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G.O.P. Congresscritters Find The Obama-Crowley-Gates Incident To Outweigh Record Unemployment Rates, Soaring National Debt, Record Home Foreclosures, And Growing Poverty Rates In Terms Of Urgency…
Here we go again — the mystery of the “Incredible Shrinking Republican Party”, which at last tally, was deemed to be less popular than aids, China and the legalization of marijuana (Mark Ambinder of The Atlantic) — has now decided to set all that “trivial” stuff mentioned in the sub-headline to this column behind to focus on more immediate and important things.
That’s right — they’ve (the Republican Party under the “solid leadership” of Thaddeus McCotter — R-MI) decided President Barack Hussein Obama needs to say the words “I apologize” (/quote — The Hill) directly to every police officer in the United States despite the fact he DID apologize in his own way yesterday by arranging for a three-way “Beer Summit” between himself, Cambridge (MA) police sergeant James Crowley and the quirky, overly-cranky black racist Harvard professor by the name of Henry Louis Gates.
Yeah, that’s a great idea, Congressman. That’s a great way to grow your ridiculous party’s (not saying the Democratic Party isn’t, by the way) shrinking ranks during this dark hour in America. The “I’ve got it, let’s change the name of the Democratic Party to The Democrat Socialist Party!!!” — James Bopp, Jr. (R-Of Course) idea didn’t work worth a crap, so you’d think they, as a party, might have learned from that stupidity and figured it out, would you not? Don’t give them so much credit though — as already implied, the G.O.P. is making a collective “ass” out of itself again, which is a damned shame to an independent (small “I” on purpose), Liberal (large “L” on purpose) libertarian (small “L” on purpose) who believes a HUGE part of our problem begins with the two-party system CARTEL.
I miss the days when there was an actual “Liberal” party and an actual “Conservative” party duking it out on the hill during the day and drinking beers together in peace like ladies and gentlemen after hours.
I guess just makes me a sentimental clown?
***
Hell,Guns, our dem contolled State Senate and Assembly are finding time to debate, and likely pass, a bill that makes it illegal for an individual to transfer more than 50 rounds of handgun ammo, including .22 LR, per month to anyone, including family members, unless they regester as an ammo dealer. If they have time for something like that with our budget the way it it, I have no problem with the GOP going after the Racist in Chief for his bigoted, race baiting comments.
We are finally seeing him show what both GOP and conservatives were saying about him during the campaign come out.
@Whinypants: The topic is the GOP’s obsession with trivialities, which shows how degraded and irrelevant it has become. The topic was not “The Democrats do it too!!!! The Democrats do it too!!!!! So there!!!!” I’d love to see a conservative, who according to ancient legend is supposed to be into the idea of taking responsibility for one’s actions, actually say, “Yes, my party really sucks on this one. Period.” Try it sometime and see if you can do so without blaming Clinton or shrieking about the latest Dem outrage. People will only admire you for it.
Wrong. The topic is the debacle waiting to happen in the form of socialized health care – as in the Failed systems available in Canada, England, etc. O’bummer has managed to get his Socialist agenda out of the spotlight for a while by pitting the press and dems against republicans over a Non-issue.
So, a cop in Cambridge has an altercation with an old buddy of O’bummer’s, and somehow the dem’s try to spin it as somehow a republican issue? Get real Obama-bots.
In the meantime, Rahm (never let a crisis go to waste) Emanuel is scurrying around Washington like a little rodent, trying to force the 60 or so democrats who oppose the very poorly thought out and impossible to implement ‘health care’ plan to fall into lock step with their goose-stepping leaders.
Again, the only thing “Bi-partisan” about the socialized health care plan is the Opposition to it.
But who could tell? O’bummer has y’all beating on each other over a non-issue in Cambridge that was likely as staged as an O’bummer ‘press conference.’
Bad Dog- Thaddeus McCotter’s proposal is a silly loss of time at best, at worst it just adds more fuel to a fire that needs to be cooled. Thaddeus needs to stop wasting his time and get back to the important job of destorying the American economy with run away spending. Would that suffice? Because it is all Clinton’s fault. Darn! Made it to the end of the paragraph but it still slipped out.
@Mike: Thanks for the laugh, and for having consistent principle. Hat tip to you, sir. One day I hope to make a Keynesian of you.
