Making Money Cash

We see you out there — the future musicians of the world, pouring coffee, mixing drinks, designing websites for shifty moving companies, all the while dreaming of making it big: signing to a label, cutting a record, reaping the benefits that only a throng of gaping groupies can herald.

While not all of you will make the proverbial “Big Time” — we can’t all be Lady Gaga, nor should we strive to be — that doesn’t mean that you can’t reap some monetary benefits for your musical labor.

Jeff Price, founder of TuneCore, recently wrote on the company blog: “More musicians are making money off their music now at any point in history… Technology has made it possible for any artist to get distribution, to get discovered, to pursue his/her dreams with no company or person out there making the editorial decision that they are not allowed ‘in.’”

We would tend to agree (with the caveat that such openness has also led to a more crowded music scene, with more bands fighting for the public’s attention — but that’s a post for another day).

If you want to start seeing some payback for all your hard work, you don’t have to wait around for a label exec to catch your jazz flute set at the local coffee shop and catapult you to stardom. There are a ton of services out there that can help you make some cash, while also gaining exposure and experience.

class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable spoke with folks from a quartet of such services in order to help you, the artist, devote more time to your lute than those lattes.

Note that none of the below are get-rich-quick schemes, so it might be wise to hang onto your day job — even if it is designing graphic tees for tiny dogs.

Go Into Show Business

Service: Jingle Punks

We know, we know, the moment a song makes it into the commercial, it’s an immediate sign that a band has “sold out.” But, c’mon, guys — do you really want your favorite drummer/banjo player/keytarist working in a taco trunk in order to survive? Yeah, thin may be in when it comes to the indie scene, but musicians need to eat, after all.

That’s why services like Jingle Punks can really be a boon to bands. Jingle Punks — which is basically the Pandoraclass="blippr-nobr">Pandora of music licensing services — focuses on providing filmmakers, TV networks, media companies and ad companies with music from up-and-coming bands. Band and Punks split the earnings 50/50.

“We work in a very smart but unsexy part of the music business,” says co-founder Jared Gutstadt. “Most artists tend to spend their time focusing on the old standards of how to ‘make it.’ They’re still thinking about record deals, pub deals, merch, touring. To really stand out and compete with this type of competition you need to be thinking about launching a music career in a much more unique way.”

Why Use This Service?

According to Gutstadt, “Music in film and television is a great way for artists to get the word out there. More importantly, you can generate money to help fund the growth of a band’s musical endeavors.”

In addition, the service makes use of the democratic nature of the web to get your music into the right hands. “In the past, the way people used to pitch music for media placements is that they would mail CDs off to as many music supes or producers they could,” Gutstadt says. “We have removed the giant pile of CDs on peoples’ desks and aggregated them into a user-friendly database organized in a dynamic way.”

What’s the ROI?

According to Gutstadt, money made runs the gamut. “It can be anywhere from $250 for a web placement all the way up to $30,000 for getting music in a commercial or motion picture,” he says. “, you make money over time through royalties paid out by BMI and ASCAP, who are able to track usage. I always tell artists its not a get-rich-quick scheme as much as it is a way to make some money over time off your hard work.”  

So Who has Succeeded?

“We work with an artist named Mike Del Rio (see above) and his music was used in a rebranding effort by the History Channel.  The channel has really embraced Mike and Jingle Punks and has a couple things in the pipeline that could do great things to really help launch Mike Del Rio’s career on a more mainstream level.  

“We also work with a really great band called I Love Monsters, and their music was placed in the season premiere of Entourage. This type of exposure can be great for an up-and-coming band.”

Collaborate

Service: Indaba Music

We’ve seen instances of bands forming partnerships through Twitter and the like, but wouldn’t it be easier for y’all to have everything in one place?

I mean, it’s enough of a hassle to get all your gear into a single taxi (can’t afford two) before a gig, why add 50 social media tools into the mix? That’s where services like Indaba Music — which is like the class='blippr-nobr'>LinkedInclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn of music — come in.

Indaba is a platform — boasting more than 500,000 musicians — that provides musically inclined folks with a place to build a profile, promote their tunes and collaborate with other musicians from around the world.

Why Use This Service?

According to co-founder Dan Zaccagnino, “There are many ways for musicians to make money using Indaba Music. The core of the platform is about collaboration, which can be just for fun, but can also generate income for musicians through work-for-hire sessions (where a musician is paid for his/her tracks) or collaborations where songwriters share in the ownership of the song.”

In addition, Indaba features a ton of contests that “give both amateur and professional musicians a chance to collaborate with world-famous artists and in the process win cash or possibly participate in future royalties if the winners’ material is released,” Zaccagnino says.

What’s the ROI?

“There are incredible opportunities to gain experience on Indaba because the community is full of everyone from amateurs eager to learn, to music educators, to Grammy Award winners,” Zaccagnino says.

“Members learn from one another through contacting and communicating with people online, having music peer reviewed in sessions and contests, learning from master-artists through our Artist-in-Residence programs, taking online video lessons, and much more.

“Education is a big priority for us and it’s been amazing to see that organically happen because musicians are interested in helping one another.”

So Who has Succeeded?

Zaccagnino cites the following examples:

Linkin Park + NoBrain (see above)

Indaba member NoBrain’s mix was included on Linkin Park’s album A Thousand Suns and got the opportunity to collaborate directly with Linkin Park front man, Mike Shinoda, through Indaba Music.

Rivers Cuomo Producer Sessions

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer started a few sessions on IndabaMusic.com and began working with members to produce rough demos that he had written with his wife.  Rivers used Indaba’s session platform to work collaboratively, utilizing the commenting system to engage musicians and achieve exactly what he envisioned.  The producers were also paid for their work.

David Minnick/PBS The Music Instinct

PBS ran a contest to source music for an upcoming show about music and the brain. It found the winner, David Minnick, to be so talented that it hired him to arrange music for another show.

Toshi Osawa and Pikes Peak Ringers – Yo-Yo Ma Collaboration Winners

Yo-Yo Ma was so impressed by the quality of musical collaborations that he picked two winners, an 18-piece hand bell choir from Denver and a speed-Metal guitarist from Canada. Yo-Yo invited them into the studio to record with him in a truly unique collaboration — both tracks were later released as bonus tracks to Yo-Yo Ma’s holiday album, Songs of Joy & Peace.

Partner Up

Service: YouTube’s Musicians Wanted Program

At last year’s SXSW, YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube launched a partner program for up-and-coming musicians, and, just recently, the program went from U.S.-only to international.

If you have a YouTube channel, and you’re pumping out the music vids like an A-V nerd on a sugar high, you should apply for this program post haste. Basically, it allows you to make some extra cash by adding ads to your videos and garners you more exposure from YouTube with prime placement.

Why Use This Service?

It’s all about getting your name out there, and getting your music heard, right? So go where the people are. Every day, YouTube racks up more than 2 billion video views. That’s a lot of eyes. Still, every minute, the site sees 24 hours of video uploaded, which means your genius work could get lost in the shuffle. That’s why the partner program is a must — you get the YouTube stamp of approval, which brings more attention to your work.

What’s the ROI?

YouTube couldn’t tell us how much money you can earn from the program, but they did tell us that artists get the majority share of the revenue — not to mention access to those millions of viewers. You need to be consistent with your channel, though, and really focus on putting out lots of original content. So if you’re only down to make one vid, this might not be the option for you. In order to see ROI, you have to put in the time and effort.

So Who has Succeeded?

YouTube has helped launch the careers of score of performers — from Justin Bieber to Pomplamoose./> Kina Grannis is one such artist. “I joined YouTube three years ago when I was in a contest called Doritos Crash The Super Bowl,” Grannis told us. “I needed to get people to vote for me every day in order to get my music video played during the Super Bowl (which it did, woo!), so the hope was that by agreeing to post a new video every day, people, in exchange, would come back and vote daily. This run of putting up a video every day lasted about two months in total, and while it made me crazy and sleep deprived, it was also fun and exciting and very helpful in growing my viewers.

“Post with consistency if possible,” Grannis advises artists. “Be genuine, talk to your supporters, be grateful.”

