Dear Government,
I have had a tough past couple years. I didnt do a good job planning my personal finances... things didn’t turn out the way I was hoping.
Can I get bailed out?
I have debt! I have a falling credit rating! I have bills to pay soon or else things will get really bad...
George Bush, can you bail me out?
Henry Paulson, can I be bailled out?
Governor, can I receive a bail out?
I’ll promise not to waste money in the future.
And I only need a few thousand dollars to get me through the next few months, then I have a feeling things will start looking up.
So, can you get my back this month, ok?
I’ll pay you back when things turn around.
Promise.
Thanks,
The American People
September 17, 2008
How Deep Does the Financial Crisis Rabbit Hole Go?
Lots of people have lost and will lose lots of money as a result of the financial industry collapsing. Very simply, it was caused by loans being given to people who wouldn’t be able to fulfill the terms. This was made possible by deregulation, low interest rates, and creative financing tools created by the largest banks. The results have been foreclosed homes and falling home worth, a collapsing financial system, and an economy facing days not seen in most of our lifetimes.
Several companies, like investment banks, helped make all this possible. One of these companies had a Chief Executive, who made out with over $500 million dollars in 2006 alone. In 2005, he was the highest compensated Chief Executive. While this CEO was running Goldman Saches, they were involved in some of the most risky of the all the loans, the most heinous, the type that helped create this mess. This guy got out of Goldman well before the collapse.
Today, he is in charge of the Treasury, Henry Paulson. He’s responsible for all our currency and making sure our economy functions. He even signed all our cash (printed after 2006. Yes, it is okay to look in your pocket, assuming you have any of that stuff left.)
So to break this down, in 2006, George W. Bush chose this man, Henry M Paulson, out of hundreds of CEOs and financial experts throughout this nation, the same man who is partly responsible for the mess we see today, to be in charge of our Treasury and advise George Bush on the economy.
How deep does this rabbit hole go?
Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/business/04goldman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Several companies, like investment banks, helped make all this possible. One of these companies had a Chief Executive, who made out with over $500 million dollars in 2006 alone. In 2005, he was the highest compensated Chief Executive. While this CEO was running Goldman Saches, they were involved in some of the most risky of the all the loans, the most heinous, the type that helped create this mess. This guy got out of Goldman well before the collapse.
Today, he is in charge of the Treasury, Henry Paulson. He’s responsible for all our currency and making sure our economy functions. He even signed all our cash (printed after 2006. Yes, it is okay to look in your pocket, assuming you have any of that stuff left.)
So to break this down, in 2006, George W. Bush chose this man, Henry M Paulson, out of hundreds of CEOs and financial experts throughout this nation, the same man who is partly responsible for the mess we see today, to be in charge of our Treasury and advise George Bush on the economy.
How deep does this rabbit hole go?
Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/business/04goldman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
September 4, 2008
Of The Grand Old Party - The Three Types of Republicans
After closely watching the past eight years, I’ve learned a few things about the Republican party. Though much of the past eight years is beyond rational explanation, it can be pieced together to form some sort of irrational logic. First though, the big picture, what makes up the Republican party. It takes a master of marketing to have seamlessly connected corporate America, evangelicals and much of the religious population, and the “patriots” into the same political party. They have done a mighty successful job in creating this “coalition.” If some of the members were aware of the planned deception to create this coalition, it would dissolve rather quickly.
As I see it, there are three types of Republicans. The driving force behind the party are the ones in it for economic reasons, mainly lower taxes. The People in this group can be the top 1%, but can also include anyone who is “well-off” and feel they don’t need the government taking a percent of their money. They feel they do just fine with or without the government. The top 0.1% who are the backbone of the modern Republican party have had great benefits from electing politicians who implement their deceptive economic policies into law. I could go into detail about this, but I’m sure you can think of your own favorite example. These wealthy Republicans fund the majority of the Party’s activities, but don’t care to be the foot-soldiers or get involved in the politics. They want their lower taxes and their “corporate friendly” policies implemented.
