Seeking their own moral level, Bank of America — among other major banks — is financing payday lenders, probably the lowest predator scum on the planet.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Monday, October 31, 2011
happy halloween
From the morally bankrupt corporate culture of the Steven J. Baum foreclosure mill.
If this woman was my employee, I would place her in some sort of counseling, and have her work with the homeless as a condition of her further employment. She and many of the others in this company need to learn a little empathy and compassion.
Of course, those who work in the "vulture trades" need to distance themselves from humanity, or they couldn't do what they do. They could never envision themselves in the position of those they mock.
It's sickening, and they should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
The amazing story is here.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
simple, direct action
I've created two petitions on the White House "We the People" website. The first calls for a moratorium on all foreclosures until unemployment stabilizes at 4%.
The second calls for an honest accounting in the unemployment numbers. Currently, large groups of unemployed workers are not counted.
I am largely self employed, and am without work. I receive no federal unemployment benefits and am at very high risk for homelessness right now.
Please consider signing these, creating your own petitions, and becoming active with feedback directly to the White House.
The last 30 years of apathy have contributed to the situation we are in now. We can no longer afford not becoming individually involved.
I am largely self employed, and am without work. I receive no federal unemployment benefits and am at very high risk for homelessness right now.
Please consider signing these, creating your own petitions, and becoming active with feedback directly to the White House.
The last 30 years of apathy have contributed to the situation we are in now. We can no longer afford not becoming individually involved.
Friday, October 14, 2011
the personal cost
This is my personal take on an issue that's seldom covered by the media — the crushing emotional toll of living in this economy without having work.
Imagine a continuous panic attack, high anxiety that just won't go away and being unable to sleep, night after night. Imagine having to balance completely inadequate financial resources every month with bills that can never be paid. Imagine hurtling towards a cliff and seeing that there is nothing you can do to stop going over into total destruction.
Imagine living that, knowing that nobody in your local or national government gives a damn or is going to offer any help — not, of course just for me, but for the millions upon millions sinking into poverty every day. We are truly on our own out here. I grew up believing the lie that there were always safety nets for the poor. I grew up believing that if you were just smart, honest and hard-working, everything would be fine.
My anger and rage at what is happening to this country is consuming. I now truly understand how bloody revolution is born. Career politicians who voted for "free trade" policies, including the brand new Korean FTA have raped our country of jobs. They need to GO, but they also need to be held accountable. The destruction of our middle class and working class isn't something we can recover from in the time-frame of a few years. It will take decades — if it ever happens.
My anger and rage is sometimes directed inwardly. I think about dying — all the time. But more and more, my anger is directed at its rightful source, banks, corporations, politicians and wall street. I feel that with all the people who are in this same situation, at last we have a voice with the Occupy movement.
The partisan bickering, blaming and gaming that's happening in my home town, Washington DC is intolerable. The people who live and work there are truly sheltered from reality. America burns while the fools in congress obstruct and play their political left/right games. This crisis of an economy has shown me how little relevance our federal government has, and how little my vote counts. Without massive, sweeping change of the players, there will be no change in this country.
I'm not nearly as poor as a lot of people in this country. But I'm finding it more and more difficult to get up each day and be positive about finding work of any kind. My true feeling is that I will never have work again. I'm in my late 50's and nobody is hiring anyone in that age range that I can see. If you think this doesn't eat into your sense of self worth, you haven't been there — yet.
I've left behind a few friends in this personal crisis — most just do not understand what it is like to be in this vulnerable state and are in total denial about how bad our economy is.
A "friend" ask me what I'm doing to prepare. She said I should have seen this coming for awhile, implying, I suppose, something about my abilities or lack thereof. The very question enrages me. It's as if this is my problem alone. I'll tell you this now: there is no roadmap for homelessness. How can a person possibly prepare for that? Nothing in my life up to this point has prepared me to even think about something so catastrophic. I can prepare for hard times (and have) by growing my own food, canning, dehydrating, learning farm skills, doing without, etc. I can't prepare for not having a place to put all those preps. I can't prepare for not having land to grow on.
