Wall Street Whitewash

[nobodyknows]

This plus the fact that the Republicans are on record saying they would block all legislation through the Senate until the Bush era tax cuts for the rich were extended should clearly state to one and all that the only true constituency of the Republican party is the very wealthy. They do not have the best interests of the entire country at heart, only their own.

The GOP wants tax cuts for the wealthist while reducing the deficit at the same time..... and then they complain about others not "paying their fair share", LOL!!

 

[RbSX]

Funny picture...

What can I tell you? Maybe Canadians have a lot more common sense, character, and are a lot less greedy and jealous than Americans are. And them not having the mortgage deduction also disincentivizes people from the goal of home ownership 'at all costs' like here.

Regardless, if you tempt a guy on a diet (saver / austerity) with a chocolate cake (cheap rates / available credit) long enough, eventually he will bite (take out huge mortgage). That is what the Fed did following the collapse of the first stock market bubble. We just papered over the losses with cheap money and created a massive credit bubble in its place. But the debt is still there after it blows up, unlike stock investors who can just take their losses and move on.

I'm hardly a Ron Paul nutjob, but nobody can convince me otherwise that all the other bad stuff that followed can't be traced back to cheap money and too low interest rates as the root cause.

Cheap money --> people don't save --> seniors/retirees get hurt --> institutional investors 'reach for yield' --> banks create leveraged products to satisfy demand from said investors --> initial success = more leveraged products --> public gets involved --> inflation, which drives commodities and hard asset prices higher --> on and on and on.

Meanwhile the debt remains. But that's okay, we suspended FASB mark to market accounting rules. Can't have that toxic sh*t priced at par marked to its true clearing price of 40 cents on the dollar, right?

Or how about those HLOCs marked at par on bank balance sheets on houses where the 1st mortgage hasn't been paid in over a year? Can't foreclose right?...or those HLOCs as subordinated/2nd lien debt become worthless.

And the debt remains. We are so fvcked.

Ping ping ping, we have a winner.