The Deserted Shopping Mall That U.S. Taxpayers Bought
October 22nd, 2009

Via: Reuters:

A $29 billion trail from the Federal Reserve’s bailout of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns ends in a partially deserted shopping center on a bleak spot on the south side of Oklahoma City.

The Fed now owns the Crossroads Mall, a sprawling shopping complex at the junction of Interstate highways 244 and 35, complete with an oil well pumping crude in the parking lot — except the Fed does not own the mineral rights.

The Fed finds itself in the unusual situation of being an Oklahoma City landlord after it lent JPMorgan Chase $29 billion to buy Bear Stearns last year.

That money was secured by a portfolio of Bear assets. Crossroads Mall is the only bricks and mortar acquired through bailout. The remaining billions are tied up in invisible securities spread across hundreds, if not thousands, of properties.

It is hard to be precise because the Fed has not published specifics on what it now owns. The only reason that Crossroads Mall has surfaced is that it went into foreclosure in April.

http://cryptogon.com/?p=11791



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So, my fellow Murkans, what shall we do with this piece of property to which we now can point as our very own?


We could turn it into a Western Washington, a kind of "continuity of finance" get-away, replete with restaurants and rest rooms, its own available oil, lots of free parking and ready Interstate and rail access. I see Geithner, Bernanke and Obama there in the parking lot now hawking bail-outs ...

Perhaps a Mega Church...

Yes, great idea...

Temple of the Great Credit/Shopping Escapade and Almighty Dollar
Rabbi Benjamin Shalom Bernanke*

When the plate is passed, please drop half your salary at 24.9% APR.

*Did you know he was once an All-State saxophonist, playing in his high school’s marching band?

Now he is a drum major, leading our dollars out of our pockets and into the hands of ... well, we don't know who and where yet... if you can believe it, there is no paper trail available to any citizen or citizens' representative in Congress or the Senate ... imagine that...

In a speech on Milton Friedman's ninetieth birthday (November 8, 2002), Bernanke said, "Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton and Anna [Schwartz, Friedman's coauthor]: Regarding the Great Depression. You're right, we did it. We're very sorry. But thanks to you, we won't do it again."

Here he is, leaving the 2007 Bilderberg meeting:

Obama and the fiscal crisis of the states

by Tom Eley

The class character of the Obama administration is clearly indicated by one statistic:

President Obama has made available more than $12 trillion in cash infusions, loans and guarantees to the financial industry, but for state governments that are facing massive budget deficits, Obama has thus far provided only one quarter of 1 percent of that amount in federal stimulus funds—about $30 billion.

The administration has refused to provide emergency aid to the states, including some of the largest in the country, such as California and Pennsylvania, which are on the brink of default. The White House is sitting by while states across the country lay off workers and slash spending on education, health care and other essential social programs.

The crisis confronting state governments is unprecedented. States that imposed large-scale layoffs, unpaid furloughs and wage cuts, closed offices for days at a time and slashed services in order to balance their budgets for the recently ended fiscal year are once again piling up deficits.

Tax collections gathered from April through June fell by 16.6 percent, breaking records dating back 50 years, according to a report released this week by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Forty-nine states saw revenues decline in the quarter, 36 by double digits.

Preliminary data suggest that tax revenue for July and August likely fell by 8 percent, about the same as the decline for the fiscal year ending in July.

Most states approved their budgets for next year at the end of July. Little more than two months later, at least 18 face unanticipated operating deficits that will necessitate further cuts in state services.

The states’ budget crisis is caused, in large measure, by the impoverishment of the American working class. Layoffs and wage cuts have driven states’ income tax collections down by 27.5 percent from the previous year. Stressed workers have, unsurprisingly, spent less on consumer goods, thus reducing sales tax receipts by 9.5 percent, according to the Rockefeller Institute.

Declining home prices have slashed local property tax revenues, which largely finance the public schools.

Soaring unemployment is not only bankrupting the states. It is creating a social crisis without parallel since the Great Depression. Five states—Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, California and Oregon—have official unemployment rates above 12 percent, led by Michigan, with 15.3 percent.

