To me, this is simply another example of why democracy, which used to be the best system on the planet, has now become so corrupted by capitalism and the monied interests thai it must be replaced by a more modern system such as a democracy that is based on an economic system that provides for the welfare of all and not just the wealthy.
We used to have debtor prisons. In my home town we had a poor farm -- the advent of SSI about 1973 ended it.
The first Bankruptcy Act of 1800, applied only to merchants, was enacted in response to major financial panics arising in 1792 and 1797 as a result of speculation. In those days, as bankruptcies were involuntary, there were no consumer bankruptcy attorneys as we have today to advocate for debtors. Many debtors had become imprisoned, including some “prominent citizens” -- like two of the signers of the Constitution, Robert Morris and James Wilson. Morris spent three years in debtors’ prison until obtaining a discharge under the 1800 Act. Wilson, who was the first law professor at the College of Pennsylvania and appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1789, fled Pennsylvania in order to avoid debtors’ prison. The 1800 Act was not intended to be permanent, but rather a short-term fix. Though it was set to expire in five years, Congress repealed it in 1803.
In fact, for the great majority of the nineteenth century in the United States, federal bankruptcy law did not exist, and there were still debtors’ prisons. Two more temporary bankruptcy acts were later passed in 1841 and in 1867. The Bankruptcy Act of 1841 was again enacted in response to a financial crisis and it lasted less than two years. It did show shifting aims in public policy, however, in that for the first time American bankruptcy law provided for voluntary petitions by non-merchant debtors.
The Bankruptcy Act of 1867 was again a reaction to economic crisis, this time brought about in the aftermath of the Civil War. It provided for both voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy petitions as well as petitions brought by non-merchant individual debtors. Individual bankruptcy involved a liquidation of his assets but allowed for $500 of exempted assets such as one’s necessary household and kitchen furniture, and clothing for his wife and children. Again, however, the Act was short lived. The 1867 Act was repealed in 1878 leaving American debtors again without a federal bankruptcy law.
I'm poor as dirt and I did the bankruptcy thing after my Ex-Wife drained my bank account and ran up my charge cards, she stole personal position deceased family members had left me. She took our joint Tax return because she felt "I" did deserve it. After 8 affairs and 2 abortions she Bankrupted me, emotionally. All because she fell in love with another man's "Bank account." OH, she never learned to simply say the word: "No." I guess you could say she was the "Goddess" of the "Flies."
I’m not poor as dirt although significantly poorer after my “hero” ex firefighter husband parasite stole a half million from me. And tried to manipulate me into suicide. I’m lucky to be alive, and he’ll never be prosecuted because a jury wouldn’t convict.
I don’t expect you sympathy but neither of these stories have a place here..
Jan--As long as the thread is bankruptcy they do. Just because we aren't an active member of the rich and famous collective the fact remains the process in a form of protection for both the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ya, even me.
The things that drive someone into bankruptcy, and how the law works ARE relevant.
I have seen one or another spouse of people I know manipulate or outright lie about financial resources, and how the law works to protect people is relevant. We can’t legislate integrity, though to some extent that IS what laws are about, isn’t it … !
Hearing the stories of politically like-minded people is an important part of the e-community. It's hard to have a local community if you are not a church-goer and your family is spread out or non-existent. Even though I live in the SF Bay area, I unknowingly moved into a very conservative neighborhood, and enjoy the contacts Prof. Reich has brought together. Stories are a great way to persuade the misinformed.
Donald, that is so very sad. I am sure you were devastated! I have heard of so many stories like this and it makes me wonder if more people are losing their moral compass? I can't understand the need for anyone to treat another so cruelly! I am sorry for what you had to endure.
Peggy--I didn't love my wife, but I did love my kids. The intuition of marriage was basically destroyed when they made the ruling couples no longer needed "Grounds" for a divorce. All you needed was the desire to split, regardless of the children.
The one good thing to come out of this is you raised your children and I know they were raised right! Love is taking care of children after such a tragic event. I hope you and your children's future is bright and happy.
It sounds like what you needed was a good lawyer. With sympathy, the courts have parameters both for financial depredation, and, importantly, parental rights. The law has a hard time coping with lies. Children have a hard time sorting out lies. But not the fault of "no-fault."
Same here, Donald. My first ex-wife left me and deserted my 2 little sons, 8 months, and the other one 2 years old. She run off with a guy from a mental hospital, and then 2 other guys she hardly knew. I divorced her, and remarried a lady that was 5 years younger than myself and we had a good marriage for 40 years, and 7 years ago, she up and left me, and to this day refuses to tell me why she left. She hasn't remarried and doesn't date other guys either.. Go figure? I have pleaded and begged her to come back to me, but she declines.
Thanks for sharing the end of the custody saga! I made a comment above not entirely relevant. Here is your "could have been worse" story, like you needed one: As a Public Defender, I was lucky to seldom be assigned to the child support "calendar," but s... happens. One of the few cases I went to my boss and said, I can't do this, was a case where the District Attorney was suing (on threat of jail!) for reimbursement of "welfare" paid in the past. The deserted spouse had scraped along raising three kids, but for some period had let a relative take care of the youngest, and the relative had collected welfare. The spouse who deserted had solid employment and had "hooked-up" with a new spouse well-off. But the name on the welfare rolls was the destitute abandoned one. The DA had no interest in collecting from the parent who actually had capacity.
Debtor prison should have been the fate of many of those executives behind the 2008 Great Recession. History teaches us that the powerful, except for the two signers of the Constitution, can escape financial difficulties far more easily than the rest of us. Instead of prison, one executive even became an Ambassador.
I don’t really “like” that, but I’m in total agreement — maybe not reinstituting debtors’ PRISON, but absolutely not letting people with money avoid losing their resources and pushing people without money into further jeopardy and economic despair…
Thanks for reminding me about the farm in my home county. Destitute old people went there for care, and my Brownie troop serenaded them. At some time in the fifties, we got a Hill-Burton hospital where local people could be treated, but that, too, closed and was turned into a nursing home.
And thanks also for the tutorial on bankruptcy throughout our history. I recall that when a wealthy family in my daughter's school went bankrupt, they had to give up their yacht but not their airplane. Being clueless, I assumed they were destitute until someone set me straight.
Thank you for even more context. And feminist history too: “clothing for his wife and children” Was he afforded an allowance to clothe himself as well?
Married women's property acts, under state law, didn't kick in until around the Civil War in most states, although the concept of "dower" exists at common law and was expressed in some state statutes.
In Pa, women could sue individually, but historically that was not true in federal court.
Daniel I understand that Rudy can't use bankruptcy to escape his felonious liability. Is that true.
He also does not have the money to pay the judgement, and said something about blood out of a turnip. If so then he has a personal lien the rest of his life, and has hid his assets offshore, and I understand a forensic accountant and lawyer has been hired to track them down.
What do you know about this Daniel.? I'm curious, will have to pay up or will he escape?
Thanks Daniel. I understand, but my question is can he avoid the judgement of $148 million in favor of those two fine ladies, and any other financial judgments coming his way by filing bankruptcy, I have read that he can't, same thing for Alex Jones, has he ever paid the people that he maliciously harmed.
Alas it seems that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss will have to go to bankruptcy court to recover damages.
If all it takes is to file bankruptcy to avoid being sued for malicious harm, then why even bother?
Not that simple. The creditors include more than Freeman and Miss. The US Trustee will try to identify all assets, current and potential, before distributions are made.
I'm sure Alex Jones has had to pay something but I'm not on top of his case.
Thanks Daniel. I guess the question is can Rudy escape specifically the judgment in favor the ladies. I realize he has other liabilities, some will lose in the case of bankruptcy, that is the whole purpose of bankruptcy, but I believe that some debts incurred,by the very nature of the debt, can not be discharged via bankruptcy. For instance a debt incurred as a result of intentional and malicious acts and language. It is different from a liability incurred by circumstances beyond your control or even bad, good faith decisions, but a debt incurred as a result of intentional and malicious conduct and language.
Facts no longer matter. The Enlightenment is dead. The minions have not changed. Our leaders have discarded reason. The Greeks would call us a Dionysian people, a bunch of drunks meeting their 'fate."
Daniel, thank you for the details and valuable bankruptcy history. As a person who chose the low income teaching profession I always realized the American Dream may not be available for me. By the end of my military duty at the rank of Captain , my college National Student Defense Loan had been paid in full. Today, I believe America is destroying an educated labor force opportunity by allowing greed to make student loans so prohibitive. Students are choosing not to attend college or serve in the military. The blue collar workers who are inspired by MAGA must understand the need for investing in self training and go where the jobs are. For years I avoided the expense of marriage and children and was convinced that large families are for wealthy people only. I worked very hard at teaching on both coasts and also created a small business, never losing sight of the perils of bankruptcy in changing markets. I sold the business debt free for a modest profit which now supplements my education pension, necessary, after Reagan decided to reduce Social Security benefits for teachers. At age 68 I met a beautiful, amazing Filipina doctor (widow) who changed my life to give me the missing part of my American dream. Her son is a software engineer, wise beyond his 33 years, reluctant to marry because he is also very aware of market risks. The American economy may be the envy of the world but the husband and wife who both work is essential for adequate finances to raise a family. Statistics record that 50% of marriages result in divorce which can result in a fast track to bankruptcy. My recommendation to young people is to remain unmarried, build a career and some capital and find a working mate if you can......and choose a more profitable profession than teaching if you can.
We are moved by circumstances, and I am not good at giving marital advice, although I was a master in divorce and supervised domestic relations lawyers. My wife and I are both retired federal employees. We still had to borrow and mortgage and do outside work at times. I can't imagine a single person having an equivalent financial potential. And I can testify that loneliness was hell.
I think the American dream is still alive but people are not usually provided the means to "succeed". Despite what you say, it is not as hard now as it had been during our parents' time -- depression and WWII.
I also represented school districts. In 1965, LBJ, a former teacher, promoted the Higher Education Act, which enabled many to attend college who would not otherwise have had the chance. It covered many bases, including the provision of federal resources for continuing education, community service programs, and stronger library programs and library instruction. Republicans and Dixiecrats said it was an attempt to take over local control of school.
Most of the kids from our school who became extremely wealthy had connections. Could be family wealth and connections, but some of them could block and tackle, got a free ride to college and these days get NIL money starting in high school. Through Title I, a/k/a Chapter 1, we had a "schools without failure" program. https://www.amazon.com/Schools-Without-Failure-William-Glasser/dp/0060904216
Some of our teachers were nationally recognized. Several wrote masters theses about it, proselytized We did some "illegal" things. We had "tracking," and the 4th track were s-l-o-w, before we knew about learning disabilities. Some of those slow learners became business owners, hired people who were in the 1st track. We had a huge dropout rate. When I was in school we had "football study hall" which imparted relatively high test scores. We had 11 assistant football coaches, most taught math and science, some taught at the college level. Some later went on to become college coaches. We had years that more than 100 kids got scholarships.
In many cases Pell grants, internships and externships led to greater and better things. I am grateful that I was subsidized - through co-op, GI bill, I was a TA, substitute teacher, adjunct lecturer, etc.
I listened to vocational experts for about 30 years. About 20% of the general population needs a helping hand. VEs provide "tricks" people can do to increase earning capacity. For every dollar the government spends on vocational rehabilitation it gets back 7. I'm big on the IEP, individualized educational prescription and think that all students, not just "exceptional"" students benefit from a plan based on a kid's aptitude and potential. VEs can identify work skills, take an inventory, just like in an IEP.
But I don't think I would give anyone that kind of marital advice.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I rejected education administration positions offered in CA and MA because I wanted to assist troubled students, not solve administrative problems. Time spent surfing, skiing and coaching was valuable to me. After 10 years teaching in Irvine, California I returned to MA to learn to use IEP's. A small business venture, an MBA Degree, and carpentry supported me while I taught 15 miscreant inner city gang youths at the "Challenge HS" in Malden, MA. Later I taught SPED students at a vocational high school near Boston. After retirement from public ed I was hired as Case Manager at Landmark school , where individualized instruction was an important focus of the curriculum. All 20 SPED students assigned to my caseload were accepted to colleges. Many of my students had been abandoned by their parents similar to the way my brother and I were neglected as children. I understood their anger. Behavior disordered students tested academically the same as learning disabled. I learned that once the emotional issues were addressed student performance improved. I was an ex Marine providing structure and discipline to a population starved for love. Public education made valiant efforts to address such needs of IEP students. Improved funding, better teacher preparation, smaller class size helped. At age 81, I have become critical of parents who choose to have children then abandon them in so many ways. When I watch the evening news I see immigrants, war refugees and thousands of underserved children and ask why so many parents have children when they can't afford to support them? In my environmental view the world is overpopulated. In 1729 Jonathan Swift wrote a satirical essay a "Modest Proposal" suggesting people sell their children as food. My proposal is asking people to delay marriage, plan ahead and consider adoption. Happy Holidays to you.
The changes that we saw in 2005 were amendments to the 1978 Reform Act, which was seen as too generous to debtors. One can characterize those amendments as creating a new debtors' prison with continuous harassment from bill collectors.
Yep; it swayed to far for the lenders, and to hell all else. Hence another crisis on the horizon that Biden seems to be trying to address and is getting very little help.