@FanB: Thanks for fulfilling my stereotype of the angry right winger, and for confirming that the stereotypical angry right winger thinks anybody to the left of Adolf Hitler is a Socialist [cue scary organ music and Glenn Beck's manly sobs]. Hope you never get sick without insurance, dude. Then it will suck to be you. I can see you now, scurrying to Canada for a handout.
Heres a top of my head list of more NANNY STATE OPTIONS:
1. I think all Hollywood movie stars under the new NANNY state should only make 750,000 dollars per movie and can do no more then one movie per year.
2. Root canals/crowns no longer cost 2200 dollars each but should be a more reasonable 200 dollars each.
3. Eye glasses are way to expensive. No more then 20 dollars for the exam and 100 dollars per pair of glasses.
4. Athletes should have their contracts renegotiated. All NON American citizens are exempt from these rules. All American citizen athletes must be allowed to make not more then 750,000 dollars per year and…AND the designated hitter rule should be eliminated. Pitchers already only work once every 5 days. Whats up with that?
5. The border fence should be torn down and ALL of Mexico invited to join America so that wages can be depressed farther and that the Democrats will be ensured of a bright future as they continue to vote for socialism/communism with their fascist party trends.
6. Last but not least. All Congressman and senators should be allowed a pay raise to 750,000 dollars per year. In addition they too should have to stand in the socialized line when they need health care. Anyone caught going to a private doctor on the side will be arrested and said doctors who are providing additional services that are not CONTROLLED BY THE STATE…will have their license removed…….NO BOOTLEGGING MEDICAL CARE.
Just a few of my Nanny State solutions for the future consideration.
Boy Bad Dog, you really like to use the ol’ dem talking points and accusations. Loved the attempt at a Hitler reference, nice try.
Not angry though, actually I’m very happy with my life. Just doing my part to prevent the dems and Obama from trying to take what I’ve earned. Or more importantly, what our children have yet to earn.
But I’m gonna head out fishing now. Party later today and bonfire tonight. That’s how angry I am.
I’m out.
Peace.
Mike 300 – I’m here in SC and I really like Jim DeMint too, especially on fiscal issues. He was one of the lone voices when “W” went on his “bi-partisan” spending sprees. (Of course, what do I know – I though Mark Sanford had a good head on his shoulders too, ha ha ha).
If O’Bomber increases the deficit more than “W” in only 4 years (and he’s heading that way), I hope the voters of the USA will be smart enough to give him the boot. The next Pres needs to bring an endless supply of VETO pens and stop the growth of the Fed Gub’mint vs GDP. If that happens, maybe I will stop voting 3rd party for Presidential elections.
Both parties have a short memory when it comes to fiscal discipline once they get in power. This is a huge problem (perhaps the biggest IMHO) with regards to our freedom.
Steve
P.S.; Note that the LEFT was locked and loaded in terms of taking advantage of the Gates issue. It was only when the truth came out (witnesses plus audio records) that they backed off. Kudo’s to the GTL for being as fair as a lefty can be here in these last 3 posts
@FanDB: It takes a talking point to know a talking point, I guess. I only used the Hitler reference because I want you to like me and casual references to Hitler and World War Two are all the rage with the cool right wingers. Obama wants to raise taxes on the richest 1% to a rate lower than during the Clinton years? Hitler! Obama wants to make it easier for workers to unionize without intimidation? Hitler! Obama passes the salt during dinner? Hitler! Anyhow, hope you enjoyed your relaxing bonfire. Was it books? By the way, all you right wingers on this site, with your insulting references to the President and our Commander in Chief (during wartime, gasp, which is TREASON by right winger standards), I’ve decided to come up with my own cute nickname for Bush. President Horrorshow. I think that really captures the essence of the man, don’t you think? The word instantly brings up a mental image of Bush. And while we’re naming names, I’m going to come up with my own name for the Republican Party, a la the “Democrat Socialist Party.” Here it is: “The Nazi Republican Party.” Has a ring to it, don’t it?
@Doomed: LMAO. You right wingers aren’t satisfied with threatening secession while the country is at war over imagined offenses, like FEMA concentration camps, you have to come up with new fantasies. Are you Michelle Bachman?
