RSS
The Big Crash
And you wonder why He Whose Name Shall Not Be Written's name shall not be written?
The guy can't get out of his own way!
Screws up the economy, in large part because he screwed up a war, and actually gets bipartisan support for an emergency measure and it gets shot down -- with his own party doing most of the shooting.
And the market plummets.
I used to be embarrassed I was the only Jew in America who didn't understand the market and/or own any stock.
Who's laughing now?
The guy can't get out of his own way!
Screws up the economy, in large part because he screwed up a war, and actually gets bipartisan support for an emergency measure and it gets shot down -- with his own party doing most of the shooting.
And the market plummets.
I used to be embarrassed I was the only Jew in America who didn't understand the market and/or own any stock.
Who's laughing now?
posted by Gordon Glantz at
1:37 PM
13 Comments:
Gordy, You need to read Thomas Sowell's article in todays Daily Local,your sister newspaper, entitled The Politics of Bailout is Risky Business. One of Stans' Bloggers had the right take on the situation but Sowell put it together. It has nothing to do with your genes Gordy - no one knows everything.
Gordon, blaming this crisis on Bush is a gross oversimplification of what's actually going on. Let’s agree that greedy corporate fat cats, predatory lending and George W. Bush are easy populist scapegoats. If that’s where you thinking is, you need to think harder.
The origins of this crisis did not begin eight years ago; it began in 1989. Congress amended the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to begin collecting racial data. It only took a few years for Democrats in congress to start using this data to paint banks as racist for denying loans to minorities—loans that the banks underwriters denied because of the applicants inability to pay back the loan, not because of race.
This mattered little to congressional members who see an easy point to demagogue for votes. In 1993, the Boston Fed adopted new “relaxed” lending standards under the Community Reinvestment Act. By 1995 we had “no doc” loans, where verification of income was not required, and 80/20 mortgages where buyers could finance 100% of their home purchase, including closing costs. These actions had the intended consequences of increasing homeownership, albeit for folks who probably couldn't have afforded to qualify for a mortgage traditionally: by proven cash flow and reasonable debt to income ratios coupled with 20% down money.
The Fed playing around with interest rates and the re-fi boom gave us a few more years before the bottom fell out.
In 2004, Republicans started sounding the alarm about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Democrat after Democrat—notably Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and members of the Black Congressional Caucus repeatedly told us that all was well at Fannie in the face of Repulican pressure for more oversight. It's just a coincidence that these folks were all on Fannie & Freddie's payrolls for campaign $$.
We are told now that we should just ignore the incestuous relationship between the Democrats in Congress and the failed Fannie and Freddie.
The scariest part of the whole thing is that nobody -- NOBODY reall knows what we need to do--if anything--to keep our economy from completely collapsing. Personally, I applaud the congressmen, Dems and Reps alike, who defeated the Paulson bailout plan. Anything this large is worth taking the time to do right--if in fact, we do it at all.
The most important thing to remember about the whole mess is this: It begins and ends becuase 5% of mortgage holders nationwide are not paying their loans back. Yes, many people got rich and many questionable loans were made, but ultimately, isn;t the individual resposnible for determining their solvency before they take on debt?
The roots of the crisis may not be the fault of Bush, but his administration's failure to see and correct the situation until now cannot be defended. Yes, Lisa, it may be an oversimplification to blame him but we kind of need this crisis explained in simplified terms and the shoe fits.
All that said, I think GG's point was that Bush's last minute attempt to save the day was an embarrassment.
September 22, 2008
Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CHARLES DUHIGG
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
Mr. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, has recently begun campaigning as a critic of the two companies and the lobbying army that helped them evade greater regulation as they began buying riskier mortgages with implicit federal backing. He and his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, have donors and advisers who are tied to the companies.
But last week the McCain campaign stepped up a running battle of guilt by association when it began broadcasting commercials trying to link Mr. Obama directly to the government bailout of the mortgage giants this month by charging that he takes advice from Fannie Mae’s former chief executive, Franklin Raines, an assertion both Mr. Raines and the Obama campaign dispute.
Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000. Some who came forward were Democrats, but Republicans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed their descriptions.
“The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again,” said Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, who said that while he worked there from 2000 to 2002, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together paid Mr. Davis’s firm $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis “didn’t really do anything,” Mr. McCarson, a Democrat, said.
Mr. Davis’s role with the group has bubbled up as an issue in the campaign, but the extent of his compensation and the details of his role have not been reported previously.
Mr. McCain was never a leading critic or defender of the mortgage giants, although several former executives of the companies said Mr. Davis did draw Mr. McCain to a 2004 awards banquet that the companies’ Homeownership Alliance held in a Senate office building. The organization printed a photograph of Mr. McCain at the event in its 2004 annual report, bolstering its clout and credibility. The event honored several other elected officials, including at least two Democrats, Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania and Representative Artur Davis of Alabama.
