By Tanja Winter, La Jolla

Homebuyers need to start taking responsibility. Buying real estate is always a risk, but getting yourself into a loan you don't understand is just stupid. I don't blame the mortgage lenders, I blame the people who thought they could outsmart the market.

Posted by Get Real | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 1:39 pm

When only 8% of the people living in a city can afford what the city seems to keep wanting to call "affordable housing" it is only a matter of time before the credit expansion economy crashes. Corporate/Big Business profits have been driving inflation UP over these last eight years – total real wage incomes have fallen every year over that time and continue to fall…. Prices tripling while wages are dropping – guess the real economist were too busy making sure they were protecting our “Fictitious Economy” (UCLA – 2004) to see the real dangers of some 50% of our economy being generated (in some way) by Credit. It would have been nice if even one of them (real economist) had tried to sound the alarm while there was still time for us to avoid reaching the limits of our ability to make credit maintenance payments.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 1:45 pm

What banking business in its right mind would EVER fund another mortgage in San Diego if Mr. Aguirre finds ANY traction with his latest tirade? If you told me I could not foreclose on a loan in default, I'd never make the loan in the first place. If you folks want to bring the real estate market in SD to its knees you keep on supporting this A**. What you'll end up with a mortgage free zone where people will refuse to pay their debts.

Posted by JustWondering | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 2:25 pm

Aguirre is a headline grabbing narcissist. People who obtained loans they couldn't afford need to accept responsibility for their own errors in judgement. Why do we always have to protect people from themselves?

Posted by Jim | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 2:40 pm

I see 'do nothing for the working people "Goldsmith" is taking pot-shots at Mike A. Guess it is easy to point fingers at people who try to help the working people of San Diego while you sit back and do nothing yourself - right Mr. Goldsmith? Here is an idea - what say you come-up with a plan to keep 1/10 of the houses in North Park from being abandoned/foreclosed upon over the next 12 months.

Posted by Goldsmith? | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 2:44 pm

B of A bought (bailed out) Countrywide after Countrywide issued the loans.

Posted by Take that BofA??? | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 3:43 pm

Goldsmith? - Goldsmith isn't in a position to do anything until he's the City Attorney, which should take place before too long. When he does become City Attorney, he'll have the common sense and judicial restraint to understand that the feds and the state already are tackling this issue; it's not a City of San Diego issue, which means Aguirre's entry into the fray is political grandstanding, pure and simple. Instead, he'll direct his deputies to handle the massive backup of criminal cases that have been ignored by Aguirre.

Posted by Cobracat | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 4:06 pm

I think that the City Attorney, Mike Aguirre should continue to do what he does best and nothing more. Protect the squirrels.

Posted by Vikky Anders | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 4:32 pm

Hurray for Goldsmith. This assures his win in November. Aguirre has cracked.

Posted by Ann | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 4:40 pm

Just Wondering, it's called the "Democrat Party way of doing things." Gas too expensive? Put a tax on it! Gas hard to get? Start using our food as fuel and make sure no one can afford to buy staples anymore! Mortgages hard to get and even harder to keep? Chase the mortgage lenders out of town and make sure no one gets a loan. BofA stock took a big hit earlier on the mortgage debacle. I'm happy to report that it has been climbing back up hand over fist (with the exception of today). Yay!

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 4:56 pm

It's a perfect example of juxtaposition -- yin and yang, as it were: comments by "Jim" and comments by "Goldsmith," the former displaying sublime intelligence and the latter wallowing in inane slogans of the ultra-Left.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:05 pm

Lookslike Mike will be kicking some more corporate booty!

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:11 pm

Goldsmith (and his supporters) have nothing to suggest, no plan of action, just point fingers. What a cop-out "Goldsmith isn't in a position to do anything until he's the City Attorney" he should either suggest something constructive or let people who are at least trying to help, do their thing. I hope Goldsmith wins. The UT endorsed him did they now? Everyone knows the UT is always right about everything. So, lets hear all the plans better than Mike A's. Go ahead, if he is wrong come-up with something better.

Posted by Goldsmith? | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:20 pm

What is Sanders and the city council saying about this? There has been nothing in the news. Do they even know what's going on?