THE ENEMY INSURRECTIONIST ARE AT THE GATE, DEFEAT TREASONOUS , TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE AND JAIL CORRUPT AND TRAITOR RTRUMP AND CRONIES.THE ENEMY INSURRECTIONIST ARE AT THE GATE, DEFEAT TREASONOUS , TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE AND JAIL CORRUPT AND TRAITOR RTRUMP AND CRONIES. VOTE DEMOCRATIC , AND RESTORE DEMOCRACY.
James. You do know that typing in all caps is a waste of time and effort, people really don' read all caps, in fact they are annoying and hard to read.
At some point the wealth disparity will become so great that there will no longer be purchasing power in the hands of consumers and the top heavy economy we now prop up on credit will begin to topple as it almost did in 2008. While we still have an economy and hopefully reelection of a sane and clear president, work should begin to investigate a more modern economically viable form of democracy and economy to replace what we have. We were all shocked when the USSR economy and government crumbled to dust almost overnight. Unfortunately they had no idea of a better alternative and the suffering of the general population was immense.
I would propose a system called “Economic Democracy” as viable alternative when the inevitable fall of our current capitalism-based economy fails. The monied interests will again declare bankruptcy and we, the everyday citizens, will be left holding the bag.
Marc, economic democracy sounds fine except for how to achieve it. I agree completely with you that the corporations and the wealthy have become far too powerful, but it's reasonable to ask how this came about, and I think the answer is actually extremely simple: the tax cuts that began with Reagan, and were amplified by W and Trump. This in turn allowed corporations to become so wealthy that they were then able to lobby for monopoly, thereby destroying the very market upon which capitalism depends. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry alone is now worth almost $2 trillion, five times the GDP of Denmark, a wealthy capitalist country with a high per capita GDP, where the corporations pay their fucking taxes, and society appears to conform to your outline of economic democracy.
The problem with the system we have in the US is not capitalism, we have a socialist democracy. But it's socialism for the wealthy, not the common man. For what else is not paying your taxes but socialism for the rich?
In my opinion the shortest, quickest, route to your utopian vision of economic democracy is to go back to the tax system of the 1970s. The DNC can save itself, and the country, while destroying the GOP, by adopting an aggressive liberal platform: High taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, universal healthcare, women's reproductive rights, and student loan forgiveness. This is actually the Bernie Sanders platform, and you know what? He was right, it's what 70% of Americans want.
I agree 100%, Michael, if we could get Biden to give up on his money interests and adopt a more "aggressive liberal platform", such as Bernie Sanders. I think his pole numbers would soar and so would this country.
It's interesting that if you followed the polls in 2016 (on 538), as I did, in hypothetical matchups Bernie was beating Trump 70:30, with practically no-one undecided. At the same time, Hillary was even with Trump, 35:35, with 30% undecided. Consistently. Yet, in an act of gross political malpractice, Sanders was sandbagged by the DNC in favor of the eventual loser.
As an enthusiastic Sanders supporter, I also think Bernie has a better take on foreign policy vis a vis Israel/Palestine than Biden or Hillary. I concede, though, that Biden's personality might work better than Bernie's in today's Washington. But what do I know? People respond to Trump, who is totally blunt and ignorant beyond repair.
Biden works with others from a bipartisan world, long gone. Because of this and his financiers, he is unable to restore US common good adequately to make a real difference. Doubling the supreme jesters on staggered terms,with a flimsy repug type excuse, would move us. Put the current political hacks in shoebox offices. Ole computers. Temp 64', no assistants. Drive the bums out. Dump Dejoy who is destroying, privatizing all po and especially rural Americas post office. Use Elizabeth Warrens post office plan. Stop being a Warhawk ( he has received the most re-elect monies from the Israel lobby of any American politician), use Bernie's approach.
He is old, he could truly become a risk taker and help turn the US rot around. But, he does not have the vision or courage......yet?
Bernie is a great US Senator. Senator Sanders is a team player and effective politician who knows which side he is on. He is for democracy. I hope his supporters will follow his lead and vote for democracy.
I think Sanders is more powerful and effective as a US Senator. Biden has demonstrated the leadership skills needed for the Office of the President and has set about repairing the significant damage done by the former guy. Student loan forgiveness is one important step in restoring balance after decades of wanton exploitation by the financial sector. Biden needs another term, we need another Biden term, to fully benefit from his wisdom and leadership honed by a career of service to our country. I want to see how he implements bankruptcy reform so more people can benefit and patterns of abuses by repeat filers are curbed and punished.
But Bernie might have won the electoral college vote. Hillary was disliked by many Dems, whereas Bernie was much more popular. But Bernie wasn't a corporate shill, like Hillary, so...
I’ve always said that the DNC handed us Trump. There are as much to blame for what we are going through now as are the ignorant voters who put him into office.
Michael, I agree that we have to restructure our tax systems of the past. However that alone will not solve the deeper economic issues in our capitalistic system. Even if the wealthy must pay their fair share of taxes, they still operate on the value of rapacious greed and will still acquire more wealth and political power.
Step one is to assist in the creation of worker and customer owned cooperatives. This is one of the cornerstones of economic democracy. There are currently more than 40,000 cooperatives in the United States with over 350 million members that provide more than $25 billion in wages so we currently have a vibrant cooperative movement to build on. When I lived in Montana I got my electricity at very low rates from a customer owned cooperative that began in 1937 after the Great Depression. Its mission statement says it exists to serve its customers and not corporate profits. Here in New Mexico I purchase all my food at a local cooperatively owned grocery store that due to its success is moving to a space more than double its current size. The financing for this expansion comes from the New Mexico Finance Authority which demonstrates how a progressive government can assist the growth of the Coop movement. Our Coop is expanding while other grocery stores in the area are stagnant or closing.
When a business is facing bankruptcy, a progressive government can provide low cost loans to assist employees to purchase and operate the business as a coop. Once they are owners of the business the employee/owners will be highly motivated to make it a big success. Big economic turndowns such as the recession of 2008 are opportunities for a leap in growth of coops. This is only one of several opportunities to practically apply Economic Democracy and give it a foothold. For more information practical steps read “After Capitalism - Economic Democracy in Action" by Dada Maheshvarananda available in paperback and Kindle.
Ok, you already have cooperatives in this decaying socialist democracy of the wealthy. Why would they not flourish in a capitalist democracy like that of Denmark? I mean, cooperatives are great but I wouldn't want to kill the entrepreneurial spirit, I just want to regulate it like they do in Denmark. Any entrepreneur would work his socks of for the prospect of making $1 billion, he doesn't need a trillion.
As regards the chant of "Who wants to be like Denmark?" I would say, I might agree with you, America has some unique advantages, but the Denmarkian economy is something to learn from, let's call it Denmark plus Route 66.
Michael, you bring up a good point, but it is also answered in economic democracy. Cooperatives are one pillar of the economy, the second pillar is small, entrepreneurial businesses up to a certain number of employees. This encourages entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and personal enterprise. Not everyone has to work in a cooperative, and many people prefer to be in a small sole proprietorship or small, intimate businesses. There is accommodation for that, and in fact, encouragement. But, when a business or industry becomes large, then it must convert to a cooperative. This is where government assistance can come in to give financing support and guidance in the conversion to a cooperatively owned business.
Good distinction. Small, entrepreneurial businesses are necessary. Our extended family has a small tool and die business in a now rust belt city since 1893 that is now being run by the 4th gen. Middle of last century it had a high of 45 employees, now is hanging on with 12-15--will pass to an employee to manage in a couple years as not enough qualified/interested in current gen. to manage. So, over the years, hundreds of families who have worked there have had steady jobs (the oldest non-family employee has been there 55 years!), helped create community, have basic economic security. It would not have worked as a coop--too much specialized, long-term knowledge needed to share in decision-making among all, though the people who have been there through thick and thin are the brain trust.
It’s one of those cases that should be studied, as the focus was always on the long term, sharing the very modest money that came in among the company employees -- and ESPECIALLY--relationships.
Could not agree with you more on all points, Michael. The problem is that the DNC doesn't want to abandon the corporate trough any more than the Repugs do.
Denise, have you noticed how close all the elections have been since Reagan? The corporations bet on both sides, which means we essentially have no government.
Only one of the ugly little secrets of money in politics. Another is how corporations publicly profess to hold certain ideologies, but give money to candidates working against those beliefs.
Indeed, D4N. And that's been the case since, oh....Lincoln, I'd say. With a few exceptions, such as TR, FDR, JFK. Sanders wants to do reform, but the DNC will never let him, any more than they would my former Congressman, the Honorable Dennis Kucinich. Ditto AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and a handful of others.
Why would you want to go back to any economic model of the 1970’s, arguably the worst decade of the 20th century other than the depression? The US economy since Reagan has seen the lowest sustainable unemployment, inflation, and highest GDP growth in generations, irrespective of what party or president has been in power.
There are plenty of problems as always but focus on solving them, not throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Agree, there was OPEC and the subsequent hike in gas prices, leading to stagflation, Carter's demise, etc., but the economy was basically sound. People had good jobs that paid well and just about everyone had good health insurance. Now the unemployment rate may be a bit lower, but only because good jobs have been shipped overseas, and replaced by silly jobs, like working for insurance companies.
I was never actively involved in bankruptcy practice but once upon a time I was either the grandfather or godfather of legal services programs and I was a social member of the bankruptcy bar. I am not current. The Bankruptcy Act of 1938, also known as the Chandler Act, expanded voluntary access to the bankruptcy system in the United States and made voluntary petitions more attractive to debtors. It also gave authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the administration of bankruptcy filings.
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is frequently referred to as a "reorganization" bankruptcy. Usually, the debtor remains “in possession,” has the powers and duties of a trustee, may continue to operate its business, and may, with court approval, borrow new money. A plan of reorganization is proposed, creditors whose rights are affected may vote on the plan, and the plan may be confirmed by the court if it gets the required votes and satisfies certain legal requirements. https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-11-bankruptcy-basics
Chapter 11, which is usually for corporations. It's a reorganization of debt and there is a plan for repayment. The process includes classifying creditors and determines how much goes to each class. That's an over simplification but you get the gist. The real winners in chapter 11 are the trustee and the attorneys. They all get paid before any creditors get paid. Theoretically, if all the assets/income are used up paying the trustee and attorneys, then the other creditors get nothing.
EXCEPTION TO DISCHARGE IN BANKRUPTCY FOR INTENTIONAL TORTS Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(6) prevents a debtor from obtaining the discharge of any debt for “willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity”.
The fall of 2008 was widely blamed on debtors, but it was CAUSED by investment practices on the part of investment firms, along with banks that should never have been allowed into the practice, that were OUTRAGEOUSLY manipulative and corrupt at the top of the system. I helped an ex-vice-president from Merrill Lynch write a book about that economic event, and the problem was NOT consumer {or even mortgage} spending, but the creation of a fail-safe system to protect the originators of certain “investment products” from any loss, the bundling of all kinds of mortgages into arcane and complicated “securities” that were marketed as top-rate when they should have had clown-faces drawn on them, and the bamboozling of the rank and file of investors who were encouraged to buy these loopy products. Getting more and more people to take out mortgages, whether they could afford them or not, played into this massive scheme and eventually brought the system down. It was not poor borrowers who caused it — they were among the millions who lost everything. It was the investment bright lights at the top, who caused it and STILL walked away unscathed.
This is what we need to fix {say thanks to Slick Willy, too, for goiing along with dumping Glass Steagall}.
The wealthy usually benefit from chaos. It opens opportunities for them. IMO, they like economic chaos for that reason. After the foreclosures of 2008, the big investment firms like Blackstone were buying up blocks of housing. This activity continues and contributes to evictions and homelessness.
I recently read that real estate investment firms are buying up nursing homes. Like they know or care about caring for the elderly and their caregivers! Is it a coincidence that some of Ivanka trump’s Chinese trademarks were for nursing homes and caskets?
Yes, Chaos certainly does no favors to people struggling to craft a life on too little return for their efforts.
After the Mess of 2008, lots of people preyed on the losses and foreclosures, buying up residential real estate and turning it into rentals.
If people noticed, though, a great many large tracts of housing were abandoned and never brought back into use. In some midwestern spots, tracts of housing were bulldozed. Even identifying the people who could claim to own those houses, after their mortgages had been “bundled” with other mortgages and sold and resold as “investment products,” nobody knew who owned them anymore. That was part of why people who were told they could re-negotiate their mortgages or come up with a plan to stay in their homes were finally turned out — nobody knew who owned them anymore. I figure towns foreclosed on property after taxes weren’t paid for a long enough. But houses deteriorated and went to pot and were bulldozed.
Now, yes, investment companies are buying residential housing right out from under individuals who want to make an offer on houses. They buy them often for cash and sight unseen.
It’s not a good trend, driving up prices for individuals, and taking huge amounts of residential property out of labor and middle-class hands.
Not good.. .
But a nice little windfall for people with the resources to scarf up the housing. People like Ivanka and her husband, and more like them.
Yeah, nursing homes, too, since our population is aging, and nursing homes are a GREAT way to overcharge the government for patient benefits, charging outrageous monthly fees, and charging for things that are not needed, are not delivered, and are never checked on…..
We do have many examples of countries that treat their citizens much more humanely than our savagely barbarian regime. But "we are not Denmar." Democracy. that is a well-functioning democracy, is a threat to the privileges of "masters of mankind" (Adam Smith "The Wealth of Nations" 1776): we would vote to eliminate their privileges. A democracy that works for the common good is their arch-enemy. How do we recapture power? And a "Kinder, gentler" society? Obscene inequality collapses only by catastrophic events: wars, revolutions (the make a difference), pandemic and societal collapse (Walter Scheidel "The Great Leveler" 2018) Voting, for any presidential candidate, won't do. It never has.
