Is George W. Bush A Socialist?
With the government about to take control of Fannie and Freddie, I have to wonder if we’re on the road to socialism. We are about to witness the largest financial bailout in our history. We’re talking about two entitites that either own or guarantee $12 trillion in home mortgage debt. These companies will be placed in what is being termed a “conservatorship”. The heads of each organization are expcted to step down.
The executives were told they and their boards would be replaced and shareholders value diluted, but the companies would be able to continue functioning with the government generally standing behind their debt, the New York Times said…
An emergency plan approved by Congress in late July gave Treasury the authority to offer an undetermined amount of credit to the two companies, or take an equity stake in them if they ran into trouble. The housing legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in July requires the companies agree to a Treasury backstop.
The government will make quarterly infusions of capital, as needed. I know that if a Democratic president did this conservatives would fear for the Republic.
Alan,
Why do you keep going after Bush? Did anyone tell you he wasn’t running for president this year? He will only be president for 4 and a half months. Let’s go forward not backward.
September 6th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
If McCain’s record is any indication, a 3rd term for Bush is very much at the heart of this election.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
God help us if McCain is elected.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
McCain/Palin look in a mirror…what do they see? Bush/Cheney.
I can’t afford more of the same.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
The Democrat party controled Fannie Mae.
Just wait till the scandals come out of this… it was their playcamp.
I hope things get revealed before the election.
American people will stream to Washington with pitchforks and torches.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
YOU IDIOTS ARE SO SLOW AND SO LATE. GEORGE BUSH IS A LIBERAL! IT’S WHY HE IS AN IDIOT AND JOHN MCCAIN IS NOT A 3RD BUSH NOR IS HE A GENIOUS. WITH THIS SAID, THE BROKEN, BUT SOON TO BE FIXED REPUBLICAN PARTY IS STILL BETTER!! PALIN DOESN’T HAVE FOREIGN POLICY EXP. BUT EITHER DOES OBAMA YOU IDIOTS!!!!! JOE BIDEN SUCKED AT IT! YOU PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID, SERIOUSLLY…OBAMA WILL NOT CLEAN UP WASHINGTON. STOP BEING JEALOUS OF PALIN YOU SLIMY LIBBS. SHE IS OBVIOUSLLY SMART AND WILL LEARN FAST. IT’S THE BEST CHOICE WE HAVE. YOU PEOPLE ARE STUPID VOTING FOR OBAMA. IDIOTS4OBAMA DOT COM
September 6th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
BTW Alan.. the most successful and significant event in Bill Clinton’s presidency was his managment of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998.
America did prop up the World Bank in order to keep the economies of East Asia and South America from collapsing.
no one complained. you are wrong and ignorant.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
GOD HELP US IF OBAMA GETS ELECTED! YOU THINK IT’S BAD NOW? ( IT’S BAD BECAUSE THE DEMS IN CONGRESS ARE AT FAULT FOR THE MORTGAGE INDUSTRY AND THE OIL PRICES. ANYONE WITH A BRAIN KNOWS THIS) IT WILL BE SO BAD WITH OBAMA, PELOSI, REED, BOXER, KENNEDY,GORE AND OTHER ELITIST DIRTBAGS, YOU LIBERALS WILL BE BEGGING FOR A 3RD BUSH!!!
MOVEONIDIOT.ORG
September 6th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
CAN ANYONE DISPUTE THIS WITH FACTS, COMMON SENSE AND THE TRUTH? I DONT THINK SO…
My name is Dr. Drewby, I’m a 19 year old kid from Seattle. It is absolutely imperative that we do as much as possible to get the word out that Obama will toast this country in it’s critical state.
Raising taxes, increasing government control and subsides, chipping away at our rights and operating behind our backs to further the agendas of the environmentalists and dangerous madmen like Goerge Soros.
Give every family $1,000? Can anyone say redistribution of wealth? Communist. Obama is a marxist lunatic through and through, and you have to be a brainwashed moron, or an ignorant fool to support this crazy.
I’m not even a total fan of the Republicans these days, and believe in a political landscape with more than 2 parties to vote for (when it comes down to it). But McCain is a saint compared to Obama.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Johnny,
Kudo’s to you!! Your a man after my heart well said!!
