the corruption is so bad, they don't seem to bother to hide it much anymore.

The money has already been approved by the feds. Just proves the American voter means nothing to any party. They will continue to do as they please. Didn't Obama say yesterday No plans to help bank, will just send regulators.Go to the New York Times today and find out how the people of America's views are really regarded by our elected officials.. Here is the start of the article:
New York Times
Asia Pacific

U.S. to Help Bail Out Afghan Bank to Avert a Crisis
S. Sabawoon/European Pressphoto Agency

Afghans in Kabul lined up Saturday to withdraw their savings from Kabul Bank amid fears of the bank's imminent collapse.
By ADAM B. ELLICK
Published: September 4, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a bid to fend off the threat of a nationwide financial crisis, the Afghan and United States governments tentatively agreed Saturday to bail out Afghanistan’s largest bank, according to Afghan and American officials.

Details of the deal, including how much each government would contribute, were still being worked out on Saturday between the Central Bank of Afghanistan and the United States Treasury Department, officials said.

Meanwhile, thousands of nervous Afghan depositors, unaware of the bailout and unconvinced of the bank’s solvency, stampeded the central branch of the beleaguered Kabul Bank to withdraw their savings. But the teller drawers were largely empty and most customers left empty-handed.

I'm so glad you covered this. Absolute outrage and yet again Americans are supposed to pay their money for someone else's outright theft. With government like this, is anyone surprised at a rise in popularity like the tea party? Seems like the two parties in the U.S. are really playing swing set. Nothing changes but the two of them saying "it's my turn".

  A picture is worth a thousand word's.I am a History Buff and anytime it get's this bad if I were one of these scumbag's I would be buying an Island. But their smugness and indifference to the plight of the people they lay off for profit will be their downfall.The worst is GM,more importantly our elected official's for looking the other way for year's while they outsoarced job's since the seventy's.All you have to type in companies owned by GM,for most reading this blog I am sure know this has been an orchestrated plan to take the blame off a business that want's to sell us lemon's.I could go on and on but being a person that recieved a G.E.D. from a juvenile detention center I'll let more educated folk's do that for the rest of us.

I've got to graph out the Great Depression macro numbers here and compare, but what recovery indeed! (otherwise let us also ignore the economic structural problems).

I'm glad to see that it got some widespread coverage.
For people like me, what I posted here was old news. But for the people to who this is all new, they are the ones that needed to know it the most.
BTW, someone at the Agonist commented that they saw this on Zero Hedge. Well, I visited Zero Hedge yesterday, but never saw it. I wonder where they looked.