Assume! Great word, but in this case it deals with FM & FM , Investors and you-all that believed the Government would step in if FM & FM got into trouble. This in fact was not correct when the two were originally formed, the Government did NOT Guarantee - it was only the assumption of Most Investors. But, as you can see we are now doing just that; Our Great Senators and Congresspeople thought we needed to do more for people to secure loans and mortgages...they knew best - much better than the great financial institutions that were developed over many years. When tighting in the loan market was necessary they(the financial institutions) did just that and families learned to live within their income and save. Congress over many years have not learned to live within a budget - now we all pay, you can not borrow from Peter to pay Paul anymore. No more risk taking. The formula to grant a loan/mortgage needs to be followed. It's very simple... Just learn to say NO.
Another Country--If you browse around the internet it is very easyto find the YouTube video of CSPAN footage of DEm after Dem blocking reform and regualtion of Fannie and Freddie back in 2004. That being said, what's done is done.
What you don't seem to understand is that our government is not a monarchy--congress has much to answer for, sir and not everything can be laid at Bush's door. Senator Chris Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank were in charge of financial institutions' government oversight and kept saying, almost right up to the collapse, that Fannie and Freddie were just fine, move along, nothing to see here.
I have a major problem with any plan Senator Dodd or Congressman Frank are leading the charge on since they are the ones who got us into this to begin with.
Everything I have written here is easily verifiable. Do yourself a favor and read up on it.
Lisa misses the two biggest points - First, Ronald Reagan started all the deregulation that led to this ruination. George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush continued it.
The second was the overturning of Glass Steagall, the New Deal legislation that forbade the combining of brokerage firms, insurance firms, and banks. Once the firewall between them was broken we got the results we have today. To be bi-partisan although it was Phil Gramm, who was McCain's economic advisor until he said we are a "nation of whiners", who pushed all of this through a Republican controlled Congress, it was Bill Clinton following the advice of Robert Rubin, who is one of Obama's economic advisors, who signed it.
One more liar/talking head like reagan with his deregulation trickling down on people. Warm yellow snow is what it is. Palin is a talking head, too. Doesn't have any real thoughts, dan quayle in a dress, but a liar, too. CNN report - Just when you thought the whole "I can see Russia from Alaska" thing couldn't get any funnier...CNN's Gary Tuchman delivers the goods: it turns out that Sarah Palin has never seen Russia from Alaska.
Tuchman went up to the part of Alaska from which you can actually see Russia, a remote island called Little Diomede located just 2.4 miles from its Russian twin, Big Diomede.
It turns out Gary Tuchman's trip to Little Diomede sets him apart from Sarah Palin -- because she's never actually been there, nor has she set eyes on its neighbor in Russia.
Tuchman says that only 150 people live on Little Diomede, and that the town of Diomede has no streets and no cars. The poverty rate is over 40%, there is no television, and the only practical way to reach it is by helicopter. Anchorage (near Palin's hometown) is 550 miles away.
No Alaskan governor has ever visited Little Diomede, though indicted U.S. Senator Ted Stevens has made the trip. The town's residents barely knew who Palin was, and one of them didn't know she was the VP nominee.
It's going to be fun watching McCain-land spin this one, and it's going to be even more fun watching Tina Fey parody it.
Tom, it's a combination of de-regulation and new regulation that caused the problem. And you are correct about the overturning of Glass Stegall. That was a big piece of the derivative mess we have now.
Bottom line was that this was more a failure of congressional oversight--bipartisan-- than anything else. And yes, these are the folks who have crafted the holy bailout package.
All is well according to Frank and Dodd - no need for more oversight! We believed these learned men. The third person "Chucky" always seems to appear with the above two when decisions are made. Now, do you all believe, as I do, we should have term limits ??? The above men and also many other Senators are not in touch with reality. Out - Out they go, we need people that are in the 21st Century Financial Mode not like my Parents who still have their Series "E" Bonds - now that loan to the government is way over due.
Don't knock the Series "E" savings Bonds or War Bonds in the 1940-1970time frame - that was one part of my Grandparents gift to me - College and I am grateful. They had a plan for their Grandkids and it included a payroll deduction each week. It was at that time our Country needed funds and we were truly in debt because of three wars in a row so why not invest in the homeland that has been good to us and made us secure?
Let me see...Did you say Rubin? Well, why did he not do something during the Clinton Administration where this out-of-hand lending started - and became a Crisis, even though Bush did try to make Dodd and Frank understand lending strings needed to be tightened. Not everyone should own homes, renting is more their style, because they have no idea how to priortize their spending vs paycheck.
Gee, gordo - didn't know they still gave (non)journalist degrees in Cracker Jack Boxes. Can't say the world is a better place since you found one! Would make sense that Cracker Jacks still give those degrees since they still give them for democrat presidential nominees.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home