Welcome to the progessive America. Don't bother earning what you want in life. Just demand it be given to you.

From the article..."

But the number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to September quarter increased 14 percent compared to the second quarter of the year, according to the firm.

The increase is a sign that banks are now moving more aggressively against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments following industrywide foreclosure processing problems that emerged last fall.

No, this is not a sign that banks are moving more agressively against borrowers. Banks and lenders send out a notice of default generally when an account reaches 60 days past due. This is the first step in foreclosing but most lenders send this out regardless of the account status with loss mitigation efforts, etc. The banks generally do not hold off on send out notice of defaults, but do hold off from acting on them. An increase in the nubmer of first time defaults being sent would generally indicate more homeowners are missing their monthly mortgage payments. And, there the one thing that is left out of this article, is there are more people strategically defaulting on mortgages simply because they don't want to pay any more as others have been granted loan modifications.

We like money.......We need money....You have money....Give us your money.

That's right, banks like money, you have money, banks take money.

Funny, "NEW" articles are sometimes a week or more old. What's going on MSNBC- Didn't you get the response desired the last time it was released? Need to "renew" the article to rally people again?? Pretty wierd.

dan -

You have to give it to them. They don't take it from you. You don't like them, don't deal with them.

Criminal trespassers, rapists, murderers, drug abusers, class warriors, communists

Obama, Pelosi, SEIU, AFL-CIO, Big Labor support this crowd. Are they the new face of the democrat party?

Continuing saga of "Day of Rage on Wall Street", by Ex (?)-SEIU Lerner.

And the beat goes on with the help of MSNBC feeds supporting the "EveryThingFree" folks.

Incorrect JH, the banks took billions in taxpayers money directly and trillions in fed giveaways indirectly.

They took it from us all.

Stand or fall together America!

Welcome to socialism/communism in Amerika.Thanks Barry.

@ JH-479998

"Welcome to the progessive America. Don't bother earning what you want in life. Just demand it be given to you."

Right "JH",,,, or you could just do as the banks and the the disgusting, treasonous "Fed" does,,,,, just print up whatever you need and give it to yourself and your criminal friends;

_____________________________________________________________________

What you are about to read should absolutely astound you. During the last financial crisis, the Federal Reserve secretly conducted the biggest bailout in the history of the world, and the Fed fought in court for several years to keep it a secret. Do you remember the TARP bailout? The American people were absolutely outraged that the federal government spent 700 billion dollars bailing out the "too big to fail" banks. Well, that bailout was pocket change compared to what the Federal Reserve did. As you will see documented below, the Federal Reserve actually handed more than 16 trillion dollars in nearly interest-free money to the "too big to fail" banks between 2007 and 2010. So have you heard about this on the nightly news? Probably not. Lately Bloomberg has been reporting on some of this, but even they are not giving people the whole picture. The American people need to be told about this 16 trillion dollar bailout, because it is a perfect example of why the Federal Reserve needs to be shut down. The Federal Reserve has been actively picking "winners" and "losers" in the financial system, and it turns out that the "friends" of the Fed always get bailed out and always end up among the "winners". This is not how a free market system is supposed to work.

According to the limited GAO audit of the Federal Reserve that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the grand total of all the secret bailouts conducted by the Federal Reserve during the last financial crisis comes to a whopping $16.1 trillion.

That is an astonishing amount of money.

Keep in mind that the GDP of the United States for the entire year of 2010 was only 14.58 trillion dollars.

The total U.S. national debt is only a bit above 15 trillion dollars right now.

So 16 trillion dollars is an almost inconceivable amount of money.

But some other dollar figures have been thrown around lately regarding these secret Federal Reserve bailouts. Let's take a look at them and see what they mean.

$1.2 Trillion

A recent Bloomberg article made the following statement....

The $1.2 trillion peak on Dec. 5, 2008 -- the combined outstanding balance under the seven programs tallied by Bloomberg -- was almost three times the size of the U.S. federal budget deficit that year and more than the total earnings of all federally insured banks in the U.S. for the decade through 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The $1.2 trillion figure represents the peak outstanding balance on these loans, not the total amount of all the loans. On December 5, 2008 the "too big to fail" banks owed this much money to the Federal Reserve. Many of them could not pay these short-term loans back right away and had to keep rolling them over time after time. Each time a short-term loan got rolled over that represented a new loan.

$7.7 Trillion

Bloomberg is reporting that the Federal Reserve had made a total of $7.77 trillion in financial commitments to the big banks by the end of March 2009....

Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

But as mentioned above, a one-time limited GAO audit of the Federal Reserve that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act covered an even broader time period and revealed even more bailout loans.

According to the GAO audit, $16.1 trillion in secret loans were made by the Federal Reserve between December 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010. The following list of firms and the amount of money that they received was taken directly from page 131 of the GAO audit report....

Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
"All Other Borrowers" - $2.639 trillion

This report was made available to all the members of Congress, but most of them have been totally silent about it. One of the only members of Congress that has said something has been U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

The following is an excerpt from a statement about this audit that was taken from the official website of Senator Sanders....

