By Bill Devol
Conservatism in theory, nothing to excess, is a great idea. Conservatism in practice, blaming the poor and the weak for dragging down the rich and the strong, really sucks dead donkeys.
I recently saw some photos taken at various Tea Party rallies this past April 15. Many of those signs gave me the impression that some Limbaugh Conservatives have been convinced that the Obama Presidency is a plot to steal wealth from the rich and strong.
Here’s what a few signs said:
- My neighbor bought a big house, and all I got was his lousy payments.
- Honk if I am paying your mortgage.
- Help me, Mr. Obama. They want me to work and stuff.
- Obamunism, equality in poverty, Yes we can spread the wealth.
- War on achievement is not the answer.
The banking crisis didn’t spread from the bottom up when a bunch of poor and weak people forced banks to lend them money for houses they couldn’t afford.
The “hand outs” have been to the banking industry. The financial crisis came about when politicians, both Democratic and Republican, started taking money from the banking industry.
I may not have this exactly right, but the following is the basic story of our little problem…
People made house loans to folks that never could have qualified for such loans in a regulated banking industry. Before anyone could catch on that the loans were bad, they were sold to companies that buy mortgages and bundle them to sell to investors (i.e., real estate speculators, retirement trusts, and pension funds).
This whole scam is based on the “fact” that real estate always grows in value. Loans given in a regulated banking industry had to be based in reality. These loans were made in de-regulation land.
The mortgage bundlers say they have a mortgage-based security worth $50,000,000. The value is inflated because even a brief scrutiny by regulators would see that the loans were never going to be repaid.
The pension fund managers want to be cautious, so they go to companies like AIG and say, “I have a mortgage-based security that is worth $50,000,000. I want to buy an insurance policy for it.”
AIG officials think, “Real estate never loses money, so any insurance premiums we get will be pure profit because we will never have to pay out a dime; it is a license to print money.” AIG officials never looked back down the line to see if the loans in the mortgage-based security were worth a dime…PLUS…due to de-regulation; AIG didn’t have to prove they had the finances to pay off on these policies.
Suddenly, the loans that never should have been made start to go south. Bear in mind it was legal to lend people money on barely more than their signature.
The original lenders got their money from borrower fees and the cash from the mortgage bundlers. The bundlers got their money because they sold the bad mortgages to pension funds and other investors.
At first the pension funds and other investors cashed in their insurance policies and got something out of the collapse…BUT soon AIG (and other companies like that) had to say, “We never thought these things would collapse, and since we never had to prove we could actually pay off on any of these policies, we never had the cash reserves, and you are screwed. Could you give us $800 billion and go away.”
Technically, the crisis started when a bunch of poor and weak people defaulted on a loan they never should have gotten in the first place. I guess you could blame the poor and the weak for the financial crisis. You’d be an ass if you did, but that is one way to look at it.
This isn’t a case of the lazy, good-for-nothing, brown welfare cheats getting a free ride from President Obama. This is a case of the lazy, good-for-nothing, white banking industry getting a free ride from all the politicians they bought.
The rich and the strong have always maintained their lifestyle by exploiting the poor and the weak. In America, the rich and strong tossed, race, religion, and fear of queers into the mix and created the modern Conservative middle class to help keep the poor and the weak in their place.
Genius…except…because of the de-regulation the banking industry paid for the middle class in America is shrinking. These folks that loved God and hated queers with the best of them will be pissed when they get lumped in with all the other lazy, good-for-nothing, brown welfare cheats getting a free ride.
I hope Rush Limbaugh tells them to get a job.
