Do I dare hope for something good to happen?
Steven Pearlstein is probably the most interesting Village columnist. While he instinctively takes standard Washington positions on most issues, he does delve into policy a lot more than the Milbanks and the Sally Quinns of the world. So I was a little heartened this morning to read the following:
Dodd, Corker and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia are putting the finishing touches on a plan reflecting these judgments. As they envision it, any time a big financial institution is threatened with insolvency, the government would be authorized to take it over and close it down in a bankruptcy-like process. The government could provide temporary loans to ensure an orderly liquidation process and prevent financial panic, but only to the extent that the loan would be repaid from proceeds of the sale of the bank’s assets. Although insured depositors would be protected, creditors, counterparties and investors would all suffer losses.
This is… actually a pretty good idea, at least to my non-expert eyes. The big problem with Geithner’s absurd bailout “plan” is that is was designed primarily to benefit bank shareholders and not American taxpayers. This new proposal would wipe out the shareholders of failed financial institutions — which is perfectly fine, since investment ain’t supposed to be risk free.
On the other hand I should probably stop saying that this could be a good idea, since we all said the same thing about the Medicare buy-in and look where that wound up…
Yeah, it’s not an entirely horrible idea… and frankly, that guarantees that it’s not going to succeed. Congressional Democrats will support anything but a good idea.
To be honest, by the time this works its way through a few committees, it’ll be rewritten to allow banksters to go into people’s homes, beat them with tire irons, and take all their money. It might stand a chance of passage then…
@Scott — you can bet Schumer will join a GOP filibuster on this too… much as he’s good elsewhere he’s also a tool of Wall Street.
Heck, by hte time this gets through the committees, it will be a wadded up piece of toilet paper, smeared with the shit of a thousand investment bankers.
Nothing that benefits the people! NOTHING!!!! They are peons worthy only of labouring until their bodies wear out so that Mighty Republican Businesses may feel the Righteous Hand Of The Free Market caressing their balls!
*cough* Sorry; got a little wingnut caught in my throat there.
…Anyone got a Ricola?
As they envision it, any time a big financial institution is threatened with insolvency, the government would be authorized to take it over and close it down in a bankruptcy-like process.
::blink::
So there’s one good thing about Dodd retiring…
I don’t know that Schumer would be against this, tho. He’s definitely been pissed in the past at banks and credit card companies, and while I doubt this would pass his muster as is, I’m not sure he’d alter it much.
Too big to fail means it’s too big to exist, in my book. We ought to toughen up antitrust laws on banks and other financial institutions while we are at it.
Too big to fail means it’s too big to exist, in my book. We ought to
toughen upreinstate antitrust laws on banks and other financial institutions while we are at it.Fecksed for Great Justice.
Here’s the problem:
Too Big To Fail. These financial institutions are NEVER threatened with insolvency – it just can not happen. The whole “financial meltdown” thing was just a crisis of confidance – it was an liquidity issue not a solvency issue. Those exotic mortgage backed assets tiered into financial instruments of mass destruction resting on a bed of liar loans and ARM reset timebombs are all still good – there’s plenty of value there. Lookit what happened with “Mark to Market”. If only we had let the banks continue pegging
us in the rear, and not in the good waytheir “assets” at fantasy values we’d all be rolling in filthy imaginary lucre.And. Anti-usury laws should be reinstated. And a little enforcement of consumer fraud laws (as they relate to banksters) would be nice, too.
That and a few boots to bankster yarbles would work for me as well
(“To dreeam the imposssssible dreeeam…”)
Those exotic mortgage backed assets tiered into financial instruments of mass destruction resting on a bed of liar loans and ARM reset timebombs are all still good – there’s plenty of value there.
Wow! Can I trade them for these old tulip bulbs I have here?
If only we had let the banks continue pegging us in the rear, and not in the good way their “assets” at fantasy values we’d all be rolling in filthy imaginary lucre.
I think Wall Street should start advertising more like the casino industry.
“Foxwoods!”
“What happens on Wall Street stays on Wall Street.”
Etc.
Wow! Can I trade them for these old tulip bulbs I have here?
I’ve got some South Sea shares I’ll trade.
That and a few boots to bankster yarbles would work for me as well
Muh boy, I recall a time when the only reason to hate your local banker was that we’d park our limos in the handicapped spot, running over some slob in his wheelchair.
Things have changed, let me tell you. Why, I can’t even light up my cigar in public without some namby pamby liberal coughing and spitting on my matches!
But we have a brand new product designed specifically to help you in your time of need: I call it “deposit insurance”.
See, you give me a hundred dollars for every hundred you deposit with me. I’ll take that hundred and
hide it in a mountain cave in case of nuclear holocaustcarefully invest it in grade A US Treasuries.Then, if the absolute worst happens, and we go out of business, you’ll have precisely the amount you deposited with us, safe and secure! You won’t have lost a dime of principal!
I’ve got some South Sea shares I’ll trade.
Would you accept
junk bondshigh yield instruments?Srsly though, even with the socialestest administration EVAH – given the choice between writing out a trillion dollar check or mandatory wind-down of a major financial institution, say Citi or Goldman – what do you think they are going to do?
Would you accept junk bonds high yield instruments?
Um, I’ve got a few of those muhself.
what do you think they are going to do?
Um, not to speculate *cough* too broadly here, but the odds are they rush to back it up. The right thing, of course, would be to let it fail. That would have an interesting effect on the psychology of the market, I suspect.
DK-W, that’s why I’m saying “Too Big To Fail = Too Big To Exist,” and they ought to be busted up.
Looch,
Lehman Bros. was an experiment. They let that one fail, if you recall, and the consequences were devastating…to the economic royalists.
I’ll eat my hat if this legislation: a.) sees the light of day in this described form; 2.) works as advertised; and thirdly, doesn’t have all kinds of idiotic caveats and loopholes to make it irrelevant.
