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Still Waiting for ‘Straight Talk’ on the Fiscal Mess
Pajamas Media ^ | October 8, 2008 | Steven Greenhut

Posted on 10/08/2008 11:11:01 AM PDT by AJKauf

Obviously, there are many reasons — and culprits, including President Bush, who supported CRA — for the meltdown, ranging from cheap money to poor industry practices. But a key reason is a federal government policy that practically begged lenders to make ridiculous loans. Under CRA rating standards, to be rated “outstanding” a bank should have “an excellent record of serving the credit needs of highly economically disadvantaged areas.”

Is it too much to expect the GOP ticket to figure out a way to make this case? Shouldn’t a maverick be willing to level with the public, not only about corporate America’s role in this disaster and the federal government’s role, but also about the role played by average Americans?...

(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 10/08/2008 11:11:01 AM PDT by AJKauf
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To: AJKauf
there’s still time for Sen. McCain to engage the public with some of this straight talk, although the time is running short.
McCain? Anybody home?
2 posted on 10/08/2008 11:16:59 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: AJKauf

Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. We are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nit-wits who couldn’t make money selling sex to truckers.


3 posted on 10/08/2008 11:27:17 AM PDT by BubbaBobTX (Obama is all about hope and change: he hopes you don't find out what he wants to change.)
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To: AJKauf

The bailout was a monument to the failure of a socialist policy. Functioning western civilizations have striations of class. There are the poor and the rich. A healthy and growing middle class is a phenomenon of the industrial revolution and the era of entrepreneuralism.

The Crats decided to do a bit of social engineering. They decided to over-ride the prudent rules of banking and lending that require an income loan ratio and credit worthy background as a condition of a loan. The Clinton admin. and the Senate Dems. pushed through the Act that created Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac instruments to back financial instruments that would encourage these loans. (Obama in his work at the time as an attorney for Acorn, assisted in efforts to pressure his local banks to make the loans in poor Chicago.)

The loan defaults are a fullfilment of the laws of economy that work against attempting to create one class. It is a failure of utopian socialist policy.

Obama wants to solve the financial crisis by pumping more money from the upper class into the lower and middle economic class - to redistribute wealth. This is “economic” or “social justice.” He also wants the federal government to “take care of the needs” of people through social programs. Past experience from FDRs administration during the Depression shows that redistribution of wealth prolongs the financial crisis and inceases “needy” people and dependency on government. (The experience of the Soviet Union should prove in its extremes that socialism does not work.) The Dems. want to control and regulate business more and more and undermine the integrity of private property rights and private ownership of raw resources. (California is a prime example of this and what a disaster this is for the economy.) This is all socialism.

McCain has to better explain why a tax and regulatory structure has to encourage the re-establishment and growth of business at home. He has to explain how tax and regulatory relief stimulates the economy. He has to explain why more entitlements and government programs will choke the country to death and why local community-based solutions to poverty, lack of budgeting and goal setting skills, etc. are the solutions for those in need not big government entitlement programs.


4 posted on 10/08/2008 11:39:46 AM PDT by marsh2
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To: AJKauf

experts in the markets...will be trying to unravel all of this for years. won’t be done in the next 3 weeks....I just hope that it will at least be stabilized by then....so it’s premature to expect McCain to speak on it.


5 posted on 10/08/2008 11:41:54 AM PDT by HappyinAZ
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To: HappyinAZ; AJKauf
experts in the markets...will be trying to unravel all of this for years. won’t be done in the next 3 weeks....I just hope that it will at least be stabilized by then....so it’s premature to expect McCain to speak on it.

Stop letting your cheerleading for McCain keep you from looking at this objectively.

