Comments on: Bailout Recipients Spent $13 Million Lobbying Against Consumers, For Their Own Bonuses in 1Q 2009 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/ Firedoglake weblog Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:53:53 -0600 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: DeadLast http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894284 DeadLast Thu, 07 May 2009 00:00:57 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894284 <p>Maybe we need a constitutional amendment limiting interest charges to x% of inflation, since the congress will not listen to anyone but banks. This can be done if three-quarters of the states ratify such a bill. In California, Washington, Oregon, and some other states, this can be done by referendum.</p> Maybe we need a constitutional amendment limiting interest charges to x% of inflation, since the congress will not listen to anyone but banks. This can be done if three-quarters of the states ratify such a bill. In California, Washington, Oregon, and some other states, this can be done by referendum.

]]> By: mntleo2 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894147 mntleo2 Wed, 06 May 2009 20:00:22 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894147 <p>Dear I AM poor. As I said, I raised three children on low paying McJobs ~ meaning at or below minimum wage. As for having to pay for things you cannot afford, well, that is my point ~ I am actually the “lucky ducky” because well, I had to scramble my head off trying to feed these kids. Now I am raising my 3 year old grand-niece with on-the-jpb injury pain I will have the rest of my life, I am a diabetic, and I have nothing to show for it. No home of my own. No bank acvcount. Nothing. Nada. Plus I suffered the ridicule of people in those nice jobs that they no longer have or are now working at the place I have worked for over 30 years getting treated like dirt and getting paid even less than dirt. </p> <p>I KNOW how “the po’ ” live cause I AM the po’! Have been for over 30 years and when I was trying to raise conscience in the Clinton years about how the poor were being maligned and how Welfare DeFormed was just a racist, sexist reason to use low income moms as a punching bag for the the rich and corporations that were the REAL welfare queens (who paid no taxes and literally got millions of times more from the government’ coffers than the entire nation of welfare moms), well, lots of those “card holders” refused to see what was going on right under their upturned noses. When I spoke in union halls, at the work place, and even in some of those high and mighty CHURCHES about this and tried to share what I knew, these good people, they openly hated people like me and well, now they ARE me. </p> <p>Like Dylan said, “How does it feel???” Though I do have sympathy because I know these banks have been greedy and they WILL rip off whomever they can with whatever “legal” means they can in order to pay those CEO’s golden parachutes. But I am just glad that I did not fall under that. For all the suffering I did all those years, I am sad to see others have to suffer like I did ~ and perhaps see my generation learn what I learned young while they were living high on the hog. I just have to think, “You knew better, Your grandparents TOLD you, every school taught it, we saw the scenes of people jumping from windows in the 1820s because they had lost it all. We were warned by about every neighbor, relative or whomever that lived through the Great Depression: The unions saved our asses, and *never* trust a Republican or a loan shark …” </p> <p>As an activist for the poor for almost 15 years now, who has LIVED it, I’m just sayin’ …</p> <p>Cat In Seattle</p> Dear I AM poor. As I said, I raised three children on low paying McJobs ~ meaning at or below minimum wage. As for having to pay for things you cannot afford, well, that is my point ~ I am actually the “lucky ducky” because well, I had to scramble my head off trying to feed these kids. Now I am raising my 3 year old grand-niece with on-the-jpb injury pain I will have the rest of my life, I am a diabetic, and I have nothing to show for it. No home of my own. No bank acvcount. Nothing. Nada. Plus I suffered the ridicule of people in those nice jobs that they no longer have or are now working at the place I have worked for over 30 years getting treated like dirt and getting paid even less than dirt.

I KNOW how “the po’ ” live cause I AM the po’! Have been for over 30 years and when I was trying to raise conscience in the Clinton years about how the poor were being maligned and how Welfare DeFormed was just a racist, sexist reason to use low income moms as a punching bag for the the rich and corporations that were the REAL welfare queens (who paid no taxes and literally got millions of times more from the government’ coffers than the entire nation of welfare moms), well, lots of those “card holders” refused to see what was going on right under their upturned noses. When I spoke in union halls, at the work place, and even in some of those high and mighty CHURCHES about this and tried to share what I knew, these good people, they openly hated people like me and well, now they ARE me.

