10 Reasons Why You Should Vote Republican

By LaFeministaFollow

1. You want to finance the wealthy?

You think the banking bailout wasn't enough for the elite?

They need tax breaks to invest more in the developing world so their companies become more profitable?

Please give them tax cuts to do so.

Do you want to decrease unemployment overseas, give corporations tax cuts and breaks to finance their move to the land of cheap labor of their choice?

So what if the workers are to young or kept in dormitories and the conditions resemble those of forced labor.

You really want that stuff to be so cheap that you can afford it on the unemployment line?

Well then:

Vote Republican.

2. You believe victims of crime are whiners?

Two wrongs make a right?

Women who are raped and become pregnant should be forced to carry the baby of a crime?

That those complaining of sexual and moral abuse at work are just lazy and have no right to be treated equally at the workplace?

Vote Republican.

3. You believe government services are a waste?

That the fire department, police, schools and hospitals are a drain on the economy we cannot afford.

That only the private sector could provide these at an affordable rate, and so what if you cant afford it?

That protecting the environment serves no purpose and is a drain on corporate reserves when the are forced to abide by the minimum guidelines?

You believe that market forces are enough to prevent poisonous baby food?

You believe tearing apart mountains or flooding the sea with crude oil are all just part of a viable business model?

Vote Republican.

4. You believe whites are the victim of racism?

That this is your country and you want it back, and you believe the days of slavery made you freer?

You need someone to look down upon because your life is crap?

You need to blame someone else for your own failure to compete in an open market and its all because minorities have some legal protection?

You believe that illegal immigrants are taking your jobs away but if you were offered the same working conditions you would run away screaming?

Vote Republican.

5. You don't believe in social programs?

Well Medicare, Social Security, and SCHIP are drains on those who can afford not to need them.

So they should be privatized and hence only serve those that can afford them in the first place.

Just think of all that extra money in the stock market you can cheer it volatile rise and spectacular collapse.

Heck that's the free market for you, so what if the big boys stole all your cash.

That's the American dream right there!

Love it?

Vote Republican.

6. It's not what you do but what you say that counts?

That even if you are a total sleazeball but say the right things all will be forgiven.

That you can lie and steal and waste tax payers money so thoroughly yet claim still to be fiscally conservative with a straight face, and that you can believe and admire others who do the same thing?

Vote Republican.

7. Affordable health care is an affront to sanity.

It was much better when the insurance companies could cover whom they liked.

The rate hikes every so often filled you with joy?

That only those with the resources should have access to what you believe was the best service in the world despite all evidence to the contrary?

Vote Republican.

8. Rules are only for poor people?

You believe that making the rich even richer is part of the American dream even though you are more likely only to get there if you win the state lottery?

You believe that by supporting the grotesquely wealthy is your sure way into nirvana, and you will protect them come hell or high water even though they laugh at you?

Vote Republican.

9. You believe we are on the road to socialism?

The only way to stop this is to hand over government to the corporations and that democratically elected politicians should bow to the will of the very few?

The only good government is one that doesn't interfere with profit taking and is better neither seen or heard?

That this rule by the elite is the way to go?

Vote Republican.

10. Your own freedoms are best guaranteed by removing the rights of others?

You believe that LGBT folk don't deserve the same rights as anyone else since this would infringe if not totally destroy your own, it would in fact cause you deep an abiding pain?

You believe that the freedom to worship is a christian right, and any other religion is just plain un-American, and Muslims have a special right to be hounded no matter what?

You believe that to avoid the imposition of Sharia law one must impose fundamentalist christian doctrine first by applying old testament laws?

Vote republican.

If this is the case by all means VOTE REPUBLICAN and may your god watch over you, because I sure as hell wont care what happens to you.

