Hey Barry:
Seems a lot of big universities are just a little too cozy with big oil.
Read it here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/15/BAHR1FSR2B.DTL&type=newsbayarea
Exactly what we dont need - big corporations dictating research topics at our famous schools: Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc.
Y'all probably caint do nuthin, but itsa fact worth rememberin.
Your pal,
Friday, October 15, 2010
Bankers Have No Shame
Hey Barry:
Turns out them bankers are takin food from the mouths of babies on welfare.
Hard to believe - read it here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/15/MN5S1FRNI4.DTL&type=newsbayarea
Your pal,
Turns out them bankers are takin food from the mouths of babies on welfare.
Hard to believe - read it here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/15/MN5S1FRNI4.DTL&type=newsbayarea
Your pal,
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tax the RICH
Hey Barry:
The RICH is our problem. Now Robert Reich [http://robertreich.org/] has been saying the exact same thing, except he says he is a class 'worrier' and not a class 'warrior'.
He sayin that because he thinks that somehow the good ol U S of A will spontaneously rise up and restore a better balance between the RICH and the rest of us. After all, we have done it before.
What he means is that we have RAISED TAXES on RICH folks before. By RAISING TAXES on the RICH, we have leveled the playing field and made a better country in the past.
So, les look at some facts to see if he is right.
OK, so far as the marginal federal income tax rate on the highest earners goes, score one for RR.
That rate was 91% from 1955 to 1963, then it dropped to under 40% from 1987 to 2003, where it stood at 35%. Read it here: http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php
Incidentally, 1955 to 1963 were some pretty good years for growth and jobs in the U S of A.
So lets look at inheritance taxes in the USA. What do we see there: we see that the top inheritance tax rate was between 70% and 90% from 1936 to 1996.
Read it here: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/estate-taxes-an-historical-perspective
Now that rate is zero.
Score two for RR.
OK, then, what's it all mean.
It means that Congress and the voters were less corrupt/blinded/bamboozled than they are now.
It means that in our recent history we have taxed RICH people a lot and that the economy was better at the time we were taxing the RICH.
But, when we talk bout that today, we get a s...storm of bombast, bribes and lies that take our eye off the ball.
So, Ima guessin that make me a class 'warrior' in RR's definition. I don feel like one, I jes feels like Ima tellin the truth. Well, if tellin the truth make me a 'warrior', so be it.
Here one of da biggest lies we gonna hear: If we put the inheritance tax back on, there will be a lotta poor farmers who will lose the family farm they tryin to pass on to their families.
Thas jes a crock. First off, when we talk about RICH, we are talkin about billionaires, not some family farmers. Im all for making the inheritance tax apply only to RICH - estates more than a billion. That way saves the family farm. Let folks have couple hundred million - no problem. Its the big guys I worry about.
Here another big lie we gonna hear: If we tax RICH folks they won't create jobs and the economy will suffer.
Thats another crock. RICH folks dont create jobs - they buy T bills and such. Jobs are created by small businesses started by middle class folks. Takin away the big fortunes will make more jobs because middle class folks will have more income and will start more businesses.
OK Barry, you got a lot on your plate.
Don let this one slip on by.
We needs ya here.
Your pal,
The RICH is our problem. Now Robert Reich [http://robertreich.org/] has been saying the exact same thing, except he says he is a class 'worrier' and not a class 'warrior'.
He sayin that because he thinks that somehow the good ol U S of A will spontaneously rise up and restore a better balance between the RICH and the rest of us. After all, we have done it before.
What he means is that we have RAISED TAXES on RICH folks before. By RAISING TAXES on the RICH, we have leveled the playing field and made a better country in the past.
So, les look at some facts to see if he is right.
OK, so far as the marginal federal income tax rate on the highest earners goes, score one for RR.
That rate was 91% from 1955 to 1963, then it dropped to under 40% from 1987 to 2003, where it stood at 35%. Read it here: http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php
Incidentally, 1955 to 1963 were some pretty good years for growth and jobs in the U S of A.
So lets look at inheritance taxes in the USA. What do we see there: we see that the top inheritance tax rate was between 70% and 90% from 1936 to 1996.
Read it here: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/estate-taxes-an-historical-perspective
Now that rate is zero.
Score two for RR.
OK, then, what's it all mean.
It means that Congress and the voters were less corrupt/blinded/bamboozled than they are now.
It means that in our recent history we have taxed RICH people a lot and that the economy was better at the time we were taxing the RICH.
But, when we talk bout that today, we get a s...storm of bombast, bribes and lies that take our eye off the ball.
So, Ima guessin that make me a class 'warrior' in RR's definition. I don feel like one, I jes feels like Ima tellin the truth. Well, if tellin the truth make me a 'warrior', so be it.
Here one of da biggest lies we gonna hear: If we put the inheritance tax back on, there will be a lotta poor farmers who will lose the family farm they tryin to pass on to their families.
Thas jes a crock. First off, when we talk about RICH, we are talkin about billionaires, not some family farmers. Im all for making the inheritance tax apply only to RICH - estates more than a billion. That way saves the family farm. Let folks have couple hundred million - no problem. Its the big guys I worry about.
Here another big lie we gonna hear: If we tax RICH folks they won't create jobs and the economy will suffer.
Thats another crock. RICH folks dont create jobs - they buy T bills and such. Jobs are created by small businesses started by middle class folks. Takin away the big fortunes will make more jobs because middle class folks will have more income and will start more businesses.
OK Barry, you got a lot on your plate.
Don let this one slip on by.
We needs ya here.
Your pal,
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Killin the Goose
Hey Barry:
Y'all mebbe wonderin what is the big deal about this foreclosure mess anyway.
