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Hey banks! No more welfare for you

I keep hearing that term “Too big to fail” in reference to our elite banking industry, and it quite frankly makes me sick.  Of course we all know that the likes of AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America et al failed big time but our government “we the people” bailed them out.  In my book this is called welfare.  As far as I am concerned these guys that and said they would “fail” without our money took a government handout with few restrictions on it, better known to me as “too big to fall on your ass welfare.”

So now, our legislators are finally listening to our cries and are hammering out legislation that will make certain that there will be no more of this “to big to fail” crap. They of course are not calling it crap, that is my own thought provoking phrase.  If passed there will be a new risk regulatory council with “vast powers” according to Shelia Bair, chairman of the FDIC.  This council would monitor and address risks to our economic stability posed by shaky financial holding companies, according to Bair in the http://huffingtonpost.com 

But of course, the banks aren’t too keen on oversight.  They are fighting this reform because as we all know “they are too big to fail”.  She also said that there would also be a new consumer agency to police financial products, a change Bair said is needed to protect the public. No wonder the banks don’t want it. How dare we the consumer, want to be protected from the greed and obvious mismanagement  in the past of  our funds.  What the heck are we thinking that we want accountability?  After all, the economic crisis that they created is evidently something that we are to suffer through, not them.

That actually seems to have been fixed also, while they won’t suffer like many of us do, the Wall Street executives pay was cut drastically this week by the great almighty pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.  Finally he is living up to that czar name.  The average cash compensation for executives will be cut by 90% and no top executive at good old AIG will receive more than $200,000.  When this information was first reported by the New York Times last week, it was reported that the financial industry  was taken by surprise and they were scrambling to figure out exactly what it meant.

Well, I’m not in the elite banking industry but let me just give you banking executives my lowly consumer take on what I think it means;  It’s not nice to fool the American people, we now know that the banking CEO’s  best and brightest are not, and oh yes, NO MORE WELFARE FOR YOU FROM US!

 

Oprah show bills Palin the rogue as “world exclusive interview”

The last truly infamous book that Oprah Winfrey plugged on her program called “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey, turned out to be a million little lies and though dubbed non-fiction it was fiction through and through. Oprah and many of her viewers  were upset at the fraud perpetrated by Frey and she apologized to her viewers and he apologized to her viewers and spent part of a show having Frey back on explaining why he was a liar.

So now, on the day before another infamous book comes out Nov. 16, Oprah is going to have Sarah Palin on her show, presumably to plug “Going Rogue: An American Life” which was written by a ghost (I mean ghost-written) and although it falls in the non-fiction genre many people are somewhat skeptical. Palin as you may recall was a high school basketball star, went to five colleges, was a beauty pageant contestant, was once governor of Alaska, and was John McCain’s running mate in his 2008 presidential bid.
The 400 page tome reportedly took only months to write and the term “rogue” is one of the top googled words in the country. The reason being? No one can quite figure out the connection between rogue and Palin. We were all busy thinking she was a maverick, so it kind of threw us.

The Oprah show press release is billing Palin’s interview as a “world exclusive interview” and I don’t have much more to say on that subject other than, I am not joking that is exactly what they have written in the press release. Now I know November is the big sweeps time for the networks but Oprah has swept all her competitors under the rug for the last 23 years, so that can’t possibly be the reason for the big PR blitz. It is known she got a lot of flak for not having Palin on her show while she was a candidate but Oprah was publicly backing Obama and made the decision to have no candidates running for office on her show until after the election.

Well, I guess this is after but I just don’t get the entertainment value or the news value, or the inspiration value, or the “what can we learn from her” value that Oprah’s guests typically bring to the table or the couch or the chair. Palin doesn’t sing or dance, either doesn’t read or can’t remember what she reads, can’t write (thus the ghost writer), has shown time and again a lack of speaking ability and even less command of the English language, left Alaska high and dry by quitting her governor post and appears to not have a good grasp of politics, foreign affairs etc. But, I guess if you are a “rogue” all this doesn’t really matter and that makes you fodder for Oprah’s talk show. and sales of  pretty darn cheap books,  Palin’s book is currently selling for $9.00 on Amazon.com , and yes that is the hardcover.   Gee, I wonder if Oprah can see Alaska from her Chicago high rise?

Big rush to dump Limbaugh as potential NFL owner

There is a God.  I know this because Rush Limbaugh (you know, the obnoxious radio guy) will not be allowed to purchase one single tiny bit of the St. Louis Rams. Not even if he dressed up in black-face (something he would not consider insulting) to try and show his solidarity with the minorities he has been hammering on for years.  Way too much water under that bridge. 