"As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world"

So where is everyone else?

Why aren't leading Republicans and leading Democrats crying bloody murder over this report?

This scandal should have been front page news for months when it was revealed.

But it wasn't.

And Guess what?

Not only did the Federal Reserve give 16.1 trillion dollars in nearly interest-free loans to the "too big to fail" banks, the Fed also paid them over 600 million dollars to help run the emergency lending program. According to the GAO, the Federal Reserve shelled out an astounding $659.4 million in "fees" to the very financial institutions which caused the financial crisis in the first place.

In addition, it turns out that trillions of dollars of this bailout money actually went overseas. According to the GAO audit, approximately $3.08 trillion went to foreign banks in Europe and in Asia.

So why were our dollars being used to bail out foreign banks while tens of millions of American families were deeply suffering?

That is a very good question.

Also, it is important to remember that many of these bailout loans were made at below market interest rates, and this enabled many of these financial institutions to rake in huge profits.

According to a recent Bloomberg article, the big banks brought in an estimated $13 billion by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market rates....

While the Fed's last-resort lending programs generally charge above-market interest rates to deter routine borrowing, that practice sometimes flipped during the crisis. On Oct. 20, 2008, for example, the central bank agreed to make $113.3 billion of 28-day loans through its Term Auction Facility at a rate of 1.1 percent, according to a press release at the time.

The rate was less than a third of the 3.8 percent that banks were charging each other to make one-month loans on that day. Bank of America and Wachovia Corp. each got $15 billion of the 1.1 percent TAF loans, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland's RBS Citizens NA unit with $10 billion, Fed data show.

So once the financial crisis was over, were adjustments made to the financial system to make sure that this type of thing would never happen again?

Of course not.

Today, the "too big to fail" banks are larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.

So now they are more "too big to fail" than ever.

But this is what happens when we allow unelected central bank bureaucrats to run our financial system.

Most Americans do not realize this, but the truth is that the Federal Reserve is not part of the government. In fact, it is about as "federal" as Federal Express is. The Federal Reserve has admitted that they are a privately owned institution in court many times, and you can see video of a Federal Reserve employee admitting that the Federal Reserve is privately owned right here.

The Federal Reserve is an out of control monster that is throwing around trillions of dollars whenever it wants to. Nobody should be allowed to do this. Nobody should be allowed to give bailouts to banks and corporations without the express permission of the U.S. Congress and the president of the United States.

This is a point that I made in my article yesterday. The Federal Reserve decided this week that it is going to provide "liquidity support" to Europe. If the American people do not like this move, that is just too bad. We do not get a say in the matter.

Are you starting to understand why I keep pushing the idea that it is time to shut down the Federal Reserve?

Please share this information about the secret 16 trillion dollar Federal Reserve bailout with your family and your friends.

If we can get enough people to wake up, perhaps there is still time to change the direction that this country is headed.

With "sympathizers" like Obama and Pelosi in the highest levels of Government inciting class and race warfare this will not end until hard working citizens "Occupy Congress and the White House" with Tea Party Patriots in 2012

Thanks Close the Fed, for taking the time to let those here who have not done their homework what the situation is.

Close the Fed - Great name BTW

1.11

Excellent post. One BIG problem is that people get accustomed to hearing a trillion here, a trillion there, after a while, it all sort of blends together. Kinda like your nose becoming accustomed to a bad smell. And boy does this have a bad smell.

So now they're going to occupy private property. Good! The right to assemble doesn't apply to private property, so now they can be arrested and jailed for trespassing!

Couldn't agree with you any more JH. Majority of this banking situation falls back on the "un-informed" consumer. If you’re not informed about a bank’s business modal, operations, policies and quality, of course you going to get shafted - that's your fault that you’re not informed not the banks. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and telling you to stick with that back or put your money in their Savings Account that require you to keep a minimum balance of $7500. Any smart and informed consumer will walk away on the deal when they know that there are other banks that require no minimum balance on a savings account. That's no different from a car salesman; which I think is worst than bankers. Next time get informed about any company you hand your hard earned money over to and watch how they treat you with the utmost respect.

As usual, Spider's on the cutting edge of figuring out ways to deny other people their constitutional rights. Always on the search to find loopholes to silence the people he doesn't agree with. What a patriot.

I'm immediately reminded of the part in Doctor Zhivago where the family's house is occupied by squatters, whom then help themselves to the Zhivago's possessions ("Your things are being stored" "They're being stolen!") during the Revolution.

Sure, theft is equitable. Immoral, but equitable.

I find it interesting that the conservative side views people who took out a mortgage in good faith, that lost their jobs as their home values fell to below what they owed as somehow to blame for their forclosure, while the banks that took billions in taxpayer bailout funds are going to spend years in court for overly agressive and in many cases, unwarented forclosures, are somehow the victims and should be protected.

You people slamming Occupy are too late. Even if 49% of the 99% still think they are going to be the 1%, the message is out, and it won't go away. At this point, people everywhere are working on inventing a better fatcat trap, and after all the people you rethugs have put forward to sell their books get laughed out of the polls, we'll start setting them.

