UMNO BARISAN the party had become a storehouse of corruption. "Shamelessly they defend the loot of public money in several sectors. And the perpetrators are allowed to go scot free,"
The dire straits of the middle class of America has made it near impossible for our politicians to keep up the pretense that our current government truly works for the "people." Between the multiple overt and secretive bailouts, the massive bonuses and the circular use of our tax money to lobby for these continued handouts, you can no longer hide from the evidence. When Senator Durbin said "The banks... frankly own this place," you realize it was not in jest. Couple this with recent protections handed by the Supreme Court to corporations to directly influence elections and it can make things seem hopeless for those not on Wall Street or their chosen politicians. Favored CEOs and now evenforeign countries get all the printed money they need, leaving us paying both our bills and theirs. And now nearly a quarter of all Americans are currently underwater in their mortgage because of that steadfast honor. If you are one of them, chances are you didn't do anything wrong. Almost all of you were not subprime borrowers or speculators, but merely people buying a house that they thought they could afford at the time. You were just unlucky in that you bought a house during a time when an outdated Wall Street and their complicit politicians decided to use housing to regain the income they lost due to the Schwabs and Etrades of the internet age. You didn't cause this mess. They did. Now you are struggling to make the same payments on this mortgage on your now overpriced home even in light of a crashing economy and massive deflation, all while the government doeseverything in its power to help Wall St. keep the bonuses coming.
Well, it is becoming time to take matters into your own hands... I suggest that you call your lender and tell them if they don't lower you mortgage by at least 20%, you are walking away. And if they don't agree, you need to consider walking away. It probablydoesn't feel right to you. That is because you probably are a good person. But your mortgage is a business deal, and it is not immoral to walk away from a business deal unless you went in to the deal with the intention of defaulting. But somehow, even though the corporations are pumped to exercise their new rights, former bankers like Henry Paulson, current ones like Jamie Dimon and -- get this -- now even Fannie Mae execs want to keep you from exercising your rights. But before you let them (or anyone commenting below) force you into paying that $500k mortgage on a $300k house, ask them if they'll pushJerry Speyer into "honoring his obligation" by breaking into his $2 billion personal piggy-bank to keep paying for Stuyvesant Town?
Or how about asking Hank and Jamie to lecture fellow bailed-out CEO John Mack about how "you're supposed to meet your obligations, not run from them"? Maybe make him use some of his $50+ million for those buildings he bought in San Francisco?
And before shaming and punishing American homeowners, did they nag Steve Feinbergabout helping "teach the American people...not to run away" by writing a check out of hisbillion-dollar pocket to cover all the stiffed landlords and vendors at Mervyn's? After all, at least you aren't single-handedly putting 1,100 employees out of work when you walk on your mortgage. As part of the deal for your house, your mortgage holder gets interest payments from you and they also use the note to your house for their capital reserves. In return, they take the risk of a foreclosure. In many states, you paid extra to have a non-recourse loan where the lender just gets the house back if you stop paying -- your interest rate would've been much lower if you were held personally liable like a student loan. But if you still feel bad, then donate the money saved to charity instead of to their bonuses. And when someone tries telling you why it is so wrong, here are some answers: - Yes, it might seem selfish, but you are actually going to help fix our country the right way, through the use of pure capitalism. There are 3 parties involved in your mortgage -- the mortgage holders, the servicing bank and you. You probably want to stay in your house. Most of the people who actually own your mortgage also want you to stay in your house, preferring amortgage reduction that you keep paying instead of the total loss of a foreclosure. But the major banks (BofA, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citi, etc.) that underwrite and service the loans don't care about either of you. They (with the aid of their government) just care about hiding their true financial condition for long as possible so they can continue tobonus themselves outrageously. The credible threat of you walking away from your mortgage en masse is the only market-based solution that will force these banks to work with the mortgage holders on your behalf.
- No, you will not "hurt" your neighbors -- certainly not near the scale of the banksters. Chances are someone just as nice will you will move in and (unlike you) pay a fair, non-inflated price for the house. Encourage your neighbors to fight back against the banks and ask for their own mortgage reductions as well.
- Yes, it might make getting a loan harder for everyone. Considering the spate 0% downNINJA loans over the past decade, that probably isn't a bad thing.
- Yes, it might hurt your credit. But with time, people bounce back from having foreclosures on their record. Search online and then talk to a lawyer about the repercussions, which vary by state.
- No, the banks won't necessarily pass the losses on to customers. They already make a lot of money. If costs are passed on to every consumer without banks competing on price, that's a sign of illegal collusion or a monopoly. Let's fix that instead of just letting banks ruin our lives. They might, however, not all make $145 billion in bonuses next year doing something fundamentally so easy that it is an unpaid job in Monopoly. Meanwhile, ourcaptured government has made it clear that they want to further reward these banksters because there are clearly better ways to "save" the economy without rewarding those most responsible for the damage. Instead of claw backs for the past theft and strong financial reform for the future, they choose to cover-up the gross misuse of our tax money, making our country worse by helping the criminals on the backs of the most honest. But thankfully, in this country we still have the tools to fight back and regain our country. Our vote, our voice, our laws and what we choose to do with every penny we have that doesn't go to taxes are the benefits of our hard-fought freedom, and in this battle we must use them all to fight back. It's time for the citizens to once again own this place.