That description from the Prout Institute makes sweepiing statements, but says NOTHING about how one structures those “local control” economies, nor how they function together to form a state and a country. It sounds like the Balkanization of economics, the fracture of national activity … Just saying “resources” won’t be shiipped out but will be used locally for the benefit of the people locally … What the hell does THAT mean? Providing resources to markets is a way that local economies BRING MONEY IN, and trade is a way to GET resources you DON’T have, while selling what you have more of than you need …
OH, PLEASE, that is one of the most simplistic takes on the problems os our democracy and economy that I have read in a long time.
We do need a far better system for regulating our economy, and we need for money NOT to be considered speech {we have limitations on political contributions before that SCOTUS ruling}, and we need corporations NOT to be considered people {that’s a new SCOTUS ruling, too]
What we need are better rules for the system we have — and we CAN regulate it better, if we insist on it, and we VOTE … We don’t need to remake it from the bottom up.
Those “democracies” spoken of around the world are democracy in name only. Autocrats and militarists rule in too many of them, and people only get to vote on candidates the autocrats allow to run {and in Putin’s Russia, where the popular candidate Nevalny is wasting away in prison],
NO, we don’t need to dump our system for some vaguely structured “local control” model, for which the piece cited gives NO indication of structure whatsoever — We just need to fix what we already have, and vote the bastards out of office, so we can get busy and DO that.
I think this system fails to accept that humans are incapable of behaving consistently in the manner required for Economic Democracy.
I think the first thing to do is raise the maximum marginal income tax to 74% - pre-Regan rate. Only possible if the Congress and Whitehouse is Democratic with sufficient majority to pass such legislation.
Then impose legislation (current bill in progress) to limit salaries/Officers' compensation to 50 times the average workers wage of the enterprise - or even better use the minimum wage paid in the corporation.
Then prevent company stock buy backs.
Then Medicare for all and allow medical insurance companies to provide top up benefits. This works in UK. BUPA provides this additional coverage to UK citizens.
Well, I guess I went a bit off track. But this would reduce bankruptcies.
I read the article, Marc, and the concept makes sense to me, in general. However, if localities determine the collection and distribution of tax monies, I'm not clear as to how systems such as, say, railroads, highways, national parks, etc., would be maintained....? Also, it seems that communities with differing priorities might leave a patchwork effect when it comes to the maintenance of roads, care of waterways, maintenance of the electrical grid, and so on. Would there still be an overarching federal system?
“Democracy” has become so corrupted …? And now it must be replaced by a democracy?
I concur that our poorly-regulated capitalism has so corrupted our democracy that we need a better economic system that works with our democracy to serve the welfare of all and not only the rich ….
Yes, I know that is basically what your underlying message conveys, and I am parsing language here, but I think the parsing is important, because language is IMPORTANT…Too many people on the planet right now are attacking the very idea of democracy, and allowing careless language that seems to agree that democracy is failing doesn’t sit well with me.
Democracy does NOT have to be replaced by a more modern system. But badly regulated capitalism needs to be replaced by a better set of rules and economic practices
Wealth is so concentrated that Corporations will eventually back a universal income so that the majority can afford to buy their products. As our economy becomes more technologically dependent on Tech corporations the concentration of wealth will continue. Our lives are so packaged for us now by corporations-our ideology is so corporate, our politics are so corporate, our media is so corporate our politicians are so corporate minded our chances of replacing this Monolithic civilization are next to nil. Musk will get bigger and bigger until this ugly business collapses from bubbles bursting or environmental ruin.
It wouldn't be hard to do. It would be the model that the Scandinavian countries use, a blend of capitalism and socialism. There is no student debt in these countries because higher education is free. Why? Because they know that an educated population increases the wellfare for all. Also there is no medical bankruptcy because like education it is provided to all.
It is absolutely unbeliveable that the richest country in the world allows most of the wealth to go to those that need it the least.
It seems to me that all systems are at risk for corruption. Look at Putin and his oligarchs. It’s not a democracy or capitalist country. We will always have greedy people,bullies, sociopaths, dishonest people, etc in society. How to keep those tendencies from harming our society? I don’t know the answer.
Stop blaming capitalism. Capitalism is a system in which consumer choice in a free market reward innovation and efficiency in the producers with profits. Feudalism is a system where cartels and monopolies of land barons extort profit from the working class. Replace land barons with barons of industry and you get the so called "American capitalism," which is really corporate feudalism. When the barons of industry control the government and through it control the markets, especially through monopolization, you don't have a free market and therefore you have capitalists without a capitalist system.
I would agree Marc. This transition to an economic democracy where the welfare of all must be taken care of, otherwise, people will continue to be exploited due to corrupt bankruptcy laws. Let's discuss some solution-oriented approaches!
If we can fund our army for war and national security, we should be able to fund our education systems for peace and national security. IMO, 2 yrs of college should be publicly funded. There is so much more to learn than when I was a kid! Also, trade schools should get funding. I’d like to see some payback to the public with some of that. For example, plumbers that charge a reasonable rate especially for low income/elderly after they graduate trade school, at least for the first 5 years.
This is one of those cases that I would say don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Sen Warren did a study and, I believe, it concluded that forgiving $10,000 would greatly help a majority of those students.
The real sin of personal bankruptcy is being forced into it because of failure to pay medical bills. If we had a REAL health care system, like nearly every other developed country in the world; this sad situation would almost never happen.
My son was only 23 when he had purchased medical insurance, and while waiting for the two month period for it to be in effect, he had heart arrhythmia, or palpitations which landed him in the ER. $4000 later, he was unable to pay. I suggested that he consult a financial advisor. He was advised to file for bankruptcy, and did. He got out from under. I was so angry, that a kid who was barely on his feet was knocked down because of the medical emergency. He was working and had an apartment. He had pending purchased insurance. It is disgusting what can happen to those trying to support themselves responsibly.
That's a bunch of crap. Sounds like he was at least lucky to have a great parent. I hope you both are doing much better. Thanks for sharing your story, it's an important one more Americans need to hear
Nick : He is 28 years old now, and married. No kids yet. He is getting his class one fireman's license, already has the class two. Operates the boilers in a manufacturing plant, along with a few others. You always need trained workers nearby on call, in case someone gets sick, or can't be there for their shift. Lots of responsibility. Good pay, but he earns it. When his wife finishes nursing school with her Masters degree in a specialty, they will consider having a child. His twin sister has her first baby, a daughter. Life is good for this gramma.
You must be so proud! I work in facilities, and operating boilers is hard and important work.
You gave a great example earlier of why young people are having children later and later in life. My wife and I waited until our mid-30s to have our first child.
But it sounds like your family had a strong matriarch to get them where they are now. I hope you and your family have a wonderful 2024.
I have a husband who was and is a good father, I met him at age 40, when he was retiring from the U.S. Air Force. He was 45. Now we are geezers, after 32 years of marriage, finally grandparents!
You make a VERY important point! The system we live with that causes such things to happen, or that require bake sales and "crowd funding" to pay MEDICAL bills, is obscene.
Everybody except insurance companies, immune from antitrust, and have policies of denying claims until pressed, lose. I keep telling the DNC that if they want to convert MAGATs, station people at bankruptcy court. A lot of the disgruntled are medical providers.
Private equity firms are another growing healthcare problem. They are buying up hospitals, nursing homes and clinics, ruthlessly cutting staff, ditching less-profitable patients and then selling the business at a profit. Recent studies (sorry, can’t quote) show that after the acquisitions and cuts patient care outcomes suffer. 25% increase in falls, 38% increase in infections around medication and feeding ports. Deaths also increased. This is a huge and growing problem thanks to “unleashed” Capitalism. When will we ever bring back the leashes for these guys?
After my experience with the nursing home’s <lack of> care for my father, it can’t get much worse. Nursing homes are under-funded and under-regulated. They basically let him get so dehydrated and starved that he nearly died.
For years I dreamt about my father’s horrible death. I had tried everything - being nice, being calm, being angry - but nothing resulted in any improvement whatsoever. Yes, it was like PTSD.
Exactly why I recently switched to another medical provider. The new provider is part of a university medical school health care system, and appears to operate independently and in the patient's best interest. This is in metropolitan/suburban area though. What options though do people outside such areas have?
I agree with your clever choice! I go to a combined University of Minnesota and Fairview hospital/clinics. It’s been a great option but now the partners are divorcing. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I no longer know which side gets the “children” - oops, I mean doctors!
Yes, that’s the article! I agree with the researcher who believes cuts in staffing, particularly nurses, would increase profits as well as result in more adverse patient events - even though the equity investors create screening to avoid the sickest patients. This certainly does not bode well for the increase in the numbers and severity of people requiring healthcare. And there’s no escape: private equity vultures are buying home care agencies, too.
And how vicious is that reasoning? Cut nursing staff, resulting in more adverse events for patients, which requires more treatment and longer stays. Rinse, repeat. Healthcare is probably the biggest, least accountable cash cow in the country.
Still can fix prices. I also heard Medicare appeals for 10 years. Medical providers favor insurance beneficiaries in plans that pay more. In other words, they favor private plans, and give low priority to managed plans like Medicaid and state workers' comp. PI lawyers should be all over this issue.
It’s just awful that folks like the Lehman Bros. and the likes of Giuliani can weasel out of paying their debts and penalties. I find it astounding that trump is running for president again and that his followers cannot see him for how horrible he is. That our “Supreme” Court is so stained by some of the greediest men I have ever seen.
In my Christmas card I wrote: “I quit believing in Santa Claus - Now my Faith is in Jack Smith!”
Trump, Giuliani (and Romney) have a checkered history offshoring assets. Trump has been caught recently omitting Chinese assets from his recent financial statements. Trump has a history of giving clients to Giuliani and others -- maybe to get a kickback.
Consider the first impeachment -- foreign intrigue with Russia and the Ukraine. Taxpayers didn't pay for that.
Right; and go find him when he 'disappears' to some obscure offshore retreat with no extradition policies. Anyone remember Robert Vesco? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Vesco
According to legal experts, judgments imposed for commission of intentional torts like defamation are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, so Giuliani is not home free by any means. However, it will be a long road for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss to collect any money from him and it will likely be far less than the judgment.
If he had limited earning potential, how did he amass his current millions? He has some access to grabbing cash, through some grubby little back-channel means. The trick will be keeping track well enough to capture it.
A long time ago, in elementary school, a banker talked to my class on a field trip and gave us a little ditty, "Money makes money, and the money money makes, makes more money." He was explaining interest. He wanted us all to have a savings account. I suspect you could adapt that and say, "Money protects money, and the money money protects, makes more money." It is what we get when we make corporations people. Corporations, including banks, make laws by buying politicians, and the result is the continuous transfer of wealth to the rich. These words are from a father helping his daughter pay off her students loans. I had none. A union job in the summers when I was in college enabled me to pay most of my tuition, and my parents covered the rest. Things changed when Reagan and company reduced government support for colleges and tuitions began skyrocketing. Debt is a consequence of government policy and corporate manipulation.
Well said! It's hard to actualize how rich corporations are, especially, in comparison to your average American. There is no scarcity problem. The rich just want to keep beating their highest scores while millions do the actual work and feel the suffering of not having enough. We should be protecting people not accumulating and protecting our hordes of wealth.
I prefer jail because he has to sit there and pout about it for a really long time while he watches the world go by. Especially if they take away his electronic privileges.
But execution has the HUGE advantage of being the ultimate deterrent - everybody is scared off by that potential fate; trump would be shivering in his shoes by now if that were in the cards ! I would be making plans to attend if held in a public place - what a wonderful idea !!!
Over his last meal of a bucket of KFC, Trump would boast about having the largest crowd at his execution, he'd have the best execution , no one has ever had a better execution.. and this time he'd be right about the crowd size!
Vcragain - while I understand that it appeals to a lot of people (especially after he has called for, and caused, death of other people) I prefer to let him have to stay locked up for a really long time to have him “maybe” think about how he destroyed so much. Though I don’t believe he has that kind of capacity for critical thinking maybe he will have to start listening to his cellmate or the guys beside his cell especially since he cannot form a single idea himself. Although the death penalty would keep him in an even smaller cell with less time out of it most states no longer carry out the execution part. Maybe they could hold it at the site where he started the J6 rally as a fitting place if that appeals to you. I think that he is already scared which is why he is trying to delay, delay, delay.
Wow! The story of her attempts to run against Putin is inspiring. Perhaps inspiring to TFFG if he is re-elected? Lots of ideas for knee-capping would-be opponents!
Glad you liked it. I wasn't sure if anyone would find it of interest, seeing's how events in The Levant have sucked all the air out of the world theater at the expense of Ukraine. To me - in this case - it's a profile of what a truly corrupted democracy looks like - the kind the Яepuблиkan$ would have us all embrace. I like the guy who produces it. A Russian "escapee" himself, he seems to have inside sources that can keep us abreast of current goings-on under Putin. You may enjoy his personal story: https://youtu.be/HwIln3ryDb4?si=a8eVGzpViUGkOqYS I encourage everyone to subscribe and keep an eye on his offerings.
