The last two election and any time someone even suggests that the rich aren’t paying their fair share and the poor are suffering republicans scream “Class Warfare”. Talk about regulating Wall Street and holding bankers accountable for their actions “Class Warfare”. It’s funny, iron and sad that republicans use this type of language and even sadder that people believe them. When President Obama proposed a tax increase on the top 1% of people in America I don’t know how many republicans I heard say “He is dividing the country”, hell they have a 24 our propaganda network who pushed the storyline.
We can’t have “Class Warfare” according to the republicans but lets look at the warfare they support and promote -
Union Warfare - Republicans paint unions as evil and what’s wrong with America, they attack teachers, police and firemen as well as other labor unions for their pension and healthcare which is ironic since these same politicians pension and healthcare are 100x better than any teacher and it’s funded by taxpayer money. They cry about tenure and pensions hurting the economy while they rig the elections by redistricting and voter ID laws to make sure they keep their own tenure in congress and the senate and while a teacher may cost 30,000 a year a politician costs 180,000 a year. We can attack the unions, teachers, firefighters and police but don’t ask the politicians or their rich backers to sacrifice one penny.
War on “Takers” - You often her republicans cry that 47% of people don’t pay taxes, first this is a flat out lie because while they may not pay extra taxes they still pay
Fica Tax
State Tax
Sales Tax
Gas Tax
Property Tax
Payroll Tax
The 47% who are “takers” include single mothers who work 40 hours a week at min. wage jobs often without healthcare or benefits and also includes senior citizens who worked their whole life and of course it includes military personal fighting in war zones to give republicans the freedom to lie. Oh and did I mention there are thousands of people who make more than 1,000,000.00 a year who pay no taxes and in fact get a refund? Those damn slackers getting shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s time they pair their fair share and stop sponging off patriotic rich according to the GOP.
Fetal Warfare - Texas is just the most recent states that has declared war on a women’s uterus, their goal is to take away a women’s right to choose and force them to be a slave to the fetus for 9 months no matter the danger. If your 10 year old daughter is raped by an uncle don’t even think about destroying that evidence, who cares that the girl had to live through the act of rape (I guess at that age her body hasn’t learned to shut it down yet) but now she has to be reminded for 9 months what happened and bear the child of the person who did this to her. They often use religion as a background for this belief which would be ok but after being sued for wrongful death of a fetus recently the church argued that a fetus isn’t a living human being.
War on Poverty - Yes this has been around for a long time but the last 30 years republicans have fought on the wrong side. Since Reagan the GOP has adopted a “People are poor because they’re lazy and choose to be so why help them” attitude. They got a taste of victory with the welfare reform act of the 90’s and now want to not only win another battle but end the ware completely. Recently with the sequestration they have forced poor people without insurance to delay or even end their cancer treatments, ended meals on wheels for millions of Americans and forced millions of children to go hungry at school by cutting the funding for their meals. After getting that and seeing there is not much outrage or coverage by the corporate media they have decided to take another stop and cut 20 billion more in food stamps, instead of asking other to pay more they cut from the most vulnerable among us. They say “we want people to be able to stand on their own” which would be a good idea but they turn around and make it harder for college or higher education and cut funding for K-12 education while cutting taxes for the people who bought them their job.
War on Immigrants - this one is the worst, they have turned it into an actual war and not just talk. They have proposed billion in funding to militarize the border and make their defense contractors richer. Newsflash to republicans - unless you are 100% native American you were an illegal immigrant at some time. Republicans act like Mexicans are sneaking in to America and planning on stealing our land, raping our women and murdering our children - you know like the old white men did to the Native Americans when they arrived in the new world.
