If some of the large hospital systems in New Jersey were managed like some of the large Wall Street firms, supersized commercial banks, and government agencies that contributed to derailing the economy, we’d all be in an even worse pickle.
This was brought vividly to mind up close and personal this week. When Priscille was admitted for surgery, I saw professional healthcare providers at work – all the way from a highly-trained surgical team, to nurses, to nutrition specialists, to personal care assistants, right down to the diligent people who sweep the floors and empty the waste baskets, etc., etc., and many others that I don’t even know about.
It may seem that there is no comparison between the operations of the U.S. financial system and the U.S. healthcare system, but there is a significant resemblance – not in what they do, but in how they do it. In the former, it seems that far too many people just didn’t give a damn.
And that’s all the difference in the world because, for over a week now, I’ve observed part of a healthcare system in Passaic County where people who take care of other people really do give a damn.
It’s not mere coincidence that St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson runs an efficiently tight ship. That hospital operates under the direction of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, a religious order.
Now, don’t misunderstand: I’m not saying that a hospital has to be run by nuns to be efficient. But I’ll wager any day that if the boys running the U.S financial system and the people who abused it had operated under a code of conduct at par with a religious order of nuns, we wouldn’t have been listening to President Obama last night telling us how he proposes to pull us out of the economic mess this nation is in.
Thanks for checking in, and take care of yourselves. You deserve it.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Ugh! Less Than Two Months to Tax Time.
Residents of Bridgewater get to pay their income and real estate taxes one way or another. If you work, it’s through income tax withholding and, if you are retired or in business, it’s via a check to Uncle Sam every quarter for estimated tax payments.
As for real estate taxes. . . Well, if you own a home in Bridgewater you don’t need me to remind you about that! Even if you rent, though, you still have to ante up. The tab for real estate taxes is hidden from sight, buried in the cost of your monthly rental payment.
Everything being equal, we should be happy to pay our fair share of taxes. But everything is far from being equal, because the tax system is broken (‘broke’ as they like to say in the business world). Taxes are way too high, and expenses are out of control, especially at the state level and within New Jersey’s school districts.
At church services this weekend, the topic of the homily was about lying. Lying, the priest explained, is a distortion of the truth. Yet, it’s an offense that everyone commits regularly. There are varying degrees of lying, of course. For example, a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar at home hasn’t erred to the same degree as the Wall Street investment advisor caught with his hand in his clients’ multi-million $ cookie jars. Umm. . . I wonder if Bernie Madoff liked cookies as a kid.
This priest has a sense of humor. “Do you know,” he asked, “how you get a person to pay his taxes?” Easy, he explained. “You just appoint him to a White House Cabinet post.”
I like that.
As for real estate taxes. . . Well, if you own a home in Bridgewater you don’t need me to remind you about that! Even if you rent, though, you still have to ante up. The tab for real estate taxes is hidden from sight, buried in the cost of your monthly rental payment.
Everything being equal, we should be happy to pay our fair share of taxes. But everything is far from being equal, because the tax system is broken (‘broke’ as they like to say in the business world). Taxes are way too high, and expenses are out of control, especially at the state level and within New Jersey’s school districts.
At church services this weekend, the topic of the homily was about lying. Lying, the priest explained, is a distortion of the truth. Yet, it’s an offense that everyone commits regularly. There are varying degrees of lying, of course. For example, a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar at home hasn’t erred to the same degree as the Wall Street investment advisor caught with his hand in his clients’ multi-million $ cookie jars. Umm. . . I wonder if Bernie Madoff liked cookies as a kid.
This priest has a sense of humor. “Do you know,” he asked, “how you get a person to pay his taxes?” Easy, he explained. “You just appoint him to a White House Cabinet post.”
I like that.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Bludgeoning of the American Character
Not long ago, as you may remember, former Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, who was then the chief financial guru for the McCain Presidential Campaign, called us “a nation of whiners.” For that ill-timed and inaccurate remark, he was called upon to resign his post. Months later, but not to be outdone, Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General in the Obama Administration recently followed up by calling us “essentially a nation of cowards.”
How does it feel to have two hi-level Washington elites staring down their noses at the American populace?
When Senator Gramm was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he dismantled Depression-era regulations which had kept commercial banks and Wall Street investment houses strictly separate. Gramm’s reversal of those legal requirements proved to be a principal causal factor of the current economic meltdown. Since retiring from the Senate, Gramm was rewarded with a top executive position at UBS, the European financial conglomerate.
In the most recent assault on the American character, Attorney General Eric Holder claims that we are “a nation of cowards” because, according to him, we are afraid to honestly and openly engage in a discussion on the issue of race relations in the public square.