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

Service: BitTorrent Featured Artist Program

OK, we know what you’re thinking — you hear the word “BitTorrent” and you’re about ready to rage, am I right? File sharing is the monster under the bed for many an artist. It connotes theft, basically. Still, the model — when used correctly — can really be a boon to lesser-known artists.

We spoke to Trent Reznor — who is well-known for having released his music via torrent sites in the past — who told us: “I felt furious when the record I’d worked on for a year, that my heart and soul’s gone into, . I’m pissed off at people that are listening to it. I’m mad that they’re snubbing me — by what? By being excited about hearing my music? And that’s wrong. I shouldn’t be mad at these people. I should be glad that people are interested.”

“Easy for you to say, Trent Reznor,” you might scoff, “You’re already famous.” Well — there’s the rub, right? You’re not famous. And you want to be. Or, at the very least, you want someone other than your roommate to come to your gig — and perhaps buy a T-shirt or two. And how do you do that? By getting the attention of the masses, of course.

Last month, BitTorrent launched a Featured Artist pilot program in an effort to give musicians more exposure. Some likened such an endeavor to getting in bed with the devil, but when you really think about it, what’s the difference between applying for the program and putting your music on class='blippr-nobr'>MySpaceclass="blippr-nobr">MySpace or SoundCloud or any other music-sharing site? Well, that would be BitTorrent’s 80 million users.

We’re not saying that file sharing is totally copacetic or anything (there are a lot of pirates in them waters), but it’s not like BitTorrent is out to ruin your career, either. “In many ways, Trent Reznor’s work inspired a lot of our work,” says CEO Eric Klinker. “We really do want to riff on a lot of what he’s done. He’s in an experimentation phase, as are we.”

Why Use This Service?

“The Featured Artists pilot program encourages musicians and filmmakers to submit creative works for the chance to be spotlighted to millions of BitTorrent users around the world,” Klinker says. “For a lot of artists it is about creating a sustainable business model that will allow them to continue their creative works. So, we are interested in working with artists to experiment with various business models that play to the strengths of the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet while allowing them to tune into the distribution potential of BitTorrent to reach millions of consumers.”

What’s the ROI?

“In today’s digital age, the traditional model does not serve artists in the same way it used to, and instead forces them all down the same funnel where only a select few ultimately receive distribution,” Klinker says. “With BitTorrent’s Featured Artist Pilot Program, artists can tap into online communities and reach millions of people who might otherwise be inaccessible. These communities are powerful and provide intrinsic value for emerging artists trying to build a fan base. In doing so, these are fans that will invariably attend shows, purchase merchandise and become invested in future works.”/>  /> So Who has Succeeded?

Since the service just launched last month, there aren’t any featured artists yet, but the site has seen some success with the musician PAZ (see above), who has been working with BitTorrent.

“Most recently, in August 2010, BitTorrent released PAZ’s debut mix tape, Young Broke and Fameless,” Klinker says. “On the first day alone the release saw over 100,000 downloads, and as a result has increased his fan base and following.”

More Social Music Resources from Mashable:

- Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands/> - 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood/> - 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head/> - HOW TO: Turn Your Android Phone Into a Killer MP3 Player/> - 10 Amazing Musical Instrument iPhone Apps

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, shulz

For more Entertainment coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Entertainmentclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Entertainment channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Marc Theissen recently asked some very important questions about where the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is getting the mountains of cash that it spends on Democrat political campaigns. He finds that it is coming from foreign sources, but the SEIU is refusing to yield to requests for transparency.

If the SEIU is getting the millions of dollars it is spending on Democrats from foreign sources, this should put a major dent in the alarmist claims that Obama has been making about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supposedly getting its money from outside the country — a charge that was resoundingly refuted. After all, if one of Obama’s biggest left-wing campaign supporters is suffused with foreign cash, why should it be such a big deal if anyone else is?

Sadly, the Old Media will never play up this aspect of Obama’s hypocrisy, but that is another subject.

In any case, Theissen asked the SEIU where its political cash was coming from because federal financial reporting records seemed to prove that it could not have been coming solely from the dues of American union members. Since the SEIU has thousands of members in foreign nations, Theissen wondered how that factored in.

Initially the SEIU lied to him and claimed that “most” of its political cash came from domestic dues payers. But Theissen persisted with his doubts. It wasn’t long before the SEIU admitted that they were lying previously.

“Most” of the money the SEIU uses for “political purposes” does not come from [the union's Committee on Political Education] COPE (to which you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident to contribute). “Most” of the SEIU’s political spending, he now admits, comes from other accounts.

Theissen still has more questions, ones that the SEIU is still stonewalling.

And who funds those other accounts? “Our own members,” Youngdahl writes. Well, the SEIU’s members include foreign workers and — as an SEIU executive boasts in this video — illegal immigrants. Youngdahl has twice failed to answer my question, so I will ask it a third time: Do the SEIU’s foreign workers and illegal immigrant members (who are by definition foreign nationals) contribute any money to the accounts that the union uses for “political purposes”?

It seems pretty clear that the SEIU is using the dues from illegal workers in the U.S. and foreign workers for its domestic political operations and that those funds are directed solely toward Obama and his Democrats.

Hypocrites extraordinaire.

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We see you out there — the future musicians of the world, pouring coffee, mixing drinks, designing websites for shifty moving companies, all the while dreaming of making it big: signing to a label, cutting a record, reaping the benefits that only a throng of gaping groupies can herald.

While not all of you will make the proverbial “Big Time” — we can’t all be Lady Gaga, nor should we strive to be — that doesn’t mean that you can’t reap some monetary benefits for your musical labor.

Jeff Price, founder of TuneCore, recently wrote on the company blog: “More musicians are making money off their music now at any point in history… Technology has made it possible for any artist to get distribution, to get discovered, to pursue his/her dreams with no company or person out there making the editorial decision that they are not allowed ‘in.’”

We would tend to agree (with the caveat that such openness has also led to a more crowded music scene, with more bands fighting for the public’s attention — but that’s a post for another day).

If you want to start seeing some payback for all your hard work, you don’t have to wait around for a label exec to catch your jazz flute set at the local coffee shop and catapult you to stardom. There are a ton of services out there that can help you make some cash, while also gaining exposure and experience.

class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable spoke with folks from a quartet of such services in order to help you, the artist, devote more time to your lute than those lattes.

Note that none of the below are get-rich-quick schemes, so it might be wise to hang onto your day job — even if it is designing graphic tees for tiny dogs.

Go Into Show Business

Service: Jingle Punks

We know, we know, the moment a song makes it into the commercial, it’s an immediate sign that a band has “sold out.” But, c’mon, guys — do you really want your favorite drummer/banjo player/keytarist working in a taco trunk in order to survive? Yeah, thin may be in when it comes to the indie scene, but musicians need to eat, after all.

That’s why services like Jingle Punks can really be a boon to bands. Jingle Punks — which is basically the Pandoraclass="blippr-nobr">Pandora of music licensing services — focuses on providing filmmakers, TV networks, media companies and ad companies with music from up-and-coming bands. Band and Punks split the earnings 50/50.

“We work in a very smart but unsexy part of the music business,” says co-founder Jared Gutstadt. “Most artists tend to spend their time focusing on the old standards of how to ‘make it.’ They’re still thinking about record deals, pub deals, merch, touring. To really stand out and compete with this type of competition you need to be thinking about launching a music career in a much more unique way.”

Why Use This Service?

According to Gutstadt, “Music in film and television is a great way for artists to get the word out there. More importantly, you can generate money to help fund the growth of a band’s musical endeavors.”

In addition, the service makes use of the democratic nature of the web to get your music into the right hands. “In the past, the way people used to pitch music for media placements is that they would mail CDs off to as many music supes or producers they could,” Gutstadt says. “We have removed the giant pile of CDs on peoples’ desks and aggregated them into a user-friendly database organized in a dynamic way.”

What’s the ROI?

According to Gutstadt, money made runs the gamut. “It can be anywhere from $250 for a web placement all the way up to $30,000 for getting music in a commercial or motion picture,” he says. “, you make money over time through royalties paid out by BMI and ASCAP, who are able to track usage. I always tell artists its not a get-rich-quick scheme as much as it is a way to make some money over time off your hard work.”  

So Who has Succeeded?