You can not question anything the wealthy do or you are dividing America but it’s 100% ok to go after teachers, unions, fireman, soldiers, veterans, women, blacks, Hispanics and of course poor people of any color, race or religion. Next time a republican yells “class warfare” or “You’re dividing America” ask them their stance on Abortion, “Takers”, Food Stamps, Education, Immigration then point out they are a hypocrite. America is being divided and there is “warfare” but it’s the republicans leading the charge and with the help of their propaganda network they are winning until America wakes up and starts to fight back. By keeping the populace poor, uneducated and divided they can finish turning America into the plutocracy they always envisioned.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Republican War on Clean Air and Water
I keep hearing republicans get upset when you point out they really want “dirty air and water”, they say that’s a nice liberal talking point. It’s not a talking point, it’s fact and their voting record proves it. Since 2011 congressional republicans have voted over 300 times on bills that favor corporations while doing harm to the environment including
130 Votes weakening the EPA
54 Votes weakening the Dept. of Energy
125 Votes lower pollution standards
55 votes to repeal clean energy
45 votes to promote more drilling esp. offshore
Clean Air act
This was passed in the 1970’s and signed into law by Richard Nixon, it has reduced pollution by over 50% while helping keep many pollution related illnesses under control. This congress has waged a war on this act trying to gut it, even trying to repeal the Health Based Standards meaning that corporations would now be allowed to pollute and knowing make people sick if it was best for business. That’s right they would now do a “Cost Benefits Analysis” to decide if it was in the best interest of corporations to give people cancer.
They also voted to repeal the regulation of mercury release and block the regulation on emissions from incinerator and power plants and finally to stop regulations on the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen - these ALONE prove they want dirtier air and water if it means more profits for corporations.
Independent studies have shown these attacks on the EPA will lead to
34,000 deaths
15,000 heart attacks
400,000 cases of asthma
280 Billion a year in added healthcare costs.
Clean Water Act
Passed in 1972 the goal of this act was to improve the abysmal water quality in many streams and rivers so that rivers like the one in Ohio would no longer be so polluted that they would catch fire. This act has reduced pollution by over 70%.
Despite all these benefit’s the GOP voted to strip the EPA of authority to set water quality standards or enforce the standards already set on discharge limits. They blocked funding that allows the EPA to protect swamps and run off water and even voted to repeal the restrictions on dumping pesticides into rivers and lakes.
To say they don’t want dirty water and air is a bold face lie and their voting record proves they do. They care more about corporate profits then their own children’s health but then again the pollution doesn’t really effect them as you never see oil rigs or drilling on their multi acre estate and they can drink bottled water and bill it to taxpayers as an expense. When they could not get away with stripping environmental protections away they did the next best thing and voted to cut EPA funding by over 5 billion dollars or over 40% of their budget. These are just a small portion of the over 300 anti-environment laws republicans have tried to pass so next time anyone like Sean Hannity or any republican tells you that they care about the environment just tell them to “prove it” because you can prove your argument since we know how republicans voted.
To me when you do a cost benefits analysis of profits over health - Health wins every time but sadly to republicans profits always win.
130 Votes weakening the EPA
54 Votes weakening the Dept. of Energy
125 Votes lower pollution standards
55 votes to repeal clean energy
45 votes to promote more drilling esp. offshore
Clean Air act
This was passed in the 1970’s and signed into law by Richard Nixon, it has reduced pollution by over 50% while helping keep many pollution related illnesses under control. This congress has waged a war on this act trying to gut it, even trying to repeal the Health Based Standards meaning that corporations would now be allowed to pollute and knowing make people sick if it was best for business. That’s right they would now do a “Cost Benefits Analysis” to decide if it was in the best interest of corporations to give people cancer.
They also voted to repeal the regulation of mercury release and block the regulation on emissions from incinerator and power plants and finally to stop regulations on the release of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen - these ALONE prove they want dirtier air and water if it means more profits for corporations.
Independent studies have shown these attacks on the EPA will lead to
34,000 deaths
15,000 heart attacks
400,000 cases of asthma
280 Billion a year in added healthcare costs.
Clean Water Act
Passed in 1972 the goal of this act was to improve the abysmal water quality in many streams and rivers so that rivers like the one in Ohio would no longer be so polluted that they would catch fire. This act has reduced pollution by over 70%.
Despite all these benefit’s the GOP voted to strip the EPA of authority to set water quality standards or enforce the standards already set on discharge limits. They blocked funding that allows the EPA to protect swamps and run off water and even voted to repeal the restrictions on dumping pesticides into rivers and lakes.
To say they don’t want dirty water and air is a bold face lie and their voting record proves they do. They care more about corporate profits then their own children’s health but then again the pollution doesn’t really effect them as you never see oil rigs or drilling on their multi acre estate and they can drink bottled water and bill it to taxpayers as an expense. When they could not get away with stripping environmental protections away they did the next best thing and voted to cut EPA funding by over 5 billion dollars or over 40% of their budget. These are just a small portion of the over 300 anti-environment laws republicans have tried to pass so next time anyone like Sean Hannity or any republican tells you that they care about the environment just tell them to “prove it” because you can prove your argument since we know how republicans voted.
