Man flies Jetwing Across English Channel
Flying? or "Falling with Style"

Daredevil Yves Rossy a/k/a "Fusionman" flew his human wing across the English Channel. How do you get your wife to agree to let you do this kind of thing?

Wells Fargo Wagon Rolls ove Subprime Borrower
Attorney Hits Back with $1.25 million Judgment.

Last month, I ran across this item, 28 year-old attorney Brian Maul won a $1.25 million jury verdict against Wells Fargo for falsifying his client's mortgage documents. Punitive damages of $1 million made up the majority of the verdict amount. According to the article, the Wells Fargo loan officer inflated Kimberly Thomas's savings by a factor of ten and almost doubled her stated income so she would qualify for mortgage. When Ms. Thomas got to the closing table, she was surprised to say the loan would cost her $4,700 per month rather than the $3,000 per month she anticipated. Now the house is worth $90,000 less than what Thomas paid for it.

I congratulate Ms. Thomas and attorney Maul on the courtroom victory, but most consumers aren't going to find such able representation. They're just going to give up.

This loan is the type of crap that our lawmakers are lining up to pay $700 billion for. No, actually that's not even correct, the most toxic assets are the tranches, or slices of multiple nonperforming loans that have been securitized. In many cases, its not clear who has the right to foreclose on the loans.

That's why it's crucial that bankruptcy relief be in the bail out legislation. As it stands now, if a homeowner wants to stay in the house that is mortgaged over its value, the homeowner has to pay the whole principal and interest of the debt, even if the loan terms are predatory. This is a recipe for foreclosures and vacant properties blighting neighborhoods. Other than home loans, most other loans can be written down in bankruptcy to the value of the collateral. Nevertheless, banking industry lobbiests still seem to have clout, and it is doubtful whether bankruptcy relief will be part of the bill to be passed. Some Democrats, including Barack Obama, are willing to give in on the bankruptcy provision to get the bill passed. That's a mistake. They will never have better bargaining power on this issue than they have right now.

Even Better Quality
- No Extra Charge



I had a deep, erudite essay to post about the crisis on Wall Street. Then proofread it. Big mistake. No I got nothing. (Proofreading, I've got to learn to stop doing that.) Anyway, I thought I'd dig into my mailbag. (I probably don't get one email a month, probably because I carefully removed my email address from the blog.) One slipped through, so here it is.

Steve

There's got to be something that you can do to improve the quality of your blog. I mean, come on, show a little effort here.

Lisa

Well, Lisa

I gave it a lot of thought, and I decided that I can do better and I will. So I'm making a long distance dedication of this next video to you.

The "Other" Palin for President

The 419 on the Mortgage Bailout

This e-mail has been going around. If I can find out the original source, I will give appropriate credit.

Dear American Taxpayer:

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America. My country has had a crisis that has caused the need for a large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with Mr. Phil Gramm, lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a Senator, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s.

Let me assure you that this transaction is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check. We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of friend so the funds can be transferred.
Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction. After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Yours Faithfully

Henry "Hank" Paulson

Minister of Treasury

Chrysler Unveils Electric Vehicle(s)
. . . Sort of

According to Autoblog.com, at a press conference today, Chrysler will unveil its own electric powered vehicle, with an all-electric operating range of 150-200 miles, up to 5 times the electric range of the Chevrolet Volt. (The volt has a gasoline engine as well.) The catch: it's not a Chrysler-developed vehicle, it's an electrified Lotus Europa sportscar. This vehicle rides on the same platform as the Tesla sportscar.

Perhaps more significantly, Chrysler will unveil prototypes of "range-extended EV" versions of its Chrysler Town & Country minivan and Jeep Wrangler. According to Chrysler "at least one" of these vehicles will be available before the end of 2010. By 2010 the market will be very different that what it is today. There will likely be other hybrid minivan competition.

I have long thought that a "30/30" minivan (30 mpg city/30 highway) minivan hybrid would be hugely successful. Both Honda and Chrysler already have space that can be used for the battery and hybrid components without taking up precious cabin room. Each of those vehicles has underfloor storage that could be dedicated to battery room. In the case of the Toyota Sienna, the space taken by the drivetrain for the all-wheel-drive version could be allocated to hybrid components. Toyota has indicated that all of its major lines would have hybrid options in the future. Honda and Toyota minivans will be due for a redesign by 2010 anyway. The Chrysler van had a major revision in 2008, so it would ordinarily not receive a major redo until at least 2012. As an alternative to hybrids, Honda may achieve 30 mpg highway with a diesel Odyssey.

Henry Paulson - The Biography

Because a trillion dollars is at stake, and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. wants unfettered discretion in spending a trillion dollars, I thought it would be good to find out more about Mr. Paulson.

I initially asked our searching superhero, The GOOGLETEER, to search for a biographical video for me, but wouldn't you know it, the G-man was going on vacation. He recommended his sidekick, Boutright Boy. Boutright Boy found this video. I'm not sure this is Henry Paulson, but he assured me it is.

From the Go Fitch file:
General Motors Becomes CCC Rider

Yesterday, the Fitch credit rating agency downgraded GM's credit rating to CCC, down from a previous rating of B-. Both are considered to be "junk" ratings. General Motor's main problem may not be the cost of credit, but the inability to get credit at all. Many of the banks and investment bankers that GM has dealt with are more more dire peril than GM itself. GM recently drew down its last $3.5 billion in its major credit line; most likely as a strategic move to avoid problems in the banking industry making that line unavailable later. Given GM's credit rating and the difficulties in the financial markets, GM may find it extremely difficult to get new capital, at least until next year. Even if Congress approves the release of $25 billion in auto industry loans previously authorized, GM (and the others) will not be able to get to the money until regulations are promulgated regarding the details of the lending program. That would not happen until sometime next year at the earliest.

McCain vs. Streisand

Barbra Streisand has been raising millions of dollars on behalf of Barack Obama. Vengeance against John McCain? You be the judge. Thanks to reader Steve A. for the link.

Salvation, thy name be Volt?
GM unveils production Chevrolet Volt

Here it is, the production version of the Chevrolet Volt.



I'm not so keen on the Chevrolet corporate grill, and on this car it adds a level of fussiness to a design that is otherwise elegantly functional. Overall, it seems more practical than the concept car from a couple years ago.

The Volt is the extended range electric (none dare call it a hybrid) car that GM says will be able to go 40 miles on electric power alone. GM promises-plans-hopes-aspires-whatever to have it available before the end of 2010. It was originally supposed to cost less than $30,000; however that pricing target will not be met. The actual cost is to be determined. The latest word that I've seen is that according to Bob Lutz, the unsubsidized price of the car would be around $48,000 but if GM gave up profot on the vehicle, they could come in at around $40,000. For a car that's supposed to be GM's knight in shining armor, they aren't planning on making very many of them, only 10,000 the first year and ramping up to 60,000 in year two. To put this production in perspective, the 1964 Ford Mustang is credited with saving Ford. Ford sold over 100,000 of the 1964 model, and over 600,000 of the 1965 model. No passenger car model in 2007 sold as many units as the 1965 Ford Mustang.