@Mike300: You’re a voice of sanity. Please take back your party from the lunatic fringe (President Eisenhower’s words, not mine!) so the Republicans can go back to being the voice and arm of true conservatism in this country (and not the cartoonish attempt at fascism we saw over the last 8 years). There are many appealing conservative values, and we will need them all in the years ahead. Personally, I find the Democrats a big disappointment (although again I find no comparison with the Republicans, who live in la la land), including our President, although there are a few gems like Russ Feingold and even Bernie Sanders. If you ever want to check out a great liberal voice on radio, try Thom Hartman. The man’s a genius. He’ll make you think.
@Joe Lovell-Thanks for posting the pictures in the previous post of you. You are absolutely right, if you were just taking a stroll on the public street in front of my house, I might “suggest” to the police to check out suspicious looking people in my neighborhood.
Just helping with neighboorhood watch program.
@Bad dog- Thanks for those kind words, yes I’m “moderate enough” to vote for any democrate that has an existing record of cutting spending, if I could ever find one. Hard to find republicans that cut spending too. I know, go ahead and say it for the millionth time, Clinton’s annual budget was in the black a couple of years. But I have to take you to task for daring to imply I’m sane. You simply don’t know me well enough to disparage me with such a term! In my defense, I’ll share with you that I believe in abortion, parents should have the right to abort a child until at least the child’s 12th birthday. Now I dare you to slur me with the term sane!
Bad Dog: I don’t want to disappoint, but, no books. Just dead trees. (And a couple of dem’s who were convicted by accusation of being witches)
Regarding the naming issues, what can I say, Paybacks are Hell.
And more importantly, since it is quickly becoming clear that O’bummer’s economic “strategy” is a total Failure, why is it that the lefties expect anything more from his ‘health care’ plan?
As O’bummer’s administration is racking up one Failure after another, it seems that is becoming the theme of his presidency – Failure.
Have a nice day.
@FanDB: So after six months Obama hasn’t cleaned up President Freakshow’s train wreck fast enough for you. So sorry! You definitely have a right to judge.
Payback is indeed hell.
@Mike: In my view taxes aren’t the issue. It’s what you get for them. If I were to tell you I would cut your taxes but you’d have to pay for your own food inspections, would you vote for me? What would you give up? Resource allocation is the essence of politics. Not the wanktard daily mock outrage the right wingers like to get their panties in a knot about, I’m talking about real politics, the kind that isn’t ready visible on cable news. So what would you cut?
The trick to Keynesian economics is you’re supposed to balance the budget and pay down debt in the good times, and increase spending in the bad times, in order to manage the volatility of the free market that prior to WWII fairly frequently wrecked the country. So I don’t mind big spending right now, as we’re in a major recession that threatened to become worse, one that was clearly caused by free market policies, and since the Fed can’t lower interest rates any lower than zero, the only way out of this “liquidity trap” is big government spending. In previous years, I did mind deficit spending because the economy wasn’t contracting, and a part of the deficit was being spent on a big drug program that was a giant giveaway to Big Pharma, and another part was due to a war in Iraq that made zero sense before, during or after the invasion. At least now, with the Obama stimulus, we’re supposed to be getting some things we can actually use. And again, it’s necessary–unfortunately.
What concerns me the most is the day of reckoning that’s coming if interest rates ever spike. As it is right now, about 10% of our taxes goes to pay interest on the national debt–it’s really about 20%, I believe, once you take away the plundering of Social Security (making me wish we had Al Gore’s “lock box,” which would have helped us all, but he sighed too much and he’s a smarty pants, so screw him). That means we work more than 2 months a year for which we don’t get guns, we don’t get butter, we get ZERO. As the Debt increases, and if interest rates go up, this share will only get bigger and bigger, and we’ll all be working for banks more and more. Oh, and here’s the best part. A large part of the debt as you know is owned by foreign central banks. So we spend a good part of the year working for the rich jerks who got us into the mess as well as the Communist government of China and the government of Saudi Arabia, where 19 of the 9/11 hijackers came from.
“Obama hasn’t cleaned up President Freakshow’s train wreck fast enough ” — that comment alone defines the depth to which the liberals are unable to understand the complexities of our economy.
