Meet the Real Sarah Palin
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American values are Jewish values and vice versa
4 weeks ago
Showing posts with label meltdown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meltdown. Show all posts
Thursday, November 13, 2008
It's a Bird! It's a Plane!! It's Obaman!!! No, not yet......
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Saturday, October 11, 2008
McCain's Letter in 2006 Could Have Prevented the Present Financial Crisis!!!
McCain Letter Demanded 2006 Action on Fannie and Freddie
by Human Events
10/10/2008
Sen. John McCain's 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis, as HUMAN EVENTS learned from the letter shown in full text below.
McCain's letter -- signed by nineteen other senators -- said that it was "...vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]...operate in a safe and sound manner.[and]..More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either...should fail."
Sen. Obama did not sign the letter, nor did any other Democrat.
View the Letter Here:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28973#continueA
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by Human Events
10/10/2008
Sen. John McCain's 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis, as HUMAN EVENTS learned from the letter shown in full text below.
McCain's letter -- signed by nineteen other senators -- said that it was "...vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]...operate in a safe and sound manner.[and]..More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either...should fail."
Sen. Obama did not sign the letter, nor did any other Democrat.
View the Letter Here:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28973#continueA
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Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bad Economy May Hurt Obama
By Dick Morris
The conventional wisdom has it down pat: A bad economy works against the candidate from the party in power as voters take out their rage and fear on the president’s party and back the challenger, just like they did in 1992. But this is not a normal economic slowdown (or recession) and Obama is not a normal challenger. I think the conventional wisdom may be dead wrong.
It is not so much that unemployment is so high (5.7 percent) or that the economy is in the tank (1 percent growth this quarter) as it is that everything seems to be falling apart. Banks are under assault; mortgages are in default; quasi-government agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need bailouts; financial institutions go hat in hand to foreign sovereign wealth funds peddling shares of their equity in return for desperately needed cash; the cost of filling a gas tank has tripled. It is not the present circumstances that have voters freaked, it is the threats that seem to loom on the horizon.
And Obama is no ordinary challenger. Not like Bill Clinton, for example. In 1992, from the moment the campaign started, Clinton billed himself as the expert who could solve the economy’s problems. His promise to “focus like a laser beam” on the recession won him big points throughout the campaign. His 10-year record as a governor and his chairmanship of the National Governors Association bolstered his credentials. But we first met Barack Obama as an advocate of racial and partisan healing and then as an opponent of the war in Iraq. When he tried to morph into an economic expert in time for the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, voters didn’t buy it and voted for Hillary.
So the question that hangs over the election is: Are we prepared to trust a new candidate with almost no experience and no claim to economic expertise in the middle of one of the most threatening economic situations we have ever faced?
Add to this backdrop Obama’s pledge to raise taxes and you have a combustible situation that could frighten American voters en masse. When, amid relative prosperity, Obama said he would restore fairness by raising taxes on the rich, it was well-received, particularly in the Democratic primary.
Raising the top bracket to 40 percent seemed a no-brainer. Applying the Social Security tax to more earned income, not just to the first $100,000, seemed like elemental fairness and a good way to save the pension system. Restoring the capital gains tax to 28 percent appeared to comport with the notion that those whose income derives from investment should pay a tax closer to that paid on earned income (despite the argument that it is after-tax money that they invested in the first place).
But now, with massive capital outflows crippling the public and private sectors, doubling the tax on capital seems like a very, very bad idea. And a sharp increase in taxes on the entrepreneurial class seems like a risky proposition.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/bad_economy_may_hurt_obama.html
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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Barney Frank's Bankrupt Ideas
BY INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted Monday, October 06, 2008 4:20 PM PT
Financial Rescue: Democrats created the mortgage crisis by forcing banks to give loans to people who couldn't afford them. Now Obama and Biden want bankruptcy judges to bail out the same deadbeat homeowners. And once again, Barney Frank is helping. It's been said that history is a lie agreed upon.
