Wednesday - October 01, 2008

Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our crisis

Drew’s post and his comments following pretty much say as much as can be said.
I really can’t add anything of my own but will let this speak for itself.  Perhaps some of you haven’t seen it. It runs 8 minutes so grab a coffee or tea or whatever, click the start button but don’t be repaired to relax.

Posted by Drew458     on 10/01/2008 at 09:19 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Economics • Government • Corruption and Greed •  
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   Friday - May 02, 2008

Is New York State Now The Federal Government?

That’s a strange and seemingly stupid question to ask, but I was certain that the regulation of interstate commerce was a power/duty reserved for the feds. A few weeks ago New York passed a convoluted tax that is going to require Amazon and other complex online retailers to collect NY state sales tax for them. While quite a few states have a Use Tax which requires citizens of that state to fork over tax money for everything they buy out of state, almost no one other than my mom actually complies, because it is obviously unenforceable. New York’s new “Amazon Tax” would close this “loop hole”, and if effective, would spread overnight to every other state, and the tax advantages of buying things on the internet would soon evaporate.

What makes the Amazon Tax interesting is the convoluted thought process behind it. Amazon is not one store anymore. Amazon is a reseller; more and more of what you shop for there doesn’t come from a place called “Amazon.com”, it comes from whatever Mom & Pop happens to have the product at the price point you want. Amazon simply redirects your order to the small businesses, and takes it’s little slice for that effort. There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of these associated businesses, all over the country. Therefore, reasons NY, some of them must be in NY. Therefore an internet sale to Amazon from a customer in NY is a sale within NY so sales tax must be collected. Thus their new law.

There is a basic logically fallacy here which I can’t quite put my finger on. Something about not extrapolating from the individual to the general? Sounds close. Just because an Amazon affiliate is in NY doesn’t mean they are ALL in NY, so making a law requiring NY sales tax to be collected at Amazon is logically incorrect. And unconstitutional, by, as we have seen with Philthydelphia’s gun laws, that doesn’t stop laws from being passed at all.

New York has some of the highest taxes in the country, if not THE highest. The recent state budget is $122 Billion, for a state with a population of 20 million. This law is expected to collect about $50 million.

‘Amazon Tax’ Lands in New York
Controversial new law shifts collection requirement to online retailers in a move that other states could follow, but legal uncertainties abound. With the passage of the hotly debated state budget last night, New York legislators approved a bill that will require many online retailers to begin collecting sales taxes on purchases shipped to the state, even if they have no operations or employees working there.
New York Governor David Paterson is widely expected to sign the measure.  The so-called “Amazon tax” closes a loophole for Internet retailers who derive sales through affiliate programs in which Web site owners place a link to the merchant on their site and earn a commission on sales made from referrals. In lobbying for the bill, the industry group representing New York retailers had argued that the exemption from the sales-tax collection requirement gave out-of-state online retailers an unfair competitive advantage.
...
The controversial bill ends what for many New Yorkers had been tax-free online shopping, and experts predict that other states could follow suit with similar provisions. Consumers are required to report purchases they make online from out-of-state companies on their tax returns and remit a use tax, but many people are either unaware of that obligation or ignore it. Collecting those taxes from individuals has been an administrative impossibility.  New York expects the new requirement will generate about $50 million in revenue this fiscal year.
...
The tax was inspired in some ways by a 1992 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Quill v. North Dakota, the Court determined that out-of-state retailers cannot be required to collect sales tax on purchases sent to states where they did not have a physical presence. They argued that compelling merchants to adhere to the complexities of the state and local tax codes would place an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.

With the new law, New York is taking an aggressive stance on the Quill ruling, claiming that a retailer such as Amazon holds a physical presence in the state because it derives sales through its affiliates who live there, explained Hugh Goodwin Jr., a state and local tax attorney and partner at the global firm DLA Piper.

Amazon is suing of course. My guess is that a mere 98% of the population supports their suit.

Amazon Sues New York State to Void Sales Tax Rules
Before the ink on the bill has even dried, Amazon.com has filed a suit challenging New York State’s new law that forces online retailers to collect sales taxes on shipments to state residents.
...
The question is whether the vendors must collect those taxes on behalf of the state. Generally, only those companies that have a physical presence, such as an office or store, in the state of the purchase are required to collect the taxes.

