Dear Occupy Wall Street,
I support you, really I do. But the time has come to move beyond occupying to accomplishing. It's time to adopt an agenda and push it. Need an agenda? Take this one:
1) Re-enact Glass-Steagall.
2) Overturn Citizens United by constitutional amendment and strip corporations of personhood and speech rights.
3) Repeal the Bush tax cuts for the top 1%. If these cuts were supposed to help the "job creators" create jobs, we wouldn't have so much unemployment.
4) Pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting CEOs from making more than 40 times in salary, benefits and stock options than the annual salary of the lowest paid employees in their companies.
5) Break up banks that received TARP money so they're no longer "too big to fail."
6) Prosecute the CEOs of the commercial banks, mortgage lenders, investment banks, and rating agencies that precipitated the real estate bubble.
I know this doesn't encompass all the issues you're protesting about, but it's a good start.
Here's a tagline for you, borrowed from the late comedian Robin Harris:
"We don't die; we occupy."
You're welcome. Rock on, Occupy Wall Street.
Showing posts with label TARP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TARP. Show all posts
Debt Ceiling Mistakes All Around: I Call B.S.
So . . . Standard & Poors, which didn't downgrade all those mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the housing bubble meltdown, found the stones to downgrade, of all things, U.S. treasuries?
I call B.S.
But first, there are a lot of mistakes to go around, starting with my own. My mistake was allowing the stop-loss orders on my 401(k) stock holdings to expire while all this debt ceiling madness was going on. I was preoccupied with other things going on in my life and just didn't pay attention. The unrealized gains on my 401(k) holdings took a major haircut from 29% to 8%. Nothing to do but ride it out. Had I had my stop-loss orders in place, I could have gone back and re-bought all my perfectly good holdings for a lot less, in essence shorting my own stock portfolio. I've got another fourteen years to ride it out, but lesson learned: Always keep your stop-loss orders in place so when stupid people panic and sell, you're not stuck talking about unrealized gains instead of realized gains.
Second, I blame President Obama for even negotiating the debt ceiling increase with the Tea Party Terrorists in the first place. Yes, I said it: Tea Party Terrorists. Mind you, I have friends in the Tea Party and I respect that they've done more than just talk -- they get out and support their candidates and hew closely to their principles. But to hold the debt ceiling hostage and create unnecessary worry in the markets? I call B.S. But the President should have never even deigned to negotiate the debt ceiling increase. He should have simply said, "No president before me has ever negotiated the increase of the debt ceiling that is an inevitable result of Congress passing a budget that requires greater revenues than our taxes provide. I'm not going to be the first." The off-the-record remarks should have been, "Oh HELL no, the first (real) Black president ain't going out like that. If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, I will and let them fight it out with the Supreme Court."
Third, I blame the Tea Party and the Republican Party. Republicans, I know and like a lot of you, but your Tea Party is out of pocket and you need to get them in check. There is no way any elected official with any sense of statesman- or stateswomanship would have let the debt ceiling negotiations go for so long and so cattywhampus to the detriment of the entire nation. This whole thing was nothing more than an effort to embarrass and weaken the President, otherwise the spending would have been cut from the budget. Do you folks hate President Obama that much that you'd stick it to the rest of the nation to prove some point? It's a good thing I'm paying off my credit cards and my mortgage is a 30-year fixed, otherwise you folks would have to get a restraining order against me, especially the Tan Man (Boehner) in all his glorious ineptitude.
But I also blame Standard & Poors. Even as bass-awkwards as our political system has become, do you S & P asswipes really think France has a better chance of paying off its debt than we do? Really? Where were you guys when people with no jobs, a 500 FICO score and a barely discernible pulse were able to get no doc, interest-amortizing balloon mortgages for houses they could not afford? So, those folks were a good credit risk but the good ol' U.S. of A., which has never defaulted on debt, gets a markdown because of temporary insanity in Congress? I call major B.S.
Finally, I blame us as a nation. This recession was a man-made injury created by ignorance and greed. A lot of people are going to come out of it with lower incomes and lower net worth because many of the jobs we lost here in America aren't coming back. America, we used our homes as ATM machines and monuments to our own financial ignorance, and we allowed corporate America to pimp us, run with the money, and leave us -- as individuals and as tax-paying citizens -- holding the bag. All that quantitative easing and TARP money is just more debt on our national credit card.
