Don’t Keep Talking Happy Talk

I don't want only good news. I want reality followed by some course of proposed action. I want details as soon as available. We have to stop lala-land behavior and deal with what is gringing us into the ground. Good Article!!!

Happy talk! My comment is more on a personal note but an interesting indicator about our crazy culture and the need for pervasive Happy Talk. I received this email after sharing about my job loss with a gal I met recently.
:
" If we get together again I would love to hear about the good times in your life, your experiences during your business career that you enjoyed and other things that you would look forward to doing? We can still share things that are not so positive ??? I do not mean to just put a ???smiley face??? on everything but I know there is more to you than these difficult times that I would like to know about? I would like to hear about things that make you smile?"

What would make me smile? A real friend who actually wanted to listen for ten minutes and not make me feel like a chump who has to show up next time with Happy Talk.

Who is going to tell the children of America that Santa is showing up this year? Who will help the homeless,the disabled, the jobless and the elderly this winter when weather is bad ? Organizations who usually help during the holidays will not be able to do so - this has touched every U.S. citizen & we are rewarding the CEO's & Execs of the financial world who helped create this mess. Most of us are not greedy, we just want to work & support our families. I pray that someone out there listens to the "average person".

Do Obama and the Democrats deserve a lift in the polls as a result of the financial and mortgage problems? The answer from history is a clear NO. Here's the lead of a New York Times story on September 30, 1999:

"Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending " [link below]. That's 1999 folks. Clinton Administration, I believe.

Here's the lead of a New York Times story on Sept. 11, 2003:

"The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago." [see link below]. The Democrats killed it.

McCain said in co-sponsoring the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190:

"If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole." The Democrats killed it.

What was Barney Frank and fellow Democrats saying at the time of these attempted reforms? According to reports, Representative Barney Frank(D-MA) claimed of the thrifts "These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis, the more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) added of the reforms "I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing." [ See Community Reinvestment Act, link below w/ history]

The Bush Depression


In a few weeks we will make a choice that will decide our future.
I follow an economist named Bob Proctor. He has called the top and bottom of every market crash since the 70s correctly.
Also, he perfectly predicted the current real estate market meltdown and the picture he paints about what will happen in the next couple years
is terrifying.He thinks it will be worse then the great depression.
The banks in the U.S. are going under one after the other. Countrywide the largest morgage bank in the world,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch which are 3 out of the top 5 wall street firms. Also, Fanny and Freddy Mae which hold 50 percent of the home loans in the United States.
The government took them over because they are essentially bankrupt.If they didn't the entire financially system would virtually shut down, the stock market would crash and we would suffer beyond what any of us have seen before.

McCain just like Bush " doesn't understand the economy".
That not just my opinion its his own words. Not only does he not understand how to fix it but he does not understand exactly what is broken.
It is no surprise that he doesn't. The people that make up these securities use complex mathematical models very few people understand.
Bush and McCain both can take the credit for this mess since they helped deregulate the laws that were protecting us.

Bush's economic advisor Phil Graham wrote the deregulation bill that allowed banks to take huge risks with all of our future.
Now, Phil Graham is the head of McCain's economic policy.He is also McCain's choice for the next secretary of the treasury.
No one in this country can afford for that to happen. The last time Bush met with his economic advisors was in March. He either didn't care or didn't realize that anything was wrong. Phil Graham had the guts to say that we are in a mental recession after he helped create the worst economy meltdown in our lifetime.
It will take the best and brightest minds in the world to get us out of this nightmare. As bad as Bush has done, McCain would be
even more destructive because things are in much worse shape. The next president will not inherit a surplus like Bush did but a tanking economy and a 11,600,000,000,000 (trillion) dollars deficit.Bush created a national debt larger then the first 42 presidents combined
If you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got.
When it comes to policy Bush and McCain are the same 90 percent of the time.
So why isnt obama 25 points ahead

The chairman of McCains campaign recently said that people don't vote on issues they vote on a personality composite. Which means he is trying to sell you personality instead of results.

Let's teach him we are smarter than that .

31 states are voting now, dont wait
Elect Obama Biden 2008





Check out this video of sarah palins interview before you vote



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r36Xc0GG4i

The only way the bailout could work for tax payers is if the assets are purchased at a bargain rate. The current market rate if very low: maybe 20 cents on the dollar. If the treasury overpay, then I would question the sincerity of the deal.

Well, at least you got Ralphie to respond.

It's like Fox News.

That was too funny!

