Commodity trader Rick Santelli made himself into a national hero of sorts with his televised diatribe about being forced to pay the mortgages of “losers” who could not afford, or would not pay, the full cost of their mortgage. Santelli apparently hit a chord among those who want to blame deadbeat homeowners for the country’s economic woes.
At the risk of spoiling a promising artistic and commercial venture, people should know that Mr. Santelli is firing at the wrong target. The big gainers from the latest plan to help homeowners are not “loser” homeowners, but rather banks and investors, who will earn far more on their loser loans than would otherwise have been possible.
This is easy to see if we just adhere to the most basic rule in policy analysis: follow the money. When we follow the money, we see that the government checks do not go to homeowners.
The government checks are all made out to banks and loan servicers. In millions of cases where homeowners were not keeping up with their mortgages, the government will send checks to banks and investors that make up for much of the shortfall. In addition, the government could send them several thousand dollars more for their efforts in allowing people to stay in their homes.
While this policy is supposed to help homeowners, in many cases the best thing for these homeowners would be to move into one of the millions of vacant housing units. In most markets, they would pay a much lower share of their income for housing if they were renters rather than owners.
Furthermore, with house prices dropping at more than a 20 percent annual rate, the Cubs have a better chance of winning the World Series than these folks have of accumulating any equity in their home. Most of the homeowners who have their mortgages subsidized under this program are looking at short sales in two, three or four years.
Santelli’s screed is part of a continuing effort to blame the poor and minority communities for the economic meltdown. There are millions of people who think the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was responsible for bad mortgages, when most of these mortgages were either made by institutions that were not covered by the CRA or were loans that would not have been covered by the Act even if the institution was covered. Of course, the idea that government bureaucrats were forcing banks to make loans that were hugely profitable at the time is laughable on its face.
At some point Santelli and his followers are going to have to deal with reality. The problem is not poor and moderate-income homeowners or African-Americans or Latinos. The perps in this case where rich bankers, the vast majority of whom were white males.
Their enablers in policy circles were not the bleeding hearts trying to help the poor, but the Wall Street envoys from both political parties; people like Henry Paulson, Robert Rubin and, of course, Alan Greenspan. The people who sank the economy were the rich and powerful, not the poor and minorities.
If Santelli wants to really be the friend of hardworking homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages, he might try yelling about the bank bailouts. According to the latest news reports, the taxpayers just sent another $30 billion to AIG, almost half as much as President Obama set aside to subsidize mortgage payments.
The checks to AIG and other financial institutions may be necessary to keep the banking system operating, but we certainly have the right to demand that the shareholders and bank executives don’t profit from the bailouts. It would be great if Mr. Santelli would speak up about the real beneficiaries from these scams – the bank executives and wealthy shareholders. But the big-mouthed commodity trader probably doesn’t have the courage to attack anyone with real power.
Every one of them on cocain. jeezus, the world has gone mad
WOW LOOK AT THIS! Scotland may be the most racist country on earth according to these statistics!!!
Attitudes Today Towards Race In Scotland:
* 56% of Scots felt there is 'a great deal' or 'quite a lot' of prejudice towards minority ethnic communities in Scotland. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
* One in every 25 Scots acknowledges that they have perpetrated racist abuse. (Source: System 3 Summary of Anti Racism Campaign Surveys, June 02)
* The number of racist incidents recorded by Scottish Police Forces continues to rise annually. In 2003-04 stood at 3,801 a year, up from 3,593 for the previous year.
* Some Scots would support moves to return migrants to their country of origin. (Source: Scotland on Sunday Opinion Poll on Racist Attitudes, April 2002)
* Hostile attitudes towards asylum seekers and immigrants are most widely held by male Scots in their mid-20s and 30s, in the C1 and C2 social classes. Older Scots tend to be more tolerant. (Source: Scotland on Sunday Opinion Poll on Racist Attitudes, April 02)
* 18% of people said that attempts to give equal opportunities to people from minority ethnic communities had 'gone too far'. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
* 52% of people said that most people in Scotland would mind either 'a lot' or 'a little' if one of their close relatives married someone from a different racial or ethnic background. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
* 20% agreed that people from minority ethnic groups take away jobs from other people in Scotland. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
* 27% of people that 'taking all things into account' people from minority ethnic groups had 'nothing at all' or 'not much' in common with people from white backgrounds. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
* 46% of people said they would prefer to live in an area where 'most people are similar' to themselves. (Source: Attitudes to Discrimination in Scotland 2003)
LOL you are mental… going after a whole nation just because I live there…I think you are having so much fun that you have gorgotten to take your meds.
