By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 11:30 AM | Link to this

Watch out boys and girls ….

WaMu and Wachivia are teetering too….

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this

OH yes we have no bananas. Jimmy Durante said it best, eh?

Fanny and Freddy’s Five trillion dollars of debt is more than any other country except the USA.

If Uncle Sam didn’t bail them out, then it would truly have been the end of capitalism, as the fallout would have made the depression look like a phony chinese girl lip synching to the real thing.

The United States of America is changing as all countries must. Capitalism itself is relatively new in terms of the age of occupations. Barter came first, with Eve letting Adam sample the forbidden fruit in exchange for forbidden fruit. If only God had bailed them out, none of this current crisis would have happened.

But capitalism started back in the rennaisance with the Dutch inventing all these securities and insurance schemes.

It all can be summed up by looking at the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise’ storefront facia logos in China: Col. Sanders has barely perceptible slanted eyes. Check it out for a real good belly laugh. Then sober up. It’s what coming.

By ccridder

September 12, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this

You have nothing else to do with your life Ms. Godzilla. Do you just sit back and answer every column. It seems you have an answer to everything. Someone with your intellience should be sitting on the board of a corporation. Or maybe you’re just a busy body that no one listens to and the truth is you know absolutly nothing about anything you post. Get a life will ya I’m so tired of your b.s. opinions. Which amount to nothing at all. Not to mention you have liberal writen all over your face.

By Truth

September 12, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

Much of the economic fears me and my friends have are linked to the fact that we are afraid of what an Obama presidency might do to us and our money. Once that fear is gone me and my friends will again become more fruitful in the economy. I am sure we are not the only ones with these thoughts.

By ccridder

September 12, 2008 11:40 AM | Link to this

You have nothing else to do with your life Ms. Godzilla. Do you just sit back and answer every column. It seems you have an answer to everything. Someone with your intellience should be sitting on the board of a corporation. Or maybe you’re just a busy body that no one listens to and the truth is you know absolutly nothing about anything you post. Get a life will ya I’m so tired of your b.s. opinions. Which amount to nothing at all. Not to mention you have liberal writen all over your face.

By mike hussein smith

September 12, 2008 11:41 AM | Link to this

Have Fannie and Freddie truly been nationalized, or merely bailed out? Will the outrageous salaries go away? The golden parachutes? The problem with all these financial failures is that the Bush administration seems to think that poring billions into this fiasco is merely a means of keeping the party going. Screw Lehman (unless Pappy Bush still has a good buddy on the board).

By Eric1

September 12, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this

Do we get what we deserve? I never voted for that moron and I suspected all along that this would be a disaster. Why do I have to suffer the consequences of a stupid electorate? I know, I know…Country First! I’m scared, very, very scared.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

Free market capitalism died nearly a century ago, before GWB was even born. Government “fixes” have the problem ever since.

By AJC/DNC Management

September 12, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

When were Freddie and Fannie not government programs?

And check this out, the libs want to federalize health care, they ate up and spit out public education, Fake Temple Pilot wants to increase spending by 400 Billion, Social Security, their swaddling baby that has grown into a Financial Huey, now they are sweating it?

Get real.

Can anyone besides me imagine what would happen if the mortgage industry collapsed?

Now just imagine if the libs favorite boondoggles^^ collapsed.

We’d be rich.

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

OH yes we have no bananas. Jimmy Durante said it best, eh?

Fanny and Freddy’s Five trillion dollars of debt is more than any other country except the USA.

If Uncle Sam didn’t bail them out, then it would truly have been the end of capitalism, as the fallout would have made the depression look like a phony chinese girl lip synching to the real thing.

The United States of America is changing as all countries must. Capitalism itself is relatively new in terms of the age of occupations. Barter came first, with Eve letting Adam sample the forbidden fruit in exchange for forbidden fruit. If only God had bailed them out, none of this current crisis would have happened.

But capitalism started back in the rennaisance with the Dutch inventing all these securities and insurance schemes.

It all can be summed up by looking at the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise’ storefront facia logos in China: Col. Sanders has barely perceptible slanted eyes. Check it out for a real good belly laugh. Then sober up. It’s what coming.

By gttim

September 12, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this

Corporations are all about privatizing profit and socializing losses. Let them fail. Let the loses be huge. Then more small business can grow to fill the void. Our government has been writing the rules to favor large corporations for years. It hasn’t worked. It is time for an equal playing field so small business can thrive.

By Truth

September 12, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this

10 years ago you libs were talking about how people couldnt get loans and this is what happens when people who shouldnt get loans get them!

By Bud Wiser

September 12, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

If Presidents were given line item veto, then the real porksters would swirl to the top of the cesspool we call our Congress. But noooooooo, Congress sees that as an infringement on their ‘right’ to spend our money as they please. So, no line item veto.

This whole mess of corporate bailouts began years ago with Chrysler and Lee Iacocca. Had they been allowed to fail and close up shop, none of this mess would be still occurring.

But noooooooooooooo. Congress had to stick their fat heads and our money into it, and now corporations almost queue it into their operating plans, knowing they can feel free to be reckless and irresponsible, and in the end, good old Uncle Sam with his taxpayers wallets will bail them out.

Making iffy loans to bare-bones or non qualified buyers has put the institutions ability to manage money in doubt. If I were President of the Universe, I’d have jailed and fined every CEO, every BOD, every CFO of every one of these companies, seized their multiple homes and assets, and stripped them of everything they owned. That money would have gone back to a newly appointed Board (by me, of course) to try to save the company, and if it’s not enough, then in the words of former Delta Air Lines CEO Ron Allen, “so be it.”

But nooooooooooo. I don’t, and never will have, that power. Like every other sap that watches these criminals in Washington operate, taking lobby money (which is another pet peeve of mine, but I digress), PAC money, money for your home freezer, etc. and they continue to screw up our economy. And we as Americans continue to put these morons in charge?

Who is the stupid one here? Us? Who keeps putting up these non-qualified toads, has-beens or never-was, and idiots for election or reelection? It is the 2 party system that is failing, but these congressional criminals from the two entities have structured the system in their favor where the failure of any third party candidate is doomed before it starts. Unless you are a billionaire and are willing to spend everything you have to run, you don’t have a prayer.