To me when you do a cost benefits analysis of profits over health - Health wins every time but sadly to republicans profits always win.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Why republicans are wrong on private sector vs public sector
How long have we been hearing the same old talking points by republicans, here is a look at some of the common talking points and the facts that prove them wrong.
1. Private sector can do it better and cheaper than the government
There are so many examples of this not being true, from private prisons costing more money and being less safe to the public but I’ll just stick with one, private military contractors vs. the military.
When we invaded Iraq we saw the explosion of private contractors, no coincidently a large portion of the money went to the firm that was run by the vice president. These contracts were being paid for things that our military used to handle like setting up bases, laundry, cooking and even security but unlike our military these soldiers for hire were immune from many laws including murder. Army sergeants would earn up to 200.00 per day in Iraq while their private sector counterparts cost taxpayers about 1,200.00 per day. When the military vehicles break down they have to be fixed but when contractors cars break down and in some cases just get a flat tire they abandon them and bill the taxpayers for a new one. Former high ranking Halliburton employees came forward that American taxpayers are being billed 45$ for each case of Coke and 100$ for each bag of laundry washed and pad an astounding 1 million dollars to house 100 Halliburton employees for 3 months in a luxury hotel as our brave men and women stayed in tents. The worst part is unlike our military these contracts are not liable for anything they do wrong including all the American soldiers who died in the shower because KBR used faulty wiring to save money while billing taxpayers for premium.
2. Government needs to stop picking winners and losers
We heard this when the story broke about Solyndra going bankrupt, yes the taxpayers lost 500 million dollars but what they neglect to point out is that the money going to green energy companies is a loan they have to pay back while the money going to fossil fuel companies is a subsidy that never needs to be paid back. Oil companies received over 8 billion dollars in subsidies last year alone and have been receiving government handouts and bailouts for over 100 years. You often hear republicans saying we need to end the loans for green energy companies but they refuse to even consider ending all the tax breaks for oil and gas companies.
While most green energy companies rise and fall on their own the fossil fuel companies have been helped out by government spending and inventions. The big thing in today’s oil and gas industry is fracking, it’s a controversial process that pumps poison into the ground to break the rocks so that oil and gas is released. It’s innovative and took years and millions if not billions of dollars to perfect but cost the private sector no time or money since it was invented, funded and perfected by the United States Government at taxpayer expense starting in the 1970’s so why aren’t we asking for that money back?
3. Private Sector Healthcare is way to go
This is the big lie, there are no facts to back this up only scare tactics. Every country in the world that has Universal healthcare pays a lot less then we do in America and sometimes ½ as much. The care is no worse then it is here and when you hear “why do people from Canada come to America” the answer is simple, because they can afford to. What they don’t tell you is that most of these people are coming for elective surgery that they can get in Canada and other countries but have a longer wait. What they don’t tell you is that when you’re feeling sick in Canada you can go to the doctor and get treated meaning that your cancer can be diagnosed early and treated before it becomes fatal.
Most of America’s insurance is spent on end of life care, something that could have been prevented if you were diagnosed and treated on time. You also don’t hear a lot of stories about people who choose to die because they didn’t want to leave their family homeless or bankrupt in Canada like you do here in America. More then 20,000 people die each year because they can’t afford to see a doctor or are denied life saving care by their insurance company. It’s a myth that the hospital has to cure your illness, there are plenty of stories about people who were left to die after the insurance companies denied their care, and having gone through this can tell you it puts a whole new light on the insurance and medical industry and anyone who watched someone die from a treatable disease to save private insurance money will tell you how horrible it is.
Yes there are some things the private sector can do better then the government but there are a lot of things the government can do better, faster and cheaper. If we had gutted the government like today’s republican party we would never have gotten the internet or several medications that have saved people lives. I find it ironic that people making 180,000.00 a year like congressmen and senators would say that the government can’t create jobs or wealth when to most people that much money IS wealth. These same people call someone down on their luck who may need food or medical assistance as “takers” while they will be receiving a government pension and healthcare for the rest of their lives.
1. Private sector can do it better and cheaper than the government
There are so many examples of this not being true, from private prisons costing more money and being less safe to the public but I’ll just stick with one, private military contractors vs. the military.