“one that was clearly caused by free market policies” – Even more laughable than the comment pointed out by F&B is this one. You can place the blame for our current economy on a lot of people (both Dems and Reps) but not on the free-market. The gov’t has been screwing with (or just screwing) our economy for decades.
@FanDB: Your generalization is as weak as your posts. I know right wingers famously look down their noses at learning and education in general (the elitism of the dopes), but these are complex issues, so please catch up.
@SJ: It’s especially funny when one’s laughter is itself laughable (hint: I’m laughing at you). If you don’t understand the role neoliberalism and subsequent deregulation played in the current economic crisis, then you will be hopelessly trapped in your ideological Oz and we’ll never get you back. The only thing the government did wrong was go too far in deregulating the banking and financial industries and not enforcing regulations already on the books. That fist crushing millions of Americans right now is the invisible hand of the free market, not the iron first of your Stalinist O’boogieman.
Bad Dog: “look down their noses at learning and education in general” — You have your parties mixed up. It is mainly liberal politicians whose fortunes rise and fall with the tide of the unwashed and uneducated masses. As for me personally, I just completed an undergrad degree and master level graduate degree in four years while working full time and supporting my wife, 3 children, and 2 dogs. So, no, I am not opposed to education in any way. In fact, the more educated people become, the more likely they are to be conservative. The uneducated tend to vote democrat.
The one problem I do have with ivory tower liberal educators is their lack of real world experience, and their attempt to compensate for it by spouting text book jargon that either doesn’t apply, or exists only within the vacuum of academia. The way to get the best part of an education is to learn to apply the concepts from the ivory tower to the real-world scenarios that people have to deal with every day. It isn’t always as neat and tidy as the textbook examples, but textbooks don’t interact with each other, businesses, people, and governments do. So a solution that works under one set of conditions, may not work under another.
“complex issues, so please catch up” — Good one Bad Dog. You really let me have it good, didn’t you. But pay attention now, if you watch closely, you’ll see that I tend to be ahead of the curve most of the time. Not always, but usually.
I wasn’t going to nit-pick your post, however . . . “the only way out of this “liquidity trap” is big government spending” — That statement demonstrates a failure to understand the lessons of history that are available to us. Follow closely liberals… What you are suggesting here, BD, is the same thing Japan tried during their decade-plus long recession in the 90′s. The end result of an analysis of Japanese monetary and fiscal policies during that time period is that this approach did not work. The government tried to stimulate their economy by dumping money into it, primarily through a number of infrastructure projects, etc (sound familiar?). The fiscal policies failed to improve the economy, but the budget deficits and national debt rose dramatically (again, sound familiar?). What is needed to break the “liquidity trap” is for the government to ensure a steady growth in the money supply, which will help create the expectation of future inflation. This helps banks by allowing them to charge higher interest rates, and it helps borrowers by creating a scenario in which the higher interest rates are acceptable because of inflationary pressure (i.e. ‘real’ interest rates are lower than nominal rates due to inflation). Money starts flowing again, and the government’s role is very small. Many also argue that the “Great Depression” was exacerbated by the big-spending programs instituted by FDR, similar to the scenario in Japan. If we’re not careful, O’bummer’s spending plans could drive our economy in another depression.
Even with a fiscal policy that allows these events to happen the way they need to, the banks have to be careful not to lend to high risk borrowers. It was the unrestrained lending forced by the CRA under Carter, then re-enacted and enhanced under Clinton, that really led to the crisis in mortgage foreclosures. People bought houses they could not afford. This went on for decades until the housing price bubble collapsed, which then resulted in the situation we face now.
@The People of Alaska: Congratulations!
@FanDB: At last, a worthy adversary. Thanks for your articulate post, which laid out a thoughtful argument. Obviously, I disagree with it, though. Your belief that the uneducated tend to vote Democrat may satisfy your ideological convictions (and it is true to an extent in red states), but does not line up with reality. See here:
http://www.ginandtacos.com/education.jpg
http://www.gallup.com/poll/106381/obama-education-gap-extends-general-election.aspx
Red states DO however lead the nation in a few things. Porn, divorce rates and teenage pregnancy:
http://voxnova2.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/27blowlarge1.jpg&imgrefurl
http://images.dailykos.com/images/user/3/teenpreg.png
And handouts from the ewill Federal government, courtesy of my taxes and others like me in the blue states:
http://www.bradblog.com/Images/RedStateWelfareQueens.jpg
In return the red states pollute the air my wife and kid breathe:
http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/redblue2.png
@All Red States: Next time you feel like smugly moralizing, have a nice hot cup of stfu! Either that or stop threatening to secede and GO AHEAD AND DO IT NOW, PLEASE.