I hope we will not abandon Ukraine. We are lucky to still accept refugees from wars started by power-hungry strongmen. I’ve learned of the injuries and the resilience of these victims by volunteering to resettle some in Minnesota. I am in awe of their courage and feel lucky that they have chosen to become US citizens. That may change if TFFG is re-elected and if the Republicans have their way. I currently have a Ukrainian refugee family living in my home - and I think the more they learn about our current political situation the less they seem inclined to stay long-term. :-(
His “leaving Russia” (along with so many other potentially cannon fodder men), brought tears to my eyes. Too many memories of refugees arriving at the airport with their little plastic bags of documents and (if they were lucky) a suitcase or two.
The Grand Old Party is now the Gut Our Protections cult. Ukraine is the ultimate front line nation protecting the rest of the world from World War III. Putin is being worn down by their courage and tenacity. Good for you Marge that you have opened your heart and home to those families displaced from their homeland. It's gone all in to enable the dismantling of the policies and organizations that protect our national security, the protect international security... they know Don loves Vlad and will be just like him if he's back in office. The Blue Party is the one party now that will protect the full right for the healthcare of half the population of our country, protect our future from removal of what you have made for your senior years - your investments in social security, medicare, your right to vote and have your vote counted, to love who you love, and good grief to read any and all books, to learn all of history (not just the nice parts - the sanitized parts).
We need a smack down of this nonsense- a chunk of the country was brainwashed and Dems' being nice and the judiciary trying to not be seen as "political" was slow in going after the Coup leaders - and they allowed the big lie - which history will look back on as actually the most dangerous in-plain sight CON JOB in world history - the R's (even the good ones) let the con metastasize and infect the population of the former party of Lincoln.
Republican donors and Fox are part of the workings that are willing to trade in democracy for profits and ratings. The propogranda they shower into minds of millions every day is staggering. The media is reporting like this is politics as usual - this is crazy town... politics has been hyjacked by hubris, by money, by a psychopath who seduced the entire GOP to follow his lead in the name of power.
It's time for a Big Badass BLUE Backlash to rally those who have not lost hope to allow all of us to continue our ability to work on this perfectly imperfect union for the next 245 years. This is isn't a campaign for 2024 - it's a War for Earth 1 and the future. We need new messaging that reflects that - that educates, inspires and grabs everyone by the heart and their gut and moves them to be more engaged and more passionate about this than anything they've ever fought for before.
Upon further reflection, you may be right. The risk here is giving the Яepuблиkan$ ideas, but since their boy, ol' Donnie Fredrikovna - Донни Фредериковна, yes indeed, that's an insult - has deep Russian ties, it may also tip his hand about what else he has up his sleeve!
MSM should talk about how the Republican Party has largely become, or at the least is turning into, the Party of Putin. But they won't do it. Up for debate.
We’ll see if the lights go off at the voting centers (in swing states only, of course). Of course they are already disenfranchising people by the thousands... At any rate, he has plenty of mentors giving him advice on tactical tricks: Putin, Orban, Bannon, Miller......
The thought crossed my mind as I listened to this piece. She should actually stay away from any building taller than one story and keep a low profile too!
Thank you for this link. What a courageous woman. I just pray that she does not get assassinated. Ultimately, it's the Russian people that have to overthrow Putin's regime, nobody else can do that. Maybe some help from the CIA?
Very sad video of him leaving his family and his Russian life.
Unfettered capitalism causes so much harm. But the allure of great wealth with glamorous displays of luxury tends to bamboozle folks into believing that they might someday benefit from the system if they are just lucky enough, or work hard enough. The result is that those least likely to ever get rich support the system that is ironically so stacked against them!
Some just play the system They invest in items that are protected from bankruptcy, and accumulate wealth, to the detriment of creditors, who sometimes are unwitting relatives, "friends" or neighbors. E.G. In Pa, black powder flintlocks and spinning wheels are exempt under state law. They borrow huge. sums, put their money in those items and file for Chapter 7. Same for "homestead" property in Florida. Can refile every 7 years.
Invest only in expensive stuff exempt from bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy keep the proceeds from sale of the items and no longer have any debt. Each state has it's own variation.
When I practiced in Florida, the joke was the last stage of every construction project was bankruptcy. Developers would walk away with the loan and the lender was stuck with the debt.
And that is the magic of marketing campaigns for the false promises of corrupt politicians and unaffordable unnecessary products and services cannily inserted in the sticky hands of social media. It consumes our desperate minds like a deadly prion disease that quietly erodes trust and faith in the common good.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, before she became a senator, fought hard against the 2005 bankruptcy bill. She was one of the country's foremost experts on bankruptcy, which is how she got her job at Harvard, not because of her family heritage. In her bankruptcy research, for which she spent hours in bankruptcy court studying actual cases, she found that the major cause of individual bankruptcy in this country is medical debt. It is not people maxing out their credit cards on extravagances. The fact that in the wealthiest country in the world, people must lose everything to pay for essential healthcare is shameful.
The American public could have universal health care if there were a federal/state regulator that could control Hospital and other medical/medicine costs to affordable levels and the U.S government could provide this with a modest surtax of 1.5 to 2.0%.
yes. We need someone to write that book or fashion that decoder ring for Republicspeak. It could be hilarious, like a Devils Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.
Wall Street's Bail Out could have and SHOULD HAVE also relieved homeowners who had been sold on the notion that their homes were worth far more than their value. As a condition of accepting the Bail Outs, banks and lenders should have been required to write down or write off these overvalued home loans and restructure them so people could stay in the homes.
Instead, they were allowed to package their own relief, leaving millions of American families with nothing; no home, no relief.
Paulson and others took care of the lenders, but did NOTHING to help the American People who suffered the consequences of these overvalued loans AND WHO ALSO PAID FOR THOSE BAILOOUTS WITH THEIR TAX DOLLARS.
In Canada, many years ago, we had the Assisted Home Ownership Plan (AHOP) which was badly designed. Those who signed up for it were led to believe that it was a federal subsidy program -- but surprise, surprise it was a loan program and at the end of the five year term they discovered that they owed more than their home was worth; meanwhile interest rates shot up to more than double what they were originally paying.
Not only do big money folks so often get out of their financial obligations (Often while they have long and loudly decried socialism, ironically) have you folks noticed the trend of late where it seems purely optional in many cases whether they have to physically appear in court?
What happens when an impecunious single black mother declines to appear in court? I think she is soon looking at jail time.
Once again the people who are wealthy to begin with get all the breaks! They have $$$$ to do whatever they want, don't pay taxes, come and go as they please, and can walk away from everything ...once again it, it's always the little guy who takes it on the chin. Kids are encouraged to go on to school but when over there heads in debt , no help for them ... Biden is doing his best to help students with debt overload, but here again the Republicans stopped that because they are all self centered and only what they want is ever done ..it's really sad in the United States..
We simply must get Biden re-elected, and, maintain the Senate, elect a Democratic House. Then our kids will get real help. As the Biden/Harris Team seeks preschool for all, a permanent child tax credit, free community colleges, and more debt relief (there’s been some) on student loans! Hope and work for the future! Our kids and grandkids need us! Now.
A tremendous problem with Biden in this regard is that he is doing *nothing* to help students with debt overload. What he/his advisors have suggested is forgiving debt to one group of people in what appears to me and many others as naked vote buying.
The moment that debt is forgiven there are millions of more indebted students minted the next September when a new academic year begins. Furthermore, students may now have the propensity to borrow even more money thinking that it may be forgiven down the road.
Colleges and universities are now free to continue to raise their tuition and room/board because the underlying problem has not been touched.
It’s not baloney. How does forgiving ~$40k of incurred debt for former students reform a horrifically broken system for the next group of borrowers? What a terrible precedent.
What happens when they buy a car with a $40k loan?
Let younger people guided by you and others tip economic scientists work to change the bankruptcy laws so they reflect the values of a true democracy and not the oligarchy that’s running our country today!
Thank you for your leadership in getting this country back to its best intentions of the founding fathers.
the "economic scientists" are employed by the wealthy to make them more money. Not all of them. But even the areas of research are often directly and indirectly influenced by those who stand to make financial gain.
Very informative. My bankruptcy was in 2002, makes me glad I didn't try to hold on until 2005. If the banking industry has its way we will be like Pakistan, where a debt will be passed on to the children, and even the grand children of the deceased. Our own fault, we keep electing republicans.
it's tough to educate people when the truth has been so obscured and buried unde many layers of BS. The language itself hides the truth of matters. And when people understand some of the corruption the ability to draw the dots to the source is too often lacking. And the big money and foreign influence draw those dots in for the gullible.
And journalists, who could help draw the dots to the source, don't do it often enough. The lack of follow-up questions in interviews is very disturbing to me. Again, the rich and powerful can simply refuse to be interviewed, so the media kowtows to them too much.
I don't even attempt to talk to the MAGA people anymore, because of an article that I saw by a psychiatrist who stated that it is useless to try to defend yourself to the flying monkeys (this is actually a term that psychiatrist use) of a narcissist. They are compelled to take the side of the narcissist, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. When Trump is in prison, most of us will be singing, "ding dong the witch is dead", while his flying monkeys soar off to find another Hitler.
I agree. I was thinking of people who still have half a mind. The best course for FM is distraction of monkey brains, give them video games or whatever.
To me, this is simply another example of why democracy, which used to be the best system on the planet, has now become so corrupted by capitalism and the monied interests thai it must be replaced by a more modern system such as a democracy that is based on an economic system that provides for the welfare of all and not just the wealthy.
We used to have debtor prisons. In my home town we had a poor farm -- the advent of SSI about 1973 ended it.
The first Bankruptcy Act of 1800, applied only to merchants, was enacted in response to major financial panics arising in 1792 and 1797 as a result of speculation. In those days, as bankruptcies were involuntary, there were no consumer bankruptcy attorneys as we have today to advocate for debtors. Many debtors had become imprisoned, including some “prominent citizens” -- like two of the signers of the Constitution, Robert Morris and James Wilson. Morris spent three years in debtors’ prison until obtaining a discharge under the 1800 Act. Wilson, who was the first law professor at the College of Pennsylvania and appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1789, fled Pennsylvania in order to avoid debtors’ prison. The 1800 Act was not intended to be permanent, but rather a short-term fix. Though it was set to expire in five years, Congress repealed it in 1803.
In fact, for the great majority of the nineteenth century in the United States, federal bankruptcy law did not exist, and there were still debtors’ prisons. Two more temporary bankruptcy acts were later passed in 1841 and in 1867. The Bankruptcy Act of 1841 was again enacted in response to a financial crisis and it lasted less than two years. It did show shifting aims in public policy, however, in that for the first time American bankruptcy law provided for voluntary petitions by non-merchant debtors.
The Bankruptcy Act of 1867 was again a reaction to economic crisis, this time brought about in the aftermath of the Civil War. It provided for both voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy petitions as well as petitions brought by non-merchant individual debtors. Individual bankruptcy involved a liquidation of his assets but allowed for $500 of exempted assets such as one’s necessary household and kitchen furniture, and clothing for his wife and children. Again, however, the Act was short lived. The 1867 Act was repealed in 1878 leaving American debtors again without a federal bankruptcy law.
Daniel, thank you for always providing me with information relevant to the discussion at hand.
I'm poor as dirt and I did the bankruptcy thing after my Ex-Wife drained my bank account and ran up my charge cards, she stole personal position deceased family members had left me. She took our joint Tax return because she felt "I" did deserve it. After 8 affairs and 2 abortions she Bankrupted me, emotionally. All because she fell in love with another man's "Bank account." OH, she never learned to simply say the word: "No." I guess you could say she was the "Goddess" of the "Flies."
I’m not poor as dirt although significantly poorer after my “hero” ex firefighter husband parasite stole a half million from me. And tried to manipulate me into suicide. I’m lucky to be alive, and he’ll never be prosecuted because a jury wouldn’t convict.
I don’t expect you sympathy but neither of these stories have a place here..
Jan--As long as the thread is bankruptcy they do. Just because we aren't an active member of the rich and famous collective the fact remains the process in a form of protection for both the good, the bad, and the ugly. Ya, even me.
The things that drive someone into bankruptcy, and how the law works ARE relevant.
I have seen one or another spouse of people I know manipulate or outright lie about financial resources, and how the law works to protect people is relevant. We can’t legislate integrity, though to some extent that IS what laws are about, isn’t it … !
Hearing the stories of politically like-minded people is an important part of the e-community. It's hard to have a local community if you are not a church-goer and your family is spread out or non-existent. Even though I live in the SF Bay area, I unknowingly moved into a very conservative neighborhood, and enjoy the contacts Prof. Reich has brought together. Stories are a great way to persuade the misinformed.
Donald, that is so very sad. I am sure you were devastated! I have heard of so many stories like this and it makes me wonder if more people are losing their moral compass? I can't understand the need for anyone to treat another so cruelly! I am sorry for what you had to endure.
Peggy--I didn't love my wife, but I did love my kids. The intuition of marriage was basically destroyed when they made the ruling couples no longer needed "Grounds" for a divorce. All you needed was the desire to split, regardless of the children.
The one good thing to come out of this is you raised your children and I know they were raised right! Love is taking care of children after such a tragic event. I hope you and your children's future is bright and happy.
It sounds like what you needed was a good lawyer. With sympathy, the courts have parameters both for financial depredation, and, importantly, parental rights. The law has a hard time coping with lies. Children have a hard time sorting out lies. But not the fault of "no-fault."
Sorry to hear about all that Donald. I would love to know how you moved on from all that......
McKinley--When she left, she also deserted our three children, they were 12, 10, and 2. They became my reason for being.
