Bank Heist of the Century - Congress, Bush, Obama, the NAR, Fannie and Freddie conspire to steal $400 billion from US taxpayers

We said for years that Fannie and Freddie would fail.

We were wrong.

They didn't fail.

It all went according to plan.

Damn, those grifters were good. Real good.

That's $1200 per citizen, if you're keeping score at home.

U.S. to Lose $400 Billion on Fannie, Freddie

Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion, according to Peter Wallison, a former general counsel at the Treasury who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

“The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages,” Wallison said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on federal support for the two government-sponsored enterprises, he said.

IranPANIC

My hope in 2010?

They kill the mullahs.

Then they take on the basiji, and string them up one by one.

Happy New Year brave Iranians.

Catherine Reagor, the Arizona Republic's laughably incompetent real estate 'reporter', has another gem today. "Nobody saw it coming" she tells us.

"No one guessed then that housing would lead Arizona's economy into a recession"

-Rolodex of Realtors Catherine Reagor, Arizona Republic, December 29, 2009, writing about the Phoenix housing crash in 2007

Strange thing to say now though, since she knew very well about HousingPANIC, Housing Doom and TheHousingBubbleBlog, all out of Arizona, all posting about the shit-storm that was hitting Phoenix and the world.

Guess all she remembers now though is what her rolodex of realtors was telling her, over nice dinners and martinis no doubt.

Phoenix? Vegas? Dubai? Detroit? No, this ghost-town of empty skyscrapers is where you'd least expect. It's China

Remember when we thought Japan would take over the world?

Me gettin' some serious deja-vu all over again.

Anyone want to buy some land or investment condos in China?

2000 - 2009 was the worst jobs decade ever for America. And the worst stock market decade ever. Thank you Republican Party!

And some people still support these jokers why?

Seriously, with that pitiful record, how stupid would you have to be to call yourself a Republican? You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can fool a Republican all of the time it would appear.

Keep hating the fags. Keep stressing about abortion and flag burners.

Meanwhile, you're jobless and broke.

(UPDATE - P.S. - THE DEMOCRATS SUCK TOO. But for pure negligence, corruption and incompetence, the GOP takes the prize - worst of the worst. 2010 recommendation - vote 3rd party and anti-incumbent. 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 - repeat.)

Stocks ending their worst decade ever

Worst Ever Decade For Jobs

Not one more thing from China. Not one. Anyone want to join the 100% boycott of Chinese goods? Anyone? Anyone?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new foe.

China.

An oppressive, evil regime. Afraid of her people. And now a documented enemy of Planet Earth.

But hey, enjoy your cheap Chinese sh*t from Wal-mart. Keep enabling them. Keep looking the other way.

Your children will come to hate you.

It's safe to say that that Nouriel Roubini screwed the pooch something royally in 2009. And that's why you should never listen to a perma-anything

Nothing lasts forever.

What goes down must come up.

What goes up must come down.

And if you listened to Nouriel Roubini in 2009, you were as screwed as those who listened to Lawrence Yun in 2008, or Greg Swann in 2007.

Here's Roubini, being spectacularly wrong a year ago. Guess he didn't read Manias, Panics and Crashes either.

For those of you who did, please feel free to chime in with your 2010 predictions here. And make sure you put Roubini in the "never to be listened to again" file.

8 really, really scary predictions

"For the next 12 months I would stay away from risky assets. I would stay away from the stock market. I would stay away from commodities. I would stay away from credit, both high-yield and high-grade. I would stay in cash or cashlike instruments such as short-term or longer-term government bonds. It's better to stay in things with low returns rather than to lose 50% of your wealth. You should preserve capital. It'll be hard and challenging enough.

"I wish I could be more cheerful, but I was right a year ago, and I think I'll be right this year too."

- Nouriel Roubini, December 2009

Incompetence and Corruption, In Full Bloom

For those of you keeping score at home, we're in "Relief" now. After being in Despondency in February.

Once again, this one single chart told us everything we ever needed to know.

If only it had been so obvious at the time.

It is what it is. Trillions in government cheese got us there.

Deal with it.

And yes, Optimism is around the corner in 2010...

(no, still not back. just checkin' in)

From Ireland: "We're screwed as a country because of the wrongdoing of others". Oh, and an F bomb too.

