Easy American Life……

[contraman]

Here is the new American lifestyle:

1)Become completely spoiled by your parents and get everything you want and a big hefty weekly allowance for doing things you should be doing anyhow to learn RESPONSIBILTY and WORK ETHIC. Then bitch and complain about immigrants taking your job.

2)Go to college, rack up college loan debt, and apply for 25 credit cards. Graduate college, find a job in CA and make $35,000 a year GROSS.

3)Go buy your dream car at 0% fianncing and a $500,000 condo home with a LIAR Option ARM loan.

4) Refinance and cash out a few times to buy more STUFF and add a GAMEROOM to your condo rather than pay down your debt.

5) After all the fun is over and the debt is too much, let the governement bail you out, foreclose on your condo, and file for bankruptcy.

6) Get a Credit Repair company to take the BK and Foreclosure off your credit report and start the cycle again….

7) All the while I am working my ASS off paying taxes to finance this completely absurd behavior.

8) This country is in trouble……

[cr]

You must be talking about the Democratis congress approval of FHA bailouts http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20837318/

At least in part.

Way to go democrats. Now not only are the stupid people spending their future earned money, thanks to the democrats they’re spending yours and mine too.

[sdappraiser]

1) Bitch and moan on the internet all day.

2) Punch the clock EVERY DAY instead of leveraging your own skills and working for yourself.

3) Repeat.

[ltokuda]

To be fair, the bill was passed by a vote of: 348-72. So at least you can take comfort in the fact that both parties are willing to screw you over.

[cr]

Whether one is self-employed or working at a fortune 500 corporation bears no relevance to the legislation passed today.

Agreed, neither party, while both implicit, truly cares about their constituents, but that’s exactly the point. A problem faced by less than 2% of the population led to a bill that will benefit a fraction of that 2%, at the expense of the other +98%.

Criticizing the critics for having an opinion is even more pointless. I took a minute to actually write Feinstein. Here’s her reply:

“Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding recent reports of mortgage defaults by subprime borrowers. I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond.

I recognize that the cost of living is high in California and across the Nation, as real estate values have skyrocketed and housing affordability is at very low levels. As such, I am a strong supporter of Federal initiatives to make homeownership a reality for more Americans. The Federal government must be mindful of how lending standards impact Americans and I am concerned about the growing number of negatively amortized home loans and interest-only mortgages, which are especially popular in the areas of California where home prices are the highest. Furthermore, I believe it is important to establish clear national standards that protect consumers – particularly “nonprime” borrowers. While I do not serve on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, which has jurisdiction over this matter, I will keep your comments in mind should the Senate consider legislation related to home lending.

Again, thank you for writing. If you have any further comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.”

A cookie cutter response no doubt, but I’m going to reply.

So can you – [email protected]

[contraman]

Cooprider,

Although your efforts here are valiant at best, you would be better off twidling your thumbs and looking into the sky thinking about nothing than writing a person who is controlled by money and bribes. Give her $100,000 for her next campaign and you might start getting somewhere.

The system is a joke and the only way to change it is to revolt against it by educating people and giving them permission to stand up and say enough is enough. It’s in the numbers Cooprider….

If we could get a movement as large and as influential as PETA then they may start to listen. This chick didn’t even read your letter, she was at some luncheon kissing someone’s ass……sorry to ruin your night….

Sincerely, Contraman

[hipmatt]

I hear you all, but the new American motto to me is the following

1. Responsible savers will be punished via low interest rates and high inflation.

2. Risky investments, fraudulent loans, and massive debt will get you into a house that only goes up in value… and if the market ever starts to self correct.. the government will write legislation to help bail you out… and the fed reserve will do its best to keep your overly inflated asset at inflated prices.

… summary..

WE ENCOURAGE you to live a fiscally irresponsible life, live above your means, spend recklessly, NEVER save, and then when things go bad, throw a hissy fit like Jim Cramer until you get what you want. We will then punish those with patience and thrift by making them pay for your lifestyle via their taxes and inflation.

.. the only other thing you need to worry about is your celebrity role models, and then obsess about them when they commit a crime, drive drunk, misbehave in public, or just give zero effort in their MTV awards performances.

[patientrenter]

contraman, cooprider, hipmatt,

I too still get mad sometimes about the favorable treatment accorded by government to irresponsible behavior. But in the last 1-2 years I’ve decided instead to find personal profit in the perfidies of others. For example, back in June I figured there was a good chance the Fed would buckle, so instead of getting mad, I just bought Yen futures. My only point is that it’s a lot easier to deal with other people taking advantage of your responsible behavior if you’re actually making a lot of money from predicting their behavior. Try it! If you’re still getting mad, then just increase your bets until you’re just plain enjoying the pols and regulators and others in action.

Patient renter in OC

[cr]

Contraman, I don’t doubt what you say one bit. Somewhere along the line though a summary of opinions has to come her way. They can’t ignore everyone.