September 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
EVEN A 19 YEAR OLD KID IS SMARTER THAN A LIBERAL AND SEE’S THE LIGHT!! AND RELAX GUILTY WHITE LIBERALS, HE IS BLACK AND FROM LIBERALAND SEATTLE..SO HUSH NOW…ANY DISPUTES TO THIS? EMAIL US..ID LOVE TO SEE YOUR WEAK ATTEMPTS TO COUNTER THIS WITH SUPPORTED FACTS?? ANYONE?
ADMIN@IDIOTSFOROBAMA.COM
*I DIDNT THINK SO
September 6th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Jealous of Palin? It’s been over a week since she was chosen to be the VP for McCain and I have yet to hear her express one of her own thoughts. Sh
September 6th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Jealous of Palin? It’s been over a week since she was chosen to be the VP for McCain and I have yet to hear her express one of her own thoughts. I listened to her speech just moments ago and it was as empty as a paperbag.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Anita,
You have not been paying attention or you would not have said that.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Mark Morford nailed it about the so called angry liberal:
“Here it is:
Repubs know — or rather, desperately hope — that there remains a simply huge number of very ill-informed, reactionary Americans out there who are still operating on the lowest possible intellectual and cultural strata — who are, for example, totally turned on by seeing Governor Palin in a power skirt wielding a rifle and a knocked-up teen daughter and a fetish for Creationism and oil and sexual ignorance, a woman who has called the war in Iraq “a task from God.”
So I ask again, why so livid, liberal? Is it because it wasn’t exactly “the angry left” who shoved institutionalized torture, pre-emptive military violence, or a complete disregard for science down the throat of American domestic policy? Is it the 4,000-plus dead U.S. soldiers, 10,000-plus wounded and brain-damaged, and tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians? Oh, you bleeding heart. So silly you are.
But don’t you worry, because there’s an even bigger secret looming that the right wing can’t really mention right now. See, much as they want to sling “angry left” around and hope it sticks, there’s simply no getting over the fact that, despite how it will take the Obama administration many years to repair the incredible damage Hurricane Bush hath wrought, most of us on the left are actually feeling pretty damn good these days. Happy, even. “
September 6th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I have not heard this lady say anything new since the announcement was made she would be on the ticket. It’s been over a week since the announcement was made and John McCain is right there looking over her shoulder as she reads the pre-determined words she is permitted to speak.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I may be wrong but, I understand she is going to be campaigning by herself come Monday. I wonder what her pre-determined words will be on Monday?
September 6th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
That is, Anita, if the GOP lets her speak. They have her on a short leash.
September 6th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Anita: I know all about her vagina, every man she slept with, her thoughts when she prays to god, her veiw on seccession and thanks to alan i know about her amniotic fluid.
How can you say she’s a mystery?
Oh, btw: The views of the Vice President don’t really matter. their job is to do what the President wants to do.
So your harping on Palin is just noise.. as usual
September 6th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Anita
Her pre-determined words will be. I am right for this job because I have more foreign experience than Obama and Biden because I work with Russia handing out fishing permits. LMFAO!
September 6th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I was thinking to myself.. if Anita is right and no one knows anything about this woman, then why the rush to destroy her? and I found this:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/534rlysq.asp
Why They Hate Her
Sarah Palin is a smart missile aimed at the heart of the left.
by Jeffrey Bell
09/15/2008, Volume 014, Issue 01
…
From the instant of Palin’s designation on Friday, August 29, the American left went into a collective mass seizure from which it shows no sign of emerging. The left blogosphere and elite media have, for the moment, joined forces and become indistinguishable from each other, and from the supermarket tabloids, in their desire to find and use anything that will criminalize and/or humiliate Palin and her family. In sharp contrast to the yearlong restraint shown toward truthful reports about John Edwards’s affair, bizarre rumors have been reported as news, and, according to McCain campaign director Steve Schmidt, nationally known members of the elite media have besieged him with preposterous demands.
…
If this analysis is correct, the single most important narrative holding the left together in today’s politics and culture is the one offered–often with little or no dissent–by adversarial feminism. The premise of this narrative is that for women to achieve dignity and self-fulfillment in modern society, they must distance themselves, not necessarily from men or marriage or childbearing, but from the kind of marriage in which a mother’s temptation to be with and enjoy several children becomes a synonym for holding women back and cheating them out of professional success.