Election cycles used to be just a familiar joke, with everyone knowing these toads were going to promise the moon, and deliver something akin to a Pet Rock. And those are the ones that are honest. I bet if you check the records you will find that every Senator or Congressman that enters office and is not a multimillionaire, they will be one by the time they leave. They pay no Social Security. They accept nothing less than legalized (by them) bribes. They cannot be sued for false promises when they fail to deliver. In fact, they can’t be sued much at all because of protective laws (designed and written by….guess) governing such. They had built nuclear protective shelters during the Cold War era that still exist, with plans to move them and their families to immediate safety, but we are left to fend for ourselves. And we paid for this? We paid for the potential perpetuation, not of the idyllic ‘American Way’, but of these morons to run whatever is left that they did not manage to kill or destroy? The gene pool for humanity would be set back by eons.

And so here we have another election. I could just write in Billy Payne or Stephen Hawking or someone with good old fashioned common sense (and a brain, and is not prone to gimme gimme gimme your money), but in the end will probably vote for a party candidate. Afterward, I will go home and take a good long cleansing shower and watch the returns like most everyone else.

Sigh.

I’m done now.

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

If Sarah Palin wins this election and becomes our new Commander in Chief, then can we say that her daughter got pregnant in-veto?

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

ccridder

Wow wow wow wow ee

Your snarky retort just slays me!

PS: You’re here too!

By K_Chub

September 12, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this

Analchord,

Wasn’t that Harry Chapin who said it best?

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 11:59 AM | Link to this

If WaMu fails, do I have to keep paying my mortgage or credit card bill?

I hope not.

Just kidding, China will probably be willing to help them out and then I can make my payments in yens.

People, people. China has been at war with us for years, the only problem is, no one here noticed. It all started when WalMart started pushing all their cheap crap on the poor and middle America. Then we just couldn’t get enough.

Now, we’re hooked like drug addicts, and not only that, our economy is dependent upon the Chinese now. It’s been a brilliant move.

I cringe when I see one of those “Oriental Trading Company” catalogs home in my mailbox - thinking of all the schools who give their money to the Chinese, just so our school kids will have some kind of cheap plastic crappy toy to take home in an attempt to make them feel better.

My kids NEVER had a Happy Meal nor would I allow them to bring home a goody bag from a birthday party (again filled with cheap plastic crap made by some 10 year old in a Chinese factory). What happened to birthday parties where children ate cake and the kid having the birthday party got presents - why should the guests get presents too? What happened to frakking birthday cake BEING what the guests got?

Now, I’m not saying I’m totally innnocent and have never bought anything manufactured from China - I have an Ipod, but still, it’s our greed and our need for stuff that has gotten us in this mess.

Wars are won now by crippling economies, not with guns and gods.

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 12:00 PM | Link to this

Only 200 Billion to bail out Fannie and Freddy? That’s like two weeks in Iraq, isn’t it?

By AJC/DNC Management

September 12, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

Limbaugh prediction: Sarah Palin didn’t turn loose thousands upon thousands of “uhs” in her interview, and this confused and frightened the liberals.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

Darn! I misread the headline and thought it said Bush resigns over death of capitalism.

I was looking forward to 4 months of President Cheney.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did anybody know that Geraldo was 9 feet tall? Why did Fox ever hire that moron?

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

Thanks Jay for doing me that favor and getting Ron White’s mug shot off the ajc.com home page.

I really appreciate it.

By mike hussein smith

September 12, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

Keep the pedal to the metal, Mrs. G. You really drive those wingnuts wild.

By Mike

September 12, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this

Yes, it’s the end of capitalism and it’s all Bush’s fault.

Thanks for that reasoned and insightful commentary Jay.

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this

By Bud Wiser September 12, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this If Presidents were given line item veto, then the real porksters would swirl to the top of the cesspool we call our Congress. But noooooooo, Congress sees that as an infringement on their ‘right’ to spend our money as they please. So, no line item veto

OOPS! Ain’t congress’s fault dude.

I support the line item veto also but lets get the basic facts right shall we?

The Supreme Court yesterday struck down the broad new line-item veto authority that Congress had given the president to cancel specific items in spending and tax bills.

Reading is FUNdamental!

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

Jay,

Oh, and by the way, even though you did me that favor and all, I have to lay the blame of the “death of capitalism as we know it” on the American consumer.

This has been happening for around 20 years, long about the time you started seeing “brown people” with the funny names living in our cities.

Politicians have certainly made it easier for corporatism (or as I like to call it fascism) rise to the occassion, but the American people have allowed it to happen.

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this

Jay,

You liberals are so heartless. Millions of people are going to lose their life savings…

Seriously, this and these other bailouts will greatly restrict the incoming President - IF they’re committed to a balanced budget.

BTW - O’Reilly asked Hillary if she knew where the AQ leadership is now. She didn’t. I guess that’s why she’s not qualified to be President.

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

Mike Hussein Smith

LOVE your middle name…

used it a while when I was posting at Luckovich as IN THE(Hussein)NEWS

thanks for the props but I haven’t driven them anywhere…..they started at that point!

By Mike

September 12, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this

“My kids NEVER had a Happy Meal nor would I allow them to bring home a goody bag from a birthday party (again filled with cheap plastic crap made by some 10 year old in a Chinese factory).”

Well, I try to avoid getting my kids Happy Meals because they nutritionally deficient. Somethimes when travelling we have to stop there and the Happy Meal thing makes the kids happy for a few minutes. Sorry.

In goodie bag thing is more interesting. You are willing to hurt the feelings of the host child, insult the parents and take away a minor bit of fun for your children to make an impotent political statement? Do you bring a tape recorder with theme music as you launch into your preamble?

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

RW @ 12:04,

The President Cheney thing was pretty funny.

Is Geraldo still alive?

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

Paul,

The Washington Post apparently thinks we’re still fighting the Iraq government led by Saddam Hussein and saw fit to print it on the front page today, so I’m going to bypass the antique media in making my decision of who is and who isn’t qualified for office.

By Lewis

September 12, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this

This is what happens when foxes guard henhouses.

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this

SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE

Governor Palin’s first cable interview?

Sean Hannity

Now that’ll be a toughie!

By mike hussein smith

September 12, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

Jay, I think you deftly point out the sweet ironies of the situation: the MBA who goes bust, the smart a* who knew nothing, the president who financially and morally bankrupted all our major institutions — from FEMA to the Constitution to the financial markets. In his own ignorance, George W. Bush has presided over an unprecedented assault on the American landscape. And McCain/Palin say bring on more.