OWS is now a martyr, and you can't destroy the idea a martyr espouses.

Sorry, thanks for playing.

Cav...

One might be able to make a 'mountain' out of a 'mole hill', but one cannot make a 'martyr' of of a 'mess'.

And if you want to catch 'fatcats' with your trap, better set it in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC...that's where the big money folks go to trade campaign cash for favors from the guy in charge...even if he's not one of your beloved 'rethugs'.

Close the Fed's post contains a lot of information about things that should make us all outraged, but there is more to the story. First, we shouldn't forget about the conditions that led to the bailouts. The media constantly focuses on government debt and sometimes private mortgage debt, but what probably matters most is total debt--debt owed by individuals, businesses, and government. In early 2001, total debt in the U.S. was more than twice the size of the economy. By early 2008, this had ballooned to well over four times the size of the economy. At the same time, there had been explosive growth in an unregulated derivatives market, with Wall Street firms inventing and growing all sorts of complex financial products. When derivative exposures are included, total debt at the peak in 2008 may have reached five or more times the size of the economy.

While government debt and individual mortgage and credit card debt grew rapidly during this period, the biggest portion of total debt was in financial debt--money borrowed by Wall Street and banks, hedge funds, and various complicated investment vehicles created by Wall Street. Meanwhile, the government at the time, including the Fed, the SEC, and bank regulators, basically took the view that the free market can do no wrong. The SEC actually WEAKENED capital requirements, essentially allowing Wall Street firms to double the amount of money they were allowed to borrow on a given capital base. The government during this period not only failed to do anything about exploding individual and financial debt, the housing bubble, and mushrooming derivatives, but the Fed and regulators FAILED TO EVEN KEEP TRACK OF WHO OWED WHAT TO WHOM.

Bad mortgages and the housing bubble were a big problem, but what the banks and Wall Street were allowed to owe each other, including through derivatives, was a much bigger problem. Let's step back for a minute. In 1929, total debt was not much over twice the size of the economy. In 2008, it was four or five times-- and for the first time, banks and Wall Street companies owed each other so much money that if one or two big players went under, they'd all go under. This is why, after Lehman failed and it started to dawn on the regulators that the whole system was on the brink of collapse, the government responded with a series of chaotic bailout actions that have been incredibly poorly described in the media.

It may be worth noting that, in a free market system, a rapid buildup in debt is supposed to result in productive investment and rapid economic growth. When debt rises above sustainable levels, a future period of slowing growth is inevitable as debt is paid down. In this case, we never even got a period of rapid growth-- GDP growth from 2000 to 2007 was already the slowest seven-year period since the depression, and that was BEFORE the crash. Why? I'll leave this to economists, but would suggest that, for some reason, the free market did not do a good job of allocating capital during this period. Instead of generally investing in, say, better factories or better technologies, the private sector instead wasted trillions of dollars on foolish loans, foolish derivative bets, foolish mergers, and foolish stock buybacks, all while executive compensation soared.

Close the Fed is correct in saying that the TARP was pocket change compared to the real bailouts, which included Fed low-interest loans, an increase in FDIC deposit insurance, FDIC guarantees of $1 trillion in short-term bank and other corporate borrowing, and Federal guarantees of some $4 trillion in supposedly-safe money market funds (most of which had invested in some way in risky Wall Street products). Where Close the Fed is not quite correct is in saying that this was a secret at the time. It is true that the Fed did not disclose what it had loaned to individual companies until recently forced to do so. But the aggregate amount of outstanding borrowings at the Fed was disclosed on a weekly basis. Incredibly, the media virtually ignored this and the other bailout measures mentioned above, while spilling endless ink over the TARP. By the way, the Fed loans have been repaid, and the above guarantees mostly removed without loss.

One of the effects of the stimulus bill that has been ignored is that the roughly $500 billion spent over two-plus years (the rest was tax cuts) allowed the taxpayers to avoid what would almost certainly have been hundreds of billion of dollars in losses on all the bailout loans, guarantees, and preferred stock investments through the TARP (partly because of the stimulus bill, nothing anywhere near the full $700 billion authorized by TARP was used, by the way). Whether the stimulus bill worked or not (I don't know), it at least put money in people's pockets instead of the banks, who paid back the vast majority of what they owed the government.

Close the Fed also says no adjustments have been made to make sure a financial crisis, and subsequent bailouts, never happen again. The new financial reform law has been roundly criticized by those who say it does too much and those who say it does too little. I would say it does a great deal to make sure this never happens again, though it will take some time to fully put in place. If you believe it is too weak, I would ask you to consider whether you really want it replaced with nothing--which is what some politicians are proposing. Finally, while it is true that the top six banks' assets grew between September of 2006 and September 2011, this is because of rapid lending growth through 2007, and then through the mergers including Bank of America-Merrill, JPMorgan Chase-Bear Sterns and Washington Mutual, Wells-Wachovia, and other deals brokered by the Fed and the Treasury in 2008.