Too bad no US congressman has the guts to get up in the face of Barney Frank or Chris Dodd or any of the others who were on the take from the REIC during the Big Housing Ponzi Scheme, and call a spade a spade.

"You lie"? Nah. A big ol well-placed F bomb, that would do the trick.

Or then again, gotta love it when they slay 'em with the Queen's english too..

Party back on?

0% interest rates with no end in sight - check

Asset bubbles forming everywhere - check

Massive government overspending - check

Nobody gets arrested for the last bubble debacle - check

Party back on?

Can you cure a hangover by drinking?

Shatner. Just because.

Some listened to blogs, and common sense. Others listened to the NAR and realtors. Nuff said. "U.S. Homeowners Lost $5.9 Trillion Since 2006 Peak"

Seems like this one ties it up with a bow.

What a clusterf*ck.

Too bad. The real information was out there. If only they had listened.

(Sorry folks - still not back. Just had to post this one, to cross that t and dot that i)

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. homeowners have lost about $5.9 trillion in value since the housing market peak in March 2006 as mounting foreclosures and the recession weighed on prices, according to Zillow.com.

Almost half a billion dollars was wiped out this year through Nov. 30, as the market headed for a third straight annual decline. New foreclosures and higher mortgage rates in 2010 may hinder a rebound, the property data service said today in a statement.

“A phenomenal amount of wealth has been erased since the housing bust,” Stan Humphries, chief economist for Seattle- based Zillow, said yesterday in an interview. “For many households, most of their wealth is tied up in real estate.”

"Although a policy of intervening to affect the exchange value of the dollar is nowhere on the horizon today, it's worth noting that there have been times when exchange rate policy has been an effective weapon against deflation.

A striking example from U.S. history is Franklin Roosevelt's 40 percent devaluation of the dollar against gold in 1933-34, enforced by a program of gold purchases and domestic money creation. The devaluation and the rapid increase in money supply it permitted ended the U.S. deflation remarkably quickly.

Indeed, consumer price inflation in the United States, year on year, went from -10.3 percent in 1932 to -5.1 percent in 1933 to 3.4 percent in 1934.17 The economy grew strongly, and by the way, 1934 was one of the best years of the century for the stock market. If nothing else, the episode illustrates that monetary actions can have powerful effects on the economy, even when the nominal interest rate is at or near zero, as was the case at the time of Roosevelt's devaluation."

-Ben Bernanke, 2002

Gotta go.

Signing off (again).

Fight the good fight folks.

Especially against the ignorant, the corrupt and the powerful.

Thanks to the regular posters here.

Been real.

What happens if everyone walks away from their debt-traps? Walks away from their car payments? Walks away from their credit card bills? Let's see.

This ain't over.

Anyone underwater on a home loan should be economically motivated to no longer make payments. Live rent-free for a year or two. And eventually be out from under that crushing realtor-inspired debt.

Anyone with an auto payment or credit card bill should be thinking twice now about paying it.

The debt of the past twenty years will be simply washed away. The government will put the taxpayer (i.e. their children and their children's children) on the hook for most of it, so net-net it may be a wash. But just watch this video, and you'll see what's really going on out there.

The bankers got their bonuses. The congressmen got their bribes. And the poor and the middle class got killed.

We've been here before.

I like Beck.

He entertains me.

He's a circus clown.

He makes me laugh.

Even though he may have raped and murdered a girl in 1990.

But I've got a feeling that oddly, some aren't laughing. Some aren't in on the joke. Some actually believe what the circus clown says.

So be afraid.

The "Summer of American Rage™" is turning into something quite unexpected.

Paranoid + broke + racist + uneducated + underemployed + ignorant. Quite a combustible combo we have in post-crash Fox-News-watching America today.

And Beck (and Coulter and Limbaugh and Hannity and Malkin and the rest) are simply arsonists, with a proven business model, laughing all the way to the bank, while their nation burns.

Peter Schiff for Senate Money Bomb 9/9/09

$1.5 million and he's in for sure.

Donate here

Yes, this could be fun.

Ron Paul didn't have the fire in his belly. He was too nice. And he was too old.

That's why we need Schiff.

Schiff vs. Dodd?

