Republicans, after wrecking America, were dismissed. They are a fringe party, wandering in the political wilderness. But will they return?

America needs checks and balances. It needs a Coke to a Pepsi. It needs at least two viable political parties. Check that. It needs at least two viable political parties that AREN'T the corrupt Democrats or the Republicans. But that's what we're stuck with, since the system is fixed.

That said, now we're down to one viable party. The GOP has been destroyed. And believe it or not, that's bad news for America. Because Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid running around DC unchecked is a scary, scary thought.

But, like Jason or Chucky, the Republicans can eventually awaken from the dead. They'll likely wander in the political wilderness now, maybe for a generation. But eventually, they'll likely come back.

How?

A) The Democrats f*ck it up so bad that the GOP becomes the "Not Them" choice in the voting booth

B) The GOP drops the hateful right wing religious crazy anti-science Sarah Palin Karl Rove crap, and re-emerges as a pro-science, pro-business, pro-separation-of-church-and-state, pro-limited-government, anti-war, pro-environment, anti-tax party of sane adults

The GOP will be out of power for quite some time. The damage they caused the nation and the world these past eight years is so great, they're truly the Nazi party of America. They might need to change their name, the brand is so damaged. And you know what, eventually I think they will.

The New GOP. The Grand New Party. The New Republicans. Something like that.

Why?

Because the old one sucked.

And for sh*ts and giggles, check out the future of the New Republican Party here.

How did we ever get into this mess? I just don't understand.

Oh, wait, my bad. I understand PERFECTLY.

Gee. That was hard to see. Nope, nobody could have ever have seen this coming.

Would you be in favor of 4% 40 year loans for every homedebtor in America?

Refi every mortgage.

Offer 4%/40/4% down (plus the $15k bribe) on any new home purchase.

Bypass the banks and lend directly from the government (i.e. Fannie/Freddie).

Would that solve the housing crash and economic meltdown?

Would that save trillions vs. the road we're heading down?

And even though it stinks to high heaven, to avoid the Greater Depression, would you support it?

Schiff predicts food lines. Tens of millions unemployed. In America. Food lines. Tens of millions. Thank you realtors. Hope it was worth it.

Soot and Ashes Gee What Took You So Long Quote of the Day

"I don't think we've paid enough attention to the mortgage and financial fraud that have so dramatically contributed to the economic downturn. It is now becoming clear that unscrupulous mortgage brokers and Wall Street financiers were among the principal contributors to this economic collapse."

"I want to see people prosecuted…Frankly, I want to see people go to jail"

- Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who evidently has just heard about Angelo Mozilo's many crimes, February 11, 2009

On a much lighter note, check out this video from Obama's Florida town hall. I give you Julio Osegueda - soon to be "Julio the Burger Flipper"

Joe the Plumber ain't got nothin' on this kid.

Watch to the end, as Julio jumps up and down like he's just won the Price is Right.

Gotta love kids like Julio. Seriously. Gotta love 'em.

Now if the adults would stop robbing him and ruining his future.

Today the bankers who gamed the system, enabled rampant mortgage fraud and enriched themselves will come to DC. Should we try for a citizens' arrest?

Anyone in DC? God, how I wish I could be there today.

In my dream, thousands of Americans gather today on the steps of the Capitol, and when these thieves get out of their limos the crowd jumps into action. They block their entrance, round 'em up, handcuff them, and announce they're performing citizens' arrests for mortgage fraud.

They then load them into their pick up trucks and drop them off at the nearest police station, where they then light torches and grab their pitchforks and demand that justice be served. And that the basic laws of the United States of America are again respected, and enforced.

Here's the dirty list heading to Capitol Hill today. Outside the room, all over the country, all over the world, rage. Inside the room, the donors meet with their biggest recipients.

- Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Goldman Sachs & Co.
- Mr. James Dimon, Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Mr. Robert P. Kelly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of New York Mellon
- Mr. Ken Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America
- Mr. Ronald E. Logue, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, State Street Corporation
- Mr. John J. Mack, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Morgan Stanley
- Mr. Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup
- Mr. John Stumpf, President and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo & Co.

China. America. China. America. In times like these, I take China. "Former chairman of Chinese company sentenced to death"

They kill their corrupt CEOs.

We let ours enrich themselves at taxpayers' and shareholders' expense. And we refuse to prosecute even the most blatant and obvious fraud.

Zhong guo shi ge mei hao de guo jia!

If you weren't before, are you scared now?

Is the downfall of Western civilization at hand?

Serious question.

You've lost your house. You've lost your job. You've lost all your savings. I think it's important you realize, above all, who's to blame.

"Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquid real estate"

Anyone got deja-vu?



"Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate. It will purge the rottenness out of the system.

"High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people."

-US Sec. of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, 1929

Geithner announces the Big New Plan at 11am EST today. What will it be? Will it work?

Open thread to talk about what historians may come to see as one of the most important days in the history of financial markets.

