BREAKING NEWS: CNBC Analyst Calls For ‘New Tea Party’ As Chicago Traders Revolt Against Obama’s Plan!
By Corey Thompson, filed in Announcements on Feb.19, 2009
This afternoon’s headline, courtesy of ‘The Drudge Report.’ www.drudgereport.com
TRADERS REVOLT: CNBC
HOST CALLS FOR NEW ‘TEA
PARTY’; CHICAGO FLOOR
MOCKS OBAMA PLAN
February 19th, 2009 on 8:40 pm
I actually do agree with Rick Santelli. As a liberal minded individual (gasp), I tend to value social programs that are targeted to assist the poorest of the poor and those who need a leg up in this country. However, this country is in a rough patch right now and all I see us doing is spending more money to get out of it. This stimulus plan took a turn somewhere from being aimed at creating jobs and stirring a “ground up” revitalization of capitalism to a spending spree that has lost focus.
This country was founded on capitalism and, although it may not benefit everybody all the time (which hurts me to my core), this country needs to prosper economically. People foreclose on their houses, but instead of nationalizing banks and such, lets look at the behavior of lenders instead of spending money buying all these bad mortgages. Make banks restructure people’s mortgages instead of allowing them to default. You don’t need a bazooka to shoot a duck. Sure you may hit the target, but there is going to be a ton of collateral damage.
The whole world looks to us for stability, and I feel that we have moved from a place of prosperity to a society of complacent sloths.
February 19th, 2009 on 8:44 pm
What a classic rant.. Outstanding!!!
February 19th, 2009 on 11:11 pm
This new mortgage plan will benefit those who’s mortgages are more than 31% than their income.So basically the people who were most irresponsible in picking a mortgage and home (Don’t give me any crap about it being the lender’s fault someone wants a home they cannot afford) we will benefit THEM instead of the ones who work hard day by day, week by week and get laid off or who don’t have enough work to pay the bills, but their mortgage was reasonable from the get go.
Thanks for helping the little guy Obama.
February 19th, 2009 on 11:19 pm
On the other note about the lenders, Steven, when you bought your home do you know the full amount you could qualify for? Ana and I’s was at like 200k. It’s crazy though how much the bank will lend you, but it’s up to the buyer to be responsible. The lender is there to do his/her job and that is to make you owe as much money as possible to the bank while earning your business. Basically tie you in to a mortgage so that they can make a good amount when they sell it to someone else.
I relate it to a Suit Salesman (sigh). The job is to sell the people a suit they want/need, but to maximize profits in the nicest, most pleasent way possible. Same for the lenders. And just as I was told no, and hell no, plenty of times, it’s the responsibility of the consumer to know his/her limits. The lenders don’t want to see people default, that makes their company look bad to people who buy their mortgages from them.
Just like I would find out what model T.V I would want from Best Buy, I’d price shop, do all my homework before I bought. That is my responsibility as a consumer, the salesman is just going to do his/her job to get me there.
February 19th, 2009 on 11:36 pm
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29283701
I voted before I got the link, but an interesting poll on whether or not you would join this “Tea Party”.
Can I wear a wig?
February 20th, 2009 on 12:08 am
Those poor traders. I really feel for them. If I hear about one more laid off factory worker who cant pay their mortgage I am going to puke. What abunch of losers. They should have read all those pages when those nice mortgage brokers showed them the beauty of interest only ARMS or Neg AM programs to help them get through this rough patch. I really do sympathise for these poor traders who have to pay for these losers who cant be innovative enough to comit fraud or what ever passes for hard work these days.
I say kudos, that is very patriotic to call everyone to stop paying their mortgage. Great job in pushing this positive message quill. The stimulus is less then we have spent in Iraq, these folks didnt make a peep when the banks were getting stimulated. That dude is a clown and if I was within earshot of him I would have probably punched him in the face on behalf of all the hard working losers n this country.