Thanks Donald, that's a painful experience to come back from, monetary concerns pale..... and the scars will not only exist on your soul. Cheers
Same here, Donald. My first ex-wife left me and deserted my 2 little sons, 8 months, and the other one 2 years old. She run off with a guy from a mental hospital, and then 2 other guys she hardly knew. I divorced her, and remarried a lady that was 5 years younger than myself and we had a good marriage for 40 years, and 7 years ago, she up and left me, and to this day refuses to tell me why she left. She hasn't remarried and doesn't date other guys either.. Go figure? I have pleaded and begged her to come back to me, but she declines.
Thanks for sharing the end of the custody saga! I made a comment above not entirely relevant. Here is your "could have been worse" story, like you needed one: As a Public Defender, I was lucky to seldom be assigned to the child support "calendar," but s... happens. One of the few cases I went to my boss and said, I can't do this, was a case where the District Attorney was suing (on threat of jail!) for reimbursement of "welfare" paid in the past. The deserted spouse had scraped along raising three kids, but for some period had let a relative take care of the youngest, and the relative had collected welfare. The spouse who deserted had solid employment and had "hooked-up" with a new spouse well-off. But the name on the welfare rolls was the destitute abandoned one. The DA had no interest in collecting from the parent who actually had capacity.
Gone Girl?
Ditto
Debtor prison should have been the fate of many of those executives behind the 2008 Great Recession. History teaches us that the powerful, except for the two signers of the Constitution, can escape financial difficulties far more easily than the rest of us. Instead of prison, one executive even became an Ambassador.
I don’t really “like” that, but I’m in total agreement — maybe not reinstituting debtors’ PRISON, but absolutely not letting people with money avoid losing their resources and pushing people without money into further jeopardy and economic despair…
Thanks for reminding me about the farm in my home county. Destitute old people went there for care, and my Brownie troop serenaded them. At some time in the fifties, we got a Hill-Burton hospital where local people could be treated, but that, too, closed and was turned into a nursing home.
And thanks also for the tutorial on bankruptcy throughout our history. I recall that when a wealthy family in my daughter's school went bankrupt, they had to give up their yacht but not their airplane. Being clueless, I assumed they were destitute until someone set me straight.
Thanks for the historical overview, Daniel.
Thank you for even more context. And feminist history too: “clothing for his wife and children” Was he afforded an allowance to clothe himself as well?
Married women's property acts, under state law, didn't kick in until around the Civil War in most states, although the concept of "dower" exists at common law and was expressed in some state statutes.
In Pa, women could sue individually, but historically that was not true in federal court.
Daniel I understand that Rudy can't use bankruptcy to escape his felonious liability. Is that true.
He also does not have the money to pay the judgement, and said something about blood out of a turnip. If so then he has a personal lien the rest of his life, and has hid his assets offshore, and I understand a forensic accountant and lawyer has been hired to track them down.
What do you know about this Daniel.? I'm curious, will have to pay up or will he escape?
Has nothing to do with criminal charges in Hotlanta and potential charges in DC.
He has lots of other lawsuits. It may be that Trump owes him "bigly" and Giuliani's rights can be assigned to his creditors.
As I said elsewhere, he may have assets offshore.
Thanks Daniel. I understand, but my question is can he avoid the judgement of $148 million in favor of those two fine ladies, and any other financial judgments coming his way by filing bankruptcy, I have read that he can't, same thing for Alex Jones, has he ever paid the people that he maliciously harmed.
Alas it seems that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss will have to go to bankruptcy court to recover damages.
If all it takes is to file bankruptcy to avoid being sued for malicious harm, then why even bother?
Not that simple. The creditors include more than Freeman and Miss. The US Trustee will try to identify all assets, current and potential, before distributions are made.
I'm sure Alex Jones has had to pay something but I'm not on top of his case.
Thanks Daniel. I guess the question is can Rudy escape specifically the judgment in favor the ladies. I realize he has other liabilities, some will lose in the case of bankruptcy, that is the whole purpose of bankruptcy, but I believe that some debts incurred,by the very nature of the debt, can not be discharged via bankruptcy. For instance a debt incurred as a result of intentional and malicious acts and language. It is different from a liability incurred by circumstances beyond your control or even bad, good faith decisions, but a debt incurred as a result of intentional and malicious conduct and language.
Facts no longer matter. The Enlightenment is dead. The minions have not changed. Our leaders have discarded reason. The Greeks would call us a Dionysian people, a bunch of drunks meeting their 'fate."
Daniel, thank you for the details and valuable bankruptcy history. As a person who chose the low income teaching profession I always realized the American Dream may not be available for me. By the end of my military duty at the rank of Captain , my college National Student Defense Loan had been paid in full. Today, I believe America is destroying an educated labor force opportunity by allowing greed to make student loans so prohibitive. Students are choosing not to attend college or serve in the military. The blue collar workers who are inspired by MAGA must understand the need for investing in self training and go where the jobs are. For years I avoided the expense of marriage and children and was convinced that large families are for wealthy people only. I worked very hard at teaching on both coasts and also created a small business, never losing sight of the perils of bankruptcy in changing markets. I sold the business debt free for a modest profit which now supplements my education pension, necessary, after Reagan decided to reduce Social Security benefits for teachers. At age 68 I met a beautiful, amazing Filipina doctor (widow) who changed my life to give me the missing part of my American dream. Her son is a software engineer, wise beyond his 33 years, reluctant to marry because he is also very aware of market risks. The American economy may be the envy of the world but the husband and wife who both work is essential for adequate finances to raise a family. Statistics record that 50% of marriages result in divorce which can result in a fast track to bankruptcy. My recommendation to young people is to remain unmarried, build a career and some capital and find a working mate if you can......and choose a more profitable profession than teaching if you can.
We are moved by circumstances, and I am not good at giving marital advice, although I was a master in divorce and supervised domestic relations lawyers. My wife and I are both retired federal employees. We still had to borrow and mortgage and do outside work at times. I can't imagine a single person having an equivalent financial potential. And I can testify that loneliness was hell.
I think the American dream is still alive but people are not usually provided the means to "succeed". Despite what you say, it is not as hard now as it had been during our parents' time -- depression and WWII.
I also represented school districts. In 1965, LBJ, a former teacher, promoted the Higher Education Act, which enabled many to attend college who would not otherwise have had the chance. It covered many bases, including the provision of federal resources for continuing education, community service programs, and stronger library programs and library instruction. Republicans and Dixiecrats said it was an attempt to take over local control of school.
Most of the kids from our school who became extremely wealthy had connections. Could be family wealth and connections, but some of them could block and tackle, got a free ride to college and these days get NIL money starting in high school. Through Title I, a/k/a Chapter 1, we had a "schools without failure" program. https://www.amazon.com/Schools-Without-Failure-William-Glasser/dp/0060904216
Some of our teachers were nationally recognized. Several wrote masters theses about it, proselytized We did some "illegal" things. We had "tracking," and the 4th track were s-l-o-w, before we knew about learning disabilities. Some of those slow learners became business owners, hired people who were in the 1st track. We had a huge dropout rate. When I was in school we had "football study hall" which imparted relatively high test scores. We had 11 assistant football coaches, most taught math and science, some taught at the college level. Some later went on to become college coaches. We had years that more than 100 kids got scholarships.
In many cases Pell grants, internships and externships led to greater and better things. I am grateful that I was subsidized - through co-op, GI bill, I was a TA, substitute teacher, adjunct lecturer, etc.
I listened to vocational experts for about 30 years. About 20% of the general population needs a helping hand. VEs provide "tricks" people can do to increase earning capacity. For every dollar the government spends on vocational rehabilitation it gets back 7. I'm big on the IEP, individualized educational prescription and think that all students, not just "exceptional"" students benefit from a plan based on a kid's aptitude and potential. VEs can identify work skills, take an inventory, just like in an IEP.
But I don't think I would give anyone that kind of marital advice.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I rejected education administration positions offered in CA and MA because I wanted to assist troubled students, not solve administrative problems. Time spent surfing, skiing and coaching was valuable to me. After 10 years teaching in Irvine, California I returned to MA to learn to use IEP's. A small business venture, an MBA Degree, and carpentry supported me while I taught 15 miscreant inner city gang youths at the "Challenge HS" in Malden, MA. Later I taught SPED students at a vocational high school near Boston. After retirement from public ed I was hired as Case Manager at Landmark school , where individualized instruction was an important focus of the curriculum. All 20 SPED students assigned to my caseload were accepted to colleges. Many of my students had been abandoned by their parents similar to the way my brother and I were neglected as children. I understood their anger. Behavior disordered students tested academically the same as learning disabled. I learned that once the emotional issues were addressed student performance improved. I was an ex Marine providing structure and discipline to a population starved for love. Public education made valiant efforts to address such needs of IEP students. Improved funding, better teacher preparation, smaller class size helped. At age 81, I have become critical of parents who choose to have children then abandon them in so many ways. When I watch the evening news I see immigrants, war refugees and thousands of underserved children and ask why so many parents have children when they can't afford to support them? In my environmental view the world is overpopulated. In 1729 Jonathan Swift wrote a satirical essay a "Modest Proposal" suggesting people sell their children as food. My proposal is asking people to delay marriage, plan ahead and consider adoption. Happy Holidays to you.
The changes that we saw in 2005 were amendments to the 1978 Reform Act, which was seen as too generous to debtors. One can characterize those amendments as creating a new debtors' prison with continuous harassment from bill collectors.
Yep; it swayed to far for the lenders, and to hell all else. Hence another crisis on the horizon that Biden seems to be trying to address and is getting very little help.
THE ENEMY INSURRECTIONIST ARE AT THE GATE, DEFEAT TREASONOUS , TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE AND JAIL CORRUPT AND TRAITOR RTRUMP AND CRONIES.THE ENEMY INSURRECTIONIST ARE AT THE GATE, DEFEAT TREASONOUS , TERRORIST, AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE AND JAIL CORRUPT AND TRAITOR RTRUMP AND CRONIES. VOTE DEMOCRATIC , AND RESTORE DEMOCRACY.
James. You do know that typing in all caps is a waste of time and effort, people really don' read all caps, in fact they are annoying and hard to read.
I don’t even bother to read all caps comments.
Informative! Thank you.
At some point the wealth disparity will become so great that there will no longer be purchasing power in the hands of consumers and the top heavy economy we now prop up on credit will begin to topple as it almost did in 2008. While we still have an economy and hopefully reelection of a sane and clear president, work should begin to investigate a more modern economically viable form of democracy and economy to replace what we have. We were all shocked when the USSR economy and government crumbled to dust almost overnight. Unfortunately they had no idea of a better alternative and the suffering of the general population was immense.
I would propose a system called “Economic Democracy” as viable alternative when the inevitable fall of our current capitalism-based economy fails. The monied interests will again declare bankruptcy and we, the everyday citizens, will be left holding the bag.
In my search for a better system I came across a most excellent essay that summarizes Economic Democracy concisely.https://www.proutinstitute.org/policy-solutions/economic-democracy-the-alternative-to-corporate-rule
Marc, economic democracy sounds fine except for how to achieve it. I agree completely with you that the corporations and the wealthy have become far too powerful, but it's reasonable to ask how this came about, and I think the answer is actually extremely simple: the tax cuts that began with Reagan, and were amplified by W and Trump. This in turn allowed corporations to become so wealthy that they were then able to lobby for monopoly, thereby destroying the very market upon which capitalism depends. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry alone is now worth almost $2 trillion, five times the GDP of Denmark, a wealthy capitalist country with a high per capita GDP, where the corporations pay their fucking taxes, and society appears to conform to your outline of economic democracy.
The problem with the system we have in the US is not capitalism, we have a socialist democracy. But it's socialism for the wealthy, not the common man. For what else is not paying your taxes but socialism for the rich?
In my opinion the shortest, quickest, route to your utopian vision of economic democracy is to go back to the tax system of the 1970s. The DNC can save itself, and the country, while destroying the GOP, by adopting an aggressive liberal platform: High taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, universal healthcare, women's reproductive rights, and student loan forgiveness. This is actually the Bernie Sanders platform, and you know what? He was right, it's what 70% of Americans want.
I agree 100%, Michael, if we could get Biden to give up on his money interests and adopt a more "aggressive liberal platform", such as Bernie Sanders. I think his pole numbers would soar and so would this country.
It's interesting that if you followed the polls in 2016 (on 538), as I did, in hypothetical matchups Bernie was beating Trump 70:30, with practically no-one undecided. At the same time, Hillary was even with Trump, 35:35, with 30% undecided. Consistently. Yet, in an act of gross political malpractice, Sanders was sandbagged by the DNC in favor of the eventual loser.
As an enthusiastic Sanders supporter, I also think Bernie has a better take on foreign policy vis a vis Israel/Palestine than Biden or Hillary. I concede, though, that Biden's personality might work better than Bernie's in today's Washington. But what do I know? People respond to Trump, who is totally blunt and ignorant beyond repair.
Biden works with others from a bipartisan world, long gone. Because of this and his financiers, he is unable to restore US common good adequately to make a real difference. Doubling the supreme jesters on staggered terms,with a flimsy repug type excuse, would move us. Put the current political hacks in shoebox offices. Ole computers. Temp 64', no assistants. Drive the bums out. Dump Dejoy who is destroying, privatizing all po and especially rural Americas post office. Use Elizabeth Warrens post office plan. Stop being a Warhawk ( he has received the most re-elect monies from the Israel lobby of any American politician), use Bernie's approach.