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this

Mike,

No, we just say to the host parent, “thanks, but no thanks” which is usually sufficient and if they ask “why” or anything like that, we’ll tell them why we do not allow our children to have goodie bags.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

Bosch,

I wouldn’t wish death on anyone, but retirement would be a good place for Geraldo.

He’s down in Galveston. He said that he’s standing on a 16 foot seawall and then held his hand at knee level to indicate where a 20 foot storm surge would be. Then he held his hand up around forehead level and said that would be a 25 foot surge.

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

RW-(the original)

So, is the Washington Post a lying organization?

See what happens when the door to using that term gets opened?

I’m listening to parts of the Palin interview now. Not quite as some have represented it -

Lannie Davis just said he thought Palin did very, very well. Dems aren’t all in lockstep, after all.

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

Mrs. G!!!!

You were there all along!!! I thought you had moved or something.

But, I kind of figured it out when you started posting here. :-)

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

An interesting read….

Is Bush to Blame for the Economy?
In fairness, Bush, like all presidents, does not deserve all the blame (or credit) for the economy’s performance under his watch. But he turned a blind eye to the mounting evidence of an economic crisis.

By RUKiddin

September 12, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

Something smells funny in here.

By ByteMe

September 12, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this

Bud, you sound really sad today. Chin up! It’s really not that bad yet, although some days will feel that way. Information overload can do that to ya.

And Mrs. G is right by the way, Congress DID give it to Bill Clinton to good effect, but then the Supremes found that it wasn’t constitutional. Only way to do it now would be an amendment, but Congress isn’t being pushed to do that by any true fiscal visionaries, so we’re stuck for now with “we’ll balance the budget 6 years from now” or whatever tripe the politicians come up with.

RW: I think I just passed my lunch out my nose with your Geraldo comment. Too funny.

The failure this time is completely regulatory. Congress long ago gave the Office of Thrift Supervision the power to oversee the banks and their loans and they bailed on their responsibility. And since Wall Street’s lobbyists help write lots of these financial laws, they were exempt from any kind of capital requirements that banks are required to maintain, so a company like Bear Stearns could roll the dice and leverage their portfolio 80x and when the dice came up snake eyes, their CEO walks away with a good bonus and everyone else is screwed. The game is rigged against the small investor; always has been.

As for the bailout of Fannie and Freddie, it’s likely the best choice for the financial system, but how did it get down to this? Who let these companies gamble on low-end low-quality mortgages that the banks were pawning off on them? How did the ratings company not get creamed for being in collusion with the investment houses for marking subprime mortgages as AAA quality? Really, we need some perp walks here, starting at the banks and working the way up the food chain.

As for WaMu, yeah, as a former investor, I think it’s toast. Just a matter of time now. There’s another wave of foreclosures coming in ‘09. We’re not done yet.

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this

Hey Bosch….

When Mike shut down….I came out.

I always liked the Mrs. Godzilla moniker better.

for sentimental reasons…..

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:34 PM | Link to this

RW,

OOOOOO K! That Geraldo is a whiz. BWA!

“I wouldn’t wish death on anyone, but retirement would be a good place for Geraldo”

See that’s the THIRD thing we’ve agreed on in two days.

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

Mrs. G 12:31

Rule of Thumb: if it happened on his watch, and it’s bad, he takes the hit.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

Paul,

One thing about the interview reviews that’s maddening is that I’ve seen several reporters saying she sounded too scripted on foreign policy questions, to which I say, duh, she’s in the VP slot and has to follow the McCain policy.

It’s no mistake that the more uncomfortable questions were played on the 7 o’clock news and the energy stuff was on Nightline, but I thought on balance she did easily as well as the top of the other ticket does on the rare occasions that he’ll take questions.

Lannie Davis is one of the very few Dems that’s figured out that attacking Sarah and ignoring McCain is a sure loser.

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

Mrs. G.

Me too :-)

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

Okay, is it just me, or does anyone else think it’s rather strange that the National Weather Service is predicting “certain death” if they don’t evacuate to some residents in and around Galveston?

By Dusty

September 12, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

There once was a guy name JAY

who always had dragons to slay.

But his knighthood was challenged

By the lies he embellished.

He once called a fair lady….”pig”

But it turned out Jay was the prig.

So he turned to cap-i-ta-lism

To develop a new “ism”.

Lickety split Jay threw a fit

Screaming, of course, “Bush done did it!”

Now Camelot is closed to all Democrats

And Jay is hawking papers to cold water flats.

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

RW-(the original)

A very good point overlooked by many. What do you think does not mean her, personally, or that she should give her personal views. A SecState does not give his or her personal views when in a Q&A. Palin’s on track to be part of an administration in which she will follow the policies, not make them.

After all they’ve said about Cheney, you’d think Dems’d be pleased.

By Th

September 12, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

I see we still have a ways to go in deciding how best to respond to the financial sector problems. Did deregulation of these markets lead to the melt-down or was it too much regulation? Government bail-outs and the resulting moral hazard means tighter regulation will be the result unless we favor a financial melt-down of Great Depression magnitude.

Foreign Central Banks (including the Chinese) own $millions ($billions?) of Fannie/Freddie bonds issued against their mortgage portfolios. Letting Fannie/Freddie default on these would probably have precipitated a dollar collapse in the currency markets. That would help our exports, but drive inflation through the roof. Guaranteeing these bonds was the only sensible move by the feds and a bail-out of Fannie/Freddie without fundamental reworking of the organizations to clean out the people and procedures that led to this predicament would be totally irresponsible.

New regulations will slowly right the financial markets as they did with the S&L crisis of the ‘80’s until the deregulation people come to power again and we repeat the mistakes of the past.

We should not forget the role of McCain’s financial policy adviser, Phil Gramm’s part in all this. It was his legislation that opened up the pandora’s box.

By ByteMe

September 12, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

RW: but I thought on balance she did easily as well as the top of the other ticket does on the rare occasions that he’ll take questions.

Can’t imagine where you’ve been hiding out, but in the last week, he’s shown up on O’Reilly to talk with him for 30 minutes, Olbermann on Monday, and last night was at Columbia U with McCain to answer questions for nearly an hour on live TV. And Sarah Palin has been… hiding in Alaska looking for reporters who will show her “deference”.

