Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

Category: Politics

  • I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)

    Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator.

    Image via Wikipedia

    Senator Christopher Dodd, head of the Senate Banking Committee, is corrupt, plain and simple. Senator Dodd has sponsored a mortgage bailout bill in Congress to benefit mortgage lenders and took money from one of them – Countrywide – while putting up the legislation. Details, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:

    On Tuesday, the very day he finally admitted knowing that Countrywide Financial regarded him as a “special” customer, the Connecticut Democrat also announced that he was bringing to the Senate floor a housing bailout sure to help lenders like Countrywide.

    How much will Countrywide benefit from Mr. Dodd’s rescue? The Senator’s plan allows mortgage lenders to dump up to $300 billion of their worst loans on to taxpayers via a new Federal Housing Administration refinancing program, provided the lenders are willing to accept 87% of current market value. The program will be most attractive to lenders and investors holding subprime and slightly-less-risky Alt-A loans made during the height of the housing bubble in 2006 and 2007.

    That legislation is bad enough. Here’s the kicker:

    Meanwhile, Mr. Dodd continues to insist that, though he knew he was a “special” Countrywide customer, he didn’t think he was getting any special financial benefit. But a 75,000 reduction in mortgage payments is no small matter for anyone living on a Senate salary of169,300. Why else would he be known around Countrywide as a “Friend of Angelo” – Angelo being Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.

    Yesterday, nine Senate Republicans led by South Carolina’s Jim DeMint sent a letter asking Majority Leader Harry Reid to delay consideration of Mr. Dodd’s housing bailout bill in light of its benefits for Countrywide – and Countrywide’s benefits for Mr. Dodd. That’s an excellent idea, in addition to a Congressional and Justice Department probe of Countrywide, Fannie Mae and the favors they seem to have spread around Washington. American taxpayers need to understand more about who they’re being asked to bail out here, and why.

    Dodd, in effect, is going to charge American taxpayers – ME – 300 billion for a75,000 bribe. This is corruption, plain and simple.

    I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Dodd from Congress, and urge you to contact YOUR senators and representatives to ensure the mortgage bailout bill is voted down on arrival. Let lenders – and disclosure, I work for a student loan company – live with the bets they make in the marketplace.

    Related articles

    Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, please subscribe right now!

    I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 1 I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 2 I call for the immediate resignation of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) 3

    Get this and other great articles from the source at www.ChristopherSPenn.com

    Zemanta Pixie

  • Spot the terrorist!

    After reading this Boston Globe article about Dunkin Donuts pulling an ad because conservatives thought her scarf looked like a keffiyah, I thought I’d make a quick game for you to play. Like this? Please Digg it.

    Go Nuts

    How did you do?

    Come on, Dunkin Donuts. What the hell is wrong with you? I can’t tell which is worse – bowing to the lunatic ravings of American conservative extremists or thinking that the rest of America is so stupid that we can’t tell Rachael apart from Yasir.

  • And this is why I'm not voting for Hillary – ever.

    From CNN:

    In the face of criticism from a slate of economists who say her gas tax holiday plan would be ineffective or even harmful, Hillary Clinton said she wasn’t taking stock of their opinions and emphasized that this was a short-term fix that would primarily benefit long-distance drivers.

    “I’m not going to put my lot in with economists,” Clinton told George Stephanopolous on ABC’s ‘This Week’ after he asked her to name a single economist supporting her plan.

    Because you wouldn’t want to listen to folks who actually know what they’re doing when it comes to money, right?

    Idiocy.

    Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, please subscribe right now!

    And this is why I'm not voting for Hillary - ever. 4 And this is why I'm not voting for Hillary - ever. 5 And this is why I'm not voting for Hillary - ever. 6

    Get this and other great articles from the source at www.ChristopherSPenn.com

  • Want to influence China? Forget Olympic Torch Protests!

    China’s power today is driven by economics first and foremost. Want to lead the charge, make a difference, influence their human rights policy? Forget the Olympics, forget Olympic Torch protests. The Olympics are symbolic, and while as a Buddhist, I certainly acknowledge and applaud any attention given to the plight of Tibet, protests will accomplish very little in the long run.

    Want to really make a change?

    Every time you go to the store, check to see where a product is made. If you have a choice between goods made in China and any other nation (and you may not), buy the product made somewhere else as often as you can.

    Commit today to buy 25% fewer goods made in China, and 25% more goods made in the USA or other countries that support the human rights initiatives you value.

