Interesting, isn’t it, that the party of government-isn’t-the-solution-it’s-the-problem is all about giving your tax dollars away to bail out Wall Street, Big Oil, and Big Pharm (file under Medicare Reform), mortgage lenders, and home builders, but are loath to toss a bone to The Little Guy. Apparently “big” is the operative term as you’ll recall from last month’s “Bear Sterns is too big to fail” comment right before $30 billion of your money allowed Morgan Chase a chance to buy the bank for $2 a share when it was selling for $57 a share 3 days before. Now it’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae’s turn to belly up to the public trough, in another generous bailout of lenders and home builders (http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/wall-street-socialism). How ’bout those poor suckers who have had their homes reclaimed by the bank? S.O.L., as the old expression goes. See the story in today’s Fish Wrap about foreclosures (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080720-9999-1n20housing.html)? Note, of course, the snowball effect of a glut of bank -owned properties on the San Diego market have hit Logan Heights and Encanto the hardest? (to our out-of-town readers, those areas are the one folks back east quaintly call “ghetto’s) If that’s happening here in good ol’ Dago, imagine the grief in Youngstown and Detroit. Any government help coming to these folks? Nah. That’s socialism, people, just like that “socialized” health care system Obama keeps talking about. If that damn thing becomes a reality, nobody’s safe from the shadow of Stalin and Trotsky. But there maybe is still a little political power in the proverbial People. Maybe we should change the designation to The Big Little Guy.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
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the CEO of Fannie May made 14 million something LAST YEAR.
the CEO of Freddie Mac made 17 million something LAST YEAR.
must be that guy/gal pay inequity we hear about.
BOTH these guys will get the SAME next year, the only dif being the taxpayer will pay them.
It must be they are a lot smarter than us folks…….or, maybe its that refrain the lapel pinheads are singing- its nobodies fault/ its everybodies fault.
everybodies payin, thats for sure , & nobodies responsible. could it be….a miracle? The Miracle of the Market? The Invisible Hand??? yeah, thats it………
Comment by mutt — Sunday, July 20, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Very interesting article! I like that ourfuture.org site. Here’s another article with a different twist on the opinion re bailing out Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/chinese-government-top-foreign-holder/story.aspx?guid=%7B347DF7BF-F0B7-48C9-A418-5A0B903D9F72%7D&dist=hppr&ref=patrick.net
In case the link doesn’t work:
Chinese Government is Top Foreign Holder of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Bonds
$376 Billion in Chinese Agency Bond Holdings Subject to Taxpayer Bailout Proposals According to FreedomWorks Analysts
Comment by goodgolly — Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 10:36 am
Wall Street Socialism
Why pay dividends to shareholders when they are essentially playing with our money? Why pay managers of public enterprises the bloated pay packages of Wall Street speculators? Why allow them to finance lobbyists to shield them from accountability? The fiction of their separate existence has been exploded; let’s save the dough and run them efficiently.
He makes a terrific point. Why should these executives make such bloated salaries? This should be run as a government entity like Social Security.
Comment by virginiaM — Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 11:30 am
And you’re not talking about Larry Craig’s nozzle? How about Janet Jackson’s boob and not having to pay the FCC fine? Man, all this serious political talk is harshing my mellow! Necessary on your part though, I suppose. If you really wanna bring people down, talk about W not giving up the White House next year. That’ll make us all puke, guaranteed!
Comment by Rita in Mission Beach — Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
It’s quite alright that the CEOs of Fannie and Freddie make mega millions, obviously they are better than the rest of us whiners and losers who should be working harder. Phil Gramm left us with an insightful gift that I hope Obama uses to beat McCain over the head repeatedly: that is the ugly little secret of the Republican party, this idea that if you “earn” multi millions you are one of the chosen citizens and a great American, but if you work forty hours a weak and “whine” about the cost of health care and gas prices you are some sort of loser. In the past the GOP got around this by playing the fear card or the old faithful God, guns and gays culture dance routine. See also “What’s the Matter with Kansas” but I shouldn’t have to remind too many on this site about that. I just hope that Middle America and the Joe Six Packs finally wake up from their eight year coma to see the GOP for middle class loathing frauds they have always been.