Posted by dorod | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:36 pm

What a story I can see it all now '1/10 of the houses in North Park abandoned/foreclosed upon over the next 24 months.' But Yeah, bank stocks are up! Yippy-Spippy

Posted by Goldsmith? | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:39 pm

So much talk, and none of it is of any matter. Ex parte Garland - everyone gets off free and none will ever be held responsible. Move to new Cities and do the same things - all over again, then come back to San Diego. If it has been more than six years - the people here will most likely not remember anything you did before you left.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:43 pm

Edgar-- first of all, it is the Democratic party...the economy is in trouble because of the republican party G. Bush, and the greedy big business interests in this country...I am not a Mike fan and I hope he loses. However, all of the ills in this town can be traced back to business and the republican mayors who sold out this city to special business interests....the chamber, republican party,developers and sports teams all come to mind...

Posted by panchy | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 5:47 pm

Aguirre stated: We believe these borrowers are victims of fraud and were roped into unconventional sub-prime loans when they probably could have qualified for a conventional fixed-rate mortgageâ?¦the parties come together and work out a reasonable alternative based on the values of these properties todayâ?¦ link Other Cities_have already stopped foreclosures this_way. There_are many precidents. Foreclosures are bad for neighborhoods, the overall community, city, and county. They drive prices down and ruin neighborhoods. Foreclosures are bad for both the borrower and the lender. If the lender and borrower can get together and modify their loan, maybe the borrower can keep their property. The last thing the lender wants is to take the property back. It will cost them money to foreclose and then turn around and sell it. Unfortunately, while loan modification seems like the way to go, the banks are not doing what is in their best interests.

Posted by La Playa Heritage | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 8:20 pm

Hey Billy B... I'm just wondering how long it will take the court to disqualify your hero, Mike Aguirre, from his newest quest. The revelations about his prior mortgage defaults in 1995 and 97 with Countrywide is, without a reservation, a conflict. Sure he cured both defaults in the nick of time, but his unwillingness to offer the details surrounding the non-payments is troubling once again. Mike says, "he likes Countrywide" but no one knows the context of his statement. Does he mean he likes their business? Or is it he likes them as a big target so he can hit the bull’s-eye of media attention grabber. The taxpayers, his supposed clients should have reservation, especially when there is a history between the two. The underlying issues, his defaults, only underscore his continued irrational, destructive and wasteful behavior.

Posted by JustWondering | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 5:36 am

Saw a headline this AM. “Foreclosure filings up 121 percent from last year” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25846164) The good old Christian Conservative Republicans controlling San Diego? They’re blaming the ‘working classes’ for not being able to keep their homes. Christians? Family Values? Exactly what are those – could you list them please? And the other political party? In San Diego, are you kidding? What other political party

Posted by This AM.... | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 6:19 am

You Go Punchy! From what I have seen over these last fifty years or so, this could be said to be the typical behavior of the group calling themselves Christian Conservatives. Family values, morals, ethics..., and a healthy amount of greed, hate for those not like them, and contempt for those who are in need. Seems like their 'faith' is all in their mouths. All very 'Christ like' if you were to ask them - I am sure. Could be why I jumped off that hypocritical political ship a very long time ago. Anyone have any idea what that party stands for any more? More people living on our streets and homeless, more hungry, more without medical care, many more poor, but bank stocks are going up again so yippy-skippy? One last thing, sense when is Gambling and Supporting Gambling being 'Christ like'?

Posted by Goldsmith? | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 6:44 am

I watched Aguirre as he was interviewed yesterday on CNN and felt very proud. San Diegans should be grateful that at least one top-tier City employee regularly goes to bat for the citizens (the "customers," in Sanders' CEO-speak: remember, Sanders is operating the town on the George Bush model, in which Sanders owns the "business" and the citizens buy, like it or not, what he decides can be sold to them). Aguirre was very good in the interview and explained things in a straightfoward way, outlining the legal responsibilities of lenders and how the City Attorney's office would intervene to protect home buyers where the law allowed. I hope San Diego continues to get coverage showing this kind of positive leadership. The only news we usually get is that covering the endless scams of the Republican officials who are using the city to line their pockets.

