Posted on 10/11/2008 5:46:48 AM PDT by markomalley
Bush tried, many times, to get Congress to control Fannie Mae and other GSEs
Bush warned that Fannie Mae was getting too large.
Some Republicans tried to get reform in 2005-2006.
The Democrats had a stranglehold on Congress.
Remember the "obstructionists?"
Democrats controlled the Senate for MOST of the 107th Congress
(Remember Jim Jeffords' defection, which put TOM DASCHLE in charge of the Senate?)
The Democrats controlled both houses for all of the 110th Congress.
To his credit, he's never promised to be anything other than who he is now. As Rush said on the air the other day, we will have to drag him across the finish line, if that's even possible. It won't be following behind him, it will be dragging him.
No surprises to me, this is McCain at his finest.
At this point, McCain has nothing to lose by naming names and putting the blame where it belongs.
“DEMron”
That’s good, really good..
We know the Democrats will mistreat him in the Senate, even if he is a "good boy" during the campaign.
I don't think he realizes that fact...just yet.
Unfortunately, the bail out is not only the biggest crime in US history, it is also the biggest cover-up. And McCain, Bush, Obama, Dodd, and Fwank are all in on it. If Dodd and Fwank don’t end up in jail over this, we are facing the disintegration of our republic.
Democrats voted to authorize the war in Iraq. That didn't stop them from blaming Bush for it when it went sour. People understood that Democrats were just along for the ride and that the real responsibility for the war rested with Republicans.
Similarly, the public understands that Republicans may have hitched a ride on the affordable housing bandwagon, but Democrats drove it. Republicans can also point out that they tried to stop the thing before it went over a cliff.
When the financial crisis struck the problem could have been characterized either as Wall Street scandal demonstrating the limitations of capitalism or as a Pennsylvania Avenue scandal demonstrating the dangers of socialism. Problems with capitalism help Democrats. Problems with socialism help Republicans.
So naturally McCain set out to make everyone understand that the enemy was Wall Street greed. He railed about CEO compensation and promised to fire Chris Cox, repeatedly shooting himself in the foot. Weeks went by before he so much as mentioned Fannie, Freddie, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd (maybe he just got his Chris's mixed up.)
McCain just punted on a powerful argument and not because anybody is afraid that it would backfire. McCain didn't make that argument when the time was ripe, for two reasons — He doesn't really understand it, and making it wouldn't be nice.
The man is a dolt.
That's very funny. Bush didn't veto one, single bill.
Republicans like Trent Lott, and fat Dennis "Coach" Hastert? Talk about go along to get along.
What political capital did Republicans spend to stop this? Answer, none. But, they did spend their capital, they did vote, deal on many things, just not on this..
Since the Republicans, as a party, didn't do anything, and or wouldn't do anything, what did it hurt them to say they were against these things? Nothing. Didn't hurt them a bit, and they got on the record that, of course, all very sad and all, we tried you know .....
Farm Republicans got ethanol and farm product support. Suburban Republicans got Real Estate, Developer, local Bank support. Everybody got Financial industry support.
And they all covered their arse with a few talking points that they could sell to Republican Bubbas.
They were in the minority. You can't have it both ways. You can't say the dems were able to block everything the republicans tried to do while the pubs were in the majority and then say now, while the dems are the majority, there is nothing the pubs can do to stop anything.
Unless you are saying the democrats are ALWAYS in control.
The Democrats controlled both houses for all of the 110th Congress.
That session started in 2007 after the spending binge. The 108th and 109th Congress were under Republican "leadership" such as it was.
Then explain why Bush pushed for increasing purchasing of GSE's during his reelection campaign of 2004?
Cuomo's predecessor, Henry Cisneros, did that for the first time in December 1995, taking a cautious approach and moving the GSEs toward a requirement that 42 percent of their mortgages serve low- and moderate-income families. Cuomo raised that number to 50 percent and dramatically hiked GSE mandates to buy mortgages in underserved neighborhoods and for the "very-low-income."
Snip
That June Post story focused its critical reassessment of HUD's affordable-housing goals on the department's 2004 decision—during the Bush re-election campaign—to juice them up again, pushing the target to 56 percent by 2007.
Absolutely!!. We have a credibility problem in the Government. I bet the people on Wall street know a lot of "insider" things that have yet to be exposed.
We've just begun to see the tip of the iceberg.
Exactly. Republicans were worthless. One can definitely say, however, that liberals control Republicans even when Republicans are in control.
O for a leader.
We know that the Democrats are trying to hide the fact that Democrats ran the Senate for almost half of Bush’s presidency. They obstructed the Republicans during the other half of Bush’s presidency.
This is the transcript of one of the FIRST press conferences given by the hateful man who was in charge of the Senate for most of 2001 and all of 2002.
He couldn’t wait to get to the microphone to belittle the intelligence of the folks who supported the missile defense program.
By the time he was through with the press conference, his own nasty streak had done him in.
Transcript from
TOM DASCHLE’S PRESS CONFERENCE, in 2001, on the NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE PROGRAM
Whether or not we want to violate the ABM treaty
especially with a concept [NMD program] that we may not know
...or...
that we do know now does not work
is something that also mystifies me.
I mean
Every aspect of the debate and the consideration
that is given this whole program
is... is troubling to me.
I... I mean... I...there’s a disconnect there.
I mean...It just seems common sense....
I mean...there’s no brain..
THIS ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE HERE...
Yes it IS rocket science....
that’s the problem..
Hadn’t thought about that..
As I just think out loud ....
as I meander through here.
(laugh laugh laugh laugh laugh)
That’s the problem.
I totally agree! Why is he not fighting for us like he has promised?
Let the chips fall where thy may and let the heads roll - both dems and repubs
You can’t get around the fact that Bush and Republicans called for reform.
Democrats obstructed reform.
Oversight would have made a BIG difference.
I am not saying that the dems are not to blame. I am saying that the pubs HAVE to share the blame for the GSE debacle. You just can’t have it both ways.
How does McCain or any white person publicly blame the minority and/or diversity loan programs for causing this problem without getting the race card played?
Of course I can have it both ways.
Everyone knows that, since Clinton's presidency, the Democrats have changed the way government (especially the senate) operates.
Candidates get placed on ballots, after deadlines have expired.
60 votes are necessary for almost any legislation to come to the floor.
Judges are used to decide elections.
Etc.
You are right about one thing. When the Republicans have been in charge they've been playing by the old rules.
They need to accept the fact that Democrats have turned politics into a contact sport.
Remember Obama pulling Lieberman into a corner in the Senate?
...during a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation.I've just thought of a good nickname for Obama...The IntimidatorWhile it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.
Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.
Obama is the symbol for the heart of this crash.
Obama Crash needs to get in the viral space so we can have it penetrate the MSM Blockade.
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