Finally. Someone with a voice said exactly what champions of capitalism, and any American with a brain, is thinking.The great, unflappable Obama just got flapped. Obama has been enjoying a very long honeymoon, with a willing and eager media in tow.
The silent sector of America that has spent the last eight years on the receiving end of an unforgiving media is applauding CNBC's Rick Santelli for his brave stance against "the great" Obama Administration.
"The government is promoting bad behavior," Santelli said.
You're preaching to the choir, Mr. Santelli.
Something like 92 percent of American homeowners are paying their mortgage. More importantly, those folks are struggling too. Responsible homeowners who made the decision to live within their means will continue to struggle without assistance.
You believe in socialism, "spreading the wealth", and equality for all Americans, President Obama? Picking and choosing who deserves better mortgages based on their own failures is not only unequal and unfair, but it is downright un-American.
"President Obama, are you listening?" Santelli shouted.
Well...are you?
15 comments:
I couldn't agree more: we shouldn't reward bad behavior. IT sickens me when I read what stupid people have gotten themselves into and then expect my help.
All I hear from the right is criticism. What about some solutions to dig us out of this mess? I don’t want to pay for/reward bad behavior but I also don’t want my job to be the next one on the chopping block either! Something has to give somewhere.
Bush’s Ownership Society and the capitalistic greed of Wall Street and the banking system got us here. Those bastards are still repeating the benefits with excessive bonuses in one hand while reaching out with the other hand. Mortgage companies mercilessly promoted ridiculous mortgages to stupid people. The mortgage companies walked away with their money.
What about me? I’ve lived and done everything right. My mortgage is only 20% of my pay and I have at least 30% equity in my home (with no debt other than car leases), even at today’s prices, yet my home is still at risk if I lose my job. What does the far right have to say to me?
Anyone can point fingers; we need some answers. Where are they?
The Republicans, one infers, represent fiscal responsibility, the freedom of the individual vis-a-vis the government, the resilience of human nature, and prudent strength in foreign policy.
Hmmm. Which party added over $32 trillion to future unfunded liabilities, turned a surplus into a trillion dollar deficit, and endorsed indefinite nation-building at a simply staggering cost in two of the most intractably divided non-countries in the world? Which party asserted "near-dictatorial" powers for the executive, the priority of the will of the leader over the rule of law, and a mantra, in the words of the most "conservative" vice-president in memory, that "deficits don't matter." Which party described prohibitions against torture "quaint" and presided over the most reckless, and irresponsible period in American finance since the 1920s?
I don't really care about the answer to these questions. The only answer I need is to the question: what do we do now?
Only 30% say Obama hasn't done enough to cooperate with Republicans in Congress — the GOP base vote, basically — while 62% say he's doing the right amount and 6% say it's been too much. Flipping it around, only 27% say Republicans have done enough to cooperate with Obama, with 64% saying not enough and 5% saying too much.
Quote of the day:
"The response of the right to the crisis in America was to flee to its catechism. The Republicans propose to bail out the economy with doctrine. Unemployment is 7.6 percent and rising, and they say: let them eat Friedman. When billions and billions of dollars are needed for the Pentagon (fine with me) and for Wall Street, it is damn the zeroes, full speed ahead--but when the prospect of relief for ordinary Americans in trouble rears its fair and compassionate head, the deficit desperately matters again. The Republicans are not only heartless, they are also hypocritical, since the cause of all this misery was the market abandon that they promoted so messianically. These are the people who would have privatized, that is, destroyed, Social Security: how can their protests not be met vehemently? This vehemence is not "partisanship," it is analysis. It is not "populism," it is liberalism," - Leon Wieseltier.
Fascinating. I've been saying that to Democrats, such as yourself, for years.
A good portion of the people who can't pay their mortgages don't belong in the homes their in...regardless of rates.
This is not a solution. I would urge Obama to go back to the drawing board and try again.
Yes, we have proven that we need more regulation than we've had over DECADES. But, spreading the wealth doesn't promote success. It promotes LAZINESS. I've already heard of people who have stopped paying their mortgage so that they can take advantage of this.
