Save The Middle Class

Republican Hypocrisy

2010-02-18T21:56:00.002-05:00

This is what is wrong with the Republican Party. They truly have no principles.

We are Now A Fascist Country

2010-01-21T23:57:00.005-05:00

Today the Supreme Court opened the floodgates on corporate funds in elections

In a decision that could have a profound impact on future elections, the court overturned a 20-year-old ruling that barred businesses from paying for campaign adverts. The decision in what is known as the Citizens United case will allow big businesses - such as those selling arms, drugs or insurance companies - that already wield influence through lobby groups to openly back favored candidates who support their interests.

The court also struck down part of a separate campaign finance bill that barred companies and trade unions from publishing political adverts in the closing days of election campaigns.

The ruling was swiftly condemned by liberal pressure groups such as the People for the American Way, which described it as "putting corporate power above individual rights".

"It is a long established principle that the government can act in the interest of democracy to prevent corporations from pouring in billions of dollars to unduly influence elections," the group said. "Given conservative rhetoric about deference to the democratically elected branches, today's ruling is stunning".

Republicans are expected to be the principal beneficiaries of the ruling, a further blow to some Democratic party candidates in November's midterm elections who are already feeling exposed after the Republican candidate, Scott Brown, won an upset victory in Massachusetts, taking the seat left vacant by the death of Democratic icon Edward (Ted) Kennedy.

Nineteen of the Democrats' remaining 59 seats in the Senate are up for re-election in November. Several incumbents told Politico that all of them are now considered vulnerable.

"Every state is now in play," said Barbara Boxer, who is facing a serious challenge for her California seat from a wealthy Republican, Carly Fiorina.

This will effectively end the voice of the middle class and poor. How can we possibly compete in a world where money contributed determines the outcome of legislation? What politician will have the will power to take the money and vote against the ones who supplied it? I have said for the longest time that who is placed on the Supreme Court is in most ways as important as who wins the Presidency. The Bush years have brought us to the brink of financial collapse and now have almost assuredly ended our democracy as we know it. His reign of terror will be known as the catalyst that destroyed a once great democracy unless we rise up and fight back.

The only way out of this mess is an amendment to the Constitution but who thinks getting that will even be possible with support necessary from Republicans? We all know they are the party of big business and this ruling today has said that the party with the most money has the loudest voice. I am truly sickened by this decision and afraid for what the future holds for this once great land.

The Lost Decade

2010-01-03T16:51:00.005-05:00

The past decade was a complete bust economically.

For most of the past 70 years, the U.S. economy has grown at a steady clip, generating perpetually higher incomes and wealth for American households. But since 2000, the story is starkly different.

The past decade has been the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times, a sharp reversal from a long period of prosperity that is leading economists and policymakers to rethink the underpinnings of the nation's growth.

It has been, according to a wide range of data, a lost decade for American workers. A decade that began in a moment of triumphalism - there was a current of thought among economists in 1999 that recessions were a thing of the past - has included two of them, bookends for a debt-driven expansion that was neither robust nor sustainable.

There has been zero net job creation since December 1999. No previous decade going back to the 1940s had job growth of less than 20 percent. Economic output rose at its slowest rate of any decade since the 1930s as well.

Middle-income households made less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 - and the number is sure to have declined further during a difficult 2009. The decade was the first of falling median incomes since figures were first compiled in the 1960s.

And people are seriously considering putting Republicans back in office? What is wrong in America is the corrosive effect of corporate money in the political system. The people have become secondary to the companies that fund the elections. how can they get away with this? The American people are not curious enough to investigate the causes of their decades long slide. Until the average American understands the political system and does even the simplest of research, we will be ruled by the 15 second soundbite and the false news stories of Fox News.

We can not hope for a resurgence of the middle class until we band together and fight for what is right. Unfortunately by the time they wake up it may be too late. We will be nothing more than a former empire drowning in debt and headed for irrelevancy.

