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bailouts include more than just TARP. We talked about this already. Not sure why you don't "get it."
the median earner benefits more from the banking bailouts than the wealthy? No. That is horsesh*t.
Get back to me when you have some references or statistics. And let me know if you want any advice on how to invest. Personally? I starting investing with money I saved as a waiter when I was 19. The wealthy pay more than their fair share of taxes right now, compared to everyone else. Anyone in the country can invest. Why aren't they? Strange...you still haven't answered that either.
Again, you use no numbers. It is easy to think you are right when you bypass facts, isn't it champ?
Get back to me when you have some references or statistics.
I posted some in the last thread where we talked about this.
If I remember correctly, your argument was that the bailouts to Fannie and Freddie weren't "banking bailouts." I reject that argument, because banks are Fannie and Freddie's counterparties, and banks have been using Fannie and Freddie to dump their risk. That's where the discussion ended.
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And let me know if you want any advice on how to invest.
i'll let you know when i need investment advice from a kid in business school.
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Personally? I starting investing with money I saved as a waiter when I was 19.
yes, i can see that you're proud of yourself.
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The wealthy pay more than their fair share of taxes right now, compared to everyone else.
Warren Buffett's 15% capital gains rate is lower than what i pay on my wages.
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Anyone in the country can invest. Why aren't they? Strange...you still haven't answered that either.
it's a meaningless question.
just because anyone in this country can invest does not mean that we all benefit equally from the bank bailouts.
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Again, you use no numbers. It is easy to think you are right when you bypass facts, isn't it champ?
I'm not bothered by this, considering that you use inadequate numbers. Your link said:
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The government has earned $25.2 billion on its investment of $309 billion in banks and insurance companies
The government spent $580 billion, which is far more than $309 billion.
Furthermore, this does not even include the guarantees that were made, the accounting standards which were changed, or the trillions in short-term low-interest loans that were made.
that's why people got pissed in the first place; these banks survived thanks to Fed money and the generosity of the American people, in suspending the free market to save these banks.
In return, they jack up their bonuses to executives, jack up their dividends to shareholders, and jack up the fees to joe sixpack who uses a debit card.
When you say, "these banks", which banks are you referring to?
Most banks did not need, nor did they want the 'bailout' money. They were forced to take it, and then they had to pay it back with interest.
And further, it had nothing to do with the generosity of the American people, who, if they had there way, would NEVER have agreed to this Obama administration scheme.
The debit card fee "jack up" as you put it, was as a direct result of an amendment inserted into the Frank-Dodd bill by Dick Durban, which robbed banks of some of their profit from fees charged to retail stores for card services (when consumers use a credit/debit card, a fee is charged to the merchant).
Banks have to earn their money somewhere. They cannot provide you with free checking and the many other free services that banks offer YOU if they aren't earning a profit from loans or merchant services. What world are you living in?
Lastly, shareholders are part owners in any business. They have invested their hard earned money and put it at risk (if the company doesn't make a profit, they may lose big). They expect and deserve a return on that investment.
Executives should get bonuses for their performance, or the performance of the company, and it isn't for the government, or you and me, to decide how much that should be. I don't care, if they are honest. They earn their money.
But, I suppose to you, profit is evil, right? Greedy?
Now get up off the grass and out of that park and go get a job, but you might take a shower and put on some clean clothes if you expect any business to give you the time of day.
The capitalist, free market system, is NOT greedy. Some people may be. But the system works, and it works well. It has made this country great, given us the highest standard of living of any country in the world, and people like Steve Jobs have given us some mighty fine products for their efforts; that is what they "give back" — their innovative ideas which you doubtless used to post your message.
that's why people got pissed in the first place; these banks survived thanks to Fed money and the generosity of the American people, in suspending the free market to save these banks.
In return, they jack up their bonuses to executives, jack up their dividends to shareholders, and jack up the fees to joe sixpack who uses a debit card.
And then the government tells them what prices they can charge.
Yes, it's not a free market. It's government controlled prices with government backed failures.
So the government has controlled prices, privatized the profits and socialized the risks.
You can't get any worse than that and the result is that consumers are screwed.
Some of you can complain all you want about OWS, the movement to move money to credit unions vs. banks, etc., but they bring attention to the issue and every day people respond. Public pressure did this. It works.
Get back to me when you have some references or statistics. And let me know if you want any advice on how to invest. Personally? I starting investing with money I saved as a waiter when I was 19. The wealthy pay more than their fair share of taxes right now, compared to everyone else. Anyone in the country can invest. Why aren't they? Strange...you still haven't answered that either.
Again, you use no numbers. It is easy to think you are right when you bypass facts, isn't it champ?
You talk of "Fair Share" as if everyone is represented equally by our government, but that is not the case when the top 1% are revolving door politicians, or flat out own the government via bribes and donations.
Contributions to Obama
Goldman Sachs $1,013,091
JPMorgan Chase & Co $808,799
Citigroup Inc $736,771
Time Warner $624,618
Morgan Stanley $512,232
Contributions to McCain
Merrill Lynch $375,895
JPMorgan Chase & Co $343,505
Citigroup Inc $338,202
Morgan Stanley $271,902
Goldman Sachs $240,295
Credit Suisse Group $184,153
Bank of America $167,826
Lehman Brothers $126,557
Contributions to W Bush
Morgan Stanley $603,480
Merrill Lynch $586,254
Goldman Sachs $394,600
Lehman Brothers $361,525
Citigroup Inc $320,820
Bear Stearns $313,150
Bank of America $218,261
Here is a better idea:
Shrink the government to 10% of what it is today so the baby suckers can fail without a sugar daddy there to prop them up, or a big stick to go beat up on some other country to expand their market or financial influences through theft.
I'll bet your not for cutting taxes though, but just want others to pay for the ride the top 1% are enjoying at the expense of the rest of the country. You want to maintain the status quo at all costs.
Well, here's a reality check.
The status quo is not working any longer and its been rigged to blow up, on a slow but sure charge.
You see folks all of this bellyaching over debit card fees and many of the banks that were considering it have decided against it. Even B of A is scaling down the impact of the fees.
Yet the Dems and Obama lit in B of A and wanted to pass yet more legislation. Why don't Dems understand how markets work?
There should be more regulation to protect consumers, the foxes are already guarding the chickens.
B of A was just using legislation as an excuse to raise fees. Instead of making money hand of first many, many, many times over, they can only make money hand over fist many times over now. What B of A never tells you is that even with legislation in place, they still make 19 cents per debit card transaction and rake in $3.3 billion per year in debit card transaction fees. B of A can go to hell.
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