Can Linda McMahon Get Elected? (Hartford, East Hartford: mortgage broker, refinance, loans)
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mlassoff -- So, basically, you're saying that the utility industry should be 100% government run. This seems like the only solution to your proposal. If that happens, there goes another 10,000 jobs in CT. Can we really allow this to happen? You know? Humans need food to survive, too. Let's have government run grocery stores and food supply. We don't need privatized grocery industry. We'll just cut another 10,000 jobs and have these tens of thousands of people work for the government. Before you know it, we can be just like the U.S.S.R!
I am saying the utility industry should be government owned. Your water and sewer utility is government owned. I know water flows out of your sink and shower from these public utilities-- as does mine.
I don't understand how government ownership of utilities as we currently have, and as we had for the electrical utility in Austin costs jobs. You still need all the people to operate the plant, linemen, customer service people, accountants, etc.
Sorry, hysteria over socialism, while well advertised, doesn't really correlate well to reality.
By the way-- reality check-- the federal, state and local governments are one of he largest employers in Connecticut. Not every job is a private sector job. Ever heard of a public school teacher? Government creates jobs too.
Connecticut's job growth seemed anemic because of calculation of self-employed by the BLS, which Connecticut is one of the highest proportion of the self employed. As well, even though job growth numbers seemed bad, it was able to keep up with our population which produced one of the lowest of the long term unemployment rates in the country for nearly a decade. And on top of that most of the booming gains seen elsewhere in the nation have been nearly completely wiped out, except for mineral extraction states (which tend to have counter-cyclical employment trends).
Ml,
The only thing I should add to your post was that most of the "liar loans" were not to families trying to set up a home. Most in the country were to sepc companies that just wanted the funding enough to pass on the house to a family.
Kristen,
While not every player was bad in the system, there were enough bad players to go around. Fraud, shaky deals, no clear ownership mechanisms for complex holdings, hyper-leveraging (repeatedly borrowing against the same capital under different names), and passing the buck became par for the course especially with Hedge Funds and the biggest banks like Chase and GS. Regulation is supposed to handle this, but the SEC was gutted and filled with sycophantic lackies for the industry.
I am saying the utility industry should be government owned. Your water and sewer utility is government owned. I know water flows out of your sink and shower from these public utilities-- as does mine.
I don't understand how government ownership of utilities as we currently have, and as we had for the electrical utility in Austin costs jobs. You still need all the people to operate the plant, linemen, customer service people, accountants, etc.
Sorry, hysteria over socialism, while well advertised, doesn't really correlate well to reality.
By the way-- reality check-- the federal, state and local governments are one of he largest employers in Connecticut. Not every job is a private sector job. Ever heard of a public school teacher? Government creates jobs too.
But the pay is so mediocre and dependent on tax revenues rather than supply and demand!
But the pay is so mediocre and dependent on tax revenues rather than supply and demand!
See that's the problem with some of these right wing "logical" arguments. If you keep digging you get down to a contradictory or downright incorrect belief core.
For the record....
1) There have been many posts here about how government workers are OVERpaid. I think they are paid about right. Even if you are correct and the pay is mediocre, aren't mediocre paying jobs acceptable?
2) The publicly owned utilities in Texas don't take a cent of tax dollars. They are funded by the fees charged for the electricity. No one said the electricity is free to the consumer.
3) The pay for jobs is set based on supply and demand. Forbes magazine a couple of months ago decried that the average public worker's total compensation (total value of pay, insurance, pension, etc.) was greater than the average private enterprise worker. Go argue with Forbes on that one, not me.
See that's the problem with some of these right wing "logical" arguments. If you keep digging you get down to a contradictory or downright incorrect belief core.
For the record....
1) There have been many posts here about how government workers are OVERpaid. I think they are paid about right. Even if you are correct and the pay is mediocre, aren't mediocre paying jobs acceptable?
2) The publicly owned utilities in Texas don't take a cent of tax dollars. They are funded by the fees charged for the electricity. No one said the electricity is free to the consumer.
3) The pay for jobs is set based on supply and demand. Forbes magazine a couple of months ago decried that the average public worker's total compensation (total value of pay, insurance, pension, etc.) was greater than the average private enterprise worker. Go argue with Forbes on that one, not me.
I thought your 2nd point was interesting. Publicly owned utilities don't need tax dollars because they can charge whatever they want without losing business. Theoretical odds are 99:1 that electricity would be cheaper if companies were allowed to compete for customers. I agree that government workers aren't underpaid (though I think they are overpaid compared to similar jobs in the private sector.)
For the record, I'm not voting for Linda. I was/am a Peter Schiff supporter and will probably write him in on the ballot since I do not side with any of the current candidates. (John Mertens is a joke; talk about not choosing a platform!) I would be shocked to see Blumenthal lose in the long run, though.
I thought your 2nd point was interesting. Publicly owned utilities don't need tax dollars because they can charge whatever they want without losing business. Theoretical odds are 99:1 that electricity would be cheaper if companies were allowed to compete for customers. I agree that government workers aren't underpaid (though I think they are overpaid compared to similar jobs in the private sector.)
For the record, I'm not voting for Linda. I was/am a Peter Schiff supporter and will probably write him in on the ballot since I do not side with any of the current candidates. (John Mertens is a joke; talk about not choosing a platform!) I would be shocked to see Blumenthal lose in the long run, though.
