But! Clarence always shows up....

Yeah, that's George.  George Bailey.  The man who held on through feast and famine and declared for all of us ...the human experience in twisting and tangling with right and wrong.  Monumental in his battles was keeping the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan, a community thrift, open for his neighbors.  He's my hero.  Always has been.  Always will be... I'll be spending time with George, Mary, Uncle Billy and all the rest of the folk in Bedford Falls this month.  Reminds me who I am and where I stand in the order of evolution... like George, down at Martini's Bar with an angel, helping to give out more wings and lifting my glass to the season.  Or in some years, crying in my drink, talking to angels. (Hey, it's part of my job description!)

Meet Jackie Ramos and her story. 

That's Jackie... she was somebody's Clarence Oddbody... you know?  Until BofA, truly the 'old man Potter' of the day, shut her down.  A compelling story of tangling and twisting between goodness and the unkind profiteering of big corporate business in America.  Noting that slavery was also legal at one point in our country, Jackie presents the disturbing reality that has become banking since the TARP monies of the bailout.  The immorality of profiteering on the people who bailed them out is evident.  They outclass the corner loan sharks in rates and their complete disposal of humanity is pretty friggin' terrifying!   Noel, Noel!  read about it...

The President's foreclosure program has officially failed to help the most needy in the crowd.

[The watchdog panel had expressed early doubts about the program's ultimate success, noting that as of Sept. 1, only 1,711 homeowners had received a permanent modification, less than two percent of those eligible at the time.

The administration set a three-year goal of offering 3 to 4 million homeowners lower mortgage payments through a modification. But, looking at JPMorgan Chase, with 85 percent of those who actually apply for the modifications being denied, that's just not going to happen.

Meanwhile, foreclosures continue to mount. The number of delinquent borrowers continues to set record highs. Wall Street, however, expects to receive bonuses not seen since the height of the credit bubble.]   Well!  Doesn't that sound like business as usual... under a different fucking administration! 

The only one coming close to the archetype of George Bailey is; Barney Frank. 

[A revision to the House financial reform bill adds $3 billion in federal aid to help unemployed people facing foreclosure and $1 billion to fight urban blight.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank added the funding -- which would use money left over from the government's bank bailout -- after the Congressional Black Caucus abruptly shut down a vote on the bill last month, citing concerns that neither Congress nor the Obama administration was doing enough to help minorities who have been disproportionately affected by the financial crisis.]  Yet, it simply isn't working.  The Munga Elephant oriented Big Corporate Banking community is slipping it to the needy public and denying almost any cash flow for any purpose!  Hello Mr. Potter!  Set during the Great Depression, "It's A Wonderful Life" exposed the nature of the common people and their goodness, their need to help one another and the overbearing greed of the few.  At the time, the government actually set up the Hayes Commission to oversee the 'credulity and ethics' of film makings, so as to censor the content of any film that dispatched unsettling messages, like throw the muther fuckers out of office!  Or don't use the big banks.  REally!   Frank Capra was a liberal.  No surprise, huh?   Just another staryeyed dreamer who believed in the common person to rise up to the challenges before them and overcome them, with a little help from their friends and perhaps some from on high. 

So where's Clarance?  This is my official seasonal shout out to Clarance Oddbody AS2!  We sure need ya buddy!