Safe?

Ha!

 

Half-a-BILLION $$$ Boondoggle

It could be stopped, but it won’t be.

Ged bless you Charlie LeDuff for exposing this criminal enterprise.

Poster boy for sleeping America

While you were asleep- or working hard trying to get ahead- this fucktard’s been living the life of Riley. Ten years on full disability, and he’s only 42.

Yet he runs marathons.

No joke. I wish it was. [ New Jersey Watchdog ]

But maybe I’m just secretly jealous.

Black Oily Swan

A man-made disaster of epic proportions, I think we better start getting used to the idea that the leak currently hemorrhaging oil deep in the Gulf of Mexico may never be plugged.

I know it's a pelican

I expect that soon BP will throw up their hands and simply walk away. Taking a page from the Wit and Wisdom of Lloyd Blankfein, BP will announce “We did our best, this tragedy is now in the hands of God.” And of course the Gov will “take charge” of the disaster, and the money of course will come out of your pocket.

There will be no recourse for We the People. Just like Wall Street,  the Oilcos have engineered the law so that they will be untouchable.

Up to this point, BP has presented what in this age of centrally controlled media looks like a good faith effort. In fact it appears to cynics like me that every move they make is only to cover their ass. Corporate controlled media will make the case for their cronies offering the valuable assistance of helping form public opinion. Expect the slant from Faux Nooze(tm) et al along the lines of “If this is the Good Lord”s will, what you going to do?”

Obama will continue as an ineffectual figurehead who will make the right noises to keep the tongue clicking to a minimum. Meanwhile he will continue to reward Corporate America with the riches they so deserve. He might even get re-elected.

…

—
Meanwhile, Louisiana continues to get treated like a prison bitch.

Pope Bukkake

If you read this report from last week, Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in 2009, did it not occur to you that the way the Fed, Inc. does mathematics that the Fed, Inc. can’t won’t ever show a loss?

Of course not. That would go against their carefully cultivated air of mystery- as well as the pope’s (oopsy) Fed, Inc. chairman’s infallibility.

Currently, with a TRILLION DOLLARS of assets on the books, should these glorified bean-counters be forced (by who? the Fed, Inc.? Buhuhaha) to mark-to-market right now they might show a $500 BILLION DOLLAR loss.

So $45 BILLION is net negative.

By a large chunk.

Over the last 100 years the Fed, Inc. has used our money like it was their own. They’ve seeded the dismal science with thousands of bought-and-paid-for minions to spread the word and saturated the media with nodding adherents to give testimony. Gently whispering in the public’s collective ear that ‘we really really know what we are doing, really‘ when evidence to the contrary is all around, in triplicate (if they “would just freaking open their eyes” -Mish¹).

Ever wonder why the FOMC meets in private?

If the public saw the dressing gowns these financial tarts doll themselves up in for their by-invitation-only FOMC meetings (“money balls”) their authority would crash overnight.

Where’s a pap when you really need one?

The Fed, Inc. has been responsible for the Great Depression, dozens of recessions before and since, and is the sole architect and responsible party of THIS WORLD’s current predicament through the policy of easy money.

They desperately want everyone to believe they are IN CONTROL of the situation, but in fact they are out of control²… and this next one might be the one that does us- and them- in.

…

…

1.
“There is no possible regulation that can stop a credit binge brought about by cheap money and fractional reserve lending that enabled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to borrow money into existence at will.

“Remember that the Fed that could not see there was a bubble, could not see there was a recession coming, and thought at numerous points along the way that the mess was “contained”. Even if regulation would have helped, the Fed was oblivious at the time. How can regulation help, when you cannot spot obvious bubbles?”

2.
“Not only did the Fed enable the credit bubble, it blew the policy response. All it takes to prove that is another stock market plunge and credit crunch.”

—
“It remains true that the greatest injustices proceed from those who pursue excess, not from those who are driven by necessity.” -Aristotle

Robbing Peter to pay Paul

State proposal could steal borrow millions from cities

Last week, the state’s Department of Finance informed cities of its proposal to steal borrow as much as 8 percent of local governments’ property tax revenues — giving the state an extra $2 billion. The cities could in turn borrow the money from the private sector, the proposal suggests, but city leaders scoff at the notion.

[Mercury News]

The muni’s can borrow (at interest, of course) from the private sector to make up what the state takes? Good luck with that!

We’ve got trouble at every tier of .gov.