Posted by Aguirre is right | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 6:47 am

Goldsmith? -- And when Goldsmith is CA, he won't do anything BECAUSE IT'S NOT THE ROLE of the CA to get involved in this matter. The state and the feds already have cases going. There is plenty for Aguirre to do that IS part of his job description...but he'd rather chase squirrels and unwinnable lawsuits. And let's say he's successful on this: no ability to foreclose = no banks lending money for mortgages = the destruction of San Diego's housing market.

Posted by Cobracat | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 6:59 am

Did countrywide threaten Aguirre with forclosure on his home twice. Is revenge once again his motivation?

Posted by sdvoter | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:17 am

Hope you all heard Mike Aguirre stumbling all over himself on Roger Hedgecock's show yesterday. Roger finally got sick of Mikey's foolishness and had to hang up on him. Aguirre is grabbing headlines off the work and sweat of the Federal and State governments efforts to solve this foreclosure crisis. Aguirre will accomplish nothing with him lawsuit except show that he can't concentrate on his own work without meddling in affairs not under his jurisdiction.

Posted by Cheeky | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:31 am

The affordability index for housing in San Diego County for the 1st quarter of 2008 stood at 25.2%. The prior year the index stood at 9.4%. The low was 3.6% in the 4th quarter of 2005. Real estate continues to get better and better for real estate buyers, especially for firt time buyers. And as for Aguirre I am thankful Goldsmith is running against him. Goldsmith will win in November and our long nightmare of the Aguirre era will be over.

Posted by Affordability Index | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:48 am

Banks raked in enormous profits, it's well documented they used shady practices to do it. They should be forced to renegotiate the blatant cases of abusive lending. Since Bush and his buddies won't do anything except make us pay for the frauds, I'm glad Aguirre is stepping up and making the case. San Diego is one of the worst hit Cities, so it's certainly his business to attempt to recover some of the citizens losses through renegotiated loans at realistic valuations.

Posted by Fred_Williams | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 8:14 am

Regarding: San Diego City Attorney Michael Aguirre to sue Countrywide Financial over lending practices and Washington Mutual among others on the block. I am proud to call Mike Aguirre my friend. As a recently elected Democratic Central Committee Member, I have come to know Mike as a true blue champion of the so-called little people. Iron Mike has more guts than the Russian Brown Bear. In a nation where everyone professes to be King Tut and individual responsibility remains the holy grail of petty capitalists and their Republican brethren, we ought to hold the financial institutions responsible for their own twisted rhetoric and moral hypocrisy. Daniel J. Smiechowski

Posted by Daniel J. Smiechowski | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:15 am

So it's all about what Aguirre is doing for the "Working Man"? Has anyone considered what protecting the "Working Man" from those Big Bad Ceditors -- who are legally required to and do in fact issue hundreds of pages of disclosures every time they finance a house so the buyer knows what they are commiting to -- is going to do to real estate prices for those of us who own homes and have not defaulted on our loans? Once the mortgage credit dries up, current owners will only be able to sell their homes at a price where the buyers can pay cash. I am a so-called "Working Man," who worked hard to buy my home and I can't wait for its value to go in the toilet! Thanks so much, Mr. Aguirre!

Posted by Has Anyone Considered? | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:17 am

Panchy, first of all, it is the "Republican Party." Second that other accumulation of rag-tag misfits, social outcasts and iconoclasts makes up the "Democrat Party." It has not earned the name "democratic," espcially when considering the measures B. Hussein Obama has already announced for his new presidency. Inbetween measuring the Oval Office for drapes and flying to Afghanistan for a 15 minute photo op playing basketball with the troops (who he would not even stop to talk to on his way out the door and back to safety), he has, I am sure, also concocted some even more fantastic plans, yet to be dropped on an astounded public. One teeny example: back in with the so-called "Fairness" Doctrine. Even calling that party "democrat" is doing it an honor it most assuredly does not deserve.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:27 am

I once had a bad mortgage loan and I didn't realize the exact terms until the day I signed the loan. But I signed it anyway because I needed the money. No one forced me into it. No one told me I had to do it. I made my own decision. But I also knew that I had to get out of that bad loan as soon as I reasonable could. I paid some penalties but I got into a conventional mortgage. House in San Diego used to be very highly priced. I think the only way to get people into the houses was to offer risky loans. How is that the banks fault? The homeowner needs to be responsible. If they can't afford to buy a house, don't buy a house!