BTW, both Obama and McCain did well last night during their hour of questions on service, but it felt like Obama was more substantive. Just my feel, you can likely find the transcript somewhere online and judge for yourself.

By LOLO

September 12, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

So Jay, you’re a libertarian now???

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

I’ve always hated “old lady poetry.”

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

Paul…

…Takes the hit ‘cuz it happened on his watch…

In your mind does that apply to the terrorist attacks that were made on our nation 7 years ago?

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

RW-(the original)

Hit ‘post’ too quickly - sorry.

Lannie Davis said he thought McCain made a brilliant political move - sacrificed the strong ‘experience’ argument against Obama to footstomp the ‘reformer’ argument for himself.

With all the jokes about Palin and hunting, you’d think her critics would be familiar with the concept of ‘decoy.’

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this

Dusty, U have no idea how funny what U just wrote is.

Milk coming out noses all over the AJC, girlfriend.

I hope your poem gets published in the paper. We all need laughs that hearty.

By Tall

September 12, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this

Just another Bookman cheap shot at President Bush. The culture of corruption at FNM and FRE runs deep and has done so for years. There have been analysts on Wall Street calling for FNM to come clean on the accounting for years. These same analysts have warned about the excessive risk by underwriting all these mortgages. Both of these GSE’s have paid lobbyists millions. Why? There will always be corruption. It’s nothing new. In this case, it’s another government made mess. When it’s implied that the government(taxpayers) will pick up someone else’s mess, this is usually what you get in return.

By Paul

September 12, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this

Mrs. Godzilla 12:47

But of course! I thought it obvious that’s what happened. It’s political reality.

By Bud Wiser

September 12, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this

I read Mrs G’s link, so I guess I stand corrected. However, in her usual way of cherry-picking onlythe facts she wants to crow about, she failed to mention that it was the Democraps who were ecstatic that the court struck it down.

Shall I elaborate for her, because of her obvious inability to tell the whole truth? Quotes follow:

1) “The decision comes as a blow both to Clinton, who used the new power 82 times over the past 18 months, and to* GOP leaders, who made the line-item veto a marquee item in their 1994 “Contract With America.*”

2) “By contrast, the law’s foes were ecstatic. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) raised his arm in a salute and exclaimed, “God save this honorable court.” Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said that Congress “tried to bend the Constitution [but] the court said it will not allow this to happen.”

3) “But many lawmakers’ love affair with the line-item veto has cooled since Clinton began zeroing out some of their favorite projects and recent government projections of surpluses for the next several years.”

Thank you for the correction Mrs G, some of my statements were in error, but if you had read it a bit more thoroughly yourself, perhaps you would have caught not only these statements, but the fact that it was Congress that essentially admitted it was incapable of mustering enough support for the 2/3 majority required, because in the end it was they who recognized the fact that they cannot control their own spending of our money.

My whole spiel above was about the total ineptitude of both houses of Congress, but you dart in like some left wing hack and try to get smart a$$ with me. So, instead of trying to be a third rate nit picker and correct someone with some of your opinionated facts, why not expose the whole issue and all of the facts? Your inability to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, is what stops you, that’s why. A true liberal to the end, you never let a good fact get in the way of your political slant.

Obama/Biden ‘08 - making it easy to be stupid

By Bud Wiser

September 12, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this

Oh Mrs G, by the way, try reading all the crap you post yourself. It’s enough to choke an elephant, none of it is any of your own original material, and everyone else is sick to death of yu pull from MoveOn, Huffington Pus/POS, DailyKos, etc., etc.

By MAC

September 12, 2008 12:59 PM | Link to this

Obama supported the Fannie/Freddie backstop. If you are concerned about this development, Jay, then why vote for more of the same x2?

McCain has been critical of Fannie/Freddie quasi-govt status for a long time. Looks like he was proven RIGHT.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

Paul,

If some reporter with a few hours to kill can get Biden to sit down with them they can just ask, “what do you think,,,,”

And then hit the record button.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Too much to excerpt here so I’m just going to link.

There is a yawning gulf between what the Democratic candidate says and how he has acted. That’s why the race is so close

By Joe Dawg Alumni

September 12, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

Don’t bail any of these mortgage guys out, but you can’t have it both ways. For years the Dems have been sprouting crocodile tears over the fact that minorities and poor people couldn’t qualify for the “American Dream”. So the Mortgage companies were forced to come up with these “sub prime mortgages”. Well, what happenned then, we now know. Sometimes you get what you ask for, but the secret is to blame someone else for the results, if trouble is what you asked for.

By T

September 12, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this

Ok, Someone help the slow children again (Refering to myself) If our economy is growing, why are so many corporations going bust and seeking food stamps? I can agree to growth, but something is terribly wrong here. If our airlines are struggling, banks failing, automakers on the brink of destruction, and the 2 major mortage companies eating govmint cheese, I’m don’t think I like that type of growth. Can anyone tell me what other markets we have, or what else it is that we are manufacturing?

By Dusty

September 12, 2008 1:02 PM | Link to this

Analchord @12:48

Thank you. I doubt (with a smile) that Koosler will choose it for his “poetry piece”.

bosch@12:46

I have always hated “childish churls”.

By RealityKing

September 12, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this

America needs another good depression. A good dose of bad medicine will remind us what bad times really are. I’m ready for an Obama presidency, are you?

By getalife "whiners"

September 12, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this

Lets reward them will four more years of power.

Insane, isn’t it?

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

Bud

Always the gentleman.

I bet you are just the life of the party.

Women flock to you, men admire you.

Golly, I wish I was just like you!

(Not)

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

Geraldo update.

He’s now ten feet tall.

What a tool….

By Bosch

September 12, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

Dusty,

What’s a “churl?” Is that some kind of old lady talk?

By Wyld Byll Hyltnyr

September 12, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this

Anatole Kaletsky, may well be a “well-respected economics”, but I doubt that respects springs from quarters where business and accounting knowledge reside, rather it is more likely that this respect dwells in the hearts of the ignorati who understand nothing about business endeavors other than that they hate them.