I can't write the bill. Like you, I have to count on the govt. So far, I'm unimpressed with the details of this plan. I understand that we need a plan, but this crappy, socialist solution needs to be scrapped.
PS This isn't Bush's fault, but I understand that it makes people feel better to jump on that bandwagon. Enjoy your time there. Let me know when you're ready to take your blinders off and talk about what really happened here.
You can't honestly say the 8 years of republican rule had nothing to do with promoting Bush's Ownership Society. You seriously need to do your homework and/or take off your own blinders if you have your head that deep in the sand. As you have said previously, your are better than that – or so I thought.
And, again, it is so easy to be critical, particularly if you have no solution. You are also being hypocritical to say on one hand that government should come up with a solution and on the other hand say we shouldn’t rely on government for all the answers. Take a stand.
Tell me this: what percent of the loans Obama intends to fix are actually for people that went beyond their means vs. the percent for people that have no job and thus can’t make their house payments. In Michigan unemployment gets you $362 per week and in our local economy you can lose your job for no fault of your own.
What happens if your sugar daddy were to lose his job? How would you make your house payment for as much as a year or more? Would you be willing to give up your home and move for another job somewhere else?
Don’t lump everything into one category when it comes to houses and this plan. Do your homework and stop writing from emotions. There’s a lot more to this issue than just one idiot’s meltdown.
It's a lot easier to organize a tea-party, but Clive Crook has actually studied the foreclosure plan in detail:
The administration says that its scheme does not reward people who recklessly borrowed too much. This is untrue: the plan will certainly help some people who borrowed more than they should have. No doubt, it would be fairer to help only borrowers whose standard repayments (after teaser rates expired) were no more than say 30 percent of gross income to begin with, and/or who borrowed less than 80% of their property's initial value--in other words, to help only borrowers who behaved prudently, and who are now in trouble because their income has fallen. But of course this would have meant many more defaults. Because foreclosures also hurt innocent bystanders, there is a public interest in limiting them. The second part of the plan, I think, is indeed unfair and does raise moral hazard concerns--but I'd say that is a price worth paying if it stems the tide of foreclosures.
Dear Socialists and Democrats:
True, Prez. Bush ran a war while promoting a six (6) year run of prosperity.
During W.W.II this nation sacrificed to win. During Vietnam and the two (2) Gulf Wars the political leadership of this country choose to promote a policy of “guns & butter”.
Both Democrats and Republicans choose the easy way; and the easy way brings bad consequences.
These mistakes (running a war without sacrifices) do not translate into a national desire to socialize the economy.
Nonetheless, the American socialists have not had this opening since the American Communists under FDR.
It is time to let the “blue dog”, clear thinking, rational Democrats have a voice in the once proud Democratic Party.
Peace, Tiberius
“President Obama was in Arizona today, talking about his plan to help ease the home mortgage crisis. It seemed like a strange place to announce his plan, since most of the homes in Arizona are owned by John McCain.” -Jimmy Kimmel
“Good news and bad news for Sarah Palin. The bad news is that the IRS says she owes thousands of dollars in back taxes. The good news is that she now qualifies to be in Obama’s Cabinet.” -Craig Ferguson
“In an interview with Fox News, Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter, 18-year-old Bristol Palin — remember Bristol Palin, who had the baby? Well, she talked in the interview. She said, ‘A year ago, I never would have thought I would become a mom or that my mom was going to be chosen to be a vice presidential candidate.’ Oddly enough, both things happened because some guy failed to take the proper precautions.” -Jay Leno
Here’s a great one from the blog Crooksandliars.com:
Watching Rick Santelli's embarrassing diatribe at the expense of the American people made me realize that these Wall Street frat boys still don't get it. America is sick and tired of the riches they have manipulated out of the system and then be lectured by people who make more money than 100 middle class workers put together. The next time I want advice on how to live I'll be sure to ask a man who was deeply involved in "derivatives."
California hates Enron and all the damage it caused us and America, but these are Santelli's peeps. I watch the Saturday FOX Stock shows religiously and he fits right in with Cavuto's crowd. Don't blame the crooked mortgage lenders who were having bidding wars to acquire their next mansion, but blame first time buyers or average Americans, the lifeblood of our society and call them "losers."
