What, exactly, don’t they get?
When the peasants amass with torches and pitchforks, it ain’t a pep rally.
Accounting and Accountability?
They didn’t think their sector had anything to do with the bad economy, at all. Now, even if one thinks the banks are the bogeymen of the recession, nearly every economist believes that overleveraging of banks was a major factor in the economic downturn.
Explain that to me.
Oh. Right. Ken Lewis doesn’t think Countrywide mortgage doesn’t have anything to do with the bad economy. My bad.
I am not sure, hence the question, but it seems to me that while the Bankers claim to get it, they seem to be doing their damnedest to still do business as usual at the executive level, crisis be dammed
Snerk. 
That’s a relief to the people who are living pay check to pay check and are worrying about the ever increasing job loss.
Which means a lot to the people mentioned above.
You left out Jerry Springer and Judge Judy.
They’re working hard on spending money that our children will have to repay (while taking care of their parents).
Great news for those who can’t afford the empty seats at the fine restaurants.
People at work are numb at the fear of joining the entitlement crowd.
The ones on crack are.
It’s so reassuring knowing that it’s tough to find a tax dodger capable of writing legislation that will cost us more in taxes.
If the remaining 96% weren’t already in debt and worrying about getting laid off that piece of cake would taste great. Thanks Maria, for those words to live by.
To summarize, it’s a great time to be rich.
I think you are in a different reality.
My brother has been unemployed for nearly a year.
Neither of us have health insurance (nor is it available to purchase at any price).
There are more vacant storefronts that I have ever seen.
Lots of people are living in tents downtown.
Yep, he is. He has a job, and is alive. Gas is cheap, as are houses. Good job figuring that one out.
The good 'ole “life can’t be good, because it’s not for me/and or people I know” argument, gotta love it.
If anyone did any kind of reading into the OP, you would see that for people that are employed, things really are not too bad. Is it wrong to say this? The same meme can be said for those not employed; life is not good, no jobs, no credit, etc… and a poster would reply that it’s not true; I have a job, my friends have jobs, etc…
Who’s right? If you guessed that it’s circumstantial, you win.
Well, things were better a few years ago. But that was funded by unsustainable debt, so I’m not sure it counts.
Even if he’s unemployed for the rest of his life, he’s better off than half the world.
Health insurance isn’t available at any price? Not sure when I last heard something so stupid.
There was an unsustainable level of demand. Don’t get so deeply in debt next time!
Sounds like most of the world.
People need to get some perspective. Especially Americans.
You didn’t pay enough tuition after the .com implosion to be aware of buying too early on a relative valuation basis?
Yes, this is true. I have lived in the Third World and he is better off than most people in the world.
Not where I live it isn’t. I have a pre-existing condition and am not eligible to purchase insurance. (So say all the rejection letters I have). I pay out of pocket for everything. I am thankful I can afford to buy flights at short notice to receive medical care in countries where it is affordable.
Agreed. I lived in Tbilisi where we only had 4 hours of electricity per day in winter. When I saw the news of the 12 hour blackout in New York it didn’t seem so bad… they actually got power 12 hours a day!
Doesn’t make sense. Insurance companies should have no qualms giving insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, they’ll just charge you more to make up for it.
I wish that were the case and I completely agree… to a point obviously. $50,000/mo would not be an option of course.
I write to my representatives, but nothing changes. 
Technically, Countrywide is a bank as well (as I learned when my mortgage was sold to them).
Depends on the pre-existing condition. If you have advanced leukemia, as an example, there’s just no viable business model for that. To charge you an amount that would cover their predicted expenses, and include a profit, would end up in a scenario where you would rather just pay for the treatments yourself. It would cost less.
Insurance provides coverage for circumstances that might occur at a given point in time. Once you have a a known, pre-existing condition, your care now falls outside the boundaries of what insurance is intended to cover. Typically coverage for pre-existing conditions is excluded, or no coverage is available at all if a condition is severe enough. You probably already know this, but it’s astounding how often people are pissed at denied coverage. Insurance is to cover the possibility that you might be sick, or that you might die in a given time frame. If that’s already a certainty, you don’t need insurance, you need a generous benefactor.
The problem is (in my situation) that no insurance company will even issue insurance that covers everything except my pre-existing condition. So someone with leukemia can’t get coverage in the event they might get hit by a bus and break their leg.
I would much rather my tax dollars go to help someone with advanced leukemia rather than to bombing other countries and killing people.
To the original OP, these are good times if you still have income and/or good savings, but for the majority of people, these are scary and unpredictable times.