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Michigan; Robbing the poor to feed the rich

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drunkscriblerian Street Writing Man from Castle Geekhaven Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: In season
Street Writing Man
#276: Mar 22nd 2011 at 9:15:53 PM

Republicans want to punish consumers who entered into untenable loan arrangements. They believe that by doing so, they'll teach some kind of "tough love" lesson. Never mind that their partners, the big bankers, are the ones who made mind-boggling sums of cash from the housing bubble, then extorted the government for more cash to avoid crippling the economy when it burst, and are now building palatial mansions from the stacked piles of money they earned with the resulting resurgence of the stock market and their ability to dictate credit terms to consumers.

Forgive me if I have no sympathy for them.

As a homeowner who borrowed within his means and then had said means change on a dime when the economy took a shit, I raise my glass to you. You have officially nailed it, sir.

Okay, let's look at the timeline...

  • Banks loan money to people regardless how how safe and/or sane it is.
  • Banks trade debt like a commodity, make millions of dollars.
  • Economy tanks; banks get tough lesson in basic economy (namely, that with debt someone -gasp!- has to pay the bill)
  • Banks ask Washington for extra money to bail out their bad decisions, flying to D.C. in private jets so they can be on time for the appointments in which they describe how poor they are.
  • Taxpayer money (read; yours, mine and every other tax-paying schmoe's hard-earned dollars) is disbursed to banks to bail out said bad decisions, with the promise that the homeowners who are actually getting squeezed won't suffer.
  • Banks take money, forget about promises and buy extra debt, thinking that more of a bad thing will save their asses.
  • "Robo-foreclosure" scandal hits; banks realize that hey, all these loans have to actually be paid back, and start seizing assets without regard to due process or basic decency. Somewhere in there, the media takes notice.
  • Present day: Banks own a lot of houses that won't sell, have a lot of debt that won't be paid back, and a bunch of home owners can't make their payments.

Someone forgot Econ 101, and I want to kick said person in the nuts.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#277: Mar 22nd 2011 at 9:17:17 PM

> media takes notice

And all it does is achieve the status of Paul Solman's columns on the PBS News Hour.

johnnyfog Actual Wrestling Legend from the Zocalo Since: Apr, 2010 Relationship Status: They can't hide forever. We've got satellites.
Actual Wrestling Legend
#278: Mar 22nd 2011 at 9:30:00 PM

^ Burn.

It's true, though. Even Democracy Now's audience lacks the attention span to understand a mortgage crisis.

People complain about there being no unbiased information anymore. Apart from Fox, the media isn't biased; in fact, it never takes a stand on anything. They bring on an endless parade of panel experts, none of whom are prepared to point at an actual cause of the housing bubble, just ruminations on how the economy is cyclical and everything is perfectly normal. The general consensus is, Shit happens.

I'm a skeptical squirrel
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Exploder Pretending to be human Since: Jan, 2001
Pretending to be human
#280: Mar 22nd 2011 at 10:13:46 PM

I guess this is somewhat relevant, apologies if not. I found this comment while Googling around, and Poe's Law probably doesn't even cover it:

As a rather wealthy conservative Republican, I have to admit that I hate poor people, a lot really. They are a drain on society, always complaining and begging for this or that. They just want to either get free money via taxes or break in to our beautiful homes to steal our belongings. What good are they, we can’t really depend on the poor to pay enough in taxes to support the programs that benefit US, the rightful heirs and successful Americans?

I don’t really have any sympathy for the so-called under-privileged, not at all. They drive junky little cars and wear clothing that looks awful, have no sense of real culture, and many of them are sick, too, and a real burden on the rest of us citizens who take personal responsibility for our own healthcare costs, while they clog up the emergency rooms with their whining and wheezing. I know that most poor people smoke and drink cheap liquor so they are more likely to have chronic illnesses, and of course cost the rest of us a lot of money.

It’s ridiculous for good conservative Americans to pretend that we really have any sympathy or wish anything but a swift demise for the lower classes. If you are honest with yourself, you don’t have to apologize for hating the poor.

Leon Foonman M.D

Linhasxoc Since: Jun, 2009
#281: Mar 22nd 2011 at 10:15:08 PM

I really, really hope that's a Poe.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#282: Mar 22nd 2011 at 10:53:06 PM

Sounds like a kid I used to know. Though I never did figure out if his public rants were actually genuine or not.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
rjung He's just some guy, you know? from Fifth and Main (Five Year Plan) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
He's just some guy, you know?
#283: Mar 23rd 2011 at 12:20:11 AM

I wish it was a parody or troll, but I'm sure it's real.

Since when did "Republican" become a synonym for "sociopath"?

—R.J.

Wulf Gotta trope, dood! from Louisiana Since: Jan, 2001
Gotta trope, dood!
#284: Mar 23rd 2011 at 3:22:56 AM

Pretty sure it's a troll. The fake last name gives it away.

They lost me. Forgot me. Made you from parts of me. If you're the One, my father's son, what am I supposed to be?
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#285: Mar 23rd 2011 at 7:37:03 AM

@ Tomu: "I only watch Maddow"

You should watch the PBS News Hour. They actually reported some about the Wisconsin protests, while the other major networks—whose 30-minutes-with-ads evening news programs are FAR less substantial in content than PBS's 1-hour-with-no-ads News Hour (literally)—just ignored those protests, even while reporting on Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Egypt.

And I'm sure if shit hits the fan in Michigan, the PBS News Hour is the most likely among the evening news programs to talk about it.

And I don't mean anything bad against Paul Solman. He is actually the coolest of the News Hour reporters, and frequently does his Making $ense column, which is filled with unusually observant humor.

Seriously, check him out.

Ratix from Someplace, Maryland Since: Sep, 2010
TheyCallMeTomu Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
#287: Mar 23rd 2011 at 8:14:53 AM

Oh that's right, I do ON OCCASION watch Newshour as well.

But I haven't since dad died-it was basically the main news show he watched, so, you know...

edited 23rd Mar '11 8:15:15 AM by TheyCallMeTomu

tnu1138 Dracula Since: Apr, 2009
Dracula
#288: Mar 23rd 2011 at 9:32:36 AM

[up][up] Wait as econd was that a joke on that other thread?

We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
Ratix from Someplace, Maryland Since: Sep, 2010
tnu1138 Dracula Since: Apr, 2009
Dracula
#290: Mar 23rd 2011 at 9:34:50 AM

I thought so. though to be fair and i'm playing devils advocate here you ahve to factor in several expenses.

We must survive, all of us. The blood of a human for me, a cooked bird for you. Where is the difference?
rjung He's just some guy, you know? from Fifth and Main (Five Year Plan) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
He's just some guy, you know?
#291: Mar 23rd 2011 at 11:54:03 AM

Pretty sure it's a troll. The fake last name gives it away.

Have you Googled "Leon Foonman"? That name's been bouncing around the interwebs for at least five years now...

—R.J.

Exploder Pretending to be human Since: Jan, 2001
Pretending to be human
#292: Mar 23rd 2011 at 11:59:18 AM

Actually I think I'll just the post the similarly hilarious article under which it was posted and let y'all have a good laugh.

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