We’ve got a president sorely deficient of any depth of knowledge of how business should be conducted (not that he’s much worse than the leechfucks populsting Wall St.). He relies on goons to set policy, and all these leechfucks know how to do is spend.

These ass-klowns  have already committed to MORE THAN ONE-HALF OF THIS NATION’S G.D.P. to turn private banking institutions into what are now essentially GSE’s.

Spending isn’t the answer to our problems, the PPiP-tards just think of this as the easiest way out; not the smartest; not the best; just easy.

What else would you expect but a predictable and pedestrian response from bureacrats-for-life.

And they’ll be long gone from the party before the bill arrives.

And arrive it will.

…

—
When the only tool you know how to use is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

‘tards ‘r’ us

Organized crime

Sen. Feinstein’s Husband Cashes In on Crisis

California senator sought $25 billion for a government agency that had awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties.

On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms, the Washington Times reported on Tuesday.

Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments – not direct federal dollars.

Documents reviewed by The Washington Times show Mrs. Feinstein first offered Oct. 30 to help the FDIC secure money for its effort to stem the rise of home foreclosures. Her letter was sent just days before the agency determined that CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) – the commercial real estate firm that her husband Richard Blum heads as board chairman – had won the competitive bidding for a contract to sell foreclosed properties that FDIC had inherited from failed banks.

About the same time of the contract award, Mr. Blum’s private investment firm reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it and related affiliates had purchased more than 10 million new shares in CBRE. The shares were purchased for the going price of $3.77; CBRE’s stock closed Monday at $5.14.

Spokesmen for the FDIC, Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. Blum’s firm told The Times that there was no connection between the legislation and the contract signed Nov. 13, and that the couple didn’t even know about CBRE’s business with FDIC until after it was awarded.

Senate ethics rules state that members must avoid conflicts of interest as well as “even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” Some ethics analysts question whether Mrs. Feinstein ran afoul of the latter provision, creating the appearance that she was rewarding the agency that had just hired her husband’s firm.

.0000025 Success Rate

Last summer, Congress passed the Hope for Homeowners Act, setting aside $300 billion to help people refinance into more affordable mortgages. But the program has been a total flop.

When it was first introduced, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the program could help 400,000 people keep their homes.

But more than six months after the program was launched, the Federal Housing Administration says only one homeowner has made it all the way through the government program and received the FHA guarantee.

Hope for Homeowners was sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)…

I suppose that is all one needs to know.  [NPR]

Sing-along: #you’re out of touch#

…

—
“It could be worse… they could be batting a negative average!”

Death on two legs

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Bull Shyster

Merrill Lynch paid billions of dollars of bonuses to its employees, three days before completing its life-saving sale to Bank of America, reports the Financial Times.

The money was paid as Merrill’s losses were mounting, forcing Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis last month to seek additional government support for the deal. Merrill’s compensation committee agreed to pay bonuses on December 29, at least one month earlier than usual, the paper said.

Bank of America said Merrill had a $21.5 billion operating loss in the fourth quarter. Despite the massive losses, Merrill set aside $15 billion for 2008 compensation, 6% lower than a year earlier. About $3 billion to $4 billion of that compensation were annual bonuses.

[Financial Week]

John Thain spent $1.22 million of Merrill’s money to refurbish his office. Thain’s largest expense was the hiring of celebrity designer Michael Smith for $800,000. This is the same guy who is currently redesigning the White House for the Obama family for only $100,000. Thain had Merrill pay that designer $700,000 more for the redesign of only his office. Again, are you kidding me?

Persian Area Rug =$87,000
Egyptian Silk Curtains =$28,000
Mink Guest Chairs =$87,000
Roman Shade Fabric =$11,000
Mahogany Pedestal Table =$25,000
19th Century Credenza =$68,000
Hand-Stitched Polynesian Sofa =$28,000
George IV Desk =$18,000
Wall Sconces =$2,700
6 Antique Chairs =$37,000
Private Dining Room Mirror =$5,000
Dining Room Chandelier =$13,000
Commode On Legs =$35,000
Regency Chairs =$24,000
40 yards of Fabric For Wall Panels =$5,000
Parchment Waste Can =$1,400
Additional designer Expenses =$30,000

Finally, in addition to the above ridiculous numbers, documents show Merrill paid $230,000 for Thain’s personal driver for one year’s work, which included the driver’s $85,000 salary and bonus of $18,000, and another $128,000 in over-time pay.

