All the big, powerful dudes cover for (and blow) each other

From here:

As JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)’s Jamie Dimon prepares for a vote tomorrow on whether he should keep his chairman and chief executive officer titles, he may take comfort knowing most of his biggest shareholders are led by men with the same dual role.

Let’s all be grown up and speak openly about the corruption of corporate America.

If I lost $6.5+ billion I would expect to be thrown out on my ass.  The idea that King Dimon, narcissist to end all narcissits, doesn’t just take his ass whoopin’ like a man and go get a job somewhere else is beyond me.

 

Maybe this Pope won’t be a dink

New guy in a funny hat here:

If investments in banks fall, it is a tragedy and people say ‘what are we going to do?’ but if people die of hunger, have nothing to eat or suffer from poor health, that’s nothing.

I would not want to give the Pope a ton of new advice, but personally I think they should try to leave the little boys alone.  That hasn’t gone well for the church.

Otherwise, he does point out that when rich folks suffer it’s a tragedy and when poor people suffer it’s their own fault.

Funny how that works.

 

You mean these huge seed companies don’t give seed away?? Shocking!

From here:

The report noted that three big companies now control more than half of the global seed market – a position that has sent prices soaring. The report said the average cost of planting an acre of soybeans had risen 325% between 1995 and 2011.

I thought the seed companies were in this game because they love seed and they want to help other folks out.

They’re just trying to corner the market on seed to make money?  That’s fucked up.

I feel really disillusioned by this, but I’m not sure what to do because the Supreme Court which is one of our ‘protectors’ and the most noble of the three branches of our fine government, voted 9-0 to continue this trend of corporate ownership of seed.

They must feel like they’re looking out for us.

 

This should drive the stock market through the roof!

From here:

…unemployment is nowhere close to getting back to normal. The current level of claims is typically associated with a level of unemployment about 4 million workers lower than it currently is, or an unemployment rate of about 5 percent, instead of 7.5 percent.

That suggests that employers aren’t firing people any more. But, they’re not hiring people, either, according to Tuesday’s JOLTS data.

“There are no positive trends here for the job picture,” independent economist Robert Brusca wrote in a note.

Shitty job prospects, lower wages, more human misery, corporate profits higher, go stock market!!!

Fight for our country and become a debt slave

From here:

In June 2011, when Levon Tyler, a 37-year-old staff sergeant in the Marines, walked into Smart Choice Title Loans in Columbia, S.C., it was the first time he’d ever gone to such a place, he said. But his bills were mounting. He needed cash right away.

Smart Choice agreed to lend him $1,600. In return, Tyler handed over the title to his 1998 Ford SUV and a copy of his keys. Tyler recalled the saleswoman telling him he’d probably be able to pay off the loan in a year. He said he did not scrutinize the contract he signed that day.

If he had, Tyler would have seen that in exchange for that $1,600, he’d agreed to pay a total of $17,228 over two and a half years. The loan’s annual percentage rate, which includes interest and fees, was 400 percent.

1.  Only in America!
2.  Collective low self-esteem in action.
3.  We’re all on the same side.
4.  Greatest country the planet has ever seen.
5.  War is a scam.
6.  Capitalism is a predatory system.

Wow, this story encapsulates most of the key points of my blog.

 

I’m jealous I didn’t write this

From here via Naked Capitalism:

Now really, isn’t this the very heart and soul of liberalism? Leave all the core institutions of the society alone — including that most ancient and hallowed of institutions, poor people — but think, think very hard, about clever ways to improve the lot of those… poor… people. Everything is on the table. Sky’s the limit. Think. Think! Think outside the box!

Except the one unthinkable idea: abolish the poor. Which is to say, give ‘em money.

Bullseye!

And it encapsulates the rapidly deteriorating Obama Presidency.

What are we going to do about health care?  I know, let’s keep the corrupt for profit health insurance companies and dick with the system around the edges!  Awesome, that’s great, we’re great!

What are we going to do about predatory banking and shitty risk management on Wall Street?  First off, let’s not break any banks up.  Let’s keep those messes intact and dick around the edges.

And on and on it goes.

Unlike Obama, Elizabeth Warren follows through on campaign promises

From here:

WASHINGTON — Students taking out government loans to help pay for college should pay the same rock-bottom interest rate that the Federal Reserve charges big banks, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed Wednesday.

With the interest rate on federal student loans set to double to 6.8% this summer, Warren said it’s unfair that big banks can borrow money at 0.75% from the central bank’s discount window.

Most predict this bill will not pass.  I could give two shits.  If she starts to shine a light on the inequality built into government policy she’s doing something important.

I know Obama always likes to point out that he’s compromising to get things done.  Blah blah blah.  Bullshit excuses to conceal his own innate conservatism.

Sometimes the beginning is to start calling a scumbag a scumbag.  In this case, Uncle Sam gives out dough at very different (and unfair) interest rates.

 

Damn you, LFPR

From here:

The 7.5% US unemployment rate, at its lowest level since 2008, seems to be telling a story of slow-but-steady recovery after the Great Recession and Financial Crisis.

Unfortunately, the bulk of evidence suggests the “real” jobless rate is far higher. As the U-3 rate has fallen, so has the labor force participation rate, or LFPR. If the LFPR were at the same level as when the downturn began, the unemployment rate would be a stunning 11.3%.

This is America, we don’t need to discuss no stinkin’ real jobless rate.

Especially if it blows.

Because we’re the best, we’re #1, even if we’re not.

 

 

For God’s sake he lost $6.5 billion dollars

From here:

THE Jamie Dimon lynch mob is growing. It calls for the separation of the role of chairman and chief executive officer, attacking him for holding both at JPMorgan Chase.

I have studied corporate governance for 35 years, and I have come across no evidence to suggest that anything would be gained by separating those roles.

I think Mr. Corporate Governance New York Times guy should take his 35 years of experience and shove them up his ass.

When people fuck up, they should be punished.  Even if they’re very wealthy, Wall Street sociopaths like Mr. Dimon.

This guy lost $6.5 billion dollars and he gets a slap on the wrist.  Fuck that, you take away one of his titles and buck him down like the rest of us.

Yet another example of two sets of rules — one for the honchos one for the peasants.

 

The great jobs frame job

From here:

The Labor Department reports that 165,000 new jobs were created in April – below the average gains of 183,000 in the previous three months.

We can’t achieve escape velocity. Since mid-2010, the three-month rolling average of job gains hasn’t dipped below 100,000 but has exceeded 250,000 jobs just twice.

Only in America can you have decelerating employment met with stock market highs.  Oh, us Americans won’t let a little thing like reality upset the great stock ponzi.

I do understand.  With Friday’s report, it’s clear that the American economy is more of a leaky sack of shit rather than a full on shitshow.

Most people would prefer a leaky sack of shit over a complete shitshow so I get why the stock ponzi is doin’ its thing.

Oy.