The new law is based on a novel definition of what constitutes a presence in the state: It includes any Web site based in the state that earns a referral fee for sending customers to an online retailer. Amazon has hundreds of thousands of affiliates—from big publishers to tiny blogs—that feature links to its products.
...
The state law says that if even one of those affiliates is in New York, Amazon must collect sales tax on everything sold in the state, even if it is not sold through the affiliate. This is an extension of an existing rule that companies that employ independent agents or representatives to solicit business must collect sales taxes for the state.

Amazon’s suit challenges the constitutionality of this interpretation and seeks a declaratory judgment that it is invalid.
...
The online retailer further claimed that the new rules violate the equal protection clause of the constitution because it specifically targeted Amazon. “It was carefully crafted to increase state tax revenues by forcing Amazon to collect sales and use taxes,” the complaint says, noting that “state officials have described the statute as the ‘Amazon Tax.’ “

So there you have it. A new law, a new lawsuit. I’m sure Amazon can claim “proactive standing” as they will obviously be “injured” by this one. But that’s a side issue. Is New York overstepping it’s bounds? Does this law attempt to regulate intersate commerce through taxation? Why write such a law against Amazon - and it is against Amazon and other Big Business, because the law doesn’t apply to small companies that have less than $7400 per year worth of referral fees - when this kind of action would probably be more effective if written against the credit card companies and PayPal.

Personally I think it’s bullshit and I hope NY gets a swift boot in the ass in court. I understand it takes money to make government run, and that money has to come from taxes. But I think all Use Taxes are wrong, period. It’s my money. The state I live in already taxed me when I earned it, and they tax me again on what I spend within the state. That’s more than enought. What I spend out of the state is none of their goddammed business. They do not own my money and I can spend it how and where I please. Fuck off.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/02/2008 at 10:27 AM   
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed • Taxes •  
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   Saturday - April 12, 2008

Tax Time

This is Hell Weekend for a lot of Americans. It’s time to finally face the inevitable and do your taxes. April 15th is Tuesday, and the check has to be in the mail by then.

Some of you have been smart, and have been spending a little time doing them for a month or so now. Others, the few and lucky, who will be getting back a tiny bit of what they’ve paid in, got to work back in January and may have even received their refund checks by now. But tens of millions of us were at Walmart early this morning looking for a copy of TurboTax, or lining up outside H&R Block with a suitcase full of papers and receipts.

My taxes weren’t hard. I’m living close to the poverty line right now, but I’m not on any kind of public assistance whatsoever. And even with my pathetic income, I still had to pay a little bit more to the state and the feds than what had been withheld.

So for those millions who are tying themselves in knots this glorious spring weekend, trying to figure out the cost basis for some damn partial share that was automatically sold because some company they owned a few shares of stock in was bought out by some other company they might have owned a few shares of, my hat’s off to you. I feel your pain, because I’ve been through this myself in the past. Heh, I remember one year when I was in college I had to send in something like twenty forms. I’d worked more than a dozen jobs that year in several states, and the paperwork was amazing.

Many people will have a wake up call today and realize that the Fair Tax would solve so much of this pain. So would some kind of Flat Tax. Other folks just feel a real sense of resentment right now when they realize just how much of their tax money goes to support the lazy and shiftless - and that means people on the dole and the infinite morass of the ever expanding jobs program that is government. If you’re one of them, and find yourself snapping pencils in anger, take heart: Rachel Lucas wrote a great Tax Rant you can read and adopt as your own. I’d give you some excerpts, except that Rachel is in full swing, and it’s hard to find two lines that don’t contain swearing. Go Read. 

Posted by Drew458     on 04/12/2008 at 03:43 PM   
Filed Under: • Government • Corruption and Greed • Taxes •  
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   Wednesday - March 19, 2008

Understanding Modern High Finance

This is so messed up it’s probably completely true.

Go watch the whole slide show.

via C&S who has way too much time on his hands, for which I’m grateful. 

Posted by Drew458     on 03/19/2008 at 07:33 PM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Humor • Stoopid-People •  
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   Friday - February 22, 2008

HOME OWNER SUED FOR JUNK MAIL …. this really wins some sort of twisted prize!

