My Federal Financial Plan is Open for Discussion
PLEASE NOTE: There are no definitive answers for what I am discussing here, no matter how much you argue otherwise. These are my thoughts and opinions - nothing more. I am not seeking to impose these thoughts on you, merely expose you to them. I enjoy my views being challenged, though I will not converse with you if you’re goal is only to prove me wrong. Intellectual debate is the journey to prove yourself right, not your opponent wrong. Statistically speaking, the chance of one of us being entirely right is far smaller than the chance of both of us being partially correct. That is why debate and conversation is important to me. I seek to learn new views and incorporate them into my own world view. The pursuit of understanding is not the pursuit of being right - being accurate is simply a by-product of understanding.
I feel comfortable saying that the past year through sometime in 2010 will be known as the Second Great Depression. I'm a pessimist, an optimist, a realist, and a cynic - all rolled into one. How? Because I stay detached in a way casual video gamers stay detached from their games. I approach a dungeon thinking of the worst that could happen and the best that can happen - while at the same time considering that is most likely to happen and then preparing for the worst so that I’m rarely disappointed with the results. Welcome to my view of the American Government and financial sector. Always hedge your bets, because you are indeed betting and there are no guarantees.
So how did this whole subprime lending cluster f*** get started in the first place?
Personally, I think it all started with the Savings and Loan Crisis back in the 1980’s (yes, I was a newborn, so I’ve had to learn this stuff second and third hand). If you read about the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 80’s, you’ll see a lot of similarities to what’s happening now with the Subprime Crisis of the new millennium. But you can do that on your own, as I’d like to cut to the good stuff.
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989
This Act gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac additional responsibility to support mortgages for what were normally considered “at-risk” families (people who would be able to make monthly payments given that their financial situation stay stable over the course of their mortgage’s life). Also, the government began to bailout the Savings and Loan industry from making bad loans (sound familiar). It stared with Ronald Reagan, continued with George Senior and ended during the Clinton administration.
Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (aka: the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)
This act repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (which founded the FDIC), effectively deregulated the banking industry as we knew it and came to pass during the Clinton administration (to be more accurate, Clinton’s name is signed and it can’t be blamed on solely on Congress or the Senate). Previously, banks were now allowed to go into other industries and spread out as they saw fit. With the new rules, they could grow in areas they thought would help build the business portfolio, acquire businesses that could grow their stock market value, do whatever they wanted as a business. It was initiated so that the now famous CitiGroup could be founded by the acquisition of CitiBank by Travelers Group. Sound nice?
Well, don’t forget that cancer is just cellular growth that’s been deregulated. The Savings and Loan Crisis was started by the deregulation of the sector - they were given free reign to do as they please. Now the banking sector was being given the same rope to hang themselves with. And hang they have.
So how do these two Acts, signed by different administrations, different parties, etc. play into the huge cluster f*** of subprime lending?
In a nutshell:
Policies are being based on 50 year old ideas of how the world works - ignoring the “de-evolution” of our countries morals. Of course the banks were going to do this! I would.
Huge potential earnings for an unspecified amount of time
Risk factor of zero thanks to government bailout plans
+ Only loss is to reputation of company and industry?
Sign me the f*** up!!!!
Kids don’t run around the playground and see someone get fussed at for a minute because of stealing someone’s lunch money and decide, “oh, I shouldn’t steal lunch money, because I’ll get fussed at.” They say, “you mean I can steal lunch money, not have to give it back, and all that happens is someone fusses at me?” Our morals have deteriorated as a whole. What was once taboo is now considered normal. CEOs make more in a day than the majority of their workers make in a year. Homosexuals proudly proclaim “I’m here and I’m queer.” Feminist women purchase key chains and bumper stickers to announce “I’m not A bitch, I’m THE bitch.” Fatalities caused by DUI are treated as manslaughter instead of homicide on a regular basis. I could go on.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with any of it. Live and let live. Instigate change through thought, not through policy. Because a government and it’s laws/policies are only as good as the people enforcing and making use of them. Currently, we have a fundamental change in the people are policies that do not address that change are doomed to fail.
Our country has changed on a fundamental level. Our morals are different. Our expectations are different. What we accept and reject have altered course from what our forefathers envisioned. Our country is shaped by the people who inhabit it. To make change, we have to account for those people and their beliefs. Not their wants and desires, but their base beliefs and needs.
I say:
Allow homosexuals to get legally married. Whether it’s a marriage in the eyes of God is between God and those couples.
Get rid of the “Irreconcilable Differences” as a reason for divorce. Figure it out before you get married. Marriage isn’t the new “we’re officially an item.”
Tax divorce proceedings. If you want to get divorced, each party should be subject to a tax to be used to educate children on what healthy relationships should consist of - since it’s obvious your kids won’t be finding it out from you.
Don’t allow individuals on welfare to vote or influence policy. Let’s see how long they stay on welfare when no one is considering their vote.