    Economic power made the giant, and economic power can change its course on human rights – but only if you have the will as a consumer to vote with your wallet, no matter how great the sale is.

  • Favorite political quote

    I wish I knew who to attribute this to.

    “An eagle has two wings, left and right. Without both, it cannot fly.”

    Something to remember in partisan times.

    Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, please subscribe right now!

    Favorite political quote 7 Favorite political quote 8 Favorite political quote 9

    Get this and other great articles from the source at www.ChristopherSPenn.com

  • CNN I-Reporter Stuff

    So I made a short video this morning and submitted it to CNN.

    My coverage on CNN

    My coverage on CNN

    Upsides – the video got aired. They did keep the mention of the podcast.

    Downsides – no link love, and they removed the titling, which I wasn’t terribly concerned with, but they did strip the credit for the music for Matthew Ebel.

  • Super Tuesday!

    [youtube]https://youtube.com/watch?v=Dpjkpg7vdMg[/youtube]

  • Presidential candidate endorsements

    The official endorsement from Christopher Penn for the candidates for President of the United States:

    No one. Do your own homework.

    There are some candidates that I like more than others, but it’s entirely driven on my beliefs.

    • I believe in a market-driven economy relatively free of government interference except when absolutely needed; the current housing bubble mess is a result of the government meddling in free markets.
    • I believe in curtailing overseas activities, especially combat, until we have our own house in order.
    • I believe in fiscal responsibility, because borrowing against the future is bad for individuals and for societies as a whole.
    • I believe in personal responsibility. If you make bad choices, hard cheese. If you gamble and lose, don’t expect me to pick up the tab.
    • I believe in government minding its own damn business. Abortion, gun control, and religion are all personal choices, and the government should have no say in them.

    Based on those beliefs, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out who I endorse. If you can’t come up with a candidate that fits that profile…

    … neither can I, really.

  • Is waterboarding torture?

    I’ve got an easy answer for that. Pick five Republican senators and five Democratic senators at random, wheel a kiddie pool into the Capitol Rotunda, strap them to a gurney, and have them try out the technique – no permanent physical harm, we promise! – for 60 seconds.

    At the end of the 60 seconds for each of the 10 senators, poll them as to whether it was just “aggressive interrogation” or if they felt they were subjected to a torture technique.

    This would accomplish two things. First, the people making the decisions should have first-hand experience of anything that might be done in the name of the people that could be called torture. Second, perhaps we’d have fewer used car salesmen running for office if they knew they might have to experience what they legislate.

  • Hillary Clinton is a financial George W. Bush

    From HillaryClinton.com:

    I will consider legislation that enables lenders to convert unworkable mortgages into stable, affordable loans without the permission of investors. Protection from lawsuits will remove the obstacle that keeps lenders, servicers and others from turning mortgages that were designed to fail into mortgages families can afford. Right now, servicers who process monthly loan payments and interface with homeowners have flexibility to modify loans. However, they are reluctant to fully exercise this discretion in part because they fear investor lawsuits. Investors who own the securities into which the mortgages have been packaged may assert that they are harmed when servicers help at-risk borrowers. Protection from lawsuits could enable the servicers to help homeowners avoid foreclosures, help investors avoid the losses they would otherwise suffer, and help the economy.

    Servicers aren’t afraid of lawsuits. They’re BOUND by the law to honor the contracts signed as part of the securitization of loans.

    Refresher. Securitization is what lets the majority of people get loans. Period. If I loan you 100, I can’t use that money until you pay it back. If 20 investors get together and invest5 in me plus a finder’s fee, they own the loan now, and I have $100 I can loan again.

    Guess what, Hillary? The lenders and servicers DO NOT OWN THE LOANS that you’re referring to. It’s not a question of permission of the investors. They OWN the loans. Except as defined in the contracts, lenders and servicers cannot legally make changes to the mortgages they originated.

    More importantly, reread:

    I will consider legislation that enables lenders to convert unworkable mortgages into stable, affordable loans without the permission of investors.

    Translation: I’m going to try to make it legal for a third party to monkey around with someone else’s property without their permission.

    What you’re proposing is no different that George Bush’s foreign policy. Arbitrary decisions made without respect for the law – however flawed you think it might be – are what got us into a bunch of very sandy places. Now you’re publicly posting on your own web site that you’re willing and eager to ignore laws as it suits you politically? Sounds awfully familiar to me. Apparently your time at Yale taught you the same respect for the law as your classmate, Mr. Bush.

    Whatever meager chance you might have had for my vote just evaporated.

Pin It on Pinterest