Actually the way it worked in Austin was the rates were set by a public utility commission and the utility worked on a strict budget. Rates were lower there than here. The elected Public Utility Commission worked to hold down rates, as they were accountable to the electorate, and worked towards greening the utility as this was another strong desire of the electorate.
As someone who works for an investment company, I have to respond to this. Millions lost their homes to foreclosure because home owners that were not qualified for mortgages received ARMs due to pressure from the federal government to give people in poverty the chance to own homes. (Whatever happened to saving money or renting?) Foreclosures were the result of the government forcing banks to lend to people who would almost surely be unable to pay their mortgages.
Predatory lending? The borrower should take personal responsibility for his/her finances. I'm not an idiot; I realize that if I take out a mortgage equivalent to 50%+ of my current income or if I take out a mortgage with an adjustable rate that could skyrocket above 50% of my current income, then there's a good chance I could lose my home if I lose my job. If you are in poverty, you should not be owning a home unless you have saved up and can pay for a home without living paycheck to paycheck. People need to be responsible for the decisions they make and they should be using logic and research to determine how to keep themselves out of bad situations. Bad decisions cannot be thrown back on lenders. It is not a lender's responsibility to determine the IQ of a borrower and to know if he/she understands the ramifications of having a mortgage.
I think it’s a bit unfair to label most of those who lost their houses in foreclosure as…”lacking in personal responsibility”.
I'm sure there is a segment of people who bought homes priced far more than they could really afford…but there are just as many… who lost their homes just trying to put a roof over the head of their family. The truth is… whenever hyper capitalists and investors are involved…it’s profits at all costs: Any sense of morality, fair play, even dignity - is thrown out the window. Many people try to label those that signed up for predatory loans as “unsophisticated ” or “ financially dumb”. However, many, many folks in banking and economics say that the financial products that were marketed to sell mortgages (like those ARMS) were deliberately constructed as to be vague/confusing/tied to unpredictable or complicated indexes, with severe penalties/interest resets for being late…etc. It’s unfair to expect the average person to understand financial products that were deliberately created to give the lending institution a huge upper hand. The reason the typical mortgage application is long (thick)…is for THEIR protection of interests…not YOURS.
I bought my home with an old fashioned 25 -year simple interest mortgage back in the early 1990’s…just before the mess started. Several friends, coworkers my spouse knows, even one cousin…bought in the middle 2000's…and since lost their houses. They lost their down payment, the work they put into their home - everything. Their mortgages were no bigger than ours…they made no less/more money than we did…they had no less education than we did…their only mistake was singing something that was rigged for them to fail/ severally penalize them for any mistakes they might make/or a certain index that no one could really explain changed. The only thing that was on our side was pure luck.
So if folks out there are a little wary or angry at investors, bankers, capitalists, …etc I say good for them. Revenge is a dish that tastes best cold.
It's over for him. I don't see how he's going to win now. CT is more republican than MA, and Scott Brown won there. So, I don't see how Linda will lose in CT.
I think it’s a bit unfair to label most of those who lost their houses in foreclosure as…”lacking in personal responsibility”.
I'm sure there is a segment of people who bought homes priced far more than they could really afford…but there are just as many… who lost their homes just trying to put a roof over the head of their family. The truth is… whenever hyper capitalists and investors are involved…it’s profits at all costs: Any sense of morality, fair play, even dignity - is thrown out the window. Many people try to label those that signed up for predatory loans as “unsophisticated ” or “ financially dumb”. However, many, many folks in banking and economics say that the financial products that were marketed to sell mortgages (like those ARMS) were deliberately constructed as to be vague/confusing/tied to unpredictable or complicated indexes, with severe penalties/interest resets for being late…etc. It’s unfair to expect the average person to understand financial products that were deliberately created to give the lending institution a huge upper hand. The reason the typical mortgage application is long (thick)…is for THEIR protection of interests…not YOURS.
I bought my home with an old fashioned 25 -year simple interest mortgage back in the early 1990’s…just before the mess started. Several friends, coworkers my spouse knows, even one cousin…bought in the middle 2000's…and since lost their houses. They lost their down payment, the work they put into their home - everything. Their mortgages were no bigger than ours…they made no less/more money than we did…they had no less education than we did…their only mistake was singing something that was rigged for them to fail/ severally penalize them for any mistakes they might make/or a certain index that no one could really explain changed. The only thing that was on our side was pure luck.
So if folks out there are a little wary or angry at investors, bankers, capitalists, …etc I say good for them. Revenge is a dish that tastes best cold.
.
I have to disagree with you about most (or even many) people signing predatory loans being out-and-out victims rather than uninformed. People who are informed know that you never sign for an ARM unless you are very rich and have money to lose or unless you have paid a substantial down payment and know that you will be able to continue making payments even if your interest rate jumps 20%. Skyrocketing interest rates are practically guaranteed with ARMs. Of course people lost their homes in the downturn due to the poor economy; it's terrible, but it happens cyclically in our country. However, I have no remorse for people who agreed to take out ARMs or mortgages beyond what they could afford when they looked at the "total monthly payment" at the bottom of their contracts.
Regarding your "revenge" comment: who is getting served revenge? The investors/bankers/capitalists who are subject to the angry wrath of the public? Most of the "big bad profit takers" (i.e. investment banks) have resumed hiring as usual but blue collar jobs are still in the tank. Not sure how people in the financial industry are getting hurt in this situation.
Last edited by Kristin85; 09-28-2010 at 11:19 AM..
Reason: Spelling error
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