There is a push. A push RIGHT NOW, to press our Senators to lobby the White House to appoint Dr. Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

According to several sources including cbsnews.com, thirteen senators have already signed on to this effort that has strong support of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn). They are: Sens. Mark Begich (Alaska), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Ted Kaufman (Del.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Roland Burris (Ill.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).

It’s easy to find the number of your own Senator online. Call him or her now if they are not on the above list. If you can’t get through to their D.C. office (and I couldn’t – hopefully a good sign that Senator Feinstein's office was being flooded with calls), send an e-mail and then call one of their state offices. According to www.michaelmoore.com, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has collected more than 200,000 signatures on a petition asking President Obama to nominate Warren, a Harvard law professor, to the new bureau established by the recently-passed financial reforms. PCCC is now asking its supporters to urge their senators to publicly commit to backing Warren's nomination.

Now they need to hear our voices affirming that this is what Main Street wants! I know that there is a perception that it is only the liberals or progressives who want Dr. Warren to head this bureau; but I strongly feel her appointment is the best choice for all of us – Democrats, liberals, Republicans, progressives, Libertarians, tea party folks et al  - all of us who are on Main Street and who have ever dealt with a bank or had a credit card. Her appointment would be a testament that it is the citizenry of this country, and not the corporate interests, who are at the heart of the American Spirit.

I for one include this woman – Dr. Warren – as one of my heroes. She is learned, candid, gutsy and well-spoken. She knows from whence she speaks and I trust her. Please consider calling your Senators today, and pass this on. Thanks.

What are the characteristics of NPD? They include: an inflated sense of self-importance and need for admiration, a lack of empathy for others, and extreme self-involvement. The individual with this disorder is usually arrogantly self-absorbed. They often are charismatic, and unless you get on their bad side you may not notice there is an issue. Narcissists expect to be noticed as superior, and believe any problems are caused by “other people,” and not themselves. Narcissists can react with defiance and downright cruelty when faced with criticism. (This is all on the web and you too can learn more about NPD – just “google” it).

So how does this relate to Wall Street? Do they have a sense of self-importance? Do they have a lack of empathy for what their actions have done to the American Main Street and hundreds of thousands of homeowners? When faced with HAMP, do they do everything they can to milk whatever monies possible out of homeowners and then take their homes anyway, all the while complaining that it is the homeowner at fault due to – and this one is my favorite – not submitting paperwork when asked? When challenged, like with the credit card regulations, do they lash back with innovative ways to get what they want – sort of a “catch me if you can?” Do they use money to buy power, and then believe themselves too important to be challenged, such as when Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase fame refused to debate Dr. Elizabeth Warren?

Well in my years (sigh) of experience with Narcissists, I have learned that there is NO reasoning with them. They are a brick wall. So we have to find ways around them. We have to catch them at their game, to trip them up, to hold their feet to the fire. And sometimes ignore their threats, which drives them quietly crazy.

Except we can’t ignore the problem we have with Wall Street, because of the power that our government has given them. There is some piece of the narcissist that is in the closet sucking on his/her thumb waiting for the big bad wolf to discover that they are really no more special than anyone walking the planet. Wall Street is just an industry filled with people. It is not God, nor is it King. We need to continue this fight, holding their feet to the flames of what little regulations there are, reading the often ridiculous letters they send and calling them on their flimsy facts, and proclaiming to anyone and everyone that the American Main Street is still under fire, and that these people – this industry – cannot just continue its business as usual.

When I applied for a loan mod there were no questions about how long I had been at my job. No questions about the state of my health (and I am NOT young). I worried for a time that there was some age discrimination going on, but I did get a mod. I have a friend, though, whose hardship is long-term disability, and Freddie Mac seems to be blocking approval of the loan mod offered by her servicer because they want details of the disability.

Is this legal?