The bailouts were outrageous, but they were made in an environment where it was too late for good policy options. We can't know precisely what would have happened if the government had done nothing, but putting the entire financial system in the bankruptcy courts at a time when leverage had been allowed to reach (by far) record levels would have very likely made the Depression look like a picnic, and created economic conditions few countries, if any, have survived. I hope all will agree we should do all we can to make sure this does not happen again.

What most people don't realize (especially people that have not been paying attention to politics until Obama took office) that banks marketed these federally insured loans to people because the fed practically guaranteed them that they will get paid back with interest NO MATTER WHAT... The idea that banks don't know if you couldn't afford a home is ignorant... they didn't care because they had no risk... So what the did is push not so informed people into these loans... wait for them to be even ONE day late on ONE payment... so not only does the fed pay off that loan they get to take that persons house..... pure profit.... so it is not peoples fault that the system was built for them to take ALL the risk and leave them no means of resisting if the bank wants to take their house at the first chance possible... so for all the uninformed people saying "DUH THEY DIDNT HAVE TO TAKE THE LOAN"... well the bank didn't have to knowingly market to people knowing they could not afford the loans sign them in hopes to rip them off later.... The banks know full and well what they are doing... they are not ignorant to the situation like so many others seem to be.

Bencas, I paid for my own college: I went part-time as I worked full-time. It took me a little longer, but I got my degree. I went to a county college and then to a state university. I also attended with a lot of lower income students who got grants, did work study and worked as I did.

I agree that there are some home mortgages that went to people who lived off their home (took equity as vacations), but the majority were predatory lending.

But colleges? As non-profits they could charge what they want. Did the college professors (some make over six figures a year) and administration take the same pay cuts as us pee-ons working for Wall Street? I think not.

If more people went to county colleges, then maybe 4 year college won't put so much into their football and pay their coaches millions or their presidents will have to take a pay cut to be competitive with the 2 year.

That's the problem - there's no check and balance on these colleges. They get promotions from corporate sponsors, earn millions in bowl games, get money from endowments and research grants - AND PAY NO TAXES.

As an fyi, I had more PhD's teaching me in the county college than I did in the 4-year. I got Master adjuncts teaching me there. My friend is married to a college professor at a prestigious 4-year. He mainly writes books and research grants. He teaches no undergrad and one Master's class. He's also going on sabbatical for two years - with full pay.

I wish I can do that at my job.

In America it is applauded when large multinational banks and corporations abuse those not savvy enough to look out for themselves.

There's money in them there pyramid schemes!

Until the bubble goes pop! Then the finger waving, and those who lose everything are blamed for causing the problem in the first place.

Sadly those ignorant or greedy people who lost everything are a part of the problem, just not the part that government regulations can affect.

In functional democracies (like Canada), the implosion of the housing market didn't occur because their regulations don't allow banks to give mortgages to those who can't afford them.

Bencas,

I love these 'corporate greed' buzz lines. Exxon/Mobile makes about seven cents on a gallon of gas after an investment of billions of bollars over time. The government gets about forty-five cents a gallon by simply demanding it. So, the question is; who's greedy?

And if people have "no concept" about the contract they are going to sign, maybe they shouldn't be signing it. Televisions still come with an 'off' button, even if it's on the remote. Signing your name to a $200,000 contract without knowing what's in it sounds foolish. Why blame others?

A lot of people bought houses they knew they couldnt afford because they planned to flip them in a year or two and make a huge profit, they never thought about what would happen if the house didnt continue to go up in value.

Andrew Cuomo played a big part in the downfall of the housing market, I believe he was part of the Clinton administration.

During Cuomo's tenure as HUD Secretary, he called for an increase in home ownership.^[7] He also pushed government-sponsored lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy more home loans issued to poor homeowners, in an attempt to end discrimination against minorities.^[4] Some believe that this helped lead to the current subprime mortgage crisis.^[7][4][8] Edward J. Pinto, former chief credit officer at Fannie Mae, said "they should have known the risks were large. Cuomo was pushing mortgage bankers to make loans and basically saying you have to offer a loan to everybody."

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cuomo}

Bill Clinton signed deregulation of the banks in the late 1990's. This allowed FDIC insured banks to act more like investment banks, that is, it let them take more risks.

This was similar to the deregulation of Savings and loan banks, that allowed them to build a pyramid scheme earlier.

All major politicians in America owe their jobs to the banks and corporations for their elections because they paid for them.

Yes people shouldn't sign contracts they don't understand, in this country the banks have pushed to make it legal for them to sell mortgages to people who can't afford them because it improved their short term bottom line, and because they were able to bundle the bad loans and sell them with AAA ratings to other institutions. (See Goldman Sacks)

The world wasn't built on compassion. These young people are the death of this nation. Whining and moaning and groaning about their rights to the American dream. Screw the lot of them. Their sloth and inability to accept responsibility will ensure that the wealth gap will widen, and that the next generation of 1-percenters will rule with an even heavier hand.

Worthless parasites. May they all catch the plague and free up some much-needed oxygen for the rest of us who get up in the morning to sustain this country.