February 20th, 2009 on 11:34 am
Brad,
Welcome back my friend. It’s great to see you on here again!
I am looking forward to some “brotherly” rivalries between you and Steven. I think we should start a “Dueling Brothers” column!
…and yes, you CAN wear a wig.
February 20th, 2009 on 11:44 am
Andy,
I don’t think anyone, even the guy in Chicago yesterday, are hoping to add any more misery to those LEGIT hard-working Americans who have lost their jobs and cannot pay their mortgages. That’s not what he was saying…BECAUSE, the truth is, the stimulus doesn’t do a whole lot to help the hard-working American who has lost their job.
If you look closely at the Stimulus provisions, you’ll find that he was making reference to the fact that the majority of the “HELP” will go to those Americans who are struggling to pay their mortgages because their payments are more than 31% of their income.
This bill is written in such a way as to provide aid to those people who bought “more house” than they could afford. Instead of buying a $120,000 home according to their budget, they were irresponsible and jumped into a $300,000+ estate that has adjustable terms.
Yes, I agree that some were tricked into these loans, but not everyone. Many people knew they were in way over their heads and went for a swim anyways.
Nobody wants the hard-working American to suffer, especially on top of losing their job/pay. However, I certainly don’t want to foot the bill for irresponsible people who bit off a lot more than they could chew, and knew it all along.
I support those measures in the stimulus that help those in need…but NOT those who were financially irresponsible and expect the government (and me) to pick up their slack.
There is a BIG difference between the two…don’t miss that my friend.
February 20th, 2009 on 11:44 am
Andy- Why is it that one set of hard working people should foot the bill for another set of hard working people? You seem to have blurred the line between hard working and financially responsible. I guess “loser” means “financially responsible” in your lexicon- or is it that anyone in a white collar job can’t possibly work hard?
The dispute isn’t who is a “hard worker” and who is a “loser”. The issue here is responsibility. Why should I have to pay for someone who can’t meet their responsibilities? I pay my bills on time, I understood how much of a house I could afford- I made the effort to educate myself. I don’t think my fiscal responsibility should be exploited to fund poor decisions. Unlike Bill Clinton, I don’t think it is a right or even a good idea for every American to be a homeowner. Many people don’t have the means or the financial acumen to make it work- that should not be my problem. I already have problems in bailing out Banks and the US Auto Industry, I don’t need another.
If you don’t think there is a sizeable group of Americans who felt like they just hit the housing lottery you are nuts. While the Banks are just as culpable as they loaned the $$, borrowers should have done their homework- common sense apparently isn’t very common for far too many American’s. Now the get out of jail free card is there for the taking. People need to start looking in the mirror for answers rather than passing blame and promptly looking to Uncle Sam for a handout.
Oh yeah… For someone who keeps preaching the Right lives in fear of new ideas, you are quick to offer a ‘punch in the face’ to a guy with differing viewpoints… You might want to try and eat your own cooking.
February 20th, 2009 on 12:14 pm
Excellent points Flynn…great stuff indeed!
To all,
I wanted to make one more point since the issue of “teachers” came up. I think most of you are aware that my wife and I are BOTH teachers. Unfortunately, I AM NOT a professional “blogger,” and I do not just sit around all day writing my next article (haha).
My wife and I are both hard-working Americans, spending our days at inner-city schools.
We work very hard. We do not get paid much. We have a lot of debt that we’ve racked up over the years by making “dumb choices” in chasing “The American Dream” and “trying to keep up with the Jones’.”
Our employer, the local school system, recently announced that they MAY (let’s hope and pray that they don’t) have to lay-off up to 1,200 teachers for next year due to the crisis.
If that happens, I have NO IDEA what we’d do. Our debts, credit cards (plastic gold), mortgage, and a host of other monthly expenses would all be in jeopardy of being paid. We might lose it all tomorrow…we all could…
The point is, if I only had my mortgage and utilities, groceries, and car to pay for, we’d be ok even if one/both of us had to take a lower-paying job. We could survive.