Schiff vs. Reid?

Schiff vs. Frank?

Schiff vs. McConnell and Kyl?

Let's get it on!

Do you have health insurance? Would you like to be able to buy cheaper insurance?

OK, go ahead.

Have at it.

I for one enjoy my high-deductible, low-cost, major medical insurance (i.e. you go to the doctor (or the clinics that should be at every Wal-Mart) for a cold, you pay. go to the doctor for cancer or a heart attack, they pay). And if private companies won't offer this out of concern for profits, then the government, on a revenue-neutral basis, should.

What I don't want is a government "takeover" of healthcare. What I don't want is the disaster of the UK - massive taxes for crappy health care.

Government should be in the insurance business, if it's necessary. However they should NOT be in the health care delivery business. And it should not be in the 50% tax bracket business (like the fools in the UK). Never.

Should be another interesting few months, as the American Summer of Rage™ moves on to the American Autumn of Ignorance™

Here's an excerpt from Obama's speech to schoolkids that some idiots are pulling their kids out of class this week so as not to hear

You know, I guess it's good that some Fox-News-watching, misinformed, ignorant idiots parents are keeping their kids out of school this week, forbidding them to hear a message about studying and pursuing their dreams from the President.

Why?

Because we'll need some kids to grow up to serve us our burgers and clean our toilets (and be realtors, if that job still exists).

(note to any American kids reading this - if your mom or dad watch Fox News and Glenn Beck all day, think about running away now. You'll be glad you did.)

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Oh, gee, what a shock. The FHA is bust, and another massive hundreds-of-billions taxpayer bailout will be on the way.

People should go to jail.

Period.

If a bunch of idiots like us knew that Fannie, Freddie and the FHA were going to go bust, didn't they?

The answer of course is yes, they did. But the short-term exec bonuses were just too tasty. As well as the lobbyist dollars showered on Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and friends.

What a clusterf*ck. And them grifters, they was good. Real good.

FHA Time Bomb Explodes...Bailout Coming Next!

Mortgage-related losses may push the reserves at the Federal Housing Administration below the level required by Congress. The Wall Street Journal describes this as “a development that could raise concerns about whether the agency needs a taxpayer bailout.”

The FHA has played a key role in the government’s attempts to stabilize the housing market. In the past two years, it has rapidly expanded its loan guarantee portfolio in an effort to encourage mortgage lending. FHA-backed loans outstanding, which totaled $429 billion in fiscal 2008, are projected to hit $627 billion this year. FHA market share rose from 2.7% in 2006 to 23% last quarter.

The FHA will insure loans with down payments as little as 3.5% of a home’s price, and until last year it guaranteed down payment assistance programs that basically let borrowers buy houses with no money down.

It takes a real man to stand up and do what's right. George Will is now such a man. Bravo. Now let's get the f*ck out of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Too bad there aren't more adults on the right, or the left.

Let's hope this and this represent a start.

Out of Afghanistan.

Out of Iraq.

Admit to the mistakes and move on.

Grow the f*ck up, and get America back on track.

George Will has now given crucial political cover for Obama to do the right and smart thing. Let's see if he takes advantage of this golden opportunity. Or not.

George Will's Moment of Courage, September 2009:

On Afghanistan:

"Forces should be substantially reduced to serve a comprehensively revised policy: America should do only what can be done from offshore, using intelligence, drones, cruise missiles, airstrikes and small, potent special forces units, concentrating on the porous 1,500-mile border with Pakistan, a nation that actually matters. Genius, said de Gaulle, recalling Bismarck's decision to halt German forces short of Paris in 1870, sometimes consists of knowing when to stop."

On Iraq:

"Many scholars believe, Pollack says, that nations that suffer civil wars as large as Iraq's between 2004 and 2006 have "a terrifyingly high rate of recidivism." Two more years of U.S. military presence cannot control whether that is in Iraq's future. Some people believe the war in Iraq was not only "won," but vindicated by the success of the 2007 U.S. troop surge. Yet as Iraqi violence is resurgent, the logic of triumphalism leads here:

If, in spite of contrary evidence, the U.S. surge permanently dampened sectarian violence, all U.S. forces can come home sooner than the end of 2011. If, however, the surge did not so succeed, U.S. forces must come home sooner."

