This is a front line report on the class war.   Edwin Girdle (The Colonel)
had an excellent business going until he needed a loan after the shock
of 2008.  The banks that got billions weren't lending and there was no
help anywhere else in the "safety net."  His story is compelling and
clear.  Noted at Jerome Doolittle's blog at SmirkingChimp.com who first posted this and reprinted with Mr. Girdle's permission. Michael Collins

For three years I owned and operated a mini-market/gas station in a
Cincinnati, Ohio suburb. I bought an already existing store using all
the assets I had, including my 401K funds, after being down-sized from
my middle-management career of 22 years (in one of the many industries
which the U.S. can no longer keep onshore).

Things went along fairly well and the business grew as I acquired a
large clientele of regular customers from the local construction
companies, other business owners, and the Ford plant. My girlfriend and
I worked 90+ hour workweeks and, along with help from a few part-time
employees, we operated 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In other words, I was a real practitioner of the kind of
free-enterprise capitalism that our windbag politicians and business
leaders praise to the heavens while making sure it doesn’t apply to
them.

Sick of hearing about Tea Party Protests -- about Taxes going down?

Here's some "Protest News" that is worth knowing about ...

Oregon sues fund company for college savings losses
AP Executive Morning Briefing - April 14, 2009

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — State officials are seeking $36.2 million in damages from OppenheimerFunds Inc., which managed a fund responsible for steep losses in the Oregon College Savings Plan. Officials said in a statement Monday that risky, "hedge-fund like" investments cost the Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund 36 percent of its value last year — and 10 percent more so far this year.

(emphasis added)

originally posted 2009-04-12 21:29:02 -0500, bumped by carol

Elizabeth Warren was appointed chair of a newly created Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), which is charged with keeping tabs on the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector - including Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Warren however, has had some "Trouble" getting straight forward answers ... as she explained to the Boston Globe:

Keeping tabs on the bailout

By Elizabeth Warren -- April 12, 2009

    Elizabeth Warren: There's a major problem and a minor problem. The minor problem is documentation. I've spent four weeks now looking for someone who can give me the details of the stress test so that we can do an independent evaluation of whether the stress test is any good.

    We get: "someone will call [you] right back." Only the call doesn't come. The major problem is ...

I'm not an economist and the only real numbers I crunch are my personal expenses and when bidding construction jobs putting together those costs and percentages which in these latter years of my life, preferring more to do the work, I have done very little of, except while doing the work to bring a better quality for hopefully a bit cheaper cost in material and professional skill.

Watching what is now taking place in banking and the dream new capitalist economy that's been sold for a number of years isn't really a big surprise to this common man, many were forecasting exactly what would happen if we followed the sales pitch.

Following is a report from CBS that hits on the next shoe to drop or dropping already as we've seen with the collapse of a number of finance institutions but not yet talked about but part of what we the tax payers are already bailing out.

Originally published 2008-09-25 05:41:19 -1000. Promoted by Roxy.

Dealing in Debt!!

Everyone, almost, is in a complete Rage at what is happening, and has been allowed to happen by not only soft regulation but the ease on any regulation in the Banking Industry, Morgage Industry, Wall Street, and in a Rage you should be.

But want a better picture of the who got us here any why, leave your computer and go to the nearest mirror and take a Good Hard Long Look at the reflection coming back, Yep Folks, it's most of you, and the rest of the shit hasn't yet hit the fan, but it's quickly coming!

Remember the clowns you hire to represent you in Washington, and local and state, are your clowns, you pay them.