Veterans: Lip Service, Bankers: Billions & America: Foreclosures - Here's The Fix
One thing about doing a two hour show that heavily covers both the financial crisis and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that you notice on a daily basis the shocking juxtaposition between the lucky Wall Streeters and the unlucky soldiers.
We all know at this point that our banking system is being used as an unregulated bonus-seeking mechanism for bankers, now underwritten by taxpayers with $23.7 trillion worth of national wealth.
Bankers lent pretend money to home buyers to award themselves actual money in bonuses -- making home prices balloon and, in the process, bankrupting America's treasury, currency, the states, and many of its citizens.
To simply let the housing market rapidly correct itself (or more likely over-correct) would result in massive societal disruption, possible violence and unnecessary suffering.
So while we slowly attempt to close the taxpayer-funded bank casinos and try to restore the basic rules of investment and lending in our economy, we have difficult decisions to make. Unfortunately, our only choice for a less jarring social transition so far has been to artificially adjust the real prices of our homes via government guarantees to banks (for bad mortgages and losing gambling bets) -- or relatively arbitrary handouts to home buyers.
What did these people do to deserve the handout?
How do you feel about a Wall Street Banker who has been renting an apartment here in New York and this year combined the bonus money he made on bundling new taxpayer-sponsored Fannie Mae CDS with a first-time home buyers tax credit gift from the taxpayers to buy the penthouse in his building?
Meanwhile, we have already been at war for 8 years with no end in sight. World War II was 5 years. We are fighting these wars with the fewest number of soldiers in modern U.S. History. To avoid incorporating a politically unpopular draft, we deploy the same soldiers five or six times with comparatively minuscule breaks in between.
However, the dire state of the economy has been a boon to military recruitment, but I am not sure if we will ever see the Wall Street bank scammers claim their rightful credit for that.
So instead of using these bad- (Wall Street) to- arbitrary (first time home buyers) ways to pump money into rescuing our housing market, let's give it to those who are truly deserving of handouts: our servicemen and women.
I propose that we immediately enact the following:
- Give every single man and woman that is fighting for us a housing credit of $50,000, with the caveat that the credit must be used by someone within two years.
- Make it so that the credits are completely fungible, meaning that if the veteran doesn't wish to buy a house, he or she can sell the credit to someone who does -- and keep the money. If the reselling of gift cards on Ebay is any indication, I am sure there will be a thriving market where soldiers could probably get pretty close to 90 cents on the dollar for their credit.
Considering the roughly 2 million veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan so far, this would give a much needed $100 billion boost to the housing market. Just as a template for comparison, Goldman Sachs (albeit it doing "God's work") and the other complicit banks like JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley will pay $29.4 billion in personal bonuses this year.
In reporting on this financial crisis, I have been most surprised by the blatant disregard that our politicians and even some journalists have shown for the most fundamental American notion of fairness. I don't think handing taxpayer trillions to some of the least worthy individuals is something that our country will stand for, regardless of what the current incumbents think.
If we must resort to handouts to save our country, let's at least put them in the hands of the most deserving.
Dylan Ratigan hosts MSNBC's "Morning Meeting," M-F at 9AM ET and "The Dylan Ratigan Show" on WABC Radio, Sunday at 7PM ET
Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DylanRatigan
Andy Stern: Goldman Sachs: It's Time to Put Country Before Company
We're taking to the streets because it seems as if companies like Goldman Sachs love their company more than their country. Goldman Sachs seems to salute no flag but their own corporate logo.
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Funny how the so called "Welfare Queens" were replaced with Big... too Big to touch "Welfare Corporations". And, how disgusting is the notion that are requesting bonuses and that their supposed bonuses are in fact earned, from f'ing gambling...by the "Certified" nod (for mega $$$$$$$)given them from Rating Agencies to sell this over leveraged junk. Then cry that "mark to market" was one of the major problems in valuing mortgages among other things. GRRRRRRRRR!
Dylan, please eat well, exercise and stay well rested. We need you around for a long time to keep us informed. I know that it's hard. I'm an Accountant and understanding some of the cause of this melt down. What I've concluded is...ARROGANT acts of malfeasances, corruption and deception...oooowwwhhhh.... makes my head hurt.
Dylan, when are they going to give you the other hour Chris Matthews eats up in the pm, or Keith or Rachel.
All your ideas are excellent. I am sick of all this flag waving when it comes to veterans, we need to put our collective monies where our mouths are.
I think the American people deserve another avenue to invest their money and I say it's time for a National Bank. We have savings bonds, so don't say you can't have a National; Savings Plan. The bank could do what every other bank does, only the profits would be shared among the people, not just shareholders and executives. If offered an attractive rate of return, Americans would invest in droves, esp. those approaching retirement age. Alot of people want out of the market or at least a partial out. Why can't we form a National Bank?
Additional suggestions:
*$1 charge for each stock transaction. Use as a Reserve Fund and to Repay TARP
*Break up the Big Banks - Reinstate Glass-Steagall
*"Twinkie/Junk Food Tax", nickel per bottle,burger, twinkie,etc
*NO TAX BREAKS TO BUILDERS
But paying government employees is _socialism_!