Originally posted to LaFeminista

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Dot,   Ten years ago, women were paid $0.77 for every dollar a man was paid.  Now, we're paid $0.78. At this rate, it won't be until 2058 that equal pay for equal work becomes a reality. Progress may move slowly, but this is too slow.  That's why we're working with our allies to call on Congress to take action to stop paycheck discrimination.   Demand Congress take action to make equal pay for equal work a reality. Add your name to the petition. A new report showed that closing the gender wage gap could lift half of working single moms out of poverty.  As someone who was raised by a single mom, I won't wait quietly for women like her to be paid what they're due. We have to speak out for women and families.  We have to urge Congress to move this issue to the front of their agenda. Raise your voice and tell Congress it's time to pass equal pay for equal work. Thanks for fighting for women at all levels, Jess McIntosh Vice President of Communications, EMILY's List

Introduction to Credit Derivatives and Credit Default Swaps

By Janet Tavakoli

Credit derivatives grew from an estimated $3 trillion notional* amount with a gross market value of $89 billion in the first quarter of 2003 to an estimated $24.3 trillion notional* amount with a gross market value of $725 billion in June 2013.

*notional--existing as an idea rather than as something real

The most common type of credit derivative is the credit default swap.

A credit default swap or option is simply an exchange of a fee in exchange for a payment if a credit default event occurs.

Credit default swaps differ from total return swaps in that the investor does not take price risk of the reference asset, only the risk of default.

The investor receives a fee from the seller of the default risk.

The investor makes no payment unless a credit default event occurs.

Plain Vanilla Credit Default Swap

The traditional or “plain vanilla” credit default swap is a payment by one party in exchange for a credit default protection payment if a credit default event on a reference asset occurs.

The amount of the payment is the difference between the original price of the reference asset and the recovery value of the reference asset.

The following schematic shows how the cash flow of this credit derivative transaction work:

If the fee is paid upfront, which may be the case for very short dated structures, the agreement is likely to be called a credit default option.

If the fee is paid over time, the agreement is more likely to be called a swap.

Unless two counterparties are actually swapping and exchanging the credit default risk of two different credits, I prefer to call the former structure a credit default option.

Cash flows paid over time are nothing more than an amortization of an option premium.

Because the documentation references ISDA master agreements, however, swap terminology has crept into the market.

Since the credit derivatives business at many commercial and investment banks is often run by former interest rate swap staff, the tendency to use swap terminology persists.

Therefore, I will most often refer to these transactions as credit default “swaps.”

The credit default premium is usually paid over time.

For some very short dated structures, the credit default premium may be paid upfront.

 Professionals new to this market often ask if the premium should be paid upfront, instead of over time.

After all, if the credit defaults, the default protection seller will get no additional premiums.

Credit Default Option Is Contingent

The credit default option or swap is a contingent option, and not to be confused with an American option.

A termination payment is only made if a credit event occurs.

If the credit event does not occur, the default protection seller has no obligation.

The premium can be thought of as the credit spread an investor demands to take the default risk of a given reference asset.

If the investor bought an asset swap, the investor would earn a spread to his funding cost representing the compensation, the premium, the investor would need to take the credit default risk of the reference asset in the asset swap.

For an American option, the premium is paid upfront (or over time, but with the proviso that the total premium is owed, even if exercise occurs before the expiration date).

The American option can be exercised any time that it is in the money.

The holder of the option does not have to exercise, however, and can wait and hope the option will go further in the money.

If the market reverses direction, the American option can again become out-of-the money, and the holder who failed to exercise the option when it was in the money cannot exercise.

With a credit default option, once the trigger event has occurred, the holder must exercise and the option stays exercisable.

Default protection can be purchased on a loan, a bond, an index of reference obligations, sovereign risk due to cross border commercial transactions, or even on credit exposure due to a derivative contract such as counterparty credit exposure in a cross currency swap transaction.

Credit protection can be linked to an individual credit or to a basket of credits.

At first glance, a credit default swap or option looks structurally simpler than a total return swap.

 A total return swap is a form of financing, and the total return receiver has both market risk and default risk; a credit default swap is embedded in the structure.

The first key difference is that although the price or premium of a credit default swap or option may increase, it is never actually in-the-money until a credit default event, as defined by the confirm language, has occurred.

