FCC and the internet

[Robert Holtzman]

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009, David Gerard wrote:

> 2009/10/21 Robert Holtzman <holtzm at cox.net>:
>> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009, Harold Sawyer wrote:
>
>>> Forcing banks to give toxic loans to those who would
>>> never be able to pay them back (the real cause of our current
>>> world-wide recession).
>
>> I missed something somewhere. Just how were banks *forced* to give loans
>> to anyone?
>
>
> Analysis of the global financial crisis reveals that the root cause is
> not stupendous bets on toxic deals, raw naked greed, cocaine-induced
> septicaemia, tertiary syphilis or mad cow disease amongst bankers.
> It’s because of all the poor people signing up for mortgages.

After being assured by the predatory lenders that "everything would work 
out fine".

>
> “It’s true that we got into trouble by bundling mortgage securities
> that only held their value and made profits so long as enough poor
> people signed on to get screwed,” said Dick Fold of Lehman Brothers.
> “But you just don’t understand the intense psychological pull poor
> people have on rich folks! They can make the world’s hardest, meanest,
> most ruthless CEOs, who’ve spent years honing the fine arts of
> profit-making, part with good money on a whim and hand it to a bunch
> of irresponsible, check-bouncing layabouts!”

I thought this thread was knee deep in conservative bullshit before but 
that takes it to new depths.

>
> America’s 499 billionaires controlled $1.4 trillion in assets, until
> the poor people caused the catastrophic market failures of the past
> month.

Yep. I knew it was them po' minorities all along. Yesiree Bob!

>
> “It’s lending to minorities that did it,” said Neil Cavuto of Fox
> News. “You lend to those people, the country collapses. Fwoosh! I
> understand ACORN was involved in it, too. Which means it’s Obama’s
> fault. Unsurprisingly. I don’t really understand these ‘credit default
> swap’ things, but I can tell a bad credit risk just looking at him. Or
> her, of course — it’s Hillary’s fault too.”

I knew at some point someone would invoke Fox (I refuse to call it News) 
as an information source. The above reminds me of some of he lunatic 
pronouncements of the old John Birch Society.

>
> “It ain’t that hard,” explained sub-prime mortgage defaulter Cletus J.
> Underclass. “Y’got mortgages, they make a stream o’ money. Y’kin call
> that stream an asset with a value. Y’bundle up them ‘assets.’ Y’bet on
> that there bundle bein’ good an’ ever’one payin’. Y’bet on that bet
> bein’ good. Y’sell that bet for trillions o’ bucks an’ make billions
> in bonuses. Ah spend mah money on Budweiser, NASCAR and good weed this
> month instead of the mortgage, mah buds do the same, the whole pile
> falls over, yer all fucked. And AH AIN’T SORRY! Fuck you and yer buds!
> New York assholes! Whoo-eee! Can’t wait to do it again next time!
> Y’all come back now!”
>
> “Damn that Cletus and his siren call,” sobbed Fold. “If only he’d call me back.”

-- 
Bob Holtzman
Key ID: 8D549279
"If you think you're getting free lunch,
  check the price of the beer"