Heh.
If you _really_ want to help out the military, advocate for progressive taxation. The Army already offers five-digit enlistment and reenlistment bonuses - but they're rather heavily taxed.
Most of our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen fall solidly in the lower-middle class, and officers in the middle class. As such, they carry a disproportionate amount of the tax burden that, ironically, goes to pay their own salaries and benefits.
Although I dig you Dylan... the solution needs to go further.
Nationalize all of the Biggest Banks for a period of 6 months. Then go through and sort out the worthless
and the worthwhiles. Then sell off the Banks as new.
Make Reform in Laws that make it illegal to short sell, and any other negative consequential financial
game.
The new banks will be set up to lend and invest.....
I like you idea about the service people getting funds. I would base this on how many deployments they've had.
I'd also like everyone who had a mortgage from the bubble years to be able to take 1/2 pt. off their mortgage to allow more discretionary funds for these folks.
Hope these make you think?
There are so many ideas. it's the implementation that will be the tough part,. .
as a viet era vet I cannot for the life of me figure out why these solders take these multiple deployments, and where they get the numb nutted generals to do this nonsense to their own men, we are to a point of not being able to defend our nation, and this is just in man power, the USA does not even have a merchant fleet, it cheaper to let the Chinese do it, one step further, we don't have any heavy manufacturing, maybe the most favored nation will help us when we really need it. . .
dylan you tell us? nobody up there is listening, i am every day more disgusted with system political and economical. we made sense when we had a communist military threat now we do not and we lose to china.
we need a new republic , this has failed but no one no one has the cojones to even talk some sense. toward real change for the people by the people
Nader certainly does
Emigrate and pay taxes where the money goes to benefit the people first instead of handouts to corporations in the form of bailouts, subsidies, tax breaks, lucrative overpriced defense or other government contracts to private companies
Dylan is an insider who didn't sell out!
He knows the game is rigged and he's calling the greedy pigs out!
This is democracy!
Finally a guy on TV who has the intellect and the insight to see the issues and put forth solutions.
Seriously if Dylan can spawn some copycat talkshow hosts....it would make the people in this country smarter, more informed, and will perhaps will rally a true change in reform.
Bring this country back to the dignity we had after WWII......Make US PROUD TO BE AMERICAN!!!!!
NOT BY WORDS BUT BY DEEDS!!!!
You guys are the smartest Hpost bloggers around!
Dylan Ratigan has the best show in town.
Too bad he's in the AM.
He needs to go PRIMETIME!!!!!!!
The whole country is screwed. I dread to think how much worse it will be when a Republican administration gets back into power, because even this administration has no clue how to fix things economically or monetarily. They're currently trying to recreate the Clinton years which will never come back, because the wealth has already been taken from the middle class in that bubble of false prosperity during the 90's. It's over for America. The only way forward is down.
Time to go for a walk.
i think Dylan should have a PM Meeting..........
that time frame 9A - 11A , face it, people are at work.......
OR LOOKING FOR WORK, OR STILL SLEEPING BECAUSE THEY CANNOT FIND WORK, AND ARE DEPRESSED....
aside from that..
this Morning Meeting was so profound. today...always is.
i love Dylan Ratigan....he is brilliant.......
amazing to watch him, absorbing every word of his guests............retorting so intelligently, fluently.........
managing the flow of his show. the guy is brilliant., and cool and funny, and so nice and appreciative of his regulars, staff.
and he will call a spade a spade!.
America needs your voice Dylan but I sadly disagree with your hopeful statement: "I don't think handing taxpayer trillions to some of the least worthy individuals is something that our country will stand for, regardless of what the current incumbents think." As a former securities dealer who witnessed this fleecing, I don't think John Q Public will get involved. The vocal rabble (i.e. teabaggers, birthers) who presently have the ears of the politicians don't understand these financial machinations; it can't be explained to them in bumper-sticker sentences. The banking/investment lobby drowns out the minority of us who do understand this, and the rest of America is either apathetic or too busy surviving.
As proof of this, I've recently done work for a company that is packaging life settlement-backed securities, known as death bonds. There's no regulation and its the same players involved. This is even scarier to me because this time the financial security of all the life insurers (i.e.John Hancock, Met Life, Prudential etc.) are at risk. America sleeps while the greedy beast consumes.
Keep talking Dylan! Please!
There's a problem Dylan. Some of these soldiers have been so messed up by the war that giving them this money without major counseling would once again line the pockets of profiteers and not the soldier.
Sad but true.
Too bad 'bout yer hog...
Dylan, Keep railing about the Afghanistan war. I wonder if I will live long enough to see the day when Americans will demand that Administrations not be allowed to get us into any more "boogie man" wars. We have sacrificed our youth in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan fighting the boogie man and then have our leaders convince us that these boogie man wars were victorious and that every dead soldier was justified. It's so sad, when will we put a stop to this?
Agreed. Good post.
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