Cuomo Will Win Working Families Party Ballot Line

WFP/Cuomo summary: Cuomo gets line, will do a video rather than show up, de Blasio coming to speak soon, Teachout won't rule out Dem primary
— Blake Zeff (@blakezeff) June 1, 2014

Heard earlier from Kos that  

Cuomo having to kiss Bill de Blasio's butt in public, along that of the WFP. That base humiliation alone might be worth the price of admission.

Not much base humiliation in recording a video in his backyard and having it replayed at the WFP convention.

Of course Andy couldn't make it because Sandra Lee had just made dinner and I dunno if you've had her baked macaroni and cheese, the kind with the breadcrumbs on top, but it is just delicious and Andy didn't want to run up to Albany and miss all that yummy yummy dinner...

What a joke the Working Families Party is.

Should rename the party Whitney Tilson's Family's Party.

Nice Day To Be Shorting K-12 Inc

From Ed Week:

The stock of online provider K12 Inc. took a steep plunge this week following its release of information showing more modest projections for revenue and student enrollment than analysts had anticipated.

In a statement released this week, the company estimated its average enrollment for the schools it manages at 128,000 students for the quarter, which was up nearly 6 percent from the first quarter of the previous year, yet "below management's expectations."

The Herndon, Va.-based company also said it expected revenues for the full fiscal year to range from $905 million to $925 million, and its operating income to fall between $53 million to $57 million, numbers that disappointed analysts.

The measure of Wall Street's dim view of K12's recent showing was reflected in the company's stock price, which plummeted from more than $29 a share to about $19 a share in the day following the release of its numbers. As of mid-afternoon today, the price was hovering above $18. (K12's stock took a comparable plunge in late 2011 following a wave of criticism directed at the company, before recovering.)

Whitney Tilson said a little while back that K-12 Inc was his largest short position.

Democrat For Education Reformer Whitney Tilson Actually A Republican

No surprise here:

Hedge fund operator Whitney Tilson, described his support for Lhota in a recent edition of his email newsletter. After citing a portion of Lhota’s June education address that expressed strong support for charter schools, Tilson wrote, “I spent an hour with Joe a couple of months ago and was very impressed.” He donated $175.

To be frank, the "Democrat" part of "Democrats For Education Reform" has always been jive.

The real name of the group ought to be "Corporate Criminals For Privatization Of Public Education."

I know, I know - not as CCPPE not as catchy as DFER.

But it's certainly more accurate.

The reality is, Tilson gives to both Democrats and Republicans, but there is common ground always between all the candidates he gives money and support to, no matter what letter is after their names - they're all happy to continue the privatization game Tilson and his hedge fund criminal friends want continued.

You Can Tell A Lot About The Politics Of Education Reform By This

Just who was upset that "Waiting for Superman" was snubbed by the Oscar academy this year?

Let's see - the right-wing Washington Times, the right-wing National Review Online, and the right-wing Andrew Breitbart site Big Hollywood are all upset that "Waiting for Superman" won't be flying home this year with an Oscar statuette.

You know, when I think about three places where I can see people who care a lot about the needs of inner city people and poor people, it's at the Washington Times, at theNational Review Online and at Andrew Breitbart's site.

Oh, no - wait. That's not right.

Actually, they don't give a shit about that at all.

They care about union-busting (indeed, the hack at the Breitbart site called teachers unions one of the most evil organizations on the planet.)

But now that "Superman" got hit over the head with some Oscar kryptonite, there will be no opportunity to use the Oscars to bash teachers unions and promote a union-free future for public education.

Sad Washington Times.

Sad NRO.

Sad Andrew Breitbart.

No word yet on whether hedge fund criminal/education reformer Whitney Tilson has been saddened by this news.

But given that he claims to have started his education "reform" career after watching the Davis Guggenheim-directed "An Inconvenient Truth," I can't imagine he will be too happy.

Oh, well - there will always be some pensions for Whitney to steal and maybe even some old, poor people for him to throw out onto the sidewalk sans Medicaid.

That's the kind of stuff that Whitney likes.

Incidentally, that's the kind of stuff they like at the Washington Times, at NRO and at Andrew Breitbart's site too.

Just how did Whitney get to call himself a "Democrat" when he so clearly fits in with the right-wingers?

Dunno, but I guess you could ask the same thing about the corporate putz in the White House too.

Hey, Whitney, The SEC Believes In Fraudclosure, How Come You Don't?

Yesterday I posted that hedge fund criminal and DFER Whitney Tilson shrugged off bank abuses in foreclosures, saying:

"I'd be very surprised if there were more than 1% of people who were actually kicked out of their homes who were actually current on their payments," he told us.

He explains Foreclosure-gate in one simple sentence.

"What has happened is, some percentage of foreclosures were probably legitimate foreclosures, but the letter of law was not followed because the system wasn't designed to handle the amount of volume of foreclosures that occurred, and banks, lawfirms, etc cut corners."