When Kaletsky writes: “This was, after all, the biggest expropriation of private property undertaken by a government outside the former communist world…” he is absolutely, 100% wrong. Sure there were a lot of assets involved, but from an accounting perspective the WAS NO EQUITY under any reasonable mark to market. Hence, there was not property to seize, rather , unless the prevailing economic winds shift, it is likely that the Treasury assumed liabilities that are not fully supported by asset values and, most likely, will cost the Treasury at the end of the unwind. That, my friend, Jay, is why, out of one of your faces, you can complain about the government picking up the tab even while out of your other face you plaintively wail about the so called “biggest expropriation of private property.” BOTTOM LINE REALITY CHECK – there was no expropriation of property; there was an assumption of net liability – Kaletsky is either just plain ignorant or a misguided ideological numnutz.

Further Kaletsky writes, “But events on Wall Street and in Washington indicate that “just as the triumph appeared to be complete, the innermost sanctum of the global capitalist system suddenly collapsed.” Here’s the problem ( and may I suggest that before you quote the drivel spewed forth from this lightweight again that you read Shumpeter), CAPITALISM IS DARWINIAN – I can’t think of one economist of any stripes that doesn’t accept Shumpeter’s notion of “creative destructive.” Simply put this line of reason predicts that inefficient, ill advised, or poorly executed business models, which is what the major mortgage market participants were, will be crushed by market forces – looks exactly like what happened here. So, the wonderful wizard of Kaletsky has, in essence, concluded that, ironically, “the innermost sanctum of the global capitalist system suddenly collapsed” because market forces behaved exactly as one would expect under capitalism.

Next, I don’t want to waste my time quoting Kalesky’s conclusion, but it should suffice to say that if the permises upon which he built his argument are severely flawed, then it logically follows that his conclusion is not worth the paper upon which it is written.

Finally, to write, “All under the reign of George W. Bush” is, perhaps, the most ill-informed of all the misrepresentations in the blog. Anyone informed party who works in the financial industry will tell you that the Bush Administration has been a staunch opponent of the GSEs and, left to its own device, would have dismantled this b******* child, hybrid that would not naturally occur under pure capitalism. The opposition to the Bush Administration clean up of the GSEs came from Congress, particularly the people’s house. To somehow blame this on President Bush is preposterous, it makes no sense, and its just childish. Good day.

By Mrs. Godzilla

September 12, 2008 1:15 PM | Link to this

RW

You are right on the money about Geraldo….

Creepy dude.

By Shawny

September 12, 2008 1:15 PM | Link to this

Let them fail, I agree. What business (pardon the pun) is it of the govt to get involved? Govt involvement in the affairs of the private industry is what the left prefers… the communists and socialists…

No bailouts…no chutes, no mas.

But then Bookman puts in the slam about it being on Bush’s watch, and out the door goes his cred. That was just timing, like 9.11.2001. You know they planned that heinous attack during Clinton’s watch, don’t you?!? Had Gore got a few more hanging chads, would Bookman have opined that it happened under Gore’s watch? Methinks not. hack.

By Markie

September 12, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

I see Jay is now writing two columns a day while Cynthia is still hiding under her desk from the OReilly staffers.

I actually agree with the point of this article. But Jay, you’ve never supported capitalism. Have you sold your soul just to take another shot at Bush? But let’s be fair……Bush had to come up with something to deal with the situation. What about LBJ who privitized it with govt backstops? What about Congress who has oversight and has defended it in exchange for massive lobbying donations from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

By Shawny

September 12, 2008 1:17 PM | Link to this

Bush must have turned off the hurricaine making machine, since there are no more lined up between the US and Africa.

By Shawny

September 12, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this

A socialist like Bookman has no cred when talking about capitalism. His lib opinions, such as ‘give as to your means and take as to your need’ resonate of Karl Marx.

By Algonquin J. Calhoun

September 12, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this

How amusing that a mental midget would blame Obama for the total, abject failure of George W. Hitler. Capitalism is dead. It became ill many years ago and entered into the throes of death when Communism passed on. Without Communism there’s nothing for it to be better than. Greed has flourished but when the money is worthless it becomes a mere exercise in human frailty.

By Dusty

September 12, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this

bosch @1:11

I knew that “churl” would get you. So a’propo!

It may not be in your children’s dictionary. Look it up in the one for adults under the “C” section.

By WillM

September 12, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this

Good point about the “uhs” Management. You’re right. Obama way overuses it (as did Hillary Clinton) and it makes him sound a bit wonkish.

By Grading Wooten

September 12, 2008 1:23 PM | Link to this

The Obama apology window is open. Do you have more health insurance than a fifth grader? or will you be dumped as non-paying patient scum on Grady’s doorstep?

Let the sewers fail at the local level, and watch the gop flip-flop over the plop……ew.

The Chinese force their citizens to recite the Predge of Arregience in Schools. (well, they lip synch to a recording of it).

Cynthia McKinney is to the lunatic fringe on the left what Sarah Palin is to the lunatic fringe on the Right.

Palin is part of a movement to secede Alaska from the USA. She thinks the Bush Doctrine is “one in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

Cynthia McKinney thinks W lied to the American people about WMDs and the Saddam Hussein/Al Queda connection. Cynthia McKinney thinks that Cheney and Bush were warned by the FBI and the CIA about plans Al Queda had to fly planes into skyscrapers. Cynthia McKinney things that Bush knew about sleeper cells of Al Queda taking flying lessons and living quiet lives as hockey moms and dads.

Cynthia McKinney thinks Bush has been the worst president we’ve ever had bar none.

But Sarah Palin thinks that if she can see a country, she can pack her foreign policy resume with that country. Well, sarah, I see england, I see France, but how many have seen your daughter’s underpants……

bwa haw.

By Dusty

September 12, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this

Dear Shawny @1:17

There is so much bluster from Libs that no hurricane making machine is needed. Did you know the next one may be named “JAY”?

By Analchord

September 12, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this

The Obama apology window is open. Do you have more health insurance than a fifth grader? or will you be dumped as non-paying patient scum on Grady’s doorstep?

Let the sewers fail at the local level, and watch the gop flip-flop over the plop……ew.

The Chinese force their citizens to recite the Predge of Arregience in Schools. (well, they lip synch to a recording of it).

Cynthia McKinney is to the lunatic fringe on the left what Sarah Palin is to the lunatic fringe on the Right.

Palin is part of a movement to secede Alaska from the USA. She thinks the Bush Doctrine is “one in the hand is worth two in the bush”. (Hey, isn’t that what got her daughter in trouble)?

