By borrowing far more heavily than what they could afford, they were also gambling that housing would keep rising in value, defying basic rules of economics.

Now they’re being rewarded for their mistakes. Ironically, even the government officials who were part of the deal have privately conceded that, with few exceptions, more than 95 percent of the so-called victims weren’t victims at all; they faced imminent foreclosure because they were delinquent on their mortgage payments — often for a year or more.

Or as banking analyst Dick Bove put it: “What this settlement did was to help 1 million people who were deadbeats.”

And why is there a settlement? A technicality being used to demonize evil bankers.

Why are these deadbeats getting bailouts? Aside from election-year politics, at issue is the foreclosure practice known as “robo signing” — a procedure in which low-level bank employees, without direct authorization, approve perfectly legal foreclosures on a bank’s behalf.

The foreclosures themselves were legal; the only apparent illegality is that the banks streamlined the foreclosure process, with clerks signing the bank officer’s name on legal documents.

Just as “Cash for Clunkers” destroyed the used car market, this bailing out of the undeserving–I’ll bet you only a tiny fraction who get the bailouts will be people who actually have problems due to the economy screwing with their job–is going to continue to depress the housing market. So good to know that I’ve played by the rules, worked hard, saved until I could buy my own home–and then get to pay the government to pay for the houses of others who have done the complete opposite.

In each of my interviews, my military experience obviously came up and it was evident that it was an issue. Not that my experience meant little but the fear of my being called up again and my availability came into question several times. I found this odd but even more so, discouraging. After the last interview, I really started thinking as to why I would not be considered for one of the open positions. I was told that I had the qualifications, experience, and that they were sure I could handle the job but my availability was in question due to my commitment to the Navy Reserves. They weren’t sure they wanted to hire me because I may have to leave unexpectedly. From a business standpoint, I understand their concern; who wants to hire someone who may have to leave due to a national crisis? They do have a business to run after all. However, the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I am but 1 reservist in a sea of thousands of others who, especially since 9/11, have found themselves in this exact situation at least once in the last 11 years. My experience cannot be that uncommon to that of my fellow reserve/guardsmen and of those who have recently separated from active duty; I can’t be the only one who has experienced this opaque form of discrimination.

[...] In speaking with a fellow Veteran recently, maybe the onus isn’t on the 1 percent but the other 99 percent. Why is it that military members receive extensive training in the fields of electronics, medicine, mechanics, aviation, and administration yet we can barely get a nationally accredited university to grant us little more than three credit hours towards physical education (because we were smart enough to complete boot camp). While we are able to apply for and received certifications in some career fields, they are either not enough, or are not recognized, by many employers. We can continue to write resumes and attempt to translate our skills into civilian terms yet without education that is nationally recognized, we’re back at square one. The GI Bill is an outstanding benefit and most service members take advantage of it in some capacity but many Veterans should be at least 50 percent completed with their degrees simply by the amount of education and experience they’ve received through the military. At the very least, they should be allowed to test their competency without having to re-take formal classes. How can we not grant the required qualifications necessary to obtain employment in the civilian sector to deserving Veterans? How do we tell a military police officer that while he is qualified to carry a weapon and serve in a combat zone that he is not qualified for employment with his hometown police force because he has not gone through their training academy? How is he good enough to go to war but not good enough to respond to 911 calls?

That’s interesting, because my nephew is currently learning communications in the Marines. From my understanding, he’ll learn about the most modern networking systems, 3G, 4G, etc., and will be setting up communications at FOBs in Afghanistan if necessary. To know now that his education will be meaningless if he chooses to go to college is unbelievable.

Read it all.

There is also the fact that when I set foot into a Ryan Homes office on July 3, 2007, I was given the hard-sale pitch, told I could effectively buy a condo with little or no money down, and that my debt wouldn’t be a problem, because a quick credit check showed that I could afford one up to, oh, $400,000. And if I acted now, they’d throw in several thousand dollars off the price. But I’d have to act soon, because the townhouses were going fast!