Got up early as I do every morning, took the morning Telegraph from our mail slot in the front door, took in the milk which they still deliver here to your front door, and many other items offered by the dairy, brought the milk into the kitchen and popped it in the fridge, put some water on the hobb (stove to us yanks)
and opened the paper to the front page.

I haven’t even had my coffee or any other part of breakfast yet.  Soon as I saw this bit of total lunacy ... I had to boot and blog.
Unfreekin’ believababble.  Well, no. It isn’t at all.  Is It?

Home owner sued for junk mail injury
By Richard Alleyne
Last Updated: 2:03am GMT 22/02/2008

A home owner is being threatened with legal action after a woman claimed she trapped her hand in his letterbox while delivering unwanted junk mail.

Joy Goodman, a cake decorator, is seeking damages for personal injury and loss of earnings, claiming the top of her right index finger was severed when she delivered the mail. She claims she needs compensation because she is now unable to carry out her intricate job.

But the home owner vowed to fight the case. Paul O’Brien, 44, a self-employed engineer from Leeds, said: “When I received a solicitor’s letter I thought someone was having a laugh. I actually told them they had sent it early. April Fool’s Day is still six weeks away.

“I just cannot believe someone who came on to my property uninvited, to put junk mail through my door that I didn’t want, can now sue me because they hurt themselves.”

He added: “There is nothing wrong with the letterbox. I haven’t altered it or done anything to it. It’s just like every other letterbox on this estate.”

Mrs Goodman declined to comment, saying only: “It is in the hands of my solicitors.”

A law expert said that householders had limited duties of care to people who went on to their property such as delivery people or postmen.

These duties of care include not having such things as bare electricity cables sticking out, but were not likely to extend to a letterbox providing it was a standard model.

here’s the link >>> http://tinyurl.com/34azss

Posted by Drew458     on 02/22/2008 at 02:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Insanity • Judges-Courts-Lawyers • News-Briefs • Outrageous •  
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   Wednesday - February 20, 2008

A REAL MOONBAT JUDGMENT

By Simon Heffer

The Telegraph
http://tinyurl.com/2555ao for more from simon

Lesbians - join the Army and make a killing

I fear we have become defeatist about the compensation culture, and I would plead as guilty to this as anyone. It seems the more we protest about absurd wastes of public money, the more public money is absurdly wasted. But no one should keep quiet about the monstrous, unjust and demented award of £400,000 to Lance-Bombardier Kerry Fletcher, a lesbian whose feelings were hurt by a senior NCO.

This pathetic “injury” is valued more highly than those suffered by our brave men, who now qualify for a maximum of £287,000 when their limbs are blown off. I won’t ask the usual question about what sort of society we are living in that behaves in this contemptible way, because, sadly, we know the answer. But I will muse on why anybody - apart from lesbians who want to get rich quick - should join our Armed Forces, when we treat our heroes so shabbily? And what sort of Army will that leave us with?

I kinda think this is a five bat post but will leave it at one because I have a feeling people can get even dumber then this. And will.
And Mr. Heffer asks a valid question at the end.  The answer scares me.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/20/2008 at 04:57 PM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Insanity •  
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   Wednesday - June 13, 2007

Property Rights: 1, Greedy Landgrabbers: 0

Here’s an article by John Stossel in at Real Clear Politics that made me all happy inside.

If you don’t have property rights, you really don’t have any freedom at all.  It’s real simple.

Property Owners Win One
Opponents of eminent domain finally have something to celebrate. After a public campaign, Target Corp. has decided not to build a store on condemned property in Arlington Heights, Ill.

Five years ago, the Village trustees declared the International Plaza shopping center and other properties blighted, setting the stage for condemnation under eminent domain. The business owners who were to lose their stores fought the “blight” designation in court but failed.

Yet they didn’t give up. They and their supporters held protests at trustee meetings. They were aided by the Sam Adams Alliance and Foundation, which launched a letter, telephone and flyer campaign that threatened to boycott Target if the company went through with its plan to occupy property seized by the government.

In late May, the Alliance triumphantly announced, “Target backed out of their contract with the Village. International Plaza tenants have saved the property from eminent domain abuse, at least for the time being.”

