Sociopoly and the Fanny Playing Card Deck
Posted by: CotoBlogzz | 10/15/2008 1:46 PM
We are working on A Sociopoly board game and a Fanny Playing Card set loosely based on the current global economic crisis,
In essence, Sociopoly starts out with a thriving leading global economy, then using current or proposed laws and regulations, the players in a democratically elected government, make legal (not necessarily ethical) moves, to then drive the economy into the ground. Once there is no apparent choice, other players step in, blame each other, and "rescue" the economy using Marxist principles.
The players in the 52-set Fanny Playing Cards are government officials or captains of industry playing a key role in the demise of Freddie Mac/Fanny Mae or who otherwise contributed to the tanking of the US economy. We have identified a few of these players (see below) and are asking your help in completing the deck as well as mapping the players to the cards - for example, we currently have Barney Frank as Jack of Hearts. However, we have had request to assign Barney to the Queen of Hearts.
BarneyFrank.bmp
Cards.bmp
Nancy Pelosi- House Resolution 1427 seems to contradict Speaker Pelosi's claims of ignorance and surprise, at least as they relate to the financial scandal - Nancy Pelosi Boasts About Reforming A Problem She Claims To Have Known Nothing
Senator Obama- A review of Federal Election Commission records back to 1989 reveals Obama in his three complete years in the Senate is the second largest recipient of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae campaign contributions, behind only Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the powerful chairman of the Senate banking committee.
Franklin Raines - During the Clinton administration budget director Franklin Raines sat in the CEO chair. Under Raines' leadership, Fannie overstated earnings by a stunning $10.6 billion, all the while paying Raines and his senior management team massive bonuses.
Timothy Howard - Former Fannie Mae CFO Timothy Howard I
Barney Frank - The House Financial Services Committee chairman and Democratic congressman from Massachusetts . As recently as Aug. 25 he told Money magazine, "Fannie and Freddie are better off than the market thinks. ... Part of the problem is rumormongering by short-sellers." The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his "spouse." Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his "lover" and that the two were "still friends" after the breakup.
Angelo Mozilo - Few, if any, extracted more personal profit from the credit bubble than the CEO and founder of Countrywide Financial.
Alan Greenspan - Many are now blaming for the housing bubble
Jimmy Carter - 1977 - The Community Reinvestment Act was passed by the democratic congress (61-39 Senate and 292-143 House) and signed into law by Jimmy Carter. It encouraged banks and mortgage lenders to loan money for housing to people who would not otherwise qualify (with Freddie and Fannie backing same by taking the paper).
President Clinton - 1995 - signed the executive order mandating lenders expand their lending for mortgages to sub-prime borrowers (that means people who would not qualify under any criteria in a sane world). Failure to do so would result in the lending institution not having access to federal funds
Phil Gramm, Joe Biden, Harry Reid- 1999 - Republican Senator Phil Gramm pushed through congress deregulation laws (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) removing Depression era laws separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities. The vote in the Senate was 98-1-1. McCain was the one who did not vote, another Republican was the lone no vote. Biden and Harry Reid, voted for the bill. Obama places the blamed on Gramm, but fails to mention that his running mate voted for it, and Clinton signed it into law
Chris Dodd- 2006 Greenspan testified before congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were both a house of cards and needed a lot more oversight and controls in case this country found itself in a recession in the future. Democrat Chris Dodd , Chairman U.S. Senate Committee on Banking wasn't thrilled with Greenspan's advice, because he was the number one campaign money receiver from Fannie and Freddie over the years. Obama was number 2.
Joe Six Tax - Joe represents the thousands of people who knew, should have known or were moronic enough to not know, they could not afford the too-good-to-be true mortgage, but decided to proceed with a get-rich-quick delusion.
In essence, Sociopoly starts out with a thriving leading global economy, then using current or proposed laws and regulations, the players in a democratically elected government, make legal (not necessarily ethical) moves, to then drive the economy into the ground. Once there is no apparent choice, other players step in, blame each other, and "rescue" the economy using Marxist principles.
The players in the 52-set Fanny Playing Cards are government officials or captains of industry playing a key role in the demise of Freddie Mac/Fanny Mae or who otherwise contributed to the tanking of the US economy. We have identified a few of these players (see below) and are asking your help in completing the deck as well as mapping the players to the cards - for example, we currently have Barney Frank as Jack of Hearts. However, we have had request to assign Barney to the Queen of Hearts.