Sure, I’d love to think that Dodd retiring would cause him to do something that benefits the American people, rather than his finance-industry-stacked campaign warchest, and that there are enough others out there to give any reform some actual substance and enforcement teeth.
But I’m not exactly holding out hope.
I don’t think it’s necessarily good as advertised. Traditional banking, works, makes money, and is boring. Zippy new-style banking has a bunch of cowboys heading to Atlantic city and betting on what they’ll earn before they get there. Splitting a bank’s operations seems smarter – assuming there are traditional operations that are working – rather than just planning out of the gate to shut the thing down.
Yeah, this sounds like it will be a great procedure for winding down Yokel McKettle’s Financial Store and Emporium in Asstinkle, Missouri, but will not be employed when The Great Vampire Squid sucks a little too much poisonous derivative blood and needs a respite from “making margin calls” like a “solvent” bank might be expected to.
On second thought, forget I wrote that. It’s premised on an idea that a bank is so big it can’t go down without a catastrophe, and I don’t think those should exist in the first place.
Actually, thinking about this a bit more, isn’t what’s described above more or less what happens to small and medium banks that go belly up a la Atrios’ weekly recap of the Hungry Hungry FDIC eated banks?
Splitting a bank’s operations seems smarter – assuming there are traditional operations that are working – rather than just planning out of the gate to shut the thing down.
That wasn’t likely to happen, either. The most populist approach was to segregate oversight operations into a quasi-consumer protection agency and a traditional banking oversight commission.
The banks, believe it or not, balked at that, as they balked at a requirement that “too big to fail” banks would be forced to pay more insurance into a bailout fund.
Much like conservatives and tax hikes, most banks assumed it would affect them directly, when in truth, it might affect a handful of banks easily identified by the fact that, ohhhhhhhhhhhh, we had to bail them out?
Banks which have easily absorbed and repaid the bailout funds for the most part.
in other newz, some random person thinks that “all gheys must die!!!” cuz god said so thats why. we really should pay attention to this random person cuz she’s hot.
Anyone remember the 3-5-3 rule of banking?
pay 3% interest on savings accounts
Charge 5% interest on loans
be on the golf course by 3pm.
How quaint that seems now.
Unfair, kg! WHO??!?!?!?!
OK to summarize:
Too big too fail=too big.
Too big too fail =
too big.perfect.Fixorzt
“Too big to fail” is a serious problem, but it’s one that needs more global governance to solve.
Canada wrestled with this in the 90s and early 2000s when our 6 (now 5) major banks all wanted to play merger-mania. Given that we already have only a half dozen major financial institutions which do almost all Canadian banking, they’re already too big to fail.
The argument at the time was that Canada had to let them merge, or they wouldn’t be able to compete on the global stage. It wasn’t entirely specious, The Royal Bank of Canada (a private company) was maybe the 100th largest bank in the world at the time – for a G7 country, this isn’t a great thing. So keeping up with the Jones had some merit, in keeping Canada with financial organizations big enough not to get crushed globally.
The government smartly disgreed and kept them seperate. However, that worldwide pressure remains – so a global mechanism needs to exist to limit the size of global companies. Not sure what, but something.
Well, right now, EVERY bank is paying more in fees — three years up front — just to keep the FDIC solvent. And that caused an insane outcry in the industry that, thankfully, didn’t percolate to the media.
The thing is, some simple, smart, and well-enforced regulations can prevent this type of shit from happening.
Changing the loss reserve requirements on certain types of banking products (it was so damn low on MBS compared to, say, commercial loans — about 2% vs. 8% — that banks flocked to MBS in droves) … putting Glass-Steagall back in place so the bankers don’t make risky bets with depositors cash … scrapping the way regulatory agencies currently work so banks don’t get to shop for the one that will be most lax … making sure not a single financial product or instrument goes unwatched … and a few other fairly simple things could go a long damn way.
And while I know some folks think shareholders deserve more rights than taxpayers, those shareholders knowingly played the lottery—it’s just with a company’s balance sheet rather than a few random numbers. If the company losses, so should you, pal. After all, until taxpayers start reaping the gains when these assholes are doing well, I see no reason why we should continually help cover the losses when these assholes fuck up everything.
Of course, I don’t see any of those regulatory changes happening, nor any attitudes changing, any time soon.
They all make too much sense.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/24/beverly-hills-gays-death/
sorry, too busy to bother looking it up earlier, etc.
Bassel rules were an attempt at creating some global financial standards, but haven’t either worked as planned, or even helped create some of the mess.
The thing is, trying to get banks from across the globe to all agree on one system, when they are all dealing with different currencies, cultures, and economies, is a damn-near impossible task. It just can’t really be done on any significant scale.
The best they can do is fiddle around the margins until … well, until we reach Star Trek-like nirvana where there’s no money or hunger or crime because everyone has a replicator and jobs they love and the same clothes and, ya know, even an alcohol that can get you drunk but without a hangover or the bad side-effects, and there’s even green whores and … um … or … something.
The Shorter Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley:
There’s no hate, I just think they should, like, die and stuff.
I agree with Looch about the importance of anti-usury laws. The effect of allowing high credit card interest was to make traditional finance of manufacturing unpossibly expensive (why should I loan to GM or Caterpillar at 5% when I can loan to MBNA for 10%?). As long as it is possible to loan at usurious rates it is less likely to find non-usurious finance.
Mark D,
Yeah, I know, it would basically entail a big transfer of national sovereignty to the UN or World Bank to create an international system with enough werewithal to actually punish offenders. It’s much like the halting progression of international law. Not quite a joke, some tyrants end up in the Hague, but lots of them won’t.
Naturally, the right has decades of anti-international paranoia to vaccinate them against the possibility of having a global organization be able to govern anything more substantial than Olympic athlete doping.
Yeah, I know, it would basically entail a big transfer of national sovereignty to the UN or World Bank to create an international system with enough werewithal to actually punish offenders.