Its not over yet though.  The trustees are still seeking another major buyer to come in and take over the property, so we’ll have to keep a close eye on this one.  The Kelo decision was a terrible one, and its effects are going to continue to be felt for a long time.  We must be careful to stop these type of land grabs wherever they occur and let the governments know they do not have free reign over our land.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/13/2007 at 07:01 AM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed •  
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   Wednesday - May 23, 2007

Most Ethical Congress Ever!

According to the Majority Accountability Project, the donks have failed their first ethics test.

Despite last week’s media blitz promoting tougher ethics enforcement, a group of freshmen Congressmen failed their first practical test Tuesday night, when they refused to reprimand one of their colleagues for an apparent ethics violation.

In fact, those freshmen wouldn’t even allow a debate to occur on the House floor, killing a privileged resolution before it could be considered by the full House.

On May 16, Democrat lawmakers held a news conference in Washington, DC, where more than two dozen freshmen announced a push for stronger ethics enforcement. The members followed up that event with local media, garnering widespread attention for vowing to reform Congress.

“Members of Congress must know that if they break the rules,” Ohio’s Zack Space told C-SPAN, “they will be caught and punished.”

But when Space was given the chance to punish one of his own, Pennsylvania Democrat Jack Murtha, he refused. Murtha contributed $2,000 to Space’s campaign last fall.

What?  You expected something better? 

Posted by Drew458     on 05/23/2007 at 09:46 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Corruption and Greed •  
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   Tuesday - March 06, 2007

Chocolate Lawsuit

One billion dollars for levee repairs and $76 billion for “the city’s tarnished image and tourist industry losses”? If this was anybody else but Ray “Chocolate” Nagin, I’d say it was a joke. But no. Sadly, Nagin looked around his city and realized he was short on chocolate - the green kind. Probably due to the city’s population being less than half of what it was before Katrina.

Unfortunately, the half that did come back are committing as much if not more crime than before. Murders, rapes and robberies are back to pre-hurricane levels so Mayor Ray needs lots of greenbacks to fix the city’s image. What does he figure to do with all that money, buy the criminals off? Probably. One thing you can be sure of - if he wins the lawsuit, at least half will wind up in certain politicians bank accounts. It is Louisiana, after all and we are talking about Democrats. That is a combination only Satan could love ...

Mayor Nagin: We ‘Piled It on’ in Suit Against Army Corp of Engineers
_{NEW ORLEANS (FOX NEWS) - Saturday, March 03, 2007}

Only $1 billion of the $77 billion the city is seeking from the Army Corps of Engineers is for infrastructure damages it says it suffered because of levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina. The rest is for such things as the city’s tarnished image and tourist industry losses.

The city “looked at everything and just kind of piled it on,” Mayor Ray Nagin said. “We got some advice from some attorneys to be aggressive with the number, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

New Orleans has joined big business and thousands of homeowners in filing claims seeking compensation from the corps for damages sustained when the levees broke during the 2005 storm, flooding 80 percent of the city. The claims allege poor design and negligence by the corps led to the failure of flood walls and levees.

The city attorney’s office also considered such things as “decreases in the city’s image, tourist industry activity and potential business industry, losses in the tax base and generated revenue, and a decrease in the city’s overall population,” in making the assessment, according to a statement from City Hall.

A spokeswoman for the mayor could not explain how the city quantified losses not tied to infrastructure. A 43-page form filed with the corps, reserving the city’s right to sue for $77 billion, also provides little insight. It does not quantify “loss of tax revenue,” for example, and supporting documents for city-owned properties, such as a police crime lab and libraries, omit any estimates of property values of flood-related damages, The Times-Picayune newspaper reported Saturday.

Posted by The Skipper     on 03/06/2007 at 06:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists • Corruption and Greed • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
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   Saturday - February 24, 2007

Business As Usual For Democrats

Democrats Offer Up Chairmen For Donors
Party’s Campaigns Had Faulted GOP For ‘Selling Access’
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Saturday, February 24, 2007}

Eager to shore up their fragile House and Senate majorities, congressional Democrats have enlisted their committee chairmen in an early blitz to bring millions of dollars into the party’s coffers, culminating in a late-March event featuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 10 of the powerful panel chairs.