BarneyFrank.bmp
Cards.bmp
Nancy Pelosi- House Resolution 1427 seems to contradict Speaker Pelosi's claims of ignorance and surprise, at least as they relate to the financial scandal - Nancy Pelosi Boasts About Reforming A Problem She Claims To Have Known Nothing
Senator Obama- A review of Federal Election Commission records back to 1989 reveals Obama in his three complete years in the Senate is the second largest recipient of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae campaign contributions, behind only Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the powerful chairman of the Senate banking committee.
Franklin Raines - During the Clinton administration budget director Franklin Raines sat in the CEO chair. Under Raines' leadership, Fannie overstated earnings by a stunning $10.6 billion, all the while paying Raines and his senior management team massive bonuses.
Timothy Howard - Former Fannie Mae CFO Timothy Howard I
Barney Frank - The House Financial Services Committee chairman and Democratic congressman from Massachusetts . As recently as Aug. 25 he told Money magazine, "Fannie and Freddie are better off than the market thinks. ... Part of the problem is rumormongering by short-sellers." The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his "spouse." Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his "lover" and that the two were "still friends" after the breakup.
Angelo Mozilo - Few, if any, extracted more personal profit from the credit bubble than the CEO and founder of Countrywide Financial.
Alan Greenspan - Many are now blaming for the housing bubble
Jimmy Carter - 1977 - The Community Reinvestment Act was passed by the democratic congress (61-39 Senate and 292-143 House) and signed into law by Jimmy Carter. It encouraged banks and mortgage lenders to loan money for housing to people who would not otherwise qualify (with Freddie and Fannie backing same by taking the paper).
President Clinton - 1995 - signed the executive order mandating lenders expand their lending for mortgages to sub-prime borrowers (that means people who would not qualify under any criteria in a sane world). Failure to do so would result in the lending institution not having access to federal funds
Phil Gramm, Joe Biden, Harry Reid- 1999 - Republican Senator Phil Gramm pushed through congress deregulation laws (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) removing Depression era laws separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities. The vote in the Senate was 98-1-1. McCain was the one who did not vote, another Republican was the lone no vote. Biden and Harry Reid, voted for the bill. Obama places the blamed on Gramm, but fails to mention that his running mate voted for it, and Clinton signed it into law
Chris Dodd- 2006 Greenspan testified before congress that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were both a house of cards and needed a lot more oversight and controls in case this country found itself in a recession in the future. Democrat Chris Dodd , Chairman U.S. Senate Committee on Banking wasn't thrilled with Greenspan's advice, because he was the number one campaign money receiver from Fannie and Freddie over the years. Obama was number 2.
Joe Six Tax - Joe represents the thousands of people who knew, should have known or were moronic enough to not know, they could not afford the too-good-to-be true mortgage, but decided to proceed with a get-rich-quick delusion.
Anonymous, you have an excellent point. Sometimes people become annoyed by a person or event, to the extent...
Don't forget to include ACORN and Daniel Patrick Moynahan. Senator Moynahan was the architect for much of the liberal left agenda that has been in play for four decades.
Thanks Teresa:
Good call on both counts!
I just caught wind of an interview with an executive in this forum as well:
http://www.redcounty.com/national/2008/10/interview-fannie-maes-former-c/
For those who really care about this issue, only Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate is moral enough and conservative enough to deal with this issue and the rest of the current mess.
Here’s a recent press release from Bob (who has the backing of Rep. Ron Paul):
Press Releases › Wall Street Benefits Twice from Bailouts
October 11, 2008 11:36 am EST
Senator John McCain attempted to disguise reality by calling the $700 billion Wall Street bailout a “rescue,” but it’s obvious that the only people he and his colleagues were rescuing were the executives who had made bad investment decisions, as well as the politicians who had pushed increased mortgage lending, irrespective of cost, triggering today’s crisis. Now it turns out that the companies getting bailed out will benefit twice.
Most everyone has seen the story of how executives at AIG partied at a resort after the taxpayers were stuck with the bill for an $85 billion bailout—now being supplemented with another Federal Reserve loan of $37.8 billion. But what’s $440,000, including more than $23,380 for spa services, among friends when the taxpayers are paying?
