Thursday, July 10, 2008
|
|
Being Mavericky Again
|
|
Posted by:
Amanda Carpenter at
2:41 PM
|
Ugh.
This will make you cringe. It says "McCain Open to Fannie and Freddie Bailouts." A like-minded friend of mine forwarded the story to me with "That's it, I'm voting for Barr" in the subject line.
Here's what McCain said: "Those institutions, Fannie and Freddie, have been responsible for millions of Americans to be able to own their own homes, and they will not fail, we will not allow them to fail,'' Mr. McCain said during a stop at the Senate Coney Island Restaurant here. "They are vital to Americans' ability to own their own homes. And we will do what's necessary to make sure that they continue that function.''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
According to our government, it's the Mexicans who need to be protected from us xenophobic bigots. That Border Agent was not killed by that Mexican murderer but by our demands that our borders be secured. That murderer would never have been forced to murder again had he not been hassled. Excuse me while I go to the bank to make an undocumented withdrawal. I hope I don't run into anyone who expects me to have an account or something. |
|
|
|
|
Not a cheery prospect, but I fear you are right. |
|
|
I watched the Financial Services Committee hearing today and despite the testimony or Bernanke and Paulson and several insightful comments and questions by a few congressmen, Barney Frank was very obvious in restating comments by anyone who ventured into "Congress has to do something NOW" territory. It is a scandal that the Fed has been so politicized that the Fed Chairman has to be paraded publicly so often and that he cannot say anything without having to have it restated for political reasons. Read Bernanke's and Paulson's statements. The reporting will stick to the Barney Frank line rather than what actually happened. |
|
The game our government has been playing has been to deny, deny, deny until finally those official statistics confirm that we have been in a recession and by the way, it started 16 months ago so we are now out of it. No one believes anything the government numbers anymore. For instance, if you track the various oil inventories, they just don't add up.
One of the most telling numbers about the future economic prospects is CAPEX, capital expenditures, by companies. That figure should approximate depreciation over time. It hasn't for a long time and for the past year, most everyone is paying down debt and reducing capacity. In other words, our companies are downsizing. You can't grow an economy without capital investment. The only part of the economy that has grown under the Bush administration is government. Manufacturing has been decimated, even in high tech!! You would think the banks would be merging but they aren't because the industry needs to shrink.
I don't care what the government numbers say, we are in deep trouble economically and the numbers I just cited are reliable indicators for what is coming. This economy is being propped up by government spending that is running out and like Christopher Dodd said today, "That light at the end of the tunnel is a train!".
I watch Congress and the markets like a hawk and trust me, outside of the mutual fund people, no one sees anything but doom and gloom. The only question is whether it will fall apart before or after the election. Why do you think Pelosi and Newt want Bush to distribute half of our SPR NOW?
IMO, we have been in recession since last August and the fear is that Congress will finesse it into a depression. That is what the IMF is warning us about. |
|
|
Just my layman's understanding of economics, but I thought a recession was 2 consecutive quarters of negative numbers. We haven't had that yet. It has slowed down a lot, but still not in negative territory. Yet. |
|
|
|
|
We can appoint a People's Oversight Committee to approve every bill they pass. No bill passes unless everyone who voted for it can pass a test that proves they read it. |
|
Poll after poll is showing that Republicans now account for about 22% of registered voters while more than 30% describe themselves as conservatives. Only about 18-20% describe themselves as liberal. You RINOs are shrinking in number and guess who has been abandoning the GOP Titanic? Do you think it is us conservatives? Yuh huh!!
"Barr is a "loser" because he has no chance of winning. Not winning = losing. Losing = no power to do anything."
So you are going to vote for McCain? If the 30+% of conservatives decide to vote for Barr, McCain doesn't have a chance. In fact, if 10% of us do, McCain doesn't have a chance. So why are you voting for someone who has no chance of winning? Are you a loser too?
That is the logic, "electability", that you RINOs were pitching at us when we were fighting for our principles two years ago. Well you got a liberal Democrat. Feeling confident these days? Are you proud to be fighting for Democratic party principles for the benefit of a loser? Did you ever think you would be fighting principled conservatives? If that doesn't embarrass you, you have been in the wrong party all along.
Go Bob Barr! We don't care if you lose, just get 6%!!! |
|
"Nothin from nothin, leaves nothin"!
