Welcome back to the table folks! Belly up to the bar, tuck in your nappys and let’s chow down.
WTF?? 1. Who are the real deadbeats? The Uber-Rich, of course. One in 12 homeowners with mortgages less than $1 million dollars defaults and walks away. One in seven with mortgages of more than $1 million walk away. And they’re the ones we are all supposed to look up to as scions of society? Those are the people we are supposed to want to emulate? I’ll take my low-class neighbors any day of the week as role-models, thank you very much. Why are the wealthy walking away from their mortgages? Why else? Theirinvestments went sour. Here’s just another example of how the rest of us, who when faced with losing our homes, sell everything else we can first, then try to find a second job (if we even still have our first job) before losing our homes will end up paying for the wealthy and their bad investments. Oh, poor Mr. Gotrocks lost half the value on his villa Los Altos. Poor, poor Mr. Gotrocks. Why should he continue paying on a bad investment? But don’t worry, the banks that foreclose, well, they’ll get all that money they’ll lose when the property sells for 33% of the outstanding loan balance back. They always do. Maybe they’ll hike your credit card rates again. Or maybe they’ll come up with some new fee they can charge you – like charging you to speak to a human on the phone…or to walk into their brick and mortar branches and having the gall to want to actually perform a transaction. Wait, they already do that. Maybe it will be a fee for even daring to ask to use their bathroom. Or maybe when you forget about that check you wrote for the kid’s soccer lessons and bounce your account, they’ll smack you with some more brand new fees they told you all about in that mailing 6 months ago – you remember, yeah, that one, the one with 3 point font that you couldn’t read with your 98 year old grandfather’s coke bottle glasses. But don’t you worry, in the end, Mr. Gotrocks will be just fine, and whoever lent the deadbeat all the money to begin with will get theirs back, too. From you and me. Welcome to the true welfare state, folks.
What the hell, give him a swiss bank account.
WTF?? 2. Walmart fighting $7,000 fine. Remember the Walmart worker who, black friday before last was trampled to death by asshats fighting their way in at 3 in the morning for a piece of shit brand-you-never-heard-of $200 LCD tv that would last probably a week? Yeah, that poor schmuck. Well, it seems that since then, Walmart has cut some deals with Long Island. Walmart created a $400,000 fund for customers trampled that day and donated $1.5million to various programs in Nassau County. However, Walmart is fighting tooth and nail a penny-ante $7,000 fine OSHA levied against Walmart for not providing a safe environment for the employees and getting one TRAMPLED TO DEATH. OSHA wants Walmart to provide for foreseeable accidents…like when you have 2,000 slavering mad people outside the door at 3 a.m. with the bloodlust of $2 kids pajamas and $200 laptops clouding their vision, you can reasonably expect that eventually you will have pushed your luck and one of the 3 people you put at the door to herd the shoppers through the store will wind up hurt or dead. I’d say that’s certainly foreseeable. Walmart calls it “unforeseeable” and the OSHA requirements “vague.” Really, this is what it boils down to: Walmart doesn’t want to stop riling up the crowds standing outside their doors 2,000 thick with the promise of cheap christmas presents, and they know good and well they can’t control that crowd if that crowd suddenly gets it into its collective mind to get ugly. I think we’re all aware of how quickly a crowd can become a mob. So, was it foreseeable? Of course it was. It was not only foreseeable, but only a matter of time.
...if you don't get trampled, that is...
Time for some dessert, some Strike My Fancy to wash away the unpalatable tastes of the WTF??’s.
SMF 1. Mark Twain tells us what he really thinks. I for one am looking forward to the new, 3 volume, 500,000 word autobiography of Mark Twain, of which the first volume will be published in November. Volume one will have approximately 5% new material over previous published auto-biographies. It will be in Volumes 2 and 3 where we will really see some substantive differences from previously published volumes. 
If you thought Mark Twain could be caustic in what has been published before, bear notice: His heirs and editors, and even the great bard himself, thought some of what he had to say was entirely too caustic for the times. Twain considered that maybe the world would be ready to hear what he really had to say 100 years after he was gone. That remains to be seen. Twain will talk again, not in that sanitized version we’re all so used to, but in that ascerbic, caustically witty manner to which we are unaccustomed, but in which we see the real man behind the image. Twain said the following: The world believes that the elder Rockefeller is worth a billion dollars…He pays taxes on two million and a half. Nothing much has changed. Technology has brought us together, and divided us even further along the lines of ideology, religion and personal hubris, but the wealthy still don’t pay their share, the churches still tend all too often to be bastions of greed and self-righteous immorality. Twain would, I think, find it both disheartening and supremely ironic. I don’t know if this country is ready to hear what one of its golden children really had to say, but what I can tell you is this: I’m ready to hear it. Tell me what you really thought, Sam.
