Okay I've had enough of the spin to last a lifetime.
What is America supposed to be all about?
Well, we reward the guy who digs the ditch. After all, he is the one with a shovel in his hand and sweat on his brow. We reward the guy who tells him where to dig, the person (male or female) who supervises him. The guy who buys the shovels. the guy who plans where to dig the hole. The city or homeowner that wants or needs the hole. even the banker who finances digging the hole.
And, I fully understand the concept of insurance. If the homeowner wants to ensure the hole is dug so be it. If the ONE banker who actually financed it wants to insure his interest FINE. What I do not understand is how we can sit around and let a bunch of worthless morons (smart morons but morons none the less) bet with each other on whether or not the hole is going to get dug.
In the meantime, we the American poeple are blissfully ignorant of the betting going on because Bob bet Ted and Ted bet Sam. They used a process of betting on the spreads so that essentially Ted was covered whether the hole got dug or not.
I am going to ask a rhetorial question here. Is this really capitalism?
I guess I don't think so. There is no invisible hand here performing the tasks society needs performed. If the bettors subsequently go bankrupt and can't pay anybody for the fine suits they are wearing and subsequently cause a huge frikking economic panic. Why are we not trying to put some of these people in jail?
We put rapists, murderers, and even dui drivers in jail for a lot less because they tear at the fabric of what is good and right about society. Lets put some of these people in jail. Let's make them pay restitution and foreclose their homes in the Hamptons (with advance apologies to the good folks who live out there and don't just make bets for a living)
A couple of weeks ago, I heard Larry Kudlow talking about how the mess was democratically induced because we simply put people in homes they could not afford. Pardon me. excuse me, did I hear that right? Your blaming the guy that wanted the hole dug or the guy with the shovel or those other folks. You must be joking sir. (and I use the term sir in moderation).
Home ownership was and is a great goal especially with an aging demographic and even before a upside down market. Those low income and minority folks are not, I repeat NOT, responsible for this debacle. Are you listening, conservatives?
A guy works his whole life just hoping once in a while things will come out fair. If they do, he has won a little. These low income people did not trade 12 times the value of their property in credit default swaps. The guys with the suits did that. The guys with the suits had wealthy people who'd forgotten what it was like to honestly engage in capitalism helping them.
I work (yes occasionally circumstances force this) as an auctioneer. Last year and up to about four weeks ago I had several people contacting me trying to get out of mortgages just prior to foreclosure. In every instance but one, they were gamblers. They had generally bought a second third forth or fifth house as an investment and were looking to cash out before the banks took back the property. In nearly every instance, they wanted more than they had borrowed even if they had releveraged the place after purchase. These people were not the common folk (well they were) but they got caught up in the tulip bulb craze. If they lose their investments, I will feel sorry for them but that is tough.
I try to help them when I can. I counsel them to look for the sale which nets them the most let alone whether I sell the property or not. So I will continue this rant this evening. And as Paul Harvey says, I will tell you the rest of the story. Stay tuned.
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