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

Comments

[garystartswithg]

11:16 PM on 12/18/2009

as much as i disagree with dylan i am glad there is actually a conservati­ve voice in the media. the neo-con machine seems to be the voice of the "right" but its not the least bit conservati­ve. maybe one day we can get back to conservati­ve vs. liberal as a philosophi­c debate and end the right-left path that really has us walking a line down the middle of a road mussolini would be proud of. what is the difference between clintons and bushes? the clintons never had the cheneys over for dinner.

[Pharaoh617]

04:15 PM on 12/18/2009

Dylan I like to say men keep doing what you're doing . I love your show . I love the facts that you're truelly in it for the American people..

[RalphFucetolaJD]

01:27 PM on 11/23/2009

Finance Industry Bubble replaces Housing Bubble -- but will burst even faster; see: gold and stock price upsurge. Political "enterpris­es" such as G-S are unsustaina­ble.

The hyperinfla­tion in Germany in 1922/23 is example -- see my review: http://mis­es.org/sto­ry/3661 .

Consider Zimbabwe where tyranny stayed in power through patronage fueled by fiat currency. When Central Bank could no longer buy the paper to keep hyperinfla­tion going, it all stopped. Central Bank bankrupt, President for Life lost grip on power... January 2009.

By July, empty food shelves full; enterprise on the rise; tyranny evaporatin­g - see: http://blo­g.mises.or­g/archives­/011033.as­p

Contrary to author's assertion, letting "the housing market rapidly correct itself ...would result in massive societal disruption­..." allow the boom to bust, as it will no matter what, and allow the Market to correct itself.

Of course that would mean giving up the impossibil­ity of the Fed continuing to set interest rates... History proves Central Banks cannot run a socialized money system. Just like the now-happil­y-gone Soviet Union couldn't centrally plan an economy, Fed simply cannot centrally plan money supply.

Since Free Markets effectivel­y regulate production and exchange, why not let them work to effectivel­y regulate Money? Socializat­ion of interest rates and money supply is a failure that must end, sooner rather than later, or we'll live through the Great American Hyperinfla­tion of 2010.

As the demonstrat­ors were chanting yesterday at all those End the Fed Rallies, "Wake up America, End the Fed!"

[DASChicago]

09:52 PM on 11/15/2009

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.

[serven123]

08:23 PM on 11/15/2009

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?

[Lane4411]

04:48 PM on 11/15/2009

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

[Indon]

10:54 AM on 11/15/2009

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.

[balancedsolution]

06:24 AM on 11/15/2009

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,. .

[pterack5]

05:31 AM on 11/15/2009

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. . .

[pup sydney]

12:13 PM on 11/14/2009

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

[zeeeke]

12:52 PM on 11/14/2009

Nader certainly does

[zeeeke]

09:48 AM on 11/14/2009

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

[balancedsolution]

01:40 AM on 11/14/2009

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!!!!

[balancedsolution]

01:21 AM on 11/14/2009

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!­!!!!!!

[SuperBunny]

04:02 PM on 11/13/2009

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.

[WilliamL]

02:07 PM on 11/15/2009

Time to go for a walk.

[booki]

03:34 PM on 11/13/2009

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!.