Mid-November last year, M Karunanidhi started digging the DMK’s 2011 electoral grave when he told his partymen to profess A Raja’s innocence. Raja had just put in his papers as the Union telecom minister after the 2G spectrum controversy threatened to consume him.
On Thursday, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigations arrested Raja, Karunanidhi wrote the party’s 2011 electoral epitaph through a resolution endorsed by his party’s general council: ‘Merely because Raja is arrested, he cannot be considered guilty.’
How a leader considered a master strategist could commit such a double fault in quick succession beats me. Had it been from someone with principles, I could understand the suicidal tendency. For a leader who has dropped alliance partners and party lieutenants before one could spell d-h-a-r-m-a, principles cannot be the reason for the systematic hara-kiri.
The problem with such irrational acts of self-proclaimed rationalists is that you can’t make out if they are born out of fear or foolhardiness. But once you come to understand that foolhardiness is often the flip side of fear, you see things clearer. And the seemingly irrational acts suddenly have two legitimate parents!
So, what does Kalaignar fear? Of being labelled guilty, apparently. When the spectrum issue was hotting up in November after the Comptroller & Auditor General put the loss of public money through 2G at Rs 1,76,000 crore, and pointed to several irregularities by Raja, Karunanidhi refused to remove him from the cabinet or the party post of propaganda secretary. His fear: Raja’s removal would amount to admission of guilt, which he had to share with his prodigy.
For not just the party, but part of Chennai’s first family too, Raja has been an obedient young man who earned more than just brownie points. That was a good reason to support him. But why did the leader not support him in private and disown him in public? Realpolitik, yes, wouldn’t that been a smart thing to do?
That would have silenced the political rivals and the media for a while, and even taken a bit of steam off the controversy and, probably, the probe. And the DMK would have got some time to devise new distractions before the poll bugle sounds in a couple of months.
Karunanidhi’s fears compounded when Raja was forced to quit as the telecom minister on November 15, 2010. It has now manifested as a reckless show of courage to move a resolution supporting Raja, though he was removed from the party post. This reverberated at an impressive DMK show at Saidapet in the evening. But lost in the din were some political realities-present and impending. The arrest has given more ammo to the Opposition, myriad stories for the media, and more than a migrane for the DMK.
Now, Congress, which never got to taste power since 1967, will become more demanding with the DMK. Karunanidhi’s other probable allies like PMK may try to put their feet down. When the poll bandwagons start rolling, DMK’s ousted propaganda secretary would be at the centre of the Opposition propaganda. And, if J Jayalalithaa has turned any wiser, Rs 1,76,000 crore could be the astronomical number that could be printed on placards and posters across the state.
However, it is still too early to say if DMK would go on to drive the last nail in its own coffin. For, Indian politics has shown that a foolish Opposition can bring back a foolhardy ruling party from brain death.
On Thursday, a day after the Central Bureau of Investigations arrested Raja, Karunanidhi wrote the party’s 2011 electoral epitaph through a resolution endorsed by his party’s general council: ‘Merely because Raja is arrested, he cannot be considered guilty.’
How a leader considered a master strategist could commit such a double fault in quick succession beats me. Had it been from someone with principles, I could understand the suicidal tendency. For a leader who has dropped alliance partners and party lieutenants before one could spell d-h-a-r-m-a, principles cannot be the reason for the systematic hara-kiri.
The problem with such irrational acts of self-proclaimed rationalists is that you can’t make out if they are born out of fear or foolhardiness. But once you come to understand that foolhardiness is often the flip side of fear, you see things clearer. And the seemingly irrational acts suddenly have two legitimate parents!
So, what does Kalaignar fear? Of being labelled guilty, apparently. When the spectrum issue was hotting up in November after the Comptroller & Auditor General put the loss of public money through 2G at Rs 1,76,000 crore, and pointed to several irregularities by Raja, Karunanidhi refused to remove him from the cabinet or the party post of propaganda secretary. His fear: Raja’s removal would amount to admission of guilt, which he had to share with his prodigy.
For not just the party, but part of Chennai’s first family too, Raja has been an obedient young man who earned more than just brownie points. That was a good reason to support him. But why did the leader not support him in private and disown him in public? Realpolitik, yes, wouldn’t that been a smart thing to do?
That would have silenced the political rivals and the media for a while, and even taken a bit of steam off the controversy and, probably, the probe. And the DMK would have got some time to devise new distractions before the poll bugle sounds in a couple of months.
Karunanidhi’s fears compounded when Raja was forced to quit as the telecom minister on November 15, 2010. It has now manifested as a reckless show of courage to move a resolution supporting Raja, though he was removed from the party post. This reverberated at an impressive DMK show at Saidapet in the evening. But lost in the din were some political realities-present and impending. The arrest has given more ammo to the Opposition, myriad stories for the media, and more than a migrane for the DMK.
Now, Congress, which never got to taste power since 1967, will become more demanding with the DMK. Karunanidhi’s other probable allies like PMK may try to put their feet down. When the poll bandwagons start rolling, DMK’s ousted propaganda secretary would be at the centre of the Opposition propaganda. And, if J Jayalalithaa has turned any wiser, Rs 1,76,000 crore could be the astronomical number that could be printed on placards and posters across the state.
However, it is still too early to say if DMK would go on to drive the last nail in its own coffin. For, Indian politics has shown that a foolish Opposition can bring back a foolhardy ruling party from brain death.
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