I get it! The madness behind the Hedge Funds.

[The Backlash Cometh]

It's five o'clock eastern time and my head pops up from the pillow, the fluff clouds from a fading dream still lingering over my head, (I think there was a dog and a meadow involved,) anyway I wake up and I say, "I get it! They privatized taxes!"

I thought it was peculiar that so many powerful and good names were associated with Hedge Funds these days: John Edwards and Chelsea Clinton to name a few. These aren't people you usually associate with Wall Street greed. These are people who, if there was a way to help out the less fortunate, you know they would do it. Then it dawned on me that all of their interactions with Hedge Funds has occurred, roughly since 1998, but primarily during Bush II's term.

The Congress by 1998, was definitely Republican and even in 1996 was powerful enough to override a veto from Bill Clinton that would have made CEOs accountable to stock holders (So now you know who sowed the seeds for the irresponsible, reckless capitalism we're dealing with today. Free market my ass. But I digress...)

Anyway, it dawned on me that someone out there convinced all these incredibly wealthy people to put millions and millions of dollars into accounts, that basically, were meant to provide loans to poor people. Now, two things are at play. First, how do you get someone to put 10 million dollars of their own money into an account AND get the government to look the other way while you're doing it? You obviously sell the premise to the government that they DON'T HAVE TO RAISE TAXES, because, instead, they can lure incredibly rich people to WILLINGLY INVEST the money AND MORE into an account that will be used to help poor people afford homes.

And buying a home has been assigned as the official American Dream. Physically buying the home is the dream; not living and raising our children in a good community - just actually owning property. Well, that and owning your own small business. If you dream about something that doesn't make money to buy a house, you're really screwed, but I digress, again. Hey, it's five in the morning, I'm allowed.

So that would explain everything. That would explain why we're not seeing tax increases during a time of war. George Bush and his chaos capitalist creeps have tempted the money in this country by promising them that their concept of trickle down economics works. That's what the hedge funds are all about. Trickle down economics with a high rate of return, AND GOVERNMENT PROTECTION.

That's why they were bailed out. That's what Cramer's meltdown was all about. All these millionaires were about to find out that George Bush's Wall Street buddies were wrong.

So, the privatized taxes scheme didn't work. It was a another Republican gimmick of socialized risk and privatized profit.

Why it failed is why it always fails. Inflation caught up with them. In order to keep making the profits, they have to have secure loans. That means that money had to be loaned to people who were secure risks, so this was not just an effort to help the poor, it became an opportunity for anyone willing to bargain they can buy a house and sell it before the crash came in. But, just as they had bogus home buyers, they also had bogus Hedge Fund investment money, because, from what I understand, you could get in on credit.

What a slimey mess.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. self-kicked

For the 6:00 am crew.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Thank you, to the person who recommended it.

I hope this makes it to the morning crowd, because I would really love for someone who understand Hedge Funds, to put in their two cents.

[undergroundpanther]

3. K'n'R

Good thinking Backlash!!

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. A big wet kiss to you!

[DemReadingDU]

5. makes sense to me

[zalinda]

6. If your premise is correct, it could have worked if

jobs hadn't been outsourced all over the country. Most people when buying a home, will do just about anything to keep it. But, if your $20 an hour job has been outsourced and you now are making $6 an hour, there is no way you can keep the house, even with working 2 of those type of jobs.

zalinda

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. There's another sad realization.

The rich not only got off from paying taxes, but the poor and the middle class ended up paying more for their loans. They just didn't put it in the public treasury. It went back to the rich.

We got hit on at least three different levels with this scheme, if you include the government bail out.

So when Cramer and others come up and talk about the inevitability of outsourcing, you add a fourth injury. The Hedge Fund failure, as you pointed out, proves that the Trickle Down effect cannot work for middle and lower class Americans, as long as we're outsourcing the salaries that will pay for those homes.

[truedelphi]

30. Especially not with the through the ceiling cost of gas, and

the fact that workers at their six bucks an hour job have to pay real taxes on those paychecks.

[a kennedy]

7. Wow......

and kick

[RB TexLa]

9. Hedge funds invest in much more than mortgages and since when is raising children the American dream

??

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Children are a big motivating factor for many of our decisions in life.

Like where we'll buy a house (for the school district or for the no child allowed restrictions.)

I lived in a community once, which wasn't perfect, but which I always respected because the board tried to do right by the kids. They were old geezers who had a lot of time on their hands. And, yes, they were very set in the way they ran things. However, I respected them because they never forgot about the children, throwing community Easter Egg hunts for them every Easter. And though they were crotchety, they were also honest. I dare say they were Democratic leaning.

That's what you call a community. My house was sold the weekend I threw a block party on my street. That's what old America use to be like, and it has value.

Then I moved into a Republican county where they'd fuck you over if you bent over to pick up the paper on your driveway

[RB TexLa]

14. That doesn't make raising them the American dream

we tried to find a street with as few children living on it as possible, of course they factor into things. But that doesn't make raising them the "American dream."

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. It was MY American Dream.

If I'm allowed to have one.

The point is, that the only dream you're expected to have in this country, is the ownership of property. Be it a home, or a business. That's something I never realized until we upscaled and moved into a wealthier community.

That said, you should find yourself a Republican county in Florida, and you'll get what you're looking for.

[RB TexLa]

19. I don't need to find anything. Sorry you think those who aren't birthing babies

aren't living some weird concept you have of an American dream, but that's your bias.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. The village is dead. I get it. Everyone is an island.

The message has come across, loud and clear over the last thirteen years.

[formercia]

11. Smart rich people don't invest their own money

they invest other peoples' money and try to make sure their gross return minus interest leaves them a healthy profit. Throw in a tax shelter to sweeten the pie.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. From what I understand, there was a lot of money being floated on the

investment side.