That's what all the crybaby RINOS and McCainiacs,{Sean& co.}, have to look forward to,...and yet they want to blame conservatives for not supporting McScamnesty!
You dummies just keep taking orders from your RINO/GOB/GOP bosses,.....you're just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, and you are gonna go down.
The GOP is all about "business as usual", and refuses to return to its' conservative base, prefering instead to pander to illegal aliens,...will not rein in earmark spending, signs on to MMGW mania and most of the crackpot liberal agendas, while thumbing their noses at conservatives.
IMO, they can "go to hell"!
GOP/RIP! |
|
|
too. Not winning = loser. |
|
|
I sincerely hope the RNC is happy with the rapidly-shrinking differences between them and the ever-so-slightly-more-liberal half of the bipartisan Party-In-Government. |
|
I haven't personally attacked you or anyone else. Barr is a "loser" because he has no chance of winning. Not winning = losing. Losing = no power to do anything. Simple.
If McCain isn't good enough for Conservatives -- to the point that they'd not vote for him and let Obama win -- then where is the Conservartive winner? There isn't one, and that's a huge failure for the movement.
So, where is the proof that uber-conservative-purists like you "outnumber" me? For one thing, where is YOUR candidate, and where are the votes? |
|
|
You McCainiacs have NOTHING to work with. That is why you resort to personal attacks. The facts cannot be applied to any logic that argue favorably for anyone but a liberal Dem to vote for McCain. Face it, you lost. We outnumber you and can out argue you. You are barking at people who have no plan of voting for Obama. We are available except McCain is at least as bad as Obama. You disagree. Good for you. We are doing something about it. You choose to blubber and attack conservatives. Good luck with that. It's just a matter of time before you too will find yourself under that McCain "Straight Talk Express" bus. |
|
McCain is being rewarded for bad behavior. Cons don't go for that. We don't like the way the Stupid Party is headed so we left. IMO McCain should be sweet talking us as should you Party Uber Allers. When will you figure this out?
Good point about where the Con candidate is. I'm confident that within the next 3-5 years a new, third party will emerge with just that in mind. Right now we are stuck with Bob Barr or Chuck Baldwin.
Or Ralph Nader. I like at least 1 thing Nader feels strongly about: why let the bullies and the money men get to decide who wins the election? Nader says that if the 2 parties don't have strong enough candidates to win on their own merit that is not his problem. |
|
-- "That's it, I'm voting for Barr" in the subject line. --
Um, like others have said, this is a minor issue with McShame. But hey, if that's the straw then so be it.
Sean -
It has nothing to do with hurt feelings. I live in Tucson AZ. Trust me when I tell you flat out - McShame sucks. DO NOT VOTE FOR HIM.
If that isn't clear enough. Come try to live here for a few years. I've been in this &^%$ hole for 10 years now. We are moving next year (thank the Lord). But why move if McShame is going to try to implement the same standards across the US as he has here in his "home"??
Say NO to McShame. He is NOT better. Come find out for yourself. Peace.
|
|
I'm glad you're doing all you can to get Obama elected. You are no doubt an important part of Obama's coalition: Self-righteous "conservatives" for McCain losing, regardless of who might be left to run the country (100% left-wing Democrats, White House + Senate + House + Judges)
And where is the candidate of the powerful "conservative" movement?
Conservatives suck (not necessarily the ideals), the Republican Party definately sucks. There's my modified version.
Conservatives, keep refusing to support a viable candidate (McCain), and enjoy the years of left-wing totalitarianism you're helping to user in, because McCain hurt your feelings eight years ago.
I really admire your principles. |
|
|
You are again confusing conservatives with Republicans. It is YOU who constitute the "sucky" Republicans. We conservatives left a long time ago. Very difficult concept to explain to you guys. Instead of insulting us for seeing clearly and holding true to our principles, maybe you should be nice to us and start begging? From where I stand, I see conservatives as winning right now. |
|
The Republican Party SUCKS because instead of supporting a viable candidate who they agree with 70-80%(McCain), some will threaten to support a loser (Barr) because McCain hurt their feelings once or twice.
This is stupid. If you so-called "conservatives" were so great, then where was your candidate during the primaries? You couldn't come up with a winner, and that left an opening for McCain. So who sucks more? The conservative "movement", or McCain?
Gramm SHOULD have said instead: "Conservative Republicans are a bunch of whiners".