“We work with an artist named Mike Del Rio (see above) and his music was used in a rebranding effort by the History Channel.  The channel has really embraced Mike and Jingle Punks and has a couple things in the pipeline that could do great things to really help launch Mike Del Rio’s career on a more mainstream level.  

“We also work with a really great band called I Love Monsters, and their music was placed in the season premiere of Entourage. This type of exposure can be great for an up-and-coming band.”

Collaborate

Service: Indaba Music

We’ve seen instances of bands forming partnerships through Twitter and the like, but wouldn’t it be easier for y’all to have everything in one place?

I mean, it’s enough of a hassle to get all your gear into a single taxi (can’t afford two) before a gig, why add 50 social media tools into the mix? That’s where services like Indaba Music — which is like the class='blippr-nobr'>LinkedInclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn of music — come in.

Indaba is a platform — boasting more than 500,000 musicians — that provides musically inclined folks with a place to build a profile, promote their tunes and collaborate with other musicians from around the world.

Why Use This Service?

According to co-founder Dan Zaccagnino, “There are many ways for musicians to make money using Indaba Music. The core of the platform is about collaboration, which can be just for fun, but can also generate income for musicians through work-for-hire sessions (where a musician is paid for his/her tracks) or collaborations where songwriters share in the ownership of the song.”

In addition, Indaba features a ton of contests that “give both amateur and professional musicians a chance to collaborate with world-famous artists and in the process win cash or possibly participate in future royalties if the winners’ material is released,” Zaccagnino says.

What’s the ROI?

“There are incredible opportunities to gain experience on Indaba because the community is full of everyone from amateurs eager to learn, to music educators, to Grammy Award winners,” Zaccagnino says.

“Members learn from one another through contacting and communicating with people online, having music peer reviewed in sessions and contests, learning from master-artists through our Artist-in-Residence programs, taking online video lessons, and much more.

“Education is a big priority for us and it’s been amazing to see that organically happen because musicians are interested in helping one another.”

So Who has Succeeded?

Zaccagnino cites the following examples:

Linkin Park + NoBrain (see above)

Indaba member NoBrain’s mix was included on Linkin Park’s album A Thousand Suns and got the opportunity to collaborate directly with Linkin Park front man, Mike Shinoda, through Indaba Music.

Rivers Cuomo Producer Sessions

Rivers Cuomo of Weezer started a few sessions on IndabaMusic.com and began working with members to produce rough demos that he had written with his wife.  Rivers used Indaba’s session platform to work collaboratively, utilizing the commenting system to engage musicians and achieve exactly what he envisioned.  The producers were also paid for their work.

David Minnick/PBS The Music Instinct

PBS ran a contest to source music for an upcoming show about music and the brain. It found the winner, David Minnick, to be so talented that it hired him to arrange music for another show.

Toshi Osawa and Pikes Peak Ringers – Yo-Yo Ma Collaboration Winners

Yo-Yo Ma was so impressed by the quality of musical collaborations that he picked two winners, an 18-piece hand bell choir from Denver and a speed-Metal guitarist from Canada. Yo-Yo invited them into the studio to record with him in a truly unique collaboration — both tracks were later released as bonus tracks to Yo-Yo Ma’s holiday album, Songs of Joy & Peace.

Partner Up

Service: YouTube’s Musicians Wanted Program

At last year’s SXSW, YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube launched a partner program for up-and-coming musicians, and, just recently, the program went from U.S.-only to international.

If you have a YouTube channel, and you’re pumping out the music vids like an A-V nerd on a sugar high, you should apply for this program post haste. Basically, it allows you to make some extra cash by adding ads to your videos and garners you more exposure from YouTube with prime placement.

Why Use This Service?

It’s all about getting your name out there, and getting your music heard, right? So go where the people are. Every day, YouTube racks up more than 2 billion video views. That’s a lot of eyes. Still, every minute, the site sees 24 hours of video uploaded, which means your genius work could get lost in the shuffle. That’s why the partner program is a must — you get the YouTube stamp of approval, which brings more attention to your work.

What’s the ROI?

YouTube couldn’t tell us how much money you can earn from the program, but they did tell us that artists get the majority share of the revenue — not to mention access to those millions of viewers. You need to be consistent with your channel, though, and really focus on putting out lots of original content. So if you’re only down to make one vid, this might not be the option for you. In order to see ROI, you have to put in the time and effort.

So Who has Succeeded?

YouTube has helped launch the careers of score of performers — from Justin Bieber to Pomplamoose./> Kina Grannis is one such artist. “I joined YouTube three years ago when I was in a contest called Doritos Crash The Super Bowl,” Grannis told us. “I needed to get people to vote for me every day in order to get my music video played during the Super Bowl (which it did, woo!), so the hope was that by agreeing to post a new video every day, people, in exchange, would come back and vote daily. This run of putting up a video every day lasted about two months in total, and while it made me crazy and sleep deprived, it was also fun and exciting and very helpful in growing my viewers.

“Post with consistency if possible,” Grannis advises artists. “Be genuine, talk to your supporters, be grateful.”

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

Service: BitTorrent Featured Artist Program

OK, we know what you’re thinking — you hear the word “BitTorrent” and you’re about ready to rage, am I right? File sharing is the monster under the bed for many an artist. It connotes theft, basically. Still, the model — when used correctly — can really be a boon to lesser-known artists.

We spoke to Trent Reznor — who is well-known for having released his music via torrent sites in the past — who told us: “I felt furious when the record I’d worked on for a year, that my heart and soul’s gone into, . I’m pissed off at people that are listening to it. I’m mad that they’re snubbing me — by what? By being excited about hearing my music? And that’s wrong. I shouldn’t be mad at these people. I should be glad that people are interested.”

“Easy for you to say, Trent Reznor,” you might scoff, “You’re already famous.” Well — there’s the rub, right? You’re not famous. And you want to be. Or, at the very least, you want someone other than your roommate to come to your gig — and perhaps buy a T-shirt or two. And how do you do that? By getting the attention of the masses, of course.

Last month, BitTorrent launched a Featured Artist pilot program in an effort to give musicians more exposure. Some likened such an endeavor to getting in bed with the devil, but when you really think about it, what’s the difference between applying for the program and putting your music on class='blippr-nobr'>MySpaceclass="blippr-nobr">MySpace or SoundCloud or any other music-sharing site? Well, that would be BitTorrent’s 80 million users.

We’re not saying that file sharing is totally copacetic or anything (there are a lot of pirates in them waters), but it’s not like BitTorrent is out to ruin your career, either. “In many ways, Trent Reznor’s work inspired a lot of our work,” says CEO Eric Klinker. “We really do want to riff on a lot of what he’s done. He’s in an experimentation phase, as are we.”

Why Use This Service?

“The Featured Artists pilot program encourages musicians and filmmakers to submit creative works for the chance to be spotlighted to millions of BitTorrent users around the world,” Klinker says. “For a lot of artists it is about creating a sustainable business model that will allow them to continue their creative works. So, we are interested in working with artists to experiment with various business models that play to the strengths of the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet while allowing them to tune into the distribution potential of BitTorrent to reach millions of consumers.”

What’s the ROI?

“In today’s digital age, the traditional model does not serve artists in the same way it used to, and instead forces them all down the same funnel where only a select few ultimately receive distribution,” Klinker says. “With BitTorrent’s Featured Artist Pilot Program, artists can tap into online communities and reach millions of people who might otherwise be inaccessible. These communities are powerful and provide intrinsic value for emerging artists trying to build a fan base. In doing so, these are fans that will invariably attend shows, purchase merchandise and become invested in future works.”/>  /> So Who has Succeeded?

Since the service just launched last month, there aren’t any featured artists yet, but the site has seen some success with the musician PAZ (see above), who has been working with BitTorrent.

“Most recently, in August 2010, BitTorrent released PAZ’s debut mix tape, Young Broke and Fameless,” Klinker says. “On the first day alone the release saw over 100,000 downloads, and as a result has increased his fan base and following.”

