The S & P Downgrade “Game”

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AKA:  JUST MORE WALL STREET SHENANIGANS!

Hopefully, you haven’t been running around with your hair on fire, screaming THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!  Because, guess what?  It ain’t!  Standard and Poors is just another Wall Street “institution” that says, and does, what it wants to, in order to suit their own – and certain benefactors’ – needs. 

A great article on AlterNet explains:

“Most people believe that the ratings agencies base their analyses on some set of cold, objective criteria, but that’s not the case.  A group of Wall Street analysts . . . get together and discuss various factors, including, in this case, the political scene, and come to a consensus.”

And, that:  “According to a Senate investigation concluded earlier this year — a probe that was greeted with a collective “ho-hum” by the corporate media — S&P and Moody’s, another leading agency, “issued the AAA ratings that made … mortgage backed securities … seem like safe investments, helped build an active market for those securities, and then, beginning in July 2007, downgraded the vast majority of those AAA ratings to junk status.” And when they did, it “precipitated the collapse of the [mortgage-backed securities] markets and, perhaps more than any other single event, triggered the financial crisis.”

So, some of the same guys who told all of us that everything was A-Okay with those (questionably) mortgage backed “securities” – because it benefited their golf buddies – are now telling us that The U.S. might not be able to meet it’s future obligations???  They have already proven to be un-objective, untrustworthy charlatans, but most of us were unaware of the Senate investigation’s findings.  And, our collective memories are so short these days, that even those of us who were in the know have either forgiven or forgotten.

This is all politically motivated by the big HAVES, at the expense of the rest of us, the have NOTS.  But, I think that all of you are better off getting the full benefit of the article by . . . reading the article. 

So, here it is: 

http://www.alternet.org/story/151935/standard_and_poor%27s%3A_just_more_corrupt_wall_street_insiders_waging_class_war_on_america?page=1

Don’t knee jerk.  You’ll only regret it, while someone – who was already much better off than you – laughs all the way to the bank!

—   YUR

Related articles

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Cryptoquote Spoiler – 08/08/11

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“I like to think of thoughts as living blossoms borne by the human tree.”   —   James (Jim) Douglas

(I guess I’m just not in the mood for this quote.  A little too flowery for me.  Some pun intended.  This guy is a former four term governor of Vermont, and current “executive in residence” at his Alma mater, Middlebury College.  Exactly what an “executive in residence” is sounds a little dubious to yer Uncle, but I’d say it sounds like he’s once again being nourished by his mother!  Hey.  They’re a private college.  They can do what they like with the tuition they charge their $tudent$.  Be well, friends.)   —   YUR

PS.  I actually like the Thought for Today much better.  “Man adjusts to what he should not; he is unable to adjust to what he should.”   —   Jean Toomer, African-American author-poet (1894 – 1967)

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Jumble Spoiler – 08/08/11

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Visual Description:  A friendly(?) neighborhood poker game.

SBRTU  =  BURST,  BLOYB  =  LOBBY,  GTDSOY  =  STODGY,  UEONCP  =  POUNCE   —   Giving us:  BYTOUE

Clue/Question:  When he asked to raise the stakes, his opponent said this.

Answer:  YOU BET

(Hey, Hoyt!  I hope you gave Fred his money back.  Not very sporting of you to take advantage of a friend or neighbor like that, bro.  I’m glad the clue/question didn’t say worthy opponent.  LOL!  Actually, this was a pretty good jumble for a Monday morning.  I liked the clue words.  Especially, “stodgy”.  Everything was well scrambled.  The answer letters might have benefited from switching the order of the last two words, or maybe even the first two.  I think BYUETO, or YBTOUE would have presented a slightly better challenge.  But, the answer really didn’t take a whole lot of thought, regardless of the scrambling.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

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