Like Dylan said, “How does it feel???” Though I do have sympathy because I know these banks have been greedy and they WILL rip off whomever they can with whatever “legal” means they can in order to pay those CEO’s golden parachutes. But I am just glad that I did not fall under that. For all the suffering I did all those years, I am sad to see others have to suffer like I did ~ and perhaps see my generation learn what I learned young while they were living high on the hog. I just have to think, “You knew better, Your grandparents TOLD you, every school taught it, we saw the scenes of people jumping from windows in the 1820s because they had lost it all. We were warned by about every neighbor, relative or whomever that lived through the Great Depression: The unions saved our asses, and *never* trust a Republican or a loan shark …”

As an activist for the poor for almost 15 years now, who has LIVED it, I’m just sayin’ …

Cat In Seattle

]]> By: decotodd http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894145 decotodd Wed, 06 May 2009 19:41:31 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894145 <p>Again — FDL doing real analysis that you won’t see on the traditional news.</p> Again — FDL doing real analysis that you won’t see on the traditional news.

]]> By: hackworth1 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894133 hackworth1 Wed, 06 May 2009 19:04:28 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894133 <p>No interest charges. What about transaction fees? A transaction fee, say 3 percent or so, could reflect a 44 percent APR.</p> No interest charges. What about transaction fees? A transaction fee, say 3 percent or so, could reflect a 44 percent APR.

]]> By: BooRadley http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894126 BooRadley Wed, 06 May 2009 18:41:26 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894126 <p>Jane, GREAT SCOOP!</p> <p>Thank you.</p> Jane, GREAT SCOOP!

Thank you.

]]> By: BooRadley http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894125 BooRadley Wed, 06 May 2009 18:41:11 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894125 <p>Yes.</p> <p>BofA just got taken to court for trying to foreclose on a mortgage, they couldn’t prove they had. They couldn’t find the documents.</p> <p>Don’t trust BofA as far as your great grandmother could throw them.</p> Yes.

BofA just got taken to court for trying to foreclose on a mortgage, they couldn’t prove they had. They couldn’t find the documents.

Don’t trust BofA as far as your great grandmother could throw them.

]]> By: bgrothus http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894121 bgrothus Wed, 06 May 2009 18:30:03 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894121 <p>I have a no-interest loan I got recently from BofA. They have been pretty good, and I needed to borrow the money. However, I noticed on my last bill there is something about the interest being 44.81%. . .so I called to find out what that is about. I am not being charged anything, the person I talked to said the 44.81% is the AVERAGE amount of various possible things I could be charged. . .made No Sense to me. But I can’t help but wonder if I am paying zero percent and 44.81 is the average of some things unknown, what can they be using to get that average? Wow. These guys are some kind of operators.</p> I have a no-interest loan I got recently from BofA. They have been pretty good, and I needed to borrow the money. However, I noticed on my last bill there is something about the interest being 44.81%. . .so I called to find out what that is about. I am not being charged anything, the person I talked to said the 44.81% is the AVERAGE amount of various possible things I could be charged. . .made No Sense to me. But I can’t help but wonder if I am paying zero percent and 44.81 is the average of some things unknown, what can they be using to get that average? Wow. These guys are some kind of operators.

]]> By: hackworth1 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894119 hackworth1 Wed, 06 May 2009 18:17:46 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894119 <p>Yes slide, I have heard of the homestead exemption. I mentioned it in my comment. Any property other than one’s homestead is at risk to creditors. You are correct.</p> Yes slide, I have heard of the homestead exemption. I mentioned it in my comment. Any property other than one’s homestead is at risk to creditors. You are correct.

]]> By: hackworth1 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894118 hackworth1 Wed, 06 May 2009 18:13:46 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894118 <p>Mntleo never had any health problems. Never any need for emergency funding. Never had to rent a car or a chainsaw.<br /> Amazing. An awesome bootstraps rugged individual in this modern world.</p> Mntleo never had any health problems. Never any need for emergency funding. Never had to rent a car or a chainsaw.
Amazing. An awesome bootstraps rugged individual in this modern world.

]]> By: slide http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894083 slide Wed, 06 May 2009 17:34:05 +0000 http://firedoglake.com/2009/05/06/tarp-recipients-spent-taxpayer-dollars-lobbying-against-consumers-for-their-own-bonuses-in-1q-2009/#comment-1894083 <p>Have you ever heard of the “homestead” exemption which exists in most if not all states? It exempts a certain amount of the equity in the home from attachment. It is unlikely any credit card company is going to sue on a unsecured credit card bill, unless the balance is it is very large. I would not worry too much about getting sued by a credit card company. They routinely write those debts off.</p> Have you ever heard of the “homestead” exemption which exists in most if not all states? It exempts a certain amount of the equity in the home from attachment. It is unlikely any credit card company is going to sue on a unsecured credit card bill, unless the balance is it is very large. I would not worry too much about getting sued by a credit card company. They routinely write those debts off.

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