When we invaded Iraq we saw the explosion of private contractors, no coincidently a large portion of the money went to the firm that was run by the vice president. These contracts were being paid for things that our military used to handle like setting up bases, laundry, cooking and even security but unlike our military these soldiers for hire were immune from many laws including murder. Army sergeants would earn up to 200.00 per day in Iraq while their private sector counterparts cost taxpayers about 1,200.00 per day. When the military vehicles break down they have to be fixed but when contractors cars break down and in some cases just get a flat tire they abandon them and bill the taxpayers for a new one. Former high ranking Halliburton employees came forward that American taxpayers are being billed 45$ for each case of Coke and 100$ for each bag of laundry washed and pad an astounding 1 million dollars to house 100 Halliburton employees for 3 months in a luxury hotel as our brave men and women stayed in tents. The worst part is unlike our military these contracts are not liable for anything they do wrong including all the American soldiers who died in the shower because KBR used faulty wiring to save money while billing taxpayers for premium.
2. Government needs to stop picking winners and losers
We heard this when the story broke about Solyndra going bankrupt, yes the taxpayers lost 500 million dollars but what they neglect to point out is that the money going to green energy companies is a loan they have to pay back while the money going to fossil fuel companies is a subsidy that never needs to be paid back. Oil companies received over 8 billion dollars in subsidies last year alone and have been receiving government handouts and bailouts for over 100 years. You often hear republicans saying we need to end the loans for green energy companies but they refuse to even consider ending all the tax breaks for oil and gas companies.
While most green energy companies rise and fall on their own the fossil fuel companies have been helped out by government spending and inventions. The big thing in today’s oil and gas industry is fracking, it’s a controversial process that pumps poison into the ground to break the rocks so that oil and gas is released. It’s innovative and took years and millions if not billions of dollars to perfect but cost the private sector no time or money since it was invented, funded and perfected by the United States Government at taxpayer expense starting in the 1970’s so why aren’t we asking for that money back?
3. Private Sector Healthcare is way to go
This is the big lie, there are no facts to back this up only scare tactics. Every country in the world that has Universal healthcare pays a lot less then we do in America and sometimes ½ as much. The care is no worse then it is here and when you hear “why do people from Canada come to America” the answer is simple, because they can afford to. What they don’t tell you is that most of these people are coming for elective surgery that they can get in Canada and other countries but have a longer wait. What they don’t tell you is that when you’re feeling sick in Canada you can go to the doctor and get treated meaning that your cancer can be diagnosed early and treated before it becomes fatal.
Most of America’s insurance is spent on end of life care, something that could have been prevented if you were diagnosed and treated on time. You also don’t hear a lot of stories about people who choose to die because they didn’t want to leave their family homeless or bankrupt in Canada like you do here in America. More then 20,000 people die each year because they can’t afford to see a doctor or are denied life saving care by their insurance company. It’s a myth that the hospital has to cure your illness, there are plenty of stories about people who were left to die after the insurance companies denied their care, and having gone through this can tell you it puts a whole new light on the insurance and medical industry and anyone who watched someone die from a treatable disease to save private insurance money will tell you how horrible it is.
Yes there are some things the private sector can do better then the government but there are a lot of things the government can do better, faster and cheaper. If we had gutted the government like today’s republican party we would never have gotten the internet or several medications that have saved people lives. I find it ironic that people making 180,000.00 a year like congressmen and senators would say that the government can’t create jobs or wealth when to most people that much money IS wealth. These same people call someone down on their luck who may need food or medical assistance as “takers” while they will be receiving a government pension and healthcare for the rest of their lives.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Why Republican investigations are a complete sham and a witch hunt
It would be funny the fake outrage at these ginned up scandals being placed on President Obama if so many people didn’t believe everything the corporate media told them. Yes some are a big deal but the same party who is holding witch hunts now had no problem with them when it was a republican in the White House doing the exact same thing. Here’s a look at some of the “Obama Scandals”
Fast and Furious -
Tthe republicans claim that they knew nothing about gun running but in fact several of them including the lead investigator Darrell Issa voted for the program and again to fund the program. Why didn’t they call themselves to ask why they voted for the program and claimed they knew nothing about it. Nothing could be linked back to Obama so this quickly went away.
