Is anyone surprised at the current contentiousness about the proposed federal bailout? And is anyone surprised that some of the people trying to solve it are the same ones who screwed things up in the first place? It's no news that Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Presidents Carter and Clinton and their cronies are largely responsible for the failures. Frank and Dodd, right up to the blowup, kept claiming everything was fine [as they accepted large donations from F & F], and they led the efforts to rebuke Republican attempts to rein in Fannie and Freddie. And all of them, going back to 1977 [Biden was in office; McCain hadn't run yet], have been pushing and prodding the F & F twins to put pressure on banks and other financial institutions to provide mortgages to people who couldn't afford them. They made these loans to illegal immigrants! They made large loans to people who had no income except food stamps and welfare! They lent 100% or more of the value of the home in some cases! And when those homes couldn't be sold quickly at a profit, the owners defaulted. Surprise!
During the Clinton years we had the same thing. In 2005, John McCain and the other Republicans tried to create oversite and reform for F & F, but were stopped by Democrat/Clinton pressure and votes. And that was only one of the many tries from the Republicans, though they weren't as noisy or insistent as they should have been.
Step back a moment. We must recognize that our economy is based on capitalism, and such a system, by definition---just like morality and the World---requires both successes and failures, good and evil, wealth and bankruptcy. Now, I'm not saying that this current huge failure---which everyone but the main stream media seems to know how was created---should continue without some government aid. I'm just not sure how much aid should be proffered [if any] or how it should be considered.
The 'nanny state' concerns me very much.
Currently, I don't trust Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Dodd, Clinton, Obama et al to propose or structure relief in this crisis. They haven't solved anything of importance yet. So, I have no problem with the Republican efforts to change the bail out.
And if you think this is bad, wait until the eleventh hour when Social Security is about to collapse, and the Democrats cry 'woe is us!' when they've been the ones who have fought tooth and nail to keep saner minds from doing anything to fix it. It was the Democrat Congress that perpetuated taking the social security payments into the general fund providing the Social Security Administration with 'paper' to cover it. And the Congress has never, and doesn't appear to ever want, to pay the funds back.
The quick fixes of tax increases, later retirement ages, and other band aids won't work in the long run. Republican suggestions including partial privatization [just a tad folks, just a tad] keep being rejected. [Listen, nobody's going to be investing his paltry sums in risky home mortgages. Get a life!]
Maybe now, the Democrats will sit down to serious discussions concerning Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Maybe. But I doubt it. There's still too much posturing and blaming the other side around us now. So, we who are still here to see the actual demise of the Social Security system can thank the Democrat Congresses from over the years for another debacle. Oh, but oh, if the Congresses had simply left the system alone with it's collections, the SSA would be solvent for many years to come.
Besides, Congress likes to wait until the last minute when their children are about to collapse before suggesting socialism to save it.
And I'd like to remind you, my friends, of all the debacles---especially in the economy [via socialism] defense [via weakness], war on terror [via weakness], and foreign policy [via wishy-washy words without force]---you'll be seeing if Obama wins the White House.
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