[formercia]

13. There are two ways of getting rich

marry it or steal it. Theivery takes many forms.

[Nederland]

20. Really?

Which one of those methods did Steve Jobs employ to get rich? Just curious...

[formercia]

22. Why don't you ask him?

Have you ever seen a completely honest and moral working stiff get rich?

[Nederland]

23. Yes

Steve Jobs.

Face it, Steve Jobs got rich by running a company that sells stuff to people. To imply that Jobs got rich by stealing you have to believe one of two things:

1) The people who buy Apple products do so unwillingly.
2) The people who work for Apple do so unwillingly.

So which is it?

[formercia]

25. Apple products are overpriced.

at least, they used to be.

I used to do production testing on Apple Motherboards about a decade ago and I didn't see anything that justified what they were charging.

You don't need a gun to hold up people.

[Nederland]

27. That's an opinion

Obviously the people that buy Apple products disagree, otherwise they wouldn't buy them.

[1932]

32. You were looking the wrong place.

I suspect the price was based on the software, or the fact that the hardware and software was made by the same company, and Apple had different incentives for making money than Microsoft which resulted in a different experience for users that made them willing to pay more money for the computers.

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. There are very few "Steve Jobs," or "Henry Fords," or "Lee Iaccocas"

That is a very elite group. In a country of 300,000,000 people, it would be nice if we could come up with more than a 1000 original entrepreneurs -- people who actually came up with a brand new concept and made a billion dollars at it.

Truth is, we are in a stagnant place and we desperately need to see more of that kind of ingenuity, but you know what, we aren't going to have the opportunities to get creative and inventive for several reasons.

First, because part of what is being outsourced is research and development, which means our best IT and Scientist here in the States won't have access to the best research facilities; and second,

Steve Job and Bill Gates, as brilliant as they were, closed the door for everyone to do what Xerox did for them at their Research facility in Palos Altos. No company today would allow brilliant minds like that to tour a facility and share information with them, unless they signed a no compete contract or similar document.

So kudos to the both of them, but maybe you should stop and think about how difficult it is to do pure research today. If it were that easy, you wouldn't be hearing about so many foreign scientists stealing documents out of our labs.

More often than not, we have Dick Cheney types who usurp the public resources for personal gain, then turn around and call themselves rugged individuals and try to shame everyone else for not taking the risks they took. When what they were really doing was socializing risk, and privatizing profit.

[Nederland]

28. Agreed

I was merely trying to point out that it is possible to get rich without stealing.

[1932]

33. Steve Jobs got rich by working hard. However, he might be staying rich by backdating stock options

...

[satya]

15. "Republican gimmick of socialized risk and privatized profit"--the Dems oughta be screaming this! nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. The problem is, that it's the DLC's plan too.

And, maybe, even the Liberal courts, if you take eminient domain into account.

That's why it's important to understand how these things overlap.

[Festivito]

16. Give this scheme a number and throw it on a list. /nt

[JackRiddler]

24. insightful k/r

[Hydra]

29. Mess?

This was VERY deliberate. Money that didn't exist was created to give these loans (Watch "Money as Debt" on google if you aren't familiar with how loans really work). They were made to be ARMs, and people thought the economy was going to do better, and they would get better jobs. The banks knew this wouldn't happen.

Think about the problem with ARMs- if the money didn't exist to begin with, the loaner is making a pure profit. As such, a 5.25% loan is still an awesome deal for the loaner- no money put in, and at $250,000 you are getting roughly $12,000 + principle out of the poor sap. Sound like a good deal to you? At that point, you're already fleecing the sheep rather well- why put it out of his reach?

The answer? Two concepts, Two words each: Fire Sale and Currency Debasement.

[lonestarnot]

31. Oh the flow.

From our pockets to theirs, and no one to stop it. Not even so much as a revolt.

[The Backlash Cometh]

34. I think that once middle America understands just how much favoritism

the rich have received under the Bush Administration, that might all change. Understanding why Hedge Funds exist and why the government will bail them out, is a start.

[lonestarnot]

35. I don't think they'll ever fucking get it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. I'm afraid you may be right. There's too much money at stake for

the powerful, to educate middle America properly and stand the chance that their knowledge will interfere with corporate America's swindles.

[lonestarnot]

38. edumacation is hard werk. We must do it in our spare time.

[The Backlash Cometh]

39. But it's everywhere. There are so many trying to hide the truth that you

really wonder if there is anything called "America" that has any substance to it.

Whether it's our disgraceful politicians in Congress or Bush loyalists in appointed positions, or even 9/11 plaintiffs who have taken huge settlements and accepted gag agreements. The message is clear, Never, NEVER tell the truth.

[lonestarnot]

40. America is gone. Harsh reality. It's now the land of hallow lying

moneygrubbing grub worms, with the highest prison population in the world.

[The Backlash Cometh]

41. We don't stand for anything good, anymore, do we?

However, I'm sure corporate America will come around soon with a good fake veneer to sell.

[lonestarnot]

42. I'm not buying it, are you?

[The Backlash Cometh]

43. Obviously, what I think, doesn't matter.

I am, and have always been, just an observer of the times.

But as long as I'm here, I think we should begin to broaden our lexicons, because "phony veneer" is going to be the tag of these times. When someone like Chris Matthews can sell this premise of "life is a political campaign," as the reason for his success, you know we're already there.

Face it. The "pillars of the community," have crossed the line so many times that they think it's normal, and they now have to turn around and convince us to do the same to validate their choices.

Stick a fork it in, we're done.

[lonestarnot]

44. But I'm not buying that damn book. Chris Matthews can kiss my ass.

I do agree we're done.

[liberalla]

37. hmmm... intriguing

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

45. kick