Is the worst over?

Mortgage, banking and securities fraud used to be a crime in America. As we can all see today under Eric Holder and Barack Obama, not so much.

Frog marches.

By the tens of thousands.

Start with Mozilo, Perry and Fuld.

And then work backwards all the way to Casey Serin.

In the 90's, after the S&L debacle, thousands went to jail.

Today?

[/sound of crickets chirping]

Yes, the wheels of justice turn slowly. Yes, investigating this clusterf*ck will take time. Yes, the SEC barely existed under Bush.

But seriously, come on, how much more obvious can criminal cases be than Angelo Mozilo's? And Michael Perry? A fifth grader could prosecute those cases.

Frog marches. Now. And for every bigtime banker humiliated on his frog march to justice (complete with recovery of ill-gotten gains), Obama's approval rating will go up 1%.


Insight: A matter of retribution - Financial Times

Between 1990 and 1995 no less than 1,852 S&L officials were prosecuted, and 1,072 placed behind bars. Another 2,558 bankers were also jailed, often for offenses which were S&L-linked too.

Barack Obama: Another Failed US Presidency (so far)

Winning was the easy part.

Governing, well, that's a bit tricky.

Barack Obama is so far just yet another failed American presidency. When leadership is called for, he punts. When strong and decisive decisions are needed, he defers to Congress. When clear and powerful communication from the bully pulpit are in demand, he's out golfing.

So, I submit, 10 Things That Barack Obama Has F*cked Up, and 10 Things that Barack Obama Needs To Do ASAP:

10 Things Barack Obama Has F*cked Up:

1) Completely losing control of the healthcare debate, while serving as a whore to his trial lawyer pimps
2) Mangling relations with Russia
3) Continuing with Bush's Iraq and Afghanistan debacles
4) Not prosecuting Angelo Mozilo, Dick Fuld, Michael Perry and the rest of the mortgage fraudsters
5) Not launching investigations of the Bush administration for illegal wiretapping, torture and the Iraq debacle
6) Not taking on Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security first
7) Pussyfooting the GOP, when he should be dancing on their grave
8) Deferring to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on pretty much everything
9) Not pursuing a radical flat-rate tax overhaul
10) Not giving America a new Big Goal

10 Things Barack Obama Needs To Do ASAP:

1) Do a prime time address from the oval office and address to Congress, complete with Ross Perot charts and graphs, showing that America is bankrupt, that we can no longer pave the streets with gold, and that we'll need to bite the bullet on health care, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, with urgency
2) Ask Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi to step aside immediately
3) Request that Eric Holder arrest Angelo Mozilo, Dick Fuld and Michael Perry immediately
4) Request that Eric Holder name an independent special prosecutor to look at crimes committed by the Bush administration
5) Request that Eric Holder name an independent special prosecutor to look into crimes committed by the US congress during the Great Housing Bubble
6) Announce that the USA has canceled Bush's stupid missile defense system plans for East Europe
7) Announce that 100% of US troops will be out of Iraq and Afghanistan by 12/31, with CIA and Special Ops forces to remain to support the democratically elected governments as requested
8) Mandate that 100% of new cars and trucks sold in 2025 are electric or electric hybrid, that America will get 90% of its electricity from nuclear, solar and wind power by 2025, and allocate $250 billion for electric trains and light rail
9) Announce that he is no longer a member of the Democratic Party, and that if he runs for re-election in 2012 it will be as an Independent
10) Demand that the US Federal Reserve books be opened to the public, and that the US submit audited financial statements as per Sarbanes-Oxley effective 2010

And as a bonus,

11+) Break up the NAR on anti-racketeering and restraint-of-trade charges, allow gays in the military and gay civil unions, close 80% of overseas US military bases by 2015, legalize pot, tell Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, replace income tax with 20% flat tax and 5% sales tax, raise tax on gasoline $1 a gallon, reduce corporate tax rate to 10%, allow unlimited legal migration to anyone in the world with clean legal record, English proficiency, high school equivalent degree and $10,000 savings, and most of all, last but not least, require an NCAA football playoff using the bowls as early round games

Mommy, why are all those people in suits walking out of the casino at the same time?

The game feels rigged sometimes doesn't it?