In the next 10 days alone, Democratic fundraisers will feature the chairmen of the House’s financial services panel and the House and Senate tax-writing committees. Senate Democrats also plan a fundraising reception during a major gathering of Native Americans in the capital Tuesday evening, an event hosted by lobbyists and the political action committee for tribal casinos, including those Jack Abramoff was paid to represent.

Critics deride the aggressive fundraising push as the kind of business as usual that voters rejected at the ballot box last November—particularly the practice of giving interest groups access to committee chairmen in exchange for sizable donations—but Democrats are unapologetic.

“Financial services companies are inclined to give to me because I’m chairman of the committee important to their interests,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who will headline a breakfast Wednesday at a D.C. hotel, for which donations range from $1,000 to $15,000 for the Democratic National Committee. “I’m fundraising to give to others so I can help stay in the majority and do the public policy things I want.”

Asked whether banking interests feel obligated to give to Democrats when he asks them for contributions, Frank answered: “Obligated? No. Incentivized? Yes.” Frank said, however, that those donating “understand, and others do, too, that there are no guarantees of my doing what they want, or even my being pleasant.”

“I’m getting a lot of fundraising invitations,” said Robert E. Juliano, a Democratic lobbyist. “It’s no different than any other year.” The invitation to Frank’s DNC event, which notes in bold letters that the Massachusetts Democrat is chairman of the financial services panel, was sent to financial-industry lobbyists and financial companies, among others.

Earlier this month, Frank traveled to Charlotte, home to two of America’s largest bank companies, for a similar fundraising breakfast, for a fellow Financial Services Committee member, Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.). Donors got to hear firsthand about Frank’s plans for upcoming banking legislation. He assured attendees that more federal regulation of banking is on the way and that it will help banks to prosper.

Financial interests will have several opportunities in the coming weeks to make contributions and attend events that will put them close to lawmakers important to their industries.

The leaders of the two tax-writing committees—House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.)—are planning a rare and expensive joint fundraising reception in New York on March 4. The event, which costs between $1,500 and $9,200 a person, is to be held at the Upper East Side home of public relations executive Howard J. Rubenstein.

The Democrats’ push will culminate late next month when Pelosi and 10 of her chairmen huddle with donors at the Northern Virginia home of shopping-center developer Albert J. Dwoskin for an event to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The asking price for the March 21 dinner is $28,500 per couple, making it one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s highest-dollar fundraisers since new campaign finance limits were enacted in 2002.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/24/2007 at 01:59 PM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Politics •  
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   Friday - February 23, 2007

Carpetbaggers

After the Civil War the South had to suffer the greed and evil of a group of people called ”carpetbaggers”. These people went south with only one purpose - strip the South of its wealth for personal advantage and to gain power.

Now one state, Arkansas, is getting revenge on the Damn Yankees. They first sent the Clintons to Washington to make a mess of things there and then as a final insult they pawned the Dastardly Duo off on New York state. Take that, damn yankees!

You ain’t heard nothing yet though. Since leaving office Ol’ Slick Willie has been making money hand over fist giving speeches to groups who should know better than to pay $150,000 for a twenty minute pack of lies from Bill, followed by some arm-twisting to donate $300,000 to Hillary’s campaign war chest.

Throw in a couple of seven-figure book deals for books that don’t even make for good bathroom reading and you’ve got a couple of carpetbaggers gouging the yankees for everything they’re worth. To make matters worse, Slick Willie took his show on the road over the last six years out west and overseas making nearly $40 million - a figure that only baseball and basketball players could command before now.

And that’s just the speaking and book income. Lord knows how many millions the pair have squeezed out of those companies and individuals in campaign contributions to Hillary and her political action committees. I guess the North will think twice the next time they decide to rape the South. Payback is a bitch, ain’t it?

For Clinton, New Wealth In Speeches
Fees in 6 Years Total Nearly $40 Million
_{(WASHINGTON POST) - Friday, February 23, 2007}

Former president Bill Clinton, who came to the White House with modest means and left deeply in debt, has collected nearly $40 million in speaking fees over the past six years, according to interviews and financial disclosure statements filed by his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Last year, one of his most lucrative since he left the presidency, Clinton earned $9 million to $10 million on the lecture circuit. He averaged almost a speech a day—352 for the year—but only about 20 percent were for personal income. The others were given for no fee or for donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation, the nonprofit group he founded to pursue causes such as the fight against AIDS.

