Take Your Austerity Measures And...

     okay, you can guess the rest of that sentence.  The whole "austerity", "budget cuts", "runaway spending" thing has gotten itself under my skin, like a sliver you can't see, but feel every time you touch something.


    According to Steve Rattner, our former "Car Czar" (who had to step down in a hurry due to an investigations about his hedge fund and "pay to play" with the New York Pension system... hmmm...), "it's going over all right in the UK..."


    Jim Rogers, of Rogers Holdings agrees - it's for the good of the country, ya know.


    Pierre LaPointe, global strategist for Brockhouse Cooper, agrees that tax hikes, expenditure cuts, et. al., are necessary to arrest a growing deficit problem... specifically, Social Security "entitlement" programs.


    Here's my sticking point with "entitlement programs"... at least Social Security and Medicare.  Since the age of 15 - quite a while ago - I've been paying into both programs.  Involuntarily.  Matched by my employer.  Okay, so have an awful lot of other people.  Why did we put up with it?


    Because we were pre-paying for our old age, that's why.  There's not one person who has worked during their adult life who HAS NOT paid into Social Security or Medicare.  There have been "contributions".  Period.  End of sentence.  No, none of us in my generation (X) thought we'd get out of it anywhere near what we put in, but we hoped we'd get some supplemental income to make our "useless" years (let's face it, that's what you are when you stop contributing, according to our government) a little less painful.


    So, am I entitled?  Well, I've paid in... faithfully, whether I wanted to or not.  The payoff?  Pennies on the dollar, especially when you factor in inflation.  What about the Baby Boomers?  They made a bunch of money, and now they want what was promised when they paid in during their entire careers. 


    So, how does that turn into a "Sense of Entitlement"?  That's plain old ROI (Return On Investment).  I helped the previous generation, now you can help me out.  Period.  So, how does this become an "entitlement program"?  It isn't, plain and simple.  This is payback for all the folks that got help from the working population during our most productive years.  Fuck you.


    Okay, that horse is now dead.  Moving on...


    This is why "austerity" programs get me even more so... here's what happened, in my denim-blue brain:


    A bunch of financial geniuses came up with yet another way to fuck the middle class - faulty loans on houses that went up in value like skyrockets, with the cooperation of surrounding regulatory agencies - our government, btw - and transferred a bunch of wealth way up the ladder.  Too bad it was a ponzi scheme, and fell apart.  Think 2008.


    GW Bush, in a last swipe of a horrible presidency, looted this generation, and at least two others, of their taxpayer dollars, and got approval for TARP.


    He left us on the hook for what would turn out to be 12.3 TRILLION dollars in direct and indirect bailouts... wait for it...


    Of the same fucks that had raped us in the first place.


    Bonuses got paid... that same YEAR... to the gambling crack-heads that got us into this mess.  And AGAIN, in 2009...


    And THIS year, the bonuses look to blow the lid off the record books.


    But I have to adopt "austerity" to pay down the deficits?


    I have a plan: it's called, "I'll Adopt Austerity Measures When..."  Here's the first of the list; feel free to add your own:

• We see "claw-backs" of the bonuses paid out in '08, '09, and stop this crap about records being set in '10.
• We see Jamie Dimon, Ken Lewis, and Lloyd Blankfein do PERP WALKS.
• We see foreclosure moratoria that MEAN something, and last long enough to save families that have done the right things STAY in their homes.
• We see job creation here in the USA, and all incentives to move labor overseas eliminated.
• We see that LESS THAN 41% of all GDP income go to the "Financial Services" sector of the economy.
• We have less than 5% unemployment.
• We pay our teachers to lead our children into the next century of innovation, not just produce a bunch of "good test-takers" that can't do a damn thing if it isn't World of Warcraft.  I want "my" teachers focused on opening and filling kids' heads with good knowledge, not sweating over whether the gas and water will be turned off today.
• I see President Obama have a ceremony on the White House lawn, where he burns his "owned by wall street" collar in effigy.
• We bring home our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan - not to settle civil unrest here, but to actually come home to their families - preferably in one, sane piece.

    It's a good starting place, anyway... maybe, if we all put in our two cents' worth, we'll come up with a good set of rules to make a difference.