More Social Music Resources from Mashable:

- Top 10 Twitter Tips for Bands, By Bands/> - 5 Great Ways to Find Music That Suits Your Mood/> - 5 Free Ways to Identify that Song Stuck in Your Head/> - HOW TO: Turn Your Android Phone Into a Killer MP3 Player/> - 10 Amazing Musical Instrument iPhone Apps

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, shulz

For more Entertainment coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Entertainmentclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Entertainment channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Marc Theissen recently asked some very important questions about where the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is getting the mountains of cash that it spends on Democrat political campaigns. He finds that it is coming from foreign sources, but the SEIU is refusing to yield to requests for transparency.

If the SEIU is getting the millions of dollars it is spending on Democrats from foreign sources, this should put a major dent in the alarmist claims that Obama has been making about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supposedly getting its money from outside the country — a charge that was resoundingly refuted. After all, if one of Obama’s biggest left-wing campaign supporters is suffused with foreign cash, why should it be such a big deal if anyone else is?

Sadly, the Old Media will never play up this aspect of Obama’s hypocrisy, but that is another subject.

In any case, Theissen asked the SEIU where its political cash was coming from because federal financial reporting records seemed to prove that it could not have been coming solely from the dues of American union members. Since the SEIU has thousands of members in foreign nations, Theissen wondered how that factored in.

Initially the SEIU lied to him and claimed that “most” of its political cash came from domestic dues payers. But Theissen persisted with his doubts. It wasn’t long before the SEIU admitted that they were lying previously.

“Most” of the money the SEIU uses for “political purposes” does not come from [the union's Committee on Political Education] COPE (to which you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident to contribute). “Most” of the SEIU’s political spending, he now admits, comes from other accounts.

Theissen still has more questions, ones that the SEIU is still stonewalling.

And who funds those other accounts? “Our own members,” Youngdahl writes. Well, the SEIU’s members include foreign workers and — as an SEIU executive boasts in this video — illegal immigrants. Youngdahl has twice failed to answer my question, so I will ask it a third time: Do the SEIU’s foreign workers and illegal immigrant members (who are by definition foreign nationals) contribute any money to the accounts that the union uses for “political purposes”?

It seems pretty clear that the SEIU is using the dues from illegal workers in the U.S. and foreign workers for its domestic political operations and that those funds are directed solely toward Obama and his Democrats.

Hypocrites extraordinaire.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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Diablo III Coming to Consoles

Blizzard job ads point at an unannounced console version of the upcoming PC game.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Nov. 15 <b>...</b>

Stocks in China may face more declines today after large losses in mainland and US-traded China shares on Friday. Chinese media have been reporting that the government plans interest-rate increases to curb rising prices in the country.

Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

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Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

What to Expect in House Lame Duck - FoxNews.com

FOX News covers politics on America's Election Headquarters. FOX News political coverage on elections, races, foreign policy, candidates, and national security.

Real Estate <b>News</b>: China Limits Foreign Investment - Developments - WSJ

Here is a look at real-estate news in the weekend's and Monday's WSJ:

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Diablo III Coming to Consoles

Blizzard job ads point at an unannounced console version of the upcoming PC game.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

bench craft company rip off

Diablo III Coming to Consoles

Blizzard job ads point at an unannounced console version of the upcoming PC game.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Nov. 15 <b>...</b>

Stocks in China may face more declines today after large losses in mainland and US-traded China shares on Friday. Chinese media have been reporting that the government plans interest-rate increases to curb rising prices in the country.

Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

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Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

What to Expect in House Lame Duck - FoxNews.com

FOX News covers politics on America's Election Headquarters. FOX News political coverage on elections, races, foreign policy, candidates, and national security.

Real Estate <b>News</b>: China Limits Foreign Investment - Developments - WSJ

Here is a look at real-estate news in the weekend's and Monday's WSJ:

bench craft company rip off

Diablo III Coming to Consoles

Blizzard job ads point at an unannounced console version of the upcoming PC game.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

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bench craft company rip off

NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

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NBC Ad Urges Recording <b>News</b> - NYTimes.com

The anchor Brian Williams encourages people to record "Nightly News" if they cannot watch it at 6:30 pm.

Pulse <b>News</b> Now Free to Download | Android Phone Fans

Pulse News has announced that they're making their application free to download on the Android market following a desire to pull in a bigger userbase. They'll.

<b>News</b> with a genuine North Korea dateline - Blog - Committee to <b>...</b>

A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to record everyday life in North Korea.

bench craft company rip off

Diablo III Coming to Consoles

Blizzard job ads point at an unannounced console version of the upcoming PC game.

Lujiazui Breakfast: <b>News</b> And Views About China Stocks (Nov. 15 <b>...</b>

Stocks in China may face more declines today after large losses in mainland and US-traded China shares on Friday. Chinese media have been reporting that the government plans interest-rate increases to curb rising prices in the country.

Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

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Kinect - OpenSource - amazing work created within a few <b>...</b>

November 14, 2010 | In News, c++, openFrameworks | View Comments. There have been a number of exciting developments in the last few days related to XBox Kinect. For those that may not be aware of what it is, it's a brand new interface ...

What to Expect in House Lame Duck - FoxNews.com

FOX News covers politics on America's Election Headquarters. FOX News political coverage on elections, races, foreign policy, candidates, and national security.

Real Estate <b>News</b>: China Limits Foreign Investment - Developments - WSJ

Here is a look at real-estate news in the weekend's and Monday's WSJ:

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Making Money Now

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

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eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

I had an interesting conversation with my boss today about people that make a living online. He's semi-old school, so he doesn't really understand (or believe) that so many people these days provide for their families from website revenue and such. As I rattled on and tried to explain to him how every day people are accomplishing this, he obviously didn't understand like I wanted him to, and after 15 minutes of Internet Marketing babble, he shocked me when he asked me if I could name 10 ways people make money online.

Sure, no problem, boss! So here is what I came up with:

1. First choice, obviously, was blogging. Of course, I had to explain the ways you can make money with a blog (paid reviews, selling ads, text link sales, etc...) I think I drove the point home, and it made more sense when I explained the concept to him. The key to making money with your blog is to stick with it no matter what. Add content, grow it, and start raking in the cash.

2. I had to mention Ebay. Ebay was the starting point some 7 years ago when I started to technically "make money online". I even tried to sell paper plates once...it was an addiction. Seriously though, the average American household has so much crap stored away, you'd be surprised at what you can dig out and sell for a few bucks. It all adds up!

3. Drop-shipping. This one wasn't hard to explain, and it relates to #2. Basically, a company that offers a drop-shipping program will allow you to sell their products at whatever price you want to sell them at (over their price) and put the profit in your pocket - and they'll also ship the product from their warehouse to the customers home, so you never physically touch any product. This was really popular a few years back, but due to extreme saturation of the market, it's died down some.

4. Sell your skills. Nothing is more in demand online, than talent. Can you write, design, code, or translate? There are literally thousands of people out there that need your help, and usually don't know where to go and find it. Here's the cool part - they'll pay you handsomely for you services! To start finding gigs in your specialty area, head over to the Digital Point forums - plenty of waiting customers! (Logos sell really, really well!)

5. Can you make stuff that sells? If you specialize in making robots out of toothpicks and forks, then why the hell aren't you selling them online through your own website? This tip is kind of obvious (after-all, it IS 2007), but if you have a unique product or service, then pay the $500 (more or less)to get a custom website, and start taking orders! Again, this is a real no-brainer, but sometimes people need reminding.

6. PPC campaigns. This one is one of my personal favorites that I've been testing lately. PPC (pay per click) are ads that you buy on search engines (Google Adwords) to promote a product or service - usually through an affiliate. Each time someone clicks on your ad and makes a purchase, you get a commission. This method can be tricky and potentially costly at first, but the key to success is test, test, and more tests. Get creative with your keywords and ads - make them stand out. Tweak your landing pages until your conversions pick up. Usually, you'll find success after a lot of trial and error. Just watch your spending at first, because it's very easy to lose money if you slack in the research department!

7. Own a popular website or blog? Sell advertising! Although this may seem obvious, there are still a surprising amount of sites that don't actively sell their available ad spots. Make sure you have a link or page that clearly describes your rates and available types of ads. I hate nothing more than when I click on someones advertising page, and all it has is a contact form. I'll pass on it nearly every time.