This Is The Tea Party Movement

2009-11-24T22:09:00.001-05:00

This would be funny if it wasn't so frightening. The United States has become the land of uninformed fools. These people are fighting against their own best interests.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

2009-10-16T23:57:00.000-04:00

I could never explain the crazy profits by Goldman Sachs. You have to ask how, in an environment where the very survival of the firm was in question, could they turn around and have their second most profitable quarter in their history. The answer is simple. It was public funds being used to generate record profits. Does it seem fair that millions are in foreclosure and these crooks are expecting bonuses that will drive that average salary of a Goldman employee to over $500,000.00. It's time to demand our money back. Not only are these people thieves but they are rubbing it in our faces.

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The Coming Collapse Of The Middle Class

2009-10-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

Watch this but I fear the Middle Class has already collapsed

Health Insurers Are Blackmailing America

2009-10-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Someone tell me why racketeering charges are not filed against these pigs?

Insurance companies aren't playing nice any more. Their dire message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate and threatens President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Democrats and their allies scrambled on Monday to knock down a new industry-funded study forecasting that Senate legislation, over time, will add thousands of dollars to the cost of a typical policy. "Distorted and flawed," said White House spokeswoman Linda Douglass. "Fundamentally dishonest," said AARP's senior policy strategist, John Rother. "A hatchet job," said a spokesman for Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

But the health insurance industry's top lobbyist in Washington stood her ground. In a call with reporters, Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans, pointedly refused to rule out attack ads on TV featuring the study, though she said she believed the industry's concerns could be amicably addressed.

At the heart of the industry's complaint is a decision by lawmakers to weaken the requirement that millions more Americans get coverage. Since the legislation would ban insurance companies from denying coverage on account of poor health, many people will wait to sign up until they get sick, the industry says. And that will drive up costs for everybody else.

So lets all be clear about what these thieves are saying. Unless health care reform put millions of new customers into their coffers then they will lie, cheat and scare the hell out of Americans.

It is time to use the existing laws to put these worthless pigs out of business. It is time that we demand a robust public option with the goal of single payer not too far behind. They have shown their hand again and its not pretty. They know a robust public option will diminish their profits and cause them to have to actually pay claims made by their paying customers. It is time to call their bluff and put into the bill a trigger of single payer health care if the premiums rise more than a certain percentage. Two can play at this game.

The Teabaggers

2009-09-15T23:53:00.002-04:00

This was from the Million Moron March in DC this past weekend although with just 60,000 protesters they certainly missed the mark. Its like watching a klan rally without the sheets. When did America become so incredibly stupid and ill informed? I always knew there were a lot of racists but this level of stupidity is scary. Third world status here we come.

Profiting On The Death Of Others

2009-09-10T21:49:00.003-04:00

When I first read this I though this can't possibly be true but then I realized the folks on Wall Street will do anything to get your money to fund their lavish lifestyles. What is even more disgusting is that they are not even trying to hide this disgrace. They are showing us exactly how they will create the next bubble with the realization that their campaign contributions will insulate them from any repercussions. Now this is what I call a true death panel.

Investment banks are planning ways to bet on the life and death of individuals with life insurance policies, as described in an article published in the New York Times on Sunday.

"The bankers plan to buy life settlements, life insurance policies that ill and elderly people sell for cash - $400,000 for a $1 million policy, say, depending on the life expectancy of the insured person," Times correspondent Jenny Anderson reports. "Then they plan to securitize these policies, in Wall Street jargon, by packaging hundreds or thousands together into bonds," to be sold to investors.

Investors will continue to pay out the premiums on the insurance and will collect the payout when the person dies. "The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return." In the example given, if the insurance is for $1 million, it is sold for $400,000, and an investor pays out $100,000 in premiums before the individual dies, the resultant profit will come to half a million dollars.

Of course, the great danger for an investor would be a sharp rise in life expectancy for a particular section of the population. "A bond made up of life settlements would ideally have policies from people with a range of diseases - leukemia, lung cancer, heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's," the Times notes, to safeguard against the danger of a cure for any one of these.

The process of buying and selling the life insurance of other people already exists (BusinessWeek ran a story in 2007 under the headline, "Death Bonds"), but "securitizing" these policies to make investment easy is still in its infancy. Yet the Times reports great interest in the possibility. "Our phones have been ringing off the hook," one rating agent is quoted as saying. "We're hoping to get a herd stampeding after the first offering," said an investment banker. Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are among the banks taking an interest in the new venture.

