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[SalmonGod]

Houses tend to fall apart without maintenance, such as when their tenants are kicked out and they're subsequently left vacant for years because no one can afford them.  If any significant portion of those available homes are so unlivable that not even homeless people want them, I suspect the practice of foreclosure is itself largely to blame.

[Sheb]

Damn, you guys sure like building hom. Any news of Occupy Our Homes?

[scriver]

If only it was in Spain, their squatter's rights are crazy.

*glances at Chairman* ...Or so I've heard. From two first hand sources, though, but still.

[SalmonGod]

This feels like it belongs in the election megathread, but I don't want to start another de-rail there.  So I'll leave it here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[ChairmanPoo]

I'm not sure as to the status of squatter's rights in Spain. I do know we're getting a lot of house reposessions by banks. The law as it stands is ridiculous, and states that the bank can not just repo the house you mortgage, but any other property, as well, should the former's market value have dropped under the mortgage's. This means that you can lose your home and STILL be indebted, and is, in effect, one step below modern serfdom: anything you own, and anything you MIGHT own in the future, belongs to the bank as payment for your evergrowing debt. It doesn't make any sense.

[Aqizzar]

Hey, here's some news I just stumbled onto: The IRS and New York Fed are pressing charges against three Swiss bankers for $1Billion in aided tax fraud.  Well it's about goddamn time.  As you'll notice from the links there, one of the judges leading the filing is Jed Rakoff, the New York circuit justice who says he's bros with "Occupy" and they're bros with him.  It's just a prosecution, not a conviction, and who know if it will be.  But if you want concrete results, moving the U.S. federal government to take direct action on white-collar crimes is concrete results.


Another piece of news: President Obama appoints Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  I don't know much about Cordray, but the appointment itself is what matters.

See, normally the position would require a Congressional hearing and vote, which is what killed Elizabeth Warren's chances of getting it.  Alternatively, the President can usually appoint people free and clear when Congress is in recess, as it usually is this time of year.  However, to prevent Obama from doing this (something the Republican party has never had a problem with before), Congress has technically yet to go out of session, just by having one guy go into the hall every three days to bang the gavel and declare the Senate in session for sixty seconds.  Today, Obama called that bullshit (in diplomatic terms) and called Cordray a "recess appointment" anyway.  That's going to start a fire, you can be sure, and parts of the government saying another part is acting out of line and just doing what they want regardless is a dangerous sign in any administration.

[RedKing]

Aww yeah...it's about to get all checks-and-balances up in here!

Congressional recess ain't nuttin ta fuck with.

(Sorry, imagining intrabranch squabbles like this as battle-rapping between rival groups is about the only way I can keep from going stark raving mad at how freakin' BROKEN our government is.)

[darkflagrance]

He refused to threaten an executive order to pass the budget, which might have had legal basis, and picks a fight over such an easy trap by the opposition, so close to election time? He could have done better than this...

[palsch]

He refused to threaten an executive order to pass the budget, which might have had legal basis, and picks a fight over such an easy trap by the opposition, so close to election time? He could have done better than this...

He wants the fight.

This is about financial regulation. The CFPB was established by Dodd-Frank, but has been effectively neutered. Without a director they can't actually write any new regulations. They can enforce existing, inherited rules against (only) banks, but nothing beyond that.

This block has effectively prevented Dodd-Frank from coming into full force. It's a pretty good stick to beat the Republicans with.

I've got a feeling he won't want to back down from a fight over the blocking of appointees either, even if this case is an interesting legal question.

[nenjin]

Hey, here's some news I just stumbled onto: The IRS and New York Fed are pressing charges against three Swiss bankers for $1Billion in aided tax fraud.  Well it's about goddamn time.  As you'll notice from the links there, one of the judges leading the filing is Jed Rakoff, the New York circuit justice who says he's bros with "Occupy" and they're bros with him.  It's just a prosecution, not a conviction, and who know if it will be.  But if you want concrete results, moving the U.S. federal government to take direct action on white-collar crimes is concrete results.

Read this. Very pleased, particularly the "releasing of names of US account holders." Even if they can't prove anything, it will be good that their names are known. While this doesn't really address the issues with larger corporate holdings, going after individual's holdings is perhaps more on point.

As for the CFPB, I can't wait for that to get out into open debate. It's going to be fun watching Republicans try to fight it on the basis of "union special interests and hurting job growth" in light of the last two years of our economy.

[Zangi]

He refused to threaten an executive order to pass the budget, which might have had legal basis, and picks a fight over such an easy trap by the opposition, so close to election time? He could have done better than this...

He wants the fight.

This is about financial regulation. The CFPB was established by Dodd-Frank, but has been effectively neutered. Without a director they can't actually write any new regulations. They can enforce existing, inherited rules against (only) banks, but nothing beyond that.

This block has effectively prevented Dodd-Frank from coming into full force. It's a pretty good stick to beat the Republicans with.

I've got a feeling he won't want to back down from a fight over the blocking of appointees either, even if this case is an interesting legal question.

Considering politics, every damn decision is a double edged sword. 
I must say though, I am one of those pleased that he took a stand with something that promotes something that addresses our economic problem at least... and this particular fight may go in his favor... pushing the perception that all the republican congress does is get in the way and do nothing...

[Heron TSG]

I'm glad he just went and did it. While it may not be the most politically correct move, neither is pretending Congress is in session when it isn't. Neither party is really paying much attention to the regarding laws, but the Republicans don't even have reason on their side here.

[SalmonGod]

Occupy has now built their own social media network, occupii.org.  It's been up and running for a couple days, and is just under 2,000 members as of right now.  I just signed up.

[Lagslayer]

Some food for thought.

And a page from tvtropes about it, for whatever that is worth. It's more verbose and I feel more detailed than the wikipedia article, actually.

Think about this when you are discussing your side of the argument, whichever that may be.

[SalmonGod]

Some food for thought.

And a page from tvtropes about it, for whatever that is worth. It's more verbose and I feel more detailed than the wikipedia article, actually.

Think about this when you are discussing your side of the argument, whichever that may be.

Thanks for pointing this one out to me.  I've studied fallacies in logic courses, and somehow this one has never been taught in any of them.  Yet I've always been aware of it.  It's been used against me tons of times.  I just wasn't sure how to construct a response.  Now it's just a link.