This social crisis is placing unprecedented demands on state budgets. States typically provide around half of all funding for unemployment insurance, food stamps and Medicaid health coverage for the poor. They provide funding as well for public schools and colleges.

Every day, there are reports of major cuts or layoffs enacted or threatened:

• In a bid to close a $600 million deficit, Massachusetts’ Democratic Governor Deval Patrick on Thursday threatened to cut 2,000 jobs unless workers accept cuts in pay and benefits.

• Also on Thursday, New York Governor David A. Paterson, a Democrat, outlined $3 billion in cuts this year, and warned that the state faces a $50 billion three-year deficit. Paterson proposed massive cuts in education, Medicaid and public transportation, and $500 million in budget reductions for all state agencies.

• Iowa’s Democratic Governor Chet Culver last week ordered a 10 percent across-the-board cut in state spending, a total of $565 million. The cuts will result in an anticipated 1,000 layoffs of state workers.

• Tennessee will cut an additional $350 million from next year’s budget after discovering that the $753 million reduction already enacted is insufficient. Among other cuts, the state will reduce funding for its Medicaid program, Tenicare, and will liquidate its “rainy day fund,” which until recently was estimated at $750 million.

The situation confronting the states is expected to deteriorate further. Like the unemployment rate, the fiscal health of state and local governments is considered a “lagging indicator.”

“An end to the recession doesn’t mean an end to state budget problems,” said Robert B. Ward, a fiscal studies expert with the Rockefeller Institute. Ward anticipates a “long, hard slog over two, three years or more.”

Corina L. Eckl of the National Conference of State Legislatures noted that when the last recession ended in 2001, state budgets continued to deteriorate for two more years.

The states’ crisis will be further compounded when federal stimulus money is exhausted after the 2011 fiscal year. Though the stimulus program’s award to the states is dwarfed by the fiscal crisis—this year’s combined $63 billion falloff in tax revenue is twice what states have taken in through the stimulus—in some cases, it has prevented a complete breakdown. Michigan, for example, will likely use hundreds of millions in stimulus money to help meet a $2 billion budget deficit for 2010.

Lawmakers frankly acknowledge that when this money runs out, more drastic cuts in social spending will follow. Unlike previous recessions, moreover, it is widely accepted that the layoffs and reductions in government services being carried out now will never be restored.

In the name of “living within our means” and making “hard choices,” the Obama administration is opposing a second stimulus package.

At the height of the budget crisis in California, the state appealed to the Obama administration for aid to close its $26 billion deficit. This was flatly rejected, the administration declaring that states must “put in place reforms that will restore their creditworthiness.”

The reactionary role the federal government is playing in relation to the states marks a historical reversal from periods in the nation’s history when the federal government was identified with social reforms that were resisted by the states.

In response to the mass struggle of African-American workers in the 1950s and 1960s, the administrations of Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson undertook a series of actions that pitted Washington against Southern state capitals. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal reform legislation provoked denunciations among state power brokers that the federal government was usurping local power. And from 1861 to 1865, the federal government under Abraham Lincoln successfully prosecuted the Civil War, which resulted in the end of chattel slavery and the destruction of the Southern slave-owning class.

Under Obama, the federal government is playing the opposite role. With state governments disintegrating by the day, working people who depend on their social services and employees who depend on these programs for their livelihoods face complete indifference from the White House.

This new relationship between Washington and the states can only serve to inflame and reignite the centrifugal tendencies that have long been an explosive force in the political life of the nation.

As popular opposition intensifies against the policies of Wall Street—which controls every branch of the government—one form it will inevitably take is increasing tension within the federal system.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?con...a&aid=15765

the malls in New Jersey are packed
nary a space can be found

The Cheesecake Factories are doing booming business too

all the shoppers rushing in to eat

maybe it was their small plate appetizers that are now part of the regular menu after being a special spring extra,
they are now regular menu items.

mmmmm

one area hard hit though is the soap operas on tv

eric Braeden, Victor Newman on the Young and Restless had agreed to a lower contract when his ended in 2010, however, Sony now owners of CBS have screwed him and cut his salary now

His last day is Nov.2, unless the powers that be decide to negotiate in good faith, Victor will be no more...