True. But I would just like to see the Yoo Ess of Ay regulate its banks. I think there is a great deal that could be done in this country to not only level the playing field more toward the consumer but also actually prevent the kind of stupid, short-sighted practices that feed the boom/bust cycle.
And, if you benefited during the boom, you feel the pain during the bust. That’s one of the key elements missing here.
“Take all the risks you want boys, there is no downside.”
On the other hand I should probably stop saying that this could be a good idea, since we all said the same thing about the Medicare buy-in and look where that wound up…
I don’t know much about this finance stuff, but I have to admire such a perfectly formed example of learned helplessness on the hoof.
Okay, I’ve read the article now. I’m torn. On the one hand, new or re-regulations of the financial industry – that’s a plus. With an arm specifically for consumer protection. I’m definitely on side with this. And the current climate is well suited for getting strong regulations enacted.
On the minus side, this is being assembled as a comprehensive regulatory reform bill. HCR has killed all enthusiasm I ever had for comprehensive anything (other than doing your mom). Also, bipartisanship can rancid goat testicles. Too.
bipartisanship can rancid goat testicles.
INTEREST!
Website?
NEWSLETTER????
a bank is so big it can’t go down without a catastrophe
Needs less PENIS.
The proposed bill needs more TESTICLES.
a bank is so big it can’t go down without a catastrophe
Needs less PENIS.
The proposed bill needs more TESTICLES.
I dunno. I think the bank’s margins aren’t tight enough for a smaller penis. It probably needs more oversight, maybe a smaller margin.
The Shorter Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley:
There’s no hate, I just think they should, like, die and stuff.
Let’s give the cunt the benefit of the doubt and assume that she meant to say that god loves teh gayz more than us, and we honor him by sending them back to him…? Haterz unite!
Fuck. The Medicare buy-in fiasco was really a cold shiv to my whole worldview. I mean, at first I thought “that’s a shitty idea – the folks really suffering from being uninsured are twenty-somethings who can’t find jobs with any benefits at all” – but then I figured that it’s not all that bad because it sets a great precendent. That’s how to go about expanding health care to people: non-corporate Single Payer buy-in expansion to first one group, and then the next and the next, etc.
But sweet IPU (may her pink obviousness remain invisibly unseen), these fucking useless fleshbags in the Democratic Senate couldn’t even get together on giving more shit to people born between 1945 and 1955. “Free Candies for Boomers” the measure was – and they couldn’t get it to pass. Fuck.
Okay, I’ve read the article now. I’m torn. On the one hand, new or re-regulations of the financial industry – that’s a plus. With an arm specifically for consumer protection. I’m definitely on side with this. And the current climate is well suited for getting strong regulations enacted.
Climate’s good, yes, but I’d advise you to keep your air quote fingers ready for action when you mention the word reform. I don’t think we can even fathom the depths of the influence these people wield over our “representatives” and senators. By the time I’m done with this soapbox speech my air quote fingers will be broken.
The Shorter Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley:
I pray there are nude photos of her licking snatch.
I think the bank’s margins aren’t tight enough for a smaller penis. It probably needs more oversight, maybe a smaller margin.
A close examination might reveal growing assets corseted by regulation.
Do I dare hope for something good to happen?
Be it ever so audacious, there’s no shame in hope.
A close examination might reveal growing assets corseted by regulation.
Those regulations have a stranglehold on some assets that are squeezed and warped into mounds of available capital. On others, those regulations firm up some flabby excesses, and create a better impression than one might find in a free, unregulated marketplace.
If the company losses, so should you, pal. After all, until taxpayers start reaping the gains when these assholes are doing well, I see no reason why we should continually help cover the losses when these assholes fuck up everything.
Now, now- if the government fails to help corporations internalize profits and externalize losses, it is injurious to the sacred power of the Free Market (pbui).
Do you really want the tyranny of a Nanny State?
At this point, I’ll believe in bank regulation when I see it actually pass. It makes me think of the Ghandi Western Civilization quote, “I think it would be a very good idea.”
Having spent thirty years and Bog knows how many billions selling (buying?) deregulation, I don’t see these people rolling over any time soon. They own a significant portion of our government and have their minions ferreted in to positions throughout much of what they don’t own outright. I suppose it remains to be seen whether it’s a majority stake, but they sure act like it and reap the benefits and control.
Do you really want the tyranny of a Nanny State?
If every regulator was required to speak Drescherese, it would be worth it.
in other newz, some random person thinks that “all gheys must die!!!” cuz god said so thats why. we really should pay attention to this random person cuz she’s hot.
Her statements are so over the top, I think Poe’s Law may come into play here- maybe it’s because I think Christwire is hilarious.
The Shorter Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley:
I pray there are nude photos of her licking snatch.
You’re not the only one, brother.
tsam,
That’s a winner.
You’re not the only one, brother.
See, that was the problem with Carrie ProJohn or whatever the fuck her name was:
Yes, she had nakes, but we all know somewhere along the lines, she did it with a sistah, but that sistah didn’t release the pictures.
If that had happened, she would have had to STFU since the right would have been all “EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! (caniseethemplease?)”
I pray there are nude photos of her licking snatch.
From the linked FoxNews piece:
And we all know how Carrie likes recording video.
Remember Atrios’ Prime Directive: does it piss off the liberals? If it does not piss off the liberals in some way, then it stands little chance of passing. After all, that’s supposedly the biggest reason it took Lieberman just a few months to do a complete 180 on his position re: Medicare buy-in.
Not to mention that Dodd, Corker and Warner are not exactly the ones who would come to mind when I think of “financial reform.”
“She is definitely a beautiful person and I love that she stood up for what she believes in. I think that’s gorgeous,” Ashley said.
Carrie is
standing athwartstraddling history, shouting “oooooooh.”If Miss Beverly Hills is going to base her worldview on Leviticus, then some things are probably going to have to change in her personal life.
Remember Atrios’ Prime Directive: does it piss off the liberals?
Oh yes, I’m stomping my tiny feet even now! And oh how I hate the public option! And higher marginal income taxes! GRRRR SO VERY ANGRY!
