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Edited on Tue Sep-30-08 09:54 AM by SoCalDem
He knows (now) that the Wall Street whizzes have been selling each other debt, and calling it "profit".. They have presto-change-o, turned that debt into collateral for more investment money , so they could keep on going..
Joe saw on tv, how smart they all were, how well-dressed, how well they presented themselves, and he eagerly "invested" with them, through 401-k money, pension money, money-market funds.
Joe now knows that when he saw them on tv drinking champagne & high-five-ing each other, that their celebration was not for Joe..It was for their own fat commissions from all that "money-moving", and for their own bright futures.
Joe knows that he's been "had"..
Any debt that Joe has racked up (due to lack of real wage increases over time) will remain in HIS debit column, and that the calls from credit card companies to "pay up" , will NOT stop if a "bill gets passed"..
He knows that he will still owe 250 more car payments for a car that's chugging $4.00 gasoline, and that he could not sell for what he owes, even if he could find a more economical car.
He knows that the $20K of equity he took out of his house, to fix it up will not make that house more likely to sell, and that the amount the house dropped in value, has put him "upside-down" considering the fact that he's paying on loans that equal more than the house's worth, but he cannot afford to move, since no one will buy the thing, and even if they did, he might still own more than he could get, and would have nothing to put down on any other house.
Joe knows that he's lost mobility, and he's pissed. He cannot leave his job, even if he hates it, because if he has medical coverage, he dares not leave, for fear the "next" job might not offer it, or it might not be as good. He cannot afford to commute any more, but he has no choice if he wants to keep the job. He cannot afford to vacation (hotels at $100+ a night & gas as high as it is)..He cannot afford for his teenaged kids to have a car, like his parents could when he was young.
Joe is stuck in a rut, and he knows it. His hope of retiring with any dignity at all is slipping away, and he sees it. He does not understand it, but he sees it happening, and there's not enough time to make up lost ground..
All Joe knows is that for years and years, he's been taking REAL money from his weekly paycheck, and socking it away in the only "vehicle" available to the common-man, and relying on the "smart ones" to invest it for the long term, and he now has figured out that he's been had.. He's mad, he's upset, he's bitter, he's disconsolate, he's worried, and he's not trusting them anymore.
He sees the "bail-out", "rescue", "injection of liquidity", or whatever the daily description is, as a way for the gamblers to erase their gambling debt, keep any "winnings" they may have gotten along the way, and get "new" money to gamble with...and Joe sees that all his debt is still hanging around HIS neck like a dead albatross.
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