Foreclosure Crisis

I haven't heard Cenk talk about the foreclosure fraud mess that is becoming more worrying everyday.  I imagine this topic is coming soon and I have already seen the direction Cenk is going to take on it.  

Basically the underlying problem is that some financial institutions have turned into foreclosure mills.  They process mass amounts of foreclosures using computer programs and low-paid employees.  This has lead to corner cutting and outright fraud.

Another problem is that banks may have violated their contracts with those who bought mortgage backed securities.

Here is a quote from David Indiviglio at the Atlantic:

The investors who hold that MBS might be able to claim that the bonds they hold were not created properly, contracts were breached, and the bank that originated the mortgages needs to buy back the bonds. This, of course, would require many billions of dollars in capital in excess of that banks have lying around. And remember these aren't pretty bonds. They are mostly toxic and full of losses. Those losses would then be passed on to the banks.

Rosner imagines this leading to a Lehman-type weekend, where the financial industry again nears collapse. That might be a little melodramatic, but it isn't impossible. If these investors have the legal standing that Rosner thinks, they would be sort of crazy not to force banks to take back these bad deals. After all, it's better for the investors that they force these losses back to the banks who wrote the mortgages.

If this problem turns out to be real, and the worst-case scenario that Rosner imagines come to be, then it's hard to see how the government could fix it simply without tramping over contract law. Instead, more aggressive approached would be required.

It was Geithner during the AIG-bank bonus scandal who argued vigorously that the government could not and should not step on the sanctity of contracts.  Contracts underpin all that is holy about the free market system.
My guess is that now Geithner's advise will now be different.  Contracts-schmontract s, you can't make banks buy these things back!  They don't have the money!

Another thing to think about:  Who owns these mortgage backed securities now?  The answer is mainly Frannie, Freddie, and the Federal Reserve.  Do you think that the US government is going to ask for it's money back from the banks?

HahahhHAHAHahahaha.

The reason we won't make the banks buy back these assets is pretty simply though.  These government institutions knew they were toxic assets when they bought them.  We were trying to get them off of the banks' books.  To come back now and force the banks to buy them back because of a technicality seems absurd to me.

That said I don't know that much about this topic.  I'm eagerly awaiting Cenk's take on it. 

Obama Brings It

I just watched Obama's big Madison speech in lew of TYT. 

Obama is fighting and fighting well.  He talked about the Republicans trying to pass a "$700 billion tax cut for millionaire and billionaires."  That is strong and I think it will work.  Seriously, if you watch the whole speech it really reminds you of the Obama from 2008.  Don't get me wrong, Democrats are still going to get trounced, but I do think they'll be able to get many of us out of this fowl mood we've been in for the past year or so. 

Here's the thing though.  They are going to schedule that tax-cut vote for after the election.  They may pass this tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, and Obama might sign it.  Sigh.

And by the way Obama, it is a coincidence that you put the car in (D) to go forward and (R) to go back.  That's a good line never-the-less.

Factcheck.org Goes After Grayson

I, for one, was super-pumped when I saw that Factcheck was calling out a Democrat for going too far in his attacks on his opponent. 

The headline is galling:  Rep. Grayson Lowers the Bar.  But this is exactly the kind of headline we need to see about Democrats.  We should celebrate when Factcheck finds something to be exasperated at a Democrat for.  It means Grayson is doing something right.

It's Not Our Fault We're Bad at Politics

That seems to be the theme of the recent statements by Gibbs, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and even Barack Obama.  They are mad as hell that Democrats aren't excited by them anymore, and they're not going to take it anymore. 

Let's see if Cenk read the Rolling Stone interview and what kind of rage he will bring to the show about it.

Axelrod Article with Insider Tidbits

TNR has a cover article on David Axelrod that offers some insight into the White House.  The piece focuses mainly on Axelrod's biography and frustration with the pace of change in Washington under the boss he got elected and believed in probably more than anybody else in the country.

