No one got a bigger Shit Sandwich that President Obama, we all know this. And I applaud this Lame Duck Congress for DADT, the Start Treaty and the 9/11 Health Care Bill, but still, if you don't mind me asking: (And I know many of you will, but that is ok with me)....
Congress approved another $ 730 billion dollar War Chest, this week, while, what was destroyed was help, real help for the illicit Foreclosure Mills that still continue.
There is still no 'Jobs Commission' on the immediate horizon (by both parties). You can tell me, that these are all 'compromises' that must be done, but in the end, these were indeed 'fringe issues' (although important) that do not address, the huge and amazing new numbers of homeless people in our nation. (Sorry to be such a bummer Democrat).
Again, I am not denigrating these major achievements at all, but again, I ask you, HOW DID IT HELP THE WHAT IS LEFT OF THE MIDDLE CLASS OF THIS NATION?
While we were....'looking the other way, albeit important issues,' this is what was really going on for millions that are still losing their homes, and getting away with on Wall St/the Big Banks which is, no matter how you rationalize (it was all legal) it ruined our entire national and international economies: The great cover up, and new so called austerity program is coming down like a sledge hammer to gut Social Security, and meanwhile, as we approved these three 'great new Decoy moves' 9/11, DADT and the Start Treaty, in the end it will be like getting simply another 'Sucker Punch in the Jaws of the Middle Class.' You may not agree, and I totally respect your opinion on this, but in the end, it is about the money, to most of us, who already, paid and paid and paid.
So while we were all patting each other and the Democrats for the Great Compromises, on the Extended Tax Cuts of Bush, and all the Estate bullshit, and the $ 730 Billion more for the Endless Wars this week, and the DADT vote (god bless that!!!) and the Start Treaty, and for 13 more months of unemployment insurance (not for the 99ers with no jobs coming in) let us remember who got left behind ok? (Dare I mention what the Cat Commission (not dead, not forgotten, just give a new mask in the way of the Blue Dogs of Mark Warner and his ilk)...are coming down (moved from April to March of this upcoming year to tear down Social Security). Sorry, I will not ignore that, and I hope you do not either.
Same people that always get left behind. The Middle Class, with how the few bullshit dollars that were never spent in the first place for HAMP, got destroyed this week:
The Senate on Thursday rejected an effort to stave off home foreclosures by a vote of 51 to 45. It was an overwhelming defeat, with the bill's backers falling 15 votes short -- a quarter of the Democratic caucus -- of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote. The death of the bankruptcy reform measure -- which would have allowed a small number of homeowners who met strict conditions to renegotiate mortgages under bankruptcy protection -- is a major tactical win for the banking industry. But allowing the foreclosure crisis to continue unabated may end up being a failed strategy for the financial sector. It wasn't easy for Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who led the effort on behalf of homeowners, to wrangle the 45 votes.
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who had been on the fence for weeks, gave Durbin his support and nudged him on the way out of the chamber, alerting him of the anti-bank position he'd just taken. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a conservative Democrat, also cast a courageous vote in favor of the measure. He gave Durbin a hard slap on the arm on the way out. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a strong backer of the bill, spent a good deal of time trying to persuade his colleague Jim Webb (D-Va.). As she got close to convincing him, she called in Durbin. "Hey Durbs," she could be heard saying, "help me with Jim."
But in the end, as always: The BIG BANKS WIN:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
At the end of the day, they have more money that we will ever have, and they are winning. The Oligarchy is fat, happy, and riding on their Gulf Stream Jets to the Islands, on our dime, this winter...you think they give a shit about all of us? Think again....
WASHINGTON -- Top policymakers at the Federal Reserve are fighting efforts to rein in widely reported bank abuses, sparking an inter-agency feud with the FDIC and the Treasury Department. The Fed, along with the more bank-friendly Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is resisting moves to craft rules cracking down on banks that charge illegal fees and carry out improper foreclosures. The FDIC supports such rules, according to an FDIC official involved in the dispute. The new regulations would rein in debt collection, loan modification and foreclosure proceedings at bank divisions called "mortgage servicers." Servicers have committed widespread fraud in the foreclosure process. While the recent robo-signing of fraudulent documents has received the most attention, consumer advocates have complained about improper fees and servicer mistakes that lead to foreclosure for years.
"Given that we've seen a massive failure in servicing practices and a massive failure to address servicing in an honest way, I think this is important," says Joshua Rosner, a managing director at Graham Fisher & Co., and longtime critic of the U.S. mortgage system. Last week, the National Consumer Law Center and the National Association of Consumer Advocates published a survey of 96 foreclosure attorneys from around the country, attesting that servicers have pushed 2,500 of their clients into the foreclosure process, even as the borrowers were negotiating loan modifications with the same servicers.