Yeah anne, nothing says compassionate like trespassing, interupting commerce and dumping trash on the mayor's lawn. Maybe they can get a Barak Hussein style Nobel prize for doing nothing.

Damn straight Ezperanza. They should just build millions, no billions, no trillions in debt and be damn happy about it. Continue to pay more and more for everything while companies profit more and more calling rising prices needed because of their higher costs. While the rising costs are really rising bonus percentages. They should buy a home that has it's price bloated (because that is what it is worth right?) and then just accept it when the property value crashes, then banks sell off the loans in order to dump them and then those buyers do whatever possible legal or not to get some money our of it by dumping the property further devaluing it. They should lease cars and for never more than 2 years so they can always be in debt and never own a vehicle. They should keep a good solid 75% balance of the limit on their credit cards so they can never pay it off. They should also have one payment be late in 10 years so the credit card company can exponentially raise the interest rate further making it impossible to ever pay off. They should do nothing about American political issues and just vote for who it bought oops I mean decided to be on the ballot without ever thinking about it. Just do what you are told right? Don't rock the boat. Just accept it and expect nothing of yourself. Have no compassion for fellow human beings as the dollar exceeds the need for all of that sillyness.

What losers I tell yah. How dare someone want things to change around them. Just sit down and shut up. Get a job, oh wait they do have a job. Two as a matter of faq. What losers, can't even get mom and dad to pay their way through college and get a $100k + a year job.

They should go out and buy a Rolls Royce when they cant even afford a Ford, refuse to make payments on it and then piss and moan when it gets repossessed,

The people who bitch about Occupy Wall Street are the ones who just get fed the bull@!$%# the media tells them. We are pissed at the banks who made mortgages to people they knew couldn't pay them off and then actually bet that they couldn't pay the debt off. Glad we deregulated the financial industry ;) And now the credit card companies, to get around new regulations, are going to eliminate spending limits. So people will just be able to keep on using and using their credit cards. Can't wait til that bubble burts when everyone defaults and the credit card companies lose out. Actually we will probably just bail them out and the average American will be @!$%#ed over once again. Time to get companies "too big to fail" broken up and it is time to get corporations out of politics.

They evicted Occupy (Obamaville) Orlando yesterday rounded them all up and threw them in jail...all five of them.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-12-05/news/os-occupy-orlando-eviction-20111205_1_demonstrators-protesters-officers

PWD Did the bankers who defrauded the American public been charged with fraud?

Than it goes on.

Can the jail handle that many people or is it now in an over crowded situation?

This is where the capitalist fails. Not in practice but in ideaology. When we deduce everything imaginable to a monetary value, we forget our humanity. A benevolant capitalist society would be our utopia. But capitalism froms this ideaology in a person that is heartless. I'm not saying there is a better system just that capitalism creates an ideaology that commodifies everything and evolves into heartlessness.

Just like when the Multinational Banks went bankrupt. We threw them... oh wait...

Who says you have to go to college??? They are the trades which are in more demand.

Excuse me for believing college should be attainable for whoever wants to go... not just the privileged children with parents that are willing to pay for them to go

PWD, not everyone has the skills or natural ability to do trades. Many times they require physical ability or mathematical ability to perform. All of our natural abilities vary, thereby making not possible for everyone to fall into similar lines of work.

Also, I am suprised no one mentioned that squatting is tresspassing. Not sure how that will help, but I do recognize the problem!

Cuba has free education. They just don't have that many opportunities to use the education in their country

No, MOmaid just remembers a time when people in this country actually understood that hard work comes before consumption, and that nothing in life is free. And thank God for it, because with today's entitled youth and socialist government policies, these are mostly forgotten ideals.

That said, you don't need to "save up" for college - it is an investment in your future, and can/should be funded by debt which is to be repaid out of your increased future salary. But in order for this to work, college must be approached as an investment, and not simply a four year vacation from reality. Don't choose a major in Political Science or History if it isn't expected to yield attractive job opportunities after college - this would be consumption, not investment, and your time and tuition dollars would have been wasted. And don't go to college simply because everyone else does, or because the entitlement government has convinced you that it is your right. It is a financial decision, one of many that you will have to make in your lifetime, and if the cost outweighs the benefits (as seems to be the case for many recent graduates with no job prospects), then just don't go.

PWD my employer paid from 75-100% of my tuition and in return I had to work weekends, holidays and spend a lot of time form my family and it was done with no regrets. My employer? US Army for 20 years.

I agree with you mt83... but the fact that loans are federally insured... means anyone can get a loan... which drives up the price of tuition... because you can get a loan in any amount to pay tuition.... This makes supply non-extant and demand unlimited... this is another situation where federally guaranteed loans are breaking the system.. Banks have 0 risk so they will lend to anyone. Tuition costs rises because there needs to be a mechanism of exclusivity in a monetary economy that does not exist.... as long as these loans exist... tuition will continue to rise and its gotten to the point where its absolutely ridiculous investment..