I walked out of that office without signing through sheer strength of will, knowing that I was being sold a load of goods and that I didn’t have to sign anything without thinking it over at length. I waited a year before buying my condo, paying down significant chunks of my debt in the meantime. When I finally did get a mortgage, I took advantage of the $7,500 home buying loan, which is a loan that I am paying back to the government each year on my 1040. A few months after I bought my condo, that loan became a credit.

Now the government is trying to work the housing market by making banks give money to people whose houses are underwater and who can’t make the mortgage payments. The article does not say whether it covers people who bought houses they could not afford with ARMs that they hoped would never take effect because they were trying to flip the house for a profit. It doesn’t say whether it covers people who didn’t care that they were buying a house they couldn’t afford, because they were betting on being able to get a better job, or something. All it says is that the big five banks are going to help homeowners who are about to be foreclosed on for whatever reason.

And you and I will ultimately be footing the bill for this.

My condo is currently underwater. It’s lost around 15% of its value, I think. I’m a little afraid to compare the current assessment with the original assessment. But I refinanced my mortgage last year and always had one that I could afford. I’ll never be a moocher. I’m just a stupid working stiff who thinks part of being a grownup is being responsible for your own actions, and waiting until you can afford the house that you bought. Go figure.

Then go here and see the behind the scenes videos.

Hilarious.

The big GOP prize: Shelly Adelson’s war chest

It’s a reprint from The New Republic. The message spreads.

Then there’s this, in the WaPo:

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s family is bankrolling Gingrich super PAC

No! Not his family, too. Really? Because that’s so unheard of from Obama donors. Oh. Wait.

So why do they keep pounding Adelson?

Because it’s working.

Adelson tried to bring to Nevada Republicans’ attention the fact that Saturday caucuses, by their nature, exclude religious Jews from participating. It was interpreted as trying to mess with the caucuses. End result:

Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson distanced himself Monday from a Clark County Republican decision to hold a special presidential caucus after sundown Saturday for observant Jews, saying through a spokesman he and his wife “had no involvement” in the arrangement.

The statement seemed designed to counter concerns by several presidential campaigns that the GOP was giving special consideration to Adelson, who backs presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have donated $10 million to a pro-Gingrich Political Action Committee.

They’re forcing him to back off from supporting the candidate of his choice because they’ve made him the story.

The casino magnate also has become concerned that he is overshadowing Mr. Gingrich’s campaign, according to people close to Mr. Adelson.

“He [Mr. Adelson] realizes that when you make a contribution it does become an issue and he wants the focus to remain on Newt,” said Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations at Las Vegas Sands Corp., an Adelson company. The two men will maintain a distance in Nevada this week, he said, but their paths might cross at some point. Mr. Gingrich is staying at Mr. Adelson’s Venetian casino, said Dan Burdish, who is working for Mr. Gingrich in Nevada.

(Okay, come on, let’s not pretend their paths aren’t going to cross. Really?) But still, the fact that the media have forced Adelson to back off of Newt is pretty pathetic. They did no such thing when Haim Saban was telling Harry Reid what to do.

“Let me give you an example of this access, and why it’s completely O.K.,” Saban responded. “I hosted the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, in my home. I was informed that he refused to sign a letter to Obama, which was signed by most of the senators, supporting Israel, before the speech in Cairo. . . . I got the message on Saturday and he was at my house on Sunday. I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you sign?’

“So he said, ‘Because I don’t sign other people’s initiatives,’ as the leader, as head of the Democratic Party.

“I said, ‘So send a letter of your own.’ ” And, Saban added, smiling, and with hesitation, as though he did not like to boast, “He did.”

And he bragged about it. Do you remember that New Yorker profile? Yeah, me neither. It’s from May, 2010. But although Saban’s views on Israel are pretty close to Adelson’s, we don’t hear about his “Israel-firster” attitude–because he donates to Democrats.

Double standards? But of course. That’s the way the left works. And the “objective” media.

Hillary and Bill Clinton got rich quick after leaving the White House, pulling in $111 million in total income from 2000 through last year, according to tax documents posted Friday evening on her presidential campaign’s website.

From the combined $358,000 they reported in 2000 to the $16 million they earned in 2001, their income increased by nearly 50 times in the first year after Bill Clinton left office, highlighting the lucrative opportunities awaiting former presidents.