The Times notes that the market could reach $500 billion, which "would help Wall Street offset the loss of revenue from the collapse of the United States residential mortgage securities market..."

There are several reasons to believe that a new life insurance securitization market - one wit dubbed the resulting securities, "collateralized death obligations" - could be very profitable.

First, with the desperate financial situation facing millions of people, there will inevitably be a large pool of poor or elderly workers who find themselves unable to pay their insurance premiums. They may also be in need of immediate cash to fund mortgage payments, medical expenses or other necessities for themselves or their relatives. As the economic crisis deepens, the willingness of individuals to part with their insurance policies at a low price will increase.

Second, investors will be essentially betting that individuals on average will be dying sooner than anticipated by insurance companies who originally devised the policies - that is, they will be betting that the curve of life expectancy in the population will dip.

Life expectancy in the United States has already begun to stagnate in recent years, particularly in rural areas. While life expectancy grew slightly in 2007, the last year for which numbers are available, this was before the onset of the economic crisis.

The most significant impact of the economic crisis will be a massive lowering in the living standards of the American people. Wages and benefits are being permanently lowered. The ability of sections of the working class to maintain a higher standard of living through debt backed by high housing prices has evaporated, and other forms of credit are also drying up. All of this will inevitably lead to workers dying on average earlier.

Am I the only one who could see a partnership between insurance companies and Wall St. that would deny people care in order to extract a larger return on investment? So first they will try and ruin health care reform then profit off the misery they helped create. Sickening absolutely sickening.

The Truth About The Insurance Industry From An Insider

2009-09-07T20:58:00.002-04:00

Hey Senator Coburn You Are A Complete Ass

2009-08-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

If you think this can't happen to you then you are foolish. This family has insurance and it will not cover the needed treatments. This is the state of health care in America and according to this fool from Oklahoma its up to the neighbors to help this family. There is a lot of clapping in the audience but how many of them offered to open up their wallets to help this woman? My guess is none.

How To Respond To An Idiot At A Town Hall Meeting

2009-08-19T19:07:00.000-04:00

Town Halls should be for debate and there is a lot to debate about the health care system in this country but it serves no purpose for idiots to spout nonsense. Good for Barney Frank. People should educate themselves about what the plan is. Only in America could the desire to extend health care to all be considered a bad thing.

The Outsourcing Severance Act of 2009

2009-08-08T19:42:00.003-04:00

We keep hearing how the economy is improving but that the unemployment problem is just getting worse. Taking into account that employment is a lagging indicator it still does not explain completely how the economy is improving for business yet not for the average American. I know from my own multi-national bank that the outsourcing of jobs is continuing at an alarming rate.

Some of the professional jobs that are now leaving are graphic artists, accounting clerks, radiologists, back office financial services, phone center workers and even 401(k) record keepers. What these jobs have in common is a solid middle class salary and benefits. How can American workers compete with workers who earn less than $10,000.00 per year? The answer is they can not unless the playing field is leveled. The best way to level the playing is field is to make it prohibitively expensive to move the job in the first place. How exactly can we do this legally? My answer is The Outsourcing Severance Act of 2009. What would this piece of legislation do? It would set standards for severance pay for any job leaving the country and give the terminated employee a safety net while seeking other employment. The details of my plan would be as follows:

The terminated employee would receive 2 weeks severance pay for every year of service as well as 75% of the difference between the compensation of the new vs. old employee. Using the example of a 10 year employee earning $50,000.00 who is losing their position to someone in Mumbai earning $7,000.00, that employee would be entitled to $19,230.00 severance as well as $32,250.00 pay differential. Also the employee would remain part of the payroll until the total severance owed was paid using his last salary as the barometer. In the case just described the employee would remain on the payroll for over a year and be entitled to all the benefits of employment even though he would be free to work elsewhere. In year two the terminated employee would be entitled to the 25% difference not paid in year one. This would mean that the full savings from outsourcing would be delayed until year three.

Why would I make this severance so generous? The answer is twofold. It would give the terminated employee a chance to be retrained or seek other employment without having to immediately worry about how to make ends meet and it would discourage the so called "titans" of industry from outsourcing the jobs in the first place. Executive bonuses are usually directly tied to the company's bottom line so outsourcing jobs leads to higher pay and bonuses for those at the top and misery for those at the bottom.