Education isn't a luxury.. its a necessity for the well being of our country... It should be attainable for everyone that is willing to work for it... you shouldn't have to burden yourself with a ridiculous amount of debt....

America has become of country of entitlement.... not just these young people thou... we have corporations that feel they are entitles to ridiculous tax breaks and refund while they make billions of profit.... reap all the benefits of being an American business while using foreign labor and doing as much as possible to give as little as possible back. We have banks that think they deserve to get bailed out and have 0 risk when lending money... but when it comes to helping out the little guy the attitude is "@!$%# em".

so people keep saying "How dare these young people ask for jobs to exist, get bailed out on their debt, or stay in their home after a late payment"... because it makes you look like a heartless fool to blame the people that have gotten nothing for ruining this country.

I have a bachelors degree (biology) and masters degree (MPH) that I paid for myself by working full time and going to school full time. My parents didn't pay for any of it.

PWD makes a good point though. There are vocational and technical schools that are preparing students for jobs that are in demand and that pay well. It's not for everyone, but it is an option. Unfortunately, we've gotten to a point in this country where people with a college degree are put on a pedestal (even if it's in something stupid like liberal studies), while people who work with their hands and actually have a skill set are treated like lower class citizens. This is a BIG problem. All career paths have value, whether they require a degree or not.

Case in point, I have a college degree and have pursued a career in my area of study. My boyfriend did not go to college. He worked his way up the chain at a local grocery store and is now in a position to someday partner with the ownership, or set out for his own shop. Despite the fact that he works so hard and does well, some people were puzzled when we started dating because, "how could a college grad businesswoman date a grocery worker?" Pretty disgusting behavior born out of stereotypes that are just wrong.

Really PWD? What jobs are available in the USA today that pay a living wage without having a college degree?

Sicken,

Please see my comment above. Those jobs are out there, but it requires a lot of hours and hard work to make it up the ranks.

PWD and you didn't answer my question.

But, be honest. Would your boyfriend ever been able to "make it up the ranks" if he weren't riding on your coattails (and YOUR college degree)? Grocery clerks average $10/an hour where I live......

Sicken

There are lot of Welding jobs out there. A Certified Welder can make 75-90 per hour. I suppose you can't live off that crummy wage. Have you looked into how much an Auto Mechanic makes??? The ones I know make 45-60 per hour. How about a Plumber or Pipe Fitter?? Now I trust you never called a Plumber to fix a plugged sewer line. Just call up Roto-Rooter and see what they charge. I don't seem to recall that jobs like these require a College Degree.

But, be honest. Would your boyfriend ever been able to "make it up the ranks" if he weren't riding on your coattails (and YOUR college degree)? Grocery clerks average $10/an hour where I live....

Actually, he was already in senior management by the time we met and he didn't ride on anyone's coat tails. We've only been dating six months - I hardly think that my college degree has had any influence on him whatsoever. He may have started out at minimum wage, but he worked hard, focused on the right skills, honed his relationships with vendors and customers and, because of that, he became an integral part of their team.

Your comment is wrong and offensive.

Sicken Tired

Ill answer your question, ever heard of a plumber? Who do you think is easier to get hold of on a weekend, a doctor or a plumber, and the doctor will probably charge you less. There are lots of jobs that dont require a degree and pay well, I dont have a degree and I make 50.00/hr. doing a job that really isnt that difficult.

Time to let the Banks destroy America.

Obama's war on success? You mean "Republican's Destruction of the Middle Class" RDMC.

Obama has been protested by OWS, he has not backed it and if he tried he'd be told to back off. OWS is not Obama's or the Democrats. The Democrats would like you to believe that because it translates into votes but it's not true.

Washington and coporate collusion are destroying the middle class. No one party is anymore at fault than the other.

ItsAboutTime

I like the term "Obama's war on success". It really is appropriate for our President. The progressives in the middle class are doing a good job of self-destruction, the Republicans would welcome them with open arms if they really wanted to succeed and work for a living. There really are two very different ideas floating around this country and I am going to stick with the Republicans. I like their ideas.

adam, early on Obama said this about OWS: "The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you're supposed to do, is rewarded,"

They are stooges, pawns being used by him but they don't even realize it.

soaz, I'm sad you believe the media and politicians over the actual people. I'm an actual person and I say Obama is just as bad as the rest and if we want to see real change in Washington we had all better recognize that both parties are to blame and work to force both of them to change their tunes.

I'll agree the Democtratic party is trying to hijak the movement and with some success. But I'll have you know they'll only be successful if they can convince you and people like you that OWS is an extention of their policies. If OWS is taken over by the left, you are just as guilty of giving to them as those in the movement who are aligning with the left.

Adam, you may well be an exception to the rule but the DNC is working diligently to use the OWS movement to get Obama re-elected. The GOP did it with the TEA Party and the same thing is happening again.

JH-479998

I like the term "Obama's war on success". It really is appropriate for our President. The progressives in the middle class are doing a good job of self-destruction, the Republicans would welcome them with open arms if they really wanted to succeed and work for a living. There really are two very different ideas floating around this country and I am going to stick with the Republicans. I like their ideas.