On August 29, in the immediate aftermath of the announcement by the McCain campaign, all that was widely known of the governor of Alaska was that she was married with five children, the last one of whom had been carried to term with Down syndrome, and that she was pro-life. No one knew that her oldest daughter was pregnant. No one knew much about what she had done as governor or in her previous career. No one knew how she had been drawn into politics, or that her sister had had a reckless husband and a contentious divorce. Above all, with the possible exception of John McCain, no one knew that Sarah Palin was both a married mother of five and a brilliant political talent with a chance not just to change the dynamics of the 2008 election but to rise to the top level of American politics, whatever happens this year.
The simple fact of her being a pro-life married mother of five with a thriving political career was–before anything else about her was known–enough for the left and its outliers to target her for destruction. She could not be allowed to contradict symbolically one of the central narratives of the left. How galling it will be to Sarah Palin’s many new enemies if she survives this assault and prevails. If she does, her success may be an important moment in the struggle to shape not just America’s politics but its culture.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Anita: I know all about her vagina, every man she slept with, her thoughts when she prays to god, her veiw on seccession and thanks to alan i know about her amniotic fluid.
How can you say she’s a mystery?
Oh, btw: The views of the Vice President don’t really matter. their job is to do what the President wants to do.
So your harping on Palin is just noise.. as usual
I find your bio of Sarah Palin to be despicable.
The role of the vp – sounds as though you took a tip from McCain himself.
Noise…if you want people to come around to your way of thinking or to agree with you. First, you must show some class and manners. Second, you need to find a 12-Step program to wean yourself from your mentors – possibly Laura Ingraham. Third, when you express thoughts – how about expressing some of your on an adult level. Fourth, since we hear so much about e-bay these days, I am sure there are some copies of Dale Carnegie’s book “How To Win Friends and Influence People.” Check it out!
September 6th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
“if you want people to come around to your way of thinking or to agree with you”
I’m a realist ma’am. This is really a no-brainer. All of the lies and slanders against her speak for themselves. Either you are silently pleased by the lie propagation or you are revolted by it.
The things I say have nothing to do with that. A lie told about her remains a lie no matter if you like me or not.
Why should someone show you respect when you tolerate lies being told right in front of you?
September 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Vince…in regards to your article…sweety why is it dated 9/15/08? You’re full of sh!t.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
McCain’s camp is sickening and despicable. Palin is a light weight and they want to shove her down our throat???? All they care about is luring voters in on an “emotional” level. She the new kid on the block…she should act like it.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Sir,
I can discern what the lies are from the truth. I do not buy tabloid magazines. I wouldn’t waste my hard earned money on that trash. I have not bashed Sarah Palin – you did. I want to hear her speak about her thoughts. How many more times does she have to lavish praise on John McCain? I am still waiting to hear her speak about the plight of the middle class. I want to hear her speak as openly and frank as Joe Biden is allowed to do on the campaign trail.
I agree with Obama. If your corner of the world is in good shape, you have no financial worries, you’re not eating Tums as a steady diet today, and you feel good about the future-then McCain is your man. Vote for him.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Trace: apparently you’ve never encountered an article published by a magazine.
You should expose yourself to more forms of media.
Or gee
CLICK ON THE LINK DUH
September 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Anita…I absolutely agree with your last statement.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I listened to a speech Joe Biden gave yesterday. There was passion in his voice. He is clairvoyant. Every other word was not in praise of Obama. He actually talked about his concerns for this great country. He can actually relate to Mr and Mrs. America who live on Main Street, USA.
I haven’t heard this kind of talk from Sarah Palin. And something tells me I won’t be hearing this kind of dialog from her.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Contrary to what you may believe, Vincent, you don’t know everything. You mentioned above:
“All of the lies and slanders against her speak for themselves”
You seemed to have overlooked all the lies and slander against Obama. You post many allegations made by the right, and your posts look impressive, but you have no proof.
Therefore, why should anybody show you respect when you tolerate lies being told right in front of you?
September 6th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Figures you’d post something from a conservative right-wing magazine and expect us to believe it.
Btw, she has an invisible bridge she’d like to sell. You better start lining up.
September 6th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Vince – you act like it’s odd for a man to drop dead at 73!
September 6th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Again, I have a couple of posts more appropriate for here on the wolf post. (having problems with my cut and paste feature).
Libs please read – I could use some back-up, the cons are deluded again.
September 6th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Bush is a phony conservative! He’s increased the size of government so much that he should be a fill in for Alan’s radio show! – bart789456@yahoo.com
September 6th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Sarah Palin is a dum-dum fired at the heart of the constitution, which she obviously abhors.