California, get ready for a Summer of Hell

What happened in California to get them to this point?

A perfect storm of incompetent and corrupt government, an out of control REIC, an unprotected southern border, and a get-rich-quick easy money mindset.

Ka-boom.

Item 1:
A special panel of federal judges has tentatively ruled that California must release tens of thousands of inmates to relieve overcrowding.

Item 2:
Calif. facing worst drought in modern history

Item 3:
Mexican drug violence spills over into the US

Item 4:
California's median home price falls 38 percent

Item 5:
California government offices were closed throughout the most-populous U.S. state today as about 200,000 workers were forced to take unpaid days off because the worsening recession is threatening to drain the state of money.

Want a home for 70% off? Head to Naples Florida. Or Merced and Salinas California.

70% off.

It's not the fall that is amazing. That was a given. No, it was the rise that makes no sense.

What made rational people overpay so wildly for a f*cking home?

Did they not know how to do the math?

Did they never stop to think - what could I rent this home out for if I needed to?

Did they really think that nice realtor was on their side?

70% off. $500,000 becomes $150,000. The realtors keep their commissions. And the world financial system collapses.

U.S. home prices will fall another 11 percent on average before stabilizing, according to Moody’s Economy.com. The Case- Shiller home price index will fall 36 percent from its 2006 peak to the bottom this year, Zandi’s study said.

The biggest home-price decline is forecast for the Naples, Florida, area, where the report estimates prices will tumble 70.1 percent from the top before hitting bottom in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Naples is followed by the California areas of Merced and Salinas. Merced prices are forecast to fall 69.6 percent from the peak and Salinas 67.9 percent.

It has come to my attention that the banks and bankers own the United States of America, and all its citizens. Oh, and they own the world.

Folks, sit down, take a deep breath. Think about what got us into this mess. Think about who made out like bandits. And think about who's now put your job, your livelihood, your family's personal safety and your future at risk.

The banks.

The bankers.

Citigroup. Bear Stearns. Wells Fargo. Goldman Sachs. JP Morgan. Merrill Lynch. Washington Mutual. Countrywide. Indymac. First Federal. Bank of America.

Mozilo, Perry, Fuld, O'Neal, Lewis, Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson, Thain, Prince...

They own us.

We are their slaves.

We exist to try to earn money to pay taxes that can then get channeled by our corrupted leaders into their accounts.

We are their slaves.

And now, as Geithner will announce, we'll give them hundreds of billions more. Trillions more. We'll mortgage your future, your kids' future, and the future of generation after generation after generation of America, just so the bankers can keep getting paid. We'll destroy our currency, we'll lower our standard of living, so that the bankers can keep getting paid.

This summer will be a summer of rage, all around the world. Banks will burn. Governments will fall.

And at the end of the day, it won't matter.

The banks got us. They are bigger than the governments. They are too big to fail.

The banks, and the bankers, the ones at the top, not the laid-off pee-ons at the bottom, they won.

Checkmate.

How has the crash affected you?

[BUMP]

Pssst... Hey buddy... Can you spare (another) $4 trillion?

When we said the banks would fail and trillions and trillions and trillions would be lost, I'm not sure even if we knew what that really looked like.

Well, now we know.

Goldman Sachs estimates the government would need to shell out $4 trillion or more to absorb all the banks' troubled mortgage and consumer debt.

How big is $4 trillion? It's more than one-third of the economic output of the United States in a year. It's more than twice as big as the first federal bailout and the coming economic stimulus combined. Just look at all those zeroes: $4,000,000,000,000.

Is that green line supposed to do THAT?

Is yours next?

Sure about that?

Well, there you have it. $50,000,000,000 of your taxpayer dollars given away to housing gamblers who bet and lost.

I'm not sure what to make of America anymore.

Play by the rules, make wise financial decisions, pay your taxes, get nothing back.

Gamble, live above your means, don't pay your taxes, commit mortgage fraud, and the government looks the other way or bails you out.

What message does this send to the kids?

Here's the Senate bailout bill (pdf). Skip ahead to Section 7 - Foreclosure Prevention. And you'll see it right there in black and white - $50 billion so that the government can modify the mortgages, including reducing the amount the housing gambler owes.

(Why is anyone in America paying their mortgage today by the way?)

So you and I pay taxes so that our government can keep people in homes that they paid too much for, shouldn't have bought and cannot afford.

What a country.

Worst than the Great Depression? Martial law in America? Wow, that's some heavy sh*t from Hank Paulson. Wonder if he really believed that.

Funny how quickly you can go from "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" to the threat of social breakdown and martial law.

Makes you realize the whole thing was a tinderbox, a house of cards with no firm foundation, managed by incompetent and corrupt monkeys.

Will it ever be normal again?

“Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousand points the first day, another couple of thousand the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no.”

- Congressman Brad Sherman, October 2008