So, small steps, because it's all I can think of to do: I'm shredding (laboriously by scissor) about 10 years worth of old paperwork, taxes, bills, etc. I'm teaching the cats to live outdoors. I've called a breed-specific rescue about my dog. I'm selling off my life's possessions, some things that have been in my family for many years at yard sales. For pennies of their worth. Sold a few things on ebay. I'm trying to sell my house. I'm trying to give away or sell most everything I own, and should be living in an almost-empty house by the spring.
Andrew Mellon once notoriously proclaimed, “During depressions, assets return to their rightful owners.” The (criminal) repossession of real estate and other assets is happening all over this country, to the satisfaction of the wealthy.
Imagine a continuous panic attack, high anxiety that just won't go away and being unable to sleep, night after night. Imagine having to balance completely inadequate financial resources every month with bills that can never be paid. Imagine hurtling towards a cliff and seeing that there is nothing you can do to stop going over into total destruction.
Imagine living that, knowing that nobody in your local or national government gives a damn or is going to offer any help — not, of course just for me, but for the millions upon millions sinking into poverty every day. We are truly on our own out here. I grew up believing the lie that there were always safety nets for the poor. I grew up believing that if you were just smart, honest and hard-working, everything would be fine.
My anger and rage at what is happening to this country is consuming. I now truly understand how bloody revolution is born. Career politicians who voted for "free trade" policies, including the brand new Korean FTA have raped our country of jobs. They need to GO, but they also need to be held accountable. The destruction of our middle class and working class isn't something we can recover from in the time-frame of a few years. It will take decades — if it ever happens.
My anger and rage is sometimes directed inwardly. I think about dying — all the time. But more and more, my anger is directed at its rightful source, banks, corporations, politicians and wall street. I feel that with all the people who are in this same situation, at last we have a voice with the Occupy movement.
The partisan bickering, blaming and gaming that's happening in my home town, Washington DC is intolerable. The people who live and work there are truly sheltered from reality. America burns while the fools in congress obstruct and play their political left/right games. This crisis of an economy has shown me how little relevance our federal government has, and how little my vote counts. Without massive, sweeping change of the players, there will be no change in this country.
I'm not nearly as poor as a lot of people in this country. But I'm finding it more and more difficult to get up each day and be positive about finding work of any kind. My true feeling is that I will never have work again. I'm in my late 50's and nobody is hiring anyone in that age range that I can see. If you think this doesn't eat into your sense of self worth, you haven't been there — yet.
I've left behind a few friends in this personal crisis — most just do not understand what it is like to be in this vulnerable state and are in total denial about how bad our economy is.
A "friend" ask me what I'm doing to prepare. She said I should have seen this coming for awhile, implying, I suppose, something about my abilities or lack thereof. The very question enrages me. It's as if this is my problem alone. I'll tell you this now: there is no roadmap for homelessness. How can a person possibly prepare for that? Nothing in my life up to this point has prepared me to even think about something so catastrophic. I can prepare for hard times (and have) by growing my own food, canning, dehydrating, learning farm skills, doing without, etc. I can't prepare for not having a place to put all those preps. I can't prepare for not having land to grow on.
So, small steps, because it's all I can think of to do: I'm shredding (laboriously by scissor) about 10 years worth of old paperwork, taxes, bills, etc. I'm teaching the cats to live outdoors. I've called a breed-specific rescue about my dog. I'm selling off my life's possessions, some things that have been in my family for many years at yard sales. For pennies of their worth. Sold a few things on ebay. I'm trying to sell my house. I'm trying to give away or sell most everything I own, and should be living in an almost-empty house by the spring.