Democrats are trying to rewrite history by blaming the Bush administration for the current crisis and claiming that the rescue bill is necessary to save the economy from Republican mismanagement.
More blarney from Barney.
Last Thursday on Fox News, when Bill O'Reilly tried to suggest that both parties might share the blame, House Finance Committee Chairman Frank, in a not atypical meltdown, disowned any responsibility for his lack of oversight over the last two years and his complicity before that.
Frank also claimed: "The fact is, it was 1994 that we passed a bill to tell the Fed to stop the subprime lending. We tried to get them to do it." In other words, those rascally Republicans did it all when they took control of Congress that November.
The legislation he spoke of was the Homeowners Equity Protection Act. It was supposed to empower the Federal Reserve to set the rules on mortgages. Problem was, the Clinton administration had its own ideas of what the rules should be.
The Community Reinvestment Act, first passed in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, was intended to increase minority homeownership. It grew out of charges that banks were "redlining" entire inner-city neighborhoods as bad credit risks. Banks now were forced to perform outreach to these areas.
In the '70s and '80s, banks could show that they were trying to do that by advertising in minority newspapers and having representatives sit on the boards of local groups. In other words, they were rated on the effort made and not on the results achieved. Creditworthiness still mattered.
In 1995, as Howard Husock pointed out eight years ago in City Journal, "the Clinton Treasury Department's 1995 regulations made getting a satisfactory CRA rating much harder. The new regulations de-emphasized subjective assessment measures in favor of strictly numerical ones. Bank examiners would use federal home-loan data, broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race, to rate banks on performance."
Creditworthiness and due diligence no longer mattered. As a 1999 New York Times editorial observed: "Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Bill Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people and felt pressure to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits."
On Frank's and Clinton's watch, the Community Reinvestment Act was changed to force the issuance of bad loans. Banks would be rated on the number of loans, not on their soundness. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were then encouraged to buy them up. It was all about affordable housing, even if the housing was unaffordable.
"From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us," Peter Wallison, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said back in 1999. "If they fail, the government will have to step in and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry." That prediction came true, but it didn't have to.
On Sept. 11, 2003, the Bush administration proposed to Congress a new agency under the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie and Freddie. The new agency would have had the authority to set capital-reserve requirements, veto new lines of business and determine whether the two quasi-government lenders were adequately managing the risk of their ballooning portfolios. When former Treasury Secretary John Snow pleaded for Frank to support Fannie and Freddie reform, Frank responded: "These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."
Democrats believe in affordable housing even if it's at the expense of the vast majority who watch their credit, work hard and pay their mortgages on time. But for the deadbeats, particularly Democratic constituencies, they have ways to make affordable the housing you couldn't afford. So first, they forced them into housing they couldn't afford, and now they give them a financial mulligan.
In the vice presidential debate, Sen. Joe Biden said that "what we should be doing now — and Barack Obama and I support it — we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal you owe."
To get this bill passed, Obama made a lot of phone calls — particularly to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including caucus chief Rep. James Clyburn — assuring this would happen.
Those paying their mortgages on time don't get that break.
Rep. Elijah Cummings said Obama told him that, if elected president, he would direct a Treasury Department official to work with homeowners in foreclosure to restructure their loans. Cummings said Obama also told him he'd seek changes in bankruptcy laws allowing judges to reduce what borrowers owe on their home loans.
Section 110 of the rescue legislation has the Orwellian title of "Assistance to Homeowners" — but only for the deadbeats.It describes somebody called a "Federal property manager" who "holds, owns or controls mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and other assets secured by residential real estate."
Section 110 speaks of "modifications" that this manager can make to these mortgages including not only the reduction of interest rates but the reduction of loan principal.
Not only is Uncle Sam now the world's largest landlord. He can also arbitrarily set the value of property and the amount owed on it at will, thus distorting the free market.
The vast majority of homeowners who pay their mortgages on time get the shaft. They're the ones who'll take up the others' slack. Why? And why is the Community Reinvestment Act still law?