Comment by Justin — Monday, July 21, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
I just hope that Middle America and the Joe Six Packs finally wake up from their eight year coma to see the GOP for middle class loathing frauds they have always been.
Ummm, Justin, I wouldn’t count on that. Yesterday on another site I read someone say “Look at all the trouble we are in with the 8 years of Clinton catching up with us”
Believe me, once they drink the koolaide nothing phases them. They do not strain at the camel.
Comment by virginiaM — Tuesday, July 22, 2008 @ 11:14 am
Oops, I meant nothing fazes them.
Comment by virginiaM — Tuesday, July 22, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Virginia, you make a good point… and they call us socialists! Bastards. Those fat asses sure do get paid well. I bet they don’t even work much. They probably golf and go yachting. If their pay was cut in half it wouldn’t make any difference. But, if we let Fannie and Freddie fall, the economy won’t recover for decades. Thoughts?
Comment by Lorelei — Tuesday, July 22, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Interesting, isn’t it, that the party of government-isn’t-the-solution-it’s-the-problem is all about giving your tax dollars away to bail out Wall Street, Big Oil, and Big Pharm…
And how about giving our tax dollars away to Iraq?
“We’re building 810 schools; 4800 water and sewage projects; 1047 roads and bridges. No, not in America. In Iraq.”
This is from Al Franken:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQYVTCljJ0&feature=user
I’m thinking of moving to Minnesota so I can vote for the guy…
Comment by goodguy — Wednesday, July 23, 2008 @ 9:52 am
HEY, DENARD!!!!!
if yer interested, you can reach me by clickin on my name….
yesterday we showed up at a Vets for Mccain press conf & , um, overwhelmed thier show…..
Evidently, we are obligated to vote for him because he was a POW.
And hes not Obama. Those reasons alone, in these guys minds , means you are a disgrace to think other wise.
We want to show up @ McCain events as vets truth squads…..
or whatever. Help out these Iraq & Afghan vets in gettin THIER words out…..mission statement sez it all….
Comment by mutt — Wednesday, July 23, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
and while we are being fleeced by incompetants- boy does THAT ever hurt- these guys are morons yet they can rob US day & night- dont speak to good about us, does it- while they are lying & stealing & bankrupting us HERE, they are selling a complete bill of goods about whats going on over THERE- in this case, Afghanistan.
A very acessible, sensible, well reasoned take……worth a read.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleID/10722
Comment by mutt — Wednesday, July 23, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
Bail out mortgage fraud profiteers…..hmmmm…where to get the $….HEY! we can ration VA health care!
Who sez McCain cant come up with ideas!! http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleID/10737
Comment by mutt — Thursday, July 24, 2008 @ 6:15 am
Don’t count on it, Justin! Middle America and Joe Six Packs get their “info” from a little cable news and maybe a right-wing talk show or two. It’s going to be a close election.
Comment by goodgolly — Thursday, July 24, 2008 @ 5:51 pm
To Stacy Taylor and Co.
In reference to Michael Savage’s attack on the “autistic” kids, since this concept has evolved into many hair splinters, we start with its etymological basis—namely Greek ‘auto-’ which meant ‘self’—as in being self-absorbed (or turned away from others or relevant realizations).
This semantic underground is worth noting because one young boy with a very inquiring and outgoing demeanor was recently telling me he was labeled “autistic” by professionals via his school system—yet his very willingness and drive to interact suggested he had been misdiagnosed.
A not so recent Dictionary of Education (3rd c1973) by Carter Good defines ‘autism’ as 1) a mental condition that turns away from reality … and 2) a type of thinking that is dominated by personal desires … unchecked without a need to conform with reality.
Hence Michael Savage’s remark that 99.9 percent of kids labeled ‘autistic’ were mislabeled, and they instead just needed to be told to smarten up and pull up the boot straps, etc, was a bit delusional. Somehow his extreme cynicism seems at least a bit fetched off from the reality markers?
Granted—he is right about the pharmaceutical companies looking for profits in their omnipresent opportunism—it happens all the time—and it does not matter if he explicitly stated that much—he likely thought it. Equally, there is, according to a fairly good source, enormous pressure in schools to put slow learners in special arrangements so as to deal with the politics of No Child Left Behind. Therefore Michael Savage’s generalized cynicism of corporate America is healthy, and his mistrust of people in general being too willing to believe the so-called experts is equally healthy.