DOJ scandal
This one is simple, the republicans are giving up investigating this already and it’s being kept alive by Fox because one of their own was looked into. Republicans know that they can not link anything to Obama that the justice department does because they run independent of the White House. The DOJ keeps the president out of the loop in case the investigation leads back to the White House, the real scandal would have been if the President had known this was going on.
IRS targeting “Conservatives”
Yes this is a scandal if that’s what happened, how quickly republicans and conservative media forget that for 8 years George Bush used the IRS, CIA, FBI and Department of Justice to attack, investigate and harm anyone person or group that spoke out against him especially about the Iraq war or his war on terror. There was several accusations made that this was going on and republicans held no hearings because they wouldn’t investigate their own for the same thing. For 8 years liberal groups were audited, investigated by the CIA and FBI or worse if they were against the president, not to mention the right wing smear machine ruining the lives of Valerie Plame and The Dixie Chicks for not worshipping at the alter of the GOP.
Benghazi -
This is tragic and no matter how hard the GOP pushes or how often Fox gives false information they can not link it back to Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama and it’s driving them crazy. While it is tragic that this happened it’s not the first time including 200 Americans being killed in Lebanon and left to die under Reagan or several embassy attacks under Bush with 9 dead Americans and several foreign workers. None of those were investigated or blamed on anyone so what makes this president different then the 40+ before him?
I would have no problem with congressional investigations if
1. There were standards and the same thing investigated when a democrat did them would have been investigated when republicans did them. If Obama had authorized torture or destroyed emails, videos and other evidence after a federal judge ordered him not to he would have been impeached while Bush DID do those things and didn’t get investigated by republicans.
2. Darrell Issa was not in charge of ethics, the man has a shady past including car theft and is main suspect in his factory burning down so he could collect the huge insurance policy he had just taken out weeks before the fire. When the criminal is the judge you have to consider if it’s a fair hearing or not.
3. Republicans go on Fox and say things like “I have no proof but” or “I have a feeling” or my favorite “Obama knew I just can’t prove it yet”. This is before the investigations even started, the fact that they go in knowing what they want the outcome to be and dig, dig, dig until they try and find that outcome shows it’s corrupt to the core and 100% political. If they were honest they would go in with an open mind, ask questions then draw a conclusion and NOT go win with a conclusion then try to find the facts to verify their delusions.
Fast and Furious -
Tthe republicans claim that they knew nothing about gun running but in fact several of them including the lead investigator Darrell Issa voted for the program and again to fund the program. Why didn’t they call themselves to ask why they voted for the program and claimed they knew nothing about it. Nothing could be linked back to Obama so this quickly went away.
DOJ scandal
This one is simple, the republicans are giving up investigating this already and it’s being kept alive by Fox because one of their own was looked into. Republicans know that they can not link anything to Obama that the justice department does because they run independent of the White House. The DOJ keeps the president out of the loop in case the investigation leads back to the White House, the real scandal would have been if the President had known this was going on.
IRS targeting “Conservatives”
Yes this is a scandal if that’s what happened, how quickly republicans and conservative media forget that for 8 years George Bush used the IRS, CIA, FBI and Department of Justice to attack, investigate and harm anyone person or group that spoke out against him especially about the Iraq war or his war on terror. There was several accusations made that this was going on and republicans held no hearings because they wouldn’t investigate their own for the same thing. For 8 years liberal groups were audited, investigated by the CIA and FBI or worse if they were against the president, not to mention the right wing smear machine ruining the lives of Valerie Plame and The Dixie Chicks for not worshipping at the alter of the GOP.
Benghazi -
This is tragic and no matter how hard the GOP pushes or how often Fox gives false information they can not link it back to Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama and it’s driving them crazy. While it is tragic that this happened it’s not the first time including 200 Americans being killed in Lebanon and left to die under Reagan or several embassy attacks under Bush with 9 dead Americans and several foreign workers. None of those were investigated or blamed on anyone so what makes this president different then the 40+ before him?
I would have no problem with congressional investigations if
1. There were standards and the same thing investigated when a democrat did them would have been investigated when republicans did them. If Obama had authorized torture or destroyed emails, videos and other evidence after a federal judge ordered him not to he would have been impeached while Bush DID do those things and didn’t get investigated by republicans.
2. Darrell Issa was not in charge of ethics, the man has a shady past including car theft and is main suspect in his factory burning down so he could collect the huge insurance policy he had just taken out weeks before the fire. When the criminal is the judge you have to consider if it’s a fair hearing or not.