Cynthia McKinney thinks W lied to the American people about WMDs and the Saddam Hussein/Al Queda connection. Cynthia McKinney thinks that Cheney and Bush were warned by the FBI and the CIA about plans Al Queda had to fly planes into skyscrapers. Cynthia McKinney thinks that Bush knew about the sleeper cells of Al Queda taking flying lessons and living quiet lives as hockey moms and dads.

Cynthia McKinney thinks Bush has been the worst president we’ve ever had bar none.

But Sarah Palin thinks that if she can see a country, she can pack her foreign policy resume with that country. Well, sarah, I see england, I see France, but how many have seen your daughter’s underpants……

bwa haw.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this

I missed this last week, but Barry Paranoia is still peddling his prediction.

“And I know that the temptation is to say, ‘You know what? …The guy hasn’t been there that long in Washington.,’ You know, ‘he’s got funny name,’ You know, ‘we’re not sure about him,’” Obama continued. “And that’s what the Republicans, when they say, ‘This isn’t about issues, it’s about personalities,’ what they’re really saying is, ‘We’re going to try to scare people about Barack. So we’re going to say that you know, maybe he’s got Muslim connections or we’re going to say that, you know, he hangs out with radicals or he’s not patriotic.’

By ByteMe

September 12, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this

T @ 1:01:

If we’re growing, it’s barely. GDP keeps getting revised downward to around 0 or slightly below. You’ll know we’re about ready to end the recession when they finally call it a recession. And it’s definitely a recession, even if they haven’t called it one yet.

What do we produce? Services is a HUGE part of our economy now. Manufacturing not so much, which is why recessions have been so mild since the mid-80’s. Services tend to be recession-proof, since it’s just bodies and brains for hire and someone somewhere will want to hire them.

As for what’s going on: we have a housing bubble that burst and that triggered a credit crisis. Banks and capital companies aren’t lending so easily now, so those companies that rely on the availability of cheap and easy money for borrowing (think housing and autos) are in dire straits because no one can just buy their products without a loan.

That’s the short version.

By bush go away

September 12, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this

Official transcript of Hockey Night in Canada’s play by play on the Palin interview. “Gibson has the puck. He makes a perfect pass to Palin. She moves in on an empty net. And she totally fans on the shot and ends up sprawled on the ice!

You can call yourself a hockey mom, but it doesn’t mean you can skate through an interview.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this

Do you get the feeling that Jake Tapper is getting a little tired BaRocky Obama?

The Isotoner campaign, one might say.

Another part of today’s claim is that the Democrat is going to aggressively claim the “change” mantle.

As part of this — the staggeringly fresh assertion that Sen. John McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time, a factoid Obama has only made seven thousand times before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some lib idiot on Fox just said that Sarah Palin lied to us all yesterday by trying to tie al Qaeda to 9/11.

Anybody else want to go down that road?

By Grading Wooten

September 12, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this

Cynthia McKinney is to the lunatic fringe on the left what Sarah Palin is to the lunatic fringe on the Right.

Palin is part of a movement to secede Alaska from the USA. She thinks the Bush Doctrine is “one in the hand is worth two in the bush”. (Hey, isn’t that what got her daughter in trouble)?

Cynthia McKinney thinks W lied to the American people about WMDs and the Saddam Hussein/Al Queda connection. Cynthia McKinney thinks that Cheney and Bush were warned by the FBI and the CIA about plans Al Queda had to fly planes into skyscrapers. Cynthia McKinney thinks that Bush knew about the sleeper cells of Al Queda taking flying lessons and living quiet lives as hockey moms and dads.

Cynthia McKinney thinks Bush has been the worst president we’ve ever had bar none.

But Sarah Palin thinks that if she can see a country, she can pack her foreign policy resume with that country. Well, sarah, I see england, I see France, but how many have seen your daughter’s underpants……

Sarah Palin thinks we should not educate our underaged, unmarried daughters about sex. I guess Sarah’s Secret is Victoria’s Secret.

John McCain was tortured as a POW. Sarah Palin feels tortured by NOW.

Obama 08: Aint no secrets.

By Truth

September 12, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this

ByteMe… This is exactly what you libs asked for…

By frank Mitchel

September 12, 2008 1:50 PM | Link to this

The more I hear Jay Bookman and Cynthia Tucker and the liberal media talk the more I am reinforced I left the Democratic party. Their liberal biases is beyond comprehension.

Nobody told borrowers to purchase homes they could not afford which they did including a relative of mine. Except we had to resources to help when they got into trouble and had difficulty paying the mortage.

Who forced these mortage companies to lend to people with

Interest only loans. No money down. No proof of income. ARM’s that adjusted so high there was no way to pay it but the value of the home increase so you could refinance every 2-3 years.

Bush did not sign any of these mortages, fools did…. Fools loaned the money also Jay

By Peadawg

September 12, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

And if Obama’s elected..welcome the rise of marxism and socialism.

By frank Mitchel

September 12, 2008 1:57 PM | Link to this

Jay by the was the FDIC did not have oversight over Fannie and Freddie Mac, Congress did, so this financial problem was caused decades ago and both the democrats and republicans are responsible. The housing bubble Fred Thompson ever wrote an article about it so you biases stinks so keep blaming Bush, why not start with Alan Greenspan and his bubble economy he created with cheap money to borrow.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 1:59 PM | Link to this

Jay B.,

It’s getting late in the day. When do we get our “Sarah didn’t kill the bridge” story?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another take on Gibson’s misrepresenation yesterday.

To borrow a Lincolnian formulation in honor of the Lincolnian formulation of Palin’s prayer: the difference between what Palin actually said and what Gibson quoted her as saying is akin to the difference between a horse chestnut and a chestnut horse. The distinction may nevertheless be too subtle for Gibson. Gibson got it wrong. He should be embarrassed.

By Tom

September 12, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this

“My friends, I’m honored to be here tonight in Godsville, at your impressive new auditorium. Funny thing, on the drive over here I noticed a McDonald’s restaurant on the little highway. It reminded me of the many, many times when I craved a McDonald’s burger when I was a War Hero/POW. I guess most of you’ve heard about that. Unlike most other War Heroes, I’ve been talking about it for 36 years now. I spent a total of 3.8 hours flying over a combat zone, according to my official Navy records.

“And so, my friends, let us concentrate our discussion on vital interests of this Nation. The economy, war, lack of healthcare, jobs, other things. Still, my friends, I can’t get over the size of this great American auditorium you have here. You know, my friends, I haven’t always had this much room in which to speak and function. Back when I was a POW War Hero, I lived in a small 2 foot by 2 foot space that didn’t permit me to….”