There is no way way that these banks will be allowed to fail. There not even any cross-border mechanisms in here; those would require the G20 to act, and without those, these banks cannot be wound down in any sort of orderly fashion.
Until you see the size of all of the firms limited, capital reserve ratios increased from 30-1 to at least 10-1, and the banning of instruments which are too complex to be regulated, you can be sure the “reform” is meaningless. And that’s just a start.
I’m expecting that really soon. After all, the government is already thinking about releasing some of the AIG details to the angry public, and only a year and a half after the fact. So this administration is really showing that it can step up to plate for the taxpayer.
Actor, I checked your site for a contact email but no luck. I have something that you have to read to believe. Its is along the lines of the title of your blog.
BBBB @19:07 — Thanks for that link! It will afford many hours of innocent merriment. That is a parody site, isn’t it? (At this point it’s impossible to tell if someone screeching that Satan brought down gmail is serious or not…)
At this point it’s impossible to tell if someone screeching that Satan brought down gmail is serious or not…
Obviously parody. Everyone knows that Satan created gmail.
Hmmm… You’re right. I hadn’t considered that.
Esteev,
actor212@yahoo.com will suffice. Thanks.
Oh yes, I’m stomping my tiny feet even now! And oh how I hate the public option! And higher marginal income taxes! GRRRR SO VERY ANGRY!
Ah fart in ze jenral direction of ze peece!
MooseEater Update. The filthy swines that won’t STOP MAKING FUN OF TRIG are calling from inside the house!
Talking Point Alert! Super Sarah’s completely unfocused “LOOKIT ME!!!! MEE!!!! MEEEEE!!!!!” now has a name: All Things Palin.
OT–have to tell you all about a discussion I had with my in-laws…
It’s tax time, as everyone is painfully aware. My in-laws pay a state tax in addition to the federal tax, like many states, but unlike here in beautiful Washington state. As I sat through the annual litany of amateur tax-rebel vomit, the in-laws brought up (for the millionth time) the fact that some people, via the EIC, actually end up with more of a refund than they pay in. (I’m refraining from comment on this, since I’m not actually sure if it is true or not, and for a single mother, I couldn’t possibly give less of a fuck if she got a few hundred extra dollars out of the system)
Anyhow, at the end of the rant, I looked at them and asked them: “Do you realize that every time you complain about that, some billionaire corporate raider is sitting on Wall Street with $2,000,000,000 of our money, laughing his fat fucking ass off at you? They have you so convinced that you are supporting welfare queens that they snuck in and stole billions of dollars from you and just kept doing exactly what they were doing before, and you just keep villianizing the poor. Seems like a pretty good racket to me!”
Obviously my rebuttal was met with a blank stare, followed by the same anecdote they’ve worn out over the years whining about how their taxes support smoking pot and buying big-screen TV’s for lazy shits who don’t work and…well, you know the rest. Did I make some progress? Perhaps. They did agree with me. However small this little victory was, I’m calling it a win.
you are supporting welfare queens that they snuck in
Eliminating hoop skirts will help address this kind of subterfuge.
In other ghey news: Michael Medved has erected another strawman with which he can have his way:
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2010/02/24/why_no_push_for_gay_reparations
Yes. Michael Medved. The closeted Michael Medved. In the closet with the straw man. Having his way.
Hey! We’ve got an idea that might help – anybody wanna hear it?
why_no_push_for_gay_reparations
I’m not getting out of the boat for such obviously tiger-infested fruit.
The mind boggles at what form right-wingers would expect the reparations to take. 40 acres and a pair of mules?
why don’t they push for similar reparations for homosexuals?
Simple, really, Mustacherider Mike…
Money is not important to a people who’s average income is higher than the average American’s.
You see, despite the terrible violent prejudice and hatred for gay men and women in this ass-backwards nation, teh gehys have done pretty well financially.
Why, you ask? Well, let’s see…education goes a long way to explaining that. The same education that blacks were prevented from getting until, well, even today.
The way to make amends to gay men and women is not to hand them a check. No, it’s to learn the lessons of tolerance and acceptance of all people, even the ones who did better than you did, you miserable bastard.
Good luck, fellas. Aint gonna happen. I’ve got a good idea too but nobody wants to hear it.
she shouldn’t grow up begging for a mother to start acting like a mother.”
I said it yesterday, and I repeat it today: Bristol Palin probably had the same reaction at that age.
OT, but if you wanna have some fun type in #breitbartocalypse into twitter.
St00pid fucks, every one of them. We don’t want reparations. Renovations, idiots, we want renovations.
I’ve got some South Sea shares I’ll trade.
She selles South Sea shares in the Seychelles.
Orson Scott card works his Straw-Man-y Magic.
subterfuge.
HOw dose spinning stuff make sneaky bastards stop steelin my moneys?
HOw dose spinning stuff make sneaky bastards stop steelin my moneys?
Bankers are easily distracted by figure skaters.
For the first time in a long time, I’m proud to be a Lutheran.
Carter Glass and Henry Steagall said,
February 24, 2010 at 20:37
Hey! We’ve got an idea that might help – anybody wanna hear it?
NO, geez. We tried your stupid idea and we hardly got to do any bailouts at all.
Bankers are easily distracted by figure skaters
Me too! Those tight, sexy outfits, the unparalled grace and athleticism, the almost sexual movement…and then there are the women…
By Orson Scott Card
How to Get Stupid Children
A) Fuck Orson Scott Card
Pretty much, Actor.
Leftaliban? really? that fuckwit gets paid to write?
I am unaware of any government program that provides enough cash for me to stay neck deep in the chronic while allowing me to stay at home all day so I can watch some kick-ass science shows in high def.
I am, however, incredibly interested.
Perhaps there is a newsletter and/or website that could provide the details … ?
I’m rather HTML challenged, but lemme try this —
Apparently Lady Gaga has evolved a secret PENIS
Lady Gaga has evolved a secret PENIS
She’s grown her own agent?????