I have watched him for 28 years now, it will be Y&R's loss
He is the best actor in Soap History

wonder if it is because he is a liberal?

I agree, Eric Braeden is the best soap actor around. They're certainly doing him sorry, wanting to lower his salary even more during the middle of his contract. I will miss seeing him, even though I don't see it as much as I used to. Was once an Y&R addict. Remember him in the days he was with Julia and then when he first met Nikki. They were always my favorite couple.

Julia ended up becoming a writer for the show and other shows

soaps seemed to go down the minute Bill Bell died (the head writer/creator for YR).
the ones after him, including family, could not keep the stories coherent and "real"(for soaps).

Yes, I remember she went on to be a writer. I believe her name was Meg Bennett if memory serves me correctly.

And father Bill Bell was an excellent writer. I don't care for his son, Bradley's writing, which seems to have included too many incestuous type relationships on B&B. But I think one of the lady writers from Y&R came to B&B about a year or so ago, and she writes so much better than he does. Never thought he gave the super couple Brooke & Ridge the justice they deserved. He always had Ridge treating her crappy, but in the last year or so, they've really developed them as a couple and made them stronger.

bringing Amber/and what's his name over to YR was their biggest mistake
they don't belong in "genoa city"

hey magmak1

how did your original post lead to the Young and Restless fan board?

in actuality, there is a link

we are a mall here

In 1975, I spent 6 months in Dallas, Texas just prior to moving to Ar. I lived in an apartment complex
across the street from the largest mall there at that time...When someone asked me where I lived I sais, " across the street from the Valley of the Goods."

I never could stand Amber and her whiney voice. From what I hear, she is one of Bradley Bell's pet, so when they ruined her character on B&B, I guess they decided to give her a role on Y&R, but I agree, she just sticks out like a sore thumb and I really don't see the point of her or Deacon being on the show. I see they brought back the old Phillip (Jill's son). And didn't they write the storyline where he is the real "Phillip" instead of the newer one they brought to the show. Wondering how they made that all fit together. . . But I do enjoy when they revisit some of the history of the show.

Sorry Magmak1. I guess we got off topic here.

the real phillip gave Kane his blood for the dna tests
but finally the real phillip had to come back
Phillip is gay, which is why he left

they barely stick to back story anymore
the great thing of Y&R was it was consistent for 30 years with who is who, and what happened in the past
now...

I haven't watched the show closely in a good while, so I wasn't ever sure how they brought Kane on as Jill's son and how they explained him surviving the car wreck. And why did the old Phillip give Kane his blood for the DNA and why could he not come back sooner. I guess that's all a long story, but I did hear that the original Phillip left because he was gay, even though he shouldn't have had to.

I enjoyed the storylines with the Fosters and the Brooks. Loved Lori and Lance (who is now Eric on B&B) together. They had a good storyline when Lance's mother, Vanessa, made it look like Lori pushed her off the balcony with her screaming. But she really jumped to her own death.

You know, I just had a thought. They ought to put seasons of Y&R and other soaps on DVD. I bet a lot of people would enjoy going back and watching the old shows. And maybe that would give the soap industries a boost that they need.

Why don't we turn it into a monument and museum to the failures of unbridled capitalism?

I liked the 80s mob episodes with Paul and Cindy (the actress who played her got married and never really continued her career after that)
and Paul's dad (who recently was mentioned, Paul said he was getting old

now, I thought about 3 years ago, they said Carl died...that is one of those "moments" recently that make you roll their eyes

Let's list our assets and liabilities as a nation:

Assets - Large network of roads, water pipes, housing, malls, farmlands, ranch lands, industrial plants and assembly lines, etc etc.

Liabilities - High unemployment in an economy based on unsustainable growth, over dependence on fossil fuels, corrupt political/financial system, etc etc.

We need to change, and we can.