However a more elaborate definition can be found in Robert Campbell’s Psychiatric Dictionary that starts a rather long entry with: “a form of thinking, more or less genuinely of a subjective character; if objective material enters, it is given subjective meaning and emphasis. …”
So where Mr. Savage goes wrong is not diagnosing his own habitual willingness to engage in the collective autism of much right wing talk radio, which too often is highly divorced from reality. Therefore a little projection on his part would be expected—along with the codependent autism of a dumbed down American public and the sanctimonious main stream media whose professionals are proficient in the art of lying and their presumptive elitism.
So it is hardly surprising that Michael Savage is engaged in defensiveness against the snake oil salesmen his Jewish father warned him about of those trying to make him into a foolor a putz? Yet should we not recognize that it is precisely his own delusions or complicity that he tries to sell as pharmaceutical salve of attitude to a culture one could call naïve Babbitt Christianity–in which we Americans should become another Zionist enterprise and hate everything Muslim and Arab?
Comment by Library Linda — Thursday, July 24, 2008 @ 7:13 pm
Is every one on vacation? Me thinks he states the obvious. Small town of Encinitas has 164 active for-clos.
Comment by knifemaster — Friday, July 25, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
I just hope that Middle America and the Joe Six Packs finally wake up from their eight year coma to see the GOP for middle class loathing frauds they have always been.
You know good and well that’s not gonna happen, Justin. But we can dream can’t we? If the youth vote doesn’t come out in force, we are doomed. McCain was smart enough to dump Gramm and that will be that. Most of them won’t even take notice. I believe that there is a growing body of scientific evidence that Republicanism is a type of cognitive deficit. Hitler understood it well.
As far as failing banks… Money just doesn’t disappear. It’s lining pockets, earning interest, supporting credit card habits. This is another first class scandal, brought to you by those wacky, deregulating Republicans!
Comment by Flying Junior — Friday, July 25, 2008 @ 3:20 pm
I’ve just finished reading the Vincent Bugliosi book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder. Every single clown who voted for Bush needs to read this book, to see how fricken blind they are. A very good read.
Comment by Greg in Bonita — Monday, July 28, 2008 @ 7:16 am
Just saw the 90 second trailer for the new Oliver Stone movie ‘W’. Says coming in the fall. Should go quite well with the Bugliosi book, and should get more public/media attention.
Comment by Greg in Bonita — Monday, July 28, 2008 @ 7:35 am
Republican of the Week!
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/
library Linda! I appreciate your explaing things in detail…..but may I suggest you prowl the Reference shelves for Strunk & Whites “Elements of Style” …….invaluable for the polemicist……
Comment by mutt — Monday, July 28, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
The fascists in power are the first to whine about socialism when the little guy needs a hand, while benefiting from socialism for themselves at every turn. Add to that we the people pay to not just privatize the profits for only the super rich and corporations, we also get to pay by socializing the losses. Heads the rich win; tails the poor lose. We’ve been had. The Beatles called it right–back in the U.S.S.R.
How Greider can stay hopeful is beyond me, but watch or read the transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07182008/watch2.html
Comment by Kathleen — Monday, July 28, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
I hope Stacy will devote some time to debunking the latest BS from the John (I’m Really Desparate”) McCain camp about Obama’s visit with our troops. These right-wingers will stop at nothing. I might have voted for McCain at one time; no way in hell I will now. It’s so sad to see how badly he’s debasing himself.
Comment by Vriendje — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
In reference to yesterday’s discussion about Obama’s remarks contravening McCain’s camp that “disingenuously” whined about Obama not respecting our troops:
Obama’s remarks were not too nice (as in naïve and ignorant). His remarks were assertive without being overtly aggressive or hostile. When he said … McCain is an honorable person engaging in dishonorable tactics … he effectively called the McCain camp on deliberate deception (disingenuousness) while allowing McCain the opportunity to recognize that he has the choice to operate from a higher sense of self.
However if “all options are on the table” then one ought reserve the right to fight in whatever manner is necessary to compete against criminal minds.