3. Republicans go on Fox and say things like “I have no proof but” or “I have a feeling” or my favorite “Obama knew I just can’t prove it yet”. This is before the investigations even started, the fact that they go in knowing what they want the outcome to be and dig, dig, dig until they try and find that outcome shows it’s corrupt to the core and 100% political. If they were honest they would go in with an open mind, ask questions then draw a conclusion and NOT go win with a conclusion then try to find the facts to verify their delusions.
Friday, April 19, 2013
How the Government helped banks screw hard working Americans out of their homes AGAIN
My parents bought a house in 2002, they were talked into taking out a mortgage in 2007 for 40,000.00 and figured they could use the money to pay off all their other bills. It wasn’t long before their 200.00 payment went up and after my father had his stroke leaving him mentally and physically disabled they fell behind. In 2009 HSBC Beneficial started their foreclosure and send a letter saying they need 5500.00 in full to stop the process. I saw the notice and wired them the money they requested (to their lawyer who was handling the case now). We didn’t hear anything and about 3 weeks later the money was returned to me in 11 cashiers checks for 500 each.
I called them and the lawyer told me that since they sent the notice that the total owed at time I sent payment was 5535.00 with interest and since it wasn’t full amount they couldn’t take it and would have to foreclose on the house. I contacted HSBC and they told me the lawyer had no right to refuse that and they would stop the foreclosure if I sent them the money. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer on St. Patrick’s day 2012 I took over paying their bills and was shocked to see their mortgage payments are now 706.00 a month on a 30 year mortgage for 40,000.00 and after 5 years of payment they still owed more on the mortgage than original balance.
I did my best to keep up but currently we are 4 payments behind with no hope or money to catch up. We got a letter from the independent foreclosure review saying we would be awarded a settlement for the banks actions from 2009-2010 and after seeing the chart we should fall in the 2,000.00 payment which would be enough to keep their home since we spent so much time and money making it handicap read for both them.
Now here is where the fun begins, I called Rust Consulting to see if my payment was sent out on April 12th and they told me no. I then asked the lady if my 2,000.00 payment would go out anytime soon so I could use it to pay up the mortgage and keep us in the house and she said “I don’t know the date and can’t tell you the amount but can tell you it’s a lot less than that”. So we are getting the shaft and only getting the 300.00 check so I looked at how they decided this and that’s where it gets interesting.
The decision on which group you fall in and how much you receive was made by the bank that held your mortgage at the time, the same one who ripped you off those years. I thought this was odd so did a little more digging and the person who was in charge of this settlement left the OCC and is now at a high paying job with one of the banks. So that leaves us with the 6 billion in aid to troubled homeowners that the banks were supposed to put up and again the home owners were given the shaft by the big banks.
Turns out the banks don’t have to do anything until 2015 and that billions they were supposed to pay will only be a few million dollars. The banks got to write their own punishment again and the loophole is if they modify a 500,000.00 mortgage by reducing the mortgage 1.00 they get credit for the whole mortgage. That’s right if they knock 1.00 off your 500.000 dollar mortgage they get credit for the whole 500.00 against their fine while you get the shaft.
With both parents disabled and over 65 their only income is social security and w/ me not being able to work because they need 24/7 care that leaves us no choice but to walk away from our home over 2,000.00. While the bank gets loopholes to screw us again we get to live in our car but it’s ok because they will be sending us a 300.00 check for our troubles, as soon as they get around to it.
I called them and the lawyer told me that since they sent the notice that the total owed at time I sent payment was 5535.00 with interest and since it wasn’t full amount they couldn’t take it and would have to foreclose on the house. I contacted HSBC and they told me the lawyer had no right to refuse that and they would stop the foreclosure if I sent them the money. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer on St. Patrick’s day 2012 I took over paying their bills and was shocked to see their mortgage payments are now 706.00 a month on a 30 year mortgage for 40,000.00 and after 5 years of payment they still owed more on the mortgage than original balance.
I did my best to keep up but currently we are 4 payments behind with no hope or money to catch up. We got a letter from the independent foreclosure review saying we would be awarded a settlement for the banks actions from 2009-2010 and after seeing the chart we should fall in the 2,000.00 payment which would be enough to keep their home since we spent so much time and money making it handicap read for both them.
