Chuck Ponzi January 20th, 2010

Unfortunately, this bad dream, this nightmare is what we are living through.  I believe we have reached the tipping point.  If the morally decrepit cannot be removed through nonviolent means (voting), they will most assuredly provoke a sleeping giant.  I don’t think Americans can take much more evil, graft, stupidity, and lawlessness.

“Could it all be a bad dream, or a nightmare? Is it my imagination, or have we lost our minds? It’s surreal; it’s just not believable. A grand absurdity; a great deception, a delusion of momentous proportions; based on preposterous notions; and on ideas whose time should never have come; simplicity grossly distorted and complicated; insanity passed off as logic; grandiose schemes built on falsehoods with the morality of Ponzi and Madoff; evil described as virtue; ignorance pawned off as wisdom; destruction and impoverishment in the name of humanitarianism; violence, the tool of change; preventive wars used as the road to peace; tolerance delivered by government guns; reactionary views in the guise of progress; an empire replacing the Republic; slavery sold as liberty; excellence and virtue traded for mediocracy; socialism to save capitalism; a government out of control, unrestrained by the Constitution, the rule of law, or morality; bickering over petty politics as we collapse into chaos; the philosophy that destroys us is not even defined.

We have broken from reality–a psychotic Nation. Ignorance with a pretense of knowledge replacing wisdom. Money does not grow on trees, nor does prosperity come from a government printing press or escalating deficits.

We’re now in the midst of unlimited spending of the people’s money, exorbitant taxation, deficits of trillions of dollars–spent on a failed welfare/warfare state; an epidemic of cronyism; unlimited supplies of paper money equated with wealth.

A central bank that deliberately destroys the value of the currency in secrecy, without restraint, without nary a whimper. Yet, cheered on by the pseudo-capitalists of Wall Street, the military industrial complex, and Detroit.

We police our world empire with troops on 700 bases and in 130 countries around the world. A dangerous war now spreads throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Thousands of innocent people being killed, as we become known as the torturers of the 21st century.

We assume that by keeping the already-known torture pictures from the public’s eye, we will be remembered only as a generous and good people. If our enemies want to attack us only because we are free and rich, proof of torture would be irrelevant.

The sad part of all this is that we have forgotten what made America great, good, and prosperous. We need to quickly refresh our memories and once again reinvigorate our love, understanding, and confidence in liberty. The status quo cannot be maintained, considering the current conditions. Violence and lost liberty will result without some revolutionary thinking.

We must escape from the madness of crowds now gathering. The good news is the reversal is achievable through peaceful and intellectual means and, fortunately, the number of those who care are growing exponentially.

Of course, it could all be a bad dream, a nightmare, and that I’m seriously mistaken, overreacting, and that my worries are unfounded. I hope so. But just in case, we ought to prepare ourselves for revolutionary changes in the not-too-distant future.”

• Delusion , Free Speech , Rants
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Chuck Ponzi June 18th, 2009

If there was ever any doubt in your mind about whether there was an intended sinister motive behind a financial collapse, consider the following:

1.  The Federal Reserve aided and abetted the Nasdaq/tech bubble.

2.  The Federal Reserve intentionally created the housing bubble.

3.  The Federal Reserve’s member banks held our federal government hostage in a modern “Financial Terrorism” world where if they don’t get trillions, they’ll blow up our economy.

4.  The Federal Reserve inentionally stayed far behind the curve of the housing crash to force their agenda on the Executive and Legislative branches, and capitulation into massive federal bailouts.

If ever there was a secret society, the Federal Reserve must be at the pinnacle; operating a private organization as a quasi-governmental branch that controls our currency and our banking system.  Even our Treasury Secretary, Timmy Geithner came directly from the Federal Reserve.

And now they want to control the whole of our financial world.  Can you believe this?

At least some of our congress persons are beginning to question letting the fox guard the henhouse.

President Barack Obama’s plan to transform the Federal Reserve into a super-regulator ran into skepticism Thursday from lawmakers who worry that the central bank is not the best suited to keep an eye on firms deemed so big and influential that their demise could hurt the economy.

Democrats and Republicans voiced misgivings as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner began a marathon day of selling Obama’s financial regulatory plan to give the Fed more authority, create a new consumer protection agency and bring unregulated sectors of the financial markets under government oversight.

“I do not believe that we can reasonably expect the Fed or any other agency to effectively play so many roles,” said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., noting that it also sets monetary policy, regulates banks and handles an array of other functions.

and

Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., also raised questions about the use of the Fed for such an overarching task over the financial system and blamed it for “dropping the ball” on consumer protections. But he applauded the administration for including a new agency to protect consumers in their banking transactions.

Noting that banking interests already are criticizing the new agency, Dodd said: “The very people who created the damn mess are the ones now arguing that consumers ought not to be protected.”

Geithner said that in setting up the consumer protection agency, the administration was taking power away from the Fed even as it was adding to its authority.

“That is a substantial diminishment of authority, preoccupation and distraction,” he said.

It is likely the Fed itself will mount a defense to keep its consumer oversight duties. Fed officials believe their oversight of mortgages, credit cards and other products fits well with their duties to regulate banks, and that they have the right mix of experts — economists and lawyers — already on hand to do the job.

However, the Fed’s failure to crack down on shady mortgage practices during the housing boom has irked Congress and consumer groups. So has its decision not to speed up implementation of new rules providing consumers with better protections from abusive credit card practices.

Let’s hope to god that they do not succeed.

If your drunkard friend just crashed your car, why would you let them have an even nicer auto?  This is really scary that our legislator are so stupid that they would even consider such a notion.  We should be on a witch hunt right now, not involved in giving the “sorcerer” more power.  This is dangerous stuff.