    What else have we got to lose?


    Brutal Truth


    

An Open Letter to Hippy Culture...

    Dear Hippies, Yippies, and other outgrowth groups and subcultures of the Beat Movement,


    I'm here on behalf of the shreds of Middle Class America, to apologize.


    You were into Free Love: 40 years later, we still haven't legalized gay marriage, and we're still fighting Don't Ask Don't Tell...you don't even want to KNOW how screwed up that is.


    You were against Useless War: I guess Viet Nam wasn't enough for us. Countless American and International soldiers, civilians, and by-standers are so much dust for no discernible reason. We're now carrying on 2 wars, with intercessions into countries that couldn't want us less.  Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and by next week I'm sure: Nomore-istan, Notagain-istan, Pleasestop-istan.


    You were "Back To the Land":  We've only begun to scratch the surface of what has happened to our food here.  Big Agra, hormones, antibiotics, miserable conditions and "manu-farming"... Monsanto-modified foods, soy that isn't quite soy, chemicals no Liberal Arts Major would be able to pronounce, and that's just the "low fat" stuff.  The good news: Organic is growing.  The bad news: just what makes it "Organic" is now yet another marketing ploy.  We're being poisoned by our own food supply.


    You were against "The Man": I'm going to define that as corporate interests.  We've now witnessed the greatest "transfer of wealth" (read: rip-off of the century) ever known to man.  We are, politely put, screwed out of every vestige of the "American Dream" we ever tried to believe in.  The top 1% of earners now makes what the ENTIRE bottom 20% makes in a year. Our current unemployment rate rivals that of the Great Depression; far too many 50- and 60-somethings are just waking up to the idea of NEVER being able to get a job again.  As in, in life.  Young people and people of color lead the unemployment statistics, with rates as high as 27%.  The jobs are all in China, Mexico, India.  


    You didn't trust Government: We did.  And they got right into bed with the Corporations, and gave birth to Tim Geithner.  And then, they screwed us some more.  There is no government; there is, at this late date, only Goldman Sachs.


    You were into Mind Altering Drugs: Unfortunately, now, so is Big Pharma.  It is their sole desire to have each and every one of us medicated for something, real or imagined.  It's the ultimate market saturation technique, and honestly, with the state of the food supply, we'll need a lot of what they're pushing.  This ain't Timothy Leary and a little blotter full of fun.


    You were right to be outraged; you did your best to change the world, and while it didn't happen the way you wanted it to, you made an indelible mark on our culture.  In the end, though, you got pressured, you got tired, you got pregnant and married, and you were forced to "buy in".  


    I'm sorry.  For all of us.  Americans owe our Hippies an apology, for turning a blind eye, for scorning and demeaning the only ones who saw the writing on the wall.  You were right.  Stoned, but right; that should count for something, anyway.


    Brutal Truth


    

Your Homework Assignment This Week...

    Okay, so you're hopefully NOT facing foreclosure... I hope you aren't, although this entry should help you if you are:


    I've been thinking, and I think it's time, given the recent discoveries and court cases involving mortgage fraud (and I do mean fraud, not "mishandled paperwork"), for each and every homeowner to become the captain of his or her own fate.


    I got thinking about all the crap coming down the pike, and part of what I'm gleaning from the blogosphere is anecdotal evidence that several lenders are literally racing to re-finance people to clean up their dirty paper trails.  How cool, right?  You're paying on time, still working, doing all the right things, and all of a sudden you have your lender's full attention?  Reeeeeaaaallllyyyy??


    Thing is, when they issue a new loan on your property, the most recent paperwork supercedes all prior paperwork.  They do the new one all neat and tidy, and all of a sudden your note isn't part of the mess they've got on their hands, that may cost them a boat-ton of money.


    I think it just became a homeowner's market, folks.  Here's your assignment:


    Dig out your purchase paperwork.  Find out your plot number, loan number, all that good relevant stuff.  Once you've got it in hand, get online, and go to your county recorder's website.  We're looking, in particular, for not just the assignment of the note, but the assignment of title.  Remember in another article I mentioned "splitting the baby"?  Quick review: the mortgage holder MUST also have the Deed of Trust in order to enforce foreclosure proceedings.  Without it, they're f*cked, and what I'm hearing out there in Internet-land is that the "baby" has been split, diced, sliced, and tranched into oblivion.  