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=308185654524278
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Democrats are trying to rewrite history by blaming the Bush administration for the current crisis and claiming that the rescue bill is necessary to save the economy from Republican mismanagement.
More blarney from Barney.
Last Thursday on Fox News, when Bill O'Reilly tried to suggest that both parties might share the blame, House Finance Committee Chairman Frank, in a not atypical meltdown, disowned any responsibility for his lack of oversight over the last two years and his complicity before that.
Frank also claimed: "The fact is, it was 1994 that we passed a bill to tell the Fed to stop the subprime lending. We tried to get them to do it." In other words, those rascally Republicans did it all when they took control of Congress that November.
The legislation he spoke of was the Homeowners Equity Protection Act. It was supposed to empower the Federal Reserve to set the rules on mortgages. Problem was, the Clinton administration had its own ideas of what the rules should be.
The Community Reinvestment Act, first passed in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, was intended to increase minority homeownership. It grew out of charges that banks were "redlining" entire inner-city neighborhoods as bad credit risks. Banks now were forced to perform outreach to these areas.
In the '70s and '80s, banks could show that they were trying to do that by advertising in minority newspapers and having representatives sit on the boards of local groups. In other words, they were rated on the effort made and not on the results achieved. Creditworthiness still mattered.
In 1995, as Howard Husock pointed out eight years ago in City Journal, "the Clinton Treasury Department's 1995 regulations made getting a satisfactory CRA rating much harder. The new regulations de-emphasized subjective assessment measures in favor of strictly numerical ones. Bank examiners would use federal home-loan data, broken down by neighborhood, income group, and race, to rate banks on performance."
Creditworthiness and due diligence no longer mattered. As a 1999 New York Times editorial observed: "Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Bill Clinton administration to expand mortgage loans among low- and moderate-income people and felt pressure to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits."
On Frank's and Clinton's watch, the Community Reinvestment Act was changed to force the issuance of bad loans. Banks would be rated on the number of loans, not on their soundness. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were then encouraged to buy them up. It was all about affordable housing, even if the housing was unaffordable.
"From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us," Peter Wallison, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said back in 1999. "If they fail, the government will have to step in and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry." That prediction came true, but it didn't have to.
On Sept. 11, 2003, the Bush administration proposed to Congress a new agency under the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie and Freddie. The new agency would have had the authority to set capital-reserve requirements, veto new lines of business and determine whether the two quasi-government lenders were adequately managing the risk of their ballooning portfolios. When former Treasury Secretary John Snow pleaded for Frank to support Fannie and Freddie reform, Frank responded: "These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."
Democrats believe in affordable housing even if it's at the expense of the vast majority who watch their credit, work hard and pay their mortgages on time. But for the deadbeats, particularly Democratic constituencies, they have ways to make affordable the housing you couldn't afford. So first, they forced them into housing they couldn't afford, and now they give them a financial mulligan.
In the vice presidential debate, Sen. Joe Biden said that "what we should be doing now — and Barack Obama and I support it — we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal you owe."
To get this bill passed, Obama made a lot of phone calls — particularly to members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including caucus chief Rep. James Clyburn — assuring this would happen.
Those paying their mortgages on time don't get that break.
Rep. Elijah Cummings said Obama told him that, if elected president, he would direct a Treasury Department official to work with homeowners in foreclosure to restructure their loans. Cummings said Obama also told him he'd seek changes in bankruptcy laws allowing judges to reduce what borrowers owe on their home loans.
Section 110 of the rescue legislation has the Orwellian title of "Assistance to Homeowners" — but only for the deadbeats.It describes somebody called a "Federal property manager" who "holds, owns or controls mortgages, mortgage-backed securities, and other assets secured by residential real estate."
Section 110 speaks of "modifications" that this manager can make to these mortgages including not only the reduction of interest rates but the reduction of loan principal.
Not only is Uncle Sam now the world's largest landlord. He can also arbitrarily set the value of property and the amount owed on it at will, thus distorting the free market.