Santelli needs to own that he is the loser and if it wasn't for the gasbag insider crowd that gives his words a modicum of respect, crowds would gather outside his home with torches and pitchforks. Jane nails him and his ilk.
Rick Santelli is just the explosive Id of CNBC, saying what everyone else thinks. Somehow it's not the pervasive institutional rot, the criminal malfeasance at the highest levels, or the Chairman of the Federal Reserve telling Americans over and over again that housing prices would never go down.
They have convinced themselves that the real problem is once again people at the absolute bottom of the economic scale. If they'd only used appropriate "judgment" and lived within their means, we'd all be fine.
Chris Matthews labelling Santelli another "Sean Hannity" is cool with me because he backs up their positions, but that's what most of CNBC and FOX news are all about. On the TODAY show, Santelli went on about how all home owners should get help. That's what, like 100 million homes? Is he asking for another 10 trillion dollars? Part of President Obama's plan is to keep the values of homes as high as possible. By helping out the few, he is actually saving the overall housing market thousands of dollars per home. Do people want to see their houses lose half its value and then get a tax break? I don't think so...
With Chris Matthews, the idiot Bush Depression trader says shame on them for signing something without reading the fine print. I read it and didn't understand it either. That's why I hired a freaking mortgage broker.
Chris got him to admit that he voted for John McCain. What a shock. We were all lied to at almost every level so these slickly dressed charlatans could pillage the country for all it was worth.
And if anyone has bought a house and tried to get a mortgage, they would know that the documentation is gibberish to most of us. We rely on the lenders to accurately navigate the system and not get abused by it. Santelli knows this too. I was lied to when I bought a house many years ago. The escrow agent even manipulated my trust and I watched what happened in California as these greedy money changers almost destroyed the entire economy.
I go to the DMV to get a license and I have to go through a series of requirements to meet what's needed in order to acquire it. If the same principle had been applied to the mortgage lenders, then people would not have been qualified to refinance or get into a house they couldn't afford. It's really that simple.
I hope he keeps it up because Americans are in need of help and not lectures from the likes of Rick Santelli. He only helps to expose the disturbed world view shared by the Bush loving-John McCain Wall Streeters.
What ever happened to your political heros? Can't the republican politicians make it happen or has everything and everyone turned to Rush, Hannity, and now Santelli for the hope of a republican future?
ere's some socialism for you.
Americans love the idea of small government. They just don’t seem to actually care about shrinking the government outside of rhetoric. Americans love their entitlements. They like having an FDA and a host of other regluatory bodies. They don't want to reduce the military budget significantly. They want, and have come to expect, an awful lot of things from government. The fact that they say they want small government means no more than the fact that they say they want a balanced budget. It’s theater, and it’s rhetoric. It’s not founded on anything politically actionable. I’m sorry, but people who say that they want small government yet refuse entitlement reform and a shrinking military budget are not to be taken seriously. They are not dedicated to the idea to the degree that they are actually willing to sacrifice to make it a reality.
A little hypocracy here, don't you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTAk54c8tFQ
How about the financial copmany and CNBC losers?
As I understand it, Santelli is a former derivatives trader. Wait a minute - aren't these the people that screwed everything up in the first place?
What a whore Santelli has become. First he sells his soul to profit from selling garbage and now he wants to profit from the fallout as well. He calls the homeowners losers when Wall Street and all these derivatives traders are the real losers.
Give me a break!!
"If you go out and interview these people working on this road in Maryland... these people are thrilled. They are thrilled that they are working in March on a good paying job building roads, which is what they were trained to do. That's going to be happening all over America. So the idea that this is socialism -- it is not socialism, it is economic development. It is going to provide an economic engine around communities all over American for jobs; good paying jobs; and help people pay their bills. I don't call that socialism.... We are the model for the world when it comes to infrastructure. We are the model for the interstate system. I don't call that socialism. Our $40 billion [for the Department of Transportation]: not socialism. It is good paying jobs that is going to drive the economies in a lot of states and a lot of communities," - Obama transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, a Republican.
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