I agree with your points hipmatt, and it is a joke.

patientrenter, I like your idea, though I equally like the idea of a grass roots movement. If you have any specific suggestions on where to put my slowly devaluing savings shoot me a line a dcoop14 at hotmail.

It seems the long run is getting shorter and shorter.

[CarlsbadMtnBiker]

Explain this then Contraman …

Fact: American productivity is #2 in the world. Only behind Norway. Hardly an easy life for most ….

[Anonymous]

cooprider14,

I received exactly the same response from Feinstein today. I have been writing to all of my representatives lately and getting cookie cutter responses from all of them. I wonder if anyone reads anything we send them.

[CarlsbadMtnBiker]

“I received exactly the same response from Feinstein today. I have been writing to all of my representatives lately and getting cookie cutter responses from all of them. I wonder if anyone reads anything we send them.”

Didn’t you guys learn that one in grade school when you or your 6th grade classmates wrote a state or federal politician?

[Pasadena Broker]

1)Blaming a political party regarding the current problem or bailout instead of recognizing that neither political party has an vested interest in the well being of its citizens.

2)The belief that you have the right to free speech when most people use that right to confirm that talking out of your ass will never go out of style.

[Coronita]

Look at it this way.

 

You need enough not-so-savy financial people to keep the economy going and pay you when they screw up. It's a balancing act between you and every other american. The way I look at it is like the law of energy, neither created nor destroyed, just converted to one form or another.

Likewise, some americans spend more than earn. Some earn more then spend. Just make sure you're one of those people thats taking in more from others than you are giving to others, and you'll be fine.

 

BTW: I think I was asleep in my chemistry/therodynamics classes.

 

[LookoutBelow]

Not a THING will be done for the homeowner in the long run…..this is re-election smoke being blown up the ass of the sheeple…NOTHING has changed. Irregardless of the politico speak

[bob007]

Democrats are more responsible for this housing mess.

1. They back current public school education system. They oppose vouchers.

2. Their political base tends to be in high price metropolitan areas

3. They like a nanny approach to government

[Coronita]

Democrats are more responsible for this housing mess.

1. They back current public school education system. They oppose vouchers.

2. Their political base tends to be in high price metropolitan areas

3. They like a nanny approach to government

I wouldn't say #2. Democrats tend to back the middle class, with the exception of the DLC which gets backing from corp america (no different then the republicans, just different corp sponsors :))

The mess we are in isn't because Republican issue or Democrat issue (it's not party lines issues). The issue is that the government was too effective with a Republican controlled house, senate, and president. When you get a domination across the board from one party, the system lacks checks and balances, and things actually get pushed through, for better or worse.

I don't think the climate will change moving forward either. We now have a democratic house and senate. And probably soon to be democratic pres. The hardest hit will be the upper middle class, as I expect the Democrats start taxing this class more, in an attempt to balance the lower middle class and poor. The rich never gets touched either party. Expect big government oversight with lots of bailouts.

BTW: my definition of upper middle class would lump your engineeer making $100k/year. Not that much in today's standard, but well above the middle class.Really rich households will always find shelters and loopholes, regardless of which party is in control.

 

An all democratic government would mean another 4 more bad years at least of screwed up policies that don't many any economic sense, because you'll have this party be pushing it's agenda. For this reason, regardless of how bad the republican candidate is going to be, I'm going to vote for him/her. Because the government needs party balance for the economy to do well. If you don't like the idea of bailouts and big government, it's probably in your best interst to vote for a president that isn't the same party as the house and senate too. Either way, it's going to be a long shot for a republican president, short of have some scandal that breaks out in the democrat party.

I have more fear about what damage the an all democrat government will do compared to inflation, weak dollar, etc.

 

[Arty]

Democrats are more fiscally responsible in government spending. The greatest expansion of our debts all occured during the Republican presidents. What happened to the small government that Republicans keep saying?

Also, don’t blame the governemnt, blame youself or anyone who keep spending and piling up debts.

Btw, San Diego is still a Republican district and its housing is damn expansive :). lol

[Coronita]

Democrats are more fiscally responsible in government spending. The greatest expansion of our debts all occured during the Republican presidents. What happened to the small government that Republicans keep saying?

Also, don't blame the governemnt, blame youself or anyone who keep spending and piling up debts.

Btw, San Diego is still a Republican district and its housing is damn expansive :). lol

 

No offense,

But i call bullsh!t on that one. Neither parties are fiscally responsible. Different agenda, same sh!t. Republicans spend on on the military. Democrats spend on welfare and the poor. And both have their fair share for porkbarrelling.

I'm not blaming the government for anything. The problem is when average american is knee deep in trouble, neither party will just give the middle finger and say it's your own problem. IF one party controls government, there will be a bailout, at the expense the small minority of folks that was responsible (me included). Doesn't matter which party. The only chance of no action, is if government is totally incompetent and cant push policy through, which occurs if you have a mixture of reps and democrats in government that can't agree.

 

BTW: i vote across party lines, for what makes sense in the situation. I'm not tied to either party's idealogy, because that's all it is. ideas.