A question for you though – are you really trying to put forward the case that people born in one area of the world are somehow superior to others?, is that you really think?… good greif.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuUBgkdFMqs
well?
What does racism in Scotland have to do with this video? We have a man echoing what the majority of Americans are thinking and saying about the foreclosure problem in the U.S. and the commentary on this video attacks him instead of the origin of the problem? Namely Congress, and idiots like Chris Dodd, and Barney Franks, and Maxine Waters, and others, who promoted sub-prime loans to people who couldn't afford them in the first place and demanded, “DEMANDED”, that banks make unsecured irresponsible loans!
Have you noticed the lack of rhetoric coming from any of these scum-bags about their personal responsibility in this mess?!! The only thing you see these dirt-bags doing is pointing fingers at everybody else!!
And then comes the banks that failed to uphold their fiduciary responsibility to their customers and shareholders. There's a whole lot of people who need to have their ass's fired!!
Again, what does this have to do with racism in Scotland?
You opened this door with your constant accusations of racism against America. I am showing you that you live in a far more racist country. You are a hypocrite and a bigot yourself.
No persons are superior to one another at birth. Certainly they are not based based on geographical reasons. Cultures and nations become superior based upon morality, ethics and belief. Is Scotland a superior country to North Korea? Are the laws and government of Scotland superior to North Korea? Of course they are.
Try to extend your simplistic 3rd grade view of the world to reality. You sound like a total moron.
Again, what does that have to do with what this video is saying?!! Once again, you attack the person and not the issue! Is that because you haven't a clue of what your talking about? A video on the problem of foreclosures in America, and you talking about racism in Scotland? You did know this video was about foreclosures didn't you?! You really are as ignorant as you sound!!
Try making a comment about the issue at hand, not some issue completely unrelated to this issue. And while your at it, you might try using some decorum (common decency) when addressing people who question your opinions. Your personal attacks really do make you look juvenile and emotionally retarded!
TC you are a complete idiot and your comments are indicative of that as they don't take into account the prior conversation. It's too damn bad you don;t like being personally attacked for you despotic beliefs, I think people like you are traitors and dangerous and deserve to be vilified. I will write what I want where I want. Dismissed.
Ad-Hominem:
1. appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason.
2. attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.
When you look it up in the dictionary there is actually a picture of you “the thuth”.
p.s you are fucking out of order calling the man 'traitor' when all he did was appoint critism where it is warranted.
Thanks for your opinion you Nazi racist bigot. Abuse your daughter lately?
And thanks for yours you Nazi racist bigot. Tell me John, are you still beating your wife?
No I stopped beating her. Are you still abusing your daughter scumbag? Teaching her its ok to be violent and throw deadly object at people at demonstrations?
Did you ever stop to wonder why all those commentators told you you were “unbelievaly stupid” last time you tried this outragous tactic? I mean chucking shoes at an embassy becomes “throwing deadly weapons at people” hahahah There are a 2 thousand visiters at this site at any one time, you really dont care what people think about you do you? because like the stupid 'baby seal killer thing' with the other guy you are only hurting yourself.
carry on ya weirdo…
John, why is my name listed here?
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4… on the right hand bar under “alias”
No commentators said any such thing, why do you lie? The facts don't lie though- you are a child abuser. You teach your child that violence is acceptable. A shoe is a weapon when thrown, if it were to hit someone in the temple the right way they could die. You took her to the American Embassy and encouraged her to commit a violent act. It's a shame that the laws in Scotland are so weak that you weren't arrested and your child taken from you. I feel sorry for her, you are not fit to be a parent in my opinion.
Someone could have been killed. “If if it were to hit someone in the temple the right way they could die”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVH1SJQ8A8
Eh? are you refering to a shoe??? lol
“The Truth”, why is my name listed here?