He is old, he could truly become a risk taker and help turn the US rot around. But, he does not have the vision or courage......yet?
Bernie is a great US Senator. Senator Sanders is a team player and effective politician who knows which side he is on. He is for democracy. I hope his supporters will follow his lead and vote for democracy.
I think Sanders is more powerful and effective as a US Senator. Biden has demonstrated the leadership skills needed for the Office of the President and has set about repairing the significant damage done by the former guy. Student loan forgiveness is one important step in restoring balance after decades of wanton exploitation by the financial sector. Biden needs another term, we need another Biden term, to fully benefit from his wisdom and leadership honed by a career of service to our country. I want to see how he implements bankruptcy reform so more people can benefit and patterns of abuses by repeat filers are curbed and punished.
Hillary wss not the loser in the popular vote.
But Bernie might have won the electoral college vote. Hillary was disliked by many Dems, whereas Bernie was much more popular. But Bernie wasn't a corporate shill, like Hillary, so...
I’ve always said that the DNC handed us Trump. There are as much to blame for what we are going through now as are the ignorant voters who put him into office.
Poll numbers
Michael, I agree that we have to restructure our tax systems of the past. However that alone will not solve the deeper economic issues in our capitalistic system. Even if the wealthy must pay their fair share of taxes, they still operate on the value of rapacious greed and will still acquire more wealth and political power.
Step one is to assist in the creation of worker and customer owned cooperatives. This is one of the cornerstones of economic democracy. There are currently more than 40,000 cooperatives in the United States with over 350 million members that provide more than $25 billion in wages so we currently have a vibrant cooperative movement to build on. When I lived in Montana I got my electricity at very low rates from a customer owned cooperative that began in 1937 after the Great Depression. Its mission statement says it exists to serve its customers and not corporate profits. Here in New Mexico I purchase all my food at a local cooperatively owned grocery store that due to its success is moving to a space more than double its current size. The financing for this expansion comes from the New Mexico Finance Authority which demonstrates how a progressive government can assist the growth of the Coop movement. Our Coop is expanding while other grocery stores in the area are stagnant or closing.
When a business is facing bankruptcy, a progressive government can provide low cost loans to assist employees to purchase and operate the business as a coop. Once they are owners of the business the employee/owners will be highly motivated to make it a big success. Big economic turndowns such as the recession of 2008 are opportunities for a leap in growth of coops. This is only one of several opportunities to practically apply Economic Democracy and give it a foothold. For more information practical steps read “After Capitalism - Economic Democracy in Action" by Dada Maheshvarananda available in paperback and Kindle.
Ok, you already have cooperatives in this decaying socialist democracy of the wealthy. Why would they not flourish in a capitalist democracy like that of Denmark? I mean, cooperatives are great but I wouldn't want to kill the entrepreneurial spirit, I just want to regulate it like they do in Denmark. Any entrepreneur would work his socks of for the prospect of making $1 billion, he doesn't need a trillion.
As regards the chant of "Who wants to be like Denmark?" I would say, I might agree with you, America has some unique advantages, but the Denmarkian economy is something to learn from, let's call it Denmark plus Route 66.
Michael, you bring up a good point, but it is also answered in economic democracy. Cooperatives are one pillar of the economy, the second pillar is small, entrepreneurial businesses up to a certain number of employees. This encourages entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and personal enterprise. Not everyone has to work in a cooperative, and many people prefer to be in a small sole proprietorship or small, intimate businesses. There is accommodation for that, and in fact, encouragement. But, when a business or industry becomes large, then it must convert to a cooperative. This is where government assistance can come in to give financing support and guidance in the conversion to a cooperatively owned business.
Good distinction. Small, entrepreneurial businesses are necessary. Our extended family has a small tool and die business in a now rust belt city since 1893 that is now being run by the 4th gen. Middle of last century it had a high of 45 employees, now is hanging on with 12-15--will pass to an employee to manage in a couple years as not enough qualified/interested in current gen. to manage. So, over the years, hundreds of families who have worked there have had steady jobs (the oldest non-family employee has been there 55 years!), helped create community, have basic economic security. It would not have worked as a coop--too much specialized, long-term knowledge needed to share in decision-making among all, though the people who have been there through thick and thin are the brain trust.
It’s one of those cases that should be studied, as the focus was always on the long term, sharing the very modest money that came in among the company employees -- and ESPECIALLY--relationships.
Could not agree with you more on all points, Michael. The problem is that the DNC doesn't want to abandon the corporate trough any more than the Repugs do.
Denise, have you noticed how close all the elections have been since Reagan? The corporations bet on both sides, which means we essentially have no government.
Reagan's wet dream.
Oh, Ronnie Raygun has a LOT of sins to answer for!
But yes, there's been reporting on how big corporations give to both parties, to hedge their bets.
https://howmuch.net/articles/the-30-biggest-political-donors-on-the-fortune-500
Only one of the ugly little secrets of money in politics. Another is how corporations publicly profess to hold certain ideologies, but give money to candidates working against those beliefs.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/business/dealbook/corporate-political-donations.html?unlocked_article_code=1.J00.kRbz.0V_lm-O-lzfp&smid=url-share
I have said and still maintain that the political class will not do reform. We will have to insist and do it.
Indeed, D4N. And that's been the case since, oh....Lincoln, I'd say. With a few exceptions, such as TR, FDR, JFK. Sanders wants to do reform, but the DNC will never let him, any more than they would my former Congressman, the Honorable Dennis Kucinich. Ditto AOC, Elizabeth Warren, and a handful of others.
Why would you want to go back to any economic model of the 1970’s, arguably the worst decade of the 20th century other than the depression? The US economy since Reagan has seen the lowest sustainable unemployment, inflation, and highest GDP growth in generations, irrespective of what party or president has been in power.
There are plenty of problems as always but focus on solving them, not throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Agree, there was OPEC and the subsequent hike in gas prices, leading to stagflation, Carter's demise, etc., but the economy was basically sound. People had good jobs that paid well and just about everyone had good health insurance. Now the unemployment rate may be a bit lower, but only because good jobs have been shipped overseas, and replaced by silly jobs, like working for insurance companies.
I was never actively involved in bankruptcy practice but once upon a time I was either the grandfather or godfather of legal services programs and I was a social member of the bankruptcy bar. I am not current. The Bankruptcy Act of 1938, also known as the Chandler Act, expanded voluntary access to the bankruptcy system in the United States and made voluntary petitions more attractive to debtors. It also gave authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission in the administration of bankruptcy filings.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy is also called a wage earner's plan. It enables individuals with regular income to develop a plan to repay all or part of their debts. Debtors propose a repayment plan to make installments to creditors over three to five years. It;s not like other forms. https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-13-bankruptcy-basics#:~:text=A%20chapter%2013%20bankruptcy%20is,over%20three%20to%20five%20years.
Creditors used to complain that Chapter 7 was "legalized theft. A chapter 7 bankruptcy case does not involve the filing of a plan of repayment as in chapter 13. Instead, the bankruptcy trustee gathers and sells the debtor's nonexempt assets and uses the proceeds of such assets to pay holders of claims (creditors) in accordance with the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code. https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-7-bankruptcy-basics#:~:text=A%20chapter%207%20bankruptcy%20case,provisions%20of%20the%20Bankruptcy%20Code.
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is frequently referred to as a "reorganization" bankruptcy. Usually, the debtor remains “in possession,” has the powers and duties of a trustee, may continue to operate its business, and may, with court approval, borrow new money. A plan of reorganization is proposed, creditors whose rights are affected may vote on the plan, and the plan may be confirmed by the court if it gets the required votes and satisfies certain legal requirements. https://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-11-bankruptcy-basics
Thanks for explaining the different forms of bankruptcy to those of us who don't know this stuff!
What chapter Is Giuliani filing under?
Chapter 11, which is usually for corporations. It's a reorganization of debt and there is a plan for repayment. The process includes classifying creditors and determines how much goes to each class. That's an over simplification but you get the gist. The real winners in chapter 11 are the trustee and the attorneys. They all get paid before any creditors get paid. Theoretically, if all the assets/income are used up paying the trustee and attorneys, then the other creditors get nothing.
EXCEPTION TO DISCHARGE IN BANKRUPTCY FOR INTENTIONAL TORTS Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(6) prevents a debtor from obtaining the discharge of any debt for “willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity”.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/11/523
Which is why I said that bankruptcy won’t protect him in the Georgia case.
The fall of 2008 was widely blamed on debtors, but it was CAUSED by investment practices on the part of investment firms, along with banks that should never have been allowed into the practice, that were OUTRAGEOUSLY manipulative and corrupt at the top of the system. I helped an ex-vice-president from Merrill Lynch write a book about that economic event, and the problem was NOT consumer {or even mortgage} spending, but the creation of a fail-safe system to protect the originators of certain “investment products” from any loss, the bundling of all kinds of mortgages into arcane and complicated “securities” that were marketed as top-rate when they should have had clown-faces drawn on them, and the bamboozling of the rank and file of investors who were encouraged to buy these loopy products. Getting more and more people to take out mortgages, whether they could afford them or not, played into this massive scheme and eventually brought the system down. It was not poor borrowers who caused it — they were among the millions who lost everything. It was the investment bright lights at the top, who caused it and STILL walked away unscathed.
This is what we need to fix {say thanks to Slick Willy, too, for goiing along with dumping Glass Steagall}.
The wealthy usually benefit from chaos. It opens opportunities for them. IMO, they like economic chaos for that reason. After the foreclosures of 2008, the big investment firms like Blackstone were buying up blocks of housing. This activity continues and contributes to evictions and homelessness.
I recently read that real estate investment firms are buying up nursing homes. Like they know or care about caring for the elderly and their caregivers! Is it a coincidence that some of Ivanka trump’s Chinese trademarks were for nursing homes and caskets?
Yes, Chaos certainly does no favors to people struggling to craft a life on too little return for their efforts.
After the Mess of 2008, lots of people preyed on the losses and foreclosures, buying up residential real estate and turning it into rentals.
If people noticed, though, a great many large tracts of housing were abandoned and never brought back into use. In some midwestern spots, tracts of housing were bulldozed. Even identifying the people who could claim to own those houses, after their mortgages had been “bundled” with other mortgages and sold and resold as “investment products,” nobody knew who owned them anymore. That was part of why people who were told they could re-negotiate their mortgages or come up with a plan to stay in their homes were finally turned out — nobody knew who owned them anymore. I figure towns foreclosed on property after taxes weren’t paid for a long enough. But houses deteriorated and went to pot and were bulldozed.
Now, yes, investment companies are buying residential housing right out from under individuals who want to make an offer on houses. They buy them often for cash and sight unseen.
It’s not a good trend, driving up prices for individuals, and taking huge amounts of residential property out of labor and middle-class hands.
Not good.. .
But a nice little windfall for people with the resources to scarf up the housing. People like Ivanka and her husband, and more like them.
Yeah, nursing homes, too, since our population is aging, and nursing homes are a GREAT way to overcharge the government for patient benefits, charging outrageous monthly fees, and charging for things that are not needed, are not delivered, and are never checked on…..
For those who may not be familiar with the strategy, the practice of profiting from chaos has been called, "disaster capitalism."
Naomi Klein wrote a comprehensive book about it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine
Thank you. I didn’t know there was a name for it.
Sad that enough of it happens that a name had to be assigned to it, right?
AMEN, Pat! Excellent point about Slick Willy, too.
Yes; lots of stuff to thank Slick Willy for. Hillary bore some of that buyers remorse along with her own issues.
Yup. Donnie was not a better choice, but she was certainly not a great one. Would you rather step in sh^t or a bear trap…?
Is Slick Willy the character in Raisin in the Sun who stole the money?
Slick Willy is the guy who “didn’t have sex with that woman” and got impeached for saying that.
We do have many examples of countries that treat their citizens much more humanely than our savagely barbarian regime. But "we are not Denmar." Democracy. that is a well-functioning democracy, is a threat to the privileges of "masters of mankind" (Adam Smith "The Wealth of Nations" 1776): we would vote to eliminate their privileges. A democracy that works for the common good is their arch-enemy. How do we recapture power? And a "Kinder, gentler" society? Obscene inequality collapses only by catastrophic events: wars, revolutions (the make a difference), pandemic and societal collapse (Walter Scheidel "The Great Leveler" 2018) Voting, for any presidential candidate, won't do. It never has.
Well, certainly FDR came close.
Wish that example wasn’t almost 100 years old--that’s the crux of it, right? FDR was an anomaly and came to be because of mass extreme suffering.
That description from the Prout Institute makes sweepiing statements, but says NOTHING about how one structures those “local control” economies, nor how they function together to form a state and a country. It sounds like the Balkanization of economics, the fracture of national activity … Just saying “resources” won’t be shiipped out but will be used locally for the benefit of the people locally … What the hell does THAT mean? Providing resources to markets is a way that local economies BRING MONEY IN, and trade is a way to GET resources you DON’T have, while selling what you have more of than you need …
OH, PLEASE, that is one of the most simplistic takes on the problems os our democracy and economy that I have read in a long time.
We do need a far better system for regulating our economy, and we need for money NOT to be considered speech {we have limitations on political contributions before that SCOTUS ruling}, and we need corporations NOT to be considered people {that’s a new SCOTUS ruling, too]
What we need are better rules for the system we have — and we CAN regulate it better, if we insist on it, and we VOTE … We don’t need to remake it from the bottom up.