Andrew Mellon once notoriously proclaimed, “During depressions, assets return to their rightful owners.” The (criminal) repossession of real estate and other assets is happening all over this country, to the satisfaction of the wealthy.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
pin money
A possible source of occasional income for people who "own" a home is entering into room-sharing or short term rental ventures such as roomorama, airbnb, or wimdu.
I recently signed up with one of these and almost instantly got three separate bookings. My experience has been very positive. I just jumped in, figuring that if it was out there and thousands of people were doing it, it must be okay.
Maybe, maybe not.
There is a whole lot of tension brewing regarding these informal overnight rentals with some of the "official" innkeeping population.
To put it mildly, they aren't too happy. They want it all to go away, and many are seeking out these listings and ratting out the hosts to local governments for being unlicensed.
Are they afraid of the competition? We aren't offering the same kind of accommodations in most cases, so we're not really in the same market. I don't think the $30 room in someone's house is any competition for what a fancy b and b has to offer on any level. People with jobs and paid vacation time are going to go for something a heck of a lot more upscale than my second bedroom. I think we might be competing with the fleabag $29 motels, and I like the fact that this alternative is out there — from my consumer-point-of-view.
With the economy like it is, the opportunity to make a little cash is very appealing to people with an extra room in their house. On the flip side, it's appealing to people who don't have money for recreational traveling and need something basic and inexpensive. Taking my teenager to college this past week, I stayed in 3 informal bnbs as well as couch-surfed on my trip — and the alternative would have been sleeping in the car or tent camping in RV parks.
It seem impossible that this is something that could be contained, given the internet and the explosion of the peer-to-peer sharing movement.
In many ways this parallels all the other "open source" stuff that is happening now, where people are providing goods and services without the benefit of being in an umbrella organization, or without "official" sanctioning. In other words, the whole "peer to peer" movement. A lot of this is new and maybe is in a gray area. And local governments all over are trying to figure out how they can own it and tax it.
Of course, folks in my position see no need for regulation. This isn't what we are doing for a living. We aren't professional innkeepers. This might be once a month, or once a season. Is it reasonable to require licensing and inspections and tax reporting (in some jurisdictions this can cost quite a lot) for something that has such a small impact in the local community, economy and personal income? These are truly desperate times — isn't it better to have people earn grocery money and make it possible to pay their bills rather than shutting them down when there are no jobs to be had?
Doesn't our government already regulate the heck out of everything now? I don't mean hotels, where many people are coming and going on a daily basis and food is served and there are employees, but Aunt Jenny's house down the block, where maybe once or twice a month she gets $50 for someone staying the night.
A retail comparison would be ebay, etsy, 1000 Markets, craigslist, yardsellr and the many other internet sales venues. It's pained the government for years that they can't [currently] collect sales tax on individual internet sales and, more importantly, regulate and track these sellers. They would eventually like to have total regulatory control over weekend yard sales.
The whole world of commerce is changing. New ways of flying under the radar are developing all the time, and in my opinion as a libertarian, that's a great thing.
Maybe, maybe not.
There is a whole lot of tension brewing regarding these informal overnight rentals with some of the "official" innkeeping population.
To put it mildly, they aren't too happy. They want it all to go away, and many are seeking out these listings and ratting out the hosts to local governments for being unlicensed.
Are they afraid of the competition? We aren't offering the same kind of accommodations in most cases, so we're not really in the same market. I don't think the $30 room in someone's house is any competition for what a fancy b and b has to offer on any level. People with jobs and paid vacation time are going to go for something a heck of a lot more upscale than my second bedroom. I think we might be competing with the fleabag $29 motels, and I like the fact that this alternative is out there — from my consumer-point-of-view.
With the economy like it is, the opportunity to make a little cash is very appealing to people with an extra room in their house. On the flip side, it's appealing to people who don't have money for recreational traveling and need something basic and inexpensive. Taking my teenager to college this past week, I stayed in 3 informal bnbs as well as couch-surfed on my trip — and the alternative would have been sleeping in the car or tent camping in RV parks.