Johnny Walk, posted 4:15pm Tuesday.
Comment by Johhny Walk — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 3:16 pm
To this right-wing apologist, Marcus, who is on right now bitching about how unfair the media is to those poor, widdle Republicans: Shut up, you right-wing tool!
Comment by Vriendje — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
What complaint could be more abstract, and therefore meaningless, then: “So and so hates America ”?
What does “hating America ” mean—other than an offensive defense of jackboot nationalism?
Does it mean one hates the sheep-like ignorance of the majority that live in this territory? Does it mean hating the high levels of Neoliberal corruption in this country? Does it mean hating the political autism that affects the majority of people in this country? Does it mean hating the mass media’s complicity in intellectual and moral corruption that deliberately engages in deceit? Or does it mean hating the Nazi-like hypocrisy of the right-wing authoritarians and neocon fascists that have managed to take control of our foreign policy and media mentality?
Or are we, en masse, expected to be led by the nose down that politically correct road that presumes that hating, per se, is inhuman and ignoble? Perhaps hatred, as attitude, has a place in the sun—-it certainly has a place in the hearts of those whiners who constantly complain about leftists?
But hating traits of the mediocrity of many Americans is not the same as esteeming the supposed ideals and principles for which this country once supposedly stood.
Johnny Walk posted Tuesday 5pm July 29
Comment by Johhny Walk — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
Ummm, Justin, I wouldn’t count on that. Yesterday on another site I read someone say “Look at all the trouble we are in with the 8 years of Clinton catching up with us”
Believe me, once they drink the koolaide nothing phases them. They do not strain at the camel.
Oh trust me, I’m fully aware that there is a whole army of blissfully ignorant cretins coast to coast that are gleefully going to vote against the black muslim with the funny name who is not American. These are the same morons who sent us eight years of the Worst president ever. I’m just trying, hopefully not in vain, to be optimistic.
Comment by Justin — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 6:15 pm
Hey Mutt I’m a US Navy vet of the Iraq War will NOT be voting for McCain. In fact I’ve gone so treasonously far as to contribute to Obama repeatedly. Of course the vet in me respects McCain’s POW record, dude’s been through more than I would wish on my worst enemy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s WRONG about virtually everything.
Comment by Justin — Tuesday, July 29, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
Socialism for the uber rich. And laissez faire Libertarian endorsed, unregulated and unfettered capitalism for the rest of our sorry asses. The law of the land has always been the rich keeps getting richer, and the poor keeps getting poorer.
Comment by Paul — Wednesday, July 30, 2008 @ 6:17 pm
I wish all of you left wing tools would shut the F up talking to yourselves here.
Comment by Gabe — Friday, August 1, 2008 @ 5:14 am
wish away, lapel pinhead………
Comment by mutt — Friday, August 1, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Dumbmutt your the worst with your know it all babbel. Especially when you open your stupid trap on the air. What a freaking dork you come off as…….lol. I can’t tune into Spike without hearing you muttering along about how you know everything about anything that has even happened. And then on here where you make aaup 50% of the posts. Often eplying to your own posts several times. Get out and go do something for a change Like take a nice long hike…maybe over a cliff…..
Comment by Gabe — Sunday, August 3, 2008 @ 6:55 am
dipfish. time for the troll patrol…….
Comment by mutt — Sunday, August 3, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
I wish all of you left wing tools would shut the F up talking to yourselves here.
Comment by Gabe — Friday, August 1, 2008 @ 5:14 am
Gabe dear, If you tell people what you are wishing, it won’t come true. If we shut up what ever will you do at 5:00 in the morning when everyone is asleep and you need some attention? Go ahead, honey. Rant. Rage. Hate. Do it here if you must. Better to get it out on a message board than holding it in, and breaking down in public, and really making a fool of yourself.
Comment by Rita in Mission Beach — Monday, August 4, 2008 @ 7:17 am
And to Mutt:
CARRY ON BROTHER!
Comment by Rita in Mission Beach — Monday, August 4, 2008 @ 7:25 am
Rant. Rage. Hate
I am only doing what I see you people do here and on the air. Only from a different angle. You don’t get it yet do you?
Comment by Gabe — Tuesday, August 5, 2008 @ 5:02 am