    Go into the county recorder's website; hell, if they're not online, take half a day and go to the office; pay the fees, and get a title search done on the property you own. Check all the signatures on the certified copies; chances are you will find MERS as the recording agent.  If you do, this is PAYDIRT, folks.  There are no less than FOUR court cases recorded in different states as of this writing denying MERS any rights as a title and/or note assignee.


    Next, you want to check all the notaries, dates, and lender's representatives.  You may very well find duplications.  That is, simply put, a GOTCHA of the highest order: it spells FRAUD, and you just bought yourself a whole lot of bargaining power with your lender.  Don't forget to check dates on Lis Pendens filings; they cloud title, and may have been filed BEFORE your note was filed - another no-no.


    Note for the rulebooks: I am NOT a lawyer, and this ain't legal advice.


    Okay, having said that, if your certified copies don't make sense to you, and/or you spot at least one of the things I've noted, talk to a legal eagle or a paralegal - just make sure you're ready, because the next thing you're gonna do is pick up the phone...


    ...And call your lender.  I don't care if you're 3 months behind, or if you pay on the dot without fail.  If your credit score is 300 or 800 has now become immaterial.  It's negotiating time, and you want to come at them from a position of KNOWING that they've made legal errors that could cost them BIG.


    So, before you call, make yourself a list of demands.  Lower interest rate?  Haircut on the value if you're underwater?  90 day deferment of payments so you can catch up a bit?  And of course, you'll be paying no closing costs, no early payment penalties, and they can bring the paperwork to YOU for signature.  How can you do all this?  Simple:  "Hi, there, Mr. or Mrs. Lender, this is So and So with Loan # X.  I've got some certified copies of my recorded deeds that I've had my lawyer review, and apparently we've got a problem..."


    The first cubicle-bot will not be able to help you; take it up the chain, until you can ask the person on the other end of the phone, "are you the decision-maker?"  When you get to the one who says, "yes", the game is on, and it's all YOURS to lose.  


    The most likely scenario is that your loan is assigned to "blank"... this does NOT fly in a court of law.  Nor does it give your original lender any power to collect from you, if what I'm reading is correct.  Hmmm...


    Be polite; you'll feel better when it's over.  Be patient, but only to a degree.


    My few readers, you have just been granted the keys to the kingdom: you can negotiate your way out of an "underwater" situation, a foreclosure situation, a financial cramp that won't go away.


    The seeds of revolution - with nary a shot fired - are lying dormant in county recorders' offices all across the country. 


    I suggest you grab the keys, and run like hell, before they get too lawyered up to deal with individuals.  I'd love to know how you make out; comments are always welcome at any rate.


    And, rock ON.


   Brutal Truth

About That Whole DADT Thing...

    And if you think that our military policies don't effect our overall Economy, picture $2.6 BILLION dollars a WEEK blowing out the door and into the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan.  


    Just recently, US District Judge Virginia Phillips ruled the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy of our military unconstitutional.  According to Judge Phillips, the policy violates the constitutionally protected rights of Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Petition, and the right to Due Process.  Cool, huh?  Especially in an era that has heralded the witch-hunting and dismissal of a large number of Arabic speaking translators and cryptologists at a time when, you know, we could REALLY use some help in that area...


    So, in living up to his campaign promise to abolish DADT, President Obama seized this golden opportunity to...


    APPEAL AND GET A FREEZE from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, effectively bitch-slapping Judge Phillips, and reversing course AFTER the Pentagon had already told recruiters they had to accept openly gay candidates for the armed services.


    The list of things that make me go "WTF?" keeps getting longer and longer....


    So, according to our President, he still stands by his promise that DADT will be repealed 'on his watch', but, "It has to be done in a way that is orderly, because we are involved in a war right now."


    Umm, that would be TWO wars, Sherlock, but whatever.  Apparently, repealing this POS piece of legislation can only be done if it's Congress' idea.  Does this sound like a sick second date to you yet?  


