lot of the principal reductions would have happened on their loans anyway, and they’re using other people’s money to pay for a ton of this. Pension funds, 401(k)s and mutual funds are going to pick up a lot of the load…Think about this, you tell your kid, ‘You did something bad, I’m going to fine you $10, but if you can steal $22 from your mom, you can pay me with that.’”<br /><br />“So not only is the settlement designed to shift the costs of the banks’ misdeeds onto already victimized investors, but taxpayers will also be picking up some of the widely touted $25 billion tab. Shahien Nasiripour tells us in the Financial Times that banks will be able to count future mods made under HAMP towards the total: …people familiar with the matter told the FT that state officials involved in the talks had had misgivings about allowing the banks to use taxpayer-financed loan restructurings as part of the settlement. State negotiators wanted the banks to modify mortgages using Hamp standards, which are seen as borrower-friendly, but did not want the banks to receive settlement credit when modifying Hamp loans. Federal officials pushed for it anyway, these people said.”<br /><br />http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/quelle-surprise-taxpayers-will-be-paying-for-part-of-mortgage-settlement.html<br /><br />Smith concludes, “This episode also illustrates the danger of agreeing to a deal where the terms were not final. We and AGs still don’t know where the settlement will shake out. Any negotiator or attorney will tell you there is a world of difference between an agreement in principle and a definitive agreement. Rest assured will find more instances of the AGs being baited and switched before this pact is inked.”<br /><br />An Obama sellout is a sellout that never stops giving.Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-66155968240378554902012-02-17T08:25:09.672-05:002012-02-17T08:25:09.672-05:00I have a couple of comments in today's NYT. Fi...I have a couple of comments in today's NYT. First, responding to Krugman on "Moochers on Welfare"--<br /><br />Denial of reality is contagious. One reason why so many people depending on the safety net rail against government aid is that admitting helplessness is just too painful. Politicians mouth concern about the middle class this, and the middle class that. Since they are loath to utter the dreaded "P" word and address poor people honestly and directly, is it any wonder that Americans adamantly refuse to define themselves as poor?<br /><br />It's hard for people falling into poverty for the first time to face the truth that the American Dream is a lie, and that hard work doesn't translate into wealth. They're middle class all the way, even if they're down to their last dollar.<br /><br />Poverty is demonized everywhere. The billionaire mayor of New York makes food stamp applicants get fingerprinted. Republicans want drug testing to be a requirement for unemployment benefits, even though substance abuse is rare among applicants. Pundits like David Brooks keep harping on the myth that poor people are uneducated and lack moral values.<br /><br />Oftentimes, the last thing people are willing to relinquish when hard times come calling is their own self-esteem. So when the oligarchs and their political puppets do the dog whistle routine and blame the victims that they themselves created through their orgies of deregulation, tax evasion and destruction of jobs via globalization, they're cynically banking on a good number of them to succumb to the tactic of Divide and Conquer. Hate and fear are powerful weapons.<br /><br />Next, in response Timothy Egan on "The Electoral Wasteland" of GOP presidential politics --<br /><br />Look who is funding the candidates: fabulously wealthy white guys with arcane agendas. With Mitt, it's the Wall Street vulture capitalist crowd of which he is an integral part. With Rick, it's one lone billionaire who can get away with going on cable TV talk shows and joking how women should practice birth control by holding an aspirin between their knees. Newt Gingrich has been bankrolled by a gambling mogul who is quite upfront about his own one-track, pro-Israel agenda. <br /><br />The only people voting Republican will be rich white guys, and poor white guys who happen also to be misogynists and racists, and the deluded souls out there in Fox News Land who remain convinced that prosperity is just around the corner if you only work hard enough and keep the trickle-down faith. And there are a fair amount of voters who will pull the Republican lever simply because they hate everything the Democrats stand for. Actually, they hate an incumbent who simply does not exist in the real world: a Kenyan Marxist anti-colonialist running wild and forcing everyone to sign up for food stamps.