That seems like a knock-in option or a knock-in swap, which is a type of barrier option.

Knock-in options have been around since the 1960’s.

When a market price reaches a predetermined strike price, the barrier, the knock-in option comes into existence.

But this “knock-in” is not linked to traditional market factors, but rather to either credit default or a credit “event.”

If the option “knocks in” then, and only then, is the option in the money.

The termination payment is usually not binary or predefined, although it can be if both parties agree.

The termination payment is linked to a recovery value or recovery rate for the reference credit or reference credits involved.

Another piece of the puzzle regarding what happened to the American Middle Class.
 
Capitalism: A Love Story

A 2009 American documentary film directed, written, and starring Michael Moore.

The film centers on the late 2000s financial crisis and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the United States and capitalism in general.

Topics covered include Wall Street's "casino mentality," for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs' influence in Washington, D.C., the poverty-level wages of many workers, the large wave of home foreclosures, corporate-owned life insurance, and the consequences of "runaway greed."

The film also features a religious component where Moore examines whether or not capitalism is a sin and whether Jesus would be a capitalist, in order to shine light on the ideological contradictions among evangelical conservatives who support free market ideals.

The film was widely released to the public in the United States and Canada on October 2, 2009.

Reviews were generally positive.

It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 9, 2010.

The film begins with a series of security footages of armed bank robberies (one of the robbers was on a crutch) accompanied by the song Louie, Louie.

Moore then uses an Encyclopædia Britannica archive video to compare and view modern-day America with the Roman Empire, by juxtaposing depictions of the fall of the Roman Empire with similar modern-day American issues.

The film then depicts home videos of families being evicted from their homes, as well as the "Condo Vultures," a Florida real estate agency whose business flourished with the increasing number of foreclosures.

The film then cuts back to the past "golden days" of American capitalism following World War II, followed by a "bummer" speech by President Jimmy Carter warning Americans of the dangers of worshiping "self-indulgence and consumption".

In the following Ronald Reagan years where the policies of Don Regan "turned the bull loose" for free enterprises, corporations gained more political power, unions were weakened, and socioeconomic gaps were widened.

Moore suggests that Reagan was favored for his charisma and communication skills rather than effective leadership, and highlights one of Reagan's speeches in which Regan, somewhat indiscreetly, orders Reagan to "speed it up," and Reagan quickly obeys.

The film then cuts to the kids for cash scandal, Captain Chesley Sullenberger's congressional testimony regarding airline pilots' poor treatment, and coverage of corporate-owned life insurance policies, where companies such as Wal-Mart have insurance against losses caused when workers or suppliers die.

Moore then interviews several Catholic priests, including Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (Archdiocese of Detroit), all of whom consider capitalism a "radical evil" contrary to the teachings of Christianity.

The film then presents a parody of what would happen if Jesus were a capitalist who wanted to "maximize profits," "deregulate the banking industry," and wanted the sick to "pay out of pocket" for their "pre-existing condition" (via clips from the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth), in contrast to the claims of several news pundits who proclaim the success of various capitalist enterprises as being a "blessing from God."

After referring to Dr. Jonas Salk, who for the public good, selflessly refused to patent the polio vaccine (asking, "Could you patent the sun?"), Moore wonders about how the brightest of America's young generation are attracted into finance instead of science.

Moore then goes to Wall Street seeking technical explanation about derivatives and credit default swaps, only to be advised "don't make any more movies."

Eventually Marcus Haupt, a former VP of Lehman Brothers, agrees to help but fails at clearly explaining these terms.

Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff similarly fails.

Moore eventually concludes that the complex system and terminology are merely there to confuse and "get away with murder," and Wall Street is just "an insane casino."

Moore then explores the role of Alan Greenspan and the U.S. Treasury in leading up to the United States housing bubble that devastated the American middle class.

Moore also interviews a former employee at Countrywide Financial responsible for their VIP program for "FOAs" and details how many members of Congress and political figures received favorable mortgage rates under the program.

Moore then discusses with William Black, who analogizes the situation to the build-up of the collapse of a dam.

