Washington to Wall Street: Drop Dead

Repubs "killed it"? Even though 95 (NINETY-FIVE) say again 95 Dems voted against it and they only needed 12 of those 95 to pass it- yet it's all the Repubs fault. Where's the Audacious Unifier? Under his bed as usual? Where's Pelosi's leadership? Betrayed by their own party. They didn't need any help. But wow, Snoozeweek! Why, you fooled everyone by glossing over that game changer like a random factoid. But, nobody knows. Shhh... The coast is clear! They done it ya see? Put it around town. Shhh...who's to know? Them Repubs is rascally. Our own folks are... well... never you mind! We has met the enemy and they.. is us. But so what? America will believe what they read in Snoozeweek! Rebubs killed the bailout because we said so!

Of course it doomed McCain, he made it clear he would suspend his campaign until the economic crisis was over, and that should take a few years at least, he just has to be held to his word.
the question is now that he has suspended his campaign will the Republicans come up with a subsitute or will Palin just move from VP to the Presidential spot, with the first "dude" as VP?

Obama is getting a bump out of this because people are not being reminded of the whole history where the economy is concerned, and who did what when. Call it bias by omission. The media simply says that the economy is Obamas strong issue, but never discusses the facts in detail. Further, who had a majority when is rarely relevant. If the simplistic Party In Power model were true, then the Democrats would not have needed the House Republicans when they tried to pass the bailout bill, as Democrats have the majority in both houses and there is no threat of a veto. In theory, they do not need the Republicans to vote at all. In fact, something like twelve (12) Democrats from Barney Franks own banking committee voted against the bill. Obviously, it is not so simple and the media does the voter a disservice by doing little more than reinforcing the error. A similar argument would be to point out that the economy appeared to be doing fine until the Democrats took over Congress and the power of the purse, then it tanked. As an aside, the media also misleads regarding the Clinton economy when they fail to mention that it also ended in a recession, requiring the first round of Bush stimulus checks immediately after he took office..

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]

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.

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 link below contains a purported list of the top 25 in Congress who got contributions from the folks at Fannie and Freddie. Obama is listed third, after Dodd and Kerry, even though Obama is just a junior Senator. Obama is followed next by Clinton. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi are on the list as well.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=1&issue=20080918

For an interesting article purporting to detail Barney Franks long history with Fannie Mae, See http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx
Also google: Democratic House Financial Services Committee Chair promoted GSEs while former 'spouse' was Fannie Mae executive.

The last link below describes how some in Congress tried to use the original version of the bailout bill to divert money eventually recovered to groups like ACORN. See:

http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=1&issue=20080918

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=M2QwNDhkZTg2OGYzZjkzM2E2NDEwM2U5OGVkNTc0YzU=

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260

http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122247015469280723.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

This is a crisis of confidence. Not in the markets...did you see what the Dow did today? Nobody believes Bush. Gee, wonder why Nobody believes Congress. Gee, wonder why. And most of all, nobody believes the press. As Stuart Taylor said earlier this week, when there is fundamental lack of confidence in the purveyors of information, a society is in deep doo doo.

Your description of the House Republicans intentions and actions is so far from reality you'd think it came straight from the Obama campaign headquarters... or maybe it did? The media's cover-up of Democrats' culpability in this mess -- specifically their resistance to Republican efforts in 2004 to reform Freddie Mac & Mae -- cannot be hidden forever! Thank you, House Republicans for your wisdom and resolve to smell a rat.

Solution: For those of us that do pay our mortgages and manage our money, I would like to see these companies OFFER me a 10% discount to pay off my mortgage in full. Thus, an influx of cash to these companies to partially help against the loss.

Solution: For those of us that do pay our mortgages and manage our money, I would like to see these companies OFFER me a 10% discount to pay off my mortgage in full. Thus, an influx of cash to these companies to partially help against the loss.