To be continued.

By Truth

September 12, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this

Tom…. unbelievable

By Bonedaddy

September 12, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this

Tom, blow me. Look at the polls, losers.

By ByteMe

September 12, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this

RW: And Palin had someone make up that answer for her. She said that it was god’s plan, she said it IN A CHURCH. You can whitewash a pig, but…

And “Truth”: I have no idea what you’re talking about, but just because you used “lib” as a noun, your message is void of all meaning anyway. Go wander off and pray on the alter of Ann Coulter like a good little Republican drone….

By Pat

September 12, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

If you think capitalism is dead now, wait till Obama is driving the economy. Goodbye, Capitalism! Hello, Socialism!

http://www.cafepress.com/NObamaforPres http://www.cafepress.com/nobamarx

By Swami Dave

September 12, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this

This mortgage mess falls squarely upon the bureaucrats and politicians who forced the relaxing of underwriting rules and creation of more “borrower-friendly” programs. In both of the cases, the issue was never ability to repay, stability of the loans, or strength of the lending institutions. The issues being foisted upon the industry was changing rules and programs to enable more mortgage access to groups historically under-represented in the process.

Ignoring the fact that in most of the cases, the reason that they were under-represented was that they could never qualify under standard underwriting guidelines for normal mortgage programs.

What did they mandate:

a) no credit history - no problem, use a power bill (or 1 of 13 or so other instruments deemed to be “equivalent” to a credit history)

b) no down payment - no problem, we’ll loan it to you separately [a historical no-no] or simply roll that with your closing costs into the loan amount [creating immediate negative equity]

c) can’t qualify for a traditional mortgage in an amount enough to purchase - no problem, we’ll create an exotic program with an initial teaser rate [which you can pay] that will balloon to a more standard one [which you wont be able to]. But since those of us writing the mortgages get paid on the front-end and have no responsiblity for the failures on the back-end, why should we care?

The net result was an influx of borrowers who had neither the experience nor financial standing to keep current with a long-term credit instrument. Lacking no experience or reserves in the event of a short-term problem (like a layoff) or the eventual resetting of rates, they are able to walk away leaving no real investment in the deal.

Sorry, Jay, but this debacle falls right back at the feet of liberals who were ballyhooing “inequity” in the mortgage market less than 24 months ago. Divorcing underwriting from the ability to pay is not a capitalist idea; that would be the sole propriety of socialism and marxism touting “equity”.

-Swami Dave

By sunshine and thunder

September 12, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this

TO: JAY

BUSH’S FAULT!!!!

LOL! Now you’re bemoaning the loss of capitalism? And blaming it on Bush?

Reading your screeds over the years one would think the demise of capitalism is your favorite wish.

BTW, Fannie and Freddie were operating under a fine business model according to Bawney Frank. How many times did he insist, over and over, that things were hunky dory at the GSE’s?

Fannie and Freddie have been operated for years as taxpayer guaranteed hedge funds and have been used as job favors for the beltway crowd - mainly democRATs such as Jamie Gorelick, Franklin Raines et al.

I’d love to see where the 170 million in lobbying payments went to. Gosh, d’ya think it went to dims like Mr Frank?

Now Jamie Gorelick can add the demise of Fannie and Freddie to her resume’ along with enabling the 9-11 attacks.

By Truth

September 12, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

ByteMe… I sit here and see you talk soooo tough but when it comes down to it you are wimp just like the rest of the “libs”.

By getalife "whiners"

September 12, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this

RW,

Are you sure he was saying Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 or al Qaeda?

By GA_Tiger Fan

September 12, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this

Or course it’s Bush’s fault. According to Jay everything that’s wrong with the world today is his fault. Blind liberalism at it’s finest.

By Fred

September 12, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this

Wow, Jay’s no fan of capitalism either. Again, shocked as hell.

Days like this are very illuminating.

By JAY BOOKMAN

September 12, 2008 2:40 PM | Link to this

Tell you what, Swami. Find one expert in the mortgage banking industry who makes that ridiculous argument, and no, Rush Limbaugh doesn’t qualify. Go ahead.

You’re just expressing the right wing’s perverse ambition to blame every problem on the poor and powerless, who by definition have no power, while exonerating those who actually do have such power.

It has no basis in fact, but it confirms your prejudices. And you choose your prejudice over facts every time.

By Cooljay

September 12, 2008 2:45 PM | Link to this

Y-y-yeah! Swami chooses p-p-prejudice over f-f-facts every t-t-time!

By Swami Dave

September 12, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

Jay:

Fact - to whom would Jay loan money? someone with a credit history of paying or someone without one, but a power bill?

Fact - to whom would Jay loan money? someone with a down payment or without it & for extra credit, is a mortgage safer when the homeowner has a vested interest (down payment) at stake or when that amount is functionally just added on as more owed?

Fact - to whom would Jay loan money? someone who could afford to repay under historically-sound programs or someone who could only qualify if you used tricks and creativity in the form of unproven programs?

Likewise, beware in assessing that I only blame the “poor and powerless” in this mess. The “poor and powerless” benefited from this extorted scheme, but the bureaucrats & government officials who foisted these programs onto the market are equally or more to blame. Also, the mortgage industry, itself, is to blame because they chose to go along with this scam loaning money to people who their own rules & models showed were higher risks. In their case, they did it since they got paid to write the mortgage backed by the taxpayers.

The only -victims- in this entire scam are the taxpayers of America (who neither initiated it nore benefited from it) who will be paying for the cleanup of this debacle.

However, if you’d like facts and quotes from “mortgage industry experts”, I will gladly join you in an investigation (making the requisite Freedom of Information requests from Freddie & Fannie) to see what emails, phone records, notes, letters, etc. might exist where the organizations were told to relax their guidelines to make these “fringe” borrowers more able to get mortgages. By all means, name a date & time - I’ll be happy for you to get the byline to get you your Pulitzer.

-Swami Dave

By JAY BOOKMAN

September 12, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this

You don’t have to go that far, Swami. Just find an industry expert who has testified to that effect, or written an op-ed to that effect, or has even been quoted to the effect that anti-redlining rules caused this meltdown of the financial system.

In fact, I think it’s already telling that you made such a ridiculous claim without ALREADY having such a source. Where did hear that nonsense? Talk radio.