After that massive rally, the sidelines are feeling pretty darn good. Market may go up another 50%, but of course, it could fall another 50% too. I'm pretty sure which one is worse - suffering a 50% fall from here, versus missing another 50% up. Should be an interesting few months.

BTW, remember when George Bush wanted people to put their Social Security accounts into the casino? Now THAT would have been interesting. You know we'd be talking about bailing out failed speculators right about now.



Why Investors Need to See the Light and Slow Down

In August, corporate insiders -- officers and directors of public companies -- sold nearly 31 times as much stock as they bought. From last September through this past March, in the depths of the bear market, that ratio was just 2 to 1, according to TrimTabs Investment Research of Sausalito, Calif. The long-term average is about 7 to 1.

The people who run companies don't know exactly what the future holds, but they do know more about their own firms than outsiders do. If they are furiously selling, how eagerly should the rest of us be buying?

All you need to know about the Great American Ponzi Scheme

Thank you Baby Boomers!!! Thank you GenX!!!

Future generations will come to hate you.




Inflation: How China May Be Forced To Use The Nuclear Option

The US government is currently indebted to the tune of approximately $11 trillion. Amazingly, that doesn’t account for the $49 trillion of Medicare and Social Security entitlement liabilities which will need to be paid off in the future.

The United States Treasury Department doesn’t use these entitlements when calculating their debt to GDP ratio, but if they did it would be 680%!

This partly explains why entitlements are not included in the calculations; if they were it would become painfully obvious that the country is basically insolvent.

Look away. Hide the children.

At one point, for the majority of people in America, it will no longer make economic sense to keep paying their mortgages.

What happens when the homedebtors of a nation simply walk away?

Hint. You'll need more popcorn.

No matter what the NAR, CNBC and realtors on commission tell you.



[image source]

As homeowners head 'underwater,' another housing crisis looms

Almost half of homeowners with a mortgage could be underwater by 2011, says Deutsche Bank.

I think the surprise is prime quality mortgages. That's where the biggest deterioration could take place in the next leg. Right now about 16% of those borrowers are underwater. If our home price forecast is correct, down another 14%, we could have 41% of borrowers underwater in the prime mortgage space. That's what happens when another 14% decline occurs.

Does this lead to a new wave of foreclosures?

Well, we don't think that the wave has stopped in any sense. But the wave is clearly building. That is evident by looking at serious delinquencies. If you look at a chart of how many borrowers have missed more than two payments, a large portion of those people are going to end up being foreclosures.

Well, that rate of serious delinquency has been rising rapidly and continues to rise, pretty much in tandem with unemployment. As long as you have serious delinquencies going up, you know for the next year and a half, a large portion of those are going to turn into foreclosures.

Of subprime and Alt-A (Alternative A-paper) borrowers, about 33% of those borrowers are seriously delinquent. If you look at prime jumbo, the highest quality mortgages, 6.2% are seriously delinquent. That sounds like a low number. But two years ago that number was 1%. It's a very straight trajectory from September 2007, pretty closely mimicking unemployment.

At what point of being underwater do homeowners start falling into foreclosure rapidly?

Once you get to the point where negative equity is significant -- for example, 25% or more -- there have been studies that suggest you get more strategic defaults.

People say, "I bought my house for $500,000, it's worth $250,000, there are 10 available for sale in my neighborhood. It makes no economic sense to spend the rest of my life trying to pay off a $500,000 debt when there's no reasonable likelihood to expect this house to go back up to $500,000."

Bull. Bear. Keyboard Cat.

Bull:

Bear:



Keyboard Cat:

If you're Phoenix realtor Greg Swann, who in 2006 told people to BUY BUY BUY (and had 21 reasons), this graph should just about do the trick.

Them facts, they can be pesky little things.

Karma can be a bit of a bitch too.

And gravity.

Shouldn't the commissions for expert "advice" and "guidance" be given back?

Here ya go. Like "Suzanne", one for the ages.