@FanDB: Glad to see you are ahead of the curve. Did you march against the Iraq War and denounce it as a waste of blood, treasure and national prestige? I’ll bet you did.
Regarding the economy, there are many smarter people than you and me fighting this out. Japan did not do a big stimulus. They poured money into the banks to shore up the money supply, but it wasn’t enough. Same happened during the Depression. FDR’s stimulus spending worked until 37, when he listened to the Republicans and cut back on it.
[By the way, if you are in our large albeit weakening middle class, you should thank the Democrats for creating a healthy middle class years ago via the following policies: universal education (and the GI Bill), laws protecting unionization of labor, and social security. Just as I would never join a union doing what I do now (small business owner), my family were all union electricians before me, and so I thank the unions. You might do the same for liberals by giving them some credit for your opportunities.]
Back to the economy, what you seem to think is the answer is to pour more money into the banks, or otherwise nationalize them. I agree with nationalization, and then sell them off later, and then properly regulate them so they don’t take such huge risks with the nation’s wallet in the future. But that logic assumes the free market is fallible, nay, even destructive if not managed, so we have to tow the line and continue the same mistakes Bush made.
Funny you brought up CRA. It’s an argument I’ve heard countless times before, as it’s a major rightie talking point. Too bad it’s wrong. The foreclosures resulting from that program are a small fraction of the overall foreclosures, the large majority being caused by banks making risky investment decisions, thanks to deregulation and lax enforcement of surviving regulations. If you understand economics, you will understand why the banks crashed the economy: They had incredible incentive to do it. A lot of people got very rich doing it. Blame the poor all you want, but this is a simple fact. It’s the same reason why corporations undergo M&A even though the fact is most mergers fail and most of the rest break even: CEOs make money by making the value of their stock volatile, so they can cash out and become incredibly rich, so they play Russian roulette with other people’s lives and wealth. Until we cast off the free market ideology of the past, we’ll go on seeing the economy crash. Next time, it might be the $60 trillion credit default swap market. Then those guns you own will come in very handy:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082694/
Just wrote a very long response to FanDB, and it evaporated when I clicked “submit comment.” Oh well. Have a good one.
Bad dog- my short work break doesn’t allow a proper answer, but I read part of what you said, I’ll read more later and respond at a later time.
@Bad Dog — Sorry about your comment. Somehow it got caught in the spam bin but I’ve rescued it, my friend
All hail the GTL! Thanks for rescuing my poor wandering comment and posting it.
So little time- good questions Bad dog, as far as the voting, a promise to cut taxes or spending holds little water with me, a proven record would be better, That said if both promise cutting, my rule of thumb is to go against the incumbant who hasn’t done it yet.
Food inspection to me doesn’t seem broke, I wouldn’t be inclined to cut and/or turn it over to a private system , but it would be a BIG YES, to considering it if someone presented trying an alternative. I’d definately be open to the ideas.
The pharmacy bill you speak of is Yes, a great example of government waste by republicans.
@Mike 300: What if a corporation came forward and said, “We’ll do food inspections and we’ll be more efficient.” And say the government, mistakenly believing that corporations are more efficient but actually aren’t because they have to make a profit while government doesn’t, handed over the process to corporations, turning a once transparent, accountable process into an opaque process protected by the bizarre Constitutional rights given to corporations. So we’d take a function performed by big, dumb government and hand it over to a big, dumb corporation for about the same cost, or more, while we, the People, would have zero accountability. This is what we’ve done to our elections process. It’s even worse what has been done to our troops in Iraq by companies like Halliburton. Is this a good deal? Am I wrong? Is there an example of where private enterprise took over a government function and didn’t rip off the public treasury? Why is government evil but corporations are good? I guess I just don’t get it.