Previous to his current appointment, Mr. Holder was Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration under Janet Reno. Among other duties, he was responsible for vetting President Clinton's last-minute pardons.
Mr. Holder justified and blessed one of the most egregious of those pardons, that of Marc Rich, an international commodities trader. Rich had been indicted by then U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran. Rich never stepped into a U.S. court room. He remained ensconced in Switzerland, away from U.S. justice, and the FBI placed him on its list of Most Wanted people.
Marc Rich’s family donated generous sums to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton Library while Clinton was still in office, leading to allegations that Rich had purchased his pardon. Despite these data, Clinton’s Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder justified the pardon for Rich. Was Holder simply acting as Clinton’s toady? I wonder just who the cowards are.
Within the Washington Beltway, there exists a coterie of elected and appointed officials who act as princes and princesses of the realm, and who do the bidding of the king. Many of them are strongly biased towards the rest of us whom they consider vassals. Hence the insouciance of these courtiers, as they label ordinary American citizens “whiners” and “cowards.”
How does it feel to have two hi-level Washington elites staring down their noses at the American populace?
When Senator Gramm was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he dismantled Depression-era regulations which had kept commercial banks and Wall Street investment houses strictly separate. Gramm’s reversal of those legal requirements proved to be a principal causal factor of the current economic meltdown. Since retiring from the Senate, Gramm was rewarded with a top executive position at UBS, the European financial conglomerate.
In the most recent assault on the American character, Attorney General Eric Holder claims that we are “a nation of cowards” because, according to him, we are afraid to honestly and openly engage in a discussion on the issue of race relations in the public square.
Previous to his current appointment, Mr. Holder was Deputy Attorney General in the Clinton Administration under Janet Reno. Among other duties, he was responsible for vetting President Clinton's last-minute pardons.
Mr. Holder justified and blessed one of the most egregious of those pardons, that of Marc Rich, an international commodities trader. Rich had been indicted by then U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran. Rich never stepped into a U.S. court room. He remained ensconced in Switzerland, away from U.S. justice, and the FBI placed him on its list of Most Wanted people.
Marc Rich’s family donated generous sums to the Democratic Party and to the Clinton Library while Clinton was still in office, leading to allegations that Rich had purchased his pardon. Despite these data, Clinton’s Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder justified the pardon for Rich. Was Holder simply acting as Clinton’s toady? I wonder just who the cowards are.
Within the Washington Beltway, there exists a coterie of elected and appointed officials who act as princes and princesses of the realm, and who do the bidding of the king. Many of them are strongly biased towards the rest of us whom they consider vassals. Hence the insouciance of these courtiers, as they label ordinary American citizens “whiners” and “cowards.”
Monday, February 16, 2009
New Bridgewater Eatery
Last Friday, on the eve of Saint Valentine’s Day, Priscille and I decided to celebrate by dining at the Milano Grille restaurant. It’s in Bridgewater, on the south side of Route 202/206, just a few hundred yards past the gated sanofi aventis complex, and is under the same ownership that runs Mia Sorella in Manville.
I’m glad that we made reservations, because the place filled rapidly after we were seated. This is undoubtedly one of the best spots for your eating pleasure in Bridgewater. Not only is the food superbly prepared and presented, but the entire staff of Milano’s is on top of every detail that a diner could expect to find in a fine restaurant.
The Italian authenticity of the serving staff, the friendly ambiance of the dining area, the décor, and the reasonably-priced choices all contributed to our having a delightful Valentine’s Day celebration.
And the food . . . yes, the food…. Between the regular menu and the daily specials, you will be delighted at the selections. If good Italian fare is one of your gustatory delights, then the Milano Grille is for you. Remember to BYOB.
I’m glad that we made reservations, because the place filled rapidly after we were seated. This is undoubtedly one of the best spots for your eating pleasure in Bridgewater. Not only is the food superbly prepared and presented, but the entire staff of Milano’s is on top of every detail that a diner could expect to find in a fine restaurant.
The Italian authenticity of the serving staff, the friendly ambiance of the dining area, the décor, and the reasonably-priced choices all contributed to our having a delightful Valentine’s Day celebration.
And the food . . . yes, the food…. Between the regular menu and the daily specials, you will be delighted at the selections. If good Italian fare is one of your gustatory delights, then the Milano Grille is for you. Remember to BYOB.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The ‘House of Cards’
I’m sitting in my family room on Thursday evening, watching a two-hour documentary narrated by David Faber of CNBC, looking into the causal factors of the real estate debacle.