21 reasons to bank on the Phoenix real estate market (July 2006)

Obviously, I consider this a profoundly silly question, but to lurk among the BubbleBloggers and their seething commentariat is to acquire an education in a slice of America invisible from this side of the sewer gratings. Notwithstanding the idiotic economic analysis, which is really no worse than the static-market fallacies paraded as profundities in the pages of the Arizona Republic, these sites — and not just HousingPanic — are infested with a cult-like fever to inflict suffering — at second hand, to be sure — on people who are in fact guilty of nothing except failing to have drunk the BubbleBlogger KoolAde.

That’s all one. I don’t care. The whole of the last century was dominated by the bad behavior of viciously angry wretches, but look where it got them. The BubbleBloggers will someday bawl balefully in private, but they will never, ever admit that they have been very publicly very foolish. You will know and I will know and in the secret chambers of their hearts they will know they were wrong all along. But as long as you don’t hold your breath waiting for that contrite admission of error, you should be fine.

In any case, here do I compile my list of 21 really good reasons to bank on the future of the Phoenix area real estate market:

1. The migration from the Snow Belt states to Metropolitan Phoenix has been unabated for 60 years.
2. A similar extended migration is now occurring from the Northwestern states and Western Canada.
3. The “installed base” of all those migrants brings a steady stream of extended family members.
4. Proposition 13 makes moving up difficult in California; many Golden State sellers buy in the Phoenix area.
5. Californians in pursuit of other objectives — e.g., a friendlier business climate — migrate to the Valley of the Sun.
6. Baby Boomers will retire in droves to warmer climes — the Atlantic coast, the Gulf states and the Southwest.
7. Among those locales, Phoenix is by far the least prone to natural disasters.
8. Because of this, people from disaster-afflicted regions have formed a new stream of in-migration.
9. There is a steady migration of new residents from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries south of the border.
10. Phoenix is a destination of choice or the second-landing city for immigrants from all over the world.
11. While higher oil prices will put a strain on our far-flung suburbs, the greatest pain will be felt in Northern states where fuel oil or natural gas are used as heat sources; even people who don’t hate the winter will move to the Phoenix area to escape high heating bills.
12. The Phoenix Metropolitan area is a dynamic jobs creation machine, adding tens of thousand of new jobs every year.
13. People who have or hope to have children move here as soon as they can manage it.
14. Compared to the areas from which many of our in-migrants are drawn, our homes are still very affordable.
15. We build thousands more new homes every year.
16. The Greater Phoenix area has 60 years of sustained practice at managing extreme growth — this in contrast to thrashing cities like Las Vegas.
17. Snowbirds, politely known as Our Winter Visitors, eventually move here year-around.
18. Our first waves of massive migration occurred after WW II; mustered out soldiers who had been stationed here came back with their families; this pattern continues among people who are posted here temporarily for various reasons.
19. People who stay at our resorts often fall in love with the Valley of the Sun and return as soon as they are able.
20. A significant number of active and retired professional athletes maintain homes here, in no small part because the Phoenix/Scottsdale area has…
21. Year-around golf.

"Pastor" Steven Anderson (Arizona nut), calling for the death of the president: "I'm going to pray that he (Obama) dies and goes to hell."

Want to see why the GOP is now a dead fringe party, hijacked by crazed christian fundamentalist loons?

Want to hear a pure voice of evil?

Here ya go. Skip ahead to 3:36 for the good stuff.

Bonus - why do some "christians" think that god is a god of wrath and vengeance, capable of hate? You think al-qaeda is a threat to America? Look over your shoulder first.

(meanwhile, where's the Secret Service on this one? And anyone want to bet Steven Anderson is yet another closeted Ted Haggard/Larry Craig/Ken Mehlman/Mark Foley gay?)

Heard about the new real estate scam? (hint - realtors ain't done yet)

Everyone heard about the new realtor/homedebtor scam?

I'll sum it up as quick as I can.

1) F*cked homedebtor owes $500,000 on a place now worth $250,000. But they're still employed, can still borrow from a stupid bank (who sells the paper to Fannie)

2) Encouraged by realtors and mortgage brokers, the upside down homedebtor buys the similar place across the street for $250,000.

3) F*cked homedebtor then stops paying on their original home, as they move into their new home. They rent out the old home and earn $2,000 a month cash

4) A year goes by, the homedebtor is finally foreclosed, up $24,000 in cash, and has a $250,000 mortgage instead of a $500,000 one.

America. What a country.