I’m talking about a woman whose disability was confirmed over ten years ago. What follows one of several e-mails from her negotiator about Freddie Mac asking for the information I’m writing about, even after the homeowner provided a signed statement regarding the disability and documentation on disability and Medicare payments:

Good morning xxxx,

….I understand this information will be extremely difficult to get but I did have to ask since the investor (Freddie Mac) is requesting it. And as far as the exact documentation they are requesting, let’s be safe and provide documentation on the date of disability and the date of determination.

If someone has documentation confirming permanent disability for himself or herself or a family member, and that documentation is proof of a steady income, it really shouldn’t matter what date that disability started.

The banks are not determining eligibility of those who have a standard job based on how long they have been employed in the position for which they provided a check stub. They ask for at least one month's check stubs and bank statements. When a homeowner has a renter in their home they ask for information about the money provided by that renter. They don’t ask when the renter started living with you. Why does Freddie Mac, then, need information about when a person’s disability started before they can be approved for a mod?

Another place to go for information, solace, and hell of a lot of very smart ideas is www.beingmiddleclass.org.

Most of the women and men who are members of BeingMiddleClass.org are people who have been immersed in loan modification hell for months, if not years. We are in this fight to stay, and we are all over the map in terms of where our cases stand. Most are still fighting with the banksters; some have lost their homes to foreclosure; some are fighting in the courts; some are fighting by phone, e-mail and certified letter. There are even some who have permanent loan modifications, but too many of us are still struggling with banksters who seem to have left their humanity at the doors of their offices.

BeingMiddleClass.org was started because seven women, who met on another website that we thought was to be a help for homeowners but turned toxic, realized we still needed a place to strategize, share and provide support. Daily e-mails between the seven began to seem selfish, because there are thousands of others who need support, and there is a lot to learn if Main Street is EVER going to thrive again. We believe strongly in learning from and contributing to www.shamethebanks.org and other websites that have the health and well-being of the American Main Street as their priority.

When you are in loan modification hell you feel like you are going crazy at times. www.beingmiddleclass.org is a place where you can safely say that it is making you feel like a crazy person. You create a name for yourself that the readers cannot trace back to you unless you want them to. If you want to send a personal message to one of the members, you can. Your posts will be protected, but there is a covenant amongst the members that negative, mean, or toxic posts will not be admitted. Of course you can agree to disagree, but that is different.

We invite you to take a look at this site, if you are a person who is going through the trauma of trying to get a mod, if you are facing foreclosure, or if you are on the brink of either. We absolutely cannot guarantee you will save your home. We can guarantee that you will get thoughtful, often smart, often surprising responses and willingness to try to help you figure out your next move. And you will not feel so alone.

Signed:

Lori Kelly

Barbara Caldwell

Teresa May Oakes Beougher

Dottie Kile

Catherine Drake

Debra Richards

Angie Burke

This has been an 18 month struggle, and I wish I knew what part of what I did – which e-mail, which fax, which phone call made the difference. As yet I’m not at all sure. I am grateful yes for getting this, but I wish I had something to share with everyone about what the secret was. I think it is a crap shoot.

I was denied for a mod three times. Hardship not permanent. Insufficient income. Too much income. But I kept pushing. I’ve a record of faxes and e-mails and certified letters and copies to everybody I could think of, as do thousands of others.

Only one possibility to offer, but it hangs by a thread as the reason I might have gotten this. I sent a complaint in to the OCC (which in itself is – I know – nothing), but I also wrote my Senators. Senator Boxer pushed. She sent in a complaint to the OCC on my behalf. So did my congressman, Thompson, from CA.

After I got the first paperwork from Chase (and before I got the mod back signed by them) they sent me a confirmation letter that I had the HAMP. The letter acknowledged several e-mails and letters I had sent to Dimon, Lowman, Boxer and the OCC over the past year and a half. The letter was cc’d to Boxer and the OCC.

Why oh why did they feel the compulsion to copy the letter to Boxer and the OCC? Hmm. I would love to know. I would love to know what the secret is to getting a mod. Is it being a pain in the you know what? For sure it is not giving up, but I know others who have pushed and pressed and still no mod. Maybe it IS just a crap shoot.