The vast majority of homeowners who pay their mortgages on time get the shaft. They're the ones who'll take up the others' slack. Why? And why is the Community Reinvestment Act still law?
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=308185654524278
View All Recent Blog Posts:
Monday, September 29, 2008
Republicans point finger of blame at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for 'partisan' speech'
30 September 2008
By BRIAN FERGUSON
EVEN before the doomed vote on the $700 billion bail-out plan began in the House of Representatives yesterday, stocks were plummeting as tension mounted.
In Congress, members shouted news of the plunging Dow Jones average as others crowded on the floor during the 40-minute call of the roll, as leaders on both sides struggled to persuade rank-and-file members to support the deal. Within minutes of the ADVERTISEMENTresult, the recriminations had begun.
House Republicans blamed a "partisan" speech by the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, during the debate. She had blamed George Bush's "reckless economic policies", "fiscal irresponsibility" and an "anything goes economic policy" for the crisis.
After the vote, John Boehner, the Republican minority leader, said: "I do believe we could have got there today, had it not been for this partisan speech the Speaker gave. The Speaker had to give a partisan voice that poisoned our conference."
Later, the Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, said: "I was hopeful the improved rescue plan would have had the votes needed to pass, because addressing the credit crisis is of vital importance to families, small businesses, every working American.
"Now it's time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board. I call on Congress to get back, obviously, immediately to address this crisis.
"Our leaders are expected to leave partisanship at the door and come to the table to solve our problems."
Mr McCain also criticised his Democratic presidential rival, Barack Obama, and "his allies in Congress" for their "unnecessary partisanship".
However, Mr Obama himself took a bullish stance when he urged Democrats and Republicans to "step up to the plate, get (a deal] done".
He added: "Understand that, even as you get it done to stabilise the markets, we have more work to do to make sure that main street is getting the same kind of help Wall Street's getting."
And Henry Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, added: "We need to put something back together that works. We need it as soon as possible."
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Republicans-point-finger-of-blame.4540098.jp
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By BRIAN FERGUSON
EVEN before the doomed vote on the $700 billion bail-out plan began in the House of Representatives yesterday, stocks were plummeting as tension mounted.
In Congress, members shouted news of the plunging Dow Jones average as others crowded on the floor during the 40-minute call of the roll, as leaders on both sides struggled to persuade rank-and-file members to support the deal. Within minutes of the ADVERTISEMENTresult, the recriminations had begun.
House Republicans blamed a "partisan" speech by the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, during the debate. She had blamed George Bush's "reckless economic policies", "fiscal irresponsibility" and an "anything goes economic policy" for the crisis.
After the vote, John Boehner, the Republican minority leader, said: "I do believe we could have got there today, had it not been for this partisan speech the Speaker gave. The Speaker had to give a partisan voice that poisoned our conference."
Later, the Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, said: "I was hopeful the improved rescue plan would have had the votes needed to pass, because addressing the credit crisis is of vital importance to families, small businesses, every working American.
"Now it's time for all members of Congress to go back to the drawing board. I call on Congress to get back, obviously, immediately to address this crisis.
"Our leaders are expected to leave partisanship at the door and come to the table to solve our problems."
Mr McCain also criticised his Democratic presidential rival, Barack Obama, and "his allies in Congress" for their "unnecessary partisanship".
However, Mr Obama himself took a bullish stance when he urged Democrats and Republicans to "step up to the plate, get (a deal] done".
He added: "Understand that, even as you get it done to stabilise the markets, we have more work to do to make sure that main street is getting the same kind of help Wall Street's getting."
And Henry Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, added: "We need to put something back together that works. We need it as soon as possible."
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Republicans-point-finger-of-blame.4540098.jp
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McCain Blames Partisanship, Pelosi; Aide Calls Pelosi "Reckless"
29 Sep 2008 04:00 pm
A statement from Doug Holtz-Eakin has Sen. John McCain casting his lot with House Republicans who blame Democratic add-ons and Speaker Pelosi's pre-vote speech:
"Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.
"Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome.
"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."
And a senior McCain adviser said that Pelosi's speech "was one of the most reckless acts I've seen from a congressional leader in twenty years on the Hill."
A theory making the rounds of some Republicans is that Pelosi purposely sabotaged the bill to be able to blame House Republicans. Imagine, this theory goes, President Bush's making a partisan speech right before the Patriot Act vote.
"Desperate, petty," a Pelosi aide responded. "She is trying to do the right thing here to pass a bill that a lot of our people hated." A Democratic aide added: "The Republicans were worried about votes but they thought that momentum would carry it and both sides would keep working -- was the way they left it. No Republican asked to pull it. And 140 votes was more than what Pelosi promised Boehner."
On the other hand, maybe House Republicans were looking for an excuse?
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A statement from Doug Holtz-Eakin has Sen. John McCain casting his lot with House Republicans who blame Democratic add-ons and Speaker Pelosi's pre-vote speech:
"Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.
"Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome.
"This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."
And a senior McCain adviser said that Pelosi's speech "was one of the most reckless acts I've seen from a congressional leader in twenty years on the Hill."
A theory making the rounds of some Republicans is that Pelosi purposely sabotaged the bill to be able to blame House Republicans. Imagine, this theory goes, President Bush's making a partisan speech right before the Patriot Act vote.
"Desperate, petty," a Pelosi aide responded. "She is trying to do the right thing here to pass a bill that a lot of our people hated." A Democratic aide added: "The Republicans were worried about votes but they thought that momentum would carry it and both sides would keep working -- was the way they left it. No Republican asked to pull it. And 140 votes was more than what Pelosi promised Boehner."
On the other hand, maybe House Republicans were looking for an excuse?
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/28545
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Great Video and Links
Monday, September 29, 2008
Pelosi Kills Bailout with Jawbone of an Ass
Well, it was all set, even the GOP members said it was a done deal and they had enough vote to pass the 700 Billion dollar boondoggle known as the economic rescue plan. But a funny thing happened on the way to the most massive bailout in US history, Nancy Pelosi just couldn't keep her mouth shut. Her botox addled mind just could not resist the urge to commit moonbattery on the house floor, and in the process torpedoed the whole shabang. Nice going Nancy.
http://americanarmed.blogspot.com/2008/09/peslosi-snatches-defeat-from-jaws-of.html
Will Pelosi’s second attempt at a bailout include ACORN? Update: Dow loses 777 points, more than on 9/11; Update: $1.1 trillion in market value lost
Sep 29, 2008 4:18 PM by Allahpundit
Super.
Video: House GOP blames Pelosi’s “partisan” speech for bailout failure
Sep 29, 2008 3:21 PM by Allahpundit
Unserious.
Breaking: Bailout bill fails, Dow roller-coasters; Update: Pelosi speech added
Pelosi Kills Bailout with Jawbone of an Ass
Well, it was all set, even the GOP members said it was a done deal and they had enough vote to pass the 700 Billion dollar boondoggle known as the economic rescue plan. But a funny thing happened on the way to the most massive bailout in US history, Nancy Pelosi just couldn't keep her mouth shut. Her botox addled mind just could not resist the urge to commit moonbattery on the house floor, and in the process torpedoed the whole shabang. Nice going Nancy.
http://americanarmed.blogspot.com/2008/09/peslosi-snatches-defeat-from-jaws-of.html
Will Pelosi’s second attempt at a bailout include ACORN? Update: Dow loses 777 points, more than on 9/11; Update: $1.1 trillion in market value lost
Sep 29, 2008 4:18 PM by Allahpundit
Super.
Video: House GOP blames Pelosi’s “partisan” speech for bailout failure
Sep 29, 2008 3:21 PM by Allahpundit
Unserious.
Breaking: Bailout bill fails, Dow roller-coasters; Update: Pelosi speech added
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