Those “democracies” spoken of around the world are democracy in name only. Autocrats and militarists rule in too many of them, and people only get to vote on candidates the autocrats allow to run {and in Putin’s Russia, where the popular candidate Nevalny is wasting away in prison],
NO, we don’t need to dump our system for some vaguely structured “local control” model, for which the piece cited gives NO indication of structure whatsoever — We just need to fix what we already have, and vote the bastards out of office, so we can get busy and DO that.
Marc,
I think this system fails to accept that humans are incapable of behaving consistently in the manner required for Economic Democracy.
I think the first thing to do is raise the maximum marginal income tax to 74% - pre-Regan rate. Only possible if the Congress and Whitehouse is Democratic with sufficient majority to pass such legislation.
Then impose legislation (current bill in progress) to limit salaries/Officers' compensation to 50 times the average workers wage of the enterprise - or even better use the minimum wage paid in the corporation.
Then prevent company stock buy backs.
Then Medicare for all and allow medical insurance companies to provide top up benefits. This works in UK. BUPA provides this additional coverage to UK citizens.
Well, I guess I went a bit off track. But this would reduce bankruptcies.
How would you get the DNC to go along with any of the above, Phil?
I read the article, Marc, and the concept makes sense to me, in general. However, if localities determine the collection and distribution of tax monies, I'm not clear as to how systems such as, say, railroads, highways, national parks, etc., would be maintained....? Also, it seems that communities with differing priorities might leave a patchwork effect when it comes to the maintenance of roads, care of waterways, maintenance of the electrical grid, and so on. Would there still be an overarching federal system?
Thanks for the link
Yes, democracy in name only. Free market in name only. Common good in name only.
We live hypocrisy. Public Education, fair play, on and in.
Call it Hypocrisy Democracy! Sounds right, that's why it will be so difficult to come up with a fair alternative.
That is a self-contradictory statement.
“Democracy” has become so corrupted …? And now it must be replaced by a democracy?
I concur that our poorly-regulated capitalism has so corrupted our democracy that we need a better economic system that works with our democracy to serve the welfare of all and not only the rich ….
Yes, I know that is basically what your underlying message conveys, and I am parsing language here, but I think the parsing is important, because language is IMPORTANT…Too many people on the planet right now are attacking the very idea of democracy, and allowing careless language that seems to agree that democracy is failing doesn’t sit well with me.
Democracy does NOT have to be replaced by a more modern system. But badly regulated capitalism needs to be replaced by a better set of rules and economic practices
I agree with you, Marc, on that.
Wealth is so concentrated that Corporations will eventually back a universal income so that the majority can afford to buy their products. As our economy becomes more technologically dependent on Tech corporations the concentration of wealth will continue. Our lives are so packaged for us now by corporations-our ideology is so corporate, our politics are so corporate, our media is so corporate our politicians are so corporate minded our chances of replacing this Monolithic civilization are next to nil. Musk will get bigger and bigger until this ugly business collapses from bubbles bursting or environmental ruin.
There was always corruption in the world, long before capitalism.
It wouldn't be hard to do. It would be the model that the Scandinavian countries use, a blend of capitalism and socialism. There is no student debt in these countries because higher education is free. Why? Because they know that an educated population increases the wellfare for all. Also there is no medical bankruptcy because like education it is provided to all.
It is absolutely unbeliveable that the richest country in the world allows most of the wealth to go to those that need it the least.
Exactly. Excellent.
It seems to me that all systems are at risk for corruption. Look at Putin and his oligarchs. It’s not a democracy or capitalist country. We will always have greedy people,bullies, sociopaths, dishonest people, etc in society. How to keep those tendencies from harming our society? I don’t know the answer.
Stop blaming capitalism. Capitalism is a system in which consumer choice in a free market reward innovation and efficiency in the producers with profits. Feudalism is a system where cartels and monopolies of land barons extort profit from the working class. Replace land barons with barons of industry and you get the so called "American capitalism," which is really corporate feudalism. When the barons of industry control the government and through it control the markets, especially through monopolization, you don't have a free market and therefore you have capitalists without a capitalist system.
Absolutely, Marc!
Great comment . I couldn't agree more.
I would agree Marc. This transition to an economic democracy where the welfare of all must be taken care of, otherwise, people will continue to be exploited due to corrupt bankruptcy laws. Let's discuss some solution-oriented approaches!
Yes! Thank you Republican Party! There reign must end!
If we can fund our army for war and national security, we should be able to fund our education systems for peace and national security. IMO, 2 yrs of college should be publicly funded. There is so much more to learn than when I was a kid! Also, trade schools should get funding. I’d like to see some payback to the public with some of that. For example, plumbers that charge a reasonable rate especially for low income/elderly after they graduate trade school, at least for the first 5 years.
The concern I have is that unless you pay students who worked through college to offset the amount of their loan, it is grossly unfair.
This is one of those cases that I would say don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Sen Warren did a study and, I believe, it concluded that forgiving $10,000 would greatly help a majority of those students.
The real sin of personal bankruptcy is being forced into it because of failure to pay medical bills. If we had a REAL health care system, like nearly every other developed country in the world; this sad situation would almost never happen.
My son was only 23 when he had purchased medical insurance, and while waiting for the two month period for it to be in effect, he had heart arrhythmia, or palpitations which landed him in the ER. $4000 later, he was unable to pay. I suggested that he consult a financial advisor. He was advised to file for bankruptcy, and did. He got out from under. I was so angry, that a kid who was barely on his feet was knocked down because of the medical emergency. He was working and had an apartment. He had pending purchased insurance. It is disgusting what can happen to those trying to support themselves responsibly.
That's a bunch of crap. Sounds like he was at least lucky to have a great parent. I hope you both are doing much better. Thanks for sharing your story, it's an important one more Americans need to hear
Nick : He is 28 years old now, and married. No kids yet. He is getting his class one fireman's license, already has the class two. Operates the boilers in a manufacturing plant, along with a few others. You always need trained workers nearby on call, in case someone gets sick, or can't be there for their shift. Lots of responsibility. Good pay, but he earns it. When his wife finishes nursing school with her Masters degree in a specialty, they will consider having a child. His twin sister has her first baby, a daughter. Life is good for this gramma.
You must be so proud! I work in facilities, and operating boilers is hard and important work.
You gave a great example earlier of why young people are having children later and later in life. My wife and I waited until our mid-30s to have our first child.
But it sounds like your family had a strong matriarch to get them where they are now. I hope you and your family have a wonderful 2024.
Back at you! I waited until age 44 to have my twins. Could not afford to earlier. Glad I waited. Some things are meant to be.
I have a husband who was and is a good father, I met him at age 40, when he was retiring from the U.S. Air Force. He was 45. Now we are geezers, after 32 years of marriage, finally grandparents!
You make a VERY important point! The system we live with that causes such things to happen, or that require bake sales and "crowd funding" to pay MEDICAL bills, is obscene.
Your last word is probably the best word for describing what this country does to its sick and infirm.
Everybody except insurance companies, immune from antitrust, and have policies of denying claims until pressed, lose. I keep telling the DNC that if they want to convert MAGATs, station people at bankruptcy court. A lot of the disgruntled are medical providers.
Private equity firms are another growing healthcare problem. They are buying up hospitals, nursing homes and clinics, ruthlessly cutting staff, ditching less-profitable patients and then selling the business at a profit. Recent studies (sorry, can’t quote) show that after the acquisitions and cuts patient care outcomes suffer. 25% increase in falls, 38% increase in infections around medication and feeding ports. Deaths also increased. This is a huge and growing problem thanks to “unleashed” Capitalism. When will we ever bring back the leashes for these guys?
I recently read that real estate investment firms are buying up nursing homes. This can’t go well for these vulnerable nursing home residents.
After my experience with the nursing home’s <lack of> care for my father, it can’t get much worse. Nursing homes are under-funded and under-regulated. They basically let him get so dehydrated and starved that he nearly died.
I also had terrible experiences with them when my mother was in one. I felt like it left me with PTSD!
For years I dreamt about my father’s horrible death. I had tried everything - being nice, being calm, being angry - but nothing resulted in any improvement whatsoever. Yes, it was like PTSD.
Soylent Green coming to a theater near you soon!
I just read that JAMA on Tues. published an article about this. I used to read JAMA until they started charging for it.
Exactly why I recently switched to another medical provider. The new provider is part of a university medical school health care system, and appears to operate independently and in the patient's best interest. This is in metropolitan/suburban area though. What options though do people outside such areas have?
I agree with your clever choice! I go to a combined University of Minnesota and Fairview hospital/clinics. It’s been a great option but now the partners are divorcing. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I no longer know which side gets the “children” - oops, I mean doctors!
Yes, sadly the doctors with the knowledge are treated like children!
Below is a link to the article I think you're referencing, Marge:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/upshot/hospitals-medical-errors.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JU0.HQnI.RUv9drfYkROR
Yes, that’s the article! I agree with the researcher who believes cuts in staffing, particularly nurses, would increase profits as well as result in more adverse patient events - even though the equity investors create screening to avoid the sickest patients. This certainly does not bode well for the increase in the numbers and severity of people requiring healthcare. And there’s no escape: private equity vultures are buying home care agencies, too.
And how vicious is that reasoning? Cut nursing staff, resulting in more adverse events for patients, which requires more treatment and longer stays. Rinse, repeat. Healthcare is probably the biggest, least accountable cash cow in the country.
I agree. And getting worse, if that even seems possible.
I had no idea they had an exemption. Wow.
The law was changed in 2021 to make insurance companies subject to amtitrust.
https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2021/01/new-law-eliminates-75yearold-antitrust-exemption-for-business-of-health-insurance
Still can fix prices. I also heard Medicare appeals for 10 years. Medical providers favor insurance beneficiaries in plans that pay more. In other words, they favor private plans, and give low priority to managed plans like Medicaid and state workers' comp. PI lawyers should be all over this issue.
It’s just awful that folks like the Lehman Bros. and the likes of Giuliani can weasel out of paying their debts and penalties. I find it astounding that trump is running for president again and that his followers cannot see him for how horrible he is. That our “Supreme” Court is so stained by some of the greediest men I have ever seen.
In my Christmas card I wrote: “I quit believing in Santa Claus - Now my Faith is in Jack Smith!”
My best as ever,
Anne in MD
🌻💙🙏
If Giuliani is hiding assets, he will be subject to criminal prosecution.
As he should! 🌻
If ?
He doesn’t need to hide his assets, he is too drunk to remember where his assets are.
Trump, Giuliani (and Romney) have a checkered history offshoring assets. Trump has been caught recently omitting Chinese assets from his recent financial statements. Trump has a history of giving clients to Giuliani and others -- maybe to get a kickback.
Consider the first impeachment -- foreign intrigue with Russia and the Ukraine. Taxpayers didn't pay for that.
"Although much of his career has been focused on domestic politics, Giuliani has had a long history of consulting work on behalf of a wide range of foreign clients, from a high-level security consulting deal with the Qatari government in 2007 to a $4.3 million security contract with Mexico City." .https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rudy-giulianis-high-dollar-foreign-clients-present-legal/story?id=66613693
He also has a radio program and is a published author.
I'd seek an assignment for his right to collect fees... especially from Trump. The Bankruptcy court can hear the case!
Right; and go find him when he 'disappears' to some obscure offshore retreat with no extradition policies. Anyone remember Robert Vesco? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Vesco
I do, of course. I was burned and he sound up in Cuba. Nixon's brother was an associate. Shades of Hunter Biden.
And so it goes; onward and downward...
According to legal experts, judgments imposed for commission of intentional torts like defamation are not dischargeable in bankruptcy, so Giuliani is not home free by any means. However, it will be a long road for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss to collect any money from him and it will likely be far less than the judgment.
I wonder where they stand in the line of creditors trying to get their hands on Rudy's assets. If near the end of the line, they may see nothing.
But if their claim isn’t discharged by the bankruptcy, they continue to have a claim to every dollar he ever makes from now on.
Thanks. But Giuliani is 79 years old with limited earnings potential. Who would hire him to mow their lawn?
If he had limited earning potential, how did he amass his current millions? He has some access to grabbing cash, through some grubby little back-channel means. The trick will be keeping track well enough to capture it.
A long time ago, in elementary school, a banker talked to my class on a field trip and gave us a little ditty, "Money makes money, and the money money makes, makes more money." He was explaining interest. He wanted us all to have a savings account. I suspect you could adapt that and say, "Money protects money, and the money money protects, makes more money." It is what we get when we make corporations people. Corporations, including banks, make laws by buying politicians, and the result is the continuous transfer of wealth to the rich. These words are from a father helping his daughter pay off her students loans. I had none. A union job in the summers when I was in college enabled me to pay most of my tuition, and my parents covered the rest. Things changed when Reagan and company reduced government support for colleges and tuitions began skyrocketing. Debt is a consequence of government policy and corporate manipulation.
Well said! It's hard to actualize how rich corporations are, especially, in comparison to your average American. There is no scarcity problem. The rich just want to keep beating their highest scores while millions do the actual work and feel the suffering of not having enough. We should be protecting people not accumulating and protecting our hordes of wealth.
Hordes is a good word for it. The mentality is like that of hoarders. How many houses and yachts do these people need to feel satisfied?
Only In America Can Trump Still Be Free To Campaign For President
If Trump had committed the alleged crimes against him in most other countries he would be in jail or possibly executed.
I prefer jail because he has to sit there and pout about it for a really long time while he watches the world go by. Especially if they take away his electronic privileges.
