Masters of the Universe category archive

The Inky has a long story about a survey that reveals that homeowners in financial trouble are more willing to go to foreclosure than ever before. They no longer consider foreclosure an unforgivable financial sin.

The column theorizes several reasons: so many persons are in foreclosure that it has lost much of its stigma; persons have been stuck with houses so far underwater that they cannot sell them to pay off the loan; and so on. A mild undercurrent of oh! the horror runs through the article.

Buried in the middle is what I suspect is a key reason:

Matthew Hars, managing director of Varick Capital, a real estate advisory and investment firm, and Manhattan Spaces, a residential broker in New York, says that one reason for the increased acceptability of strategic default is consumer distrust.

Consumers have developed a deep resentment of financial institutions, he says, which they perceive as not dealing in good faith with distressed borrowers. “In this case, the rationale is that it’s okay to default if a lender won’t work with a borrower to right size a loan that’s upside down,” Hars says. They think “it’s the lender’s fault, because of their refusal to write down some of the principal balance, which they’re going to have to do anyway in a foreclosure.”

He left out the part about

“Consumers have developed a deep resentment of financial institutions” because, in the quest for sales commissions and mortgages to “securitize,” they pursued and made dodgy loans–ARMs, “liars’ loans,” no down payment loans–to persons in weak financial circumstances for undeserving properties, then turned around and crashed the market, leaving their loan customers holding the bag.

Persons who have been abused, once they realize they have been abused, have no loyalty to the abuser.

Thom takes on job creationism believer, Neal Asbury, host of “Truth for America.”

From the website:

We’ve seen a lot of so-called “job creators” announce layoffs since the election. They say they can’t afford to pay for their employees health insurance. But that’s not the reality.

Thoreau surveys the Twinkies and asks a question:

Why is it that whenever we hear of a company that is going bankrupt, or getting bailed out, or bringing down the global economy, we inevitably learn that top managers are getting bonuses and raises? Mind you, I realize that executive compensation is usually a small percentage of the company’s expenses, so my point is not “How can they afford this?” Rather, it’s about incentives: To whatever extent market competition yields good, efficient outcomes for society, it’s because market competition supposedly aligns actions and consequences, thereby producing incentives that guide behavior. However, when banksters destroy the global economy, or a company is run into the ground, people keep getting their bonuses. For what?

We should stop calling it “vulture capitalism.” The term slurs vultures, the trash haulers of the wild, who provide an essential service.

“Vampire capitalism”: that’s my submission.

Image via Balloon Juice.

Via Bartcop.

Georgia builds its lead as the nexus of nixed banks.

Hometown Community Bank, Braselton, Georgia

has left town.

Afterthought:

With a solid name like “Hometown Community Bank,” what could possibly have gone wrong?

After all, isn’t “branding” all that matters?

Georgia adds to its excellent record of blanking banks. Bank no more on:

Hometown Community Bank, Braselton, Georgia</ul>

Afterthought:

Really, how could a bank with the homey name like “Hometown Community Bank” be less than rock-solid. After all, isn’t “branding” all that matters these days?

Shorter Mitt the Flip: The 47% beat me.

That, natch, is why he got 47% of the vote.

As my ex would have said, “Jeez oh man, what a jerk!”

Dick Destiny did, indeed, (try to) read Atlas Shrugged so you don’t have to.

Thom dissects the zany:

Chain restaurants go Galt.

These folks make Mr. Dithers look compassionate.

Murray Energy, known for forcing employees attend a Romney rally without pay, goes Galt.

If they can’t get their way by stealing the election, they try throwing a temper tantrum.

And Bill O’Reilly had the nerve to accuse poor people of wanting stuff.

Seems to me that the biggest stuff-wanters are rich folks for whom too much is never enough.

Mike Papantonio describes Wall Street:

They don’t make anything. All they do is move money around and talk trash.

Mastering the universe no more–these banks are blanked:

Citizens First National Bank, Princeton, Illinois

Heritage Bank of Florida, Lutz, Florida

When I first saw this development rising like cheap Lego houses from the marsh, I thought it was the most godawful ugly visual atrocity I had ever seen.

The faux Victorian architecture and garish colors–houses tricked out like streetwalkers in hot pink, bright yellow, powder blue, and kelly green–would make a Disney set-dresser blush.

It is difficult to resist schadenfreude at its comeuppance.

Another bank disappeared overnight.

NOVA Bank, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Froma Harrop documents a history of Etch-a-Sketch moments:

Around the time Etch A Sketch left for China, Asimco Technologies bought two auto parts factories in Michigan, closed them and laid off 500 Americans. Bain saw the “strong fundamentals” of Asimco’s operations and acquired the company. Today, Asimco makes the same camshafts on land donated by the Chinese government. China has designated this area as an export metropolis, showering the companies that move there with a variety of government subsidies.

Romney counts himself among the American heroes who built a business, but what his business built above all was an army of crack Washington lobbyists. . . . Forget the malarkey about a blind trust managing his Bain investments. It is run by Ropes & Gray, the Boston law firm that advises Bain.

Follow the link for more Etch-a-Sketch moments.

The mystery of the mysterious disappearing banks returns to haunt the moneyed classes. Bank no more on these:

GulfSouth Private Bank, Destin, Florida

First East Side Savings Bank, Tamarac, Florida

Excel Bank, Sedalia, Missouri

Mitt the Flip directs employers to tell their employees how to vote. The key quote starts about the 26:40 mark.

When you cut through the hearts and flowers rhetoric, it is suborning voter intimidation.

I do have low expectations of today’s Republican Party, but, I must admit, this recedes my expectations.

Via Balloon Juice.

Its prey speak out.