8.Write and sell an e-book! With digital products being one of the hottest selling items on the internet right now, what better time to create you own and start raking in the cash! Do you know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich using nothing but cheese, cardboard, and lighter? Write a book about it! Trust me, no matter what, someone will buy it. 9. Do you take pictures? If so, another hot selling item is your original photography. With a quick Google search, you'll find 20 sites that offer to buy your stock digital photos. Some even pay royalties when users download them. For those of you that have huge photo collections of interesting stuff, you're sitting on a goldmine.

10. Exploit the virtual gold trade in video games (a personal favorite!). There are millions of people who play online games such as World of Warcraft who do nothing but stash the in game currency and sell it in bulk to brokers who resell it to regular players. This is a HUGE market, and although the market is packed, it seems like there is always room for one more 'player'. Check out ige.com to see what I mean. That's it for now, there are many more ways to make money online, but these are some of the easier and more obvious ones. I didn't go into great detail for each method because it would take me 4 days to get it all down. I know that if you're reading this blog, you're search engine savvy enough to find out more information if you need it. Now get out there and start earning some extra money!


eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

The Buffalo News updated every day with news from Buffalo, New York. Links to national and business news, entertainment listings, recipes, sports teams, classified ads, death notices.

FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » Fox <b>News</b>: The No. 1 Name in Murder <b>...</b>

With its biggest new star, Glenn Beck, Fox News hired a host well-known for on-air death fantasies--for instance, chattering about killing filmmaker Michael Moore with his bare hands and hoping out loud that Rep. ...

Steele Under Increasing Pressure to Step Aside in 2011 | Foxnews.com

Washington – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is finding himself under increasing pressure to step aside when his term ends in January 2011. Fox News has learned a small group within Steele's inner circle has warned ...

eric seiger

foreclosure homes

The foreclosure mess just will not go away. Neither will incomplete if not misleading explanations for the crisis, or partial if not ineffective policy proposals. More than 10 million families will lose their homes to foreclosure before the housing market "clears" according to Credit Suisse. Meanwhile, as with the subprime and predatory lending bubbles that led directly to the present crisis, fingers are pointed in several directions as all parties to the debate try to shift blame to their favorite individual and institutional targets. Lost in this discussion is how continuing racial segregation has fueled these developments.

The guilty parties in the foreclosure crisis are many: greedy homeowners, unscrupulous investors, lax underwriters, asleep-at-the-wheel regulators, sloppy mortgage servicers, and more. No doubt all share in the blame. But all these actors played their roles in a context of ongoing racial segregation that greatly facilitated the fraud, deceit, and exploitation that occurred at each stage of the lending process. Research by a variety of organizations ranging from the Federal Reserve to the Center for Community Change reveals that subprime loans were concentrated in, and specifically targeted to, low-income, minority neighborhoods. As a result, foreclosures have fallen heaviest on the most disadvantaged segments of society.

To illustrate, when subprime lending peaked in 2006, just 18% of white borrowers received subprime loans compared to 54% of African Americans. An unfortunate irony, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2007, is that over 60% of subprime borrowers had credit scores that qualified them for prime loans, underscoring the discriminatory nature of the marketing. Moreover, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association, subprime loans are approximately three times more likely to enter into default than conventional loans. As a result, between 2007 and 2009 approximately 8% of homes owned by black or Hispanic families went into foreclosure compared to 4.5% for whites. According a study by the Center for Responsible Lending, these disparities persisted even after taking household incomes into account.

Discriminatory lending patterns do not happen by chance. As the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has reported, in recent years racial minorities and minority communities were deliberately targeted by predatory lenders for subprime lending. The more segregated a metropolitan area is, of course, the easier it is to find exploitable clients. Segregation creates natural pockets of financially unsophisticated, historically underserved, poor minority homeowners who are ripe for exploitation.

It is no surprise to learn, therefore, that a recent study published in the American Sociological Review found that the level of black-white segregation was the single strongest predictor of the number and rate of foreclosures across U.S. metropolitan areas -- more powerful than the overall level of subprime lending, the degree of overbuilding, the extent of home price inflation, the relative creditworthiness of borrowers, the degree of coverage under the Community Reinvestment Act, or the extent of local government regulation.

More than forty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, two thirds of all black urbanites continue to live under conditions of high segregation and nearly half live in metropolitan areas where the degree of racial isolation is so intense it conforms to the criteria for hypersegregation. If we had somehow been able to eliminate segregation between blacks and whites in the years since 1968, the average metropolitan area would have experienced a foreclosure rate 80% lower than that actually observed during 2006-2008. Segregation is the reason for the unusual severity of the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

Given the powerful role played by racial segregation causing the current crisis, policy proposals to enact a national moratorium on foreclosures, modify the terms of outstanding loans, make bankruptcy restructuring easier, or undertake other financial reforms largely miss the point. Although such steps might provide short-term relief for some homeowners, speculative housing bubbles will likely recur along racially unequal lines as long as hypersegregation persists as a basic feature of metropolitan America. It is long past time to address the nation's segregated living patterns directly, and several policy initiatives to do so are now on the table.

The Housing Fairness Act (HR 476) would substantially increase the funding of fair housing organizations for nationwide paired testing (where matched pairs of white and non-white auditors approach housing providers to determine if they are treated equally). Such testing would yield much stronger enforcement of fair housing laws.

The Community Reinvestment Modernization Act (HR 1749) would extend the Community Reinvestment Act (a federal ban on redlining) to virtually all mortgage lenders and explicitly require them to be responsive to the credit needs of minority communities. Currently the CRA only applies to depository institutions (which today originate less than half of all mortgage loans). Moreover, the law currently focuses on service to low-income communities without a specific racial or ethnic mandate. Extending the CRA to all mortgage lending would help curb the predatory lending that drove much of the current crisis.

Finally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced plans to issue a regulation to "affirmatively further fair housing" clarifying the statutory obligation that all recipients of federal housing and community development funds have to use those dollars in a manner that identifies and eliminates discriminatory barriers to equal housing opportunity. The agency should do so sooner rather than later.

Changing the behavior of financial institutions, regulators, and consumers is an important policy objective. Unless the segregated context in which they operate is also altered, however, speculative financial bubbles will persist and their uneven effects will continue to fall on vulnerable communities of color who have long paid the high costs of hypersegregation in the United States, America's own brand of Apartheid.

Douglas S. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Gregory D. Squires is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University.

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The bank promised not to sell any foreclosed homes or take any more delinquent borrowers to court until it had reviewed its potentially defective foreclosure process. Other major lenders soon announced that they too were suspending foreclosures in dozens of states. Why are the biggest banks in the country voluntarily calling for a time-out? It's a hint that we're facing a huge problem: The banks aren't sure if they have the legal right to foreclose on millions of homes.

Here's what's new in foreclosuregate since the Audit took up the story last week. The Bank of America announced that it would resume some foreclosures on Oct. 25, having deemed its own methods sound. The stock market begged to differ. BOA's stock fell over 5% on Thursday and other bank stocks also took a beating, as did mortgage bonds. This pattern indicates that investors are very worried about the effect of the foreclosure crisis on the health of the banks.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is calling for a foreclosure moratorium under the new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), as Ellen Brown reports for Truthout. The FSOC has the power to preemptively break up any large financial institution that threatens U.S. economic security. Grayson wants a moratorium on all mortgages securitized between 2005 and 2008 until the FSOC can determine which foreclosures are valid and which are bogus.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Zach Carter of the Campaign for America's Future explains to Chris Hayes of the Nation why Bank of America and other major lenders are in so much trouble: They are just administering loans for other lenders. You make your check out to the Bank of America, but the bank is just babysitting after the loan for the bondholders.

The real creditors are the investors who own bonds made up of pieces of many different mortgages, including yours. The bond gives the bondholder a share of the money that you and other borrowers pay each month. If you don't pay, BOA initiates foreclosure. If you're late, BOA charges you fees.

However, the bank can't just hire a foreclosure company to take your home away on a whim. The bank must first show proof that it is entitled to foreclose because you've defaulted on your mortgage in the form of a mortgage note. If you hold one of those toxic asset mortgages, there's a good chance the bank doesn't have the note.

As Dean Baker explains in Truthout, in many, if not most, cases, "liar loans" (mortgages issued with no proof of income or assets) have become given way to "liar liens" (foreclosures with no proof of default).