Create a citizen exchange program. Allow illegal immigrants who seek employment to work on a Work Visa. After three years, they gain citizenship. And to ensure their country isn’t loosing population density, begin deportation proceedings on people who have been on welfare for more than three years - we’ll exchange our unemployed bum for their diligent worker. But it’s a fair trade, because it’s an American bum, right? Riiiiiight.
Create a bankruptcy payback plan - new welfare plan. Have the government use tax payer money to pay off bankruptcy filings - and put the person who filed on a government plan to pay back the debt. I never had a problem with indentured servitude. Filer keeps their current job, the government gets their paycheck and all of their necessary livings expenses will be paid out of that paycheck with the surplus going to pay down debt. This would be a new form of welfare, so they also do not get to vote. Any extra expenses they want must be preapproved by their government financial advisor (good luck scheduling an appointment). They also get taxed higher than before for being on this new welfare plan - because of the need for a government financial advisor. Citizens under this form of welfare are not subject to citizen exchange program.
Create a bailout plan for the health care industry. If they government pays back off the debt incurred by deadbeat ER patients, the scales will be reset. Hospitals will be able to charge less for services to future patients. Also, due to the new bankruptcy payback plan, hospitals will not need to worry about the failure of future patients to pay off charges for services.
Issue mandatory government issued life-insurance. This will be paid for by your individual tax dollars and be tied to your net debt. If you owe $100,000, you’re life insurance policy will be for $100,000. You current health will influence your rates. Idea is that children, who do not have credit cards, will not need to have government issued life insurance. You’re not supposed to get credit until you have income. Therefore, once you have income and incur debt, you’re income will be used to pay for life insurance - so that in the event of your death, you’re debt will be repaid. It also influences people to stay out of debt. Mortgages will not be tied to the calculation of this life insurance debt policy, as your home can be sold as an asset.
Use new revenue from the reduction of company write offs (caused by bankruptcies and failure of individuals to repay debt) to fund mandatory ethics courses in schools. Enlist the assistance of religious leaders in the community. Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Atheists, etc. Allow all groups to teach children what right and wrong means to them, as well as what respect means and entails. The exposure to more religions will ensure no group is left out, so it’s not being biased - call it a partial deregulation of church and state. If your religion isn’t represented, volunteer to share your views. Government funded, community based ethics training. “Johnny, I’m not saying your mommy is wrong, but out of every religion represented in this class, not one says that it’s respectful or ok to tell your teacher to f*** off or your daddy will skull f*** her.” Peer pressure can be a wonderful thing.
The world will get better. We’ll survive this subprime crisis. But it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. So grow a pair and brace yourself.
- CJ
[late night edit] So what do we do about the current mortgage issue?
Watch this video
I feel comfortable saying that the past year through sometime in 2010 will be known as the Second Great Depression. I'm a pessimist, an optimist, a realist, and a cynic - all rolled into one. How? Because I stay detached in a way casual video gamers stay detached from their games. I approach a dungeon thinking of the worst that could happen and the best that can happen - while at the same time considering that is most likely to happen and then preparing for the worst so that I’m rarely disappointed with the results. Welcome to my view of the American Government and financial sector. Always hedge your bets, because you are indeed betting and there are no guarantees.
So how did this whole subprime lending cluster f*** get started in the first place?
Personally, I think it all started with the Savings and Loan Crisis back in the 1980’s (yes, I was a newborn, so I’ve had to learn this stuff second and third hand). If you read about the Savings and Loan Crisis of the 80’s, you’ll see a lot of similarities to what’s happening now with the Subprime Crisis of the new millennium. But you can do that on your own, as I’d like to cut to the good stuff.
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989
This Act gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac additional responsibility to support mortgages for what were normally considered “at-risk” families (people who would be able to make monthly payments given that their financial situation stay stable over the course of their mortgage’s life). Also, the government began to bailout the Savings and Loan industry from making bad loans (sound familiar). It stared with Ronald Reagan, continued with George Senior and ended during the Clinton administration.
Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (aka: the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)
This act repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (which founded the FDIC), effectively deregulated the banking industry as we knew it and came to pass during the Clinton administration (to be more accurate, Clinton’s name is signed and it can’t be blamed on solely on Congress or the Senate). Previously, banks were now allowed to go into other industries and spread out as they saw fit. With the new rules, they could grow in areas they thought would help build the business portfolio, acquire businesses that could grow their stock market value, do whatever they wanted as a business. It was initiated so that the now famous CitiGroup could be founded by the acquisition of CitiBank by Travelers Group. Sound nice?
Well, don’t forget that cancer is just cellular growth that’s been deregulated. The Savings and Loan Crisis was started by the deregulation of the sector - they were given free reign to do as they please. Now the banking sector was being given the same rope to hang themselves with. And hang they have.
So how do these two Acts, signed by different administrations, different parties, etc. play into the huge cluster f*** of subprime lending?