Posted by Ann | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:44 am

Ann, if what you say is taken as correct it seems that the model would be that the victim is always at fault. Then should we blame the victim in every case, every con job, every Graff…, and extortion? We have allowed the idea of social responsibility to be removed from the people running our banking system. The moral hazard has been removed by giving the Bank the human identity of social accountability instead of the people running them. What is even worse, is how the people who are apparently victimized by these ‘non-human identities’ are supporting and endorsing their victimizers. Remember, usury was a sin in many religions – and for a reason; and we can all see that reason manifested around us now. Is the child at fault when the parent beats them? No, those who have strength and power are responsible - not the weak.

Posted by Really? | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:45 am

Will someone please explain how all this fits into the Charter-mandated duties of the City Attorney? I guess I'm just not seeing it.

Posted by Rock On | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:58 am

I am not saying the victim is always at fault. And I'm only talking about home loans. Aguirre is suing Countrywide -- a company he has had a loan with. These are not fly by night companies that leave the "victim" holding the bag. He also mentions Washington Mutual, etc. Should there be limitations on what they can do? Perhaps -- so put some new rules into place. But like I said before, I signed my loan knowing that it wasn't necessarily something I could live with. I didnt' buy swamp land in Florida. I do think people need to understand what they are doing before they do it. I guess that's just crazy thinking these days. And this has nothing to do with the City Attorney's duties so he should get out of it.

Posted by Ann | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 12:12 pm

31. Ann wrote on July 25, 2008 10:44 AM: "I once had a bad mortgage loan and I didn't realize the exact terms until the day I signed the loan. But I signed it anyway because I needed the money. No one forced me into it......ANN, to think that you are a licensed attorney boggles the mind. Have you EVER filed a complaint in your life?? Have you ever heard of FRAUD, because that is EXACTLY what happened to you-and yes, you WERE forced to sign that loan agreement if it came down to the wire and you needed the money. MY QUESTION, why didn't you SUE for fraud????? Because that is what happened to you-plese don't ask me for the elements, I dont have enough space here.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 12:57 pm

Your right, I am sure. It is all the fault of the poor and powerless who had to live off their homes to make-up for shortfalls in earned wage incomes; not the ‘uber wealthy’ who have driving down wages every years over the last thirty-years. It is also the fault of the poor that their children are hungry. Someone said something about that once before – when a whole group of people were starving because of a potato famine – ‘let them eat their young’ I believe was what they reportedly said. How sad that the Wealthy in our own country seems to now be saying much the some thing. Instead of giving taxpayer money to the banks – why not give the taxpayer money to the homeowners who really need it? Because people tend to only help their own and our politicians....

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 1:36 pm

Edgar, your righty rhetoric and namecalling is too lame to be offensive. I imagine we'll be hearing more of this boring tripe (we're "social misfits", ouch!)from now 'til November, at which time repub's will be swept from the Whitehouse and and what remains of them in Congress. You belong to a party of cranky, balding, dinosaurs, sinking in a tarpit of discredited ideology.

Posted by Edgaritis | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 2:04 pm

Gregory, the uber wealthy?? Who might they be? Oh, yes. The Kennedys, Sen & Mrs. Kerry, old lady Pelosi and her old man, John Edwards (but I guess most of his 100s of millions will be going to his terminally ill wife, now that the cat is out of the bag about his Jesse Jackson-style love child and Camilla Parker Bowles look-alike mistress) and on and on and on, ad upchuckeam. Oh, the good old Dumbcrats, party of the poor, the oppressed, the working folk. Why is it run by people who count their wealth in BILLIONS?Compared to them, Republicans are welfare bait. And "Christian conservatives"?? What about Slots Harry Reid, proud Mormon and deliverer of goodies to the mob-run gambling industry of Nevada?

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:06 pm

Billy Bob...not everyone named Ann is a lawyer. And no, no one forced me into that loan. I waited until D day and by that time I didn't know of any alternatives. I blame only myself. I wasn't conned. I got out of it as soon as I could and I'm happy for it. If you don't have good credit, there is someone that will lend to you but it will cost you in some way.