And George Bush has led us to the brink of a depression, if not outright financial collapse.
September 6th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I have not heard Palin say one intelligent thought of her own; and I suspect she won’t. I’m not saying she’s a stupid person; but I think one needs more than average intelligence for that role. Say what you want about Ivy League schools, but people do not get accepted or graduate from them unless they are very intelligent (not saying that very intelligent people don’t graduate from anywhere else). Call me an elitist, call me what you want – but I think great intelligence and a high IQ is a requirement of the job.
Her convention speech was an indication that after all was said and done (which was mostly just condescending insults); she has absolutely no substance.
Am I a bit worried about Palin as a threat to the Democratic ticket – you bet. But my reasons have absolutely nothing really to do with her. It’s pretty common knowledge that the AVERAGE American is pretty freaking stupid. In other words, their stupid enough to look at that convention speech, think she probably wrote it herself, admire her outfit, be impressed that she can be feminine and also fish and hunt at the same time, that she can come across as tough. And then that is where it ends – they don’t analyze anything further then that, they don’t even think about anything else.
Do you know how many people in this country with high school diplomas and even undergraduate degrees that can’t even answer basic history questions about this country, couldn’t locate other well-known countries on a map if asked, couldn’t even begin to give you a simplistic answer about what is going on between Georgia and Russia (in fact, I am sure that most would think you were talking about the US state of Georgia). I recently was discussing the nomination of Palin with a co-worker of mine (she has a Bachelors degree) – here’s the discussion:
Me: So what did you think of the nomination of Sarah Palin as McCain’s VP?
Her: Oh, I really like her.
Me: So, do you think it was a good choice for the ticket?
Her: Oh, yeah definitely. I think I am going to vote for them. I really like her.
Me: What do you like about her?
Her: She is so pretty. Did you know she used to be a beauty queen? Isn’t she pretty? And she has those five kids. That little retarded (that word makes me cringe) baby is so cute.
Me: Is there anything else you find interesting about her?
Her: Well, to tell you the truth I really don’t know much more about her. But you know, I think it would be cool to see a woman in that office. And she’s so pretty.
I ended the conversation there; I was going to vomit if I took it any further.
Like I said, this woman had a college education! Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of people with HS diplomas and college education that are intelligent people. But there are also many people in this country (with and without education)that honestly are not very smart people – I mean I am talking to the point of embarrassment. I am married to a Frenchman and he has always been amazed at how many people in this country lack really basic knowledge. He knows much more history about this country then most people and he wasn’t even born or raised here.
Anyway, my point – it’s people like my co-worker that concern me because unfortunately there are many more like her.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
how about post a real poll count and name all osama obamas racist terrorist friends and run a bio on obama and all of his friends but liberland might need to add some more servers to their system if they did they cause the list is long and obamas friends been pushing hate since 1960
September 6th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
“I have not heard Palin say one intelligent thought of her own;”
What’s Obama said that is intellegent and non-scripted?
Dont worry. i know you dont know.
But i’m sure the Gov with an 80% approval rating is dumb as a box of rocks.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Have you been to Alaska Vince? It’s pretty freaking hideous. I don’t have great faith in their judgment, sorry.
September 6th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
What makes me laugh at this blog is that Bush is in a no win situation, you libs will spin any situation around to suit your argument regardless of the real reason something is being done. You are never happy.
September 7th, 2008 at 2:11 am
[...] be found in his stomach.Related: Comment on The George Bush and Microsoft Parallels by List of …,Is George W. Bush A Socialist?, Know Your Heart Well,How do i win the heart of the girl i love, i just want tips on …, Palin’s [...]
September 7th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I can’t believe Alan even strted this thread if I’m not mistaken Freddie and Fannie were created by the Government. How is it Socialism when the Government bails it self out. It was Socialist to create these in the first place.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Freddie Mac was created by Congress in 1970 with a mission to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s mortgage markets using private, not public capital. Congress’ creation of Freddie Mac was a sophisticated and creative approach to the longstanding national goal of promoting homeownership and a recognition that historically the strictly private markets had failed to provide a stable and affordable supply of credit for residential housing.
there it is off their website you people need to research a little before believe any thing Alan says.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Fannie Mae is the playground of Democrat officials.