In a nutshell:
- savings and loan sector was deregulated
- savings and loan groups started giving out bad loans
- savings and loan groups ended up failing once the bubble bursts
- government bails them out with tax dollars
- government believes a lesson had been learned from the Savings and Loan meltdown
- the government deregulates the banking sector
Policies are being based on 50 year old ideas of how the world works - ignoring the “de-evolution” of our countries morals. Of course the banks were going to do this! I would.
Huge potential earnings for an unspecified amount of time
Risk factor of zero thanks to government bailout plans
+ Only loss is to reputation of company and industry?
Sign me the f*** up!!!!
Kids don’t run around the playground and see someone get fussed at for a minute because of stealing someone’s lunch money and decide, “oh, I shouldn’t steal lunch money, because I’ll get fussed at.” They say, “you mean I can steal lunch money, not have to give it back, and all that happens is someone fusses at me?” Our morals have deteriorated as a whole. What was once taboo is now considered normal. CEOs make more in a day than the majority of their workers make in a year. Homosexuals proudly proclaim “I’m here and I’m queer.” Feminist women purchase key chains and bumper stickers to announce “I’m not A bitch, I’m THE bitch.” Fatalities caused by DUI are treated as manslaughter instead of homicide on a regular basis. I could go on.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with any of it. Live and let live. Instigate change through thought, not through policy. Because a government and it’s laws/policies are only as good as the people enforcing and making use of them. Currently, we have a fundamental change in the people are policies that do not address that change are doomed to fail.
Our country has changed on a fundamental level. Our morals are different. Our expectations are different. What we accept and reject have altered course from what our forefathers envisioned. Our country is shaped by the people who inhabit it. To make change, we have to account for those people and their beliefs. Not their wants and desires, but their base beliefs and needs.
I say:
Allow homosexuals to get legally married. Whether it’s a marriage in the eyes of God is between God and those couples.
Get rid of the “Irreconcilable Differences” as a reason for divorce. Figure it out before you get married. Marriage isn’t the new “we’re officially an item.”
Tax divorce proceedings. If you want to get divorced, each party should be subject to a tax to be used to educate children on what healthy relationships should consist of - since it’s obvious your kids won’t be finding it out from you.
Don’t allow individuals on welfare to vote or influence policy. Let’s see how long they stay on welfare when no one is considering their vote.
Create a citizen exchange program. Allow illegal immigrants who seek employment to work on a Work Visa. After three years, they gain citizenship. And to ensure their country isn’t loosing population density, begin deportation proceedings on people who have been on welfare for more than three years - we’ll exchange our unemployed bum for their diligent worker. But it’s a fair trade, because it’s an American bum, right? Riiiiiight.
Create a bankruptcy payback plan - new welfare plan. Have the government use tax payer money to pay off bankruptcy filings - and put the person who filed on a government plan to pay back the debt. I never had a problem with indentured servitude. Filer keeps their current job, the government gets their paycheck and all of their necessary livings expenses will be paid out of that paycheck with the surplus going to pay down debt. This would be a new form of welfare, so they also do not get to vote. Any extra expenses they want must be preapproved by their government financial advisor (good luck scheduling an appointment). They also get taxed higher than before for being on this new welfare plan - because of the need for a government financial advisor. Citizens under this form of welfare are not subject to citizen exchange program.
Create a bailout plan for the health care industry. If they government pays back off the debt incurred by deadbeat ER patients, the scales will be reset. Hospitals will be able to charge less for services to future patients. Also, due to the new bankruptcy payback plan, hospitals will not need to worry about the failure of future patients to pay off charges for services.
Issue mandatory government issued life-insurance. This will be paid for by your individual tax dollars and be tied to your net debt. If you owe $100,000, you’re life insurance policy will be for $100,000. You current health will influence your rates. Idea is that children, who do not have credit cards, will not need to have government issued life insurance. You’re not supposed to get credit until you have income. Therefore, once you have income and incur debt, you’re income will be used to pay for life insurance - so that in the event of your death, you’re debt will be repaid. It also influences people to stay out of debt. Mortgages will not be tied to the calculation of this life insurance debt policy, as your home can be sold as an asset.
Use new revenue from the reduction of company write offs (caused by bankruptcies and failure of individuals to repay debt) to fund mandatory ethics courses in schools. Enlist the assistance of religious leaders in the community. Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Atheists, etc. Allow all groups to teach children what right and wrong means to them, as well as what respect means and entails. The exposure to more religions will ensure no group is left out, so it’s not being biased - call it a partial deregulation of church and state. If your religion isn’t represented, volunteer to share your views. Government funded, community based ethics training. “Johnny, I’m not saying your mommy is wrong, but out of every religion represented in this class, not one says that it’s respectful or ok to tell your teacher to f*** off or your daddy will skull f*** her.” Peer pressure can be a wonderful thing.
The world will get better. We’ll survive this subprime crisis. But it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. So grow a pair and brace yourself.
- CJ
[late night edit] So what do we do about the current mortgage issue?
Watch this video