 

[stockstradr]

To those who think republican administrations have been more fiscally responsible in government spending (or no less so than democratic administrations):

By holding (and expressing) this opinion you’re broadcasting that you haven’t seen the relevant data and you form strong opinions without any basis in fact.

This data is available from many sources comparing US deficits year-by-year associated with every republican and democratic presidental term. The data is objective and the obvious conclusions are NOT disputed by respected economists of either party affiliation. Particularly in the last several decades, annual deficits, and associated growth in total government debt, have on average been far greater during republican presidential terms.

I believe one of the key reasons this country is getting rather screwed up economically (and culturally?) is that its citizens are complacent blind sheep content to be led (straight over a cliff) by politicians (and media) turning truths upside-down to suit their selfish purposes.

Mr fat_lazy_union_whatever, you have obviously have fed yourself into a fat little sheep eating those sound bites from republicans preaching their past fiscal responsibility, and you believed those lies without checking the data. You are one of the gullible, dumbed-down and easily controlled masses.

I usually refrain from writing posts this biting and nasty, but this is a touchy subject because so many Americans now make a habit of ignoring fact, and voting for politicians who do same.

[Coronita]

stockstradr,

Ouch 🙂

Well, let's see how the democrats do this time around ok? No point in arguing this. We have the next 4 years, and let's see where things go from here, shall we? I don't see how the democrats or any part for that matter is really going to be any better this time around.

Was it Clinton and democrats and conservative spending or was it progress in a tech that eventually imploded at the time the repubs took office. We can argue all day who's fault it was. What's the point?

Read my lines. Government wastes money. Period. Bailout is eminent if one party controls government. People here has voiced frustration about bailouts (I personally don't care). How can anyone think a bailout isn't going to happen with a all democrat gov?

My fat_asS_lazy_ness means hiding my assets and sheltering before major tax changes, such as cap gains limits etc, so uncle sam doesn't do the robin hood thing and distribute it to overleveraged, quick/buck hopeful fat fuck lazy american that was way over his head now screaming for a bailout.

 

[Bugs]

The only reason we would vote in a unified government is if we really want to get something done. Unifying all 3 branches of government can only result in extremes, and Americans traditionally have gravitated away from extremes.

We normally favor some gridlock because on any given issue the electorate is about evenly divided between the two extremes. What one party favors the other is somewhat compelled to oppose because there are no votes in taking a me-too position. That’s how the special interests are able to steer the political platforms of the two parties.

[Coronita]

Forgot to mention stockstradr,

since this somehow ended in personal attack… the only "data" i need to decide what is my better financial interest is the 1040 returns for the past 12+ years.

 

Now, I know what you're about to say too. "It surprises me that americans would sheepishly care about a 'tax' break that means a refund of a couple of hundred of dollars, or how people would care about estate taxes, or investment breaks etc when they don't have much.. They're so blind blind blah blah blah", except that these things are relevant for folks on the $300k+ range household income. Democrats love to play robin hood with these folks. They won't take it from the really rich to give it to the rest. They always take it upper midle range of household.

All my 1040 "data" indicates that I have faired far better over the last to terms than before.

Now, the next argument I've heard also is , those that make more should pay more. Yeah, I heard that one to, which goes back to my tag line. Those that make more shouldn't have to pick up all the slack for overleveraged FF irresponsible folks. Or if you want to take more, take it from the really rich which wouldn't make a dent for them. Sorry, I despise the FFL asses.

 

I love it when the gov gridlocks, because no extremes occur. One uniform party gov, means less likely chance of gridlock. In the current climate, this would to me mean a bailout never seen before at the expense of responsible taxpayers.

The fact that some of these bills have made it past the house is starting to be of concern itself. You would think there would be delays, and lots of questions. A lot of folks here think that can't possibly be a bailout. There can't possibly be drastic actions. But the "facts" seem to indicate we are in unchartered territory right now. Extremes are possible.

 

[CostaMesa]

Holy crap, is it just me or is the aticle linked in the original post one of the most biased piles of poop that I’ve seen in a long time.

democratic-led congress
democrat asking for help
goes on and on

Totally ignores any relevant factual information that doesn’t support an assault on the Democrats. WTF???

Consider this – the Republicans today filibustered the Troop Rest bill, preventing our nation’s finest from being able to enjoy the same treatment that our veterans of every other war were offered. So King George gets to treat our soldiers like slaves, because, well – they are King George’s personal slaves!

WTF???

[Coronita]

Holy crap, is it just me or is the aticle linked in the original post one of the most biased piles of poop that I've seen in a long time.

democratic-led congress
democrat asking for help
goes on and on

Totally ignores any relevant factual information that doesn't support an assault on the Democrats. WTF???

Consider this – the Republicans today filibustered the Troop Rest bill, preventing our nation's finest from being able to enjoy the same treatment that our veterans of every other war were offered. So King George gets to treat our soldiers like slaves, because, well – they are King George's personal slaves!

WTF???

 

No disagreements from me that republicans shove a lot of crap too.

[Author]

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