Why we must do this is simple. The middle class is being killed. As more and more jobs are outsourced and our population grows there will be greater competition for the jobs that are left. This causes wages to actually drop while all normal expenses are rising. This is a disaster in the making. I have personally known five people in the past two years who have lost their jobs to outsourcing. All five were forced to take lower paying jobs in order to make ends meet. This will be the fate of thousands more if we do not demand a level playing field.

I want to expose the companies that are outsourcing our jobs. I am asking everyone to send company names, numbers outsourced and salary differences if known. Just click Contact Us on the top of this page and send me the details. My plan is to add to the site a reference page which will list the companies that are shipping our jobs overseas. I want to know that my hard earned money is not supporting a company who does not support the American worker.

GOP Sends In The Clowns

2009-08-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

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Most of the people in the audience are seniors and are screaming about the government take over of health care. Are they being paid to be stupid or does it just come naturally? MEDICARE IS A GOVERNMENT SINGLE PAYER PROGRAM YOU F*CKING IDIOTS. Every senior in that room complaining should opt out of Medicare and get a private policy. When will Americans educate themselves before they make fools of themselves?

Sold Out By The Blue Dog Democrats

2009-07-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

Every one of these assholes needs a strong primary challenge.

Conservative Blue Dog Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are celebrating their success in delaying a full floor vote on health care legislation past the August recess and in slightly weakening two key provisions during their negotiations with committee Chairman Henry Waxman.

"We have successfully pushed a floor vote to September," Mike Ross (D-Ark.) told reporters Wednesday afternoon. "The American people want us to slow down, and that's what we're doing here."

So now the FOR PROFIT health care industry will have even more time to lie and scare the American people into believing the Devil they know is better than the Devil they don't. The problem is that the premiums will continue to rise as will profits while more and more Americans will find themselves without coverage and bankrupt as a result of an illness.

The Blue Dog Democrats are a worthless bunch of fools who thought it was just fine to vote for tax cuts for the rich but helping you stay alive...not so much.

Crazy Birther Woman

2009-07-25T12:50:00.001-04:00

This is why America is going down the tubes. It is assholes like this woman who walk around with so much hate inside that they are willing to vote against their own best interests. The President of the United States is Black you dumb bitch. Get over it.

Will We Let Them Kill Health Care Reform?

2009-07-23T22:26:00.001-04:00

After watching the lies and fear being spread by the Republican's on Capital Hill you really need to ask who exactly do these people represent? Is there anyone that really feels our current system of health care is really the best in the world? According to rankings by the World Health Organization the US ranks 37th in the World for heath systems yet we spend more per capita than any nation on earth.

Now it seems that the noise machine may just derail an overhaul of our system and hurtle us towards an eventual collapse where a majority of Americans can not afford health care at all. Why is it that we are willing to pay for unnecessary wars but not willing to pay a small tax increase that could insure us all? Our priorities sicken me.

May US Foreclosures 3rd Highest Month on Record

2009-06-11T18:51:00.001-04:00

How will we ever be able to turn the corner if we can not stop people from losing their homes?

U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Foreclosure filings dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record.

The reasons for this foreclosure crisis are much more than bad loans to people who could not pay. It is systemic greed by big corporations that are shipping our jobs overseas which in turn is forcing more and more people to compete for the few jobs that remain. This is causing wages to drop and the prices of homes are plummeting as a result.

If these corporations really care about America why don't they stop shipping our jobs overseas and help rebuild the middle class? It is time to outlaw corporate money in politics. Until we do that our slide to a country of haves and have nots will continue with most of us ending up in the have not column.

Glimmers Of Hope On the Employment Front

2009-06-06T00:48:00.000-04:00

Can you believe a job loss of 345,000 last month is actually good news.

Job losses slowed dramatically in May, according to the latest government reading on the battered labor market, even as the unemployment rate rose to a 26-year high. But some experts cautioned that the job market remains weak.

Employers cut 345,000 jobs from their payrolls in the month, down from the revised decline of 504,000 jobs in April.