His paid speeches included $150,000 appearances before landlord groups, biotechnology firms and food distributors, as well as speeches in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia that together netted him more than $1.6 million. On one particularly good day in Canada, Clinton made $475,000 for two speeches, more than double his annual salary as president.

“I never had a nickel to my name until I got out of the White House, and now I’m a millionaire, the most favored person for the Washington Republicans,” Clinton told a friendly audience in Kentucky last fall. “I get a tax cut every year, no matter what our needs are.”

Indeed, the Clintons—who left the White House with an estimated $12 million in legal debts rung up during the Whitewater, campaign fundraising and Monica S. Lewinsky investigations—are worth an estimated $10 million to $50 million, according to Hillary Clinton’s most recent disclosure form. That is attributable primarily to the speaking fees and to the seven-figure book deals that both Clintons signed shortly after leaving the White House.

The fortune they have amassed gives the Clintons a nest egg for the first time, and it allows them to tap into that wealth for a campaign if Hillary Clinton, as expected, forgoes public financing in her race for president. It also suggests a sometimes close connection between their personal finances and her political career.

Many of Bill Clinton’s six-figure speeches have been made to companies whose employees and political action committees have been among Hillary Clinton’s top backers in her Senate campaigns. The New York investment giant Goldman Sachs paid him $650,000 for four speeches in recent years. Its employees and PAC have given her $270,000 since 2000—putting it second on the list of her most generous political patrons.

The banking firm Citigroup, whose employees and PAC have been Hillary Clinton’s top source of campaign donations, with more than $320,000, paid her husband $250,000 for a speech in France in 2004. Last year, it committed $5.5 million for Clinton’s Global Initiative to help encourage entrepreneurship and financial education among the poor.

Asked about the companies and their relationship to the Clintons, Jay Carson, a spokesman for the former president, said, “It certainly makes sense that reputable New York companies who support the policies and works of President Clinton and his foundation would also be supportive of their senator.”

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/23/2007 at 09:39 AM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Hildabeast •  
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   Thursday - February 15, 2007

Banking Games

Republicans in Congress finally decided to go after Bank Of America for their new Illegal Alien Credit Card™ program ("Don’t leave su casa without it!") and guess who’s leading the charge? If you guessed Tom Tancredo (who pisses off Muslim Congressmen by smoking cigars in his office), then your’re right. All in favor of Tancredo for President in 2008, raise your hand!

For the record, I know why BOA is doing this ... greed, pure and simple. You see, I once had an account with the bastards and I closed it for various reasons: (1) they told me there would be no monthly checking fee - then, after I took a contract with a company that didn’t do direct deposit I found out about BOA’s fine print which says there is no monthly fee AS LONG AS YOUR PAY IS DEPOSITED ELECTRONICALLY, otherwise its’ $14 per month; (2) they offered me a Visa credit card that could be tied to my checking account to cover overdrafts - at 23.9% interest AND a $30 charge any time an overdraft was covered by the card; (3) any check that you deposit that is not from your local Bank Of America is automatically held for FIVE DAYS before your account is credited with it - I deposited a paycheck drawn on Bank Of America in Virginia, where my employer’s corporate offices were, into my Bank Of America account in St. Louis and even though it was another BOA branch they STILL held up crediting my account for nearly a week - DURING WHICH TIME THEY WERE DRAWING INTEREST ON THE MONEY. I finally told them to shove it, closed all my accounts and will never do business with them again. Period.

You see, in days gone by banks used to make a profit based on the difference between the interest they charged on loans and the interest they paid on savings. If they made a million in interest on loans and mortgages and paid out half a million in interest on savings accounts and CD’s then they made half a million profit. That wasn’t good enough - starting about 20 years ago they started raising monthly fees and overdraft charges, increased finance charges on credit cards, hidden charges here, there and everywhere as well as earning interest on delayed deposits. They have reached into every loophole on the books to increase profits, which all goes to the fat cats in charge at the top. Banks have always paid their help (tellers, bookkeepers, etc.) the lowest wages they could get away with - that hasn’t changed. Where does all this increased profit go? I’d like someone in Congress to look into that.

