How did this happen, was it the genius of those high paid executives that these large corporations can’t do without?  No.

You can chalk this up to the banks taking advantage of the government assistance they so badly need.  With the fed lending the banks money at close to zero percent, and the banks able to carry even 10 year government bonds paying 3.70%, that is a pure profit play.

So that’s great, our large banks are making record profits, must mean they are lending to more small businesses to stimulate the economy, right?  I don’t know about that.

Well, if not more lending, they must be making a major push to help all the underwater homeowners with loan modifications, right?  I wouldn’t bet on it.

The banks are simply making as much money as they can for themselves.  Awful nice of us to give them free money so they can make more money.  I guess they have to stuff their mattresses with something right?  I wouldn’t want the high powered bank executives to have to fly around in second hand jets, that’s not very safe.

Seems like things haven’t changed, like always, the rich keep getting richer, while the rest of us scrounge for the occasional bone they throw our way.  It’s been an awful long time since they’ve tossed me a bone, though, how about you?

So there has been a number of emails circulating that have caught my attention regarding HR 2454, a cap and trade bill.  The nonsense they are spreading is not based on fact, and it worries me that so many people take what an email says at face value.  I went and read the actual bill, and here is my take on it.  I encourage everyone to read what I have to say, then go read the pertinent parts of the bill for yourself.

The main issue that these emails are addressing is that HR 2454 will require all homes to be measured and stickered to show their energy efficiency.  Additionally, the email says that in order to sell your home, you will have to retrofit it to meet increasingly tougher energy standards.
I don’t read it that way.  If you go read it (the actual bill, not what some random website says) you’ll certainly agree.
 
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2454pcs.txt.pdf
 
Go start on page 376 of 1428.  This talks about the labeling program.  Go read it, it basically says that they are establishing standards by which you can rate particular buildings.  It does not say every building must be labled, and going one step further, it does not say every building will need to be inspected on a regular basis.
It says they are going to establish a base line for energy use for particular buildings so they can measure the energy savings of various upgrades.  Here’s the quote from the email circulating – “This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled.”  Is that how you read this section?  Not me.
 
That brings us to the retrofit nonsense.  Again, nothing in here says every building must be retrofitted to sell it.  It does say they will introduce new standards, but these standards are for new buildings.  Retrofits will be voluntary, and the bill discusses how they will get people to voluntarily retrofit their homes.  Plans for this include (page 362 for residential) incrementally larger incentives based on how much energy your retrofit saves.  They will be using the baselines they come up with as described in the above paragraph of mine to help assess your energy consumption savings.
 
See, this is one of the problems with the internet.  Just because it is online doesn’t make it true.  You know that old game telephone, right?  It works the same way in the real world with real people, and even better in the real world with the internet where anyone can post their opinion, stated as fact, and others belive it.
 
I don’t see anywhere in the bill where it says it is mandatory for homeowners to conform to the new standards, nor do I see anywhere where it says homeowners will have to retrofit their homes before selling.  If you can find such language, I’d love to see it, but I don’t think it is there (and I read the thing).  It basically sounds like people believing what other people say instead of reading it for themselves.  It’s a long bill, but you can find most of what these guys are talking about near the two page numbers I cited.  Here is a link to the body of the email I am making reference to:
 
http://mediamattersaction.org/emailchecker/200909160002
 
Go back and read the bill, then go read with this editorial says.  Makes me wonder what bill this guy was reading.  Hopefully it was not the same bill, as if it was, his interpretation of it is way off IMO.  Anyone who reads the actual bill (not just skims it, but reads it) should be able to see right through this nonsense.  It kind of makes me laugh, as in the opening of his editorial, he says “The House passed it without reading and it is in the Senate now.”, again, it makes me wonder what he is reading.

In short, I urge everyone to read up on what they are forming an opinion about.  In this age of mass media, it is real easy to allow someone else to form your opinion.  The downside of this is that basing your opinion on research that others have done (or have not done) can lead to faulty assumptions.  Don’t believe what others tell you, go read things for yourself and form a solid opinion for yourself!

The government has directed billions of dollars in taxpayer money to these companies.  Taxpayer money, that is money you and I and all the other average Joe Americans have kicked in to help these companies weather the financial storm.  What have these companies done for average Americans?

Well, let’s look at Obama’s loan modification program, making home affordable.  According to consumerwarningnetwork.com’s August 31 article, Bank of America has offered only 4% of qualified homeowners a modification.  Wells Fargo has offered 6% of qualified homeowners a modification.  So who is benefiting from these large institutions who are too large to fail? Certainly not the average American.

So what are we to do about this?  It seems there is nothing the “little guy” can do when dealing with these huge institutions, but there is.

Banks rely on the little people to make their money.  They rely on your deposits.  They take that deposit money and lend it out at a higher rate and/or invest it to make a profit.  What happens if they have no deposits?  It is awful tough to make loans if you have no money to lend.

If the average American is fed up with the lies and corruption going on in big business and government, all we need to do is cooperate in such a way that big business has to take notice.

Did you know that local businesses are much better for the local community than national businesses are?  The numbers vary depending on the resources you check, but it seems that for every dollar spent with a national chain store, only 15 cents stays with the local economy.  For every dollar spent with a local business, 45 cents stays with the local economy.

What I propose is we work together to support our local communities.  Instead of banking at a large, national bank, open an account with a local regional bank or credit union.  Close your accounts with the large banks, the Bank of America’s and the Wells Fargo’s of the world.  Give your business to the local community banks and credit unions.  Not only will it keep more money in your local community, but it will also send a message to the large banks that are too large to fail.

We, the average American, helped to bail out these large institutions.  Wall Street is back to business as usual, a ton of money was made in the past year, and large bonuses are expected.  Bank of America decided to pay back the funds we lent them so they could have the freedom to pay their new executive as much as they wanted. 

Does this sit well with you? 

If not, share this article with everyone you know.  Close your accounts with the large banks, and bank locally.  I bank with a credit union, and I love it.  The service is essentially the same, but by supporting your local banks and credit unions you will be helping to save and create local jobs.  In addition, if the local banks have more deposits, they can lend more money.  If local banks lend more money locally, it will also help the local economy.

Don’t let these large institutions bully us around anymore, all it takes is every one of us to say “enough is enough”.  Moving your account to a local bank or credit union will take maybe an hour tops, but the benefit to our local economies can be tremendous.  Let’s work together to get our point across.

Please bookmark, share and email this to everyone you know.  It will take all of us doing our little part, but if we all work together, we can accomplish what these large institutions and our bloated government cannot.