Tag Archives: derivatives

Understanding the Cause of the Economic Collapse

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The average person is wondering why America can’t get out of this Depression and while we are not in bread lines like the 1930s – we’re getting awfully close.  Families are being displaced by foreclosures.  More tents are popping up around the cities and jobs are still hard to find.

To help understand what happened and what we can do about it let’s start with DERIVATIVES. These are unregulated investment vehicles that gambled away pension and retirement funds from around the world – so Wall Street could get rich… quick! This small clip, from the excellent documentary INSIDE JOB, explains in easy-to-understand terms how Collateralized Debt Obligations, or CDO derivatives, were instrumental to the global financial meltdown.

I highly recommend this documentary. INSIDE JOB sheds light on what really happened in 2008. Here’s a clip with the whole movie to follow.  Continue reading →

Cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and not raise taxes on the wealthy?

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CALL CONGRESSWOMAN HIRONO AND TELL HER “NO”!
Why would we agree to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and not raise taxes on the wealthy?  They’ve had tax cuts since Bush and has the economy gotten any better?  It’s time for Real Change.

Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Last night, President Obama agreed to a deal with top Republicans that is widely seen as a big victory for the Tea Party.

It has trillions in spending cuts that will hurt poor and middle-class families and no taxes on the rich. It also lines up Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits for future cuts.

Nancy Pelosi said “none of us may be able to support it” — but many Democrats are making up their minds in the next few hours.

Your Representative, Mazie Hirono, signed a letter pledging not to vote for any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Can you call her right now?

Tell Rep. Hirono to keep her promise and vote NO on this bad deal — click here for the number and a script. Here’s what folks are saying about this deal: Continue reading →

NY Times – Q. and A. on the Debt Ceiling

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Q. and A. on the Debt Ceiling
By  and Published: July 27, 2011

For a time it seemed safe for many people going about their summers to try to ignore the debt ceiling drama playing out in Washington. If Wall Street had not seemed overly concerned that the United States was headed toward default, why should anyone else worry? And there is the long history of crying wolf in Washington: in April everyone finally got up to speed on the threatened shutdown of the federal government just in time to see it averted by an 11th-hour deal.

But now, palms in Washington are beginning to get sweaty, the stock market is sliding and President Obama is breaking into “The Bachelorette” to address the nation about the debt crisis. Perhaps the time has finally come for a crash course in all things debt ceiling. Continue reading →