<br /><br />Traditional conservatives, who in saner times voted Republican, are staying home out of pure disgust with the choices the oligarchy has pre-approved for their voting pleasure. Citizens United is succeeding beyond everyone's wildest dreams. It has turned the electoral process into a three ring circus -- entirely befitting a country which has devolved into a banana republic.Karen Garciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-70655151853594052372012-02-17T00:02:25.393-05:002012-02-17T00:02:25.393-05:00I keep wondering if this charade would continue so...I keep wondering if this charade would continue so blissfully if they all knew their home addresses were published in a concerned citizen's guide.<br /><br />But that'll never happen in a country with such fluid Bill of Rights protections, free speech and association, will it?Cirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-54102420433959368842012-02-16T23:56:45.350-05:002012-02-16T23:56:45.350-05:00This is really driving me nuts. I can't stand ...This is really driving me nuts. I can't stand Obama, but the idea of Romney or, good God, Santorum? Should either one of these clowns, get into office it would be a disaster. Violence would be inevitable, civil unrest, maybe even incipient revolution.We live in Florida, a pivotable state in the upcoming election. What to do?James F Traynornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-16092921378512342532012-02-16T18:37:00.402-05:002012-02-16T18:37:00.402-05:00It is just one betrayal after another - even in an...It is just one betrayal after another - even in an election year. Amazing to me that there is anyone out there with half a brain who is still voting for Obama. The Lesser of Two Evils thing and fear of an even worse Supreme Court can only carry them so far.Valerienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-55109484041570096262012-02-16T17:13:46.956-05:002012-02-16T17:13:46.956-05:00Comedy Act? More like “Swiss cheese - plenty of w...Comedy Act? More like “Swiss cheese - plenty of wholes and smells ever worse with time” <br /><br />Adam Levitin @ Creditslips:<br /><br />“The San Francisco City Assessor's audit also serves as a benchmark for evaluating the Federal-State servicing settlement. The San Francisco City Assessor managed to accomplish in a few months what the Federal government and state Attorneys General weren't able to do in nearly a year and a half with far greater resources at their disposal: perform a credible investigation of foreclosure documentation with serious implications about the securitization process in general. That's a lot of egg on the face of Shaun Donovan, Eric Holder, Tom Miller, et al. The SF City Assessor report shows that it really wasn't so hard for a motivated party to undertake a serious investigation. And that raises the question of why the largest consumer fraud settlement in history proceeded with virtually no investigation.”<br /><br />http://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2012/02/why-no-investigation-.html<br /><br />“The administration has had three chances to deal with too-big-to-fail: the bailouts, Dodd-Frank, and now the mortgage crisis, and it has shied away every time. It's hard to think of a greater failing of this Administration…Today TBTF [Too Big To Fail] is a get-out-of-jail free card. But I want to emphasize that TBTF isn't the only thing going on here. Part of the problem, I think is a social one, as our political leadership is part of the same social milieu as our financial leadership and unwilling to call out criminal acts by their peers.”<br /><br />“The settlement seems an awful lot like Swiss cheese--it's got plenty of wholes and smells ever worse with time.”<br /><br />The real joke is that Holder and Donovan are touting a settlement that does not yet exist.<br /><br />Per the American Banker’s Jeff Horowitz and Kate Davidson, “the actual terms of the deal still aren’t public….That’s because a fully authorized, legally binding deal has not been inked yet…The implication of this is hard to say…”<br /><br />“Spokespersons for both the Iowa attorney general’s office and the Department of Justice both told American Banker that the actual settlement will not be made public until it is submitted to a court. A representative for the North Carolina attorney general downplayed the significance of the document’s non-final status, saying that the terms were already fixed… Other sources who spoke with American Banker raised doubts that everything is yet in place. A person familiar with the mortgage servicing pact says that a settlement term sheet does not yet exist. Instead, there are a series of nearly-complete documents that will be attached to a consent judgment eventually filed with the court… Some who talked to American Banker said that the political pressure to announce the settlement drove the timing, in effect putting the press release cart in front of the settlement horse.”<br /><br />http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_29/mortgage-servicers-settlement-1046574-1.html<br /><br />So, no settlement yet, just promises from our trustworthy banksters and the Washington minions who cater to them.Denis Nevillenoreply@blogger.com