Bank Of America/HOPE Management:
I am a homeowner in the Tampa, FL area who was one of the many people directly affected by the downfall of the lending/mortgage industry as I used to be employed by First Magnus Financial, a private lender who declared bankruptcy overnight leaving myself, and 5,000+ employees without a job, health insurance, and owing me over $10,000 in commission that to date has yet to be paid, yet the private owners of that company made off with millions despite the fact that their debtors haven’t been paid.
Naturally I immediately looked for a new job, but to no avail. Eventually, I was offered a position for significantly less money, going from aprox. $10,000/mo in commission plus salary, to a $35,000/annually. That said, I never complained, never asked for a handout, and never ONCE missed a mortgage payment or HOA fees (even though it was extremely difficult to manage every month). A friend who is also a CPA, suggested I speak with my bank regarding my eligibility for one of the Home Loan Modification programs being offered, as he was of the mind that I would qualify based on several factors, 1.) that I lost my job as a Territory Sales Manager at a private lender 2.) that my mortgage payment was more than 38% of my salary 3.) because he knew how hard I was trying to keep my head above water. So I looked into it, at that time, I was told he did not qualify since I had never missed a payment and was not currently delinquent. This precedent makes absolutely no sense to me as it makes it difficult for people like myself who are trying to do the right thing by honoring my commitment and paying my mortgage , every month, on time, and if I did receive some help, I could than use some of the extra money to put back into the economy. Additionally, not helping individuals like myself and rather punishes those who have diligently been paying, and discourages us from continuing to do so, since any ‘break’ you may be able to get, can only be obtained by not making payments and finally, and most non-sensical, rewards people who unfortunately, in all likelihood, will lose their home anyway which than makes our homes worth even less when houses surrounding ours are in foreclosure or are unoccupied.
Finally, I was told the Government/Banks were catching on and there was several programs that might be available to me, despite my continued perfect pay history, however, I was warned by many as to what a nightmare the process was and how poorly run; and Bank of America and the HOPE program are a prime example of that. I called right away and after several lengthy and frustrating calls, and getting different information from everyone I spoke with, I was able to begin the process. I than received a package in the mail asking for a list of documents, which I provided and sent back via Fed-Ex, I checked in several weeks later to check on the status and was told our paperwork was never received, even though I had a Fed-Ex confirmation saying it was received and a name of the person who signed for the package. So I was sent a 2nd package, and again, I filled out all the necessary paperwork and included the requested documentation. Shortly after I received a letter stating our paperwork had still not been received ,and that if it was not received, I would no longer be eligible, the letter was dated the same day as the ‘due date’ that our paperwork was supposed to be received. When I called to inquire saying I had sent in the paperwork, AGAIN, and now had TWO fed-ex confirmations and signatures I was told that once again, our paperwork had not been received. At this point I was beyond frustrated and asked to speak with a manager or someone who could help us determine how I could move forward with the process when I was doing our part, and people on your end was not only NOT doing theirs, but was showing clear signs of laziness and incompetence that would never be tolerated at either of our offices, or quite frankly any organization other than a Government sponsored one. I sent our paperwork in a 3rd time, magically this time it was received but I was told that I had not included all the documentation that was necessary, even though I included everything that was on the list. I was informed that I should have been asked for this other paperwork the first time and that was an error on their part. So I sent in the additional documentation, which was received, and was told I would hear back in a few weeks as to the final determination.
Naturally, when I called to check in I was told a decision hadn’t been made, and then I received another Fed-Ex requiring…you guessed it…more information that had not been previously requested – first I was told I only needed to provide 2008 tax filing and a letter from the 2009 extension I received, I did this , and was than told that I needed to provide 2009 tax filing, so I rushed to file (even though I had an extension), and then the new Fed-Ex stated that I did not in fact need to provide the 2009 return as long as I provided a copy of the extension letter. Additionally, in this newest Fed-Ex I received someone else’s loan paperwork complete with their name, address, loan number, et etc – which as you must know, is illegal and strictly against the Federal Privacy Act.
Again, I never expected special treatment or a handout, and quite frankly am not surprised that as of today’s date August 25, 2010, the only thing I’ve heard was that I did not qualify because the HOPE/BOA clerks didn’t process the paper trail correctly, only to be told possibly that wasn’t the final outcome, and haven’t heard back since, even though I began this process in April…and from what I hear, this experience is shared by most. So I’m curious where all this relief money is going, because clearly it is not going to the aid of people who need it, who have earned it and who desperately need help and are struggling, yet continue to do their part day after day.

Since offshoring seems to be so good for everyone, I'm thinking about offshoring all of my consumer needs, too. From now on, I buy exclusively from business who are owned by foreign entities and I buy only products made overseas. How's that? We can all shoot at our own feet!

The United States Postal Service has been contracting out work, including mail delivery, particularly in rural areas. A GAO study report is U.S. Postal Service: Data Needed to Assess the Effectiveness of Outsourcing GAO-08-787 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08787.pdf found that no efforts were made to ascertain whether it was cheaper or better to use contractors.

This issue has been of high importance to the unions that represent Postal Service workers.

So, the next time you're annoyed with the quality of your mail delivery, the public employee you think mess it up may actually have been a private contract worker.