According to Carter, all the big banks have been hiring foreclosure mills to rubber-stamp their claims without checking. Unscrupulous foreclosure companies are admitting to "robo-signing," i.e., foreclosing without even checking whether the bank's claims were legit.

Foreclosuregate

According to Andy Kroll of Mother Jones, the Bank of America stands to lose up to $70 billion over what's come to be known as "foreclosuregate." A mortgage starts out with an originator, typically a bank or a mortgage broker. In the heyday of mortgage-backed securities, investment banks were buying up hundreds of thousands of mortgages, making them into mortgage-backed bonds, and selling them to investors.

Unfortunately, if the bank doesn't have the note, who does? The mortgage originator may have gone bankrupt, many were fly-by-night operators that folded when the housing bubble burst. Many mortgages were bought and resold more than once before they found their way into a mortgage-backed bond.

So, the question is whether the bank really owned the mortgages it made into mortgage backed-securities and sold to individuals, pension funds, and other institutions. If not, the banks stand could be on the hook for selling assets they didn't actually own to investors.

Moratorium now

The scandal affects so many mortgages that some lawmakers are calling for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures until investigators can sort out who owns what once and for all. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that Congress needs to stop banks from putting people out on the street until there is some way to differentiate between fraudulent foreclosures and justified ones:

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

The Obama administration opposes the moratorium on the grounds that it would hurt the housing market and thereby slow the economy. Towns counters that what would really be bad for the economy is letting banks take people's homes away without any semblance of due process. If the government doesn't act to protect the innocent, foreclosuregate could shatter the confidence of potential home buyers. Would you want to invest in a house if you were afraid the bank could just take it away from you?

In AlterNet, Mike Lux argues that fraudulent foreclosures are one more assault on poor and middle class Americans. He argues that the banks are so used to being coddled by Washington that they're counting on legislators to retroactively change the rules to protect them from the consequences of their own devious behavior.

At this point we don't know what percentage of foreclosed-upon homes have simply been stolen by banks to pay bondholders, but we do know the problem is vast and systemic. The Obama administration is content to let the banks seize private property first and ask questions later. We need a moratorium to take stock and restore the rule of law.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

eric seiger

Good <b>news</b>: State seizes newborn baby after mom eats poppy seed <b>...</b>

Hey, heard a few days ago on the news that they(they meaning either health officials here in PA or it was HHS) were going to start screening all new mothers for depression several times each year. Mandatory screenings for depression. ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: It&#39;s About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/10 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Kansas City Chiefs fans! Another full day of news for you. DJ, Special Teams, Parity, and this Sunday's opponent wait below. Enjoy.

eric seiger

The foreclosure mess just will not go away. Neither will incomplete if not misleading explanations for the crisis, or partial if not ineffective policy proposals. More than 10 million families will lose their homes to foreclosure before the housing market "clears" according to Credit Suisse. Meanwhile, as with the subprime and predatory lending bubbles that led directly to the present crisis, fingers are pointed in several directions as all parties to the debate try to shift blame to their favorite individual and institutional targets. Lost in this discussion is how continuing racial segregation has fueled these developments.

The guilty parties in the foreclosure crisis are many: greedy homeowners, unscrupulous investors, lax underwriters, asleep-at-the-wheel regulators, sloppy mortgage servicers, and more. No doubt all share in the blame. But all these actors played their roles in a context of ongoing racial segregation that greatly facilitated the fraud, deceit, and exploitation that occurred at each stage of the lending process. Research by a variety of organizations ranging from the Federal Reserve to the Center for Community Change reveals that subprime loans were concentrated in, and specifically targeted to, low-income, minority neighborhoods. As a result, foreclosures have fallen heaviest on the most disadvantaged segments of society.

To illustrate, when subprime lending peaked in 2006, just 18% of white borrowers received subprime loans compared to 54% of African Americans. An unfortunate irony, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2007, is that over 60% of subprime borrowers had credit scores that qualified them for prime loans, underscoring the discriminatory nature of the marketing. Moreover, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association, subprime loans are approximately three times more likely to enter into default than conventional loans. As a result, between 2007 and 2009 approximately 8% of homes owned by black or Hispanic families went into foreclosure compared to 4.5% for whites. According a study by the Center for Responsible Lending, these disparities persisted even after taking household incomes into account.

Discriminatory lending patterns do not happen by chance. As the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has reported, in recent years racial minorities and minority communities were deliberately targeted by predatory lenders for subprime lending. The more segregated a metropolitan area is, of course, the easier it is to find exploitable clients. Segregation creates natural pockets of financially unsophisticated, historically underserved, poor minority homeowners who are ripe for exploitation.

It is no surprise to learn, therefore, that a recent study published in the American Sociological Review found that the level of black-white segregation was the single strongest predictor of the number and rate of foreclosures across U.S. metropolitan areas -- more powerful than the overall level of subprime lending, the degree of overbuilding, the extent of home price inflation, the relative creditworthiness of borrowers, the degree of coverage under the Community Reinvestment Act, or the extent of local government regulation.

More than forty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, two thirds of all black urbanites continue to live under conditions of high segregation and nearly half live in metropolitan areas where the degree of racial isolation is so intense it conforms to the criteria for hypersegregation. If we had somehow been able to eliminate segregation between blacks and whites in the years since 1968, the average metropolitan area would have experienced a foreclosure rate 80% lower than that actually observed during 2006-2008. Segregation is the reason for the unusual severity of the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

Given the powerful role played by racial segregation causing the current crisis, policy proposals to enact a national moratorium on foreclosures, modify the terms of outstanding loans, make bankruptcy restructuring easier, or undertake other financial reforms largely miss the point. Although such steps might provide short-term relief for some homeowners, speculative housing bubbles will likely recur along racially unequal lines as long as hypersegregation persists as a basic feature of metropolitan America. It is long past time to address the nation's segregated living patterns directly, and several policy initiatives to do so are now on the table.

The Housing Fairness Act (HR 476) would substantially increase the funding of fair housing organizations for nationwide paired testing (where matched pairs of white and non-white auditors approach housing providers to determine if they are treated equally). Such testing would yield much stronger enforcement of fair housing laws.

The Community Reinvestment Modernization Act (HR 1749) would extend the Community Reinvestment Act (a federal ban on redlining) to virtually all mortgage lenders and explicitly require them to be responsive to the credit needs of minority communities. Currently the CRA only applies to depository institutions (which today originate less than half of all mortgage loans). Moreover, the law currently focuses on service to low-income communities without a specific racial or ethnic mandate. Extending the CRA to all mortgage lending would help curb the predatory lending that drove much of the current crisis.

Finally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced plans to issue a regulation to "affirmatively further fair housing" clarifying the statutory obligation that all recipients of federal housing and community development funds have to use those dollars in a manner that identifies and eliminates discriminatory barriers to equal housing opportunity. The agency should do so sooner rather than later.

Changing the behavior of financial institutions, regulators, and consumers is an important policy objective. Unless the segregated context in which they operate is also altered, however, speculative financial bubbles will persist and their uneven effects will continue to fall on vulnerable communities of color who have long paid the high costs of hypersegregation in the United States, America's own brand of Apartheid.

Douglas S. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Gregory D. Squires is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University.

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The bank promised not to sell any foreclosed homes or take any more delinquent borrowers to court until it had reviewed its potentially defective foreclosure process. Other major lenders soon announced that they too were suspending foreclosures in dozens of states. Why are the biggest banks in the country voluntarily calling for a time-out? It's a hint that we're facing a huge problem: The banks aren't sure if they have the legal right to foreclose on millions of homes.

Here's what's new in foreclosuregate since the Audit took up the story last week. The Bank of America announced that it would resume some foreclosures on Oct. 25, having deemed its own methods sound. The stock market begged to differ. BOA's stock fell over 5% on Thursday and other bank stocks also took a beating, as did mortgage bonds. This pattern indicates that investors are very worried about the effect of the foreclosure crisis on the health of the banks.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is calling for a foreclosure moratorium under the new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), as Ellen Brown reports for Truthout. The FSOC has the power to preemptively break up any large financial institution that threatens U.S. economic security. Grayson wants a moratorium on all mortgages securitized between 2005 and 2008 until the FSOC can determine which foreclosures are valid and which are bogus.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Zach Carter of the Campaign for America's Future explains to Chris Hayes of the Nation why Bank of America and other major lenders are in so much trouble: They are just administering loans for other lenders. You make your check out to the Bank of America, but the bank is just babysitting after the loan for the bondholders.