On Friday, Reuters reported that the SEC is expanding its investigation into the fraudclosure mess:

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have opened a new line of inquiry in their mortgage foreclosure probe and are asking big Wall Street banks about the beginning stages of mortgage securitization, two sources familiar with the probe said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission launched the new phase of its investigation by sending out a fresh round of subpoenas last week to big banks like Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), the sources said.

The subpoenas focus on the earliest stage of the mortgage securitization process, said the sources, who requested anonymity because the probe is not public.

The sources said the SEC is asking for information about the role of so-called "master servicers" -- specialized firms that oversee the selection and maintenance of the large pool of home loans that go into every mortgage-backed bond.

In many cases, Wall Street banks that underwrite mortgage-backed securities either own their own master servicing firms or are closely aligned with one.

In the fall, the SEC began looking into the banks' foreclosure practices following allegations that mortgage servicers like Bank of America were using shoddy paperwork to evict delinquent borrowers from their homes.

The Justice Department, banking regulators and the attorneys general in all 50 U.S. states are also probing potential wrongdoing.

One of the sources said the SEC is seeking information about the role banks had in mortgage securitization. The regulator is also looking at the role trustees for the trusts that issued the mortgage-backed securities had in monitoring the performance of the underlying loans.

The SEC is looking at whether loans were properly transferred to the trusts that issued the securities, the source said.

The renewed look at the securitization process is an extension of the SEC's preliminary probe into the mortgage mess. The SEC's regional offices are all looking at some aspect of the foreclosure crisis.

In related news, both Nevada and Arizona are suing Bank of America for violating consumer protection laws in the loan modification process:

PHOENIX – Attorneys general in Arizona and Nevada filed civil lawsuits Friday against Bank of America Corp., alleging that the lender is misleading and deceiving homeowners who have tried to modify mortgages in two of the nation's most foreclosure-damaged states.

Bank of America violated Arizona's consumer fraud law by misleading consumers who tried to reduce their monthly payments to keep their homes, state Attorney General Terry Goddard said. The bank also violated the terms of a 2009 consent agreement requiring its Countrywide mortgage subsidiary to implement a loan modification program, the Arizona lawsuit alleges.

Hundreds of homeowners kept making their mortgage payments because Bank of America repeatedly assured them that their loans were being modified, Goddard said. Instead, many lost their homes anyway.

"Those people could have used that money for something else," Goddard told The Associated Press. "They were deceived into continuing to make mortgage payments when they had no hope of saving their homes."

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto told the AP that the Silver State's lawsuit was a last resort to try to get the bank to change its ways. It was filed after several discussions with bank managers led to assurances but little more.

"Clearly there is a disconnect between what Bank of America tells me at the management level and what's happening on the front line," Masto said.

Masto said separate lawsuits show the bank's problems with consumers are widespread.

"The only thing that I'm asking is that (Bank of America) give them a reasonable response in a timely manner," she said. "It is, in my perspective, a callous disregard for what we are telling them."

The SEC is expanding its investigation into fraudulent paperwork in the securitization process, Nevada and Arizona are suing BoA for massive fraud in the loan modification process, but Whitney Tilson thinks it's all good, the banks are just a little behind in the paperwork so they're speeding up the process by, you know, cutting some corners. But move along here, there's nothing to see, it's all fine and dandy, they're only breaking tiny little laws and most of these people are deadbeats anyway...

There are few people as despicable as hedge fund criminal Whitney Tilson.

Whitney Tilson Provides Excuses For Foreclosure-Gate

Leave it to hedge fund criminal Whitney Tilson to apologize for banks foreclosing on thousands of people illegally:

Hedge fund manager of T2 Partners, Whitney Tilson, would bring us back to reality.

"I'd be very surprised if there were more than 1% of people who were actually kicked out of their homes who were actually current on their payments," he told us.

He explains Foreclosure-gate in one simple sentence.

"What has happened is, some percentage of foreclosures were probably legitimate foreclosures, but the letter of law was not followed because the system wasn't designed to handle the amount of volume of foreclosures that occured, and banks, lawfirms, etc cut corners."

There you go, the scoop from Whitney Tilson - just too many deadbeats who fell behind on their payments and now the banks can't handle the volume.

But the banks are doing nothing wrong, you know - just trying to move the paperwork and foreclosures along.

Except that Tilson is dead wrong about this.

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture has been doing tons on the fraudclosure mess and you can see some links here.

The gist is, not following the letter of the law on foreclosures, foreclosing on people who paid cash for their homes, changing the locks on homes and locking people out BEFORE anything has been foreclosed upon is JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE in a land that is NOT a banana republic - property law matters.

Barry Ritholtz destroyed this jive back in October. Watch the last part of the video:




Hedge Fund criminal Whitney Tilson apparently only believes in following the letter of the law when it is in the favor of the banskters and hedge fund criminals like himself.

Property rights only matter when its the bank that owns the property.

I bet he wouldn't feel that way if he came home, found all his stuff strewn all over the lawn and the locks changed because BoA made a mistake on his mortgage.