Carrie is standing athwart straddling history, shouting “oooooooh.”
Hilarious!
Back to the original topic:
Do I dare hope for something good to happen?
I just know that something good is going to happen.
OK, there’s some FUNNAY shit at that Gaga article.
For example, the first Google link?
Alkon Lady Gaga
Next, in the text:
Parents, I grow tired of the gay agenda. Every day we figure out a way to kill off many of their threats, but they are relentless. They are always dreaming up new stuff with which to corrupt our children: Gay pink dolphins, the toypedo,Wolverine toys, and big gay ice cream trucks.
Clearly, they lurk S,N!
If only this was a real site…
Marion, the best line in that article is:
Somehow scientists have apparently figured out how to put a peen into a woman.
Well… uh…
Christwire was also my introduction to the hilarious Accidental Dong.
Leftaliban? really? that fuckwit gets paid to write?
Now I feel ashamed that I liked Ender’s Game back in the day.
“Wow! Can I trade them for these old tulip bulbs I have here?”
i have some magic beans I could throw in
Somehow scientists have apparently figured out how to put a peen into a woman. This is not natural or right.
That is AWESOME.
Somehow scientists have apparently figured out how to put a peen into a woman.
Well… uh…
In fairness, B^4, they are geeks, so they don’t have a lot of personal experience to draw on.
Somehow scientists have apparently figured out how to put a peen into a woman.
Mrs. __B is a biologist and I got her the XKCD tee-shirt that says “STAND BACK! I’M GOING TO USE SCIENCE!”
Once again, life imitates The Onion
“When they stop teaching American history before 1877, that will mean that everything that has made America a great, exceptional nation that has inspired and, yes, saved the world repeatedly, and is still the inspiration for true reformers in every part of the world — all those things will be ignored. ”
Huh, and here I thought that rescuing Europe twice (maybe 3 times) while protected by two vast oceans factored in there somewhere…taking in a lot of Jews from hitlers Europe sure helped us get nukes first…Having Teddie and then FDR turn our economy around after the robber barons tried to ruin it…
And god forbid we try to focus on the successes and failures of a more modern america as being the most relevant issues for kids to learn about.
Hey, OSC! Maybe if the republican party were still the party of lincoln it wouldn’t be such a lopsided good-vs-evil comparison! Maybe instead of whining about whether kids need two more years of hearing about the civil war (you know they probably got it in all grades up to 11th, right?), you should whine about why the republicans are always on the wrong side of everything.
Now I feel ashamed that I liked Ender’s Game back in the day.
A must read for recovering Card fans. I have to confess, I hadn’t read the book until recently (after playing Halo 2), and I really didn’t dig it- especially the odious “earthside” sub-plot that was added to the book to expand the original novella.
I have to let it be known, however, that I bought the book used from a sidewalk vendor, so none of my money went to Orson Scott Cobag.
Mrs. __B is a biologist and I got her the XKCD tee-shirt that says “STAND BACK! I’M GOING TO USE SCIENCE!”
Hang on…I’m starting to see a pattern here…your mrs is a scientist…you like that Second Tuesday Science thing…Hmmmmmmmmmm….
Why not have a simple Medicare buy-in for all, sliding scale based on income, continue payroll tax but without a cut-off and at a lower rate to keep the buy-in cost low; those without means for any buy-in get government subsidy. Private insurers can give better service/coverage beyond Medicare or whatever they think the customers will buy from them with whatever conditions they choose.
http://www.healthcare-now.org/sidewalk/
Feb 25: Sidewalk Summit for Medicare for All!
NEW LOCATION: H St NW and Vermont Ave NW, Washington, DC
http://www.healthcare-now.org/hr-676/
The United States National Health Care Act, H.R. 676
Hang on…I’m starting to see a pattern here…your mrs is a scientist…you like that Second Tuesday Science thing…Hmmmmmmmmmm….
You figured it out. I’m Mr. Morena Baccarin.
In fairness, B^4, they are geeks, so they don’t have a lot of personal experience to draw on.
Geeky is the new cool, bro!
PENIS pants.
I’m Mr. Morena Baccarin.
KEWL!
Did you get to meet the models in the video for the song?
o/~ When I dance they call me Barracina
and the boys they say that I´m buena
they all want me, they can´t have me
So they all come and dance beside me
move with me jam with me
and if your good i take you home with me
A la tuhuelpa legria Barracina
Hey, Barracina! o/~
It’s all about the basketball.
[Insert “putting it through the hoop!” joke here.]
Actor (and anybody else in the NY Metro area), you have no excuse for not being at the March 9 lecture. Clear your calendar now.
I’m washing my hair, B^4…as soon as I go out and buy some.
I’m washing my hair, B^4
Don’t you mean “visiting the urologist”?
PENIS pants.
That dong is no accident.
I’m washing my hair, B^4…as soon as I go out and buy some.
A little hot wax will shine your pate up to a blinding gleam- no excuses!
After trying like 10 times to post something but getting either ‘a bit spammy’ (I used blockquotes?) or ‘too short’ (my followup to ‘a bit spammy’ was ‘FYWP’.)
FYWP FYWP FYWP FYWP FYWP FYWP !!!!!
Oh, so THAT makes it thru…
Don’t you mean “visiting the urologist”?
I never use the same excuse twice in a row.
A little hot wax will shine your pate up to a blinding gleam- no excuses!
Do you *know* what they charge for detailing by me???????
After trying like 10 times to post something but getting either ‘a bit spammy’ (I used blockquotes?)
Include a grammatically awkward testimonial for an essay writing service and your comment will sail through.
Actor is Stephen Tobolowsky!
Dare I eat a leech?
Perhaps there is a newsletter and/or website that could provide the details … ?
Oh, dude. Upon first hearing of this, I conducted a positively exhaustive search for this program. It doesn’t exist. Unfortunately, being poor is still being poor.