Normally politicians wouldn’t have any business complaining about the cost of a corporate retreat, but what might be unexceptional for high-flying companies in a booming economy becomes outrageous when taxpayers are getting stuck with the bill. In this case they are paying twice, with the company collecting a new loan because its bottom line is even worse than originally thought.
Loan-two to AIG is small change compared to the extra benefits that Wall Street will receive. Many of the largest firms will be going to the spa, figuratively, at least. You see, someone has to manage all of the securities and other assets that the government plans on buying with taxpayer funds. And who better to manage them than the very companies that bought the bad paper in the first place!
The Treasury Department has requested proposals for asset managers, and according to the Wall Street Journal, the government “wants large, established firms with significant assets to work for the government’s program.” That means managing at least $25 billion, and in some cases at least $100 billion, in private assets. There will be a lot of money in fees—typically 1 percent of the assets managed, which could come to as much as $7 billion a year or more if government purchases go past $700 billion, as is widely expected.
Wall Street is looking forward to milking this latest cash cow. Since government jumped into the investment business, the Journal tells us that “a range of firms—from large investment banks to boutique real-estate companies—have been angling to grab some of the advisory business.” Representatives of some companies showed up in Washington to lobby even before Congress approved the bailout. And who can blame them? The Journal reports that “sales, financing and other traditional forms of real estate business have dried up with the credit crisis.”
Of course, most of these firms helped cause that very crisis. Most of the companies bidding for government business are suffering big losses and preparing to unload lots of bad paper on the government. Bad paper that other big companies with big losses and lots of bad paper will manage.
And so the circle will go on endlessly, at taxpayer expense.
The only problem is potential conflicts of interest, since companies will, notes the Washington Post, “be managing the assets while also selling their own troubled securities to the government.” But officials say they will attempt to “minimize” any conflict. No doubt, Washington won’t let a little thing like ethics stand in the way of letting everyone on Wall Street profit.
Indeed, politics are starting even before the president’s signature on the bill is dry. One analyst predicts that the Treasury Department will focus bailout funds on regional banks and thrifts, thereby providing “critical political support for Treasury’s efforts.” After all, “Congressmen who had to swallow hard to vote for this think will feel a lot better about it if they see the impact in their local communities.” Which is just another name for pork, like the spending programs and tax preferences loaded into the $700 billion bailout bill to win votes for passage.
All of this is politics as usual in Washington, and it won’t change whether Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain is elected president. Both of them supported the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, as well as the many other bailouts that preceded it. Both of them are part of the political establishment that helped create today’s economic problems. Neither of them will take the steps necessary to ensure that this sort of economic crisis doesn’t hit again. Only Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party are offering the sort of fundamental change that the American people need and deserve.
And here’s an article about the upsurge of interest in Bob Barr from the Atlanta Constitution:
The Wall Street debacle and the Barr effect
Friday, October 10, 2008, 04:20 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just checked in with Russ Verney, the campaign manager for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
Verney said the Wall Street crash and bailout has revived Barr’s standing as a factor in the 2008 presidential race.
“We’re seeing an enormous amount of activity coming in from the web site, from people opposed to the bailout,” Verney said.
Many are die hard Republicans, he said. “They’ve had it, they’re coming over and they’re bringing their friends.”
This low-key but effective criticism of the $700 billion Wall Street rescue, videotaped in Barr’s Smyrna headquarters and posted on YouTube, is driving much of the traffic.
Verney said Barr’s new standing in the presidential campaign remains hard to measure. “Most of the polling eliminates us,” he said — under the label of “other.”
Here’s Bob’s Web site: http://www.bobbarr2008.com/
Richardson:
Good press release, wrong topic.
The idea of the Game and Socioploy is to make people famous - to name the names of those who contributed to the crisis, and see how they refuse to take any accountability, as in Pelosi, where for example, House Resolution 1427 seems to contradict Speaker Pelosi's claims of ignorance and surprise, at least as they relate to the financial scandal - Nancy Pelosi Boasts About Reforming A Problem She Claims To Have Known Nothing
I have a Freddie Mac playing card deck that was used as a promotional item at recruitment fairs. I have been told that Fannie Mae gave away a pair of dice, but I have not been able to verify that.
Excellent - perhaps THAT card deck can be used for Sociopoly, adding GM Executives in some sort of supporting role, you think?