Why Freepers are fools and should be drop-kicked from the electorate

[Number23]

I visit FR as often as my blood pressure can take. And while I'm sure that it will come as no surprise to anyone here that the Freepers are drinking gallons of coffee so that they can stay up late scouring the Internet for any and all ways to blame the Democrats for the recent financial collapse, this most recent theme they're on has taken the cake.

They are blaming the collapse of Wall Street on banks' extending lines of credit to -- you guessed it! -- minorities and the poor. The thread is located here and it is shameful.

According to them and I'm sure to many white conservatives, if banks had continued discriminating against minorities and the poor, we wouldn't be in the current mess that we are in. Forget the immoral and illegal predatory banking practices that targeted these groups; forget the massive bonuses paid to the executives whose motto was 'profits above all else'; and of course forget the proud Republican tradition of looking the other way while companies screw over regular folks in their never-ending quest for larger profits.

The Freepers look past all of that and come to their usual conclusion - it's the folks with melanin and without money who are causing all of the problems, not the ones who screwed them over. I freely admit that my math is mighty fuzzy and I am seriously estimating upwards, but even if 25% of the minorities in this country took loans worth $100,000 and were unable to pay them back at 10% interest, that would still come out to $8 billion dollars a year for the last 25 years, when the "relaxed" laws took effect. $8 billion over 25 years comes out to $320 million dollars a year... roughly what the top 10% of executives at ONE of these banks brings home in a damn year.

I am so damn sick of the racial scape-goating I could throw up. To these fools, there is no problem in this country that can't be blamed on blacks, Arabs and/or Hispanics. I've never been a Republican and never wanted to be, but I am starting to get to the point where I want them wiped off the face of this earth. (If my math is off, which I fully expect for it to be on at least some level, please be gentle in your explanation!!) Thanks for reading.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Cavuto was "Worst" tonite for that very thing....

they dont call them dittoheads for nothing. They can come up with NOTHING original.

www.wearableartnow.com

[FLAprogressive]

2. You have much more intestinal fortitude than I do.

I could NEVER visit that place.

[Number23]

6. It's a must read for me on certain issues

Whenever I see how Bush has screwed something up or McCain has said something stupid or Palin has DONE something stupid, I always rush over there to see how it's being spun.

I've found it's really helpful to understand how certain conclusions get reached by certain folks in this country, including racist dumb@sses.

[dana_b]

3. how can these f***s deny their racism? They are so blatant about it!

:evilfrown:

[codjh9]

9. I don't think they care about denying it or not!

[Naturyl]

4. Zero surprise there.

It also wouldn't be surprising if a few DUers agree.

[grannylib]

5. Buchanan is saying now on Rachel that the crisis is "liberalism run amok"

because of the loans to minorities who couldn't pay them back and had no money down...it's liberalism! No conservative would EVER really loan money to minorities unless evil liberals FORCED them to do it!!

Holy fuckin' shit.

[Number23]

7. I'm really starting to believe that's how they think

No conservative would EVER really loan money to minorities unless evil liberals FORCED them to do it!!

I REALLY believe that's exactly how they think. And it's a factor in why the Republican party is quickly (but not nearly quickly enough) flatlining.

[dana_b]

11. speechless...

:wow:

[tblue]

8. I've got two words for them, and they're not "Let's dance."

I hate to say it, but racism appears to be back on the rise.

You are brave to visit FR. I don't have the strength. What you've got over there is a buncha people just regurgitating what they heard from R*sh Limpball -- they are incapable of an original thought. He tells them it's not YOUR fault; it's THEM!

They don't realize that it's a merciless, inhumane Repuglican-championed economic system that is the source of their frustrations. So they look for scapegoats, and marinate in hatred for anyone who is not exactly like them.

How many of them have ever had more than a one-sentence conversation with any person of color? They fear they will be in the minority in less than a generation, and they are panicking. On that, I'm afraid, they are right.

[Number23]

12. BACK on the rise???

I hate to say it, but racism appears to be back on the rise.

When did it ever go down??? :)

[tblue]

15. You're right, 23. Maybe I thought America was finally growing up.

I hear it's the older people who are the most stubborn, but maybe in the rural areas, there are young racists, too.

There's a big chunk of Racist America I'd just as soon never see or hear about again. This is so sad.

[Bigmack]

10. Listen... poorer people - whatever race...

they are - have wanted houses of their own for years. They couldn't get loans because they couldn't qualify. Couldn't qualify, that is, until these "creative" mortgages and NINJA loans came along. Until the major lender lying began... all to qualify the unqualified.

There is no onus in applying for a mortgage you can't afford, but there sure as hell is an onus in granting a mortgage that you know the person can't afford.

The poor/minorites aren't at fault at all. If some dude at a bank tells you this is a good deal for you, and you can afford it, who are you to tell him he's wrong?

[Number23]

13. Hear hear!

If some dude at a bank tells you this is a good deal for you, and you can afford it, who are you to tell him he's wrong?

And that was EXACTLY what those banks were counting on.

In a perfect world, there would be nationally standardized financial courses in middle AND high schools so that even kids in the most disadvantaged areas would still have some good financial do's and don'ts. And the predatory and manipulative lending done by some of these banks would not have nearly as many uninformed people to prey upon.

[Bigmack]

21. Visa and the retail community ...

would never hold still for an economics education plan. It would include all kinds of education about credit and consumer abuses.

Don't want to let the suckers in on the game.