This was the fewest jobs lost in a month since last September, when the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers caused a crisis in U.S. financial markets and choked off credit for many businesses. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a loss of 520,000 jobs in May.

The one thing to remember is that we need to create 150,000 new jobs per month to keep up with demand but that hasn't happened in quite a while. Employment will remain a problem as long as it remains cheaper to ship our jobs overseas. Many people have asked how can we stop this run away train of outsourcing. The only way I can see is a return to the tariffs of old. Those tariffs valued American workers and American manufacturing. When those tariffs were lifted, under the guise of free trade, our standard of living was damaged. It is time to demand free trade be replaced by fair trade. It is time to demand that corporations pay their fair share of taxes and use those taxes to return us to fiscal sanity. It is time to stop mortgaging the next generation and its time to understand that we can not pay to defend the world while bankrupting our country. We need to get our priorities straight or all the defense in the world won't matter.

Foreclosure Crisis Deepens

2009-05-28T16:10:00.002-04:00

The foreclosure crisis deepens.

More homeowners than ever before are falling behind on their mortgage payments and sliding into foreclosure, according to figures released on Thursday, a sign that the country’s housing crisis is spreading through the ranks of previously stable borrowers.

About 5.4 million of the country’s 45 million home loans were delinquent or in some stage of the foreclosure process in the first three months of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. About 12.07 percent of all mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure, up from 11.93 percent at the end of 2008.

Temporary halts on foreclosures imposed by lenders and mortgage underwriters have mostly ended, and banks are moving quickly against delinquent homeowners.

Housing specialists said the number of foreclosures would probably keep rising as more people lose their jobs or are forced to trade full-time work for part-time. Nearly six million jobs have been lost since the recession began a year and a half ago, and many economists expect the unemployment rate to rise to 10 percent from its current 8.9 percent.

More defaults by unemployed homeowners could shunt more houses onto an already saturated market, economists said, dragging prices down farther.

This should come as no surprise as the ranks of the unemployed just keep growing. At a time when corporations need to be putting the citizens of this country first they are instead opting for profits over people. I know of many companies that are still outsourcing the jobs they have to India and other far away places. How is our economy ever expected to recover when this trend of outsourcing shows no limits to the number and types of jobs that are being lost?

When will Congress finally side with the American people and demand fair trade policies on not just goods but on services and employment as well. Jobs are a commodity and there should be tariffs on the services provided by workers in other countries. In the end your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it and in the current economic climate that doesn't appear to be too much.

TARP Funds and the FDIC

2009-05-07T23:05:00.000-04:00

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Writer – Wed May 6, 6:18 am ET

WASHINGTON – Banks that want to pay back their federal bailout funds and free themselves from government restrictions on compensation and dividends will have to sever their ties to another financial assistance program.

Financial firms eager to return infusions from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program will have to demonstrate that they can operate without debt guarantees provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., a senior government official said Tuesday. The FDIC program allows financial institutions to borrow money at lower costs.

The new requirement will make it harder for some institutions to get out from under government rules attached to the bailouts, another shift in a changing landscape for banks. It also illustrates the government's desire not to have banks abandon the bailout program if they are not financially prepared to do so.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the standards have not been made public. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve are expected to issue TARP repayment guidelines on Wednesday, a response to banks that want to get out from under bailout conditions. The change was first reported Tuesday evening by The Wall Street Journal.

By linking the two programs, the government could motivate banks to cut themselves off from the various assistance programs that it put in place to unclog credit and free up lending in the midst of the financial crisis.

The bailout program has been unpopular in Congress and prompted a new round of conditions earlier this year following news reports about lavish spending on perks, retreats and corporate planes.

Initially, the government required banks that wanted to repay early to raise money from the private sector. Then Congress eased that rule but attached greater restrictions on the government funds. Among the rules restricting banks were conditions on employee compensation, bonuses and dividend payouts. Congress also required the Treasury to review previous compensation payments.

The FDIC debt guarantee, meanwhile, has proven to be popular with some banks as a way to increase liquidity and does not impose the same restrictions as TARP. So far, banks have issued more than $330 billion under the program, which the FDIC launched in October to help financial institutions finance themselves and make loans.