SMF 2. My decent human being award of the week goes to: Denise Sakai. Denise, a full time independent hairdresser with a husband and a young child, learned about Gregory Reese’ problem, and decided to solve that problem. Reese, a homeless man stranded in Hawaii after the job offer he moved there for fell through, has a father dying of lung cancer in Seattle. Reese’ dilemma made the news. State lawmakers got involved, one chipped in $100 bucks for a plane ticket for Reese, while the rest dithered and I hope did not try to make it a “look at me, vote for me, I’m a nice guy” political ploy but of which I’m certain that they did indeed try to turn it into a political PR moment. Meanwhile, Denise didn’t dither while waiting for the camera flashbulbs to show her in all her legislative glory. She ponied up and bought Reese a plane ticket back home to see his dad.
Tags: Mark Twain autobiography, mortgage default, OSHA, walmart
WTF 1: Our brain waves must be attuned today, Bee. My second item today reaches the same conclusion.
WTF 2: Perhaps the reason Wal-Fart is fighting the OSHA fine is the underlying requirement that they correct the unsafe conditions, far more costly that token payments for workers sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed.
SMF 1: He once said that the only truly criminal class is Congress.
SMF 2: Bravo!
Great set, Bee!
Bee,perfect example of the deadbeat rich. Most of the politicized left despise the idle rich, I only wish the politicized right would join in and understand the lazy bastards our tax dollars support are far closer to Paris Hilton than Reagan’s mythical welfare queen.
There were a lot of people got loans for homes they had no earthly reason to have, yet with origination fees and securitization and rating agency fraud there is plenty blame to go around-yet the public continues to blame the easy target.
Wal-Mart in Mexico has volunteer workers who bag for tips. Working free, bagging for tips-in MEXICO! If Walmart could gaze into a mirror it wouldn’t see a reflection.
Hurrah for Twain and Denise Sakai!
Thanks Bee!
Wal-Mart might have to hire Condi Rice to announce “Nobody could have anticipated that crowd of 2,000 agitated shoppers turning into a mob.”
Thanks for the news about Mark Twain’s new book. Well, not new, but you know what I mean. This will put the Right in a difficult position. They’ll hate what he says but they won’t dare criticize him since he’s such an American icon.
I’m with the other guys…yea, what they said
And I would love to roast that pig!!
Walmart is the new “company store” we owe our souls to.
Hey Bee
Well balanced news I must say. Just when I wanted to shoot the wealthy walking away from their homes, Walmart shows it’s ugly head.
I hear their changing the flag of our country to a smiley face.:(
Then we hear of a kind woman, who actually gives a shit about someone else. Nice..
Well now I don’t have to kill anyone,….today…Hehehe;)
TomCat: I’ll run by and take a peek at your piece on the fatcats, and yeah, that is exactly why Walmart is fighting OSHA to the death.
Oso: Holy shit, Walmart has workers in Mexico working solely for tips??? You’re right, they won’t see their own reflection. I’ll have to do some looking into that, that sounds like a post all by itself.
Tom Harper: Sure they will, they’ve been trying to get his books banned from public school curricula for decades.
Tee
Truth101: Yep, you got that right.
Tim: I’m glad I gave you an excuse to not off anyone today
WTF?? 1. Who are the real deadbeats? Not all, to be sure, but I think many of the people who get to be millionaires do so in large part because they have no problem doing what they believe is in their best interest money wise. If that means giving up a home they like, neighbors, community, etc., and stiffing a mortgage lender, so be it. Nothing personal; just business. As for conscience . . . well . . ?
WTF?? 2. Walmart fighting $7,000 fine. Wal Mart would be so smart to just pay the $7,000 while exhibiting a little humility and contrition. But then, Wal Mart is a corporation, not a person with a sense of honor and a — here’s that word again — conscience.
SMF 2. My decent human being award of the week goes to: What a kind and generous thing to do. I don’t know how much Sakai makes, but I’ll bet $300 is a lot more of a dent in her budget than $7,000 would be to the Walton$.
Bee, I totally agree with your assessment of those wealthy that walk away from their “investments” such as this so that society at large ends up picking up the slack. That is indeed unconscionable. Further, people that knowingly put themselves in such positions of buying homes or anything else for that matter for which they cannot afford to pay are thieves! Those rich that do so only to save money by walking away, may indeed accomplish the objective of curbing their losses, but have they lost their soul in the process?
Walmart is simply a symptom of the larger problem. Most people are going to use “cost” as the determining factor in what they purchase. Walmart will cater to them with their Chinese crap.
Until we can make manufacturing in the U.S. a priority once again by making it friendly for businesses to create such manufacturing jobs here, you will only see the Walmartization of America continue, ma’am.
Bravo for Sakai! Thank you for sharing this story! It is indeed gratifying to see that such people are indeed still among us in our country.
T.Paine,
I’d love to see help for small business,not only to create jobs but to work to correct our trade imbalance and the resulting deficit.
Thanks Bee.
Osori, government — we taxpayers — provide many kinds of help for small businesses. They still face daunting challenges. In retail, size, reach and popularity allow gigantic outfits such as Wal Mart, Home Depot, Sears/K mart to get the best deals from producers and wholesalers. That allows the big outfits to undercut small-scale retailers who can’t order, say, 250,000 TV’s at a time from Sony, or half the annual output of a factory that makes antifreeze.
