Millions of people worldwide were affected by the economic disintegration that began in 2008 that was ignited by millions of securitized mortgages that were ‘subprime’, many of which were in foreclosure. The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 revised the Banking Act of 1933 called Glass-Steagall allowing banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions to participate in more financial activities such as home mortgages as secondary investments.
Government pressure prompted financial institutions to lower credit standards that snowballed to crisis level in 2007. By September of 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed in government conservatorship because they held $5 trillion of mortgage backed securities of which $1.6 trillion was debt
The government authorized loans of up to $200 billion to the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE’s) in capital until losses could be assessed and the economy recovered. Although not all of the $200 billion was needed our government leaders placed taxpayer funds at risk to rescue both government and financial institutions. Now that both these GSE’s have been returned to financial stability, they should be turned over to private enterprise where risk and reward belong; don’t bet on it.
The USPS reported a ninth year consecutive loss of $5.1 billion on increased sales revenue of $1.1 billion. The Post Office keeps losing money because they are operated by proxy by several unions that have no interest in efficiency (productivity) or financial statements. The less efficient the Postal Service is, the more jobs are provided and the more dues are paid into union coffers for political contributions.
Mostly because of union rules, the USPS has become obsolete, just like Eastman Kodak that failed to commit to digital photography, hoping that film would retain its grasp of the vast photography business. They were wrong; the company filed Chapter 11 in January of 2012 after 124 years of camera and film-making. Government wizards of wise should convert the PO to private enterprise; don’t bet on it.
Reported on the back pages of various newspapers and broadcast on TV is the story of $43 million being spent on a compressed natural gas filling station in Sheberghan, Afghanistan. This money came from your bank account or wallet or purse in the form of taxes. You and I paid $43 million for a gas station in another part of the world.
Maybe these compressed tanks and valves and nozzles are made from blast-proof metals. Or maybe some Mullahs insisted on the very best. A company called Central Asian Engineering contracted to do the job for $3 million in 2011. Does anyone smell the acrid stench of corruption? This scandal should be investigated to determine who benefited to the tune of millions of dollars of hard-earned tax extractions; don’t bet on it.
Think about what happened Friday, November 13; the President said that ISIS is contained. Hours later 129 people in Paris died at the hands of ISIS. A year ago Mr. Obama said his objective was to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist organization.
Commenting from Vienna, Austria on the ISIS-claimed slaughter of 129 people in Paris, Secretary of State Kerry said the United States would ‘stand’ with France. That probably means in the same manner that we have ‘stood with’ Ukraine, the Kurds, the Syrian revolutionaries and Israel. Secretary Kerry was photographed standing next to Sergey Lavrov of Russia; the warmth of friendship may have been radiating between them; don’t bet on it.
Mr. Obama envisions the world as he believes it should be, not as it is. In so doing, he is placing the United States and its people at risk by isolating the nation and insulating himself from the grim realities of life on Planet Earth in 2015. Our ability to impress friends and foes is displayed in the current Forbes magazine where Obama is ranked third behind Putin (#1) and Merkel (#2) as the World’s Most Powerful People.
Note: The title of today’s column is taken from what was probably a description of the Roman Empire when the last Emperor Augustulus Romulus was overthrown in 476 AD as a result of political corruption, urban decay, unemployment and a decline in moral values: Horrible Federal Government = Horrendus Foedero Habenae.
Dick Baynton