Nader Predicted Wall Street Meltdown
By The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign

Eight years ago, consumer advocate Ralph Nader correctly predicted that the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) were on track to follow the savings and loan industry of the 1980s and 90s into a big financial heap of trouble. Nobody listened, and taxpayers are now at risk of losing tens of billions of dollars. Wall Street is being shaken to its foundation. American International Group Inc., the biggest U.S. insurer by assets, is now teetering on the brink of ruin after suffering losses of $18 billion in the past three quarters, largely due to its sub prime mortgage exposure.

"Nader Rips Mae and Mac," declared the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal on June 16, 2000. "Ralph Nader, warning of a potential taxpayer bailout similar to the savings and loan crisis, urged lawmakers to cut government benefits to mortgage-market giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - which he called 'poster children for corporate welfare.'"

This year Nader, who is also running for president as an independent, is getting credit for his prescience.

"Give one presidential candidate credit for identifying the problem and getting the policy right - and doing so before the twin government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went into the tank in mid-July," wrote Lou Dubose in The Washington Spectator on Aug. 1. Dubose went on to quote Nader's June 15, 2000 Congressional testimony about HR 3703, a bill that would have reigned in some of the most dangerous tendencies of GSE's, had it passed.

In a letter to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox in 2006, Nader also criticized the exorbitant salary of GSE executives Jamie Gorelick, Daniel Mudd, Robert Levin and Timothy Howard, and noted that their financial incentives were in direct conflict with consumer financial security because of the grave moral hazard created by accounting manipulations they sanctioned that benefited their personal wealth, with no penalty for being caught.

"As you continue to investigate the Fannie Mae accounting debacle, we are writing to urge you to seek civil sanctions, including disgorgement, from senior executives who profited directly from the misconduct at Fannie Mae, and that you urge the Department of Justice to give careful consideration to criminal prosecution of these individuals," wrote Nader.

Candidate Nader has called for an immediate halt to the increase in the national debt, an end to corporate subsidies and unconditional taxpayer bailouts of corporations, and a start to the aggressive prosecution of corporate criminals.


http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/nader_predicted_wall_street_me.php

www.votenader.org

In a letter to Congress on July 23, 2008, Ralph Nader warned that the federal government's bank insurance fund may be insufficient to handle the developing crisis in the banking industry.

The day after Ralph sent out his warning, he was ridiculed in Congress.

One member, Spencer Bachus, at a Congressional hearing, mentioned Ralph's letter and said point blank "Our banks are well capitalized, our deposit insurance fund is sound. There's absolutely no factual basis for saying that there's not money there to pay."

Fast forward to September 17, 2008, today, less than two months after Ralph sent his letter.

And now we have an Associated Press story, featured prominently right now on the Drudge Report, with the headline "Federal bank insurance fund dwindling."

Here's the opening sentence from the AP report today:

"Banks are not the only ones struggling in the growing financial crisis. The fund established to insure their deposits is also feeling the pinch, and the taxpayer may be the lender of last resort."

The reality is that the Democrats and Republicans have screwed up royally.

They have screwed up because they are under the thumb of the big corporations.

The big corporations said -- weak regulation, weak law and order for corporations.

And the Democrats and Republicans delivered for their corporate paymasters.

The rest of us -- taxpayers and workers alike -- will now suffer the consequences -- through either increased taxes, lost jobs -- or both.

For his entire career, Ralph Nader has been sounding the alarm about the dangers of deregulation, about the dangers of a hands off approach to corporate power.

Read more at www.votenader.org

Atlanta, GA ??? Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, sent a letter on Thursday to President George Bush requesting to be included in discussions with Senators John McCain and Barack Obama regarding the proposed $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

"I respectfully request to be included in the discussions with congressional leaders, Senators McCain and Obama and representatives of your administration," Barr requests in his letter to Bush. "I am adamantly opposed to the commitment of taxpayer's hard-earned money to protect the companies and individuals who made bad investment decisions."

"I also urge you to require that any company or entity that ever applies for benefits from this misguided bailout be required to preserve every document, communication and record effective today, so that the Justice Department can appropriately investigate the causes of the company???s financial collapse and hold accountable the Directors and Executives," Barr continues.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Barr said a vote for the bailout package, "in whatever form it comes in, is a vote against the American taxpayer, and a vote against the free market."

Barr also condemned McCain's call for more regulation and oversight, saying such regulation is government seeking to micro-manage the U.S. economy. ???Capitalism involves losses as well as profits," Barr explains. "When government tries to insulate businesses and investors from paying for their mistakes, we all lose. In a Barr administration, there would be no more corporate bailouts or takeovers."



www.openthedebates.com

Atlanta, GA ??? ???The leaders of both the Republican and Democratic Parties are rushing ahead with their $700 billion bill,??? says Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for president. ???Without a single hearing and without considering other solutions, Congress is preparing to put the typical American family on the hook for more than $8,000. Legislators in both parties need to stand up for the American people and say no,??? says Barr.