And China is so not going to give us a limit increase on that credit card.
Time for Americans to wake up and play smarter, not harder, with our finances and our politics.
I call B.S.
But first, there are a lot of mistakes to go around, starting with my own. My mistake was allowing the stop-loss orders on my 401(k) stock holdings to expire while all this debt ceiling madness was going on. I was preoccupied with other things going on in my life and just didn't pay attention. The unrealized gains on my 401(k) holdings took a major haircut from 29% to 8%. Nothing to do but ride it out. Had I had my stop-loss orders in place, I could have gone back and re-bought all my perfectly good holdings for a lot less, in essence shorting my own stock portfolio. I've got another fourteen years to ride it out, but lesson learned: Always keep your stop-loss orders in place so when stupid people panic and sell, you're not stuck talking about unrealized gains instead of realized gains.
Second, I blame President Obama for even negotiating the debt ceiling increase with the Tea Party Terrorists in the first place. Yes, I said it: Tea Party Terrorists. Mind you, I have friends in the Tea Party and I respect that they've done more than just talk -- they get out and support their candidates and hew closely to their principles. But to hold the debt ceiling hostage and create unnecessary worry in the markets? I call B.S. But the President should have never even deigned to negotiate the debt ceiling increase. He should have simply said, "No president before me has ever negotiated the increase of the debt ceiling that is an inevitable result of Congress passing a budget that requires greater revenues than our taxes provide. I'm not going to be the first." The off-the-record remarks should have been, "Oh HELL no, the first (real) Black president ain't going out like that. If Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling, I will and let them fight it out with the Supreme Court."
Third, I blame the Tea Party and the Republican Party. Republicans, I know and like a lot of you, but your Tea Party is out of pocket and you need to get them in check. There is no way any elected official with any sense of statesman- or stateswomanship would have let the debt ceiling negotiations go for so long and so cattywhampus to the detriment of the entire nation. This whole thing was nothing more than an effort to embarrass and weaken the President, otherwise the spending would have been cut from the budget. Do you folks hate President Obama that much that you'd stick it to the rest of the nation to prove some point? It's a good thing I'm paying off my credit cards and my mortgage is a 30-year fixed, otherwise you folks would have to get a restraining order against me, especially the Tan Man (Boehner) in all his glorious ineptitude.
But I also blame Standard & Poors. Even as bass-awkwards as our political system has become, do you S & P asswipes really think France has a better chance of paying off its debt than we do? Really? Where were you guys when people with no jobs, a 500 FICO score and a barely discernible pulse were able to get no doc, interest-amortizing balloon mortgages for houses they could not afford? So, those folks were a good credit risk but the good ol' U.S. of A., which has never defaulted on debt, gets a markdown because of temporary insanity in Congress? I call major B.S.
Finally, I blame us as a nation. This recession was a man-made injury created by ignorance and greed. A lot of people are going to come out of it with lower incomes and lower net worth because many of the jobs we lost here in America aren't coming back. America, we used our homes as ATM machines and monuments to our own financial ignorance, and we allowed corporate America to pimp us, run with the money, and leave us -- as individuals and as tax-paying citizens -- holding the bag. All that quantitative easing and TARP money is just more debt on our national credit card.
And China is so not going to give us a limit increase on that credit card.
Time for Americans to wake up and play smarter, not harder, with our finances and our politics.
The Big Pimpin' Awards
I’ve always had a grudging admiration for pimps. Not because I admire what they do, but rather how they do what they do. What pimps do better than anyone else is to get people – or rather, women – to join in their own exploitation without feeling exploited. For the life of me, I can’t help but think there’s some weird confluence of science, genius, madness, and alchemy such that a man can get a woman to do for pay one of the most intimate and personal acts with strangers of all varieties of personal hygiene and then turn over the majority of the money to him so that he can live a lifestyle better than hers. If I had to put my money on a Harvard MBA or an Oakland pimp to successfully run a Fortune 500 corporation, my money would be on the Oakland pimp, every time.
Well, America, it looks like we’re the hos in this recession, because there are a whole lot of pimps out there who are exploiting us, maybe not with the skill and finesse of an Oakland street pimp, but pretty darn close. And I’ve always believed that excellence should be rewarded in a capitalist, democratic society. With that, let me announce and award Black Woman Blogging’s first ever Big Pimpin’ Awards. These awards go to those newsmakers, who, over the last year or so, have been successful or at least tried very hard, to pimp the American people – our tax dollars, our values, our trust. The first part of success is believing in your ability to succeed. These pimps had self-confidence in spades.
