Economy: Whodunit of Predatory Lending

Eliot Spitzer &mdash a man for whom La Casa de Los Gatos has a deep and abiding respect based on his efforts to fight corruption and stand up for the average citizen &mdash pens a piece in today's WaPoo that should make anybody's blood boil.

If yours doesn't, please repair to the nearest emergency room. You may be dead and just not know it yet.

The gist of the article is that the Bush administration actively intervened to prevent states from protecting their consumers from predatory lending practices. It's bad enough that they just ignored all the warning signs. But to actively worsen the situation? WHAT?

Back when La Casa de Los Gatos had an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage), we were already suspicious of the whole banking/mortgage hype. Lenders and realtors kept telling us our Casa was worth so much more than we thought it was, and offering us all kinds of fancy instruments and inducements; even offering to overvalue La Casa so that we could get a loan for a larger amount and have a "wraparound" home equity line of credit.

ThePoliticalCat wanted a house for only three reasons, really.

1. Landlords are reluctant to rent to tenants who have pets, especially pets in the plural;
2. We were getting really tired of the whole "pack and move" scenario;
3. We just wanted a place to call our own, where we could hang our art on the walls and let the gatos come in and out as they pleased without worrying about traffic, nasty hoomans, landlords, pet deposits, et cetera ad infinitum ad nauseam.

ARMs, at the time, offered the lowest rates. We refused the interest-only, balloon-payment thingumajigs and opted for something we felt we could afford. It was iffy for a while, but we scrimped and saved and managed despite the rough spots. Thanks to all our dear friends who helped us through them.

Shortly after Chimperor McFuckface got "elected" &mdash no, wait, the asshole was appointed by his daddy's friends, wasn't he? &mdash we got very very nervous. Especially after we noticed that every time the pigball opened his mouth, the Dow dropped a few points. So we set about converting our ARM into a fixed-rate instrument. We agreed to the line of credit the bank offered, but it made us so nervous, we paid it back as soon as we could (we needed it to replace the roof and fix a floor).

Now that we see the pickle half the country is in, we're really really relieved that we did what we did. At the time, everyone thought we were idiots (and told us so regularly) for refusing all that "free money." But ThePoliticaCat knows quite well that nothing in life is free. Any time someone tells you they're about to give you a freebie, check your mouth for a hook and their hand for the line, because they're about to reel you in like the sucker they think you are.

And then to find out that not only did our government ignore the dangerous, foolish, and "oughta-be-illegal" practices of the banking industry, it actually crippled those who would protect the average consumer from being tricked and cheated. Gads, what bastards.

If you bought a house and are facing any kind of woes as a result of predatory lending, for mercy's sake, call your legislators, write them, fax them, and insist that they investigate this further. Here's how to find the worthless Federal Senate whores. Project VoteSmart helps you find the worthless Federal Congress whores. Juan Cabanela helps out Spanish-speaking (and reading) voters. Contact your State legiswhores here:

• Alabama;
• Alaska;
• Arizona;
• Arkansas;
• California;
• Colorado;
• Connecticut;
• Delaware;
• Florida;
• Georgia;
• Hawaii;
• Idaho;
• Illinois;
• Indiana;
• Iowa;
• Kansas;
• Kentucky;
• Louisiana;
• Maine;
• Maryland;
• Massachusetts;
• Michigan;
• Minnesota;
• Missouri;
• Montana;
• Nebraska;
• Nevada;
• New Hampshire;
• New Jersey;
• New Mexico;
• New York;
• North Carolina;
• North Dakota;
• Ohio;
• Oklahoma;
• Oregon;
• Pennsylvania;
• Rhode Island;
• South Carolina;
• South Dakota;
• Tennessee;
• Texas;
• Utah;
• Vermont;
• Washington (State);
• West Virginia;
• Wisconsin

That's all we could find. If anyone knows how to contact legislators from those states not included in the preceding list, please feel free to leave the information and we will update this post accordingly.

Please call your state legislators and ask them about this story. If it's true, then it's really really big and we can't help wondering why it wasn't brought to the public consciousness before this.

Another thing: You might want to contact Rep. Henry Waxman and ask if his committee plans to investigate this ... this ... unbelievable breach of the public trust.


moar humorous pics

And for the love of all that's holy DO NOT vote for Senator John McInsane, as he is bound to continue this fraudulent policy. At least Hickabee, no matter how much I despise his loutishness, is a populist at heart, and would never support such an egregiously bad act.

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Politics - Blackwater, The Pentagon, And Corruption

Good grief. It is to scream loudly and flail about.

Read this. Keep a glass of wine, or better yet, 100-proof vodka, close to hand.

Frank Rich details the extent of Pentagon corruption and dirty practices that have turned Blackwater into the billion-dollar industry it is today. Yark.