    And, honestly, do you think Congress, the new and improved, completely partisan, 75 IQ generation of representatives bought and paid for by the banking cartels and big oil, can spell DADT, and I do mean the initials??


    What a cop-out.  


    Got me thinking: When Roe V Wade was handed down by the Supreme Court, citing violation of the 9th Amendment, a multitude of abortion-restricting laws were nullified.


    Then, when Brown V Board of Education was handed down by the Supreme Court, citing violation of the 14th Amendment, a multitude of segregation laws were nullified.
  
    Neither of these cases "began and ended" with the Supremes; I'm simplifying for the reason that it literally "doesn't take an act of Congress" to do the right thing - for our military, for our individual soldiers who choose to serve.  


    Meanwhile, President Obama wishes upon a star.  Take the f-ing case up the ladder to the Supremes, you Log Cabin Republicans, and then we'll see how many "acts of Congress" we need to get this ill-conceived bitch-slap piece of crap legislation off our books.


    This would be a great day to email your representative, but they really don't give a shit what any of the rest of us think.


    Brutal Truth

The Foreclosure Mess: Not Obama's Problem???!!!!

     Be ready.  I'm about to go on a foul-mouthed rant... <deep breath>...
   So, I'm perusing the Huffington Post, thinking it's been a slow news day, and there's not much really happening that I think I should dial down and let my friends and family in on.  The HuffPo's big headline is "Not Our Problem", referring to ForeclosureGate.  Ooookaaay... well, legally, it is a state issue - specifically, a county issue, as it's  generally the sheriff's job to actually boot you out of your house.  So thinking, I clicked on the article, and read the next headline: "For the Banks and Servicers to Fix".  I had to ask myself this fundamental question:


    JUST WHAT THE BLUE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU FUCKING PEOPLE???!!!!


    Here's what the fuck is wrong: you're in bed with the Banksters, The Lobbyists, the Corporate Lackeys, and all the other shills who have sat at this blood-soaked table of carnage that used to be a thriving American Middle Class!  Let's toss out this little tidbit:
    From Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary: "...we have not found any evidence at this point of systemic issues in the underlying legal or other documents that have been reviewed."


    This shouldn't be the whole quote, I'm sure.  The rest of the quote should read anything from, "Ya wanna play checkers?" to "because we haven't actually LOOKED at anything, really."


    The Cook County, Illinois sheriff - hardly a Secretarial muckety-muck like this Donovan fucktard, announced on Tuesday that "he can no longer enforce foreclosures" in and around the Chicago area, until they (The TBTF's and Ally) can prove the processes were handled "properly and legally".  


    How about this one?  Affidavits of expert witness Lisa Cullaro, who attested in a court motion by Wells Fargo Bank in an attempt to finalize a foreclosure action.  Great, except that Lisa Cullaro ALSO works for the Florida State Attorney General's office... in the fucking ECONOMIC CRIMES DIVISION.  Wait! There's more:
    She did it by the books, as it were; applied for approval of "dual employment" through - wait for it - the Attorney General's office... noting that she would be employed by Florida Default Law Group, as a notary public, on specific days and times.  She got the approval.


    And, somehow, her signature got all over paperwork with date and time stamps that, according to her binding agreement with the Attorney General's office, would have placed her OUTSIDE THE F-ING STATE OF FLORIDA at the time of the signatures.


    I got a million of 'em... try the prime rib... !


    Now that I've calmed down a bit, please note that I culled these last two references from 4closurefraud.org, a great reference site worth reading.


    I'm glad someone's paying attention, and willing to talk about it, because apparently our federal administration is going to do their damnedest to sweep this whole mess under the rug.  It's disgusting. 


    


    Brutal Truth

Is Bank of America Being Thrown Under The Bus??

    ...well, maybe.  JP Morgan recently unveiled a presentation detailing BAC's potential exposure to 'putbacks' - a nice way of saying that if investor groups who hold an interest in the polluted RMBS's (Residential Mortgage Backed Securities) can find fault with the robo-signed crap they bought, they can call for BAC to buy back the asset... at FULL selling value.  That's 100 cents on the dollar, for many of the toxic assets now worth between 50 and 60% of what they were originally marked.  