Posted by Ann | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:24 pm

Please educate me. If someone realizes that a contract she/he signs IS NOT exactly what she/he thought it was initially on the day of signing, how is that fraud if the contract is signed anyway? AND, just because this person decided to sign the contract for what ever reason, how does that make it the companies responsibility? If the terms are in the contract, and one signs that contract, then that person is responsible. BBH that is what is wrong with this country today. Everyone wants to blame the other and many lawyers are encouraging these irresponsible people. Ann, thanks for being honest and responsible. BBH take a lesson! Aguirre will be removed from office come November and November cannot get here quick enough.

Posted by Ron Weiss | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 8:35 am

It's fraud if the signature was obtained through false pretenses. If the person signs it thinking he knows what it's all about and that it's okay with him, it's another story. He's a doofuss and should have shown it to an attorney before signing. Some of these companies (and/or some of their irresponsible agents), however, misrepresented the terms of the contract, telling the poor borrower, "Oh, it's okay. The payments will never go up that much and if the payments do get a bit too high, we'll just refinance for you. Don't worry about anything." You know, it's much like the scam city employees pulled on a) dumb-as-dirt councilmen, like Madaffer and b) the taxpayers of San Diego with regard to pensions.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 11:17 am

Oh, and I forgot to add to my previous comment (i.e., IF it is published), Aguirre was wrong on this whole issue. I haven't the foggiest idea what possessed him to go down THAT road.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 11:28 am

Poor poster 38. I am sure there is nothing anyone can teach you, it seems you already know everything. Have a nice day.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 11:28 am

Gee Edgar, your party sure did a good job on their watch, didn't they? The deregulation and tax cutting and preemptive war have really improved our country's prospects, huh?

Posted by Steve K | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 2:51 pm

Stevereno K, if you had been a long-time reader of the comments section, you'd know that I am also disgusted with the present-day Republican Party. Perhaps you'd care to elucidate on what you mean (sarcastically) by "improved our country's prospects"? You mean, that we have not had additional 9-11's? As for tax cuts, we need more!! If you think they had anything to do with Arab/Iranian/Venezue oil producers intentionally driving up the price of oil, think again. You certainly have no understanding of world macro-economics. We'll see just how well President B. Hussein Obama does. Bush may not know s..t from Shinola about these things, but Obama, with his vast experience, knows a whole lot less. We'd all better hope San Diego is not on the terrorists' list, although we are close enough to LA, it probably will make no difference.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 6:35 pm

Edgar--Tell me: Do you feel we are better off than we were in 2000? The national debt has gone from 5.7 trillion to 9.5 trillion in 7 years. We took tax cuts, while at war and now our economy is in the dump?

Posted by Steve K | reply to this comment
July 27, 2008 3:37 pm

It would appear Aguirre can't manage his personal life any better than he does his struggling kingdom at the City Attorney's office. This whole Countrywide thing stinks, as does almost everything he's involved with. Wake up people. He simply uses the gimmick of looking out for the taxpayer to garner your support. And sadly some of you still buy into it. Open your eyes and minds people. Look who's endorsing him. The same people or groups that 6 months ago were anti Aguirre are now with him. Partisan politics PERIOD!!!!

Posted by Citizen X | reply to this comment
July 27, 2008 5:10 pm

OK, let's bail out the people in need who didn't understand what they were signing when they purchased their home. In addition to helping with their mortgages I would also like to help with their future decisions. If it takes a village to raise a family we (US taxpayers) should be involved in good times as well as bad. Car buying, having another child, buying groceries, planning vacations or selling and purchasing another residence are all COMPLICATED, shouldn't we be involved in those decisions as well? Am I only going to be brought in after the fact, expected to help clean up the mess? Shouldn't I have had a say when many of these individuals where refinancing their homes to purchase the 60" flat screen with the killer surround system? Anyone being bailed out should be required to get approval for any future financial decisions from a volunteer committee.

Posted by PP | reply to this comment
July 28, 2008 8:18 am

PP -- I like your idea! Sign me up for the volunteer committee.