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4…
on the right hand bar under “alias”… according to this you have been using my name to comment, there are other names here too, could you explain this?
Hmmm. Looks to me like you are using my alias to impersonate me. Why do you do that? Are you trying to hide your identity because you are a child abuser? That must be it.
“The Truth”, why is my name listed here?
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4…
on the right hand bar under “alias”… according to this you have been using my name to comment, there are other names here too, could you explain this?
Hmmm. Looks to me like you are using my alias to impersonate me. Why do you do that? Are you trying to hide your identity because you are a child abuser? That must be it.
If someone here was to use another site users name to deceptively print slanderous false statements, that person would have to be a low down, pathetic looser – “A LIAR”.. wouldn't you agree “The Truth”: answer yes or no?
“The Truth”, If someone here was to use another site users name to deceptively print slanderous false statements, that person would have to be a low down, pathetic looser – “A LIAR” – YES or NO?
John Ehrenfelds aliases:
John Ehrenfeld
john Ehrenfeld
The Truth
***Craig Sipple***
Source:http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b490e8bdfda5/
“The Truth”, If someone here was to use another site users name to deceptively print slanderous false statements, that person would have to be a low down, pathetic looser – “A LIAR” – YES or NO?
You should know better than to mix medication with your daily bottle of Scotch. Or is that how you get amped up and manic before you teach your child to be violent? If someone was to copy and paste insane ramblings over and over that person would be a pathetic loser, I agree. And that's exactly what you are doing. How much of a psychotic does one have to be to admit as you just did that you use multiple names to deceive. Since you got tired of pretending to be Kanuk – you are slipping! Why do you insist on using others names to post your racist bigoted crap? Man, you are a looney!
Its a simple question “The Truth”, why are you having trouble answering: to use another site users name to deceive with false comments, that person would have to be a low down, pathetic looser – “A LIAR” – YES or NO? What is wrong? cat got your toung?
John Ehrenfelds aliases:
John Ehrenfeld – john Ehrenfeld – The Truth – ***Craig Sipple***(??????)
Source:
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4…
Craig Sipple aliases:
Kanuk – Craig Sipple – John Ehrenfeld – john Ehrenfeld – The Truth – ***Craig Sipplee***(??????)
Source:
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4…
The only thing worth dismissal is you, do to your complete ignorance of any issue you address!! Of all the people who offer their thoughts and suggestions on this blog, you are by far the least interesting! You are more like a little lap-dog nipping at peoples ankles. You are truly…a MENTAL MIDGET!!
Again, what does FORECLOSURES, have to do with, RACISM IN SCOTLAND?!! What part of FORECLOSURES, didn't you understand?!! If you can't understand the issue at hand, then keep your ignorant mouth shut?!! You'll look like less, than the ignorant-fool you already are!! Don't make us talk to your MOTHER!!
Tsk tsk TC – you are unraveling and imploding right before our eyes! lol Hysterical and insane is no way to go through life boy? How's that red-neck petrochemical pit you live in holding up these days? That Bush economy working out well for you?
Craig Sipple aliases:
Kanuk – Craig Sipple – John Ehrenfeld – john Ehrenfeld – The Truth – ***Craig Sipplee***(??????)
Source:
http://disqus.com/people/1118d7727b6941e8ce05b4…
The only thing worth dismissal is you, do to your complete ignorance of any issue you address!! Of all the people who offer their thoughts and suggestions on this blog, you are by far the least interesting! You are more like a little lap-dog nipping at peoples ankles. You are truly…a MENTAL MIDGET!!
Again, what does FORECLOSURES, have to do with, RACISM IN SCOTLAND?!! What part of FORECLOSURES, didn't you understand?!! If you can't understand the issue at hand, then keep your ignorant mouth shut?!! You'll look like less, than the ignorant-fool you already are!! Don't make us talk to your MOTHER!!
Tsk tsk TC – you are unraveling and imploding right before our eyes! lol Hysterical and insane is no way to go through life boy? How's that red-neck petrochemical pit you live in holding up these days? That Bush economy working out well for you?