16 Comments

1. The banks have effectively destroyed the brokerage business by removing wharehouse lines and know they must get rid of their last bit of competition.

2. Catherine, what an awesome lady you are! I have recommended you and your website to so many of my friends and associates. You have informed so many of us of the truth. Thank-you!
   I want to ask you to address the issue that every local,county,state and federal bank has with the part of the budget that is not audited, called the CAFR. Apparently, it comes from excess taxes collected above and beyond the yearly budget. It covers their investments and retirement funds and assests. My own local city in Michigan has $133 million in their CAFR and it has gone up a million in the last 4 years. Their budget is $3 million per year, for a town of 14,500 residents. Their retirement funds have not descreased since they are not allowed I guess to invest in Wall Street, but in buildings,land,and bonds. When a gov. employee, e. g. judge asks for a pay raise, the gov. runs out and reassesses houses to increase property taxes to cover the money needed for the judges increase in income. I understand that if I heard Benacke right that he said we had $60 trillion in international investment money! I would like to know what you know about this issue of CAFR.
   Another suggestion I have is that I think the government should pay back the taxpayer with the tax money they used of ours to pay 40 men $165million bonus’s. The population in the USA is 300 million people. There are probably 150 million adults. Why couldn’t they pay each USA adult $1 million dollars. We could then directly pay off our mortgages, solving the housing crisis, pay off our cars and buy a new american made car, solving the auto business decline in the USA, they could even insist we buy a Hybrid, solving the gasoline crisis and the pollution crisis, and the job loss crisis. We could then also pay off our credit cards, our childrens college loans. Put Solar panels on our houses, and winterize them well, to save on heat bills here in Michigan. And, many would go out and start a business of their own to live on that income for the rest of their lives.
   Many of the younger generation of entrepreuners could pool their extra money and start a factory of their own with new ideas for Green Energy. We could insist on our country go towards all Organic farming with NON-GMO seeds, and non genically altered pigs,cows. We could pay out of that million dollars, social security and fica taxes, which would help the Social Security Trust Fund.
   I think as you have said that we should make the government payback the Social Security Fund the money that they have borrowed from it, with the Stimulus package! Every American would be fiscally prosperous. IT would be the year of Jubilee, wiping out all our debts. Now for those who make a million a year or over….they wouldn’t get the million….only those who make under that amount.
   IT may sound rediculous, because the power that be do not think down they think only for the upper class. But, it would show them how easy it would be to fix the economy at a very low cost. It would save the next generations from paying back the large Trillion dollar debts & interest, that they are laying on the american peoples backs for the rest of their lives. I have called numerous senators and committees today to have them relay this idea to their senators……If more and more people find the idea a good one I wonder if we all suggested it what effect it would have on the powerful & greedy. Keep informing us as it is helping the American people to wake up and and try to remain conscious during this attack coming against them from their very government and corporations. I know its hard to fight back when your being beat up from every angle…but at least try to be a voice while we have a little time to do so……And I hope we will all be of some support to each other along the way……thank you. Jan

3. Correction……I said local,county,state, federal bank…..I meant government enity…!
   Correction…….it has gone a million each year for the past 4 years.
   Another thought..If we stopped the war for one day, we could pay each American adult a million dollars. The Iraq war costs $500 million dollars a day. We could stop the war for one day and pay 150 million adults a million dollars, and use the remainder $350 million to pay back the loan from China. By the way, when a soldier (200,000) is only getting $800 a month= $160,000/month to fight over there….where is the, all the money being spent???????? and to whom?

4. Greg
   I too emailed my Credit Union with your above query and this was their response;

   Dear Karin,

   I have shared your concern with our senior management team. We do not believe the actions of the NCUA threaten the sovereignty of retail credit unions like WECU. WECU has had regular contact with corporate credit unions. It appears that the mark to market accounting is causing the primary accounting problem with the corporate credit unions. We do not have enough detailed information to know if NCUA’s action was credible and necessary but we expect NCUA to act in a manner that protects the deposits of retail credit unions and their members.

   WECU is well capitalized and prepared to handle a downturn in the economy like we are currently experiencing. Across America, people are joining credit unions as they are looking for a safe place for their money. We believe that both the NCUA and the federal government understand that our members trust their credit union. Because of the trust members have in their credit unions I don’t believe Congress would do anything that would affect the sovereignty of credit unions.

   Thank you,

   Now I would like to know what mark to market accounting has to with it. Thoughts? Catherine?

5. Very disturbing. I’ve used a credit union for over 10 years now. Three occurrences led to
   the decision:
   1. The sudden appearance and disappearance of an extra nine hundred and ten dollars in my
   checking account ( reports were going around at the time that drug profits were being
   brought back into the economy through these types of transactions).
   2. The theft of one hundred and seventy five dollars from my account by a drive through teller
   who altered a deposit statement. This caused several hundred dollars worth of bounced check
   fees that First Union finally cleared up.
   3. Said bank invested over a billion dollars for “affordable housing” through the community
   re-investment act.
   At the time, I didn’t know that the community re-investment act required all banks to do so. I only knew that I loathed “affordable housing” as presented by politicians. I moved from
   my prior neighborhood because of five long years of being next to affordable housing.
   I have plenty of stories about living next to “affordable housing” – people knocking on your
   door asking for handouts, loud domestic arguements on an ongoing basis, car stereos rattling your
   windows every half hour or so on the weekend. Oh, almost forgot. Gunfire. After awhile I could even
   tell you what caliber gun was being fired off next door.
   After watching “affordable housing” in action, I knew that I didn’t want to voluntarily have any of my money go towards funding it. I’ve encouraged many of my friends to join credit unions over the years. I cited better service, lower fees. Only one understood the real reason for credit
   union membership, ie opting out of the Community Re-Investment act. Now that decision seems to have been taken out of our hands.

6. From my credit union:

   “Dear Member:

   In the midst of ongoing reporting of many of the difficulties some financial institutions are having in today’s troubled economy, you may have read of the decision by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to place into conservatorship two wholesale corporate credit unions, US Central Federal Credit Union and Western Corporate Credit Union. We want to assure you that these actions do not impact you as a member of Affinity Federal Credit Union. Our credit union remains safe, sound and strong.

   The two institutions that were placed into conservatorship are corporate credit unions. Corporate credit unions do not serve consumers. They are chartered to provide products and services only to the credit union system. These products and services will continue uninterrupted. There is no impact on any of the 90 million credit union members nationwide or to the members of Affinity.

   Credit unions remain extremely strong, even during these challenging economic times. Nationwide, credit union net worth is at near all time highs. Of more importance to you, Affinity’s net worth continues to remain strong and every depositor is insured by the full faith and credit of the US Government through the NCUA insurance fund to a maximum of $250,000.

   Our commitment is first and foremost to you – our members. It is because of this commitment we continually strive to give you the best service and a financially sound Credit Union.”

7. Has anyone bothered to look at the capital these institutions had historically? They were very thinly capitalized for years and did not have much room for negative earnings. Perhaps it is a conspiracy, or perhaps it is a basic failure of the relevant regulator to keep risk levels constrained. I’m seeing a common thread becoming apparent….deregulation of the financial sector has been an utter failure and has brought our country to the brink of revolution. I’m basically a libertarian and loathe state regulations, but the pragmatic side of me says the various financial sectors need strong regulation. Perhaps my grandmother was right when she told used to tell me…”Some people are just no good”. As a child and young man I just thought she was bitter, but as I get older Grandmother seems to get wiser.

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