When I taught HS, the kids had no idea about what the yearly interest rate on credit cards was or how paying just the minimum per month made you an economic slave. It wasn't my area to teach, but I did what I could.

The Distributive Ed person (not a teacher... a person from the retail community who did things like Junior Achievement) asked me not to tell the kids all that negative stuff. I politely declined.

[Number23]

22. Ain't that a b*tch....

Visa and the retail community would never hold still for an economics education plan.

And I do believe that you are absolutely right. Can't rob folks blind if they can see you coming.

The stuff corporations are allowed to get away with is absolutely mind-blowing.

[tblue]

16. Predatory Lenders -- they are the ones to blame.

[magellan]

14. They also believe Obama is a "Muslin"

If they can't get even that much right -- and I'm not talking about the misspelling -- then understanding something as complicated as who's to blame for the mess this country's in is naturally beyond their demonstrated limited ability to grasp.

Still, I wouldn't take away their voting privileges. What we need to do IMHO is ax the antiquated Electoral College and defer to the popular vote.

[Number23]

17. "Muslin"

Yep, that sounds like a classic Freeper. :rofl: :rofl:

What we need to do IMHO is ax the antiquated Electoral College and defer to the popular vote.

I do believe there are a growing number of Americans who share your philosophy.

[stillcool]

18. Post this..

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 18, 2002
President Reiterates Goal on Homeownership
The goal is, everybody who wants to own a home has got a shot at doing so. The problem is we have what we call a homeownership gap in America. Three-quarters of Anglos own their homes, and yet less than 50 percent of African Americans and Hispanics own homes. That ownership gap signals that something might be wrong in the land of plenty. And we need to do something about it.

We are here in Washington, D.C. to address problems. So I've set this goal for the country. We want 5.5 million more homeowners by 2010 -- million more minority homeowners by 2010. (Applause.) Five-and-a-half million families by 2010 will own a home. That is our goal. It is a realistic goal. But it's going to mean we're going to have to work hard to achieve the goal, all of us. And by all of us, I mean not only the federal government, but the private sector, as well.

And so I want to, one, encourage you to do everything you can to work in a realistic, smart way to get this done. I repeat, we're here for a reason. And part of the reason is to make this dream extend everywhere.

I'm going to do my part by setting the goal, by reminding people of the goal, by heralding the goal, and by calling people into action, both the federal level, state level, local level, and in the private sector. (Applause.)

And so what are the barriers that we can deal with here in Washington? Well, probably the single barrier to first-time homeownership is high down payments. People take a look at the down payment, they say that's too high, I'm not buying. They may have the desire to buy, but they don't have the wherewithal to handle the down payment. We can deal with that. And so I've asked Congress to fully fund an American Dream down payment fund which will help a low-income family to qualify to buy, to buy. (Applause.)

We believe when this fund is fully funded and properly administered, which it will be under the Bush administration, that over 40,000 families a year -- 40,000 families a year -- will be able to realize the dream we want them to be able to realize, and that's owning their own home. (Applause.)

The second barrier to ownership is the lack of affordable housing. There are neighborhoods in America where you just can't find a house that's affordable to purchase, and we need to deal with that problem. The best way to do so, I think, is to set up a single family affordable housing tax credit to the tune of $2.4 billion over the next five years to encourage affordable single family housing in inner-city America. (Applause.)

The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and say, well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many words. (Laughter.) There's too many pitfalls. So one of the things that the Secretary is going to do is he's going to simplify the closing documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.

It is essential that we make it easier for people to buy a home, not harder. And in order to do so, we've got to educate folks. Some of us take homeownership for granted, but there are people -- obviously, the home purchase is a significant, significant decision by our fellow Americans. We've got people who have newly arrived to our country, don't know the customs. We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan.

There's some people out there that can fall prey to unscrupulous lenders, and we have an obligation to educate and to use our resource base to help people understand how to purchase a home and what -- where the good opportunities might exist for home purchasing.

Finally, we want to make sure the Section 8 homeownership program is fully implemented. This is a program that provides vouchers for first-time home buyers which they can use for down payments and/or mortgage payments. (Applause.)

So this is an ambitious start here at the federal level. And, again, I repeat, you all need to help us every way you can. But the private sector needs to help, too. They need to help, too. Of course, it's in their interest. If you're a realtor, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home. If you're a homebuilder, it's in your interest that somebody be interested in buying a home.

And so, therefore, I've called -- yesterday, I called upon the private sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to report that Fannie Mae has heard the call and, as I understand, it's about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're talking about here. It's in their charter; it now needs to be implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital.
Thank you all for coming by.

[Number23]

19. FANTASTIC screen capture

But you see, this feeds into the Freepers' contention that the government should have continued to discriminate against minorities and the poor and done nothing to increase home ownership among under-represented groups.

This quote: "We've got people in certain neighborhoods that just aren't really sure what it means to buy a home. And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan."

really just bolsters their argument that the only people who SHOULD have something, ALREADY have something. If you don't already own a home or have an understanding of the value of home ownership, in their minds you shouldn't be able to.

[stillcool]

20. They are correct..to an extent..

the Bush Administration pimped the 'home ownership' bullshit, and allowed lenders to lend money to people they knew could not afford it once the interest started going up. Hell..I almost bought a house. Poor people have no business owning a house, or owning anything for that matter. The problem is that we're all poor, and none of us really own anything. As long as we're paying a mortgage the bank owns it. As long as we're making payments on credit cards we don't own it. But that doesn't matter as long as people can talk shit about other people.