Note: The link takes you to The New York Times, which requires registration.

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Politics - You Lose Money When Cheated

AKA, Department of The Obvious. Was there anybody on the planet (with the exception of the Big Pharma dudes, of course) who didn't hear "Medicare Plan D will not negotiate discounts," who didn't think, "Aha! Shrubby's cronies rip us off again!"

Anyone? Because, guess what, children? They ripped us off again! Yes! To the tune of $15 billion. Fifteen billion dollars of our money went straight from the treasury into the pockets of the drug companies so that Boy George could tell us we can't afford to keep more sick children healthy and covered by insurance for, oh, three years, yeah, that's right. Five billion a year for SCHIP, covering an additional 2-5 million children - can't afford it because, let's see, we already spent over $200 billion on Teh War That Nobody (Except Georgie And Congress) Supports, plus there was that $15 billion we dropped on Grammy's meds 'cause Your Gubmint didn't think Grammy should bargain for discounts.

The Medicare prescription drug benefits offered by private insurers operate with "high administrative costs, sales expenses and profits," the report said.

Staff for Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by California Rep. Henry Waxman, based their conclusions on proprietary cost and pricing data obtained from 12 insurers that provide drug coverage to more than 18 million Medicare patients.

"The cost and pricing data obtained by the committee reveal that use of private insurers to deliver Medicare drug coverage is driving up costs and producing only limited savings on drug prices," the report said.

I am so fucking furious about this, it's a good thing I am not going out into the world today. Or I'd rip someone's head off for looking at me wrong.

How much more of this lying, weaseling, cheating shit has to come out before we kick these thieves and thugs out of office? Instead, the rabid dogs of the right (wrong!) wing are baying for the blood of the Frost family who have two children with brain damage as the result of an accident and who bravely spoke out for the SCHIP program.

Will these same dogs start baying about how our own government refused to let Medicare negotiate for discounts on medication? I doubt it, somehow.

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Politics - Rumsfeld To Testify In Tillman Inquiry

Hold on to your hat. Blithering idiot and professional fuckwit Donald Rumsfeld plans to testify before Congress on Pat Tillman's death. Perhaps we should send Henry Waxman a list of questions we'd like to see answered? Naaah, Waxman is simply sterling at this sort of thing. No doubt Donny will leave with one anus more than when he entered. Or perhaps, being nothing but a walking anus, he'll leave with his sphincter ring removed.

Yargh, did I really say that? Forget that, he's a walking shitbag, everybody wear Hazmat suits to the hearing. I have to go scrub my brain and eyeballs with bleach now.

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Politics - The Messadministration of Dick "Dick" Bush

Cheney and Bush have ruined everything they laid their hands on in this country. Every day, it seems, there is a fresh outrage upon the body politic. Will no one rid us of this villainous pair? Nancy Pelosi, the people demand that you put impeachment back on the table.

The government is supposed to work for the people, not to promote a select group of people at the expense of the taxpayer! Yet we find that Sara Taylor's testimony under oath provides us with this example of cobag junketing:

John P. Walters, director of the drug control office, and his deputies traveled at taxpayer expense to about 20 events with vulnerable GOP members of Congress in the three months leading up to the elections.

In a letter to Taylor, Waxman also pointed to an e-mail by an official in the drug policy office describing President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, as being pleased that the office, along with the Commerce, Transportation and Agriculture departments, went "above and beyond" the call of duty in arranging appearances by Cabinet members at campaign events.

As Karl Rove's aide, we must assume that Sara Taylor knows whereof she speaks. It is an outrage that these machinations have been going on for six years and yet we can do nothing to stop them.

The drug control office has had a history of being nonpartisan, and a 1994 law bars the agency's officials from engaging in political activities even on their own time.*

Waxman's investigation is part of a broad effort by Congress to look into White House political involvement in federal agencies. So far, Democratic lawmakers have found evidence that:

• White House officials were involved with the firings of nine U.S. attorneys
Politicization of the Justice Department.
• that Rove deputies made presentations to officials at the General Services Administration and other agencies about Democrats targeted for defeat by the GOP in 2008.
Politicization of the General Services Administration department.
• Former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona testified last week that the White House routinely blocked him from speaking out on politically sensitive public health matters such as stem cell research and abstinence-only sex education. Carmona also said he was asked to make appearances to help Republican candidates and discouraged from travel that might help a liberal politician.
Politicization of the Surgeon General's office.

In addition, we have:

Politicization of NASA, whose scientists were forbidden to speak to the press or address gatherings of their peers without prior approval by nonscientist political appointees;

Politicization of FEMA;

Politicization of the military, firing any senior officer who does not agree with the administration and replacing them with pliable parrots;

Politicization of the courts, with the appointment of right-wing ideologue judges such as Alito and Roberts;

I've heard, but don't currently have links to, reports of politicization of other government offices, including NOAA and Interior. What would we do without Henry Waxman?
* Emphasis mine.