To even keep a lot of small businesses in business, we as consumers will have to be willing to pay the higher prices they must charge, or as taxpayers we’ll have to subsidize them. Either can be hard to do, especially when times are bad and money is tight.
But what’s the alternative? If giants like Wal Mart, Best Buy, Target, etc., wipe out all the smaller competitors, they will have excessive market power (dictating to manufacturers, wholesalers, truckers, etc.), excessive pricing power due to little or no competition, and excessive political power, locally, state wise and nationally. And don’t think for a moment they won’t use all that power, if they get it, every which way they can. Suddenly, those low-low prices won’t be so low any more.
Another approach, one that’s been woefully neglected since Reagan became president, is to dust off and vigorously enforce those quaint, old-fashioned antitrust laws that were passed by smarter generations of Americans for very sensible reasons. It’s not a total solution but would be a big help.
SW,
Full agreement here.I try to patronize small businesses (local hardware stores/druggists/family markets)whenever possible.
Acting for the public good should be govt’s major function.I’m reasonably informed regarding gutting of financial regulations but hadn’t thought of the type of regulation which would apply to WalMart too, thanks for pointing this out.
SW: And the rich CAN do that. The rest of us are pretty much stuck where we are.
T. Paine, Oso & SW: I don’t know about where you guys live, but around here, I swear – there is NO small mom&pop business left unless you need a plumber, roof or fireplace inserts. I’m trying to think of any kind of small business grocery – just the Latin markets down the street, really. We have a “Fresh Market”, but that’s a chain. For food, the only real alternative for me is a seasonal produce stand, and trust me, I hit everyone I find, cause we southern girls LOVE our fresh tomatoes and cantaloupes
At least 2 of the local grocery chains carry local produce, when it’s in season. The Walmart and the Food Lion do not carry local produce, and I try not to go to Walmart if I can help it (if for any other reason than I HATE going there). We do at least have a local Ace Hardware, which I suppose is probably locally run, I think those are franchises. Pharmacy? Nope. It is a sorry state this country has found itself in, that’s for sure.
TomCat: for what, visiting, or rousting out the guy who thinks the rich have been hit disproportionately by the recession
Unfortunately you are going to see even fewer small independently owned businesses in the future. The latest unconstitutional health care law and the pending cap & trade legislation will put additional financial burdens on mom & pop businesses.
When you make it ever tougher for them to compete with the Walmarts of the world, they soon won’t be a part of our world.
This is not a political thing either, as both parties are guilty of legislation, taxation, and trade policies that have harmed our small businesses which have historically been the engine of our national economy.
If we continue down this path and destroy these remaining small businesses, we will all be the worse for it in both jobs lost and quality products and services that are no longer available.
Bee,
I think you got it for Latin markets.That’s where we get a lot of produce. The prices are good too. We have a few local chain stores for hardware and garden products and stuff like that. Trader Joes sort of a home away from home.
In the mid-1970’s, as newlyweds, my wife and I drove up to Vancouver, B.C. The road into the city from the outskirts was a wide boulevard, and it seemed to go on forever, for many miles, before we got near the city center. All along the way, on either side of the street, were small businesses, mom ‘n’ pop businesses, immigrant-run businesses, of every type and description. Some were barely wider than a phone booth, others quite a bit bigger. There were cafes and grocers of many kinds, tailor, beauty and barber shops, a five-and-dime here, a shoe store there, on the corner a place that sold cigars, cigarettes and newspapers. Opposite corner, a non-chain pharmacy. Hardware stores, wine sellers, greeting cards, toy/hobbies. There seemed to be no end to it.
I was amazed and mentioned it to my wife, who was also impressed. I’ve been to or through about half the U.S. states and lived and worked in several. I’ve never seen anything here to match that. I don’t know if it’s the same now, but at that time Canada was clearly a much more hospitable place to start and sustain small businesses.
teeluck: that pig would be so tough it would only be good for shoe leather.
Bravo Bee: Wonder how much it’s costing Walmart to fight this $7000 fine. Like most people here, I much prefer the little mom and pop type stores. Why buy avocado for $1.65 from a big chain when I can get one for 98 cents at the little Mexican market a few blocks away? And I’d much prefer they stay in business – even if all I can say is gracias.
SW wrote about Sakai: ” I’ll bet $300 is a lot more of a dent in her budget than $7,000 would be to the Walton$.” Absolutely. What a kind and generous soul.
Leslie: I believe Walmart is out millions now fighting just that…it’s not about the $7,000, though, it’s about not having OSHA telling them what to do. The Latin markets are kind of a trip from here, but I’ll try to get out there. There another that seems to be mostly a bakery – been meaning to try that one, for sure. Need to do the grocery shopping this weekend, anyway – whenever I send Mr. Bee, he gets potato chips and not much else.
Both
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Is this possible?