But execution has the HUGE advantage of being the ultimate deterrent - everybody is scared off by that potential fate; trump would be shivering in his shoes by now if that were in the cards ! I would be making plans to attend if held in a public place - what a wonderful idea !!!
Over his last meal of a bucket of KFC, Trump would boast about having the largest crowd at his execution, he'd have the best execution , no one has ever had a better execution.. and this time he'd be right about the crowd size!
That's funny. Are you a comedy writer?
Vcragain-it has been shown again and again that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent.
Especially, if one owns a jet, or has friends who do. And has top secret documents to see.
Right. But the death penalty does deter the executed criminal: he will never commit crime again.
Vcragain - while I understand that it appeals to a lot of people (especially after he has called for, and caused, death of other people) I prefer to let him have to stay locked up for a really long time to have him “maybe” think about how he destroyed so much. Though I don’t believe he has that kind of capacity for critical thinking maybe he will have to start listening to his cellmate or the guys beside his cell especially since he cannot form a single idea himself. Although the death penalty would keep him in an even smaller cell with less time out of it most states no longer carry out the execution part. Maybe they could hold it at the site where he started the J6 rally as a fitting place if that appeals to you. I think that he is already scared which is why he is trying to delay, delay, delay.
DT, unfortunately, is not going to go to jail unless there is a major shift in the voting population towards throwing the Rs out.
F R - very true. Hopefully as we get closer to the general election people will start seeing that.
My dream.
https://youtu.be/KECrObqpHFs?si=_7XzMCEZvbAPm-fQ
Wow! The story of her attempts to run against Putin is inspiring. Perhaps inspiring to TFFG if he is re-elected? Lots of ideas for knee-capping would-be opponents!
Glad you liked it. I wasn't sure if anyone would find it of interest, seeing's how events in The Levant have sucked all the air out of the world theater at the expense of Ukraine. To me - in this case - it's a profile of what a truly corrupted democracy looks like - the kind the Яepuблиkan$ would have us all embrace. I like the guy who produces it. A Russian "escapee" himself, he seems to have inside sources that can keep us abreast of current goings-on under Putin. You may enjoy his personal story: https://youtu.be/HwIln3ryDb4?si=a8eVGzpViUGkOqYS I encourage everyone to subscribe and keep an eye on his offerings.
I hope we will not abandon Ukraine. We are lucky to still accept refugees from wars started by power-hungry strongmen. I’ve learned of the injuries and the resilience of these victims by volunteering to resettle some in Minnesota. I am in awe of their courage and feel lucky that they have chosen to become US citizens. That may change if TFFG is re-elected and if the Republicans have their way. I currently have a Ukrainian refugee family living in my home - and I think the more they learn about our current political situation the less they seem inclined to stay long-term. :-(
I sympathize with them. It's not their fight, unless they want it to be.
His “leaving Russia” (along with so many other potentially cannon fodder men), brought tears to my eyes. Too many memories of refugees arriving at the airport with their little plastic bags of documents and (if they were lucky) a suitcase or two.
Hm. Trying to think...what wars, in the past 4 or 5 centuries at least, have not been started by power hungry strongmen?
I’m stumped. Did you come up with one?
The Grand Old Party is now the Gut Our Protections cult. Ukraine is the ultimate front line nation protecting the rest of the world from World War III. Putin is being worn down by their courage and tenacity. Good for you Marge that you have opened your heart and home to those families displaced from their homeland. It's gone all in to enable the dismantling of the policies and organizations that protect our national security, the protect international security... they know Don loves Vlad and will be just like him if he's back in office. The Blue Party is the one party now that will protect the full right for the healthcare of half the population of our country, protect our future from removal of what you have made for your senior years - your investments in social security, medicare, your right to vote and have your vote counted, to love who you love, and good grief to read any and all books, to learn all of history (not just the nice parts - the sanitized parts).
We need a smack down of this nonsense- a chunk of the country was brainwashed and Dems' being nice and the judiciary trying to not be seen as "political" was slow in going after the Coup leaders - and they allowed the big lie - which history will look back on as actually the most dangerous in-plain sight CON JOB in world history - the R's (even the good ones) let the con metastasize and infect the population of the former party of Lincoln.
Republican donors and Fox are part of the workings that are willing to trade in democracy for profits and ratings. The propogranda they shower into minds of millions every day is staggering. The media is reporting like this is politics as usual - this is crazy town... politics has been hyjacked by hubris, by money, by a psychopath who seduced the entire GOP to follow his lead in the name of power.
It's time for a Big Badass BLUE Backlash to rally those who have not lost hope to allow all of us to continue our ability to work on this perfectly imperfect union for the next 245 years. This is isn't a campaign for 2024 - it's a War for Earth 1 and the future. We need new messaging that reflects that - that educates, inspires and grabs everyone by the heart and their gut and moves them to be more engaged and more passionate about this than anything they've ever fought for before.
Upon further reflection, you may be right. The risk here is giving the Яepuблиkan$ ideas, but since their boy, ol' Donnie Fredrikovna - Донни Фредериковна, yes indeed, that's an insult - has deep Russian ties, it may also tip his hand about what else he has up his sleeve!
MSM should talk about how the Republican Party has largely become, or at the least is turning into, the Party of Putin. But they won't do it. Up for debate.
We’ll see if the lights go off at the voting centers (in swing states only, of course). Of course they are already disenfranchising people by the thousands... At any rate, he has plenty of mentors giving him advice on tactical tricks: Putin, Orban, Bannon, Miller......
I wish all Americans could view this video. Maybe then they might wake up to what Trump has in store.
She needs to stay away from the windows in tall buildings....
The thought crossed my mind as I listened to this piece. She should actually stay away from any building taller than one story and keep a low profile too!
Yes. And employ a food taster. And avoid umbrellas. And planes.
Actually, she should keep a Geiger counter handy to sample her Russian tea blends!
Good point!
👍
Thank you for this link. What a courageous woman. I just pray that she does not get assassinated. Ultimately, it's the Russian people that have to overthrow Putin's regime, nobody else can do that. Maybe some help from the CIA?
Very sad video of him leaving his family and his Russian life.
Unfettered capitalism causes so much harm. But the allure of great wealth with glamorous displays of luxury tends to bamboozle folks into believing that they might someday benefit from the system if they are just lucky enough, or work hard enough. The result is that those least likely to ever get rich support the system that is ironically so stacked against them!
"Love of money...."
Some just play the system They invest in items that are protected from bankruptcy, and accumulate wealth, to the detriment of creditors, who sometimes are unwitting relatives, "friends" or neighbors. E.G. In Pa, black powder flintlocks and spinning wheels are exempt under state law. They borrow huge. sums, put their money in those items and file for Chapter 7. Same for "homestead" property in Florida. Can refile every 7 years.
I’m confused about how this would work. What would you do with a bunch of spinning wheels?
Invest only in expensive stuff exempt from bankruptcy. After the bankruptcy keep the proceeds from sale of the items and no longer have any debt. Each state has it's own variation.
When I practiced in Florida, the joke was the last stage of every construction project was bankruptcy. Developers would walk away with the loan and the lender was stuck with the debt.
There are variations using government money where the taxpayers get stuck. Most of the big loans here are to foreign investors. Lots of bankruptcy fraud. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/eight-defendants-charged-bankruptcy-fraud-involving-over-3-million-concealed-assets
And that is the magic of marketing campaigns for the false promises of corrupt politicians and unaffordable unnecessary products and services cannily inserted in the sticky hands of social media. It consumes our desperate minds like a deadly prion disease that quietly erodes trust and faith in the common good.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, before she became a senator, fought hard against the 2005 bankruptcy bill. She was one of the country's foremost experts on bankruptcy, which is how she got her job at Harvard, not because of her family heritage. In her bankruptcy research, for which she spent hours in bankruptcy court studying actual cases, she found that the major cause of individual bankruptcy in this country is medical debt. It is not people maxing out their credit cards on extravagances. The fact that in the wealthiest country in the world, people must lose everything to pay for essential healthcare is shameful.
Sen Elizabeth Warren is one of our heroes! She is for the people!
The American public could have universal health care if there were a federal/state regulator that could control Hospital and other medical/medicine costs to affordable levels and the U.S government could provide this with a modest surtax of 1.5 to 2.0%.
Or if we cut the Pentagon budget in half....
There is no free market at all. The 'free market' is code for 'socialism for the rich'.
yes. We need someone to write that book or fashion that decoder ring for Republicspeak. It could be hilarious, like a Devils Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce.
Wall Street's Bail Out could have and SHOULD HAVE also relieved homeowners who had been sold on the notion that their homes were worth far more than their value. As a condition of accepting the Bail Outs, banks and lenders should have been required to write down or write off these overvalued home loans and restructure them so people could stay in the homes.
Instead, they were allowed to package their own relief, leaving millions of American families with nothing; no home, no relief.
Paulson and others took care of the lenders, but did NOTHING to help the American People who suffered the consequences of these overvalued loans AND WHO ALSO PAID FOR THOSE BAILOOUTS WITH THEIR TAX DOLLARS.
There ought to be a law!!
I met one of those canvassing. You can cross her off as a Democratic voter. She was angry at Obama.
Well, Obama did declare that he would NOT be going after the banksters to hold them accountable...
In Canada, many years ago, we had the Assisted Home Ownership Plan (AHOP) which was badly designed. Those who signed up for it were led to believe that it was a federal subsidy program -- but surprise, surprise it was a loan program and at the end of the five year term they discovered that they owed more than their home was worth; meanwhile interest rates shot up to more than double what they were originally paying.
Not a pleasant circumstance....
In Rudy's case he openly called for insurrection on Jan 6 2021 n should be locked up with 45 n the plotters
It’s the Golden Rule: he who has the gold makes the rules.
Yes, didn’t ask “how about trial by combat”?
Or, trial by hairdresser? He whose hair dye drops first loses...!
HaHa
Every day Trump is not in jail is absolute immunity!
You know who writes the rules because the rules favors the people who wrote them.
Not only do big money folks so often get out of their financial obligations (Often while they have long and loudly decried socialism, ironically) have you folks noticed the trend of late where it seems purely optional in many cases whether they have to physically appear in court?
What happens when an impecunious single black mother declines to appear in court? I think she is soon looking at jail time.
Once again the people who are wealthy to begin with get all the breaks! They have $$$$ to do whatever they want, don't pay taxes, come and go as they please, and can walk away from everything ...once again it, it's always the little guy who takes it on the chin. Kids are encouraged to go on to school but when over there heads in debt , no help for them ... Biden is doing his best to help students with debt overload, but here again the Republicans stopped that because they are all self centered and only what they want is ever done ..it's really sad in the United States..
We simply must get Biden re-elected, and, maintain the Senate, elect a Democratic House. Then our kids will get real help. As the Biden/Harris Team seeks preschool for all, a permanent child tax credit, free community colleges, and more debt relief (there’s been some) on student loans! Hope and work for the future! Our kids and grandkids need us! Now.
A tremendous problem with Biden in this regard is that he is doing *nothing* to help students with debt overload. What he/his advisors have suggested is forgiving debt to one group of people in what appears to me and many others as naked vote buying.
The moment that debt is forgiven there are millions of more indebted students minted the next September when a new academic year begins. Furthermore, students may now have the propensity to borrow even more money thinking that it may be forgiven down the road.
Colleges and universities are now free to continue to raise their tuition and room/board because the underlying problem has not been touched.
That's baloney. SCOTUS has limited his prerogatives. https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-5-billion-additional-student-debt-relief
It’s not baloney. How does forgiving ~$40k of incurred debt for former students reform a horrifically broken system for the next group of borrowers? What a terrible precedent.
What happens when they buy a car with a $40k loan?
The SUPREME COURT - not Biden -- is your enemy.
Well, at least most black people won't get approved for that loan.
Let younger people guided by you and others tip economic scientists work to change the bankruptcy laws so they reflect the values of a true democracy and not the oligarchy that’s running our country today!
Thank you for your leadership in getting this country back to its best intentions of the founding fathers.
the "economic scientists" are employed by the wealthy to make them more money. Not all of them. But even the areas of research are often directly and indirectly influenced by those who stand to make financial gain.
We all saw the “club” of people associated with Jeffery Epstein included Larry Summers.
Very informative. My bankruptcy was in 2002, makes me glad I didn't try to hold on until 2005. If the banking industry has its way we will be like Pakistan, where a debt will be passed on to the children, and even the grand children of the deceased. Our own fault, we keep electing republicans.
it's tough to educate people when the truth has been so obscured and buried unde many layers of BS. The language itself hides the truth of matters. And when people understand some of the corruption the ability to draw the dots to the source is too often lacking. And the big money and foreign influence draw those dots in for the gullible.
And journalists, who could help draw the dots to the source, don't do it often enough. The lack of follow-up questions in interviews is very disturbing to me. Again, the rich and powerful can simply refuse to be interviewed, so the media kowtows to them too much.
I don't even attempt to talk to the MAGA people anymore, because of an article that I saw by a psychiatrist who stated that it is useless to try to defend yourself to the flying monkeys (this is actually a term that psychiatrist use) of a narcissist. They are compelled to take the side of the narcissist, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. When Trump is in prison, most of us will be singing, "ding dong the witch is dead", while his flying monkeys soar off to find another Hitler.
I agree. I was thinking of people who still have half a mind. The best course for FM is distraction of monkey brains, give them video games or whatever.
They are the more moral group? If you're going to make up lies, you might as well make up big lies?
?