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Politics - Executive Privilege for WHAT???

I am beyond furious. Boy George, who never served a day in his life and stumbled out of the Air Force with a tooter up his nose and a bottle in his hand, is now claiming that he is entitled to refuse to turn over documents regarding Pat Tillman's death. Executive Privilege. Henry Waxman is chairing the hearings on the issue. He had this to say in a letter to White House Counsel Fred Fielding:

"It is difficult to believe that these are the only communications that White House officials had with the Department of Defense between April 22,2004, the day Corporal Tillman died, and May 29, 2004, the day the Bush Administration publicly announced that Corporal Tillman's death was a result of fratricide," they wrote.

[...]

"These questions have implications for the credibility of the information coming from the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan and raise significant policy issues about how to prevent the future dissemination of untrue information," Waxman and Davis wrote to Fielding. "They also have a profound personal impact on the Tillman family. It is for these reasons that the Committee requested documents from the White House."

The Committee said that it expected a response to the Friday letter by July 25. Waxman also scheduled an additional hearing on the announcement of Tillman's death for Aug. 1.

Full information can be found at the Committee's website.

And what about LaVena Johnson, murdered in Iraq? What about her family?

Let's de-executivize the motherfucker already so we can try his and Cheney's pasty asses on charges of fucking Justice, Morality, Leadership, Principle, and Ethics with a rusty chainsaw.

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Politics - Henry Waxman Tells Andy Card What's What

Pic from Raw Story


Bloviating water-carrier and all-around lickspittle Andy Card, Bush's former Chief of Staff (before he resigned to spend more time with Snotty McLellan's children) gets The Word from Congressmember Henry Waxman:

"On April 16,2007, you appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and discussed the leak of [former covert CIA Agent Valerie Plame] Wilson's identity," Waxman (D-CA) wrote to Andrew Card, the former White House Chief of Staff. "[White House Counel Fred] Fielding's position appears to be that it is appropriate for you to discuss these matters on The Daily Show, but not before a congressional committee. You will not be surprised to learn that I take a different view of this matter."

I love the snark. Crooks and Liars has the Stewart ep. Card seems like a nice enough guy, but it really pisses me off that he has bought into the Bushit so extensively. Are these people stupid or insane? Because there really aren't too many other choices, given the devastation that wretch and his cohorts have wreaked upon the world.

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Henry Waxman, Again

Have I mentioned just how much I like, respect, and admire Henry Waxman? The Representative from Southern California is like a pit bull in that he does not give up. He's not rude, mean, obnoxious, stupid, pig-ignorant, or a loudmouth like so many of his counterparts in the House. He's a dignified gentleman with a low-key approach and a mind like a steel trap. To your doubtless great delight, he is currently addressing Madam Secretary of State, one Dr. Condoleeza Rice. In terms most cordial he is pointing out, as Magnifico documents at Daily Kos, that her attempts to elude, obfuscate, flat-out lie, and evade accountability for her actions will not continue, and she is to prepare for a hearing before his committee, at which she is to present documentary evidence, as specifically laid forth.

Henry Waxman, you totally ROCK, RULE, and ROLL! Or should that be Role?

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Henry Waxman TOTALLY ROCKS!!

And this woman's ass is grass.

I just can't believe these unfolding scandals. Every day, every hour, something new comes to light. Katrina, Walter Reed, inadequate psych care for vets with PTSD, failing pumps in New Orleans, billions of dollars disappearing in Iraq, the justice department firing attorneys for political reasons, lying to Congress, lying to the press, lying to the electorate, the ruthlessness combined with the treachery and dishonesty is enough to make a person ill.

Well, oversight is here at last.



You GO, Henry Waxman!!

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Good Grief

Do you suppose Blue Mountain greeting cards might have an agenda? If you use them to send online greetings, consider switching. Webshots is good.

Here's "Saint John" McCain revealing himself to be one of the crookedest most conniving little reptiles that ever pretended to gift the people with a Straight Talk Express:



In other, better news, Congressmember Henry Waxman shows what means "congressional oversight":

Henry Waxman is now Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and he has already scheduled some very important hearings.

Government is the responsibility of all the governed. If we refuse to take responsibility, how can we expect others to do their bit?

Rep Waxman is going after all the evidence of waste and fraud. He's already devasted Paul "Jerry" Bremer for his pathetic lack of oversight of the waste of billions of dollars in Iraq.


Now he's going after the Bushies' attempt to cover up evidence of climate change.

He turns up evidence that Blackwater, the largest employer of mercenaries, um, "contractors," in Iraq is tightly tied to Halliburton.

Drop him a nice note already.

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