I have been advocating the “Don’t suck a fag” anti-smoking campaign for years.A convenient linguistic coincidence from the “Queens English”, as it were 🙂
Goddamn poseur. She’s from Hollywood, natch.
And look at those hips – they can’t be real.
Actor is Stephen Tobolowsky!
Shhhh! I prefer Dr. Alvin Azinabinacroft
If only this was a real site
Fake it may be, I didn’t know whether to believe it or not. I’m not especially gullible. Pastor Swank has managed to take teh st00pid to such dizzying heights that I expect nothing less from the wingnuts!
I’m kinda leaning toward parody, but as tsam said at this point you can’t really tell. Either way, it’s chock full of teh funneh.
via Atrios,
I like this idea better than allowing the current batch of shitbag Senators try to figure out how to regulate the financial industry. Use Eminent Domain to acquire underwater mortgages at their actual market value. Tada – instant principal modification. Does it reward idiots who bought houses well beyond their means? Well yes and no – it disappears their huge bubblicious mistakes but mortgages could be modified to market value so they’d only end up with what they could afford anyways.
But, SO-SHUL-JISM! Ah-yup, this reeks to high hell of socialism – but considering that MAKING FUN OF TRIG is socialism now, this type of commie-pinko stunt faces THE SAME AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION as not eliminating the Gift and Estate Tax.
In still other news, a handful of Republican senators voted for the $15B Jobs bill who had voted against cloture just the other day. Does this not mean that with their earlier vote, they were demanding that there should be no vote on a bill that they supported? Why am I reminded of a scene from Blazing Saddles involving the new Sheriff of Rock Ridge holding a gun to his own head?
I’m kinda leaning toward parody, but as tsam said at this point you can’t really tell. Either way, it’s chock full of teh funneh.
It’s been outed as a parody, but whoever is doing it is GOOD! This will be one of my regular interweb stops now.
Thanks Btothe4 for that Card link! Great stuff. The teensiest bit of googlizing reveals that, contrary to the rather dated statement that poster makes, the essay is available on teh intertr0nz. I do not see the notes, alas.
Use Eminent Domain to acquire underwater mortgages at their actual market value.
And do what with them?
Eminent domain has a very specific definition, and it requires that the property be put to the common good. In other words, you take a perfectly good plot of zoned residential land and….put down a park? Build a parking lot?
You can’t sell it to another person. You can’t give it to a private developer.
Marion, et. al., christwire is almost certainly parody. I’ve been watching the place pretty regularly since it first appeared a year or two ago. One of the things that strikes me is that nothing in the way of a defense by the authors has ever appeared, to the best of my recollection. That is totoally out of character for a true believer. Another is that they never do anything resembling a followup, which is again not in character.
Anti-usury laws should be reinstated.
Yeah, because the right-wing wouldn’t begin screaming about the installation of sharia law by the secret Muslim apostate Obama the minute that happened.
And do what with them?
Read the whole thing. Lease that propoerty back to the homeowners. HOLC is the model for the program. I’m not sure exactly where Miller gets this part from, but here’s the justification:
And DKWang underwater mortgages at their actual market value.
And you would determine that “market” value how exactly? It’s not as simple as it sounds. Value is in the eye of the beholder and the wallet of the buyer. The bankruptcy process already has a means to handle the house, but the fix a couple years ago kinda screwed the homeowner who also has credit cards. I have some recent, fairly extensive experience with appraisals
and the recent fix there sucks, too.
The too big issue is for banks with deposits. The FDIC would have a very difficult time arranging the number of other banks to take over the deposits on a Friday and opening for business on Monday so the depositors could go to a BofA ATM and get their money which in the hundreds of banks closed in the last year is what happens.
The FDIC spends time working to sell the deposits to another bank to take over. To do that with a Bof A or a Citi would require 5 or 6 banks. How would they keep it quiet (to prevent a run on BofA while they arrange for the take-over) and still get it done? It’s the logistical problem as much as the financial engineering.
And you would determine that “market” value how exactly? It’s not as simple as it sounds. Value is in the eye of the beholder and the wallet of the buyer.
Well, I just said that I preferred Miller’s plan to letting the current batch of Senators figure out financial regulation – but here’s the how that part would work:
Look, it’s worth a read anyways.
You can’t sell it to another person. You can’t give it to a private developer.
Bzzzt. SCOTUS recently ruled land can be taken from people and given to a developer. Presumably the Developer’s Good trumps all.
Eminent domain powers are most commonly used to purchase land for highways or public buildings, but also to renew “blighted” neighborhoods or clean up contaminated land. And existing law allows the use of eminent domain to purchase property interests other than the outright ownership of land.
That’s 11 and a half million homes, DKW. That’s not a neighborhood. That’s larger than NYC and LA combined.
SCOTUS recently ruled land can be taken from people and given to a developer.
I’m aware of the Norwalk case. I stand by what I said. That was a commercial development. This is a personal residence.
The case arose from the condemnation by New London, Connecticut, of privately owned real property so that it could be used as part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan. The Court held in a 5–4 decision that the general benefits a community enjoyed from economic growth qualified such redevelopment plans as a permissible “public use” under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London
Big Bad Bald Bastard & PeeJ:
Much obliged for the OSC links. Now I can begin the process of backdating my contempt for the man.
A212, you may have to reread the ruling. It’s all about taking from individuals and giving the property to developers.
“The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that local governments may force property owners to sell out and make way for private economic development when officials decide it would benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the new project’s success is not guaranteed.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/23/AR2005062300783.html
US 1 Switzerland 0 in Olympic hockey, btw
Norwalk, New London, I knew it was one of them N cities.
@DKingWangchuck;
I like the idea better too, although I like my mom’s idea best: Don’t spend so much TARP and stimulous on corporate welfare, but use a few billion (of a combined 1.4 trillion) in direct mortgage relief. The corporations still get their welfare, but the people actually get some direct help.
My mom is a CPA, and served as my county treasurer for 12 years, so she’s more than qualified to speak on the subject.