What has put us in a tough spot is our “other debt,” credit cards, loans, etc. We haven’t been able to save because we’re making minimum monthly payments for things we don’t even remember buying…ugh. We were young and dumb.
I say all of this to make a comparison. So much of America is in the same boat. We over-spend, buy what we can’t afford, and live life with a “pay later” mentality.
Can’t you see, that’s why this country is in this mess to begin with. IT’S NOT JUST THE BANKS/FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT WERE GREEDY…IT HAS BEEN MOST OF THE COUNTRY. I put money on a credit card, you may have a big loan for something you don’t even use anymore, somebody else got into a mortgage they couldn’t handle. That’s NOT the government’s responsibility to pay for it, nor handle.
We are a nation of debt…
The point is, I DO NOT expect my government to bail me out of my own stupidity and irresponsibility. Help in the form of stimulus checks and tax breaks are nice, but they only help in the short-term (I’ll gladly take my check today). Using someone’s tax dollars to pay for another American’s toxic mortgage is insane!
We’ve lost the definition of frugality my friends, and are shouldering the weight of the debt we’ve accumulated. We can’t save because we’re in the hole. Then, when a CRISIS arises, we’ve got no “Rainy Day” fund because its in our iPod, laptops, and at the local mall. When times get tough, we have nowhere to turn for relief, so we look to cast blame and wait for a rescue from Uncle Sam.
Until we get back to a level of financial responsibility, both in our government and personal lives, and when corporate greed stops preying on our attitude of “buy more than we can afford now, try to pay later,” we’ll remain in an endless cycle of debt…and dependency.
February 20th, 2009 on 12:29 pm
Steven,
In the long chain of responses, I somehow missed your post above. I think you and I agree on a lot here. Your “complacency” comment is right on the mark!
February 20th, 2009 on 4:46 pm
You know, we are all arguing the same point.
Andy said “If I hear about one more laid off factory worker who cant pay their mortgage I am going to puke. What abunch of losers. They should have read all those pages when those nice mortgage brokers showed them the beauty of interest only ARMS or Neg AM programs to help them get through this rough patch”.
Quill said “We’ve lost the definition of frugality my friends, and are shouldering the weight of the debt we’ve accumulated”.
Flynn said “Why should I have to pay for someone who can’t meet their responsibilities”.
Brad said “but it’s up to the buyer to be responsible”.
And I said “The whole world looks to us for stability, and I feel that we have moved from a place of prosperity to a society of complacent sloths”.
I feel that all of us who have seen this or read this posting by all these fine writers can agree that what this really boils down to is personal responsibility. We ALL believe that this could have been avoided had people (read: America) decided to live within their means and get head over heals in debt. Not saying that debt is a bad thing; debt gives us something to strive for as (I think) Thomas Jefferson once noted. But too much debt is a sign of gluttony and that is this great nation’s number one sin.
February 20th, 2009 on 8:16 pm
Good stuff Steven.
February 21st, 2009 on 1:45 am
Corey, I appreciate your sincere and humble post. I am right there with you and, as you noted, so are many others.
None of you have read the bill. It is not about paying someone else’s mortgage. In fact you can not even get help unless you are in a situation that shows you had the right intentions and are going to continue to pay. The part that pisses me off is that the people crying the loudest are the slum lords who are not going to be able to gobble up these foreclosures and turn another dime on the backs of the hard working American who have been hit between the eyes with more work for less pay if any work at all.
Flynn, I respect all American workers, white or blue collar, I am a white collar worker who works very hard. The guy on CNBC is a clown and he did not read the bill either before he went around irresponsibly stoking the coals of social warfare. As for your comment about Bill Clinton thinking every American should own a home, let’s not go there. I seem to remember a couple State of the Unions in a row where GW was sure eager to report that more Americans than ever were “living out the American Dream”(as my good friend Corey stated) by owning their own home. But then again this is a guy who told a lady in her mid 60’s complaining about having to work 3 jobs that working 3 jobs at her age was uniquely American. Sheesh. I’ll try not to get side tracked.