In 2008, they'll be big-time losers, too. (They already are) |
|
I'm not sure I get your point but the issue is that Fannie and Freddie have demonstrated over the past several years that they cannot be trusted to manage the business correctly. If they are going to be managed as a publicly-traded corporation with the implied government guarantee, there are many questions about whether that presents a serious moral hazard. The reason they are in such trouble is because they were not adequately capitalized to justify the risk they assumed and so they are now turning to you and me, taxpayers, to pay for their losses. If they are going to be publicly-traded, the possibility of failure and bankruptcy has to exist in fact. The bailout talk is due to "too big to fail" which makes the case for Bernanke's demand for more authority or change the law.
We better find a way to get around this but our regulators have been so politicized that they can effectively be silenced when it is convenient to the politicians. If you can get a video of today's testimony, get it and watch it. |
|
|
I agree, the Reps SUCK. Vote third party in November. |
|
said McCain:
“Now having said that, previous evidence and previous information we’ve received clearly dictate that we have much more transparency in the way that they do business,’’ he said. “And that way we can gain the kind of information that’s necessary to have them function more effectively and efficiently.'’
Transparency, efficiency...good, conservative ideals, no?
Remember, McCain took ZERO earmarks last year, which can't be said of many so-called Republicans.
Probably, McCain feels that since we've made a certain committment to homeowners, then the government has an obligation to fulfill that committment. That's why he now is for keeping the Bush tax cuts -- because the government is now obligated to preserve those rates, and not raise them.
By the way, McCain has never voted to raise taxes. Pretty conservative, eh? But I'm sure some folks will continue to only seek out what's bad in McCain, while giving every other big-spending, waffling, corrupt Republican a pass.
The Republican Party SUCKS! |
|
that Congress, back in the 70's til now, along with do-gooder groups, pretty much forced banks, etc to make loans to "everybody" so that all could afford housing (whether they could afford it or not). Now, GOVT (McCain et al) and the do-gooders (Jesse Jackson etc) call on GOVT to solve the problem. Does this sound familiar? Isn't this what the Dem/libs do to everything they touch? And WHO goes along with them? WHO is right there with them on this?
...Maverick was his name... |
|
That the GOP has saddled itself with a Democrat as their nominee. Gorebull warming taxes, amnesty for illegals, and more socialism than I can hold my nose for.
GOP-RIP |
|
I have tried, tried and tried again to find where McCain is so much better than Obama, and I come back to this same place. Liberalism is much better coming from democrats. When coming from Republicans it is even uglier.
No matter which liberal wins this time, we need to clean the pipeline of these liberal clowns and retake the GOP with some thinking adults. |
|
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are corporations who do business for the government by controlling the mortgage market. They operate essentially the same way as the post office. When a loan company makes a 'comforming loan' to a citizen of the US it is then in turn sold to either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These loan are then bundled and placed in the hands of companies who do nothing more than service the loan for them.
If we are getting a rash of problem loans which is putting FM and FMc in jeopardy, then maybe they need to review their guidelines. The trouble comes when the Government steps in and tells them they have to accept loans from individuals who have no likelihood of making payments but are put in place for political purposes.
If you think the Real Estate market is in trouble now, wait and see what happens if Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac go under. |
|
If THAT'S Enough to get someone to vote for Bob Barr, then screw 'em.
Geez, I'm so tired of the whining coming from our own side. How about we focus on Obama, so we can actually WIN the election. We all know McCain's not perfect, but he's so mcuh better than Obama it's ridiculous. |
|
Former St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank governor William Poole today strongly suggested that the time has come to re-nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
I take this as frustration with a government that is intent on politicizing regulators to the extent that moral hazard cannot be contained. There is just no urgency in Washington to deal with what the IMF as described as the worse American economy since the Great Depression. We are all just whistling past the graveyard as we fight over which buffoon we are going to elect for president in November. We need to start repopulating our government with responsible adults. It obviously is not going to happen at the presidential level.
Go Bob Barr! |
|
|
But any presidential candidate who would allow Fannie and Feddie Mac to fail would be nuts. It would also be policially dangerous. I am very free market and skeptical of bailouts and rewarding failure (which anyone who has kids or dogs knows is counter productive) but sometimes government needs to act to forstall economic collapse. There is a difference between rewarding failure and preventing worse harm. |
|
We'll nationalize the oil industry because we all need oil and we must maintain some control of those obscene profits they have posted.
Uncle Sam always knows best. |
|
|
|