    Bank of America, however, announced Monday that it will resume up to 100,000 foreclosures in the 23 states that involve a judge to complete the seizure.  This, a mere TWO WEEKS after its self-imposed moratorium that in retrospect... never really happened.  Via the statesmanjournal.com: In Tampa, Florida, Monday, 10/13, a single judge approved 11 foreclosures in just 18 MINUTES.  Meanwhile, foreclosures continued in the 27 states that don't require a judge's signature.  End result?  Less than 30,000 of the original 100,000 foreclosures already slated to be finalized were delayed - by two weeks.  Nice.  


    In Massachusetts, a petition for class-action status is being sought by a group of borrowers who accuse BAC of defrauding them via the HAMP program. All parties were apparently given the now-infamous "trial mod", apparently complied, then were told that they didn't qualify for HAMP relief, and would they kindly pay the last 3 months' difference in payments, along with penalties.  A point: BAC (and any other loan servicer) receives $1,000.00 from the US Treasury as an incentive to work with homeowners, for each loan it modifies.  BAC has filed a motion to dismiss, en-masse, the entire suit, saying that borrowers have no legal standing in an agreement between itself and the Treasury.  This should get interesting, in a slow-motion train-wreck kind of way.


    And, via Bloomberg: The New York Fed, PIMCO, and a company called Black Rock are jointly suing BAC over mortgage 'putbacks' outlined above.  The numbers begin at $47 billion, and spiral outward from there; this is fairly aggressive shit, people. 


    And the hits just keep on comin'... The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, representing the Administration, has entered into the preliminary stages of an investigation into whether banks and other servicers misled Federal housing agencies with their practices during the run-up, and now during the incredible run-down.


    Sure drives an argument for BAC goin' down like a clown, doesn't it?  All these folks, and agencies, piling on, Federal Task Forces and stuff... how cool would it be for the Obama Administration to be able to take the leashes off all the hounds, grab that little clause in the Financial Reform Act, and dismantle America's largest bank?  Striking back just in time to save his chances at a second term, maybe?  It would be stunning, wouldn't it?  And a great way to rattle sabers at the other big boys, while you're at it.  Politically, it's a gold mine.  I mean, my inner, middle class nerd is doing cartwheels over the whole idea!


    Until I started digging a little deeper, anyway. <sigh>  According to ZeroHedge.com, two problems arise, and they all focus on Black Rock, the third party named above in the lawsuit.  Seems they're owned BY Bank of America; a whopping 34% owned, in fact.  And, in a particularly bizarre turn of events, Black Rock happens to be the SINGLE LARGEST SHAREHOLDER of Bank of America, at 5.35%. With that in mind, the Financial Fraud investigation sounds less like a shot across the bow, and more like a "Hey!  You guys didn't screw us, too, didja?"  Remember that the Fed owns more mortgage and RMBS's than anyone else at this point...


    Which leads me to think that this latest deal with PIMCO, NYF, and Black Rock may be the mother of all pre-settlement bluffs.  If you're stuck with a bunch of this toxic crap, and you see, essentially, BAC going after itself, you may want to consider a hasty - and reduced, of course - pre-trial settlement.  Poof!  $47 billion in putbacks gets cut - in half? by two thirds? - time will tell, but this bears watching, as it will set legal precedent for potentially stopping the unwinding of the mortgage mess.


    If that happens, it's business as usual, and as usual, we're screwed.


    On a lighter note - in a kind of hysterical, if-I-don't-laugh-I'm-gonna-puke way, here's a great clip from RJ Eskow of the Huffington Post:

    Jamie Dimon and the other mega-bankers who derailed the economy have a new PR campaign to sell you. They're saying that families who can't pay their mortgages must bear the blame -- all the blame -- for the foreclosure crisis. That means the public should just ignore banks' widespread lawbreaking in the registering and transfer of property titles. For the bankers who would appoint themselves the nation's moral arbiters, It's always somebody else's fault.

    Not that we should be surprised. After all, the Mortgage Bankers Association, which calls itself "the voice of the real estate finance industry," did a short sale on its Washington DC headquarters which left CEO John Courson uncharacteristically speechless. It seems he didn't want to talk about how he walked away from the loans he took out to buy that building. But before the cat got his tongue, Courson managed to lecture homeowners on their "legal obligation" and the terrible "message they would send" by walking away from their mortgages.