As for the Illegal Alien Credit Card program, you can bet there will be a $500 limit, which will probably have to be secured by a $500 deposit in a savings account which will pay 1.9% interest and the Mess-cans will be charged 28.9% interest plus various unspecified finance charges each month. In addition, BOA will move the statement date around and mail out statements only a few days before the due date to confuse the credit card user and cause late fees and other charges.

I know all their tricks. I’ve seen them used - on me and others. Bank Of America isn’t doing the illegal aliens any favors - which they will soon find out. My guess is BOA has to find a new market because most American citizens are on to their trickery and won’t do business with them. That means dropping profits - so it’s time to go scalp a few Mexicans. If Congress really wants to do something right (for a change) they need to kick out the lobbyists from the banking industry and open hearings into bank fraud in this country. Drag a few CEO’s in from Bank Of America, CitiBank, Bank One and a few others and rake them across the coals. If they did that, I might begin to think our Congresscritters are actually on our side - for a change.

GOP Lawmakers Peeved at New Bank of America Credit Card Program
_{WASHINGTON (FOX NEWS) - Thursday, February 15, 2007}

Lawmakers are lashing out at Bank of America Corp. over its new program to offer credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, saying it creates a dangerous loophole for terrorists and illegal immigrants.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., called for a federal investigation of the program on Wednesday, sending Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff a letter requesting a review of the program.

“After September 11, we were told that money was the lifeblood of terrorists, and that we should do everything possible to block their access to financial resources,” Tancredo said in a statement. “Today we are hearing a far different message: Bank of America, it’s everywhere terrorists want to be.”

The program welcomes applicants without a Social Security number and credit history if they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, The Wall Street Journal first reported in Tuesday editions.

Another Republican lawmaker criticized the program, saying it should be stopped to avoid security risks with illegal immigrant members of the program. “If an individual wants to get a credit card, they can get that in their home country,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told FOX News.

“This is something that is of deep concern to me, that Bank of America would choose to market to those that have chosen to break U.S. law to enter this country and then they would give credit to them,” Blackburn said.

Bank of America stands by its program, saying that it complies with all U.S. banking and anti-terrorism laws. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said a loophole in a Treasury regulation allows Bank of America to act within the law. The program was tested last year at five Bank of America branches in Los Angeles. It was expanded to 51 branches in Los Angeles County last week.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/15/2007 at 01:47 PM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Illegal-Aliens and Immigration •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Monday - January 15, 2007

Resurrection

Finally! I gots my TV and internet back a little while ago. Power flickered out yesterday around 10:00am and came back on about an hour later. Unfortunately, cable service from Charter stayed out ... and stayed out. No football yesterday so I didn’t get to see the Saints win or the Chargers lose. Up ... down. I figured the Chargers would go all the way. Oh well.  New Orleans vs. Indianapolis should be a good Super Bowl (if Peyton Manning can break the Patriots playoff jinx).

In related news ..... KMOV-TV, CBS in St. Louis SUCKS! I thought cable companies were greedy but our local CBS station has trumped them this time. I tuned in to channel 786 (CBS-HDTV) on Saturday and found a message from Charter. It seems KMOV decided to start charging Charter for the HDTV broadcasts and Charter told KMOV to shove off. Charter still carries KMOV but on channel 3 (no HDTV). What makes KMOV a real goober in all this is that they broadcast HDTV over the air for free (well, paid by advertisers). What makes them believe they can charge cable for what they broadcast for free? Greed? Yup.

So I can watch the games on FOX (KTVI-TV) in HDTV but not the ones on CBS (KMOV-TV). This greatly sucks - especially with the playoffs and Super Bowl coming up ... and CBS has coverage of Super Bowl XLI. ARGH! Who do these ratbags think they are?

OK, I feel better now that I got that off my chest. KMOV still sucks but I’ll get over it. What else can I do? STOOPID SEE-BS!

I’ve spent the last 24 hours without TV or internet and it was really peaceful. I’ll have to try this more often. It’s 24 degrees outside right now and that will probably be our high today. Brrrrrrrh! I’ve been reading Winston Churchill’s “World Crisis: 1911-1918”. At 880 pages and 2.26 pounds, it’s heavy reading but I highly recommend it. This is an abridged version of the five volume masterpiece Sir Winston wrote in the 1920’s to encapsulate the “Great War”. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of WWI and the diplomatic, political and military cluster-f**k that saw the death of tens of millions in one of the most useless wars ever fought.