By AJC/DNC Management

September 12, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID REFERS TO ‘PRESIDENT MCCAIN’

Bwa.

All the dhimmis are losing it.

By RW-(the original)

September 12, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this

getalife,

I can’t think of her name but she’s that airhead liberal feminist that also happens to be drop dead gorgeous and I’m sure she meant to say Iraq, but she said Sarah Palin was lying by trying to tie al Qaeda to 9/11.

By SaveOurRepublic

September 12, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this

Bosch @ 11:59 - Well said (regarding Red China). They are enemies of the U.S. and have been since the rise of Chairman Mao. They hold billions of U.S. (fiat) dollars and continously export their slave labor manufacturer, 3rd rate, tainted goods (welcomed with open arms by these traitorous U.S. companies & DC puppets). Anyone who believes Red China is our ally is living in a fantasy world!

The house of cards that is the U.S. economy is on the brink of total collapse, and only the Central Banking Cartel’s temporary intervention has prolonged our survival. The private Fed and their fractional reserve banking & fiat currency have came home to roost (along with corporate welfare). Most Americans are totally unaware of these facts, or that the U.S. in the world’s largest debtor nation. It’s only a short amount of time before the Globalist’s pull the plug!

By sunshine and thunder

September 12, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this

JAY wrote:

• Just find an industry expert who has testified to that effect, or written an op-ed to that effect, or has even been quoted to the effect that anti-redlining rules caused this meltdown of the financial system. *

I don’t know about anti red-lining rules but you can put the Community Re-Investment Act of 1977 out there as a major cause of the packaging and securitization of sub prime loans on Wall Street.

And no I don’t have some wobble head who wrote an op ed to that effect to prove it to you. I worked in the mortgage bond industry and I know it to be true.

I’m sure if I can search your archives I can find plenty of opinion by one Jay Bookman about the bank mergers that were held up because of the Act.

Of course when the banks figured out they could package the sub prime crapola into securities and sell off pieces for more than the value of the individual pieces they were happy to do so.

I’m not defending Wall Street here but I’m certainly not defending the idiotic CRIA.

By Huac

September 12, 2008 5:35 PM | Link to this

Jay, It’s going to be tough for you. Like most of us who keep writing our checks with the previous year’s date deep into the new year, you’ll be attaching Bush’s name to every malady long after the man has returned to Texas. What am I saying? Nevermind. You’ll probably be able to get by with this for years to come. And it’s so much easier….

By Huac

September 12, 2008 5:37 PM | Link to this

Jay, It’s going to be tough for you. Like most of us who keep writing our checks with the previous year’s date deep into the new year, you’ll be attaching Bush’s name to every malady long after the man has returned to Texas. What am I saying? Nevermind. You’ll probably be able to get by with this for years to come. And it’s so much easier….

By Bud Wiser

September 12, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this

Why does Jay always leave us out of this conversation?

I don’t know….

By bobbiejoe

September 20, 2008 5:42 AM | Link to this

Prez Bush gave a lot of people a lot of money and opportunity to get money. Here’s a short list: 1) reducing taxes on the wealthy 2) mortgages to the nonqualifiers 3) refund checks this year (called stimulus payments), it’s cash 4) plenty of fed jobs (HS, etc.) 5) cars via car loans 6) all the credit card loans your heart desires 7) all the US business China wants (including preferred nation treatment) 8) all those jobs to Mexicans (and money they sent home) 9)etc., etc.

I don’t want anybody to say anything bad about this cashbaby, because he is ‘Santa Bush’. However, Christmas is over.

By N.J.

September 28, 2008 1:55 PM | Link to this

The real blame for this fiscal crisis lies with the general electorate and started with the election of Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s. Reagan offered to “Get government off our backs” but instead, put Wall Street on our backs.

The primary difference between Wall Street and the Government is that every four years, every American of voting age can replace the government, while this is not true of Wall Street. Only investors have any small say in who rules Wall Street and even then, its only the big players who know enough to control the game. The average person with some stock in their 401k wither doesnt know enough about how Wall Street works to have any effect on it, and those few small shareholders who do know something about financial wheelings and dealings still have no influence on who rules Wall Street.

The proponents of free market capitalism talk about something called “The Market” as some force that obeys a fixed set of immutable rules when the fact is that “The Market” is a human agency that is very easily subject to the control and influence of a very small elite. In some cases as we recently saw in France, a single trader can cause changes in the markets that lost billions of dollars.

The Market is an system set up by humans and any such system is subject to the flaws and weaknesses of humans. Simple greed is more than enough to require that govenrment carefully watch and regulate large corporations that become so large that failure is not an option.

Reagan spoke of “Trust but verify” when it came to the arms race with the Soviet Union, but did not apply the same rules to Wall Street, which in many ways is far more powerful than the Soviet Presidium ever was.

The founding fathers were themselves extremely opposed to the idea of Laissez Faire Capitalism as developed by Adam Smith, who was in fact a contemporary of the men who started United States and authored our founding documents.

Jefferson was most vocal in his opposition to unregulated businesses. Which is why our early government had many very powerful regulations on business, and our first popular rebellion against the new government was a tax rebellion.

He was even more vocal in his opposition to the power of corporations,which were also an up and coming idea in his time.

He saw them as being the method by which a new propertied aristocracy would rise to threaten the freedoms of the new form of government the American Revolution meant to establish. Jefferson simply stated in many places at many times, that he hoped our new form of government would “crush” the new monied corporations because of the threat they posed to democracy,because of the unlimited wealth they could create, and then pass on to the next generations.

Which was why Jefferson also stated that our form of government was designed with the intention of ending hereditary wealth, if not in the first generation, within a generation or two of its creation.

The founding fathers saw both the ability of wealthy men to join together to create wealth and uses that wealth as a means to control government, as well as the ability to pass that wealth on as the two things that created “hereditary aristocracies” which then suppress the rights and freedoms of the many in order to maintain their own powers and wealth.

On the whole, a myth that “free market capitalism” is the system that was intended for our government is a convenient myth, but it is not one based in fact.

The genius of men like Jefferson,Madison and Franklin still shines through after over 200 years. Each one of these men predicted what would happen unless strong regulation on business was created in order to make certain that no small group of very wealthy men could combine their wealth in order to gain control of the government in their own interests, rather than in the general interests.