We all know our vote doesn't count. We all know our government elected officials simply doe whatever corporate lobbyists want them to do and America be damned. But there is one vote that still seems to matter these days and that's your vote as a consumer. You just won. Bank of America dropped their $5 buck a month debit card fee:
Goblins, witches, warlocks and evil spirits. We all know it's a ghoulish economy with financial ruin at every turn. Who hath stirred a boiling wicked brew of economic pain and mayhem? Below are some economic horror stories for your All Hallows Eve.
The CBO has quantified what most of America already knows, the richer got richer while the rest of us are squeezing blood from a financial stone. In a new report, the Congressional Budget Office analyzed after tax household income growth by percentiles for 1995-2007. Guess what they found? The Rich increased their wealth out of the stratosphere in comparison to the rest of us.
The Wall Street Journal finally said what most working people know, there is no worker, or skills or talent shortage in America. The real problem is employers, their arcane human resources policies, and the demand for instant ready workers like some sort of ready to eat microwave meal.
With much fanfare and headline buzz, Obama announced a new program to help homeowners. What is it? They simply lifted the 125% refinancing cap for mortgages attached to residential properties. Previously one could not refinance a home more than 125% of it's current value. Now you can refinance your mortgage where the principle is twice what the value of your home is. Nice huh? Mortgages only held at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will qualify and the program is only open until 2013. Your bank must approve and any mortgage sold to Fannie, Freddie after May 31, 2009 also doesn't qualify.
We have a name, HARP, for this program. Yet another mnemonic, similar to hopeless HAMP which was also released with much fanfare. Homeowners found HAMP to be a labyrinth of bureaucratic no help, designed to be a rat maze pretending somewhere there was some cheese.
Washington Post:
The Federal Housing Finance Agency, working with the Obama administration, said that up to 1 million “underwater” borrowers might benefit from an expanded program that targets homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth.
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
With much fanfare and headline buzz, Obama announced a 
We have a name, HARP, for this program. Yet another mnemonic, similar to hopeless 
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