Where is the change we could believe in?

Is it all talk?

Will $15,000 a plate dinners make it happen sooner?

And does that include gratuity?

get rid of war, the CIA and every person in USA could get a million dollars

jobs? so many jobs are obsolete, but Obama should re-build the railroad nationwide and put people to work

(there should only be one job per family, the reason there are no jobs is that each family now takes 2 people working 2 jobs each, need to reduce that

To what degree do the people of the USA understand and appreciate the multi-factored concept of Work? What does Work mean to each person who is reading this thread?

Not one job per family but XX hours per family.

And those hours have to be a DECENT wage.

And forget the railroads - so 19th century.

MAKE SMALL CARS.

Not one job per family but XX hours per family.

And those hours have to be a DECENT wage.

And forget the railroads - so 19th century.

MAKE SMALL CARS.

It's easy to do. The Euros do it.

There is nothing better than personal transit. Hell, Graham, I schlepped packages through the subway for years.

It sucks.

Give me a car any day over a train. But make it a small one.

I would like to see as many people have access to both as possible. When we were in Philadelphia
you could get from our Hotel down town to the airport faster on the train than calling a cab at less than one third the cost...
thir

Paul and Cindy? That's not the one he had his daughter, Heather, by, is it? I was thinking her name was something else. She came back to the show some years ago. Remember when Paul and Nikki were in that cult or flower children or something? Nikki was played by a different actress then.

I didn't see when they said Carl had died so I don't know. What about his mother, Mary? Do they ever mention here? I remember she never liked Lauren when she was with Paul.

I think you are forgetting in NYC, Mike Bloomberg don't want any cars if he could get away with it

But you do have a point cross county, last year when driving cross country it was downright lonely on the interstates most of the way

But the rail system nationwide is non-existent, and goods need to be moved that way

BTW-I used to schlep packages myself in the subway a number of decades back while in school, in a job a family relative got me. Worked for a European liquor distributor, and one day they had me take a wrapped package of papers from midtown office to their warehouse on Houston. It was pouring outside. Go in the subway, put my umbrella on the floor to dry, package next to me get to Houston Street stop, reach down, pick up umbrella which had got caught under the seat, so it was a little struggle, doors about to close, I ran out, left my package.
Ran to the token booth, and sure enough, by the next stop, package was gone.
Get back to office where the whole company is yelling at me
Turns out they told me it was some sort of official notorized labels for their bottles, and was worth like a hundred grand and highly desireable...
Smart company would have had a limo take that package, but cheapskates they were had a lowly messenger and of course, didn't say guard this with your life (because heaven help they didn't want anyone to know so it wouldn't be stolen or have another company buy it or something)
Believe it or not, they didn't fire me (though I had to be quizzed by their lawyers who didn't trust that I actually just made a mistake, and didn't run
to their competitor with the package

Needless to say though, a messenger never again carried that, but for a long time, no umbrellas were allowed to be used at all.

Thanks for sharing that critical incident...it says a lot about the down side of most work places in the USA and about why we have so much trouble competing in the world...

Umbrellas in the subway.

The forgotten threat to integrity of eyesight.

I was just a kid when this happened, but working for that corporation, turned me off working for a corporation forver...
showed me the inadequacies of big biz and how

they should have had one of the "vicepresidents" or someone handle "such an important thing"

I marvel though at who ever took the package ...the next stop after the Houston street one comes very quick, so whoever took it had quickhands...
what they did with the labels I wonder too, because they never showed up (probably in a garbage can)

The difficulties of getting Organized at the workplace is universal in all human societies...It seems to me that the US lags in this regard, whether one looks at large, medium or small organizations...when
other differences are held equal...what do you think is the source of this negative exceptionalism?

Optimally, there should be no thing such as work, because if you do what you love for a living you never "work". I know my Spanish Professor was like that, so was a dishwasher I knew, and many computer professionals. All of them have their reasons for what they do, but it is their passion, and they would do it anyway if they weren't getting paid.