I haven’t finished the Barking Moonbat Hall Of Fame voting poll yet. Sorry. I’ll have that for you tomorrow and the voting will go on all week. We’ll have the big announcement on Sunday. So hang in there, peeps. All things must pass .... except KMOV - which STILL SUCKS!

In totally unrelated news, Saddam Hussein’s half-brother is a head of his time .... 

Head of Saddam’s Half Brother Severed in Botched Hanging
_{BAGHDAD, Iraq (FOX) - Monday, January 15, 2007}

Saddam Hussein’s half brother and the former head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court were both hanged before dawn Monday, officials said, two weeks and two days after the former Iraqi dictator was executed in a chaotic scene that has drawn worldwide criticism.

Barzan Ibrahim, Saddam’s half brother and former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar head of Iraq’s Revolutionary Court, had been found guilty along with Saddam in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims after a 1982 assassination attempt on the former leader in the town of Dujail north of Baghdad.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh confirmed the executions, saying those attending the hangings included a prosecutor, a judge and a physician. He also said Ibrahim’s head was severed from his body during his hanging.

“In a rare incident, the head of the accused Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan was separated from his body during the execution,” al-Dabbagh told reporters. The official video was screened for reporters by the Iraqi government Monday.

The video showed the two being hanged side by side in red prison jumpsuits with black hoods over their heads. Five masked men surrounded them. After the trap doors opened, al-Bandar could be seen dangling from the rope. Ibrahim’s body was lying on the floor, chest down, his severed head yards away.

The execution was conducted on the same gallows where Saddam was hanged Dec. 30. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the gallows were built to international standards and in accordance with human rights organizations. “We will not release the video but we want to show the truth,” he said. “The Iraqi government acted in a neutral way.”

Prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi said Ibrahim looked tense when he was brought into the room and said “I did not do anything. It was all the work of Fadel al-Barrak.” Ibrahim was referring to a former head of two intelligence departments.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 01/15/2007 at 04:50 PM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Iraq • Personal •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

   Wednesday - December 20, 2006

Show Me The Money

We’re being asked to trust our politicians here in Missouri. Yeah, right. They managed to slip a new law onto the books last summer that removes limits on campaign contributions. It also imposes stricter reporting of those contributions, which may be a good thing - provided the goobers in government honestly report everything.

Oddly enough, there is a Catch-22 here and for two days after the New Year lobbyists can throw unlimited cash at the local politicians - right before the legislature begins its session. Hmmmmm. What could possibly go wrong with that ... ?

_{RJ Matson - The St. Louis Post Dispatch}

Missouri Campaign Finance Law Has Loophole
_{(KANSAS CITY STAR) - December 2, 2006}

Gov. Matt Blunt, who signed legislation that scrapped Missouri’s limits on campaign donations, has sworn off accepting large contributions — at least for the first 60 hours of next year.

Blunt’s office issued a statement this week pointing out a loophole in the bill he signed into law last summer. The bill eliminated all limits on the contributions candidates can accept. But it also prohibited lawmakers and statewide elected officials from accepting contributions while the legislature is in session.

Blunt’s statement pointed out that the law takes effect Jan. 1 and the legislative session does not begin until noon on Jan. 3. That gives those elected officials 2½ days to collect lobbyists’ and special interests’ contributions just before lawmakers begin deliberations on legislation that affects those special interests.

But Blunt wants to end the party before it begins. “It is important to begin the legislative session focused on doing the people’s business and making Missouri a better place rather than engaging in a fundraising frenzy,” Blunt said.

Therefore, he is discouraging lawmakers and other elected officials from accepting contributions in excess of the current limits — $1,275 for statewide officials, $650 for senators and $325 for House members. Blunt said he would abide by his own advice. He pledged not to accept contributions beyond the current limits for those first 60 hours of 2007.

Once the legislature adjourns on May 17, candidates could accept unlimited contributions. The new law will require stricter reporting of those contributions and prohibits funneling contributions to candidates through committees established by political parties.

Posted by The Skipper     on 12/20/2006 at 01:18 AM   
Filed Under: • Corruption and Greed • Politics •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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