The film then shows the series of events leading up to the passing of the 2008 bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson (also the former CEO of Goldman Sachs).

Moore then speaks with several Members of Congress, including Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who agrees with Moore's comment that the passing of the bailout was a "financial coup d'état."

Moore interviews Elizabeth Warren, the head of the US Congressional Oversight Committee, the government agency serving as a watchdog for Congress' wrongdoing.

He asks her, "Where's our money?", referring to the $700 billion bailout money which Congress gave to the big banks and Wall Street investment companies.

Warren replies, "I don't know."

Advised by Warren to contact Paulson's office for answers, Moore's call is promptly disconnected upon recognition of his identity.

He then goes to Wall Street demanding to "get the money back for the American people", but is denied entry into every office building of the major banks.

The documentary features a number of positive portrayals, which include bailout watchdog Elizabeth Warren, Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, who put forth a moratorium on home evictions, and Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur, who on the floor of the U.S. Congress encouraged Americans to be "squatters" in their own homes, and refuse to vacate.

The film also states that President Barack Obama's campaign caused only 37 percent of young adults to favor capitalism over socialism (although this claim was later disputed with support from youth polls by Fox News and the Pew Research Center).

The film then shows that in the year following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death (including TV footage of his proposed Second Bill of Rights) and the Allied victory in World War II, many of the defeated nations were given the rights proposed by FDR, but Americans were not.

The film then jumps ahead 60 years to show the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which Moore suggests would have been less severe were it not for the economic system which made Wall Street rich while forcing residents of New Orleans to live in a poorly maintained neighborhood.

The film closes with Moore placing police lines around numerous banks, and lastly, Wall Street itself.

In his closing speech, Moore declares that capitalism is an evil which can only be eliminated and replaced with the goodness of democracy--rule by the people, not by money.

He asks all those who agree to "speed it up," referencing the aforementioned phrase by Don Regan to President Ronald Reagan during one of the latter's speeches.

A swing rendition of the Socialist anthem "The Internationale," sung by Tony Babino, a New York big band artist, plays over the closing credits.

Oginally thought to be a follow-up to the 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11, it was revealed that Moore's film was to be a documentary about the financial crisis of 2007–2010.

In February 2009, he issued an appeal to people who worked for Wall Street or in the financial industry to share firsthand information, requesting, "Be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history."

In Capitalism: A Love Story premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2009.

The film also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13 and at the New York Film Festival on September 21.

On September 23, the film had a limited release at two theaters in New York City and two theaters in Los Angeles,  grossing $37,832 in its first day for a $9,458 per theater average.

The theater average was considered strong, though it did not beat the record opening of Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which grossed $83,922 at two theaters in one day.

Over the weekend of September 25, Capitalism grossed $231,964 in the four theaters.

The film had a wide release in 995 theaters in the United States and Canada on October 2, 2009, about a year after the enacting of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which approved a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

The film opened in eighth place at the box office on the first weekend of its wide release, grossing $4,447,378.

The final domestic total was $14,363,397, making it the 16th highest grossing documentary in history.

Three months after a scene in which Moore approaches Goldman Sachs headquarters to reclaim taxpayers' funds, the bank was one of the ten that repaid part of the $68 billion received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Moore responded to the action: "We're not talking about the majority of people who took the money ... not even 10 percent of the $700 billion has been returned."

Moore criticizes Wal-Mart for "dead peasant" policies, all 350,000 of which were cancelled in 2000. However, Moore notes that the termination of the policies was covered in the presentation of facts and quotes in the closing credits.

The documentary criticizes Senator Christopher Dodd and other government officials for benefiting from exclusive financial programs.

He lambasts Dodd in particular for predatory lending as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

The AP reported that the interest rates and fees involved were norms for the industry, and that the Senate's Select Committee on Ethics cleared Dodd and Kent Conrad of getting special treatments, but it cautioned the senators to exercise "more vigilance" with such deals.

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The chief function of the body is to

 carry the brain around.

Thomas A. Edison

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