   (Thanks, RJ... I needed that.)

    

    Brutal Truth

Nature Abhors a Vacuum...

    But Politics is what you might call "shovel-ready" when it comes to throwing hats in a ring.
   I know, this is an economics blog, but I think viewing economics in a narrow scope is misguided.  Unfortunately, politics, finance, employment, religion are all interwoven in the Economy with a capital 'E'.  So, let's have a look at the mid-terms:


   As of this writing, I am profoundly disappointed in the Obama Administration.  It is my depressing belief that a potentially great leader has been purchased by the financial lobby and corporate interests.  Campaign promises are like so much dust on our unemployment checks.  I've touched on this in other posts, so 'nuff said.


   With that in mind, though, I, like other folks, am looking around at the melee that is our mid-term election cycle. What I'm seeing, frankly, scares the hell out of me.


   Yes, I believe we have a leadership vacuum; who the hell's in charge up there in DC, anyway?  I mean, besides Goldman Sachs?  You get my point.


   And, into the vacuum, filling it to overflow, comes...


   The Tea Party.  Lord help us all, these angry, pseudo-right wing Sarah Palin worshippers and their ilk are sure that the 'gov'mnt' is awful, and ought to be shot out in the barn like Old Yeller.  Greeeeaaaat.  And what, pray tell, do we do then?


  Why, the obvious!  We put the Tea Party in charge... they Take Back America!  They Protect Our Children!  They... what was that other thing?  Drill, Baby, Drill!  Yeah!  You gov'mnt types spend too much!  We'll... well, we won't, that's what!  Yeah! But, my cousin Bubba ain't had a job in a year, so we won't be cuttin' unemployment... and my uncle Earl's youngest, she's GOTTA have some dental work, and him with his back and all... so we won't be cuttin' Medicaid...and Aunt Tellulah, she's been 'on the county' for near thirty years now... so we best leave that welfare alone, at least till she passes on, God Rest Her Soul...


   Yeah, okay, I'm pokin' mean fun at the Tea Party folks.  Maybe it's not fair.  We should look at some of the real candidates that have been brought from the depths to "lead" us...

• John Ensign (NV): $550,000.00 in legal fees in the last 3 months, fighting a Senate Ethics Committee (now THERE'S a misnomer!) and US Justice Department Investigation into his cover-up of an affair.
• Joe Miller (Tea Party, AK)'s 'private security force' handcuffed and detained Tony Hopfinger during a Town Meeting event... Tony being the founder and editor of the Alaska Dispatch. Good thing the cops showed up to get him released.
• Rand Paul (KY) would "edit" the Civil Rights Act... remember that little nugget??
• Ken Buck (CO) thinks being gay is like being an alcoholic.
• Christine O'Donnell (DE) was a witch... or not... lied about which college(s) she attended, and thinks having Sean Hannity "in her back pocket" is good news.
• Carl Paladino (NY) thinks bestiality, pornography, and racist jokes are cool for e-mails.  These are his PUBLIC e-mails... just sayin'.
• Sharron Angle (NV) has recently attacked Sharia Law, a system of rules for Muslims that govern things from prayer times to inheritance law... FOR MUSLIMS.  Apparently she fears that we'll all be roped into Sharia Law if we don't watch out. <sigh>
• Carly Fiorina (CA) former CEO of HP, but by God, she's a political outsider!  Wants to extend the Bush tax cuts, and loses her ability to speak when asked how the government intends to make up for that lost revenue.

   Had enough?  I know I had... the list is actually longer than this; I just picked the most recent group of screw-ups to make a point.  My point, by the way?

   The best and brightest of us are no longer involved in the political arena.  Not that there aren't any good candidates out there, but as I, and my older friends have grown accustomed to saying, 'we're just trying for the lesser of the evils'.  

   At one time, public service was an admirable calling.  Now it's a great way to pad your bank account.  This is what happens when the leaders get out of politics, and leave it to idiots like these to run the show.

   Nothing good can come of this.

   Brutal Truth