Do you blame Bush for this financial disaster of a mess ?

[43st]

Asleep at the wheel is a better description of the Bush administration. Think of it like Katrina... they didn't cause it, but they sure didn't do anything to help. Also keep in mind his 'ownership society' policy from a few years back , which seems to have been completely forgotten at this point.

It's a common Conservative tactic at this point, but to cry about corrupt and inept government while doing there best to make it as corrupt and inept as possible. And then you get the lovely finger pointing and preaching.. look how screwed up the government is, we must have less of it. Elect me!!

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: isekii
If so why ?

I'm hearing a bunch of this and that in my office and a lot of people are blaming Bush for this mess.

He deserves some of the blame since, as President, he and his administration is a steward of the economy. Perhaps if he had enacted better economic policies we would have less unemployment and underemployment, a higher GDP-per-capita, a lower trade deficit, and a lower national debt. Unemployed and underemployed Americans' inability to pay their mortgages and other debts is part of the credit crisis.

 

[wwswimming]

it was definitely a bi-partisan effort.

the practice of bundling mortgages in blocks of 1000 & re-selling them, became
a wide-spread practice during Clinton's term. that plus the belief that real estate
prices would go up forever.

one of the last elected officials who tried to investigate the SEC & Wall Street ?
ex-New York governor Eliot Spitzer.

i doubt he's the only guy in Washington who hires sexual surrogates.

the "system" doesn't like whistleblowers.

 

[GTKeeper]

Originally posted by: isekii
Some people have no sense of personal responsibility. And what i find even more ridiculous is that some of these people blame the president for this mess.

True Bush is not responsible himself. But if you see him as a representative of the Republican party you can see why he's easy to blame. The big reason for this mess is the repealing of the Glass Steagall Act back in 1999. It allowed commercial and investment banks to merge and operate as one (Citigroup comes to mind). The act that replaced it is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Gramm is McCain's economic advisor now). So the party that pushes for 'free markets' and total de-regulation is more so to blame than the other at this moment.

 

[GTKeeper]

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
I blame the people who chose to live beyond their means.

I blame the government that lives beyond its means.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: GTKeeper

Originally posted by: rdubbz420
I blame the people who chose to live beyond their means.

I blame the government that lives beyond its means.

No kidding. Nice example to set for the people huh?

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: JS80
Here's the chain of command to blame:

1) the sleazy salesman who sold the shit loans
2) the worthless customer who took out 100% financing with liar loans
3) the greedy ass investment banks that packaged the loans together
4) the greedy ass investment banks that borrowed 30x their equity and bought and sold these loans
5) short sellers
6) Obama

Fortunately you live in California, where your vote doesn't count

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: Evan Lieb

Originally posted by: jonks

Originally posted by: Queasy
it was the dems it was the dems it was the dems
snip.

That's nice, I see you got your daily Michelle Malkin talking point, this article is all over the right wing blogs. But like most everything else she and they do, it fails to tell the whole story. Who killed the bill? The GOP in the House. Wait, what?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...3Oct7?language=printer

The Bush administration is at odds with the Republican-controlled House Financial Services Committee over legislation to impose tougher oversight over the nation's two largest funders of home loans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Rep. Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, did not return telephone calls. Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.), who heads the Financial Services Committee's subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the two companies, had no comment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...Nov16?language=printer
November 17, 2003

As a House committee was preparing to draft a bill last month that would change how Fannie and Freddie are regulated, Fannie asked mortgage lenders that do business with it to write to a key member of Congress, and provided "talking points" as guidance.

"Although we are in support of [a] strong safety and soundness regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac we are looking for no change to our charter, status, or mission," Maroon wrote, asking recipients to fax a letter to Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) "by close of business Tuesday 10/07/03 to assure they have your letter prior to the mark-up on Oct. 8th 2003."

Oxley ended up canceling the bill-drafting session amid disagreement between the committee and the Bush administration. The markup has not been rescheduled.

Gee, the Republican Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Michael Oxley, canceled the bill drafting because of disagreements with the Republican President. But why? Why would he do that?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12373488/from/RSS/
April. 18, 2006
Freddie Mac pays record $3.8 million fine
Settles allegations it made illegal contributions between 2000 and 2003

Freddie Mac was accused of illegally using corporate resources between 2000 and 2003 for 85 fundraisers that collected about $1.7 million for federal candidates. Much of the fundraising benefited members of the House Financial Services Committee, a panel whose decisions can affect Freddie Mac.

Freddie Mac had held more than 40 fundraisers for House Financial Services Chairman Michael Oxley, R-Ohio.

Things that make you go hmm? And the fait accompli?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...4Oct8?language=printer

April 2: The Bush administration says it opposes a Senate bill to create a new regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, signaling that the legislation is all but dead.

So a bipartisan bill is proposed in the Senate, and subsequently killed by the Bush admin.

Originally posted by: JS80
jonks = pwned

Little boy, run along and play, the grownups are trying to have a discussion. We all recall how your mind works, or more to the point, doesn't work.

JS80: Dems always lose on the issues!
jonks: This poll says that the public trust the dems more on the issues.
JS80: Well that just proves my point!

Bump.

Thanks, but it seems there is no reply from Queasy forthcoming, at least until Michelle Malkin, Michael Savage or some other righty blog get around to it.

The above was my own legwork after reading Queasy's link, which was listed on dozens of right wing blogs yesterday. Sure the article listed 2 dems who said they would oppose Bush's measure, but it didn't say anything about the actual legislation, who killed it, or why. I wanted to know what actually happened to the legislation. So what did I do? A little research. Amazing what you can find when you actually look instead of simply parrot.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: isekii
If so why ?

I'm hearing a bunch of this and that in my office and a lot of people are blaming Bush for this mess.

It's not just Bush, because he's a weak president and a lot of the characteristics of his administration are due to his listening to his advisors, near and far. You can conveniently just call them the Republicans and their backers.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: jonks
Bush alone, no. but ask yourself which party pushes for deregulation and wants to just let the market balance itself out, and which party wants enhanced regulation because it doesn't trust the top shelf of banking execs who get paid $20M even when they are fired for gross incompetence/negligence

We're getting warm!