Well, this is still a semi free country (forget the loss of liberities lost during the bush administration) and you are able to like whtever you desire. If you like the ideas of the republican due nothing party, certainly stay with them. I am sticking with most of the democrats and a moderate approach to fixing this country. Oh and of course the republicans would welcome them with open arms, if they take a minimum wage job, in a corporation that is not regulated, and provides benefits.

@ Soaz - I believe obama said "WE - those of us in leadership" but that must only apply to Democrats huh. The are no real republican leaders...

The situation in this country was not all caused by one specific party. There is definitely corruption, greed, and to much finger pointing by all parties involved. However, I still have yet to see any republican stand up and be accountable for their own actions. I have yet to see the republicans come up with any kind of plan except to cost one man his job at the expense of the rest of the nation.

Yes, because partisan bickering is doing so well for us.

Americans should demand the banning of corporate funding of our elections.

Conservatives, liberals and moderate will fall together.

It's just getting started. Hold on to your tin foil tri-cornered Tea Party hat.

dan, I'd say that would be the ultimate and best scenerio goal to come from OWS. We can all get behind that but we can't all get behind free post-secondary or limited corporate taxes. Campaign finance reform; keep representation of the majority of Americans in the hands of the majority of Americans not wealthy campaign donors.

Is all hope lost for any effective movement, because we, as Americans, are so extreme? The Tea Party was hijaked by the right because the left, who unquestioningly follows the party line, believed the media reports and let the opportunity go. Will OWS be hijaked by the left because the right, who unquestioningly follows the party line, believed the media reports and let the opportunity go. Centrists seem like the only logical people here.

To the business community Obama is the problem, its not so much what he has done, its what he might do, they dont trust him, these people arent stupid, they know his history and how far left he is and they just plain dont trust him. Nobody is going to risk their capital when they know that if he gets re-elected and the dems take the house he can cripple them with regulations and new taxes. We have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world, granted there are a lot of loopholes, but what if he closes those loopholes, corporate America isnt going to risk building new factories and hiring people when there is the possibility of Obama screwing them, better to just wait him out, they can afford to do that, but the average working stiff cant. There are a lot of problems in America, and they can be fixed, but not when big business, the people who get things done, look at the President as the enemy. IMHO Obama will try to distance himself from OWS, but they will be an Albatross around his neck come election time.

The problems America are currently facing can't even be addressed while the "Business Community" pays for our elections.

The Business Community in America includes CEO's of multinational corporations and banks that have lobbied for deregulation for all these years. Now they have it and corporate profits are at an all time high while salaries for American workers are at an historic low.

As long as they pay for our elections jobs will be shipped overseas, wars for oil will continue, pyramid schemes run by the banks will continue to be subsidized by the American tax payer.

Conservatives, liberals and moderates get screwed, only a precious few will live extravagant lifestyles subsidized by the American taxpayer.

The 1% as OWS calls them, don't care what antiquated ideology ones subscribes to, only that they get our money in good times and, well more good times (for them)!

Just like the good international banks worked hard at their successful pyramid scheme.

Banks marketed these federally insured loans to people.... the banks know if a person can afford a home or not... they just don't care... they just want a signature... anyone's signature.... I used to work in banking i know this first hand....there loan gets paid off by the fed if u fail to pay it and they get to take a persons home even if there just one day late on one payment.... the most profitable result in the whole entire situation.... just because people are not well informed isn't open license to exploit them.... The banks should have more risk than 0%.... so yes you can blame the rich for knowing exploiting the uneducated and disadvantaged in a rigged game...

your right the banks don't care... so what if YOU can't pay for something don't buy it... stop blaming someone else for your downfall... I don't mean you personally... another article today says that stores are pushing credit cards.... will people get the credit cards that they know they can't afford? yes they will and the stores will give it to them because that is business... if you can't afford to buy something don't put it on a card...simple math.

Beat these pricks at their own game....run all your cards to the max & declare bankruptcy. :)

MireVo - the banks simply operate in their own self interests, just like any other company does, and just like any individual does, and so I find it hard to fault them as you have. Before the government got involved, banks would put their own money at risk when initiating a mortgage or any other loan, and would rarely if ever lend money to anyone that they were not convinced could pay them back. But the government's incessant push to increase home ownership, under the false pretense that it would somehow stimulate our economy, led to the creation of fannie and freddie, which take mortgages off of banks balance sheets and remove them from risk so that they will lend more. So it is really no surprise that banks are offering mortgages to increasingly risky lenders, who then must foreclose as soon as housing prices start to fall.

In short, you should not be blaming the banks for maximizing their profits, as any company which does anything other than maximize profit is simply a poorly run company. You should blame the government for creating an environment in which the banks are rewarded for operating in a way which harms the American people and the economy in general. "Don't hate the player, hate the game."

You're is the only contraction for you are. Your never is. Write that one hundred times, and learn for a change. What part of the second grade did you miss?

Gordon

What part of the second grade did you miss?