Limbaugh, a Missouri native announced about a week ago that he was partnering with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to purchase the Rams.  But, so many people were on the ride  Limbaugh on a rail out of town train that the “you’ve got to be joking he is a racist” cries did not fall on deaf ears.  As early as yesterday Limbaugh was still talking on his show like he was going to be a potential owner. Even after the shit hit the fan so to speak, with Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson weighing in, along with the NFL players association, other NFL owners (the NFL selects its owners) the commissioner, the union, St. Louis media outlets and on and on…All expressing a giant NO WAY, he still proclaimed this week he was “not even thinking of exiting”.  Looks like he won’t have to ,the decision has been made for him.

Evidently NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was given the task of telling Limbaugh that his bid would be a waste of time and Limbaugh’s  partner group also saw the writing on the wall. They would never be chosen with Limbaugh in the mix.  Goodell said at an owners meeting this week that divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. He added, “I would not want to see those kinds of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL.”

So Limbaugh who has said he “loves the NFL” has seen his dreams of owning a franchise more or  less land in the  gutter. Someplace he should be used to. Yet it apparently never dawned on him that his history of racial comments,  (which caused his forced resignation from ESPN)  his divisive attitude toward everyone except white republicans , (70% of the NFL players are black)  his cheering after the loss of the Olympics in Chicago, (which some thought of as un-American) and the divisive attitude and hatred he spews forth almost daily would enter into the equation.  As NFL commissioner Roger Goodall said on Tuesday, “We’re all held to a higher standard here”.  Amen to that.

So, what exactly does “Going Rogue” mean anyway?

I have a few dictionaries on hand and since I was perplexed by the title of Sarah Palin’s upcoming 400 page sure-to-be a blockbuster book, I looked up the definition of rogue.  The title of her book is Going Rogue.  Now I don’t know if that means she is going to go rogue, or she already has gone rogue, or since it is a noun she is a rogue, in which case the going part makes little sense.  Not  that I expected a book title of hers to make a lot of sense but many times the publisher actually chooses a title for an author that both makes sense and for marketing purposes has mass appeal.

Now that we are beyond that mass appeal hurdle, lets explore the meanings of rogue.  According to  the Webster Collegiate (I chose this because she has gone to 5 colleges) the term rogue was coined in 1561 and means; vagrant, tramp, scoundrel, scamp, a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave, and an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation. 

Now, I’m betting that she told her ghost writer that this would be a catchy, cutesy, “mavericky” type of word that would fit her to a T.   And, I’m also betting that she never looked up the definition since as we all know she doesn’t really read, or she does read but she doesn’t remember what she reads. Anyway, surely a publisher might take the time to scrutinize such a word?  Evidently not. 

I’m sure they think with run-away-best-seller potential it could be called “Going Stupid” and sell millions.  And, since the Republicans seem to have all the money and they are pretty much the only people up for purchasing copies , we will be able to see just how much money they are willing to waste by keeping track of book sales. 

But for the rest of us that surmise her book sales will be as low as her speaking engagement requests, we will be able to pick up a copy just for laughs, for $2 on a remainder table at your local bookstore only a few  short weeks after publication. You betcha!

No insurance company left behind? Eat my dust!

It does appear lately that some type of public option to some of the health insurance reform bills working their way through Congress is gaining more support than previously thought. Just today, 10 Democrats voted to add a public option to one of the more conservative of the five reform bills , this was basically two votes short of passage.

Now the big bad wolf insurance companies certainly don’t want any changes or reform in health care for the obvious reasons of money, money and oh yes, money. Can you imagine how it would be if we could flip-the-bird to the big insurance giants as we tell them “Sorry we don’t like your high premiums and exclusions”. The same way they tell us “Sorry that is not covered”. Or, “sorry, your premium went up because you actually put in a claim.”

For months now big business types, mostly Republicans, have been telling us that a single payer option was dead. But, as it turns out they just wanted it to be dead. Some recent polls have even shown that up to 65% of the general public wants it included in a health care reform bill. I mean, what the heck would the big insurance companies do if they had to actually compete with non-profits for our dollars? What if they would have to woo us? Or take less than 400% in profits or lighten the load of those fat bonuses? What if they didn’t have us under their thumb?

For those of us in favor of a public option it would be like a dream come true. But so far all bills contain a mandate that states everyone must buy health insurance, if this is to be then the only way to mandate is to make it affordable. You cannot have a mandate without a public option, period. And for the poor souls who worry that insurance companies would go out of business if we in fact got a choice, give me a break. People want choice, and the insurance companies will just have to compete. It’s called Capitalism not monopoly.

For myself, after years of bad experiences with the greedy, insensitive, and in many cases unethical private insurance companies, I would take any “option” but them. I hope to leave them behind eating my dust! 

 P.S. To all you Congressman and Senators out there, this is an issue of utmost importance to many Americans. We are watching you, and for once in your life, think of us not yourselves. Because this time we will remember who voted against this and we will then be voting against you.

