Posted on 09/19/2008 11:40:48 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
George Will lashes out against big government, McCain's claims
by Chris Knape | The Grand Rapids Press
Thursday September 18, 2008, 10:58 PM
GRAND RAPIDS -- Conservative columnist George Will practically boiled out of his trademark bow tie Thursday night, lashing out at Republican presidential nominee John McCain's call for Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox's resignation.
Will's keynote appearance at the downtown JW Marriott capped the first day of a West Michigan Regional Policy Conference, which organizers said was trying to avoid being "West Michigan polite."
Will took a call from Cox shortly before taking the stage Thursday and was visibly perturbed when he hung up his phone.
"This is why some thoughtful conservatives have grave doubts about his ability to be president," Will said.
During a speech in Iowa Thursday, McCain said Cox, a close friend of Will's, "has betrayed the public trust" by allowing the nation's financial markets to deteriorate.
In his speech, Will said McCain worries conservatives because he is someone who "can so polarize every argument into a kind of moral melodrama. You can't have honest difference of opinion with John McCain. This is very difficult because to disagree with he who is honor personified is inherently dishonorable."
Will also took shots at the Bush administration and its willingness to intervene to prevent the failure of mismanaged companies.
"Where is the Bennigan's bailout?" he asked the crowd of more than 500.
He used the bankruptcy of the Bennigan's restaurant chain to note the "moral hazard" created by recent government bailouts of insurance giant AIG, mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and investment bank Bear Stearns.
He went on to blast proposed government bailouts of money-bleeding Detroit automakers as "lemon socialism" that subsidizes "those who fail the market test."
"You can make a case that AIG held paper, and we didn't know where it was, and Bear Stearns had debts and didn't know where this was and, therefore, they could have posed a systemic risk to the American economy if they had been allowed to go under," Will said. "I don't happen to believe that, but you could make the argument.
"No one can make the argument that were, say, Ford Motor Co. to file for bankruptcy that it would pose a systemic risk for our economy."
Will is right about McCain, but W would never help Wall Street willingly.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I agree. Where are we going to get a good Monte Cristo now? /s
Thanks for hanging tough, GOP.
I’m not going to say that I know the inner workings of the financial mess we find ourselves in. But sometimes people at the top must take the fall for a mismanaged event. Why is is preposterous to say that the leaders of Fannie and Freddie and Lehmann and Merill should be ousted, but not the leader of the organization installed to oversee them. Can someone explain this. It seems the very least we should do. Am I supposed to care that much about this one man? Now, if there’s something we don’t konw about...maybe he tried to do something but was shot down..then I’ll take another look. But as of now, I don’t understand.
I’m not going to say that I know the inner workings of the financial mess we find ourselves in. But sometimes people at the top must take the fall for a mismanaged event. Why is is preposterous to say that the leaders of Fannie and Freddie and Lehmann and Merill should be ousted, but not the leader of the organization installed to oversee them. Can someone explain this. It seems the very least we should do. Am I supposed to care that much about this one man? Now, if there’s something we don’t konw about...maybe he tried to do something but was shot down..then I’ll take another look. But as of now, I don’t understand.
Kramer: “ I’ll tell you who is an attractive man; George Will.”
Jerry: “Really!”
Kramer: “Yeah! He has clean looks, scrubbed and shampooed and....”
Elaine: “He’s smart....”
Kramer: “No, no I don’t find him all that bright.”
Will is correct on the Chris Cox issue. When there is so much ammunition out there against the democrats, why throw someone (who has no oversight) from your own party under the bus? It boggles the mind.
The answer is simple. Not all institutions are created equal. We can let Bennigan’s fail without any serious systemic harm. If we let the financial system just crash instead of organizing a graceful failure, the same people would be complaining about the resultant depression. Sometimes I wonder if our economy has simply gotten too complex for the average person to really understand and we’re left with nothing but rampant emotionalism.
There’s a very simple explanation of why Bennigan’s doesn’t get a bailout - not enough politicians own millions of dollars of stock in THAT company.
The firms were mainly victims of securities billed as 'investment grade' by government backed entities, as well as government regulations that pushed private banks to make bad loans (CRA).
The primary 'fat cats' I see here were Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick and the politicians.
careful. someone will compare you to pat buchanan pretty soon.
Gubermint typically encourages the moral hazard and then bails people out to encourage more.
Then every 4 years someone comes along to claim they will stop it when all they really mean to do is slow it down a little.
I can’t wait to be ‘too big to fail’ some day and I think this cure is worse than the disease.
“I’m not going to say that I know the inner workings of the financial mess we find ourselves in. But sometimes people at the top must take the fall for a mismanaged event. Why is is preposterous to say that the leaders of Fannie and Freddie and Lehmann and Merill should be ousted, but not the leader of the organization installed to oversee them. Can someone explain this. It seems the very least we should do. Am I supposed to care that much about this one man? Now, if there’s something we don’t konw about...maybe he tried to do something but was shot down..then I’ll take another look. But as of now, I don’t understand.”
Consider that when Enron failed, there was widespread outcry and criminal charges. That failure affected thousands.
The failure of FM & FM, as well as the bailouts taking place for the select few, place a financial burden on everyone in the country. It will affect hundreds of millions of people. $1 trillion of debt instantly saddles every citizen of this country with over $3,000 in debt.
We need to see a real, tough response to whatever shenanigans led to this mess. Not golden parachutes handed to ex-executives of failed enterprises.
BTW, Bush did try to do something about this years back, but Congress didn’t let it happen.
He should slam Bush, Cox and the regulators who today gave Franklin Raines a slap on thw wrist. It will remind people of Teddy Roosevelt, the true "original marverick", and will help his cause.
You too? That’s why I came to the thread - Bennigan’s Monte Cristo. A batter-fried sandwich. Awesome. Quietly popular among heart surgeons.
I looked at your profile and saw a sea of anti-McCain propoganda. For a second I thought I had been transported to Delta Uniform. I’m not wild about everything McCain does, but he is a far better choice than the alternative. I’m more interested in winning the war than dinging one of the two legitimate candidates in this election who is far more conservative than the other. And that’s what Georgie Will is doing, of course when you run with his crowd it’s not surprising. This should be pretty clear to everyone, save for the raving PaulBots who are off their Haldol.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.