Posted by Ann | reply to this comment
July 28, 2008 9:39 pm

Un accountable big wigs and trust funders are the sickness = Mike is the cure.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
July 28, 2008 9:41 pm

Tell you what I think; I think it is wrong to give taxpayer money to the Big Banks. I would rather give taxpayer money to the people who are loosing their homes. The Banks win for giving loans to unqualified applicants, and the unqualified applicants are the one losing their homes. The Government bailout of the Banks is little more than corporate welfare. Why, all those homeowners having a hard time making their payments are still out-there - about to be put out on our streets. For the banks it is a ‘win win,’ they get the bad loans written-off AND they get to keep the empty homes. I would rather my tax dollars help the people living in my city than some banks whose boards of directors have soft hands and feet. I was raised that way, protect the week and help those who can not help themselves, lend a hand to those in need…, was I the only one who was raised this way?

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 29, 2008 8:37 am

Guess what, Gregory? I agree wholeheartedly with sentences 1 and 4 of your comments at 51. The rest, of course, is simply lefty BS. I don't doubt that you really believe it, but it is still BS nonetheless. I am for people keeping as much of their hard-earned money as possible -- not for Jesse Jacksonesque redistribution of wealth. Maybe if I were much younger, I'd agree with you on that: simply quit working and allow the other people to support me. But, I've already had my career, worked for my money, and you, Obama and your socialist friends can forget about getting your hands on what I have. But, thank you very much, anyhow, for caring.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 29, 2008 8:54 am

Thing is, we are already giving money to the banks - so the bail-our choice is the banks or the people. Please do not call me a lefty again, I am not. It seems you support a redistribution of wealth to the banker but not to the people. Is that the case friend?

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 29, 2008 10:31 am

Gregory, I calls 'em as I sees 'em. If you spout leftwing platitudes, then you are a lefty. But, do a more careful job of reading. I did say I AGREE with you on your point about corporate welfare and, as you do, am against giving taxpayers' money to banks. You don't mind giving it away -- just not to banks. I object to the government giving my tax money away -- period. Give your own money away if that's how you feel. I believe in and participate in charity. How much and to whom -- that's MY call, not yours, Obama's, Pelosi's, Reid's or anyone else's inside or out of government.

Posted by Edgar | reply to this comment
July 29, 2008 11:46 am

Then perhaps you need to check your prescription; unless we believe deficit spending, usury, turning a cold callous eye to the need of the poor, sick and hungry, and supporting the densest gambling casino expansion area in all of California is being representative of Christian Conservative values. That our City Council opens each meeting with a prayer while supporting and perpetration such unchristian like acts is, I believe, the penultimate act of hypocrisy. Exsurge Domine

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 31, 2008 3:14 pm

Ever hear of the Military Idustrial Complex??? Well now we have 2 more to add in...The Banking/Financial Services Industrial Complex and the Medical/Drug Industrail Complex....and they are killing the country with their filth.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
August 1, 2008 12:35 pm

That's correct, we see those are all aspects of the same group - the global credit consortium. Average earned wage incomes have been dropping sense 1974 (in realizable buying power/cost of the necessities of life,) and from that time forth ever greater levels of credit have been extended to the American Working Class. They contribute to the creation of false consciousness by construction the labels Management and Middle Class; but if you work for a living, you are part of the working class nonetheless. Moreover, today the foolish who have attached themselves to the label of Middle Class, having lived off ever-greater levels of granted credit access, are seeing their homes foreclosed down around them. Credit Slavery I have heard it call, Dept Peonage - our individual autonomy is inversely proportional to the amount of debt we've accumulated.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
August 1, 2008 2:54 pm

Greed and Power, and the wanting of more of both... that is what it appears we have here. Seems like we are happy to pay millions to keep a cross up on a hill - yet could care less about what the cross is claimed to have once stood for. Values, morals, ethics..., in San Diego? Exactly where is that? I see no open government, I see no accountability, and I hate to rain on the Republican Spending Parade, but ‘borrow and spend’ is in a order of magnitude greater than the interest rates applied, complied, and adding to the principle; far worse than tax (the wealthy) and spend. As we call all easily sees, we have, at almost every level of our society, borrowed to the limits of our ability to maintain our credit maintenance payments. The limits and space of our Credit Economic Expansion has been reached.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
August 4, 2008 8:15 am

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