Palin the mouthpiece for Main St. U.S.A. ? In China? Say it ain’t so…

Even though Sarah Palin presumably cannot see China from her house, she never-the-less can give a speech there with that wit and wisdom she is so noted for.  So, yesterday in all her glory the former vice presidential nominee and former Alaskan governor addressed an annual conference of investors in Hong Kong. It was billed, according to the www.huffingtonpost.com as a wide-ranging talk about governance, economics and U.S. and Asian affairs.  This was her first trip to Asia so what she might actually know about “Asian affairs” is anyones guess.

In part of her speech Palin said “I’m going to call it like I see it and I will share with you candidly a view right from Main Street U.S.A.”  I suppose the problem I see here is, what credentials does she have to speak to foreign business people about Main Street U.S.A.   I’m not saying she couldn’t talk about Alaska, or hunting or fishing or shoes or teen pregnancy, or subjects she has direct experience or knowledge of but economics and Main Street U.S.A.  to global finance people?  I mean, I’m a writer and it would be like me trying to do technical or scientific writing and even with help I could never come across as remotely credible in those areas. I would end up embarrassing myself.

It was well known during her Primary run that foreign affairs was not her strong point and I have it on good authority that just touching down in an airplane in Asia does not necessarily add to your Asian knowledge .  Funny how that works.  Although she never brought up Obama’s name, she evidently called his campaign promises “nebulous, utopian sounding… I really wish to God she would get rid of that thesaurus.

While many thought it was hard to decipher what her point actually was she did spend a lot of time talking about how we are in this mess because of government interference, claimed that average Americans are unhappy with any health care reform that infringe on private enterprise (in many eyes the problem) and spent a lot of time knocking Obama’s directives and-or policies.  Two U.S. delegates present left early and said it was awful.  Many Americans feel that if you are in a foreign country particularly, it is a horrible move to knock any sitting President. But, Palin has never been considered a class act so that should have been expected. 

 What many of us are still in a quandry about I guess, is why was she asked to speak in Hong Kong in the first place?   Curiosity, speaking ability, knowledge, her glasses, hairdo?  I can only think of one thing myself and it is a direct quote from her Katie Couric interview:  ” That’s why I say, I like ever (sic) American I’m speaking with were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the tax payers looking to bailout.”   You betcha, it  is most definitely the speaking ability.

President Obama “fits in” even on David Letterman Show

I don’t watch the David Letterman show much.   But, last night I decided to take a peek because our President of the United States was going to spend about 40 minutes on the show. I tried to picture Bush, or any other sitting presidents on such a show and came up laughing, not because they would be funny but because it would most likely be “awkward funny.”  Now of course the right-wing-nuts are already spewing forth their diatribe of how un-presidential it was to go on a late night talk show, how he is over saturating the airwaves and blah, blah, blah.

I think the idea was great, the performance was great, and our President is pretty damn funny.  I loved Letterman asking him about his detractors and asking if he felt (as others have said) that such comments are now racially motivated . Obama’s answer “Well, I was a black man before I became President.”   Hey, this guy is a study in quick wit comedy.  I found the show totally amusing as well as informative.  But, more importantly I like that our President feels so good and comfortable in his own skin that he can go on a show that pretty much makes fun of him night after night and can roll with whatever comes his way.  He can be self deprecating and seemingly fit in with us all.

I liked his informal manner, talking about the kids, the vacation, and at the appropriate time he threw in the serious stuff.  Sure it was PR for the President and his ideas but so what?  Sure he was trying to get the largest audience possible for his ideas, but so what?  It’s not covert, we know what he is doing, and what better way to get ideas across than with a little humor and familiarity.   What the Repubs are ticked off about is the fact that all their spokespeople are staid, serious, boring and lacking in purposeful humor.  Some of them are funny but in a sad way.

Most of them wouldn’t dream of opening themselves up to a television show where they might be made fun of.  Their forte is shows where screaming, ranting, raving, crying, and rudeness is the norm. Shows of not-so-quiet desperation.

Kanye West goes from cool to fool

Evidently a certain segment of the population and MTV crowd has in the past dubbed Kanye West a pretty cool dude. But, last night at the MTV awards he was booed off the stage-and rightly so.  Being the iconic egoist that he is, he jumped the stage during an acceptance speech by Taylor Swift for her Best Female video award, grabbed the mike and shouted that Beyonce had been more or less robbed for her “Single Ladies” video, that he felt was one of the best videos of all time.

The key words here being “he felt”. Like God himself was speaking to the masses. Talk about low-life antics, right on a par with Serena Williams swearing at the lineman at the Open recently, and Rep. Joe Wilson calling the President a liar at a joint session of Congress. Besides etiquette lessons, what do these people need?  Prozac, time out in a padded room, duct tape?  They are such an embarrassment to their respective professions and the human race that it is hard to comprehend that they could possibly have a civil bone in their body.