Banks have also been extremely slow to permit and process loan modifications for troubled homeowners. With housing prices down dramatically from their bubble-level peaks, mortgage investors usually limit their losses by reducing a borrower's debt burden instead of foreclosing. But servicers-- who are supposed to operate in the best interests of investors-- have been reluctant to grant mortgage modifications, particularly modifications that actually reduce the outstanding balance on the loan. Servicers have also failed to live up to the rules proposed by the Treasury Department under President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Plan. According to a recent report by the Congressional Oversight Panel, a full 29,000 borrowers have been in temporary payment plans for more than a year without being granted permanent relief. The temporary modifications are supposed to last just three months under Treasury Department rules. Regulators at all federal banking agencies are aware of the problems. On December 8, community outreach officials from the OCC and the Fed met with dozens of housing counselors from around the country and acknowledged that complaints about mortgage servicing abuses have been coming to their offices for years. Nevertheless, at a recent hearing, Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh said his agency didn't know about the outright fraud being committed by servicers until press reports emerged this fall.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
For John Walsh to actually have the fucking raisin balls he has to make that statement makes me sick to may stomach....again...:
John Walsh said his agency didn't know about the outright fraud being committed by servicers until press reports emerged this fall.
Gee, where you been John???, in the Cayman Island counting your money for the past 3 years or so with Phil Gram and Robert Rubin and Alan Greenspan? Because everyone else in the entire nation, know exactly what is going on and has been going on for a long time. You gutted us all, and you stole every single penny of equity we had in our homes, with your house bubble from hell.
What a sick fucking joke on the Middle Class of this nation. You didn't hear from these people until this past fall, Mr. Walsh? Who it's like William K. Black, Simon Johnson, Dean Baker and Joe Stiglitz and Paul Krugman never even called you, or existed to begin with. Amazing.
Today, a letter urging fundamental changes in the mortgage securitization markets, signed by 50 individuals with expertise in this arena, was sent to the Chairmen of the FDIC, the Fed, and the SEC, and the Secretary of the Treasury and the Comptroller of the Currency.
Despite widespread evidence of failings, abuses, and outright fraud in the securitization process, reform measures have been halting at best. The FDIC has proposed far-reaching and well thought out measures in the face of considerable industry opposition. By contrast, the Treasury has taken the position that it has little authority over servicers, despite its considerable influence over both the banks in which most of them reside, and their biggest customers, Fannie and Freddie.
The letter points out that the continued failure to address this issue is detrimental to homeowners, investors, and the broader economy. It urges the adoption of new standards as part of these regulators’ duties under Dodd Frank and makes specific recommendations. Thanks to Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher and Chris Whalen of Institutional Risk Analytics for leading this effort. Securitization Standards Letter:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/...
The point of this diary was to try to report to all of you, how no one in Washington DC is still paying attention to the Housing Crash, or our lost jobs....
It was certainly not to denigrate what we have a great deal to celebrate this week...we do.
But I ask you this: Who is going to step up to the plate and help people with a new jobs program? Who is going to step up to the plate when we can give can all stop worrying about working two or three jobs, just to keep up, with no health insurance that mattered in the first place?
It is not that I do not think that this 'lame duck session was not a great step in the right direction.' I do, I honestly do....
What I am more worried about is food on out tables, a roof over our heads, a return to sane, and fair policies that do not allow these thugs, these asshole Bankstas to come in and steal our homes from us...with no real jobs on the horizon. Especially after we bailed their asses out of the greatest transfer of wealth (see the Inside Job Film) and now witness the extended Bush Tax Cuts with the expanded Estate Taxes.
There was an old saying called: Guns and Butter. Now it has become nothing more than Guns, with no Butter. The so called Butter is nothing more than the fat of the Pigs feeding at the trough, but in the old days, the Butter was what was reserved for those that built this nation.
That is lost, that is gone, that is forgotten, and no one is looking out for us anymore.
I just wanted to give another view tonight. I am not a hater, and I have never been. I celebrate these strides we have made, I honestly do. I just wanted to remind everyone, what is really going on (when we were not looking), and there is always something going on when we are not looking.
That is what the Shock Doctrine taught me and Matt Stoller taught me...
Just wanted to put another point of view out there, so that we can all look at the big picture.
I wish you all the best of holidays, and I want us all to remember this holiday season: Go through your pantry, and take everything out you can, and give it to your local programs for the needy. That is who we are as a party, the Democratic Party, the best party in our nation, and we always will be.
Thanks as always....
Ms. B.