And yes, I know there are negative ramifications of having several million mortgages suddenly paid off….
I like the idea better too, although I like my mom’s idea best: Don’t spend so much TARP and stimulous on corporate welfare, but use a few billion (of a combined 1.4 trillion) in direct mortgage relief. The corporations still get their welfare, but the people actually get some direct help.
Fannie Mae could also use its unlimited govt-backed credit to buy up every mortgage. The Serious Centrist Brad DeLong thought it was a good idea.
Do I dare hope for something good to happen?
Nope. As someone pointed out above, once a good idea has been through the digestive system of any given US legislature, the result is predictable.
Fannie Mae could also use its unlimited govt-backed credit to buy up every mortgage. The Serious Centrist Brad DeLong thought it was a good idea.
Apparently getting something for nothing is not socialism if you’re already rich. I thought that was a brilliant idea–think of how much more buying power the typical working family would have without a suffocating mortgage payment. The vast majority of those who would be helped did not enter into these mortgages without the ability to repay them. More spending, more jobs, more prosperity, a little punishment for the lenders…
I can’t believe this. This is how things are supposed to work. Just ask any investor who’s been out there for a while. The bondholders and shareholders are supposed to be wiped out. That’s how it works.
TARP was the aberration. I welcome the concept of making that illegal.
Like Chris Rock said, why are you patting yourself on the back for doing what you’re supposed to be doing in the first place?
Prepared to see Wall Street try to block this like the entitled, corn-fed, squealing porkers that they are.
actor:
QFT. And that goes for Fannie and Freddie too.
While I will read the link DKW provided later tonight, IMHO, the use of eminent domain is wholly unnecessary.
TARP funds that haven’t been used can already be used to buy up mortgages, so I’m not sure why they’re not developing a plan to do just that (though I haven’t read DKW’s link yet). And as long as they base the purchase price on a percentage of the mortgage itself, there’s no need to worry about what the property is actually “worth” in the market.
From there, they could choose to refi the mortgages so that people could stay in the homes, make enough money once that happens to eventually pay those funds back (with interest, even!), and save neighborhoods and families in the process.
Again, not sure if that’s being bandied about, but it makes a whole lot of sense.
Which, as I mentioned earlier, is exactly why it will never happen.
But, pursuant to my last comment, the Fed needs to take their share of the blame too. Blowing bubbles, as they willfully did (“nobody could have predicted,” etc) in 2000, is the exact OPPOSITE of what the Fed is there for. They are supposed to take away the punch bowl when the party heats up so that the market–especially the consumer housing market–stays stable.
Exogenous events (eg, housing bubble) can cause good institutions to fail right along with bad. When “too big to fail” is the entire damn industry, well it doesn’t matter if it’s 30 or 3000 of them, the banksters still have us by the balls.
Greedspan DELIBERATELY caused a bubble. Look at US housing prices during heyday of Fed policy (following the Great Crash until Clinton administration, when they started stripping away GD failsafes), then look at what happened after Greenspan abandoned caution (early 90’s) and decided he liked being a rockstar (late 90’s).
This whole mess happened because a) it was planned that way b) these pukes thought they could handle it when the guano hit the ventilator.
TARP funds that haven’t been used can already be used to buy up mortgages, so I’m not sure why they’re not developing a plan to do just that
I assumed the plan he announced in Vegas last week was a trial balloon for a test program.
WTF?!!? What happened? Criminy, y’all are so fucking serious. Buncha fucking retards, if you ask me.
Greedspan DELIBERATELY caused a bubble.
I don’t know that he had a choice. This recession was a long time coming, but I’m not sure that if it hit in 2001/2, right after 9/11, the nation would have survived.
Prepared to see Wall Street try to block this like the entitled, corn-fed, squealing porkers that they are.
Be prepared for a sickening number of the victims of their shenanigans to back them up as well.
OK, for PeeJ:
PENIS, also.
The reason not to give money to homeowners is that you are indirectly bailing out the banks … as well as your brother-in-law who got a NINJA loan and was bragging about his financial genius five years ago and is now asking you for money. Fuck him.
No, the solution for distressed homeowners is what they did in the Great Depression: cram downs.
A cram down is where a judge changes the term of a mortgage contract to reduce the amount owed, usually because there has been a deflationary collapse and RE has just been reduced drastically in value. The bank took a knowing risk; they can eat it.
One reason to support them: they piss off ‘wingers and Chamber of Commerce ninnies more than Negro presidents and fifth-columnist-commie-pinko-sympathizers COMBINED.
*asking you for money and a place to stay
Seeing PENIS makes me happy.
OK, there’s some FUNNAY shit at that Gaga article.
I think Rugged in Montana went pro.
When will these gruesome weiner attacks be stopped once and for all?
http://www.tmz.com/2010/02/23/kansas-city-royals-hotdog-hot-dog-lawsuit-eye-john-coomer-slugger-the-lion/
The reason not to give money to homeowners is that you are indirectly bailing out the banks
Those motherfuckers are going to get theirs, regardless of the course of action. Cram downs, forced refi’s, interest rate caps/cuts, just forget about all of that shit. It’s not going to happen. The idea is awesome, but it’s about as likely to happen as meaningful health care reform or meaningful financial regulation.
As I said earlier, an overwhelming majority of mortgage holders entered into those loans on regular 30 year, fixed rate mortgages, with a debt to income that supported being considered a good credit risk. Look at it from their point of view–while the housing market is tanking, these people are getting fucked over–just to keep from bailing out the the super genius financial wizards that bought into interest-only mortgages.
I agree that the banks can spitshine my fuckin knob while I beat them with a car antenna. But I’m sorta sick of watching John and Mary Public get the shit kicked out of them at every fuckin turn, while the crooks and liars come out of this with more money than they can carry.