Fannie Mae Collapse or the Democrat Swindle of the U.S. Taxpayer
In 2006 an election year, the Democrats were still trying to lay the Enron scandal on Bush and the Republicans. With the help of the press a cover up of a larger financial scandal was taking place. A scandal that we are paying for today. In 2006 a 3 year investigation into fraud at Fannie Mae was concluded. It revealed a level of financial misconduct by Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, and others that grossly overstated earnings by 10.6 Billion dollars. To gain bonuses.
For those who don’t know both Raines and Gorelick were high ranking officials in the Clinton Administration.
Byron York wrote back in 2006
ON May 23, as a jury in Houston deliberated the case against top Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, a little-known regulatory agency in Washington, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), released a study with the dryly bureaucratic title “Report of the Special Examination of Fannie Mae.” The document received far less attention than the news from Enron, but its conclusions were stunning. In meticulous detail, it outlined a culture of corruption at the Federal National Mortgage Association–better known as Fannie Mae–that rivals the most serious corporate scandals in recent years. In this case, however, the main players are Washington insiders–some of them prominent veterans of the Clinton administration–and the scandal’s effects could ripple through Congress for years.
In doing so, the report says, Raines and his team steered Fannie Mae far afield from its original mission, transforming it from a stable business into a risky one. But Fannie Mae is not just any private institution. It is congressionally chartered, meaning its existence is established in law, it does not have to pay state and local income taxes, and it is not subject to bankruptcy laws.
In 1999, Raines announced a new goal to double Fannie Mae’s EPS in five years, from $3.23 per share to $6.46. It was an audacious goal, and reaching it, according to OFHEO, became Fannie Mae’s reason for existence: “$6.46, the EPS goal, became the corporate mantra–everything else was secondary to hitting that target.”
Even though his salary never topped $1 million, Raines’ total compensation shot from $6.48 million in 1998 to $8.52 million in 1999, to $13.89 million in 2000, to $18.86 million in 2001, to $18.20 million in 2002, to $24.15 million in 2003, all on the strength of EPS bonuses. Investigators found that of the $90.12 million Raines was paid in that six-year period, more than $52 million came from EPS bonuses.
Gorelick’s situation was similar. OFHEO found that she took home $26.46 million in the period from 1998 to 2002 (she left in that year, so she wasn’t there for the entire period under investigation). Of that figure, nearly $15 million came from EPS bonuses.
In other words, they cooked the books. And to make matters worse, according to OFHEO, when regulators began to catch on to what was happening, Raines and his team then “sought to interfere” with the OFHEO investigation by trying to get Congress to start up a separate probe of OFHEO. Fannie Mae also lobbied Congress to cut OFHEO’s funds unless it got rid of the top official in charge of investigating Fannie Mae.
The Democrats aided Raines by refusing to hold hearings on Raines and Gorelicks fraud. Their actions have led to the collapse of this institution, putting the American taxpayer on the hook for 5.6 Trillion Dollars. We are the insurers of this institution.
Even today with the collapse of Fannie Mae when Republican Baynor called for hearings again Barney Frank refused. When you look at our Government run institutions Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Fannie Mae. Not one of these is solvent. We the American public hold the bills due on this group of catastrophes to the tune of $59 Trillion.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Let me repeat this one… and guess which group of jackals is the one that prevents anyone from doing anything about them?
Even today with the collapse of Fannie Mae when Republican Baynor called for hearings again Barney Frank refused. When you look at our Government run institutions Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Fannie Mae. Not one of these is solvent. We the American public hold the bills due on this group of catastrophes to the tune of $59 Trillion.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Vince P – Chicago,
Your right but these people have a one track mind.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Dear Alan
Would you believe that I like President Bush! I voted for him twice. Why? Because, I do not like Al Gore and John Kerry. To me Bush is a “Privilaged bad boy.” Those people are harmless. Is he a socialist? I do not believe so. He is way too rich for socilism.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Vince,
Barney Frank doing something asinine is no surprise to me.
You and I disagree as to whether these institutions should exist, but how we (and by we, I mean liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans) can continue to ignore the insolvency issues is beyond me. The collapse of Fannie and Freddy better damn well be a wake up call so we can figure out what we are going to do.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
That is why i’m trying to tell people the Fed Gov is bankrupt.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Vince,
Given that fact, don’t you think the US gov’t should at least scale back *somewhat* our military? With us paying as much as the next 30 countries *combined* for military, it effectively means we are picking up the tab for lot’s of other countries – since our military is protecting them. And, since they don’t have to pay for much of their own military protection, they can afford things like public heath care, free universities, etc…
September 7th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
No
September 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I just don’t understand how you can be in favor of subsidizing other countries protection when we are so broke.