Regarding #18 Bad Dog – I’m afraid your post falls under the “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull$4it” umbrella. I don’t have time to address it point by point, however, it is important to note that the most sweeping generality to remember is that one should avoid the use of sweeping generalities, especially when dealing with complex issues. Another is the importance of not confusing correlation with causality, and not confusing coincidence with correlation. I know red-state/blue-state maps are all the rage during elections, but generalizing at the state level does little to help solve real problems. In fact it is worse than useless because it can allow the conveyance of inaccurate information in a misleading format.
The use of blogs, especially the Daily Kos, as references is also very weak. I have some published studies on teen pregnancy and birth rates. I’ll get the links later and post them here. Reviewing the studies may be a real eye opener for you, if you really believe the data you linked to from “gin and tacos” (yeah, there’s a good reliable reference) and the Kos. By the way, the Kos kicked me off after two posts – they don’t allow dissent over there.
I also have some voter demographic vs education data that you might be interested in, but I don’t know if it is available on-line. I will check it out. It breaks it down more accurately than state-by-state and is more recent than the link above.
To the main point, No, you don’t pour money into the banks or nationalize them. The government has to maintain a steady growth in the money supply through the Fed. Some inflation is a good thing, but not too much. Modest inflation creates certain desirable expectations among banks and borrowers that will break a “liquidity trap”. When inflation is running along at a moderate pace, banks can charge higher interest rates. They are more willing to lend. When inflation is at or near zero, and interest rates are at or near zero, banks would rather hold their money than lend it. When inflation is moderate, borrowers understand that they can borrow money today and pay it back with “cheaper” dollars. The only way the government needs to be involved is to continue printing money at a reasonable pace.
Re the CRA, etc. First, I don’t blame to poor, I blame the stupid. People making 50 or 60K bought 350K houses in an inflated market and put zero down. The democrats were just aas responsible as the republicans for making regulations that allowed this to happen. Further, the bundled securities that amounted to trillions of dollars, that led directly to the collapse, were not only approved by dem’s but encouraged by the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. So to blame the situation solely on President Bush and his administration is childish and naive. Or worse, intentionally attempting to mislead, as Comrade Pelosi, Comrade Frank, Comrade Dodd, and most of all Comrade Obama are trying to do.
to clarify; …I don’t blame the poor…
@FanDB: I thought sweeping generalizations were a right wing specialty. I’m just playing back your own Party’s anthem to you. Why does it sound like crap coming from the other side?
I was surprised that you tried to nail me on citing “ginandtacos.com” and the other sites, as you’re smarter than that. I wasn’t citing them. They are simply real estate where the data resides. The data came from other, third-party, reputable sources that are clearly labeled on the graphics. I wouldn’t even bring it up if I didn’t have to have red state moral purity and superiority shoved down my throat, and suffer the brunt end of obnoxious sweeping generalizations about blue staters, by the right wing entertainment apparatus that passes for news in this country for eight solid years.
The fact remains that by state with % of population with bachelor degrees, and by degree of education, people tend to vote Democrat. This shouldn’t be surprising, given the standard disparaging right winger views on TV of science, education and reality (the world is 6,000 years old, etc.), and the fact that today’s GOP is neither conservative or liberal, but borderline fascist. Educated people simply tend not to be as gullible. And they tend not to confuse misinformed rage, usually, with actually knowing what’s going on.
But to your point that one shouldn’t make sweeping generalizations, I actually agree. I just like dishing back the crap I had to eat for eight years, and see what it tastes like to the chef.
Regarding the banks, what you’re saying would work in normal times, but these aren’t normal times, and the Fed has run out of options. It dropped interest rates practically to zero. You can’t go below zero, and it would need to. It can “create” money, which it also did, but the money got gulped down by the banks and foreign central banks and their shareholders, and as the Fed didn’t ask for any accountability or transparency, we now have all this new debt with nothing to show for it, and the root problem still not addressed. I’m baffled that you can’t see how we can have a financial system given direct incentive to make high-risk decisions, and yet these institutions are too big to fail (or cause financial collapse with mass, long term misery), but you don’t think government should try to regulate them in any way to protect the public from the very probable destruction that would ensue. When the industry was properly regulated and those regulations properly enforced, we actually had a stable financial industry for decades. When those regulations were removed or not enforced properly, the financial industry crashed the economy in volatile swings typical of a textbook free market. It’s laughable to think some bad loans through CRA could cause this kind of damage; the numbers don’t add up that it played any real role. Why can you not see this?