The real creditors are the investors who own bonds made up of pieces of many different mortgages, including yours. The bond gives the bondholder a share of the money that you and other borrowers pay each month. If you don't pay, BOA initiates foreclosure. If you're late, BOA charges you fees.

However, the bank can't just hire a foreclosure company to take your home away on a whim. The bank must first show proof that it is entitled to foreclose because you've defaulted on your mortgage in the form of a mortgage note. If you hold one of those toxic asset mortgages, there's a good chance the bank doesn't have the note.

As Dean Baker explains in Truthout, in many, if not most, cases, "liar loans" (mortgages issued with no proof of income or assets) have become given way to "liar liens" (foreclosures with no proof of default).

According to Carter, all the big banks have been hiring foreclosure mills to rubber-stamp their claims without checking. Unscrupulous foreclosure companies are admitting to "robo-signing," i.e., foreclosing without even checking whether the bank's claims were legit.

Foreclosuregate

According to Andy Kroll of Mother Jones, the Bank of America stands to lose up to $70 billion over what's come to be known as "foreclosuregate." A mortgage starts out with an originator, typically a bank or a mortgage broker. In the heyday of mortgage-backed securities, investment banks were buying up hundreds of thousands of mortgages, making them into mortgage-backed bonds, and selling them to investors.

Unfortunately, if the bank doesn't have the note, who does? The mortgage originator may have gone bankrupt, many were fly-by-night operators that folded when the housing bubble burst. Many mortgages were bought and resold more than once before they found their way into a mortgage-backed bond.

So, the question is whether the bank really owned the mortgages it made into mortgage backed-securities and sold to individuals, pension funds, and other institutions. If not, the banks stand could be on the hook for selling assets they didn't actually own to investors.

Moratorium now

The scandal affects so many mortgages that some lawmakers are calling for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures until investigators can sort out who owns what once and for all. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that Congress needs to stop banks from putting people out on the street until there is some way to differentiate between fraudulent foreclosures and justified ones:

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

The Obama administration opposes the moratorium on the grounds that it would hurt the housing market and thereby slow the economy. Towns counters that what would really be bad for the economy is letting banks take people's homes away without any semblance of due process. If the government doesn't act to protect the innocent, foreclosuregate could shatter the confidence of potential home buyers. Would you want to invest in a house if you were afraid the bank could just take it away from you?

In AlterNet, Mike Lux argues that fraudulent foreclosures are one more assault on poor and middle class Americans. He argues that the banks are so used to being coddled by Washington that they're counting on legislators to retroactively change the rules to protect them from the consequences of their own devious behavior.

At this point we don't know what percentage of foreclosed-upon homes have simply been stolen by banks to pay bondholders, but we do know the problem is vast and systemic. The Obama administration is content to let the banks seize private property first and ask questions later. We need a moratorium to take stock and restore the rule of law.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

eric seiger

Good <b>news</b>: State seizes newborn baby after mom eats poppy seed <b>...</b>

Hey, heard a few days ago on the news that they(they meaning either health officials here in PA or it was HHS) were going to start screening all new mothers for depression several times each year. Mandatory screenings for depression. ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: It&#39;s About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/10 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Kansas City Chiefs fans! Another full day of news for you. DJ, Special Teams, Parity, and this Sunday's opponent wait below. Enjoy.

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Good <b>news</b>: State seizes newborn baby after mom eats poppy seed <b>...</b>

Hey, heard a few days ago on the news that they(they meaning either health officials here in PA or it was HHS) were going to start screening all new mothers for depression several times each year. Mandatory screenings for depression. ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: It&#39;s About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/10 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Kansas City Chiefs fans! Another full day of news for you. DJ, Special Teams, Parity, and this Sunday's opponent wait below. Enjoy.

eric seiger

The foreclosure mess just will not go away. Neither will incomplete if not misleading explanations for the crisis, or partial if not ineffective policy proposals. More than 10 million families will lose their homes to foreclosure before the housing market "clears" according to Credit Suisse. Meanwhile, as with the subprime and predatory lending bubbles that led directly to the present crisis, fingers are pointed in several directions as all parties to the debate try to shift blame to their favorite individual and institutional targets. Lost in this discussion is how continuing racial segregation has fueled these developments.

The guilty parties in the foreclosure crisis are many: greedy homeowners, unscrupulous investors, lax underwriters, asleep-at-the-wheel regulators, sloppy mortgage servicers, and more. No doubt all share in the blame. But all these actors played their roles in a context of ongoing racial segregation that greatly facilitated the fraud, deceit, and exploitation that occurred at each stage of the lending process. Research by a variety of organizations ranging from the Federal Reserve to the Center for Community Change reveals that subprime loans were concentrated in, and specifically targeted to, low-income, minority neighborhoods. As a result, foreclosures have fallen heaviest on the most disadvantaged segments of society.

To illustrate, when subprime lending peaked in 2006, just 18% of white borrowers received subprime loans compared to 54% of African Americans. An unfortunate irony, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2007, is that over 60% of subprime borrowers had credit scores that qualified them for prime loans, underscoring the discriminatory nature of the marketing. Moreover, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association, subprime loans are approximately three times more likely to enter into default than conventional loans. As a result, between 2007 and 2009 approximately 8% of homes owned by black or Hispanic families went into foreclosure compared to 4.5% for whites. According a study by the Center for Responsible Lending, these disparities persisted even after taking household incomes into account.

Discriminatory lending patterns do not happen by chance. As the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has reported, in recent years racial minorities and minority communities were deliberately targeted by predatory lenders for subprime lending. The more segregated a metropolitan area is, of course, the easier it is to find exploitable clients. Segregation creates natural pockets of financially unsophisticated, historically underserved, poor minority homeowners who are ripe for exploitation.

It is no surprise to learn, therefore, that a recent study published in the American Sociological Review found that the level of black-white segregation was the single strongest predictor of the number and rate of foreclosures across U.S. metropolitan areas -- more powerful than the overall level of subprime lending, the degree of overbuilding, the extent of home price inflation, the relative creditworthiness of borrowers, the degree of coverage under the Community Reinvestment Act, or the extent of local government regulation.

More than forty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, two thirds of all black urbanites continue to live under conditions of high segregation and nearly half live in metropolitan areas where the degree of racial isolation is so intense it conforms to the criteria for hypersegregation. If we had somehow been able to eliminate segregation between blacks and whites in the years since 1968, the average metropolitan area would have experienced a foreclosure rate 80% lower than that actually observed during 2006-2008. Segregation is the reason for the unusual severity of the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

Given the powerful role played by racial segregation causing the current crisis, policy proposals to enact a national moratorium on foreclosures, modify the terms of outstanding loans, make bankruptcy restructuring easier, or undertake other financial reforms largely miss the point. Although such steps might provide short-term relief for some homeowners, speculative housing bubbles will likely recur along racially unequal lines as long as hypersegregation persists as a basic feature of metropolitan America. It is long past time to address the nation's segregated living patterns directly, and several policy initiatives to do so are now on the table.

The Housing Fairness Act (HR 476) would substantially increase the funding of fair housing organizations for nationwide paired testing (where matched pairs of white and non-white auditors approach housing providers to determine if they are treated equally). Such testing would yield much stronger enforcement of fair housing laws.

The Community Reinvestment Modernization Act (HR 1749) would extend the Community Reinvestment Act (a federal ban on redlining) to virtually all mortgage lenders and explicitly require them to be responsive to the credit needs of minority communities. Currently the CRA only applies to depository institutions (which today originate less than half of all mortgage loans). Moreover, the law currently focuses on service to low-income communities without a specific racial or ethnic mandate. Extending the CRA to all mortgage lending would help curb the predatory lending that drove much of the current crisis.