Now here is where the fun begins, I called Rust Consulting to see if my payment was sent out on April 12th and they told me no. I then asked the lady if my 2,000.00 payment would go out anytime soon so I could use it to pay up the mortgage and keep us in the house and she said “I don’t know the date and can’t tell you the amount but can tell you it’s a lot less than that”. So we are getting the shaft and only getting the 300.00 check so I looked at how they decided this and that’s where it gets interesting.
The decision on which group you fall in and how much you receive was made by the bank that held your mortgage at the time, the same one who ripped you off those years. I thought this was odd so did a little more digging and the person who was in charge of this settlement left the OCC and is now at a high paying job with one of the banks. So that leaves us with the 6 billion in aid to troubled homeowners that the banks were supposed to put up and again the home owners were given the shaft by the big banks.
Turns out the banks don’t have to do anything until 2015 and that billions they were supposed to pay will only be a few million dollars. The banks got to write their own punishment again and the loophole is if they modify a 500,000.00 mortgage by reducing the mortgage 1.00 they get credit for the whole mortgage. That’s right if they knock 1.00 off your 500.000 dollar mortgage they get credit for the whole 500.00 against their fine while you get the shaft.
With both parents disabled and over 65 their only income is social security and w/ me not being able to work because they need 24/7 care that leaves us no choice but to walk away from our home over 2,000.00. While the bank gets loopholes to screw us again we get to live in our car but it’s ok because they will be sending us a 300.00 check for our troubles, as soon as they get around to it.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Americas Return to a Slave Nation
For 100 years after Abe Lincoln freed the slaves America has built a strong middle class and lifted people of all races out of poverty. Strong unions helped pass many pro worker laws and regulations that insured that hard working people were treated fair and paid for their services. This worked well until the 1980’s when Ronald Reagan rode into power, since then the corporations and republican party has worked non stop to turn America back into a slave nation.
The 1960’s and 70’s saw strong work forces and people making a good living working hard, factories were flourishing and people were living well even with one parent staying at home raising the family. Then came the 1980’s and corporate America installed a puppet in the White House and slowly began the genocide of the middle class, it was not done all at once but over time and slow so no one would notice.
1. Destroy the Unions and weaken labor - this has been done the last 30 years and republicans have spent millions on slandering unions in hopes of turning public opinion against them and making Americans forget all the great things they have done for America. Then came “Right to Work State” laws that allowed company workers to work in union plants and enjoy all the perks of the unions but not have to pay the benefits. This led to a rapid decline in membership from around 25% in the 1980’s to about 10% today.
2. Convince people that attacking the rich was a mistake because this was America and if they work hard and play by the rules they could be one of those rich people. This again is all talk as America ranks near the bottom in class mobility behind most industrialized nations. Like with many things in the GOP plan it has more to do with marketing than actual facts. Since the 1980’s peoples incomes have stayed the same while the rich have increased their wealth at record levels.
3. Put people into debt - With the “new” economy a college degree is a must, so most Americans have to get loans to attend even the cheapest university. After graduation that starts your corporate life with about 100,000.00 in debt and it only gets worse from there. Then you need a car and a roof over your head costing a large chunk of your income, add in health care costs and it barely leaves people any money and causes them to live paycheck to paycheck.
4. Cut the safety nets - Right now Medicare and Social Security allow seniors to retire and enjoy their golden years, this is the white whale of the republican party. If they can sever these safety nets then people will not be able to retire and will be forced to slave away until they are put in a grave.
With these steps the GOP master plan of returning America to a slave nation was underway, now all they had to do was get rid of all those pesky pro worker laws that unions got passed. Over the last 10 years you have seen a massive attack on those laws including a recent attempt to do away with overtime pay for people who worked more than 40 hours a week. There was even a recent attempt to justify corporations giving people cancer or other diseases if their “cost benefits” shows that it’s best for America.
This is why you will see republican fight to the death over things like Healthcare for all and raising the minimum wage, they are afraid if you save money and don’t need the health care you may not need to keep that job you don’t like. Millions of Americans stay in low paying jobs they do not like so their family can have healthcare even if it means they need to find a 2nd or 3rd job to put food on the table. This is also why the scream about the “takers” and “welfare state” because they don’t like the idea of people getting assistance and not having to rely on their corporate masters.