The “Diamond in the Back, Sunroof Top, Diggin’ the Scene with a Gansta Lean” Award goes to: The CEO’s of Chrysler, GM, and Ford, for having the pimp hubris to come to Capitol Hill to ask for taxpayer bailout money in corporate jets. Don’t forget the rest of the song, though: “Just be thankful for what you’ve got.”
The “Sneaker Pimp” Award goes to: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Playa, you’re not the first elected official who attempted to sell an appointment. You were just so bad at it that you got caught. And to appear on the “The View” instead of at your own impeachment trial? That’s just sneaker pimpin’. You need to get out of the way and let the real playas play.
The “Pimpin’ Around The Word” Award goes to: The Bush Administration, for getting our allies to join us in rendition and torture by setting up American prisons on foreign soil.
The “ ‘Too Short’ California Pimpin’” Award goes to: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature. Let me get this straight: California is in the middle of a severe budget crisis – I’m talking Vallejo/San Diego on-the-verge-of-defaulting crisis. State workers within the control of the Governor are going to be furloughed without pay. Yet other state workers who have the serendipity to work for the University of California, the California State University System, the California Community Colleges, and other state constitutional officers won’t be furloughed. Many state legislative staffers received raises, and yet the Governor and many in the California Legislature had the nerve to go the Presidential Inauguration even though we’re supposed to be in a crisis and running out of money in February? And no one’s seen fit to drive a semi up to the Capitol and set the building on fire? That’s pimpin’ California-style, in the vein of California’s most famous pimp and rapper, Too Short.
The “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” Award goes to: General Motors. They’re such a special case that they get mentioned twice. General Motors has the distinction of being able to dip into TARP money twice – once through GM, the other through their lending arm, GMAC, which they were able to morph into a bank so that it, too, could qualify for TARP money. GM cited the downturn in car sales and the increased foreclosures faced by GMAC as the reason for double dipping. It’s hard out there for a pimp.
The “Hos in Every Area Code” Award goes to: The mortgage lending industry. Because they do have hos in every area code. They’re called subprime borrowers. The problem is, now their hos are out of pocket, so to speak, because of foreclosures. Not everybody can be Nate Dogg.
The “Don’t Hate the Playa, Hate the Game” Award goes to: Citibank, Merrill Lynch, and AIG. Citibank, for taking TARP money and then having the nerve to try to take delivery of new corporate jets. Merrill Lynch, for paying billions in bonuses to its execs on the way to their arranged merger with Bank of America. AIG, for holding a spa retreat shortly after receiving TARP money. An honorable mention goes to John Thain of Merrill Lynch for spending $1 million to redecorate his office as his company was going down the tubes.
And, drumroll, please . . .
The Mack of the Year Award goes to: Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Paulson worked for Goldman Sachs in the run-up in the real estate bubble, and the role of investment banks in the real estate bubble cannot be underestimated. He later became Treasury Secretary, sold his stake in Goldman Sachs pursuant to ethics laws for a tax-free net of $200,000,000, and then helps in its bailout. But that’s not why he’s the Mack of the Year. Paulson is the Mack of the Year because he had balls to go to Congress with a three-page explanation as to why Congress should give the Bush Administration $750 billion to bail out financial institutions, saying that the money would free up credit and help the American taxpayer. Although he didn’t get what he wanted solely on the strength of his three-pager, he did ultimately get what he wanted. Banks and other financial institutions got the money, didn’t lend it out, weren’t held accountable, and no one called for Paulson’s head on a platter, or anyone else’s for that matter. Mack of the Year, I tell you. Play on, Playa Paulson. Play on.
UPDATE: At the suggestion of my brother and my protege, the "Katt Williams 'If You Can't Find Anyone Else To Hate, You Can Hate On Me' Lifetime Achievement Award" goes to President George W. Bush. As my brother put it, "Not only did he get us to jump on folks we ain’t had no business messin' with, but he got us to put $7 Trillion on our card to do it for him and his fellow Sith Lords."
Super Fly would be proud.