So regarding the financial crisis, when you say “the Democrats were just as responsible,” I think you mean to say, “Some Democrats were just as responsible.” But I take your point. But the Democrats had slim to no control over the Senate since the mid 90s until 2008 and were a minority in the House until 2006, so putting real blame on the Democrats for this debacle is simply not being honest. What ticks me off about the Democrats is they are taking Il Duce Bush’s failed policies, and taking ownership of them; an example is pouring money into banks without asking for anything in return, and then watching in dismay as the banks do little with it.
You can blame stupid people all you want, but they made rational decisions right out of a microeconomics textbook. They were told real estate was up and would keep going up with no end in sight, all courtesy of CNBC, Fox News and the other networks; after all, to do otherwise would be to criticize Der Fuhrer’s economy, and anybody doing so was ridiculed (see Peter Schiff interviews on YouTube, they’re hilarious). Banks came to these people and offered them acquisition of real property with little money down and very little risk. So they bought their homes (why wouldn’t they?), and when the market fell, they saw their debt as larger than the value of their home, and they had almost no equity, so they foreclosed and eliminated their obligation legally and with small loss. And you blame this on the consumer? No offense, but I thought you understood the free market, FanDB. Everything happened exactly as it should in classic economics. The consumer had bad information, but acted rationally based on that info.
How do we fix it? Since we can’t (and shouldn’t) require Fox News to properly inform consumers, we should remove the incentive for the banks to offer the high-risk loans. But that would require government intervention. Would you allow this?
“we should remove the incentive for the banks to offer the high-risk loans” — The CRA forced banks to make the high risk loans. (In his relationship with ACORN, Obama sued banks who were not meeting their quotas of high risk loans.)** The government (read democrat) program forced banks to make loans they knew were very high risk to people they knew could not afford them, that program is responsible for a large part of the bank related issues that precipitated the market crash last October. So, yes, I would be in favor of removing or altering the democrat program that directly led to a meltdown of the housing and financial markets.
It is strange that you always sound so bitter when you mention Fox News.
“the numbers don’t add up that it played any real role” — Actually, in 2007, mortgage backed securities for sub-prime, balloon, ARMs, etc amounted to SEVEN TRILLION dollars. Hundreds of billions of these loans are in default. I would say that is enough money to do a little more than play a real role.
I never said banks should not be regulated.
All people have to take responsibility for their own actions. Whether it is committing voter registration fraud as so many ACORN Obama-bots did, or acquiring a mortgage. If something appears too good to be true, it is.
And again, it is not about lowering interest rates, it is about creating a moderate inflation rate. Inflation drives interest rates up. Banks make money on loans so they are willing to lend. People borrow now to avoid higher prices later, and they get to pay back with cheaper dollars. High inflation is bad, but no inflation can be even worse. You don’t borrow money to create inflation, you print money to create inflation. Just have to be careful and keep it under control.
** This ties in with my post on “Newest Challenge for the GOP…” which mentions the fact that Comrade Obama has hired lawyers to prevent access to his client list while working for a Chicago law firm.
This one has been beat to death. I’m done here.
@FanDB: I agree we’re done, as you either intentionally or accidentally misread by comment. Some final thoughts because I just can’t let you go on living your life in a fantasy world.
CRA did not play a major role in the financial crisis. This is a right wing talking point that is not supported by the facts. Lord, man, CRA was enacted in 1977! I mean WTH? Are you kidding me? Do you really, really think this?
Unfettering the financial industry, allowing banks to make billions by offering bad loans to ANYBODY AND HIS DOG, did create the crisis. That SEVEN TRILLION dollar number you cited was created courtesy of the free market, not the ewill guvmint.
Here’s the Philadelphia Fed saying CRA played no role in the crisis, based on an exhaustive independent study by people who actually know what they’re talking about:
http://www.philadelphiafed.org/publications/annual-report/2008/no-evidence.cfm
How can you not see, based on this clear evidence right in front of you, that a free market only works perfectly for itself, not for people?
As for people taking responsibility for their actions, they did. The banks sold them a good deal, they took it, and they legally foreclosed when the market turned. It’s ridiculous logic, anyway. I mean, do you also blame rape victims for wearing short skirts?