It seem impossible that this is something that could be contained, given the internet and the explosion of the peer-to-peer sharing movement.
In many ways this parallels all the other "open source" stuff that is happening now, where people are providing goods and services without the benefit of being in an umbrella organization, or without "official" sanctioning. In other words, the whole "peer to peer" movement. A lot of this is new and maybe is in a gray area. And local governments all over are trying to figure out how they can own it and tax it.
Of course, folks in my position see no need for regulation. This isn't what we are doing for a living. We aren't professional innkeepers. This might be once a month, or once a season. Is it reasonable to require licensing and inspections and tax reporting (in some jurisdictions this can cost quite a lot) for something that has such a small impact in the local community, economy and personal income? These are truly desperate times — isn't it better to have people earn grocery money and make it possible to pay their bills rather than shutting them down when there are no jobs to be had?
Doesn't our government already regulate the heck out of everything now? I don't mean hotels, where many people are coming and going on a daily basis and food is served and there are employees, but Aunt Jenny's house down the block, where maybe once or twice a month she gets $50 for someone staying the night.
A retail comparison would be ebay, etsy, 1000 Markets, craigslist, yardsellr and the many other internet sales venues. It's pained the government for years that they can't [currently] collect sales tax on individual internet sales and, more importantly, regulate and track these sellers. They would eventually like to have total regulatory control over weekend yard sales.
The whole world of commerce is changing. New ways of flying under the radar are developing all the time, and in my opinion as a libertarian, that's a great thing.
Friday, August 12, 2011
mortgage counseling
In financial trouble? There's a wealth of programs that provide debt management and counseling; it appears to be a growing industry. These companies are staffed by nice, caring people who have very little power to actually help in a lot of cases.
Access to these programs is not hard to get. You can contact them on your own. Your state or local politicians, should you choose to inform them of your plight, can refer you to them, or write a letter to your mortgage holder — this is called Constituent Services, and they love doing it. It's really a last-ditch effort though, and in my experience only makes them feel like they are being useful, without actually being useful.
I don't want my state pols to feel satisfied, because they haven't accomplished anything really useful — and it distracts them from the larger problem — lack of real jobs, caused by their world trade and tax loophole policies. But I do want them to see the face of downhill mobility.
Without the ability of these counseling companies to offer you a meaningful source of income — a job — there really isn't a thing in the world they can offer with the exception of false hope. I've been down that road barefoot about a thousand miles already.
You know what would really help? Lets give the consumer credit folks the power to negotiate with the banksters to lower our mortgage balances to their true un-inflated levels. Their "loans" are not real money — understand how the fiat currency system works and you will understand this. Let's give them the power to find us jobs, even if they have to create them. I'd be happy to sweep streets or pick up litter for a living wage. It wouldn't have to be permanent. How about making the banksters part of the solution by encouraging mortgage forgiveness after a certain level of equity over value is reached?
While I'm on this utopian rant, let's end corporate overseas outsourcing for higher profits. Now. Let's throw the fucking criminal class of banksters and their paid-for politicians who brought us to this place in jail for life. Have I mentioned my anger today? I'm not the only one.
But hey, there's a bright side for me! Once I'm homeless, I'll qualify for even MORE social services, Section 8 housing vouchers, energy assistance, Medicaid, and full-on Welfare. Does this really make any sense as federal policy? Is it really smarter than ending "free" trade agreements, higher tax rates to corporations who don't hire US workers, higher import tariffs, and bringing back real opportunity?
I'd much rather just have a job.
Access to these programs is not hard to get. You can contact them on your own. Your state or local politicians, should you choose to inform them of your plight, can refer you to them, or write a letter to your mortgage holder — this is called Constituent Services, and they love doing it. It's really a last-ditch effort though, and in my experience only makes them feel like they are being useful, without actually being useful.
I don't want my state pols to feel satisfied, because they haven't accomplished anything really useful — and it distracts them from the larger problem — lack of real jobs, caused by their world trade and tax loophole policies. But I do want them to see the face of downhill mobility.