Read the Time magazine cover story on the scam in Vegas. You'll hurl. Here's a snippet.

Boemio specializes in short selling, in a particularly Vegas way. Basically, she finds clients who owe more on their house than the house is worth (and that's about 60% of homeowners in Las Vegas) and sells them a new house similar to the one they've been living in at half the price they paid for their old house.

Then she tells them to stop paying the mortgage on their old place until the bank becomes so fed up that it's willing to let the owner sell the house at a huge loss rather than dragging everyone through foreclosure. Since that takes about nine months, many of the owners even rent out their old house in the interim, pocketing a profit.

Call it by its name. Ignorance.

Ignorant of economics.

Ignorant of history.

Ignorant of religion.

Ignorant of science.

Ignorant of world affairs.

Ignorant of math.

Ignorant of facts.

Ignorant of the fact that they're ignorant.

Willfully ignorant. Swimming in ignorance. Celebrating ignorance.

America, circa 2009. Watching (hopefully) the death throes of ignorance.

America, circa 2009. Where a new and informed generation can't come along soon enough.



[Glad to be retired from blogging during this summer of ignorant American rage]

Eliot Spitzer on the Fed: "This is a Ponzi scheme, an inside job. It is outrageous."

"Let me tell you a dirty secret, the Fed has done a disastrous job since Paul Volcker left. They've created multiple bubbles without permitting the economy underneath it to grow. This is a Ponzi scheme, an inside job. It is outrageous."

- Eliot Spitzer, July 2009


(still retired, but loved the quote, and love Spitzer despite the hookers)

Message from Peter Schiff - "It's time we made ourselves heard". Peter Schiff announces run for US Senate - will take on the corrupt idiot Chris Dodd

(Out of retirement for this word from Schiff)

An Important Political Message From Peter Schiff

Dear Friend,

As you may know, I am seriously considering seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, and I’ve launched www.SchiffForSenate.com to help me gauge support for my candidacy.

As one of the few economists with a record of successfully forecasting the recession, I can say with certainty that unless we return to true free-market principles, our economy will not rebound. Our families will continue to suffer. Unemployment and inflation will continue to rise. Our debt and deficits will continue to grow.

It is time to change course. Unfortunately, Congress and the President are continuing down the reckless path of more spending, more government intervention and more restrictions on free enterprise and individual liberty. Socialism has never worked anywhere, and it won’t work here. Washington must have the courage to stand by our founding principles in this time of crisis. Our politicians do not understand the stakes – which is why I am considering a run for the U.S. Senate.

But I am a practical man. I know that the political deck is stacked against me, and that wild card candidates almost never win. But I do have an ace up my sleeve, and that is like-minded people across the country who share my ideals. If I can’t translate that support into campaign cash, then I have no hope of defeating an entrenched political machine.

Polls suggest that the race is winnable and I am ready to make the personal and financial sacrifice necessary to run. But I can’t win this race alone. If the support is there, I will answer the call. However, if the public sentiment for my campaign is not there, and I decide not to run, I will return the unspent contributions. The decision now rests with you. So make your voice heard by contributing and signing-up at www.SchiffForSenate.com.

Free-market conservatives have an opportunity in 2010. With your help and support, I believe this will be our generation’s chance to make a difference for ourselves and our children. Join me at www.SchiffForSenate.com.

It’s time we made ourselves heard.

Best regards,

Peter Schiff

Walkin' Away

Sorry folks, but heading off on a long adventure (without internet), so time to sign off.

I hope HP and S&A were helpful, and made you think.

That was my goal.

Cheers.



"Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks!" - Porky Pig

"The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity" - Winston Churchill

Has the Iranian Revolution 2.0 had an impact on you? Or are you more interested in what was on sale at Wal-Mart this weekend?

"The revolution is your legacy. To protest against lies and fraud is your right. Be hopeful that you will get your right and do not allow others who want to provoke your anger to prevail."

- Mir Hossein Mousavi, June 21, 2009

We tried to warn the Latvians that their economy was overheating, that their "Baltic Tiger" was simply a Ponzi Scheme. They didn't listen.

And now the lives of their citizens are ruined.

It didn't have to be.

Maybe next time they won't listen to realtors and developers and bankers.

