Letters to the Editor
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Hey Andrew!
I took a look at your link, the other guy's blog with the music video clip. Very cool. BUT! The poor guy had zero comments on his blog posting.
I am sure he would love to know that you praised him. Maybe you should leave little compliment comments when you cite these people. Coming from you, a positive comment would be a career highlight. This guy could put it in his resume.
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S + L and subprime fiascos similarity starts at the top
Reagan lived in a fantasy world; Bush lives in a fantasy world.
Reagan created astronomical unemployment; Bush was the first President since Herbert Hoover to finish a term with fewer Americans employed than when the term started.
Reagan should have been impeached (Iran-Contra was only a small part of his criminal administration); Bush should be impeached (whatever happened to the First Amendment?).
Reagan gave us tax cuts for the wealthy, increased military expenditures and deficits for our children; Bush gave us more tax cuts for the wealthy, unheard of military/contractor expenditures and deficits for our grandchildren.
Finally, Reagan's penchant for deregulation gave us the S + L fiasco; Bush's policies helped create the subprime crises and the accompanying economic meltdown.
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S&L and Forclosures
As I remember, Reagan left us with an approx. $500B bailout of the S&L's and Bush II is leaving us with what some say will be $4 trillion in war debt. So much for conservative conservatives.
P
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S&L, subprime mortgage crises only superficially similar
The people getting screwed these days are those who saved their money in hopes of getting a house, and those who bought their homes around 2005, when the market was still a tree growing to the sky. A lot of those, however, are functionally renters, as they got in with zero down, especially the interest-only tenants.
"Moral hazard" is a phrase you should become more familiar with. I don't have a lot of sympathy for grownups who don't read their mortgage documents.
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But...
But where are the Bush family scions taking their profits?
Wasn't the Bush family one that profited handsomely from the S&L disaster?
SHOW ME THE MONEY!
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I'm surprised . . .
. . . it took this long for someone to reference the Megadeth song. It was actually a minor hit for them at the time. Unfortunately, the song is more about the foreclosures of family farms than family houses. Kind of a heavy metal meets John Mellencamp thing . . .
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A sub-prime crisis in private equity?
The subprime mortgage crisis isn't the cause of our problems, but for the time being take note. Probably the most interesting thing I read today was an article about Jefferson County, Ala., which is facing bankruptcy over a sewer revenue bond that went bad. The size and scope eclipses the former Orange County, CA. bankruptcy, and the governor has said there is no legal basis on which the state can intervene.
Also note that Citigroup will cut down on it's mortgage and equity line business, and any loans it cannot sell. I thought that was how we got into this mess?
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23449569-details/Stand+by+for+new+subprime+crisis/article.do
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S&L, Sub-Primes more than superficial
There are at least two things that these Friedman inspired debacles have in common. The first; Greed. The second: a system that, with no oversight, has preyed upon unsuspecting people. I am not just alluding to the millions of people who trusted mortgage brokers. Who in the past sold used cars, with transmissions full of sawdust and crankcases with 60 weight motor oil.
I am aware of the argument that those who failed to read their mortgages have only themselves to blame. However, consider all of those banking experts who were more than willing to buy those bundled loans. Where was their smarts? Where was the consideration that those knowledgeable professionals should have given to the "dodgy" SIVs?
They too were hustled by that group of people who outright lied and misled all who came too close. Just as looking at Medusa would turn one to stone. So have those who bilked the system petrified the world's economy. Now, banks and communities around the world have fallen prey to their greed.
footsore
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Even more megadeth!!
Speaking of the SNL crisis of yore: I just finished listening to a broadcast about reverse mortgages on NPR... Wow!!! The "fun" is only just beginning.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87994065
This was unbelievably depressing stuff; especially when it involves swindling seniors. America's vortex of plunder is racing towards certain annihilation (IMHO). May there be a very, very hot, dark and terrible place in hell for people like Charles Keating, et al.
This literally makes me want to cry. I count my blessings everyday that I'm a renter without debts.
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Not fair to Mustaine!
I think his being fired from Metallica had a lot to do with the big egos of Ulrich and Hetfield.
Listening to that song again, and contrasting the ideas in the lyrics with the uber-commercialism of the latter day Metallica, it's easy to see how Mustaine didn't fit in.
I think it's also interesting that the snippet of voiceover at the end specifically mentions Lincoln Savings and Loan, which has quite the sordid history apart from things financial. It also mentions the fact that there was a bailout, and taxpayers had to foot the bill for the fat cats' poor decisions and criminality.
I'm sure that will become yet another parallel with the S&L period.