[Street Insider]

Your tax dollars hard at work making CEO’s comfy.

It is one thing when the best-paid people seem to be the smartest and the most accomplished. Those who make much less may not like it, but the differential seems understandable. It is another thing when those people are shown to have committed huge blunders that would have driven their companies out of business, and them into the unemployment line, but for government bailouts.

So it is now with Wall Street. In both Europe and the United States, antipathy toward the bailout is rising amid complaints that the money has not helped the economy by encouraging loans, but has kept the bankers in Champagne and caviar.

Are financial workers overpaid? And if so, will it continue? The answers, according to a new study by two economists, are yes, they are overpaid, and no, it will not last.

“Wages in finance were excessively high around 1930 and from the mid 1990s until 2006,” wrote Thomas Philippon of New York University and Ariell Reshef of the University of Virginia, in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper released this week, “Wages and Human Capital in the U.S. Financial Industry, 1909-2006.”

[NYT]

Is it pitch-fork and torch time yet?

[Hat tip 1] [Hat tip 2]

Harriet Myers, Jr.

Who does he work for?

Hank Paulson is a MUCH bigger criminal than OJ Simpson

So to everyone celebrating his conviction, FUCK YOU, you’ve been paying attentionto this while the CRIME OF THE CENTURY was being committed right over there —> (you just had to look).

You’ve just been screwed outof TRILLIONS of dollars which will overseen by the very person most responsible for the creation of the financial crisis- the former CEO of Goldman Sucks.

You are gloating that some broken-down athlete finally got his comeuppance, as if THAT had some importance or bearing on YOUR life.

Well, congratulations, YOU are about to experience what PAYBACK IS A BITCH really means.

“Payback, but for what?” you might well ask. For taking your eye off the ball. For dereliction of duty.

For being distracted. For being stupid.

See, that’s the problem with bread and circuses.  Under the guise of a “bailout” (more like a down-payment) when it was in fact nothing more than a government-backed MONEY-LAUNDERING SCAM as well as an UNPRECEDENTED giveaway of national wealth (i.e., your taxes are about to increase by 100%), most of you were distracted by the irrelevance of OJ, American Idol, Sarah Palin, 99.9999% of television, bombast radio, Faux Nooze, et al.

Talk about fiddling while the empire is burning!

Are you prepared? Of course not, you’re an idiot who voted in crooks.

Here’s your reward for not paying attention:

—
“There is no constitutional authority for the government to bail out private enterprise at taxpayer expense.” –Mike Shedlock

Bush isn’t the only ‘total failure’

Nancy as a young tart

Congreff rubber stamped virutally every piece of legislation Bush and his cronies wanted enacted.  Congreff stood by and did nothing while parts of America engorged itself on a diet of debt, fraud, and larceny while Congreff just stood by with their collective finger up their fucking ass while the rest of us were yelling to try an get your attention and pointing out wha was just so wrong.

Nancy, dah-ling, you are as much a ‘total failure’ as the chimp-in-chief. You and 95.6% of your colleagues.

You Bitch. [AP]

“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.”

It’s a story not being reported here, so let’s turn to the BBC:

“A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

“The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

“While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.

“To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.”

Your tax dollars magically transformed into McMansions and Bentley’s for the politcally connected. The next war should be on corruption in politics, doncha think?

Bubblicious and gamey

Finally someone hit the nail on the head about this bogus “oil crisis.”

“Record high prices without record low oil inventories, analysts saying that so much money flows into oil commodities that it gives the impression of shortages, when in fact no shortage exists. ”

“There it is in plain sight for everyone to see, exactly what I’ve been reporting for the past few years: Many individuals who are investing in oil and natural gas futures are going out in the media and trying to convince the American public that either we are out of oil or there is a serious supply shortage of crude against worldwide demand. The question is: Does it surprise you to discover that the US Senate investigated the rigging of the oil market by speculators in the summer of 2006 – and concluded that there was no supply and demand problem with oil? Did you know that their conclusion was that speculators were responsible for a 70 percent overcharge in the price of oil in the months leading up to the summer of 2006?”

“in Texas, under deregulation of our public utilities, our electric rates can be set using the futures market for natural gas, so the manipulation of the natural gas market spelled trouble for us. Consider this, by 2006, according to http://www.powertochoose.org, electricity rates for us had climbed to 15 cents a kilowatt-hour due to the high cost of natural gas. But, that was the exact same time period that Amaranth was proven to be manipulating the market and sending natural gas futures through the roof. Two months later the hedge fund collapsed and natural gas prices fell. Therefore, most Texans paid higher electric bills for Amaranth’s manipulation of the natural gas market.”