Finally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced plans to issue a regulation to "affirmatively further fair housing" clarifying the statutory obligation that all recipients of federal housing and community development funds have to use those dollars in a manner that identifies and eliminates discriminatory barriers to equal housing opportunity. The agency should do so sooner rather than later.

Changing the behavior of financial institutions, regulators, and consumers is an important policy objective. Unless the segregated context in which they operate is also altered, however, speculative financial bubbles will persist and their uneven effects will continue to fall on vulnerable communities of color who have long paid the high costs of hypersegregation in the United States, America's own brand of Apartheid.

Douglas S. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Gregory D. Squires is Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University.

Weekly Audit: Foreclosuregate Hits Home

by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Earlier this month, Bank of America (BOA), the country's largest bank, announced a moratorium on foreclosures in all 50 states.

The bank promised not to sell any foreclosed homes or take any more delinquent borrowers to court until it had reviewed its potentially defective foreclosure process. Other major lenders soon announced that they too were suspending foreclosures in dozens of states. Why are the biggest banks in the country voluntarily calling for a time-out? It's a hint that we're facing a huge problem: The banks aren't sure if they have the legal right to foreclose on millions of homes.

Here's what's new in foreclosuregate since the Audit took up the story last week. The Bank of America announced that it would resume some foreclosures on Oct. 25, having deemed its own methods sound. The stock market begged to differ. BOA's stock fell over 5% on Thursday and other bank stocks also took a beating, as did mortgage bonds. This pattern indicates that investors are very worried about the effect of the foreclosure crisis on the health of the banks.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is calling for a foreclosure moratorium under the new Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), as Ellen Brown reports for Truthout. The FSOC has the power to preemptively break up any large financial institution that threatens U.S. economic security. Grayson wants a moratorium on all mortgages securitized between 2005 and 2008 until the FSOC can determine which foreclosures are valid and which are bogus.

The missing link

So, what kind of "defects" in the foreclosure process are we talking about? Fraud, basically.

Zach Carter of the Campaign for America's Future explains to Chris Hayes of the Nation why Bank of America and other major lenders are in so much trouble: They are just administering loans for other lenders. You make your check out to the Bank of America, but the bank is just babysitting after the loan for the bondholders.

The real creditors are the investors who own bonds made up of pieces of many different mortgages, including yours. The bond gives the bondholder a share of the money that you and other borrowers pay each month. If you don't pay, BOA initiates foreclosure. If you're late, BOA charges you fees.

However, the bank can't just hire a foreclosure company to take your home away on a whim. The bank must first show proof that it is entitled to foreclose because you've defaulted on your mortgage in the form of a mortgage note. If you hold one of those toxic asset mortgages, there's a good chance the bank doesn't have the note.

As Dean Baker explains in Truthout, in many, if not most, cases, "liar loans" (mortgages issued with no proof of income or assets) have become given way to "liar liens" (foreclosures with no proof of default).

According to Carter, all the big banks have been hiring foreclosure mills to rubber-stamp their claims without checking. Unscrupulous foreclosure companies are admitting to "robo-signing," i.e., foreclosing without even checking whether the bank's claims were legit.

Foreclosuregate

According to Andy Kroll of Mother Jones, the Bank of America stands to lose up to $70 billion over what's come to be known as "foreclosuregate." A mortgage starts out with an originator, typically a bank or a mortgage broker. In the heyday of mortgage-backed securities, investment banks were buying up hundreds of thousands of mortgages, making them into mortgage-backed bonds, and selling them to investors.

Unfortunately, if the bank doesn't have the note, who does? The mortgage originator may have gone bankrupt, many were fly-by-night operators that folded when the housing bubble burst. Many mortgages were bought and resold more than once before they found their way into a mortgage-backed bond.

So, the question is whether the bank really owned the mortgages it made into mortgage backed-securities and sold to individuals, pension funds, and other institutions. If not, the banks stand could be on the hook for selling assets they didn't actually own to investors.

Moratorium now

The scandal affects so many mortgages that some lawmakers are calling for a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures until investigators can sort out who owns what once and for all. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! that Congress needs to stop banks from putting people out on the street until there is some way to differentiate between fraudulent foreclosures and justified ones:

And so, I just think that people who are saying that this is going to hurt--I think that it's going to help, because once people gain confidence in the fact that they're being treated fairly and that there's no discrepancies in the records, then people will feel very comfortable in terms of trying to move forward. But until that happens, you're always going to have these comments about the fact that that was not done right, it was done unfairly. And, of course, I think there's enough here for us to stop and to pause and to say, let's take a look here before we move forward. So a moratorium is definitely in order.

The Obama administration opposes the moratorium on the grounds that it would hurt the housing market and thereby slow the economy. Towns counters that what would really be bad for the economy is letting banks take people's homes away without any semblance of due process. If the government doesn't act to protect the innocent, foreclosuregate could shatter the confidence of potential home buyers. Would you want to invest in a house if you were afraid the bank could just take it away from you?

In AlterNet, Mike Lux argues that fraudulent foreclosures are one more assault on poor and middle class Americans. He argues that the banks are so used to being coddled by Washington that they're counting on legislators to retroactively change the rules to protect them from the consequences of their own devious behavior.

At this point we don't know what percentage of foreclosed-upon homes have simply been stolen by banks to pay bondholders, but we do know the problem is vast and systemic. The Obama administration is content to let the banks seize private property first and ask questions later. We need a moratorium to take stock and restore the rule of law.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

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Buying a foreclosure home is a smart investment. It is an inexpensive way to buy a home, whether you are buying your first home, your last one, or if you are looking for a house to fix up and sell. Here are some good websites to visit for local home foreclosure listings in Alexandria, MN:

RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac lists Alexandria, MN real estate and home foreclosures, as well as real estate agents in the area. You can search by city and even by street name for foreclosures.

According to RealtyTrac, there were 1,886 foreclosure filings for Minnesota in January but only 420 foreclosure sales. RealtyTrac also provides information about putting your home for sale, how to buy foreclosures, neighborhood statistics, and more.

Click here to go directly to the Alexandria foreclosure homes listed at RealtyTrac.

AOL Real Estate

Here you will find a long list of foreclosures in Alexandria, MN. Along with the address, listed are: the price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the square footage of the home.

AOL Real Estate has information about the current Alexandria market and demographics, as well. You can find information such as the total number of homes for sale, the number of homes that were sold last month, and the average list price of the homes. You can also find out how many schools are in the area and other school-related information.

Click here to go directly to the Alexandria foreclosure homes listed at AOL Real Estate.

Foreclosure.com

This website also lists the price, address, and other details of the foreclosure homes in Alexandria. There is both Minnesota and Douglas county information, such as the number of foreclosures and pre-foreclosures.

A quote from the Wall Street Journal: "...we checked three [foreclosure Web sites] for listings in one neighborhood near Atlanta. Foreclosure.com was the only one of the three sites to correctly report that the price had been cut..."

Click here to go directly to the Alexandria foreclosure homes listed at Foreclosure.com.

There are many other websites that you can visit with home foreclosure listings in Alexandria, MN, but these are a few good places to start your search. In addition to foreclosure listings, on these sites you will find information about the Alexandria market and demographics, such as neighborhood and school information. Buying a foreclosure home is a smart investment and, in the end, it will be worth the little extra work you may have to put into buying one.


eric seiger

Good <b>news</b>: State seizes newborn baby after mom eats poppy seed <b>...</b>

Hey, heard a few days ago on the news that they(they meaning either health officials here in PA or it was HHS) were going to start screening all new mothers for depression several times each year. Mandatory screenings for depression. ...

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Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/10 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Kansas City Chiefs fans! Another full day of news for you. DJ, Special Teams, Parity, and this Sunday's opponent wait below. Enjoy.

eric seiger

Good <b>news</b>: State seizes newborn baby after mom eats poppy seed <b>...</b>

Hey, heard a few days ago on the news that they(they meaning either health officials here in PA or it was HHS) were going to start screening all new mothers for depression several times each year. Mandatory screenings for depression. ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: It&#39;s About The People!

Astoundingly, with the coming of social media and all that it implies for small business, there are still people who don't quite understand yet that it's all.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 11/10 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Kansas City Chiefs fans! Another full day of news for you. DJ, Special Teams, Parity, and this Sunday's opponent wait below. Enjoy.

eric seiger