But, work, as I perceive it today, is what I have to do, that I don't want to do, so that I can stop doing it at some point in the future before it kills me.

If I won the lottery, I would never work again in my life. I would indeed fix my shoulder, become a hang gliding instructor and learn many languages. I would teach, I would volunteer to help refugees, political asylum seekers, and women internationally like my personal hero Muhammad Yunus...I would also do a lot of birding, traveling and researching all the unsolved mysteries of the world....."feather chasing" as I call it. I wouldn't be a destination just a journey. To me, the journey is much more important.

Ideally our education system and our system of parenting whould help each person learn to successfully Market
their knowledge and skills sufficient to allow them to live satisfactorilly and satisfyingly without being raped by the open market economy or experience the need to prostitute themselves to it, in order to gain sufficient social acceptance and self acceptance...

People have a compelling need for Self Management Skills, Relationship Management Skills and Career Development Skills in order to cope in our particular social system...

What they teach you now (hopefully) is how to be a good worker...mostly, they don't even teach you that.

I don't say this to be in any way superior, but there are a range of intelligences, and maybe rla, they simply can't teach people what you or I would like them to teach.

One of the best books I'v read lately is, Shop Class As Soul Craft...I think you would especially appreciate it, Heart...

Thinking about America's Crossroads has thus far produced two major concepts:

SHOPPING MALLS

SOAP OPERAS

What additional reference points could we add?

Some excerpts from James Howard Kunstler's Monday morning offering, this week entitled "Thinking The Unthinkable":

"America still does everything possible except prepare to become a different America, perhaps even a better America than the current release, and this is unfortunate because history is merciless. History doesn't care if the dog peed on your homework... or you had car trouble this morning... or the tattoo on your neck got infected... or (to take this in another direction), you justified robbing scores of billions of dollars out of the mortgage sector because your too-big-to-fail company came down with the financial equivalent of swine flu and the top executives were hallucinating that they lived in a world with no boundaries of law or common decency."

"Over the weekend, the The Huffington Post ran a McClatchy news service story about Godman Sachs's misdeeds around the issuance of mortgage backed securities. The basic idea in it was that GS was aggressively gathering trash mortgages from fly-by-night "originators" all over America to bundle into tradable security paper, which they then pawned off on feckless, inattentive investors (pension funds, foreign banks, etc) seeking miracle returns -- at the same time that GS was buying credit default swap "insurance" by the bale, knowing full well that the collateral backing their own issuance of MBS was of a quality somewhere between dead carp and dog poop. In other words, they were shoveling "expletive deleted" investments out of one window, and betting against the value of them from another window. Thus a picture resolves of GS's "true opinion" of the securities it paddled, and the question arises whether failure to inform the peddled of this opinion constitutes fraud. I certainly think it does.

I've been making substantially the same case in this column for two years now, so it is interesting to see the mainstream media awaken to a story-line that an ambitious nine-year-old could have pulled off the Web over recent months. I also continue to assert that a flurry of bonuses paid out this holiday season by Goldman Sachs and its other amigos at the top of the banking food chain will be greeted by violence - which will be the natural outcome of a society whose government fails to even give the appearance of protecting its citizens from organized crime. How did a sock puppet get appointed head of the US Department of Justice, folks will wonder."

".... I think we ought to be aware that all kinds of strange outcomes are possible in a society under severe stress. History is a harsh mistress. For all his 'star quality' and likable personality, President Obama is increasingly perceived as impotent where the real ongoing disasters of public life are concerned, and he has made the tragic choice to appear to be hostage to the bankers who are systematically draining the life-blood from the middle class. Whatever we are seeing on the S & P ticker these days does not register the agony of ordinary people losing everything they worked for and even believed in. In a leadership vacuum, centers don't hold, things come apart, and rough beasts slouch toward Wall Street."

I left out the unthinkable parts of Kunstler's essay; you can review those yourselves while you contemplate the proximity of this empty mall to the major North-South rail line and Interstate highway network linking the three countries in the North American Union, and its proximity as well to Tinker Air Force Base.

And this probably ain't no soap opera...