Swift looked shocked as West jumped on stage, but remained composed and stood speechless, as West interrupted her acceptance speech. The cameras cut to commercial and when they came back she was gone.  When the cameras panned to Beyonce in the audience she looked stunned.  When Beyonce won her award for video of the year for “Single Ladies” she called Taylor on stage to give her uninterrupted speech. What a class act that Beyonce is, and Taylor also.

Now supposedly there is a huge backlash creeping up on West, people are mortified, upset, etc. and on his blog he has apologized to Taylor. Big deal. I think this type of uncivilized behavior requires a lot more coming down on him.  It will affect him if it doesn’t blow over quickly and it actually loses him money, star power and of course gigs.  What he did to another fellow performer was cruel and unjust.  So, to start the ball rolling I think Jay Leno, who is supposed to have him as a guest on his premier show, should kick his sorry ass to the curb.  Come on Jay, we don’t want to sit around listening to his stupid explanations of why he did what he did, or some absurd un-heartfelt apology. This guy needs to pay big time. Man-up and do it Leno and maybe others will follow…   Update:  Jay Leno did have him on his show last night, and even thanked West for not backing out of the show, as Leno felt many in his position would have.  He talked to West about the “incident” and even asked him what his mother (who died last year) would have thought of his behavior.  I felt West didn’t make a lot of sense on the show and at one point was close to tears. It was really hard to tell if he was sorry for what he did, or sorry because of the public reaction.

Top 10 people that have oversaturated entertainment news

1.  Chris Brown;  This man/boy first and foremost needs a few pointers in public speaking. Saying “like” before and after every sentence, never looking an interviewer in the eye and bringing his mother along on interviews doesn’t  necessarily instill confidence and sincerity in what ever the hell he is saying. You see, when you tell the truth you usually don’t trip yourself up, and end up sounding so STUPID.

2.  Levi Johnston;  This guy is so busy collecting money for every thing he says that he forgets what he has said in the past. Yeah, he has gotten that 15 minutes and is milking it for everything he can muster up. Unfortunately, he is so wound up in his own spin that he thinks whatever he says is believable. Cut the crap Levi, and go back to hunting and fishing and oh yeah, maybe helping out with your own kid.

3.  John Gosselin;  Take out the 80’s earrings Jon, and the totally stupid tee shirts and quit pretending your God’s gift. You fit into the New York, Hollywood and Vegas scenes about as well as  Elmo. Actually Elmo is cuter.  For stating you don’t like the limelight, you are sure trying hard, too hard, to get yourself noticed. You are becoming a laughing stock, and don’t get that you are NOT cool. Instead of trying to play Hollywood, how about the role of father, you idiot.

4.  Kate Gosselin; We get it Kate. You are the martyr. You have eight kids, that you bore, and one that flew the coop because you treated him like shit. You were the bully and now you have to go it alone.  Quit whining and go write another boring book.  You will be fine because you will eventually find someone else to boss around, but some day your kids will figure all this stuff out and resent the hell out of their young lives being spent on camera, just so you could be a television star with a bad hair-do.

5.  Octomom;  Nadya Suleman obviously has a few loose screws.  I can’t help thinking if their is a God, why would he let this happen?  We are going to be reading about some of these kids in the future and it won’t be pretty. It’s too sad to even joke about.  She needs to shut up, hunker down and focus on these kids, or else she is in for a terrible storm.

6.  Spencer and Heidi;  Everyone just has to stop writing about these non-entities (including me).  Every dumb thing they utter finds its way into print. Why?  Even combined they have no talent. I would love a moratorium on their pictures and words.

7.  Candy spelling;  Wherever old Hollywood directors wives go to chill out, and shut up, that is where she needs to go. There is no fool like an old fool.

8.   Any Hollywood star, singer etc. that is pregnant and gushing like it is the first time  on earth anyone has ever been pregnant, and how it has changed them, rocked their life, how perfect it is-or will be etc.  Many of us have done it and are well aware how it really is, and we didn’t have nannies, cooks, cleaning staff , personal shoppers, caterers, pool boys, gardeners, security guards and assistants.

9.  Lee Ann Rimes and Eddie  Cibrian; They act like their 15, caused their respective families a lot of pain and embarrassment, and will end up doing the same thing to each other. Sure people get divorced all the time, but flaunting an affair in print and public is usually a no-win for everyone involved. I’m sick of seeing and hearing about them.

10. Miley Cyrus; From her pole swinging, boring tweets, unattractive clothes, teen boyfriends, goofy father or whatever. She’s just oversaturated the market. Go be a teen, but some of us would rather not hear about it every time you go for ice cream, or change boyfriends, or giggle.  Please.