McCain's support for this socialist bailout was incorrect from a free-market AND a conservative point of view and his failure to effectively communicate anything concerning this debacle is also disconcerting and disheartening.
6 posted on 10/08/2008 11:50:15 AM PDT by SoConPubbie (GOP: If you reward bad behavior all you get is more bad behavior.)
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To: BubbaBobTX

I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I heard McCain say he was going to use 300 billion dollars of our money to buy bad mortgages directly from IRRESPONSIBLE people. Just when I hold my nose and close my eyes over that atrocity of a bailout bill (true socialism in its purest form), here he comes with an even more offensive idea of rewarding the STUPID. Whatever happened to personal responsibility in this country?! This guy makes it real hard to vote for him. At this point I’m voting against Obama, not for McCain. But in reality, they’ve both signed onto a socialistic agenda. Is this the best our party had to offer?! Bailing irresponsible homeowners out, cap and trade carbon emissions crap, global warming crap, amnesty for illegal immigrants, and willingness to be a whipping boy for Obama every time Obama blames this democratic party created financial crisis on the republicans. Damn man, stand up for yourself, stand up for us, and stop this bipartisan B.S. Enough is enough!!!!


7 posted on 10/08/2008 11:54:53 AM PDT by alfadog (I won't vote for the first time and cry as I see my country buy into all out socialism!)
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To: AJKauf
The candidates answers to the first question out of the gate last night from a Caucasian, male of approximately retirement age who asked, “What is the quickest fix for those who are retired and have seen their nest egg evaporate along with their home value?”

McCain started off with “Drill, Baby, Drill”. So, is McCain going to put a rig off the coast with the retiree's name on it? I forget Obama’s response as it was equally stultifying.

Here's the answer, Sir. “You are screwed. You're too old and feeble to start over and save it up again, and forget about a “reverse mortgage” as you have no more equity in your home, nor will you again. You will have to live on the 50 percent left in your nest egg and social security. If that isn't enough, you will have to move in with your children or grandchildren until you get too ill, feeble or cantankerous for them to deal with. At which point, you will enter a dump of a nursing home on Medicaid, as no top notch home will accept you coming in on Medicaid — that's only after you've spent down (with them) and then they'll move you to a different room in the home. If you get too ill, feeble or cantankerous, they will find you too expensive to fix and neglect you until you finally catch pneumonia and die.” How's that for the truth?

8 posted on 10/08/2008 11:56:01 AM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
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To: SoConPubbie

a) a “loan” is not a “bail-out”
b) One of Treasuries responsibilities is to stabilize the monetary system (which they are doing)
c) Buying up bank loans and holding them to maturity will generate a profit and put capital back into the system.
d) Most Americans understand none of the above....


9 posted on 10/08/2008 12:11:41 PM PDT by HappyinAZ
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To: Constitutions Grandchild

all this because Bush and the democrats promoted freddie mac.


10 posted on 10/08/2008 12:30:33 PM PDT by ari-freedom (Betcha they're good. Why shouldn't they be? Their one mistake was giving up me!)
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To: AJKauf

if we told the straight talk about Bush and the democrats role in this crisis, there would be blood in the streets


11 posted on 10/08/2008 12:32:49 PM PDT by ari-freedom (Betcha they're good. Why shouldn't they be? Their one mistake was giving up me!)
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To: ari-freedom
Every bought dog in this mess should have his come-upins. Every one who thought the bubble would last until they could get out with their profit should have the mess placed at their feet.

I'd love to see someone say to all who refused to fix the track the runaway train was on, “I have some good news and some bad news. At the end of the day, you won't have to die, but you will be spending time at ClubFed and we are seizing you assets.”

I know, I know. I just old-fashioned, but a girl can dream can't she?

12 posted on 10/08/2008 12:56:29 PM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
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To: Constitutions Grandchild

iceland is now broke. not the bank in iceland...the entire country!

there will be a lot of pain all over the world because of this mess. we’ll have it easy compared to everyone else.


