Yes, Harry Reid is a big part of the problem… He has no balls to stand up to the Repugs and stop the shenanigans.

Respect Ted Cruz? As a resident of Texas, I am terribly embarrassed that we have another blowhard politician who is full of fecal material and himself…Bush, Perry, Cornyn and Cruz. Not all of us down here are idiots! I didn’t vote for any of them!

Punkkitty, as some of the others have noted, don’t give up hope! I was laid off four years ago, and fortunately got back to work as a contractor in IT. It is not bad, at all! You do have to keep your wits about you, and I have wound up with a bad gig or two — but all in all, I have stayed employed for the last three years!

To address another issue mentioned on here, our government HAS to begin enforcing H1B visa rules! I ran a project a couple of years ago that was comprised of workers from a prominent Indian computer firm, and virtually ALL of them had overstayed their H1B time limits. That means that they were taking jobs away from Americans! That is just wrong! The company that hired the Indian firm was not saving any money though — they were all being billed at US worker rates!

But…but…Obamacare is for LITTLE people, not US! It is a tough life… I am paying $600 a month for a $7500 deductible policy in my state’s health risk pool. I have no chronic conditions — I am just older. People in Congress have no earthly idea what things cost. It is time that they find out the cost, and how unfairly the profit motive treats people.

Maybe we should just eliminate Congress all together.

I am SO tired of John Boehner and his ilk continuing to try to suck all the air out of the room with the continued fiscal cliff idiocy. Others I talk to are angry, as well… It is just more of the same — there is no respite from all the drama queens in Congress, despite the fact that there was a very clear message in all the polling and elections.

Are they all that dense?

David, I lurk a lot, but I have always enjoyed reading your reports and insights — which are almost always spot on! As one of those who got caught up in all the mortgage mess, it was always a help to me to know what was going on — and what wasn’t!

Somehow, I don’t think you will be far away… But I wish you the best of luck in getting things figured out!

If JPMorgan Chase “submitted inaccurate financial statements to regulators,” as the report indicates, top management is responsible under Sarbanes-Oxley. Criminally responsible, in fact. Anything less simply ignores the clear duty under the law.

I work a lot with SOX-related controls. Jamie Dimon had to have signed off on the financial statements and assertions to the SEC of their correctness. He was supposed to KNOW what was going on. If he did not know, then shame on him! If Dimon skates on this, no CEO will be held accountable for anything and SOX enforcement will collapse.

Actually, I have an account at another bank that is my primary one… I am finalizing some other matters that were using my BoA account and I just don’t want the hassle of all the paperwork. About 2 more months and I am done with BoA!

There is another side of this to be considered. In order to cut its costs of doing business and improve its outlook, BoA has laid off quite a number of people. The trouble is, there is no one left to do the actual work of the bank.

I decided to bite the bullet a couple of months ago and do a Deed-In-Lieu of Foreclosure, and just get on with life. A very nice woman in the BoA Customer Service Department offered me a Lease-for-Deed opportunity to allow me to stay in the house and figure out my next moves. I agreed, and we began the process. She warned me that the foreclosure process would continue, but that the DIL should be executed well before any foreclosure sale took place.

Guess what? My house is up for foreclosure sale next Tuesday, despite the fact that everything else has finally been approved (we are just waiting on the final documents to sign). Bank of America cannot seem to get its ducks in a row. No one seems to know who to contact there to pull the sale down, which means that I am headed for court on Monday to get an injunction to stop the sale.

I went by my local branch office of BoA a couple of days ago to make a deposit, and they appeared to be terribly short-handed!

Enough already!

The Regulators are a joke… With all the austerity measures and screams to get the government out of business’ hair, there is no way to enforce any laws. It is too expensive, and besides — it might hurt business.

So, the civil settlements are a great way to stir up a bit of dust and say, “Gee, look at what we did!” without going to any real effort or expense to enforce the laws.

Now, since there is no longer any need for laws, shouldn’t we abolish Congress? Just think of the money we would save!!

Not a bad idea at all!

I hate to say it so bluntly, but I guess we have all become so dysfunctional that we almost “appreciate” here saying what she did.

Personally, it really pisses me off… I would like to tell Ann Romney where she should stick her comment!

What kind of businessman permits the founder and sole stockholder to sign all the federal papers that he himself should sign, for three years?

I have wondered the same thing… Every CEO I have ever known has been extremely cautious about what gets signed and by whom. Was Romney, if he was the CEO, just signing whatever people place in front of him, or was he asking major questions? You cannot be a part-time CEO… Will the real CEO please stand up? I would like to know who Romney trusted so much…

Interesting times we are in…

I had something of an epiphany several weeks ago. Maybe my circumstances are unique, but somehow I don’t think so. Like so many others 3-4 years ago, I found myself out of work for an extended period. I went through my 401(k) trying to keep us afloat in hopes that I would find another job. That didn’t work, and by the time I did go back to work, I was having to borrow money from family members to get by.

When I did go back to work (at less than what I had been making before), I contacted my creditors to make arrangements and begin paying back what I owed. Over the last two years, I have been struggling to make those payments, and also try to pay back family members. Those family members are struggling in their own way, too! With the recent disclosures regarding Chase Bank’s massive losses, I suddenly realized that it makes no sense trying to pay them back! It is much more important to repay my family members. It is also much more important to me to get money stashed into a retirement account, as I may not be able to work many more years.

Chase Bank and my other creditors will simply squander the money I pay back with the bonuses they give their “executives,” and squander on risky trades. Jamie Dimon could personally pay off what I owe and never even realize any change.

What would happen if everybody stopped paying?

Just to get back on topic for a moment, I always enjoyed Andy Griffith! “No Time for Sergeants,” in my opinion, was something of a nose-thumbing of the military establishment — and was very funny! “A Face in the Crowd” is still very appropriate for today, with our current regime of pontificators, senators and the like. But, most of all, I always loved the “homespun” humor of Andy Taylor in Mayberry… I sure wish we could have more like that!

Rest in peace, old friend!!