I suspect you would argue that the above mentioned programs are not constitutional, when clearly a military is constitutional, but there has to be an amount that is too high to pay for a military, and I don’t understand how people can think it is not a number somewhere below half of total world spend.
September 7th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
The conservatives posting on this page are horribly misinformed.
The Enron scandal and the mortgage industry meltdown have one thing in common; the Republicans deregulated the industries and were lax in enforcing laws.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are secondary mortgage markets. They purchase bundled mortgage packages from the primary mortgage market where the swindle took place.
Because the primary markets were deregulated and laws went unenforced by Republicans, mortgage lenders started making creative loans to people who could not truly afford the houses they were purchasing. The primary mortgage lenders were able to do this because they were then able to cash out by bundling their mortgages and selling them to the secondary market.
As these questionable loans were made, prices were driven up creating a market bubble. The house of cards began to crash as interest rates and ARM payments increased making payments unaffordable. Once the market began to crash, both the primary and secondary markets got caught with too much worthless paper.
The government had to step in because deregulation broke down the barriers between banking, mortgage and securities businesses. The whole industry is so intimately linked now that the entire industry could collapse if even a small number of these companies default.
The Republicans and their deregulation scheme also brought us the Savings and Loan Scandal. Remember the Keating Five (John McCain)? Remember Silverado Savings and Loan (Neil Bush)?
The deregulation and lax enforcement of laws in the energy markets led directly to Enron.
What is really interesting is that conservatives were able to manipulate the people of California into believing that Gray Davis was responsible for the rape of California that they caused.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Good post John, it shows that regulation is not always bad, and a good counterpoint to the oft repeated ‘if the government would just get out of the way…blah blah blah’
September 8th, 2008 at 7:20 am
I have been a businessman and entrepreneur all of my life so conservatives cannot label me a socialist.
When it comes to regulation, balance is the key. Basic microeconomic priciples of supply and demand were derived based on free markets with pure competition. The mortgage, banking, energy, bond, securities, and other markets are not purely competitive free markets, hence the need for regulation. When the Republicans deregulate these industries, control the non-enforcement of laws, and control the huge amounts of capital necessary to enter into these businesses, they are setting up looting opportunities at the expense of the taxpayer. Every dollar that gets added to the national debt and all of the interest taxpayers have to pay on it can be considered an increase in taxes because taxpayers owe every penny of that money whether they have to pay it now or in the future. Republicans talk about lowering taxes, while they run up enormous deficits. Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II did it, hence the term Borrow and Spend Conservatives.
BTW, if you wanted to end the Iraq War today, all you would have to do is make it a fiscally responsible pay-as-you-go war. Make war supporters put their money where their mouths are. Send the taxpayers the bill at the end of every month for their portion of the war expenses and I guarantee you that war would be over t-o-d-a-y! You could also take the profiteering motive away from the businesses by making all of their contracts “cost plus 10%.”
September 9th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Like parrots, conservatives love to repeat the garbage they are fed. See above.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are “privately owned and run government sponsored enterprises (GSE) of the United States. It is a stockholder-owned corporation authorized to make loans and loan guarantees. [They are] the leading market-makers in the U.S. secondary mortgage market.” Ergo, they are privately funded.
The takeover by the government is coming from the Bush Administration, not the Democrats. The Democrats are leading the investigation.
This was published on Bloomberg.com on Sept. 8, “U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said he is asking Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to testify this week on the federal government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
“Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, in a conference call with reporters today said he wants to explore the ramifications of the government’s decision to place the government-sponsored enterprises under conservatorship, removing their chief executive officers and eliminating dividends.”
“”We need to know whether or not this plan is going to maintain the role of the GSEs in providing affordable mortgages to Americans,” Dodd said.”
“The Treasury may purchase up to $200 billion of stock in the firms to keep them solvent after the weekend takeover engineered by Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aulasfvB3y4s&refer=home
I guarantee you that this $200 billion of taxpayer money will not be the last. Freddie and Fannie own or guarantee about $6 trillion of the US mortgage market.
September 10th, 2008 at 3:56 am