Then there are the Religious crowd. To understand this group, you first have to realize that these religious people believe the Bible is factual. They feel their morals and ideas are right, and there is no question in their minds. They feel a need to spread the message of “Jesus” and they are in a “holy war” to do it. Obviously the leaders, Pastors and other Fallwell-likes, realize it’s bullshit, but they are making millions and millions off it, so they just continue to lead the heard and distort the meaning of religion for their own profit. This group is dedicated to their beliefs, so they become very active in the Republican party, they are defending their values after all... Talk radio and Fox News (to some extent) has connected the religious values to the Republican party. In this groups mind, voting for a Democrat is as horrendous as saying Jesus isn’t real. That’s what years of Rush and the Evangelical Church can do to a trusting mind.
Finally there are the “Patriots” who care so deeply about America, they are convinced half of the country is out to destroy it. The Republican party has done an amazing job of dressing themselves up in the flag over the past 60 years, and have sold this group that only the Republican party will make America the best it came be. The motivation for this is to connect a better America with a stronger Military. This plan was devised by the Military Industrial Complex to encourage spending on the Military when none is necessary. The Strongest America would be one where we no longer need a military budget at the levels we have today, but then how would we prove to ourselves we were the strongest?
In future diaries I will explain how events of the past 8 years have fit into each of these three categories. They have started with the Economic reason, and then used the other two to get the ideas implemented. We live in a complex and unclear world today, but it has become that way because the full explanation of events has not been shown to the average citizen. When the scheming nature of it all is laid out, it will hopefully make many on the political-right question their allegiance.... or maybe I’m just a dreamer...
As I see it, there are three types of Republicans. The driving force behind the party are the ones in it for economic reasons, mainly lower taxes. The People in this group can be the top 1%, but can also include anyone who is “well-off” and feel they don’t need the government taking a percent of their money. They feel they do just fine with or without the government. The top 0.1% who are the backbone of the modern Republican party have had great benefits from electing politicians who implement their deceptive economic policies into law. I could go into detail about this, but I’m sure you can think of your own favorite example. These wealthy Republicans fund the majority of the Party’s activities, but don’t care to be the foot-soldiers or get involved in the politics. They want their lower taxes and their “corporate friendly” policies implemented.
Then there are the Religious crowd. To understand this group, you first have to realize that these religious people believe the Bible is factual. They feel their morals and ideas are right, and there is no question in their minds. They feel a need to spread the message of “Jesus” and they are in a “holy war” to do it. Obviously the leaders, Pastors and other Fallwell-likes, realize it’s bullshit, but they are making millions and millions off it, so they just continue to lead the heard and distort the meaning of religion for their own profit. This group is dedicated to their beliefs, so they become very active in the Republican party, they are defending their values after all... Talk radio and Fox News (to some extent) has connected the religious values to the Republican party. In this groups mind, voting for a Democrat is as horrendous as saying Jesus isn’t real. That’s what years of Rush and the Evangelical Church can do to a trusting mind.
Finally there are the “Patriots” who care so deeply about America, they are convinced half of the country is out to destroy it. The Republican party has done an amazing job of dressing themselves up in the flag over the past 60 years, and have sold this group that only the Republican party will make America the best it came be. The motivation for this is to connect a better America with a stronger Military. This plan was devised by the Military Industrial Complex to encourage spending on the Military when none is necessary. The Strongest America would be one where we no longer need a military budget at the levels we have today, but then how would we prove to ourselves we were the strongest?
In future diaries I will explain how events of the past 8 years have fit into each of these three categories. They have started with the Economic reason, and then used the other two to get the ideas implemented. We live in a complex and unclear world today, but it has become that way because the full explanation of events has not been shown to the average citizen. When the scheming nature of it all is laid out, it will hopefully make many on the political-right question their allegiance.... or maybe I’m just a dreamer...
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