"It throws a hurdle as far as the banks repaying TARP," Scott Talbott, a senior lobbyist for the Financial Services Roundtable, a bank industry group, said of the new condition.

Banks have become increasingly wary of the bailout funds, chafing at the restrictions and worried that acceptance of the money somehow tagged them as troubled institutions. As a result, a handful of banks have returned a small amount of money and bigger institutions have indicated a desire to repay.

Banking industry consultant Bert Ely said requiring banks to first show an ability to operate without the FDIC guarantees does complicate their payback of TARP money. But he said it also demonstrates a change in the Federal Reserve's and the Treasury's approach to TARP.

"A couple of weeks ago it was, 'Oh, we don't know if want to let you repay,'" he said. "There's been a reversal of position here as far as I'm concerned. It will be interesting to see how fast banks move in that direction."

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury are expected to announce the new payback standards just ahead of Thursday's planned release of the results of "stress tests" on the country's top 19 financial institution.

The tests gauged the ability of the banks to weather an even deeper economic crisis than the country currently faces. Several of the 19 banks will be asked to seek additional capital.

Those banks will have six months to raise money from private investors, sell off assets or tap what remains of the $700 billion TARP.

Joe The Plumber The New Face of The Republican Party

2009-05-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

Only would the Republicans keep trotting out this dope. Does he or anyone else really think a majority of the country cares about his views and why is he still being asked about anything?

Joe the Plumber, aka Samuel Wurzelbacher, sat down for an lengthy interview with Christianity Today to discuss his views on the future of the Republican party. Wurzelbacher took the opportunity to speak out against gay marriage, which he says is wrong. The unlikely conservative spokesman went so far as to say he doesn't allow openly gay people "anywhere near" his children.

The word "queer," Wurzelbacher noted, "means strange and unusual."

Christianity Today: In the last month, same-sex marriage has become legal in Iowa and Vermont. What do you think about same-sex marriage at a state level?

Wurzelbacher: At a state level, it's up to them. I don't want it to be a federal thing. I personally still think it's wrong. People don't understand the dictionary--it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we're supposed to do--what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we're supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children. But at the same time, they're people, and they're going to do their thing.

In the vein of George W. Bush and Michael Steele, Joe the Plumber also indicated that he wouldn't run for public office until the Lord had given him a cue. "God hasn't said, 'Joe, I want you to run.' I feel more important to just encourage people to get involved, one way or another. If I can inspire some leaders, that would be great." Joe added: "I don't know if I want to be a leader."

He is waiting for the Lord to give him a cue? I am waiting for the Lord to give him a clue. This is what is left of the Republican Party. Lets hope this fool doesn't breed.

The Senate Screws The Middle Class Again.

2009-04-30T22:28:00.001-04:00

The Senate on Thursday rejected an effort to stave off home foreclosures by a vote of 51 to 45. It was an overwhelming defeat, with the bill's backers falling 15 votes short -- a quarter of the Democratic caucus -- of the 60 needed to cut off debate and move to a final vote.

The death of the bankruptcy reform measure -- which would have allowed a small number of homeowners who met strict conditions to renegotiate mortgages under bankruptcy protection -- is a major tactical win for the banking industry. But allowing the foreclosure crisis to continue unabated may end up being a failed strategy for the financial sector.

It wasn't easy for Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who led the effort on behalf of homeowners, to wrangle the 45 votes.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who had been on the fence for weeks, gave Durbin his support and nudged him on the way out of the chamber, alerting him of the anti-bank position he'd just taken.

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, a conservative Democrat, also cast a courageous vote in favor of the measure. He gave Durbin a hard slap on the arm on the way out.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a strong backer of the bill, spent a good deal of time trying to persuade his colleague Jim Webb (D-Va.).

As she got close to convincing him, she called in Durbin. "Hey Durbs," she could be heard saying, "help me with Jim."

Durbin and Webb spoke for several minutes and Webb cast an aye vote.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), meanwhile, spent much of the vote checking the tally. Toward the end of the vote, she cast her lot with homeowners. Sen. Ted Kaufman, a Democrat from Delaware, a state nearly wholly-owned by the financial industry, voted his conscience, opposing the banks. He is not running for reelection. "I'm liberated from fundraising," said Kaufman afterwords.

