Desktop Dynamo

Thou Shalt Not Stigmatize Thy Banker...

Stigma (courtesy of yourdictionary.com): something that detracts from the character or reputation of a person, group, etc.; mark of disgrace or reproach.

Back in November of 2008, Bloomberg News sued under the Freedom of Information Act to find out who has received nearly $2 trillion dollars in emergency money from the Fed.

Taking a position I find absolutely stunning and appalling, the Fed refuses to divulge the information. According to a story by Mark Pittman and Craig Torres at Bloomberg, the Fed says revealing this information would "cast a stigma" on the folks who got our tax dollars.

I have to be just a tad vulgar here: This is the kind of thing that just flat-out pisses me off.

Our banking system is insolvent, and the Fed is worried about stigmatizing those responsible. Folks...it's going to be one long, long recovery.

So now we know the first of the Fed's 10 Commandments: Thou Shalt Not Stigmatize Thy Banker. (Commandments 2-10, refer to Commandment #1)

You know what I say?

Open up a great big can of Whoop-Ass Stigma. Stigmatize at will. Load the torpedo tubes. Fire One! Fire Two! Send'em to the bottom of Wall Street. Carpet bomb them with B52's stuffed full of stigma cluster bombs. Maybe a stigma-nuke or two.

Have a can of this, Mr. Banker...

Meanwhile...let's say you're a homeowner who is on the edge. You don't think you're going to make it under the weight of that mortgage, now that your wife got laid off. So you trot down to the bank to get the Gubbermint's mortgage relief. Gonna get that 2% mortgage. Gonna keep your head above water. Gonna keep your house. Gonna try and keep pulling your own weight as best you can.

Get ready for a big, steaming bag of stigma, banker style.

There's the loan officer now, smiling and waving you into his office.

Come on in, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. Let's get you that mortgage relief. A couple things, first. Show us your pay stubs. And don't forget to sign the mandatory affadivit of financial hardship. And if you don't mind, grovel a minute or two, just to entertain us. You are heathen and unwashed.

Oh...and thanks for the TARP money.