It’s anything but a pretty picture: the best analogy that I can think of is that of the relationship between a john and his prostitute. Each knows or should know that what they are doing is not going to work out in the long run. But the financial rewards are just too good: They serve as a deadening sedative.
That may sound crude and it is. But it was just such a perverse relationship between home buyers, mortgage originators, and the securities industry which led to the current financial mess.
One of the tricks turned was the practice of not verifying borrowers’ income. Mortgage originators simply took a person’s word about his/her income. You could lie. Nobody cared. One technique used is called “stated income.” Just tell the loan originator what your income is: If you made $50,000 per year, you could declare your income to be four times that amount. Nobody checked.
It didn’t matter to the person who wrote the loan, because, as one person being interviewed on TV said, “I never made a mortgage that Wall Street wouldn’t buy.” The Street didn’t care either, because these below-500 FICO score mortgages were simply repackaged and sold as very complex collateralized debt obligations to pension funds, hedge funds, and other large investors who didn’t understand what they were buying.
There were also governmental institutions involved in this financial flesh industry – The Federal Reserve Bank, The Senate Finance Committee, and The House Financial Services Committee. Starting in the early 2000’s, the Chairman of the Fed lowered and kept interest rates down too long and did not discourage what he termed “alternative forms” of lending.
Meanwhile, legislators on Capitol Hill encouraged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac* to lower loan requirements and to push out more of these fractured mortgages. As David Farber said tonight, “Nobody wanted to stop the party.”
Earlier this week, elected officials of the two Congressional committees could be seen on TV, as they raked bankers over the coals for their salaries, bonuses and incentives. It reminded me of a john abusing the source of his income.
Got to go now. I want to concentrate on the balance of the documentary. Thanks for checking in. Take care of yourself. If you are a responsible citizen, you deserve better than you are getting.
*Clarification: (2-13-09, 9:00 p.m.) Fannie and Freddie did not issue loans directly to consumers. Instead, they purchased bundles of mortgages directly from banks, thereby providing more cash to those banks so they could write even more mortgages. That in itself is not necessarily a problem. Serious ethical issues arose when it was reported that executives from Fannie and Freddie put pressure on bank executives to write large numbers of questionable loans, in essence telling the banks, “Don’t worry about those mortgages; just keep writing them, and we will keep purchasing them back from you!”
It’s anything but a pretty picture: the best analogy that I can think of is that of the relationship between a john and his prostitute. Each knows or should know that what they are doing is not going to work out in the long run. But the financial rewards are just too good: They serve as a deadening sedative.
That may sound crude and it is. But it was just such a perverse relationship between home buyers, mortgage originators, and the securities industry which led to the current financial mess.
One of the tricks turned was the practice of not verifying borrowers’ income. Mortgage originators simply took a person’s word about his/her income. You could lie. Nobody cared. One technique used is called “stated income.” Just tell the loan originator what your income is: If you made $50,000 per year, you could declare your income to be four times that amount. Nobody checked.
It didn’t matter to the person who wrote the loan, because, as one person being interviewed on TV said, “I never made a mortgage that Wall Street wouldn’t buy.” The Street didn’t care either, because these below-500 FICO score mortgages were simply repackaged and sold as very complex collateralized debt obligations to pension funds, hedge funds, and other large investors who didn’t understand what they were buying.
There were also governmental institutions involved in this financial flesh industry – The Federal Reserve Bank, The Senate Finance Committee, and The House Financial Services Committee. Starting in the early 2000’s, the Chairman of the Fed lowered and kept interest rates down too long and did not discourage what he termed “alternative forms” of lending.
Meanwhile, legislators on Capitol Hill encouraged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac* to lower loan requirements and to push out more of these fractured mortgages. As David Farber said tonight, “Nobody wanted to stop the party.”
Earlier this week, elected officials of the two Congressional committees could be seen on TV, as they raked bankers over the coals for their salaries, bonuses and incentives. It reminded me of a john abusing the source of his income.
Got to go now. I want to concentrate on the balance of the documentary. Thanks for checking in. Take care of yourself. If you are a responsible citizen, you deserve better than you are getting.
*Clarification: (2-13-09, 9:00 p.m.) Fannie and Freddie did not issue loans directly to consumers. Instead, they purchased bundles of mortgages directly from banks, thereby providing more cash to those banks so they could write even more mortgages. That in itself is not necessarily a problem. Serious ethical issues arose when it was reported that executives from Fannie and Freddie put pressure on bank executives to write large numbers of questionable loans, in essence telling the banks, “Don’t worry about those mortgages; just keep writing them, and we will keep purchasing them back from you!”
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