Obviously the second part, the part where they taught contraptions, but only due to the fact that I had to repeat the first part, but your just messing with me aren't you?....:)

So let the banks get away with destroying America?

dan

It sounds like you have been a victim of foreclosure.

I own my home outright.

I am doing very well living in Manhattan. I'm a Union member in healthcare with a great pension. (that took a hit in '07, but that we gave up our raises to fix)

I care about what happens to Americans. If they don't get an education, its bad for us, if they go bankrupt because of stupid decisions, predatory lending, or because of illness it drags us the country down with them.

The people who have been screwed are my fellow citizens. If enough of them fail, we all will fail.

Like America itself.

Nope... Like the United States. The Americas are doing just fine. It's the United States that is falling over itself.

Obama Lies- I think you will find out you are greatly mistaken about the Occupy Movement's death. It is growing every day, all over the country, by leaps and bounds. The mainstream media enjoys showing video of police officers hauling occupiers off to jail and demolishing their encampments, but those news broadcasts just awaken more people to the fact that the U.S. is in deep trouble and deepens the resolve of an increasingly large number of people to get involved in making changes to save our country from becoming an oligarchy, run by a few super-rich corporate fat cats.

I'm sorry, I thought Americans were supposed to be responsible for the United States.

MamaMiller

Is there some point in the history of this country where it wasnt run by the rich? The poor dont have the capability to run anything, thats why they are poor.

I thought the poor in America were supposed to be Americans too.

I thought that the people who worked in America were supposed to have a say in how our country was governed.

The rich will always have more access and control of certain things. This happened before the great depression, the wealthy ran a pyramid scheme and screwed most people living in America. FDR took some of that control away from them and America became the most powerful country on earth.

It is cyclical, the wealthy use their influence to take more and more power, but when a tipping point is reached, the people are forced to take some of the power back.

Left and Right fall together.

Unite or fail.

The Occupiers are the opposite of the 'Me' generation. I have read all I can about the OWS movement, watch livestream videos of their activities, have a relative who was involved at Zuccotti park from its start, etc., and I believe they are some of the most devoted, caring true Americans I have seen in many years. They are willing to stand in the cold and rain, and risk being arrested to call attention to a great variety of problems in our country. I see them as patriots who are on the front lines fighting for ME, my children, and my grandchildren. They are people who realize there is more to life than watching football or NASCAR on TV, or trying to dress like Paris Hilton. They actually CARE about real, everyday people and want to work to improve life for others.

On another note, the OWS movement also want to reform the system, just as the Tea Party does. OWS is just as upset with the corporate take-over of the Democrat party and Obama as it is with any Republicans. It is not a left vs right wing issue.

Excellent post, Dan. Perfectly sums up several of the issues the Occupy movement is trying to bring to the attention of the public. We CAN work together to get amendments made and laws enacted to change this mess if we just quit finger-pointing and name calling long enough to work on it.

Amen, lets get the police to arrest the international bankers that defrauded the American public arrested!

dan: Amen, lets get the police to arrest the international bankers that defrauded the American public arrested!

Why stop there?! Let's arrest American bankers that broke the law too! Where's Eric Holder on this? Whay hasn't President Obama done anything on this? That's right, they were too busy running guns to Mexican cartels and suing states for enforcing Federal Laws.

Yeah the self proclaimed anti-Wall St President hasn't done anything about Wall St/banking corruption has he??

Obama, like all presidents had his election financed via wall street.

No president can take this on because they can't win in this system without their money.

We should support a constitutional amendment to ban corporate funding of our elections.

I'm about ready to welcome foreclosure on my unoccupied house, too! It's been up for sale as a "handyman's special" for over a year! Everybody who looks at it says it needs waaaaaay too much work! DUH! What do they think "handyman's special" means?!?! Anyway, it's a short sale so we need a cash buyer. IF the bank accepts it, we'll be good to go! If not, they can foreclose. I don't care anymore. Just can't afford to tend to a house that no one lives in. (It was willed to us & I never even wanted it!)

DTrent

I dont know about the laws in your state, but if you dont mind taking the loss, you might think about quitclaiming it to a charity, you might even get a tax break.

That's right! It's hard for a business to start up in America when the multinational corporations have staked the deck in their favor.

See if you can start a business here and pay no taxes or get subsidies (or both), like the multinational corporations and banks do.

Dan....start a green company and the dollars will rain down on you.

I'm doing well already, thanks.

That's right! Better to do nothing than protest. That's whats been working so well for us.

Judas, er I mean Judee Judee Judee. We checked out Oz and only found brainwashed monkey-like things flying around on right-wings. So we re-entered reality and noticed that Amerika has been taken over by corporate fascists. Read a little history in Hitler and how he came to power. Yes, the same Hitler who Republicans and right-wingers did not want to go to war against to stop.

Ahh, the old Carey Grant ploy, Judy, Judy, Judy. You mean right wingers like Old Joe Kennedy, I believe he was one of the few American diplomats who actually knew what Hitler's ass tasted like.

In the long run everything is a footnote in history.

Better to protest than just accept the destruction of America via our corporate funded election system.

We all fall together.