His Delaware colleague, Democrat Tom Carper, voted with the banks.

The Chamber of Commerce has deemed the vote a crucial one that will be heavily counted in its annual scorecard, and those who voted yes will pay a financial price from the Chamber and the banking industry.

Other Democrats stuck with the banks against the homeowners. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) was wheeled into the chamber and pointed his finger in the air, signaling a yes vote, then dramatically swung it down, as if taunting the backers of the bill.

Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) all voted with the banks, as they told the Huffington Post they would. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) voted no, as did the new Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.), Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) voted no as well.

Earlier this week, Durbin concluded that banks that "frankly own the place."

How much did the Senate go for?

The banking and real estate industry has funneled roughly $2,000,000 into Landrieu's campaign coffers over her 12-year career, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. The financial sector is Nelson's biggest backer; he's taken $1.4 million from banks and real estate interests and another $1.2 million from insurance firms. Tester has fielded roughly half a million in his two years in office. Lincoln has taken $1.3 million from banking and real estate interests.

Carper has raked in more than $1.5 million. Baucus, chair of the finance committee, has been on the receiving end of $3.5 million over his career. Specter has hauled in more than $4.5 million and Johnson has gotten some $2.5 million.

Across the United States, the measure is estimated to have been able to prevent 1.69 million foreclosures and preserve $300 billion in home equity.

Durbin is deeply unhappy with his Democratic colleagues that sided with the banks. "Frankly, I can't match what the bankers are doing in terms of lobbying," he said. Asked by the Huffington Post how bank influence could ever be reduced, he said, "When the voters speak, some elected officials listen. So I hope that, if we fail on mortgage foreclosure and we fail on credit card reform, I hope that people in this country will stand up and say to Congress, 'You've got the wrong friends.'"

After the vote, Durbin said he was surprised to lose so many Democrats. "I had hoped for a better vote. I mean, really, to lose 11 Democrats was disappointing, but, you know, I guess I've gained some ground since the issue last came up. Maybe if the mortgage foreclosures go up dramatically and I call it again next year I can pass it," Durbin told the Huffington Post. (In April 2008, a similar bill received 36 votes.)

Reminded of his comment earlier in the day that if the bill failed, he hoped the American people would respond, he didn't back down even though so many in his own party strayed. "I hope they get the message," he said of his wayward colleagues. "Maybe they have an answer to this problem, but I have seen it."

Carper, however, the no vote from Delaware, said the issue was finished in the Senate. "My guess is we're not going to see it again," he said.

Earlier this week, Durbin took to the Senate floor to tell his colleagues that the upcoming vote was a test.

"Who's going to win this debate? The mortgage bankers and the American Bankers Association or the consumers across this country?" he asked.

We now have the answer. "We led the way on this and we are clearly responsible for defeating this for the third time in the last year," David Kittle, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told our friends at the American News Project in this must-watch video:

Pakistan Near Collapse?

2009-04-24T19:16:00.000-04:00

With suicide bombers killing scores in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan near collapse, the policies of George W. Bush are coming home to roost. Had he not decided to start a war with Iraq long before September 11th and had instead concentrated on getting those who attacked us we would not be looking at the real possibility of those loyal to Osama Bin Laden taking over a nuclear armed Pakistan.

How can anyone still defend the Bush administration. They destroyed our standing in the world and left a world more dangerous than the one they found. Many members of this administration should be trading cigarettes for their lives in a maximum security prison. The mess these criminals left behind will be with us for a generation. We must as Americans demand they be held accountable and must look under every rock for the truth no matter what that truth tells us. Its time for the Obama Administration to make an example of these crooks.

U.S. existing home sales fell 3.0 pct in March

2009-04-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

The pace of sales of existing homes in the United States fell 3.0 percent in March to a much lower-than-expected annual rate of 4.57 million units, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home resales to slip to a 4.70 million-unit pace from a revised 4.71 million for February, which was initially reported as 4.72 million.

The inventory of existing homes for sale fell to 3.74 million from the 3.80 million overstock reported for February. The median national home price rose 4.2 percent to $175,200 from February, boosted by seasonal factors. However, prices fell 12.4 percent compared to the same period a year ago.