Many Americans took these President’s words and fell for the slick marketing, the slicker talk of the, what they perceived, reliable real estate industry (I know many are responsible, but who are we kidding) It is just one more example of an industry where an adequate growth model is never enough, 5,500 sq. foot home is not enough, 65 ft. yacht is not enough, bottom lines keep growing, top line has to grow. It is as if the word adequate profit or growth is nonexistent.
Lastly, I was not aware I was much of a preacher. Hopefully I’m like the Preacher walking with Tom Joad down this dirt road feeling bad, hoping for reckoning and redemption. And yes I don’t mind eating mine or anyone else’s cooking. At least it’s a meal. I would not resort to violence as I am a non violent person but it frustrates me to hear pipsqueaks like that guy spout off irresponsibly to millions without reading the first word of the bill.
February 21st, 2009 on 3:28 pm
Lets try this. Everyone pretend that Carl Rove wrote this(so you can stomach it) and then tell me where you see us paying for anyone elses mortgage.
http://www.treas.gov/initiatives/eesa/homeowner-affordability-plan/ExecutiveSummary.pdf
February 21st, 2009 on 8:21 pm
Clearly you can’t be serious and posted this as a joke. But I will bite just for fun. The 3 goals- directly from the link you posted.
1.Refinancing for Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Make Their Mortgages More Affordable.
This isn’t done without cost. Who is paying for it? The Tax payers are paying for it. I’m a tax payer. Do you get it?
2. A $75 Billion Homeowner Stability Initiative to Reach Up to 3 to 4 Million At-Risk Homeowners
Again. Who is paying for it? The Tax payers are paying for it. I’m a tax payer. I really hope you get it now
3. Supporting Low Mortgage Rates By Strengthening Confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
How do you ’strengthening confidence’ in these two dogs? You dump money into it. Who is paying for it? The Tax payers are paying for it. I’m a tax payer. If you haven’t gotten it yet I don’t know what to say.
February 22nd, 2009 on 12:24 am
Oh I finally get it. Thanks for breaking it down so I can understand. We (you, me and all the other good taxpayers) are going to pay out of our taxes the money it takes to refinance these folk’s mortgages to help them keep their homes and stop the plummeting home prices. Yeah that makes me angry too.
It is so much different from funding “Shock and Awe” and God and cheany only know what else. Now, blowing over 100,000 people away in a country a half world away to spread democracy that is what I like to pay for. But this death by a thousand cuts for Americans give me a break.
Man I feel like we are getting somewhere. This domestic apathy is even better than international apathy. I thought those hungry kids in Africa were sad, they look dignified compared to a parts salesman in Indiana.
Thanks again for the education.
February 22nd, 2009 on 2:10 am
For the record, trading on the floor is as much of a job as working in a factory, or building houses, or teaching. Just because they are on the floor doesn’t mean they are the ones making the bad decisions about home loans. And yes, #2 on that list is what we will be paying for and our kids will be paying for. The first stimulus was full of so much crap about saving rats and making a light rail line in Nevada (Harry Reid’s home state) and golf carts, and ALMOST NOTHING for the Average American worker. So it takes $780 Billion dollars to make tax cuts equal to $13 a week average on a paycheck? AND THAT’S SUPPOSED TO HELP ME BUY A NEW CAR OR TELEVISION??? Great way to stimulate the economy.
Listen, when we talk about jobs here, what we need to be talking about is WORK, not JOBS. There is a difference. Being in construction if we have a JOB, it may take us a few weeks to do. But if we have WORK, we’re talking about a year or more’s worth. What I personally see here are JOBS being created and not WORK. Sure lets work on the infrastucture of schools. Lets repair some sheetrock and paint it, maybe put some new iron bars on the windows of the Middle school, fix some pot holes or pour new asphalt. Maybe we can fix that pesky insulation that is hanging down from the rafters that might fall at any minute. But are we talking about actually stimulating WORK here?? No, we’re creating some JOBS. Also I want to add that the light rail that was added in the stimulus in Nevada is total crap. Not necessary and doesn’t have a place in the stimulus, so I’m not going to count that.