Without the ability of these counseling companies to offer you a meaningful source of income — a job — there really isn't a thing in the world they can offer with the exception of false hope. I've been down that road barefoot about a thousand miles already.
You know what would really help? Lets give the consumer credit folks the power to negotiate with the banksters to lower our mortgage balances to their true un-inflated levels. Their "loans" are not real money — understand how the fiat currency system works and you will understand this. Let's give them the power to find us jobs, even if they have to create them. I'd be happy to sweep streets or pick up litter for a living wage. It wouldn't have to be permanent. How about making the banksters part of the solution by encouraging mortgage forgiveness after a certain level of equity over value is reached?
While I'm on this utopian rant, let's end corporate overseas outsourcing for higher profits. Now. Let's throw the fucking criminal class of banksters and their paid-for politicians who brought us to this place in jail for life. Have I mentioned my anger today? I'm not the only one.
But hey, there's a bright side for me! Once I'm homeless, I'll qualify for even MORE social services, Section 8 housing vouchers, energy assistance, Medicaid, and full-on Welfare. Does this really make any sense as federal policy? Is it really smarter than ending "free" trade agreements, higher tax rates to corporations who don't hire US workers, higher import tariffs, and bringing back real opportunity?
I'd much rather just have a job.
Dubya returns (in spirit, at any rate)
So. I got my "official" foreclosure notice today.
Elsewhere this week—
The White House says Obama will vacation in Martha's Vineyard soon.
How very, very Dubya.
I do so hope he enjoys his vacation. How delightful a little get-away is! In the midst of all these pesky annoyances he really could use a little light fun. I hope he gets a chance to catch up with his buddies like Jamie Dimon and Brian Moynihan.
I personally hope to catch up with Brian for a nice long visit, when I will be camping out on his lawn in North Carolina after I get kicked out of my home. Or Wellesley, MA. Or Boston, or New York, or one of the other places he lives. Heck, with a nice little yearly compensation package of just under 2 million, and a net worth of god-only-knows-what, I'm sure he has a few other place he can call home.
Here's an interesting little tidbit from Forbes:
Nice little cash infusion, and I'm sure they need it. We wouldn't like BofA to feel the pain of being low on cash, would we? I know they are having a rough time with that nasty little fraud lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Homeowner's Loan Program, AKA, the Totally-Random-Lucky-Duck-Lottery, which will assist a very small percentage of homeowners in foreclosure is now closed. Yes, it was actually a random lottery drawing, with lucky winners receiving up to 2 years of help on forestalling foreclosure. As we know, "too big to fail" only applies to the banksters, not the millions of Americans soon to be homeless.
Elsewhere this week—
The White House says Obama will vacation in Martha's Vineyard soon.
How very, very Dubya.
I do so hope he enjoys his vacation. How delightful a little get-away is! In the midst of all these pesky annoyances he really could use a little light fun. I hope he gets a chance to catch up with his buddies like Jamie Dimon and Brian Moynihan.
Here's an interesting little tidbit from Forbes:
Bank of America Sold Mortgage Pool
To Fannie Mae08.10.11, 11:50 AM EDT
WSJ says bank agrees to sell 400,000 home loans to government-backed firm.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Bank of America has agreed to sell a portion of its home loan portfolio to Fannie Mae. The Journal said the deal to sell a pool of 400,000 loans to the government-sponsored mortgage holder was finalized last Friday.
The purchase price for the pool of loans, with an unpaid principal balance of $73 billion, is more than $500 million, according to one of the unnamed sources cited in the report.
The paper said the move is part of Bank of America's strategy to sell noncore holdings to rid itself of mortgage problems and preserve capital.