Regarding Fox News, I reserve a level of disdain worthy of the lying propaganda arm of the crazy wing of the Republican Party. How can anybody have a real debate with people who believe the earth is 6,000 years old and Obama is not a US citizen?
“I miss the days when there was an actual “Liberal” party and an actual “Conservative” party duking it out on the hill during the day and drinking beers together in peace like ladies and gentlemen after hours.
I guess just makes me a sentimental clown?”
I just found your blog a few days ago and I really enjoy really enjoy reading it. As to the above quote, I couldn’t agree more. Thanks.
Sorry for the errors in my previous post.
With that said, I believe that todays Democrats act just like the Republicans of the 60′s. The Blue Dogs (don’t get me started) are just like republicans without the overt racism. What ever happened to progressives? They (all politicians) are just switching places every couple of years. I’d take a Liberal Democrat from the 60′s and 70′s over anything we have today. Not one politician worth his/her weight even tries to approach the issues of poverty, the caste system (that is alive and thriving in this country), etc.
With all the supposed Christianism, why can’t they walk the walk? They don’t even talk the talk. All the mega-churches, or any church for that matter, that talks politics, should loses their tax-exempt status. If Christ were in a grave, he sure would be rolling over continuously.
@Mary B — Welcome aboard and thanks very much for the kind words. Please stay and please keep participating and on, pass it (the blog) onto your friends, please
Mary B,
Like GTL welcome, and I also agree with #30.
Regarding this “With all the supposed Christianism, why can’t they walk the walk? They don’t even talk the talk.”
My only response is this. Are you looking? Go to inner cities and see who’s running most of the foodbanks, who’s repairing homes (ever hear of habitat for humanity? there are many more like this you don’t hear about) and other charitable endeavors. You will find them. Go to the most remote places in Africa/Asia/Central America and you’ll find them. Trust me, they are out there walking the walk BY THE MILLIONS. However, you won’t find them on the evening news (showing the mulititudes of believers in a positive light is not news worthy), running for office or anywhere else drawing attention to themselves.
Also, if you went after churches that talk politics, you would be mostly targeting black churches (where Democrats often give speeches). There are historical reasons why these churches have done this (they had no other place to me in the good old days of segregation). Are you willing to do that? These will likely be some of the poorest congregations that you will effect. My church (very conservative and very white) does not do politics – other than praying for the country, our leaders (even Obama!) and our troops. I think this is fairly typical of the time.
Obviously, I’m waaaay off topic, so welcome again – I’ll shut up now.
Steve
Sounds like my church Steve. A few churches in our area get together and run a homeless shelter, a few food banks, a clothing bank, etc. all through volunteers and donations. The volunteers are of all races and income levels, there are democrats and republicans working side by side every day. The government could learn a few things from these groups.
In reply to posters THEGTL and SJ,
I agree that there are some people who are Christians that do many, many good things.
But I live in the Bible Belt, where most of the hypocrites in their multi-million dollar mansions, who get on TeeVee to beg for money from others on fixed incomes live. I have first hand knowledge of this as I used to be a Limo Driver here. Believe me, you cannot believe how these people really are.
The really true Christians are the ones that you are talking about, the kind that don’t need public adulation or money for all of their work. Those people have all my respect.
[head explodes]
FanDB says: “Sounds like my church Steve. A few churches in our area get together and run a homeless shelter, a few food banks, a clothing bank, etc. all through volunteers and donations. The volunteers are of all races and income levels, there are democrats and republicans working side by side every day. The government could learn a few things from these groups.”
This is exactly the kind of thing the government does and you DON’T want it doing. What are you talking about?
@MaryB and Steve: The right wing has hijacked Christianity and corrupted it just as they hijacked and corrupted Patriotism(tm), Morality(tm), the Freedom(tm). Don’t let these right wing hacks speak for Christianity. They don’t. In fact, their values are the opposite. Remember, it’s an Orwellian world now. When right wingers say something, they always mean the opposite of what they’re saying.
Bad Dog: Your comments have reached a level of absurdity that surprises me. I think you should seriously consider seeing a professional to help with your “issues”.
@FanDB, Dude, get some substance in your comments. If you’re out of ideas, just wait until GTL’s next post, which will provide plenty of fodder for us to fight about. Or you could respond to #29 above if you’d like to scrap in the meantime.