While the S&P downgrade of America is a direct indictment of Congress's behavior by using the debt-ceiling as a pawn in a dangerous game, the fact remains that this punishment for not taking the debt-ceiling seriously is punishing the many and will profit the few.
Water Works
I was recently asked to write an article about whether it is better to invest in the market or pay off the mortgage. My answer was: Invest in yourself. Unless you know where the financial wizards from Wall Street are parking their personal stash, venturing to guess what will do well in the upcoming months is a crap shoot. You might as well take your chances at a Casino in Las Vegas and enjoy yourself.
How can you, the average human being, make a profit from this man-made financial crisis by investing your hard-earned cash in the stock market? The Dow-Jones has lost over a trillion dollars since the S&P downgraded the United States' AAA rating to AA. All this money lost is affecting the 401K's of hard-working Americans.
Make no mistake, the top 2% of the population is not suffering. We are.
The stock market is taking a dip, the middle class is taking an economic bath and the wealthiest top 2% will be showered in cash. Those are, and will be, the realities of this self-created economic crisis.
If you listen to the pundits, you will come out more confused than ever, they don't have any answers for you about specific stocks you can buy blindly or think of them as a "sure thing."
If I had money to invest, I'd keep an eye on the companies the Federal government is going to contract with to invest in infrastructure and on the suppliers of materials to these companies. Maybe investing in our country and ourselves first is a better idea than listening to the financial "experts." on the tee vee machine.
Interest Rates Interest rates are still low and I would seriously consider refinancing the home to lower rates. This saves you thousands of dollars and allows you to own your home in full a lot sooner.
Rentals
A friend of mine never understood her father purchasing small homes and renting them, she is very happy now that, as his sole heir, there is a steady stream of income that is unlikely to go away any time soon - It finally dawn on her that her dad was right - people need a place to live; if they have money and they are skittish about investing it, they are going to rent. If they don't have the financial resources or credit to afford a place of their own, they are going to rent.
Find ways to invest in yourself with the things you can control, such as lowering the interest rate in your home or paying off high-interest credit cards. Saving thousands of dollars on interest benefits you - isn't about time something benefited you?
Take control of your own finances and you will do better for yourself than Wall Street is doing with your 401K.
I was struck by the disgust exhibited by former Wyoming Republican Senator, Allen Simpson, on his interview yesterday with Lawrence O'Donnell. Two things struck me as interesting, One: Republicans can be incredibly reasonable once they are no longer running for office and 2: I knew next to nothing about Grover Norquist.
Former Senator Allen Simpson posed the following questions:
Who is Grover Norquist?
Why is he so powerful that republican Congressmen will sign a pledge filled with lies that would supersede their oath of office?
Who finances Grover Norquist? His actual words were: "Who is he slave to?"
What does this man get out of this? How does he profit from it?
Senator Simpson made me want to dig and find out who this guy is, because just like the rest of America, all I know is that he had this "great and original idea" of forcing republicans to sign a pledge to never increase taxes. But frankly, I never went beyond thinking that this is a powerful man that must be highly respected for some obscure reason.
UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE***UPDATE
Many thanks to Randi Rhodes for going to the heart of this matter on her radio show today and providing an article from The Hill, that I gladly pass on to my followers.
Who is this guy?
President of Americans For Tax Reform (ATR) since 1984 - We can thank Ronald Reagan for creating this monster.
Republicans are terrified of being black listed by Norquist and losing their positions.
Longer serving republicans are beginning to revolt against him.
Collaborator and friend with Carl Rove.
ATR funding reportedly comes from right-wing organizations like Olin and Scaife — conservative foundations set up by millionaires and billionaires like the Koch brothers — to support a set of policy goals favorable to their corporations. ATR has also received significant funding from the tobacco, gambling and alcohol industries.
Norquist, working with then-Majority Whip DeLay, who launched the scheme known as the K Street Project in 1995. Run out of ATR offices, it controlled access to key government figures and rewarded GOP cronies by pressuring Washington lobbying firms to hire Republican operatives. Those who were loyal and willing to “pay to play” were granted access.
For additional information on Norquist, please read The Hill: Norquist history 101 by Karen Finney. She explains the connections by Norquist to the Evangelical right, K-Street, Abramoff, money laundering and the collusion with gambling, alcohol and tobacco industries.
Bloomsberg News Week article titled: Who's Afraid of Grover Norquist? does not shed any light on who is financing this man and why is he accorded fear and power by elected officials in such a blind fashion. But the following excerpt showcases Norquist's personality and the fear of being primaried in future elections.
Subtlety is not Norquist’s strong suit. In a 2003 interview with NPR, he likened the justification for the estate tax to “the morality of the Holocaust.” He magnifies his influence by hosting other conservative activists at weekly Wednesday breakfasts in Washington and spreading antitax gospel through frequent television appearances. Over the years, Republicans have been reluctant to cross him for fear of being vilified. “If Grover says to the Tea Party, ‘This guy is a bad guy,’ that’s it,” says Bruce Bartlett, a former adviser in the Reagan White House and Treasury Dept. official in the George H.W. Bush Administration.
It is reminiscent of the power and control given to Rush Limbaugh by the republicans. Limbaugh holds their feet to the fire and Norquist, a leader of the Tea Party, holds them by the throat. These poor bastards have painted themselves into a corner and the only thing of interest is watching them squirm out of this stranglehold while their hands are tied behind their backs.
The question is why? - We know that money talks, but is the GOP so utterly dependent on their corporate masters for election campaign funds that are completely incapable of governing? - And why these two puppets pulling their strings? How was it decided that Limbaugh and Norquist were worth this much freedom and power? What do those who control their moves have on these two? - Puppet masters directing puppets to manage lesser puppets.
We know that John Boehener runs to cry and meet with Limbaugh when he needs advice and support and we also know that Limbaugh is the puppet of the Koch Brothers and The Heritage Foundation, but Norquist? Is he also financed by the same groups in the hope of effectively splitting and destroying the GOP to gain complete control of that faction of government?
I have more questions that answers and hope that Rachel Maddow can add to her repertoire of investigative and clear reporting on the many questions asked by former Senator Allen Simpson.