And next time British dentists call up to buy 2-bedroom flats sight-unseen, just drop the call.

Latvians shell-shocked, resigned to economic pain

Schoolteacher Daila Klinstone has seen half her income disappear in Latvia's budget cuts. But she is more shell-shocked than angry and says she will not take to the streets in protest.

Teachers, hospital workers and pensioners are taking the heaviest blows in Latvia's battle to avert national bankruptcy. The health minister has quit rather than impose the latest cuts - the 'easy path' according to Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis [ID:nLH629470].

"I have three children... all of whom I have to support on my salary that'll be 124 lats ($245.9)," said Klinstone, a 47-year-old physics and chemistry teacher in Riga.

"I have no idea how we'll survive."

This is the kind of intelligent political debate I want to see. Not the hate porn O'Reilly and Hannity serve up day after day after day after day.

Calm. Rational. Intelligent. Civil.

The only thing missing is a woman.

Two rich white men debating abortion is like two Hungarians debating Ethiopian fiscal policy.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 2
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Extended Interview Pt. 3
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Jason Jones in Iran

Andrew Sullivan nails it. "Iranians are now leading the rest of us."

"I wrote a couple weeks back that something is happening in Iran. But it is not the only place where something is happening. The rejection of al Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan; the ground-up election of Obama in America; and now the rising up of Iranians for freedom and civility with their neighbors: these are the green shoots of recovery from 9/11 and its wake.

Empowered by new information technology, chastened by the apocalyptic conflicts of the last few years, determined to shift course away from civilizational warfare, the people of many countries are grasping for a new order and a new peace.

It will not be easy; and it will not be short. But it is the only path worth taking.

And these Iranians are now leading the rest of us."

- Andrew Sullivan, June 20, 2009

China had an easy time with it. They let them gather in one place, then they mowed them down with their tanks. In Iran, not so easy.

Why?

Because the freedom fighters are EVERYWHERE.

This is what a hero looks like

"I also know that Iran’s women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I’ve seen them urging less courageous men on. I’ve seen them get beaten and return to the fray. “Why are you sitting there?” one shouted at a couple of men perched on the sidewalk on Saturday. “Get up! Get up!”

Another green-eyed woman, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square. Cries of “Death to the dictator!” and “We want liberty!” accompanied her."

- Roger Cohen, NYT, June 20, 2009

Death to the Ayatollah.

Few against many. And eventually, the many will (hopefully) kill the few.

It is over. The evil despotic regime in Iran has fallen. They may not know it now. Or maybe they do. But they will be swinging from ropes soon.

[WARNING - GRAPHIC, AS REAL REVOLUTIONS ARE]



Very soon.

Very soon.

The despots are in their last days.

It hath been foretold.

These citizens are done with their leadership. The trust has completely and irretrievably dissipated, and the fear, although present, is not sufficient, especially as it becomes more clear the army will remain on the sidelines. And the mullahs have opened all the playbooks on repression and crowd control simultaneously; it's a smorgasboard attempt at blocking the rising tide of resentment; if you'll recall, that's called the mullah's-ass-on-a-pressure-cooker-lid-to-retard-fulmination rule. If things look bad with the pressure cooker, piling more mullahs on the lid will only result in a more spectacular finish.

If the Warsaw Ghetto uprising had been broadcast to the entire world, Hitler's demise most surely would have come several years sooner. The mullahs have no way out. They are, essentially, fucked. It's now only a matter of time. And Iran's negotiations on their nuclear program? Suspended indefinitely due to lack of credibility; nobody will believe anything they say now.

TICK, TOCK, MOTHERF*****...

I wish the Iranian revolutionaries had guns

[WARNING - GRAPHIC VIDEO]





This is not the time for peaceful protest, as the Ayatollah's thugs shoot people in the streets like dogs.

This is a revolution. This is war.

And revolutionaries, when being fired upon by despots, need guns. Not slogans. Not chants. Not rocks.

They need to decapitate this evil regime.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice"

"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples' belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness."

-President Barack Obama, June 20, 2009

This is how morally corrupt and ruthless totalitarian dictatorships treat their women

Put bags on them, treat them like dogs, and beat 'em.

The men of Iran who are not with the regime should take matters into their own hands.

The world is watching.