Now aside from some construction projects that could last a total of maybe a year or so to actually do in the schools, we can talk about other jobs that will be stimulated by this bill. Teachers? Psshh. We’ve already heard about the possibility of cutting 1200 teachers in public school, lets try to get some numbers on private. If the economy is so bad, you can be kids will be pulled from private and put into public. So Private school teachers will loose jobs. Want to work for the Government in N.C? HAHAHA, good luck with a projected $70 Million in budget shortcommings in Mecklenburg alone. 15% budget decreases in all government departments in Meck. and if I’m not mistaken in agencies in N.C. That doesnt sound very stimulating does it? All that money and we have to cut all these jobs and reduce pay. Pat McCrory is saying that Gov. Perdue will be keeping most of the money in Raleigh and that Charlotte won’t be seeing much of it. He met with Obamessiah on Friday with other Mayors to discuss problems like this.
Sorry to stray, I’m comming back home now. So here we are, $780 billion in the hole from a stimulus filled with pet projects and absolute nonsense that has nothing to do with stimulating the economy, and more to do with stimulating the agendas of the people that got the Chosen One (Not Steve Oedekerk) into office, and now Barak wants to spend another $78 Billion or so messing with the housing markets giving breaks to people going Bankrupt because they bought 5 different properties to flip because they saw it on HGTV. Couldn’t you have cut out all the crap in the first one and put this in? I wrote this on another post, but if your mortgage is more than 31% of your income, you can get some relief. But if your mortgage is less than 31% because you were frugal in spending and smart with your money and you lose your job, well then sorry, that money is going to the guy who bought that house across the street with 1 extra bedroom and bath with that nice sunroom on the back, but he happens to make $20,000 less than you. While you are helping to pay HIS mortgage, you are up the freakin’ creek and that paddle, well you know where it IS NOT!LOL! Not funny, no way out, no help. But THAT guy, the one over there that liked that house and jumped into a bad mortgage, he gets helped.
We need to realize not as Republicans or Democrats, but as the People of the United States, that this spending spree, this American Express Black Card that the goverment has, someone will have to pay for it. Do you think the ones paying for most of it will be the ones this is supposed to help? Distribution of wealth. Robin Hood. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor. In this case however, MOST of the wealthy don’t do anything wrong. They work the 60-70 hour weeks sometimes spending time away from their families to provide the best for them, and their money is going to those who make poor financial descisions and to those who aren’t even trying to better themselves, sufficiently living off of government coupons and checks. This is the American Dream? Not being able to support my family because I am supporting someone else’s? Or my children will be paying $400 a week out of their paychecks or more in taxes to pay for our outrageous spending?
Ladies and Gentlemen, analyze what is going on here. Americans for the most part have severe credit card debt. Fortunatly my wife and I are not part of that statistic, yet. But Americans have no problem spending and spending getting all the nice things we want and not worrying about the consequences of that spending. But eventualy that monthly payment gets higher and higher and before we know, we’re in a problem that is unlikely to resolve itself by normal means. We have to do credit card settlements or declare Bankruptcy. Now, here’s the grand finale so pay attention!!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING!!!!!!! We are in the process of going through this crisis about spending money we don’t have, and the Government decides that we need to spend more and more dragging us deeper into debt. Now, that monthly or yearly payment on that debt is about to get bigger and bigger and the Government is going to have a ton of trouble paying off such a big bill. So since they can’t declare Bankruptcy they do the obvious thing, which is raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes. Republican, Democrat, There is NO WAY you can deny that FACT. It is not opinion, it is FACT.
And so it’s up to us to pay the bill of the government’s overspending. Impossible to dispute.