-Ed Wallace [Part 1] [Part 2]

Not to mention that California electricity rates spiraled out of control through artificial shortages engineered by Enron (“Welcome to Hell, Ken”) in the “dregulated” electricity market.

It is a fact gasoline prices at your local station are set today using futures prices as a benchmark. If you think that the gas you’re pumping into your car today was refined from oil bought and paid for at today‘s oil prices, you would be wrong, sir. It was refined from oil that was bought a long, long time ago at a much lower price. The actual profit they are making is a metaphorical slap in the face. Maybe we need that to wake us up to this Enron-style scamming that has become the US economy.

The prices at your local are quick to rise and slow to fall- so the oil companies get to skin you going both ways.

You may ask yourself, “Why doesn’t are gummint do something about it (instead of that numbskull OPEC lawsuit and ‘investigating’ unimportant but grandstand-worthy topics like steroids in professional sport)?”

Well, seeing as the state and federal governments are skimming a percentage, and today’s prices are at all-time record highs, it isn’t exactly in their best interest (as you’ve no doubt surmised, neither are we, the voting public).

If you ever harbored the illusion that when you fillerup you were getting what you paid for (cost of production) plus a reasonable profit, think again.

#I’m just a a paper tiger

I think it is best to close now with the following thought:

“We started as a society that worships hard labor and the basic business ethic of building value into the goods you create. How’d we get from there to worshiping Wall Street’s billion-dollar boys — who create nothing, build nothing, own nothing and deliver no goods, and yet can throw so much money into products made by others that they determine what we consumers will pay for those goods?”

[Hat tip]

—

“this has all of the ear marks of a speculative corner of the oil market by parties unknown.” –Jim of San Marcos

No asshole today

Just cunts.

Biting

Commenters on a blog can bite back- so be careful what you say!

That’s what this Realtwhore is finding out.

She is soliciting for clients to let her help them buy a new home BEFORE they foreclose on their current one. That’s right, she turned them once (into nice ninja loans) and now she wants to turn them again.

Kathy is surely an overacheiver!

Maybe business wouldn’t be so bad right now if the RE industry as a whole wasn’t so greedy that they killed their future prospects off for short term gain.

Continuing to assist clients in perpetrating fraud is no way to make a living.

—
“Please. God. Just. One. More. Bubble.”

Good riddance to bad rubbish

Embattled HUD chief resigns, cites family
Jackson makes no mention of investigation, Democratic pressure

Jackson, 62, has been fending off allegations of cronyism and favoritism involving HUD contractors for the past two years. The FBI has been examining the ties between Jackson and a friend who was paid $392,000 by Jackson’s department as a construction manager in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

I guess Americans just sort of expect this sort of thing from the Bush administration as a matter of course. Mike Brown, Alfonso Gonzalez… and the list of unqualified indivuals, in over their heads just goes on.

I wonder what the chances of his being brought to  justice are?

Infortunately, incompetency isn’t a prosecutable offence.

Fortunately, there is the whole cronyism aspect that might find purchase.

The next administration might just spend a lot of time prosecuting ex-Bushies.

Otherwise, it’s moral hazard for everybody! Par-tay!

Schadenfreude overdrive

Financial troubles continue to mount for Daniel Sadek, the subprime lending company founder The Register profiled last year as the “high roller of home loans.”

A mortgage broker (“Quick Loan Funding”) being done in by failure to repay loans and pay his property taxes.

I guess the Ferrari isn’t the only thing this guy helped to crash. His company. A crappy movie. A “girlfriend’s” career.

Next up: the economy.

Why the guy who founded Oakley would fritter away any part of his fortune to help this feckless cunt defies logic. Surely he never expected to get back his $7.5 mil?

Oakley’s are so 90’s anyway. Back to Ray-Ban, once I remove the stench of this asshole off my monitor.

Institutional bribery takes a holiday

[SF Gate]

The National Association of Home Builders has a way to solve the housing and economic slowdown: Give a tax credit of $10,000 or thereabouts to anyone who buys a newly built house.Congress declined to include this blatantly self-serving proposal in its first economic stimulus plan.

The builders group responded by halting all contributions to federal congressional candidates and their political action committees.

Heh. They’re taking their bribe money and going home to pound the floor. Wah.