The speaking circuit was especially good to Bill Clinton, who earned nearly $52 million from it, including millions in foreign income. And the two books each penned yielded more than $40 million, including an eye-popping $15 million advance paid to Bill Clinton for his 2004 autobiography, “My Life.” That’s $3 million more than what had been previously reported – which at the time was believed to be the largest book advance ever.

Hillary got over $10 million for her two books.

I don’t care that Romney’s taxes were in the 14-15% bracket. My effective tax rate for 2010 was 10.94%. That’s down from 11.65% the year before, and in 2007, the last year I was not a homeowner (and I was a contractor, paying all of my Social Security tax), my effective tax rate was 12.65%. So the rich dude is paying more, percentage-wise, than this firmly middle class taxpayer. I make more than the median income, but I’m far from rich. And I don’t have any issues with Mitt’s taxes. I want someone in office who isn’t there to make connections and become a mega-millionaire. The Obamas will be raking it in like crazy once he’s out of office. Wait for it. And I’m sure they’ll be using offshore accounts, too.

The Romney tax issue is sophistry, pure and simple.

I’m not flying again until the TSA is gone.

It’s not anti-Zionism: When an Islamic cleric calls for the death of Jews, and says he was taken out of context after an outcry is raised, well, hey. It’s not just Zionists he’s talking about.

They’re not even trying to hide it anymore: The Iranians are now openly admitting that southern Lebanon is all theirs, and that Hezbullah are their bitches. And Syria, too, where Hezbullah guarded Bashar al-Assad during his recent public outing. Think we’ll have a world outcry about this? Of course not. They’re too busy dumping in Israeli settlers.

So what does “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” have to do with our current president?

Everything. Because the form of statism that he wants to impose on this nation is the statism that is bankrupting Europe. No matter how many New York Times columnists declare that Europe is better than the U.S. financially, or that European nations beat us in this statistic or other, the fact remains that the world is teetering on the brink of economic collapse due to the socialist state model. And for the record, every time someone points out that the infant mortality rate of the U.S. is much higher than that of Europe, remember that premature births have a lot to do with that statistic. And many European nations do not report premature births as births, thus lowering their infant mortality rates.

If Barack Obama gets a second term, this nation may never recover. This is a president who excoriated executive signing statements as a senator and candidate, and then pushed them to unconstitutional limits as a president. He has constantly complained that he has to work with Congress, or that he needs to “get around” a Congress that won’t work with him, even as he heads to the golf course for the 91st round of golf since he became president. He has been consolidating power in the presidency like no other that I can think of, and bemoaning that he doesn’t have enough power to do whatever he wants. Because he’s smarter than us, you see, and knows what’s best for this nation of soft people.

So what happens if we continue on this course? Well, in Norway, child services took away a couple’s children for hand-feeding them and letting them sleep in the bed with Mommy and Daddy. The children are one and three. You think that’s far-fetched? Here in the U.S., protective services took a child away from his parents because the child is obese.

TANSTAAFL. Or, as my father used to say: You get what you pay for. As long as the Republican candidate is not Ron Paul, I will be voting Republican this fall. Every one of you who thinks a Republican president will be worse than Obama could not be more wrong.

Obama is cutting jobs, not just the budget: Say, those huge defense cuts that Obama wants to implement? Besides cutting the manpower in the Army and Marines, don’t forget that army bases will close, cutting even more jobs. Somehow, that part of the story isn’t being written by anyone. I’m all for cutting waste, and even for getting the U.S. Army presence out of Europe. But I think it’s foolish beyond words to cut the Armed Forces manpower down to the levels Obama wants. Jimmy Carter did that, and look what happened on his watch.

Oh, look. Another suicide bombing in Syria: Reallly finding it hard to sympathize in any way, what with knowing how many people the Dorktator is responsible for blowing to pieces over the years. I doubt this will be the last suicide bombing in Syria.

Food for the Ronulan conspiracy nuts: The IDF and the U.S. European Command are gearing up for a major missile defense drill–in Israel. It is my fondest hope for my nephew the Marine that he gets to take part in next year’s exercise. (And if he does, you Israeli blogger friends of mine had best hide your daughters, because he is young, smart, handsome, and a United States Marine. The girls adore him.)