• Delusion , Rants , Unintended Consequences
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Chuck Ponzi August 20th, 2008

Sheila Bair has turned against America.

Enemy Combatant

Enemy of the State

Call it what you will, but when she starts handing out MY MONEY to criminals, I get kinda ticked.  This is the worst kind of bailout.  Performed in the shadows.  No regulatory or congressional oversight.  Renegade social experimentation with my money (since the FDIC will not remain properly capitalized through this downturn) has turned an otherwise crappy but benign bank closing into the New Deal II.

Calculated Risk gives us the story:

Under the IndyMac Federal program, eligible mortgages would be modified into sustainable mortgages permanently capped at the current Freddie Mac survey rate for conforming mortgages (now about 6.5%). Modifications would be designed to achieve sustainable payments at a 38 percent debt-to-income (DTI) ratio of principal, interest, taxes and insurance. To reach this metric for affordable payments, modifications could adopt a combination of interest rate reductions, extended amortization, and principal forbearance.

This stinks to high heaven.  Makes FEDUPUSA’s message that much more real.  I’m just sick of this.  If I thought it would do any good, I’d be marching on Washington right now.  This is where politics and economics merge.  This country is screwed.

I want my taxes back.

• Free Speech , Rants
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Chuck Ponzi August 5th, 2008

Now that the housing bailout bill has been approved by congress and signed into law by the political pandering president, we have all agreed to accept the cold hard reality of covering someone else’s bad decisions and poor choices with our own hard work, sweat, and good choices. Indeed, it seems that excelling or even being of a marginally higher intellect than say, a brain slug is fit to be yoked and saddled with someone else’s mediocrity in this new era of America. It is the future of “no child left behind”, or as Brett Arends of the Wall Street Journal puts it, the Condo Flippers Do Over Act.

I remember a story that I read in grade school, Anthem by Ayn Rand. It was the first Ayn Rand book I ever read, and the only one I enjoyed. But, even in my youth, the message was chilling. The story was one of a man with extraordinary talent and physical prowess who lived in a society that believed in equality to an extreme. This society would place handicaps on those who could could see well, think better, or even walk better to the point that noone was better than anyone else in any way. Ironically, the main character I never in my life imagined that this kind of society would exist, much less under a republican president. However, it seems we have become this society:

Our name is Equality 7-2521, as it is written on the iron bracelet which all men wear on their left wrists with their names upon it. We are twenty-one years old. We are six feet tall, and this is a burden, for there are not many men who are six feet tall. Ever have the Teachers and the Leaders pointed to us and frowned and said: “There is evil in your bones, Equality 7-2521, for your body has grown beyond the bodies of your brothers.” But we cannot change our bones nor our body.

I have no flair for the dramatic, but I fear that we as a nation have allowed ourselves to become enslaved by our own political masters. We are therefore, destined for failure much more than if we had celebrated success AND failure as a means of building again something better. In our society, failure is only to include everyone, and everyone fails or succeeds together. It seems like only a little time ago that we were introducing “participation awards”, and now we are covering everyone’s losses. Except it seems that there is a conspiracy afoot.

I’m a died in the wool libertarian, but there is only so much nepotism that I can stand. I am disgusted beyond belief at what I see. What I see is that the only time that people are bailed out is when it affects big business. When the banks collectively went and did the stupidest stuff in the history of the world in the name of “financial innovation”, they get bailed out. When little investors went and did stupid stuff by buying dot coms… not a chance.

I’m mad as hell, but I don’t know what to do. In elections, I get to choose between a giant douche and a shit sandwich. Equally, everyone around me is too busy getting raped by the government to give a rat’s ass. The only thoughts that come to mind are treasonous and illegal, so I won’t write them down, but, I have to ask, at what point do politicians become responsible for their actions? Is it only when we get invaded and conquered do crimes against humanity get punished?

Unfortunately, with all of the absolutely stupid shite that happens in this country, I can’t think of a country where even more stupid shite happens, so there’s no escape. Maybe this is just what being middle class is all about. I’m too lucky to have the government wipe my butt for me, and I’m not lucky enough to not give a rip or find a way around paying for it. So, I’m stuck working for the government 50% of my income going to taxes and no say in the political process. Makes me want to stop paying taxes altogether. If I thought I could get away with it, I would.

I have to say, this housing bill, what a crock of absolute rubbish, and I’m ashamed to live in a country where politicians pander to everyone but their constituency. Everyone would be much better off if housing were cheap. Everyone complains when the prices of things rise… we call that inflation, but when it’s houses, it’s call an ownership society.

From the WSJ:

Anyone who invests in housing already gets a number of political subsidies. Your mortgage interest can be deducted from your income tax. Your capital gains, up to certain limits, can also be tax free. Taxpayers maintain the roads to and from your home. The new rescue package is just one more subsidy for the asset class of housing.

There was no rescue package for all those honest people who lost their savings in the dotcom crash. And there was no suggestion of any rescue package.

Meanwhile the majority Democratic party is agitating, with plenty of popular support, for a “windfall profits tax” on energy companies.

Such a tax, if it should pass, would by definition lower the returns from investment in oil and gas exploration. Inevitable consequence: Less investment in oil and gas exploration. But this is apparently an acceptable price to pay to ensure that…well, that investors in big energy companies don’t make too much money.

So, where does this all leave us?

Among the many ironies: The current economic crisis is largely the result of too much investment in housing, which led to a bubble and then a collapse, and too little investment in energy, leading to fuel shortages and skyrocketing prices. Yet the political class is acting, as far as I can see, to increase investment still further in housing and reduce investment in energy.

Where do our douche and shit sandwich stand on this?

• Free Speech , Housing Costs , Inflation , Rants , Unintended Consequences
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