???If bailouts are the answer, why hasn???t the $300 billion housing bailout worked? What of the $100 or more billion bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae???? Barr asks. ???This bailout package doesn???t resolve the underlying problems. It merely transfers the liabilities to the taxpayers,??? he observes. ???Instead, we need to make Wall Street take the hit for its irresponsible investment decisions.???

???The process will be painful. Some companies will go bankrupt. Some firms will go into receivership. Healthy companies will take over failing institutions,??? Barr adds.

???Instead of bailing-out banks and investors, Congress should address the causes of today???s economic mess. The first is to end government pressure for irresponsible lending. That means privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and repealing the Community Reinvestment Act. It also means depoliticizing the nation???s money supply. The Federal Reserve cannot continue artificially inflating the money supply, which creates the illusion of a boom that is inevitably followed by a bust,??? observes Barr.

???The government needs to investigate and prosecute fraud. It also needs to adjust accounting rules, such as ???mark-to-market,??? which threaten the balance sheets of sound companies. We need to streamline complicated regulations that have not created transparency for customers and investors. And we need to look at any rules that make it harder for companies to make the necessary adjustments themselves,??? says Barr.

???The bailout bill is not only bad because it forces innocent taxpayers to pay off irresponsible bankers and investors, but because the bill creates an excuse for more extensive federal economic meddling???setting corporate salaries, receiving stock in companies, and 'adjusting' mortgage terms. Once the government gets into these areas of the economy, it isn???t likely to get out,??? Barr warns.

Finally, Barr explains, ???we must force the federal government to get its fiscal house in order. The national debt already is $9.5 trillion. Social Security and Medicare currently threaten us with $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities,??? Barr says. ???Just where will this new $700 billion come from????

I am dismissed at President Bush brashness at inviting only Presidential candidates Senators McCain and Obama. To my knowledge, there are 13 NOMINATED candidates, and yet, only two where invited to speak their minds. Apparently, President believes that only Republicans or Democrats are entitled to be heard on the most important domestic political crises in the last 70 years?

I call you Senator McCain to extend your recognation that we are all in this together, and to give representatives of the entire American electorate a seat at the table and a voice in this bailout. I demand this in the name of the more than a third of registered voters who are neither Republicans nor Democrats who are not represented in this bailout proposal. How can you work for a dipartisan solution when all the partisans are not present?

Senator McCain I know your numbers are falling and you are weak among the middle class on economic policy concerns. My suggestion to you is the following:
1) Invite Mr. Nader, former Congressman Barr and any others who show significant levels of popular support should be included in any gatherings that are convened to resolve this crisis. Because if the future of all Americans is at stake in the current crisis, shouldn't all Americans have representatives at the table? We too will bare the burben of this finincial bailout, therefore our elected Presidential representatives should be present.
2) Take a firm stance on 5 years jail time and a felony conviction for every executive and anyone founded criminally liable.
3) Executive retirement plan compensation made as a donation to the government for the bailout.
4) Forgiveness of $5,000- 8,000.00 of credit card debit for every American making below 50,000.00.
5) Forgiveness of $5,000- 8,000.00 of student loans for every American making below 50,000.00
6) Expunge the records of everyone who filed Chapter 11 due to excessive credit card debit in the last 2-3 years for every American making below 50,000.00.

Regards,

Those who aren???t Republican and Democrat but still have a voice

www.votenader.org

Nader took questions during a news conference before the rally, and launched into the country's economic crisis.

He called the latest bailout plan a "terrible misuse of taxpayer dollars." Nader proposes expanding the FDIC, which insures consumer bank deposits.

"Any bailout should first help the prudent, safe savers, and investors of America," Nader said.

Nader also blasted Barack Obama and John McCain for being what he calls "corporate candidates."

"The absence of any comprehensive crackdown plan by Obama or McCain on corporate crime, fraud, and abuse against consumers, workers, taxpayers, medicare, against small investors, to me, indicates that Obama and McCain are essentially corporate candidates," he said.

Nader says a vote for him would be a step closer to creating a better country.

www.votenader.org

Maybe the president, congress, Wall Street and investment banks have been engagin in happy talk until now.

But those of us paying $4.00/gallon for gas, struggling to make our mortgage payments, feed the kids and pay the electric bill haven't been talking happy for a couple of years.

In fact, we've been pretty damn dour. We just couldn't get anyone to listen, until now.

We're still not sure anyone is listening.

No, instead call Phil Gramm, McCain's economics advisor.

That big building in New York should be called THE WALL STRESS !!!!