Lots of people in America have lately found themselves unable to pay their mortgages. Approximately 1% of the loans in foreclosure in America are for more than $1 million. For that (relatively) fortunate—let's just call them, I don't know, the 1%—it takes a lot longer to get kicked the hell out. The WSJ reports:
America has entered a bold new era of internal mistrust: a new Pew survey officially shows that class conflict has surpassed both racial conflict and immigrant-native conflict as "the greatest source of tension in American society." Well—are you just going to stand there and let them get away with that?
Back in the summer of 2008, as the financial system teetered on the edge of collapse, no one knew what would happen to the debt-laden mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—would they be allowed to go under, or would the government come to their rescue? What would become of the shareholders? Trillions rested on the answers to those questions. Oh wait, someone did know. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. And he told his hedge fund pals and former Goldman Sachs colleagues. He just didn't tell you. Because, really—who the fuck are you?
Not to be outdone by Bank of America's rank avarice, Citibank announced today that it's raising monthly fees for checking accounts—doubling them, in fact, for its mid-level option—and bumping up the minimum balances. They're basically looking at their customers, identifying the ones who have the least amount of money, and charging them more.
Liberals can finally stop occupying Wall Street and screeching pointlessly on their insular blog sites: President Barack Obama is going to tax the rich! He's finally standing up to Wall Street and throwing all his weight behind this symbolic gesture which will do little to fill the yawing gap of empire-induced debt! He just announced his firm intentions today. Already, the economy is crumbling.
No matter how many billions of dollars he accumulates, private equity billionaire Steven Schwarzman will never live down his ultra-lavish 60th birthday party in 2007, which now stands as one of the ultimate symbols of the excesses of the pre-recession gilded age of finance, and also of how Steve Schwarzman is a pretty unwavering prick. How are the finance titans of these post-recession times demonstrating that they learned their lesson. They're not! Trick question.
The whole nation of America was founded on the premise of being "one big happy family," with equality for all—women and minorities now included by law! Sadly, economists tell us that income inequality may be eroding the trust between the rich and the poor members of the American "family." What's the reason for the treason, distrustful poors?
From 2008 to 2009, the median household net worth for a member of Congress went up 19 percent. During the same time, the national median plummeted by 15 percent. This is known as a plutocracy.