Nice little cash infusion, and I'm sure they need it. We wouldn't like BofA to feel the pain of being low on cash, would we? I know they are having a rough time with that nasty little fraud lawsuit.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Homeowner's Loan Program, AKA, the Totally-Random-Lucky-Duck-Lottery, which will assist a very small percentage of homeowners in foreclosure is now closed. Yes, it was actually a random lottery drawing, with lucky winners receiving up to 2 years of help on forestalling foreclosure. As we know, "too big to fail" only applies to the banksters, not the millions of Americans soon to be homeless.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
payday loans
Our of curiosity and financial desperation, I've done a little research into the "payday loan" industry.
Here's a little fine print for one company, who claims to make loans for much much less!! than typical payday loan companies. Let's explore their generosity:
Anyone who is teaching their children that people are "basically good" is doing them a serious disservice. My parents taught me this. My schools and churches taught me this. As a consequence, I waste a lot of time and emotional energy being shocked when it is proven to be, time and time again, wrong.
People are basically scum.
Satire! Don't hurt me!
Here's a little fine print for one company, who claims to make loans for much much less!! than typical payday loan companies. Let's explore their generosity:
- First time XXX XXXX Loans customers typically qualify for an installment loan of $250 to $800 with an APR of 360%, or 40% less than the average 602% APR for a payday loan. For example, a $600 loan from XXX XXX Loans at 359.01% APR would require 12 bi-weekly installment payments of $105.11. After the 12th successful payment, your loan would be paid in full. An average payday loan of $600 with an APR of 602% and a fourteen (14) day term would require one payment of $738.54.
- Average payday loan pricing is based on Texas-originated loans from CashNet USA (664%), ChecknGo (661%) and MyCashNow (485%) as of February 22, 2011.
Anyone who is teaching their children that people are "basically good" is doing them a serious disservice. My parents taught me this. My schools and churches taught me this. As a consequence, I waste a lot of time and emotional energy being shocked when it is proven to be, time and time again, wrong.
People are basically scum.
Satire! Don't hurt me!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
look back at the original WPA
Anger is growing that the US government has not recreated some version of the WPA to help the millions and millions of unemployed workers — the rapidly growing poverty class. The US is in an economic death spiral due to greed and corruption at the top. The loss of these millions of jobs is directly due to corrupt and ill-advised "free trade" abominations like NAFTA among other travesties of "governing". Maybe if our politicians were not owned by the banksters and corporations things would be different.
The reality is that the wealthy are NOT producers. They don't create jobs. They should not be a protected class. They need to be taxed. Their corporations need to be taxed. They need to bring jobs back to US workers or be taxed into oblivion.
Immoral republication wealth-protectionism will have consequences — just keep cutting those social safety nets, boys. The nouveau-poor are a growing part of the population, have less and less to lose, and they are angry and starting to organize. Business as usual — that day is over.
The reality is that the wealthy are NOT producers. They don't create jobs. They should not be a protected class. They need to be taxed. Their corporations need to be taxed. They need to bring jobs back to US workers or be taxed into oblivion.
Immoral republication wealth-protectionism will have consequences — just keep cutting those social safety nets, boys. The nouveau-poor are a growing part of the population, have less and less to lose, and they are angry and starting to organize. Business as usual — that day is over.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
visuals help...even when they are overwhelming
Here's a great visual representation of the US debt right now.
How anyone can be complacent about this is beyond me. I have two simple solutions: PURGE the Senate and Congress — START OVER with a whole new cast of characters who have no ties to banksters and corporations, and END THE FEDERAL RESERVE. You may say I'm a dreamer.
How anyone can be complacent about this is beyond me. I have two simple solutions: PURGE the Senate and Congress — START OVER with a whole new cast of characters who have no ties to banksters and corporations, and END THE FEDERAL RESERVE. You may say I'm a dreamer.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
join me?
Unemployment increased yet again this month. I think it's time to ramp up the action on outsourcing American corporations, with boycotts of imported products and services.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
US foreclosure update
Interactive map showing the current foreclosure rates by county, available here. Note the tabs to check out corresponding visuals regarding unemployment and median household income.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)