Some folks sayin that we jes gotta let the market take its lumps and move on.
But Barry, it aint that simple or easy. It aint about some poor shlub like yours truly who been sucker punched.
Nope, its about some big things.
An Barry, this here's a surprise - Im gonna agree with the billionaires on this. Normally they is jes wrong and bad for the country - this here's the exception.
When ya think about where does the money come from - all the money in the whole country - ya could do worse than readin THE MYSTERY OF CAPITAL, by Hernando De Soto.
His point is that Western countries like the good ol US of A create a lot of wealth - money - because they have created a system that lets a banker in New York be certain that Sammy Smith really does own the house in Kansas City that he wants a loan on. And with that system the banker can make Sammy a loan and sleep at night.
And because the banker can sleep, then he is willing to value Sammys house at the price that Sammy can afford to pay the loan on, lets say mebbe $200,000.
That mean that Sammy can borrow against his house and buy some stuff or buy another house.
That's the way it used to be, say five years ago. Different today. And Barry, the difference is your problem to solve.
Here's the difference:
But, jes suppose that the NY banker can NOT be sure Sammy owns his house. Then what will he lend Sammy. Answer = zip, nada, zero.
Then what is Sammy's house worth. The same - zip, nada, zero. Mebbe he can find sum fool that'll pay him $5,000 and gamble that he really owns the house. But, and this is the big point Barry, aint no banker gonna lend nuthin on Sammy's house without his being sure who owns it.
OK, then, so what is this wonnerful system that creates all this money. Its the title insurance system. This is the companies that track all the history of Sammy's house to be sure that Sammy really owns it. Then that company writes an insurance policy that says: Yes, Sammy really owns the house.
And thats what the banker needs to make a loan.
Thats all good, but here's what is happening now: The crooked bankers have made such a mess that some title insurance companies are refusin to write insurance on Sammys house. And that gonna mean that no banker will lend on Sammys house. And that gonna mean that Sammys house is worth exactly zero.
See, the bankers job is to provide clear documents to the title company so they can be sure of ownership.
Here's where the crooked bankers come in - today's banks have been so cheap/crooked/lazy [y'all can choose your own word here] that they have failed to provide title companies with clear documents.
That gonna mean that the entire wealth of the country is headin down the drain in a big hurry.
Talk bout killin the golden goose - these criminal banks have jes bout done it for all of us.
OK so whatta we gonna do.
Heres what ya gotta do Barry:
First: Ya gotta create an interim guarantee for the title companies so's they can keep insurin Sammy's house.
Most Important, second: Ya gotta force - I mean FORCE - them crooked mother banks to provide clear and legal docs on all the houses they think they own.
Its the only way out of this particular mess Barry.
Ya gotta be real hard and some of them boys gotta do time.
We with ya Barry.
Your pal,
Y'all mebbe wonderin what is the big deal about this foreclosure mess anyway.
Some folks sayin that we jes gotta let the market take its lumps and move on.
But Barry, it aint that simple or easy. It aint about some poor shlub like yours truly who been sucker punched.
Nope, its about some big things.
An Barry, this here's a surprise - Im gonna agree with the billionaires on this. Normally they is jes wrong and bad for the country - this here's the exception.
When ya think about where does the money come from - all the money in the whole country - ya could do worse than readin THE MYSTERY OF CAPITAL, by Hernando De Soto.
His point is that Western countries like the good ol US of A create a lot of wealth - money - because they have created a system that lets a banker in New York be certain that Sammy Smith really does own the house in Kansas City that he wants a loan on. And with that system the banker can make Sammy a loan and sleep at night.
And because the banker can sleep, then he is willing to value Sammys house at the price that Sammy can afford to pay the loan on, lets say mebbe $200,000.
That mean that Sammy can borrow against his house and buy some stuff or buy another house.
That's the way it used to be, say five years ago. Different today. And Barry, the difference is your problem to solve.
Here's the difference:
But, jes suppose that the NY banker can NOT be sure Sammy owns his house. Then what will he lend Sammy. Answer = zip, nada, zero.
Then what is Sammy's house worth. The same - zip, nada, zero. Mebbe he can find sum fool that'll pay him $5,000 and gamble that he really owns the house. But, and this is the big point Barry, aint no banker gonna lend nuthin on Sammy's house without his being sure who owns it.
OK, then, so what is this wonnerful system that creates all this money. Its the title insurance system. This is the companies that track all the history of Sammy's house to be sure that Sammy really owns it. Then that company writes an insurance policy that says: Yes, Sammy really owns the house.
And thats what the banker needs to make a loan.
Thats all good, but here's what is happening now: The crooked bankers have made such a mess that some title insurance companies are refusin to write insurance on Sammys house. And that gonna mean that no banker will lend on Sammys house. And that gonna mean that Sammys house is worth exactly zero.
See, the bankers job is to provide clear documents to the title company so they can be sure of ownership.
Here's where the crooked bankers come in - today's banks have been so cheap/crooked/lazy [y'all can choose your own word here] that they have failed to provide title companies with clear documents.
That gonna mean that the entire wealth of the country is headin down the drain in a big hurry.
Talk bout killin the golden goose - these criminal banks have jes bout done it for all of us.
OK so whatta we gonna do.
Heres what ya gotta do Barry:
First: Ya gotta create an interim guarantee for the title companies so's they can keep insurin Sammy's house.
Most Important, second: Ya gotta force - I mean FORCE - them crooked mother banks to provide clear and legal docs on all the houses they think they own.
Its the only way out of this particular mess Barry.
Ya gotta be real hard and some of them boys gotta do time.
We with ya Barry.
Your pal,
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