Originally posted by: blackangst1
Originally posted by: Jhhnn
The Bush presidency is merely the inevitable outcome of decades of well formulated and hypnotic rightwing mindrot in the media, and a symptom of the economic warfare initiated by the financial elite against the rest of us.
Bush isn't the cause, but rather a symptom, a guy so dense, so pampered, so well conditioned and steeped in the doublespeak of the Right that he lies and then believes it himself.
Wow. you and I might just live in different countries. But then it may be you are a victim of what I call the barn syndrome. Take two people and put them in front of a manure barn. Put one on the side and one at the end, at the main doors. Interview them after 20 minutes and one will say "I saw a nice looking barn. In good shape, looks sturdy, I'd love this on my property!". The other guy will say "I dont know much about the outside, but the inside is the dirtiest, shittiest smelling barn Ive ever seen. I would destroy this if it were on my property"
Is either one of them wrong? No. It's all perspective. The fact that you cant see the same pampering, conditioning, dense doublespeak coming from the left means you are either ignorant (which I dont think you are), havent looked at all sides (which you may have), or just cant admit it (which I think is true). BOTH sides are guilty here. EQUALLY. This bashing of the right gets old when valid comparisons are given of the left and scoffed at.
And it really doesn't matter how "enormous" regulation of the financial industry is if it's not effective at preventing the kind of conflict of interest deals that have spawned the current crisis. If it were just the Brokers, as you suggest, then shaky securitized mortgage paper wouldn't have made it out of the other end of the pipeline rated AAA... and wouldn't need to be leveraged at 30:1 for the private equity guys and hedge funds to show a profit on it, either.
It does matter if the regulations are too thin for a particular segment. The fact is, you cant regulate every possible scenario. Ive already stated more regulation is needed AT THE BROKER LEVEL. I guess in a round about way we agree here. My points are not incorrect at all.
And you keep talking about 30 year mortgages as if they were really the issue. They're not. Even subprime conventionals aren't the big problem. The big problem is in the bait and switch ARM market. Lenders have outdone and undone themselves by using the same sort of tactics they use for no interest furniture loans, credit cards and payday loans in the mortgage market. Consumers simply can't take the hit- it's too big in relation to their total income. It may, in truth, be too big in relationship to the whole economy.
I agree 100%. BUT. If so many people are too fucking stupid to see the bad financial decisions they are making, sorry to say they get what they deserve, and its no one's fault but their own. You mentioned pay day loans. I have a friend that managed 12 locations for a national company. Have you ever seen what people have to sign? It's ONE page, and in the middle of the page IN HUGE FONT is the interest rate of 350% APR. You really cant miss it. Who the fuck thinks 350% is a good deal? Jesus. It's their hole they are digging, not the lender. We can agree to disagree, thats fine. I just think too many people who dont even know how to pay a simple credit card on time, or dont even know what their interest rate is, or even know how to balance a checkbook, shouldnt be commiting to a 30 year debt. PERIOD.
And congratulations on making 25% more than in 1999- you've barely kept up with inflation, which is better than a lot of people. You'd have had to make 125% more to have kept up with real estate prices, however...
Yeah I have done better than some not as well as others. But I have done better.
And it's all due to GWB policy. As is, like I mentioned, my retirement fund growth. As far as real estate goes, I couldnt care less. For me personally I have no desire whatsoever to own real estate, so it doesnt matter to me. I prefer my assets liquid.