Well, America, it looks like we’re the hos in this recession, because there are a whole lot of pimps out there who are exploiting us, maybe not with the skill and finesse of an Oakland street pimp, but pretty darn close. And I’ve always believed that excellence should be rewarded in a capitalist, democratic society. With that, let me announce and award Black Woman Blogging’s first ever Big Pimpin’ Awards. These awards go to those newsmakers, who, over the last year or so, have been successful or at least tried very hard, to pimp the American people – our tax dollars, our values, our trust. The first part of success is believing in your ability to succeed. These pimps had self-confidence in spades.
The “Diamond in the Back, Sunroof Top, Diggin’ the Scene with a Gansta Lean” Award goes to: The CEO’s of Chrysler, GM, and Ford, for having the pimp hubris to come to Capitol Hill to ask for taxpayer bailout money in corporate jets. Don’t forget the rest of the song, though: “Just be thankful for what you’ve got.”
The “Sneaker Pimp” Award goes to: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Playa, you’re not the first elected official who attempted to sell an appointment. You were just so bad at it that you got caught. And to appear on the “The View” instead of at your own impeachment trial? That’s just sneaker pimpin’. You need to get out of the way and let the real playas play.
The “Pimpin’ Around The Word” Award goes to: The Bush Administration, for getting our allies to join us in rendition and torture by setting up American prisons on foreign soil.
The “ ‘Too Short’ California Pimpin’” Award goes to: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature. Let me get this straight: California is in the middle of a severe budget crisis – I’m talking Vallejo/San Diego on-the-verge-of-defaulting crisis. State workers within the control of the Governor are going to be furloughed without pay. Yet other state workers who have the serendipity to work for the University of California, the California State University System, the California Community Colleges, and other state constitutional officers won’t be furloughed. Many state legislative staffers received raises, and yet the Governor and many in the California Legislature had the nerve to go the Presidential Inauguration even though we’re supposed to be in a crisis and running out of money in February? And no one’s seen fit to drive a semi up to the Capitol and set the building on fire? That’s pimpin’ California-style, in the vein of California’s most famous pimp and rapper, Too Short.
The “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” Award goes to: General Motors. They’re such a special case that they get mentioned twice. General Motors has the distinction of being able to dip into TARP money twice – once through GM, the other through their lending arm, GMAC, which they were able to morph into a bank so that it, too, could qualify for TARP money. GM cited the downturn in car sales and the increased foreclosures faced by GMAC as the reason for double dipping. It’s hard out there for a pimp.
The “Hos in Every Area Code” Award goes to: The mortgage lending industry. Because they do have hos in every area code. They’re called subprime borrowers. The problem is, now their hos are out of pocket, so to speak, because of foreclosures. Not everybody can be Nate Dogg.
The “Don’t Hate the Playa, Hate the Game” Award goes to: Citibank, Merrill Lynch, and AIG. Citibank, for taking TARP money and then having the nerve to try to take delivery of new corporate jets. Merrill Lynch, for paying billions in bonuses to its execs on the way to their arranged merger with Bank of America. AIG, for holding a spa retreat shortly after receiving TARP money. An honorable mention goes to John Thain of Merrill Lynch for spending $1 million to redecorate his office as his company was going down the tubes.
And, drumroll, please . . .
The Mack of the Year Award goes to: Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Paulson worked for Goldman Sachs in the run-up in the real estate bubble, and the role of investment banks in the real estate bubble cannot be underestimated. He later became Treasury Secretary, sold his stake in Goldman Sachs pursuant to ethics laws for a tax-free net of $200,000,000, and then helps in its bailout. But that’s not why he’s the Mack of the Year. Paulson is the Mack of the Year because he had balls to go to Congress with a three-page explanation as to why Congress should give the Bush Administration $750 billion to bail out financial institutions, saying that the money would free up credit and help the American taxpayer. Although he didn’t get what he wanted solely on the strength of his three-pager, he did ultimately get what he wanted. Banks and other financial institutions got the money, didn’t lend it out, weren’t held accountable, and no one called for Paulson’s head on a platter, or anyone else’s for that matter. Mack of the Year, I tell you. Play on, Playa Paulson. Play on.
UPDATE: At the suggestion of my brother and my protege, the "Katt Williams 'If You Can't Find Anyone Else To Hate, You Can Hate On Me' Lifetime Achievement Award" goes to President George W. Bush. As my brother put it, "Not only did he get us to jump on folks we ain’t had no business messin' with, but he got us to put $7 Trillion on our card to do it for him and his fellow Sith Lords."
Super Fly would be proud.
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