The outrage over the AIG bonuses was highlighted as an issue where Axelrod's political advise differed from the policy advise the president was getting from Geithner.  The article goes so far as to say that Geithner was arguing that countries cease to have advanced economies if the hallowedness and sanctity of its contracts is called into question.  We all know that Axelrod lost this fight.  Reading between the lines it seems like this issue was presented to Obama as politics versus policy.  There was nobody at the White House making the argument that allowing AIG employees to walk away with our money (as Cenk would put it) was bad policy, only that it was bad optics.  Geither probably made Obama feel noble while purposely pissing off the American electorate on both sides of the isle. 

The article also reveals that Obama is very reluctant to go after the Republicans.  Cenk often questions whether Obama's turn toward populism and progressivism as the election approaches is a cynical ploy.  If this article is to be believed it appears that Obama really thinks talking nice to Republicans is going to change the tone in Washington and that he's only been convinced to attack as the disastrous election looms.

Cenk Mentioned at NYTimes.com

Cenk's article, "Why Does Barack Obama Love the Estblishment So Much?" got a mention in a NYTimes online piece this weekend.  The NYTimes piece, which is a weekly column summarizing the reaction of the online left and right current events, is painful to read as the author seems to struggle to understand the left.  The writer, Tobin Harshaw, covers the hippie punching incident with a bit a bewilderment. 

I'm disappointed that Cenk missed the hippie punching story.  I didn't hear them mention it on Friday's show, and I'm sure it's something Cenk and Ben would have been interested in discussing. 

Personally I don't like the term hippie punching.  I had never heard of it before this week, but it's meaning seems obvious given the context.  I don't like it because I don't identify myself as a hippie, and I certainly wouldn't call Cenk a hippie, but TYT Nation is definitely apart of the group that the White House has been punching.  It is a term that seems make it even easier for this Tobin guy to dismiss the progressive criticisms of this president. 

Grayson's New Ad

This is strong.



We need find more Grayson's and Feingold's out there.  By the way, I just donated $10 to Feingold.  You should too.

Hippie Punching

Cenk is going to flip-the-fuck-out on Friday's show. Someone confronted the White House about their attitude toward the left last night.

According to Greg Sargent, on a conference call with liberal bloggers, Axelrod was pleading for help rallying the base.  Susan Madrak of Crooks and Liars asked him if he had heard of "hippie punching."  "We're the girl you'll take under the bleachers but you won't be seen with in the light of day," she told him.  You can see Susie's account of the story here and here. 

Sargent reports that Susie told Axelrod to stop making our jobs harder, and he replied by saying, "Right back at ya, rick back at ya." 

I think it needs to be made clear--and I'm sure Cenk will pick up this point--that it is not any blogger's job to motivate the base or make the White House's job easier.  This is not about our feelings.  It is about policy, and broken promises, and not standing up for what you said you believed in. 

I can't wait for the show tonight. 

Cenk Wrong About Joaquin

Here is just a little reminder about how wrong Cenk was about Joaquin Phoenix's appearance on Letterman in 2009.



Cenk comes out, guns blazing, that Joaquin is not faking during the Letterman interview.  Ana comes out equally as strong saying that Phoenix is obviously faking.  Jayar and Jesus ride the fence a bit more, but ultimately come down on Ana's side. 

U.S. Financial Post Article

This U.S. Financial Post article is unbelievably flattering toward Cenk, TYT, and TYT Army.  Here is the relevant paragraph (italics mine):

Political rallies have wracked the insurance company for months. Cenk Uygur of the largest online Internet show, the Young Turks, led the most pivotal protest against AIG. Uygur and his audience of one million plus fans banded together to create a nationwide campaign to get “…AIG to [repay] the American people…”

That's an incredible amount of credit for a reporter to give to TYT.  So much so that I ironically started to question the credibility of the U.S. Financial Post.  It appears to be a full-featured online-only news site, with plenty of articles, and a full team of writers.  However, I've never seen this organization linked to or mentioned anywhere else.  Their advertising seems to consist entirely of Google ads. 

It appears to me that this site is very small.  Perhaps Jenny DeMichele, the author of the AIG article is a fan of the show. 

Welcome to TYT Nation

I'm setting up this blog as a fan-site of The Young Turks hosted by Cenk Uygur, a place to discuss the show, provide links to articles and news discussed at Rebel Headquarters, and express my own opinions about politics and the "largest online Internet show."