I like the idea better too, although I like my mom’s idea best
I like something of your mom’s too.
the use of eminent domain is wholly unnecessary
the issue was about the failure of HAMP to actually help any homeowners modify mortgages. Because the big financials are unwilling to take the loss. The kicker is in the closing grafs of Miller’s tale:
So evn if you can’t get cramdown accomplished, that doesn’t mean you have to stop brandishing the stick.
I like something of your mom’s too.
Speaking of brandishing the stick…
When will these gruesome weiner attacks be stopped once and for all?</em?
Weiners being forced into eyes is no laughing matter. It's poor form, and very Serious.
tag FAIL
Um, FYWP?
Okay, I’ve been thinking about it some more, and it still looks like a winner. A lotta people will get to keep their homes, the big banks will have to face up to the actual value of some of their garbage paper, a lotta people will get to keep their homes, the optics are good – I mean preventing big banks from foreclosing on families – could you ask for a better narrative, and not to mention, a lotta people will get to keep their homes.
Plus it’s really hard to see even the spineless fuckwads in the Senate screwing this up. The money is already there (repaid TARP funds). The basic idea is simple – buy up unreasonably stupid mortgages so that you can reset them to their actual values. And it’s an even easier sell – you’ve got the same bad guys (Miller says BoA, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo account for 2/3 of servicing) but you’ve also got the average American family on the verge of getting thrown out into the streets as your damsel in distress.
Also I when totally did your mom last night, she kept screaming “Eminent Domain!”
could you ask for a better narrative, and not to mention, a lotta people will get to keep their homes
No, you really couldn’t ask for anything better than actually protecting the victims of this whole fuckin circus.
Also, you better have paid my mom so I can get the new Call of Duty game.
Also, you better have paid my mom so I can get the new Call of Duty game.
CoD4:MW2 is full of terrorism – you are much better sticking to Heavy Rain. And besides, at the rate your mom charges, she’ll have to be putting out a lot in order to afford… oh yeah, she does that.
And besides, at the rate your mom charges, she’ll have to be putting out a lot in order to afford…
She charges by the inch, so if you’re not paying much, well…you know what that means.
I was kidding about COD, I don’t really like that game–I prefer the shelter of killing aliens in Halo. That way I can pretend I’m not a sick puppy.
The devil is in the details. Wouldn’t hold my breathe on this.
This bill’s effectiveness, if ever passed, will eventually come down to what the definition of “threatened with insolvency” and “big financial institutions” are.
Greedspan DELIBERATELY caused a bubble. Look at US housing prices during heyday of Fed policy (following the Great Crash until Clinton administration, when they started stripping away GD failsafes), then look at what happened after Greenspan abandoned caution (early 90’s) and decided he liked being a rockstar (late 90’s).
Let us not forget that Greenspan was an Ayn Rand disciple
Speaking of Modern Warfare 2 and fucking your grandmother so hard that she was flying out the window – I have an amusing story (via PA) for y’all:
http://kotaku.com/5476938/theres-two-sides-to-every-xbox-live-banning-%5Bupdate%5D
Let us not forget that Greenspan was an Ayn Rand
disciple‘s power bottom.Let’s not mince words.
The punchline of the Kelo eminent domain case is,
After getting everything it wanted, Pfizer pulled out, and wiped its dick on the curtains.
Sort of like DKW.
Oh, stop it with the class warfare already! It won’t play in Peoria!
Dragon King Wangchuck skrev:
Also, bipartisanship can rancid goat testicles. Too.
But would it her horns?
OT: to Actor and anyone else in the NYC area – I am flying into LGA tomorrow, what are the local channels saying about the snowstorm? Thanks!
Back to B^4’s post on Card, it’s really interesting seeing how fucked up he was from the start and I thought it was really interesting the idea that his books were by committee as Card was definitely groomed as golden boy for the Mormon church and most blame their interference for him sucking. It’s interesting to note it as it being them all along.
One of the interesting things I was musing while reading the second essay (the original one by Elaine Radle) was how the big mormon propaganda pieces kinda failed in their subliminal tasks.
I mean, Ender’s Game was designed as a series to forgive Hitler, but because no one liked and bothered much with the post Ender’s Game books, most people just remember the end of Ender’s Game as the end of the series and thus read it as an anti-genocide book rather than as the post-hoc justification it was intended to be.
Similarly, the Twilight books are pretty well designed to be giant propaganda to the twisted sexual politics of the mormon church regarding the roles of women and love, but every Twifan I’ve encountered seemed to be using it more as “Baby’s First BDSM manual”.
I’m wondering if the mormon cultures are so alien and the genres they tried to co-opt were so strong that in the long-term what ended up surviving was completely the opposite of what they intended. Sort of an ironic coda to the attempts at propaganda by Utah’s state cult.
“mysticdog said,
Huh, and here I thought that rescuing Europe twice (maybe 3 times) while protected by two vast oceans factored in there somewhere”
I know this is kinda off topic but the whole ‘hurr america is super duper and saves everyone’ thing really gets my goat.
1. World War 1 wasn’t really won by anyone, and the US certainly didn’t have a difinitive impact on the war, rescue or otherwise.
2. World War 2, the US was more significant but the USSR did the vast majority of the fighting in Europe. Certainly the US did their bit, but ‘rescuing’ is still something of a strong word.
3. I don’t really know what the maybe 3rd time refers to, but I’m guessing its something to do with the cold war. If it is anything like ‘Ronald Reagan saved the world by tearing down the berlin wall with his bare hands’ then I am going to have a rage seizure.
I am flying into LGA tomorrow, what are the local channels saying about the snowstorm?
Tomorrow meaning today, Thursday? Cuz the time zone shit is making this hard.
If you’re flying in today, fuggedaboutit. Flights have been cancelled across the board at LGA.
If you’re flying in Friday, FUGGEDABOUTITx2. We’re supposed to have a foot of snow by 6 AM Friday, with more to come.
Also, bipartisanship can rancid goat testicles. Too
I formally apologize for the confusion more awkward phrasing has caused. I have no one to blam except
Obamamy own incredible lack of “suck”.