Archive for September, 2012

Problemas existen en el enfoque hacia el Capitalismo por parte de los Republicanos y los Demócratas

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Quisiera que tan solo una vez los políticos le dejaran las prosas y simbolismos a los escritores de ciencia ficción.

No es que yo esperaba algo diferente, pero cuando veía a Mitt Romney aceptar la nominación Republicana, escuche osadas propuestas y grandes promesas.

Fue una narrativa, simple y sencillamente, entretenida, pero una que me temo no hará mucho para ayudar al hombre ordinario.

Los negocios pequeños son y deben ser el centro de nuestro país, y le agradezco a Romney su esfuerzo de colocarlos en el corazón de su campaña.

Pero si el piensa que reducir el tamaño del gobierno solamente va a permitirle a los negocio pequeños triunfar, entonces el es o muy ingenuo o el verdaderamente no se cree ni una palabra de lo que profesa y cree que todos somos idiotas.

Yo también tengo dudas acerca del presidente, y sospecho que cuando Barack Obama tome el escenario en Charlotte esta semana, aunque el mensaje será diferente, la retórica será igual de fuerte.

Este es el error fatal con el enfoque de Romney de ‘sacar el gobierno del medio’ cuando se trata de bienes raíces y el comercio.

El gobierno no ha estado realmente en el medio. Los bancos son los que han estado sueltos como unos monos locos, con pocos chequeos o regulaciones en su camino.

La administración de Obama ha dejado a los bancos sueltos, la mayoría del tiempo, y hasta el día de hoy a fallado en imponerles reglas.

Y esta es la administración que supuestamente le tiene el ojo puesto a los bancos.

Entonces que Romney dejara de fingir y solo cerrara sus ojos y dejara que los grandes negocios corran sueltos creando sus propias reglas?
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Behind the Veneer of Mitt Romney’s ‘47 Percent’ Comments

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Courtesy: Mother Jones

Remember when “Corporations are people, my friend!” was the strangest thing to come out of Mitt Romney’s mouth?

It speaks volumes about the problems with our political process that it took a speech we were never intended to hear to allow us to hear a politician speaking honestly and off-the-cuff.

Now I am not in the business of endorsing any political candidate. I have used this space on many occasions to criticize President Obama and his policies.

But I have had reservations about Romney and whether he has a firm grasp on the human centipede that exists between Wall Street and the regulators. And after watching the video of Romney talk about the so-called ’47 percent’, I still have my doubts. And that’s not because of anything he said on that tape. It is what he doesn’t say.

The truth is there are Americans who see themselves as victims, who consider themselves entitled to the government’s help, and have yet to take personal responsibility.

Except they are not the working poor, elderly or wounded veterans Mitt Romney tried to lump together.

The real “47 percent”? They are the bankers, the Wall Street hucksters who have happily accepted bailout after bailout, but play the victim card anytime the notion of added regulation is mentioned. It’s the banks, and not the working class, who have
brought our economy to a screeching halt, who have played fast and loose with the rules to suit their own bottom lines.

They have sucked our nation down to the marrow, and the fact that Mitt has not called them out gives me serious doubts he will consider breaking up the banks or do anything to reel them in.
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Machiavelli, Alive and Well, In Illinois?

Friday, September 14th, 2012

 

Niccolò Machiavelli

A statue Niccolò Machiavelli sitting outside of the Uffizi, in Florence, Italy. Macchiavelli was a philospher, humanist and writer.

Since I started the South Florida Law Blog following the 2008 economic meltdown, I have made no secret of the fact that I am extremely critical of what can best be characterized as “America’s new crony capitalism.”

Crony capitalism occurs where certain industries have gained undue influence in the political process and thus have curried favor unjustly from the government. This undue influence distorts the market in favor of those that can afford favorable treatment (in other words, not you or me), and also creates a system where these industries are permitted to grow unfettered and unregulated, leading to practices such as the “Wall Street Rule or “Too Big To Fail.”

Typically the type of influence that these corporations are able to obtain falls within the executive and legislative branches of the government. Whether we like it or not our system does allow for a certain amount of lobbying as well as campaign contributions in order to obtain such influence.

But not surprisingly, the ease with how these companies are able to obtain such influence has created a highly uneven playing field between the average tax payer and that of large multi-billion dollar industries, particularly banks.

But despite all of this crony capitalism, under no circumstances did I ever expect to see the banking industry blatantly attempt to try and corrupt the judicial branch which is typically the most neutral of the three branches of government when it comes to political influence and crony capitalism. Yet, in another “Too Big To Fail” twist, the Illinois Bankers Association (the “IBA”) has done just that.
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New Ideas To Fix The Housing Crisis? Nothing to See Here

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Nothing To See HereWith the presidential race entering its final stretch and with the employment figures remaining effectively flat, one would think that the housing crisis would have already been front and center by now.

As I have said numerous times every economic recovery since the Depression has been led by the housing sector.

But only now do we have a fuller picture of both the Republicans’ and Democrats’ agendas on housing.

AND TO SAY THE LEAST I AM UNDERWHELMED.

In the wake of both conventions, each party has made their official party platforms public, and yes, they both at least try to address some aspects of the foreclosure crisis.

With the Democrats, there is a firmer grasp of the housing picture, but I still haven’t heard a solution from them that has the teeth to have a lasting impact.

They recognize the importance of refinancing, which is good, but to date nothing they have done has forced the banks to refinance. So the intent is there, but there is little actual follow through.

Not HARP or any of the alphabet soup programs created during the last four years have done anything to truly encourage refinancing. There’s too much please and thank you in the Democrats programs, when it is time for them to be the stern parent and send the banks to bed without their supper.

You must make refinancing in the banks’ best interest, to me the only way for that to happen would be to reinstate Franklin Roosevelt’s Home Owners Loan Corporation.

It closed up shop in the 1950’s, and mortgage lending hasn’t been the same since.
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