The Fall of America, Inc.

Sorry hit the wrong key I meant to say Denycrats

I think Americans are too stupid to pay attention to or learn lessons from history that is why the Denicrats will remain blameless for this crisis and why Obama will get elected. And they called Regan the teflon president?

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 say that the economy appeared to be doing fine until the Democrats took over control of 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 the House Financial Services Committee Chairs long history with Fannie Mae, See http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx

"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
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=1&issue=20080926

Having declared the end of the history of ideas about a better way of organizing society, Fukuyama has nothing left but to take refuge in the insubstantial, voluntarist language of marketing - the need for American to restore its "brand" - and postmodernism - American must "reinvent" itself - as if meaning can be conferred arbitrarily and as the result of cheering the nation on and getting the communication right. What's next from Fukuyama, a mission statement for the USA?

Fukuyama's end of history thesis posits the end of left and right - "posthistoryl" he calls it - so why does he keep arbitrarily coming back to the pendulum theory of history as a constant move too much to the left followed by a move too much to the right? It seems the magnitude of the current problems before the USA have intellectuals using anachronistic frameworks of understanding to understand the present and point the way forward. Fukuyama gives us a pick-n-mix plan for the future, whereby the US jettisons its failed ideas and objectives, but still somehow tries to sell itself as a guiding light to the rest of the world.

Let me save you from this over-analysis. More oversight and accountability (i.e enforcement of existing regulations) is needed. Not more regulations.

This article is a good example of the REAL American "brand": unthinking self-promotion. Reagan didn't invent "small government conservatism", and his administration and every GOP administration since Reagan GREW the government. And to reach back to Reagan of all people to find the source of America's desire to promote democracy?!?!?!? You might want to check with the people of Latin America on that one.

Thank you for recognizing the problem of underfunding (and under valuing) government programs. People are so caught up in worrying that some non-deserving poor person might "get their money" that they have forgotten we NEED a federal government that is the best in the world. Our education system has been so crippled with "unfunded mandates" through the Bush years it is amazing it has survived at all. When Carter was president we spent $20 million on workforce training - now we spend $7 million (and took $400 million away in 2008). Think not funding these programs is helping our country? Consider our current global rankings.

From the article: "And finally, the bungled occupation of Iraq and the response to Hurricane Katrina exposed the top-to-bottom weakness of the public sector, a result of decades of underfunding and the low prestige accorded civil servants from the Reagan years on."

???In other words, a democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay it.??? - Alexis de Tocqueville (1805???59), French social philosopher. Democracy in America, vol. 1, pt. 2, ch. 5 (1840).

It appears that Wall Street convinced Congress to apply a variation of de Tocqueville???s maxim (normally the kingdom of the electorate) . . . to the Electorate.

Congress defied the apparent will of the people - who stopped what they were doing and stared directly at their statesmen 30 days before an election demanding they NOT do this - and went with those who they prefer to associate with. Received money from. Those who provide the expertise. Those who will employ them after political life. There are 35,000 lawyer lobbyists on K Street alone right behind the Capitol who were handed a single mission. Do or die. No coming back. Get this done, or else. Wall Street sees Life over with as they know it, if they are not bailed out. So did the Lobbyists who front them hence, they put together the professionals to pitch the politicians that the populace cannot survive ??? America cannot survive ??? without them continuing their existence as they see their existence. And Washington also sees its collective existence threatened. Their . . . way of life. Both New York and Washington reside in extremely low-tolerance square holes. They did what they had to do no matter how it looked. No matter the consequences to them. After all, when the investigations begin, the culprits need to be in power to defend themselves in order to conclude ??? No Quid Pro Quo. The hope is that the economy will get one more little cocaine bump to get them through November. Then our vaunted statesmen will be outraged they were lied to by Wall Street.

???For the people in government, rather than the people who pester it, Washington is an early-rising, hard-working city. It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.??? - P. J. O???Rourke (b. 1947), U.S. journalist. Parliament of Whores, ???The Winners Go to Washington, D.C.??? (1991)

The Athenian statesman Solon's idea of democracy has always been a complete failure and we are now seeing the end results.

I think that "playitfair" was talking about the attractiveness of China's trademark infringment policies that allow you to exploit someone's else's ideas through the use of a handy slave labor workforce.

IN 5 YEARS WHEN THE DOW IS 17,000 WHO WILL CARE?

To Kinshasa

Thank you for acknowledging my ability to read.

The concept of American Exceptionalism is no more or less absurd than any other nation's version of nationalistic chauvinism. There are some, lacking any other frame of reference, that need to cling to something. Besides this term was first used by a Frenchman.

To your first point who is qualified to discuss politics? If we measured a politicians qualifications to discuss politics based upon the results of their decisions would any of them be qualified?

SAME OLD SILLY STUFF THEY'VE BEEN SAYING ABOUT AMERICA FOR THE LAST 100 YEARS,YET HERE WE ARE,THE ENGINE THAT RUNS THE PLANET!! AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA USA USA USA

YEAH "PLAYITFAIR" LET THEM SUCCEED...LIKE CUBA?!? AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

china's model attractive? what 's ATTRACTIVE ABOUT TAINTED FOOD AND PRODUCTS? WOULD YOU BUY ANYTHING MADE IN CHINA? HA!!! MADE IS USA STILL STANDS FOR SOMETHING!! QUALITY!

To kinshasa:

Thank you for acknowledging my ability to read.

American Exceptionalism is no more absurd than any other nation's version of nationalistic chauvinism and besides it was a frenchman who first used that phrase.

To your first point the politicians who discuss and implement politics for a living don't appear very qualified either if you judge their qualifications based upon the outcome of their decisions.

We need to ban all political parties for this mess to ever change