While Lincoln freed the African American from slaves Reagan and the GOP has spent 30 years trying to return to what they would call the “glory days” and allow corporations to control Americans. As long as they can keep us sick, uneducated and poor they can run every aspect of our lives and the day that people wake up and demand fair treatment for their hard work it will keep getting worse until the day we find ourselves working for food and needing a loan to see the doctor. We need to return to the days of strong unions and workers rights and stop watching the rich get richer and the poor hard working Americans being driven to an early grave. They want us to work until the day we die, sadly we hang on because in America no one can afford to die anymore because it will just leave their family and loved ones with more debt to pay for the funeral.
When you see or hear of republican laws being passed that they say will “create jobs” and help the “job creators” take a hard look at them and see what they really do. I’m betting it puts the working class further into death or danger while helping the rich get richer. When you hear them say “it’s about jobs” point out that it really isn’t but it’s about income. Slaves had jobs and unless we wake up we will all become slaves and that’s what republicans want the end outcome to be.
The 1960’s and 70’s saw strong work forces and people making a good living working hard, factories were flourishing and people were living well even with one parent staying at home raising the family. Then came the 1980’s and corporate America installed a puppet in the White House and slowly began the genocide of the middle class, it was not done all at once but over time and slow so no one would notice.
1. Destroy the Unions and weaken labor - this has been done the last 30 years and republicans have spent millions on slandering unions in hopes of turning public opinion against them and making Americans forget all the great things they have done for America. Then came “Right to Work State” laws that allowed company workers to work in union plants and enjoy all the perks of the unions but not have to pay the benefits. This led to a rapid decline in membership from around 25% in the 1980’s to about 10% today.
2. Convince people that attacking the rich was a mistake because this was America and if they work hard and play by the rules they could be one of those rich people. This again is all talk as America ranks near the bottom in class mobility behind most industrialized nations. Like with many things in the GOP plan it has more to do with marketing than actual facts. Since the 1980’s peoples incomes have stayed the same while the rich have increased their wealth at record levels.
3. Put people into debt - With the “new” economy a college degree is a must, so most Americans have to get loans to attend even the cheapest university. After graduation that starts your corporate life with about 100,000.00 in debt and it only gets worse from there. Then you need a car and a roof over your head costing a large chunk of your income, add in health care costs and it barely leaves people any money and causes them to live paycheck to paycheck.
4. Cut the safety nets - Right now Medicare and Social Security allow seniors to retire and enjoy their golden years, this is the white whale of the republican party. If they can sever these safety nets then people will not be able to retire and will be forced to slave away until they are put in a grave.
With these steps the GOP master plan of returning America to a slave nation was underway, now all they had to do was get rid of all those pesky pro worker laws that unions got passed. Over the last 10 years you have seen a massive attack on those laws including a recent attempt to do away with overtime pay for people who worked more than 40 hours a week. There was even a recent attempt to justify corporations giving people cancer or other diseases if their “cost benefits” shows that it’s best for America.
This is why you will see republican fight to the death over things like Healthcare for all and raising the minimum wage, they are afraid if you save money and don’t need the health care you may not need to keep that job you don’t like. Millions of Americans stay in low paying jobs they do not like so their family can have healthcare even if it means they need to find a 2nd or 3rd job to put food on the table. This is also why the scream about the “takers” and “welfare state” because they don’t like the idea of people getting assistance and not having to rely on their corporate masters.
While Lincoln freed the African American from slaves Reagan and the GOP has spent 30 years trying to return to what they would call the “glory days” and allow corporations to control Americans. As long as they can keep us sick, uneducated and poor they can run every aspect of our lives and the day that people wake up and demand fair treatment for their hard work it will keep getting worse until the day we find ourselves working for food and needing a loan to see the doctor. We need to return to the days of strong unions and workers rights and stop watching the rich get richer and the poor hard working Americans being driven to an early grave. They want us to work until the day we die, sadly we hang on because in America no one can afford to die anymore because it will just leave their family and loved ones with more debt to pay for the funeral.
When you see or hear of republican laws being passed that they say will “create jobs” and help the “job creators” take a hard look at them and see what they really do. I’m betting it puts the working class further into death or danger while helping the rich get richer. When you hear them say “it’s about jobs” point out that it really isn’t but it’s about income. Slaves had jobs and unless we wake up we will all become slaves and that’s what republicans want the end outcome to be.
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