Ever since there was all this chatter last week that OBAMA was ready to finally jump into the whole fraudclosure/collapse of the American housing system/Wall Street crime syndicate debate last week, my email and chat groups have been blowing up with conversations about what it all meant…..
From, FINALLY, THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED, OBAMA IS GOING TO SOLVE ALL THIS!
To, I SURE HOPE THE TASK FORCE MOVES QUICKLY AND CLAWS BACK THE PROFITS FROM THE FRAUD, ETC.
And then yesterday, Abigale Field drafted a fantastic article that described what she thinks any settlement should look like, with the headline:
WHAT A STRONG SERVICER SETTLEMENT LOOKS LIKE
Many”“including me”“have attacked the idea of a multistate and federal settlement with the biggest bailed out banks (wearing their mortgage servicing hats) on the grounds that it’s wrong to settle something that hasn’t been thoroughly investigated. We’ve also objected by pointing out the numbers on the table are too small by at least a zero to make much of a difference to homeowners or the housing market as a whole. We’ve raised more specific objections too, like the scope of the liability release and concerns about enforcement since the banks have exactly zero credibility on deals they’ve previously inked on these issues. (the entire post is here and is very much worth reading Abigale Field)
Now I give Abigale a whole lot of credit. In fact, I maintain that an article she wrote that appeared in AOL Money was the first national post that began to grasp the real magnitude of all this mess and hinted at the reality that this whole stinking pile is just too big to fix.
And this is precisely what is wrong in this nation, with this whole mess, and what in fact is wrong with any talk of a settlement with the banksters and with all their criminal conspirators both in government and in the myraid private businesses both on and off Wall Street that were active participants in this on-going crime spree. The rating agencies that stamped, GRADE A! on pools of (allegedly) mortgage-backed securities, the trustees and depositors and traders that sold “these shitty investments” (their words not mine) to unsuspecting investment managers around the globe, the “regulators” at SEC, IRS, Treasury, blah, blah, blah that either turned their backs entirely on the crime spree or were in fact complicit in the whole scam, the elected officials in both parties at the federal level and state level that just sat back and let all this continue on and on and on. Gingrich their historian, Romney their investor, Clinton and Bush and Obama, their champions and protectors.
And with all of that team stacked against us, was there anyone looking out for the American people? Was there an Elliot Ness or a Ferdinand Pecora? (Please google his name) No, of course not. All of “Them” listed above were and are still in on the take….and no-one, not a single elected or appointed “leader” (I’m just going to stop using that word because it has no application anymore) is willing to stand up, stop with all the rhetoric (“I’m going to get tough”) and just start dropping indictments and taking the banksters on perp walks.
Until there is some kind of a perp walk, all of this is just theater.
Anywhoo, I’ve moved past all of this. I’ve watched my friends, the people who have the courage to stand up and fight for people and for justice, be ruthlessly attacked by the establishment and their own government and no-one…not a single person stands up to voice protest. I’ve watched Florida’s governing party engaging in gross violations of basic laws, such as the governor repeatedly destroying public records…and no one voices even a whimper of protest. The knowing destruction of public records iis an impeachable offense and yet, I hear not a peep out of the democratic party.
Florida’s Attorney General is engaging in a public campaign of criticism of California’s Attorney General for night laying down and signing on to a deal, the details of which have not yet even been released, and no one, not a single person (except the Palm Beach Post) stands up to point any of this out.
There are just so many disgusting things coming out of our government (especially in this state) at all levels that it’s impossible to keep up with it all. Just yesterday it was revealed that Florida’s Governor wants to slash funding for public hospitals then funnel more money to the private hospitals that he was formerly associated with….yes, remember Scott was CEO of HCA hospitals. It’s reported that HCA’s own lawyers warned the HCA Board and Scott that Scott’s billing practices violated federal law, but Scott chose to ignore those warnings and bill, bill, bill away……they all took hundreds of millions of dollars from sick people as a result. HCA paid a teensy-weensy little fine, Scott walked away with millions then bought the governor’s mansion in Florida with his ill-gotten gains for a cool $65 million.
Fast forward to today, when it’s now reported that Scott’s new health care proposals will funnel hundreds of millions of dollars back to the very hospitals that were part of the largest civil settlement. But apparently, Scott knows nothing about all this:
“I don’t know if that’s true. I have not seen those numbers,” he said Tuesday.
Which brings me to my happy place, the point of release and resignation and acceptance. I just returned once again from farm tours and romping out in the woods. Talking with farmers and salt of the earth people that are frankly so far above, beyond and better than all of the dirtiness and evil that is this world we live in today.
I spent some time talking to a farmer who was nursing along all these beautiful things….ironically he used to be a contractor here in Pinellas County. Before the crash that is. So he built up this whole beautiful farm and was out knee deep in the dirt with his boys digging right there beside him. Just take a look at these beautiful berries….and look at the little bumblebee that stumbled into the frame….
The bees were buzzing all around, intently doing their job while all the humans scrambled around preparing lots of plants and blooms for the bee to work with. Just look at this guy digging in deep working that plant and doing his part to make sure this flower gets to fulfill its own ruby red destiny.
Just look at all these thousands of plants…the whole tunnel just buzzes with all the little bee critters buzzing around and doing their thing. Pesticides? Chemicals? Fertilizers? Nope, not a drop of anything. Don’t even get me started on what they’re doing to “our” food supply system….if you’re not already sufficiently furious, that whole subject really would send you to the moon.
At the end of the day, I caught an old Florida cracker staring out into the endless fields. I dare say he couldn’t care less what Obama’s settlement with the banks looks like. He probably doesn’t care much about the prisons or the hospitals or the gang of criminals that are meeting up in Tallahassee.
He just want’s to be left alone, free to work hard and be around people he can trust. 