13 posted on 10/08/2008 1:02:58 PM PDT by ari-freedom (Betcha they're good. Why shouldn't they be? Their one mistake was giving up me!)
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To: HappyinAZ
In response:

a) Whatever.
b) By inflating the currency when inflation was already rearing its ugly head and the dollar was plummeting.
c) I think Jesus will return sooner than we'll get a return on those loans.
d) I get it. I really get it — the Treasury has been raided so many times that we're borrowing from — THE CHINESE and THE SAUDIS and other Nutberger countries who would like nothing better than to see us fail.

You go on being Happy in Arizona, I'm VERY, VERY unhappy in Missouri. Don't spend more than you have has always been good advice. I guess that's why no one takes it — it's so obvious it can't be right.

14 posted on 10/08/2008 1:05:15 PM PDT by Constitutions Grandchild
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To: Constitutions Grandchild

De-flation...might want to go look it up.....Inflation will not be the next problem.....

be happy they stopped the run on the banks...now if they can get lending re-started we can regain some normalcy

be happy that average citizens are suddenly paying attention

be happy that we have a 50/50 shot at getting a guy as POTUS that hates the out of control spending as much as we do


15 posted on 10/08/2008 1:17:57 PM PDT by HappyinAZ
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To: HappyinAZ

a) a “loan” is not a “bail-out”

-Guess it all depends on what your definition of a loan is; not to sound like Bubba Clinton...lol. It used to be that you had to put up collateral so that if you defaulted, there were real assets that the lender could seize. Fed is going to buy “illiquid” assets. When something has no liquidity it is by definition, worthless. Not even the market knows how to value that bad paper that the banks are holding, what makes you think the Fed or Treasury are going to be able to value it? Also, when has the govt. invested in anything that has made money? Loan sort of sounds like “Pro Choice” to me, when what they’re really doing is killing babies. It’s all just semantics, because it’s a bailout!

b) One of Treasuries responsibilities is to stabilize the monetary system (which they are doing)

-And a “bangup” job they’ve been doing over the years, don’t you think?! Try Googling “fractional reserve system” and see what the Fed has really been doing to our monetary system. It’s a house cards and the Fed is printing monopoly money. God help this country once the masses figure that out. Ever wonder why they took the currency off of the gold standard? Well now you know!

c) Buying up bank loans and holding them to maturity will generate a profit and put capital back into the system.

-Okay, let me get this one straight since it’s Wall Street and Washington’s main talking point right now. The Fed is going to buy toxic paper that the market can’t even place a value on and then it’s going to sell this currently illiquid paper at just the right time, to make a profit. Hmmmm, sounds like speculation and market timing to me. Hang around Wall street enough and you’ll learn that the street of bankruptcy is littered with speculators and market timers. You have a better chance of seeing God than seeing the government make penny one of profit. Oh, and haven’t you heard, there’s already rumor of a second bailout package, I kid you not. Oooops sorry, a second loan....lol.

d) Most Americans understand none of the above....

This one I may have to agree with you on. Most Americans are asleep and have no clue of how we got here, and that my friend is the most dangerous thing of all. It gets you horrendous outcomes like, President Obama!!! God help us all if that happens!!! I’m more apt to say, most Americans don’t understand the Community Reinvestment Act, the catalyst and cause of most of this. They don’t understand that Carter started it, Clinton expanded it greatly, and sadly Bush got his hands dirty with it too. What a great idea, let’s give adjustable rate, no doc loans to people with bad credit. Gee, you think it would’ve occured to someone involved that interest rates do go up at times, which would cause defaults on mortgages and credit lines drying up. Were you aware that in 2004 and 2005, over 90% of Fanny’s loans were adjustable rates. This principle is so basic and obvious that everyone should understand it, with the exception of the clowns in Washington. So, just because we disagree with the bailout package, I mean loan package, does not mean we do not understand. Maybe, we understand a little more than they do. Get out of the markets way and let it do what it’s going to do. A market is like the ocean, it can’t be controlled, it does and goes where it wants to go, regardless of what barriers you construct.


16 posted on 10/08/2008 8:20:38 PM PDT by alfadog (I won't vote for the first time and cry as I see my country buy into all out socialism!)
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