The Bailout in Layman’s Terms
October 6, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Constitution, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Ken Marrero, Socialism, Taxes | No Comments
-by Ken Marrero
Now that our Representatives in DC are done abasing themselves before political logic at the altar of “Being seen doing something, no matter how destructive, is better than being seen doing nothing!”, let’s take a look at what just happened.
Stripped to essentials, you and I are being forced to buy something the current owners don’t want and which destroyed individuals and companies which owned even some of it. Government believes the magic pixie bailout dust which will ensure success is assuming responsibility for all of it.
Wall Street holds a bag full of bad mortgages. So bad, owning them has already destroyed companies with even a mix of good and bad ones. Government is going to buy just the bad ones! But Government has no money with which to purchase mortgages, good or bad, that doesn’t come from taxpayers. Your Government is buying, in your name and with your money, mortgages the mortgage experts know are bad, don’t want and wish they had never made.
Democrats Insisted Fannie and Freddie Were Juuust Fine…
October 2, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments
-By warner Todd Huston
The Wall Street Journal has an important op ed that every American should read. It is simply a reiteration of quotes from high ranking, Congressional Democrats who swore to us that there wasn’t a thing wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They made these claims because the faulty rules they were pushing were little else but sweet heart deals for the special interests, lobbyists and NGOs that donated huge cash to their campaign coffers. This was graft, pure and simple, and, to use a favorite Democrat expression, those chickens are coming home to roost.
Aside from the WSJ, the rest of the media have seriously neglected the truth in this case. This economic mess can be laid squarely at the feet of the Democratic Party.
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What They Said About Fan and Fred
House Financial Services Committee hearing, Sept. 10, 2003:
Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.): I worry, frankly, that there’s a tension here. The more people, in my judgment, exaggerate a threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of serious financial losses to the Treasury, which I do not see. I think we see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disaster scenarios. . . .
Secretary Martinez, if it ain’t broke, why do you want to fix it? Have the GSEs [government-sponsored enterprises] ever missed their housing goals?
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House Financial Services Committee hearing, Sept. 25, 2003:
Rep. Frank: I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing. . Read more
Congress and the Bailout’s Frankenstein Fix
October 1, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Congress, Constitution, Economy/Finances, Ken Marrero, News, Taxes | 1 Comment
One of the more memorable phrases from recent political history is “DOA”. A politician announced, during a recent session of Congress, there was no need to even bother sending the bill over for a vote because it was “DOA”, Dead on Arrival. The phrase immediately made its way into the modern political lexicon as even a cursory Google search reveals.
Congress generally knows when a bill is destined to fail due to internal opposition. For instance, the GOP understood on the front end that Democrats would abandon all pretense of constitutional integrity to prevent even a vote on several judicial nominees a few years ago. The President’s nominees were DOA. DOA legislation becomes more interesting, however, when the pressure to kill the bill comes, not from the opposition Party, but from the American people.
The Dubai Ports deal, The Immigration Reform Bill and even Harriet Meiers nomination to the Supreme Court were all killed by “We the People”; not Harry Reid or Mitch McConnell. Thankfully, when their best revival efforts failed, Congressional Doctors bowed to the inevitable, pulled the plug and let the bills die with dignity.
Like E.F. Hutton, when the People speak, Congress usually listens. Which makes the Congressional response to the Bailout Package even more puzzling. Public opposition is running at near 80%! Americans may disagree on what needs doing, but they are clearly and almost unanimously agreed a Bailout isn’t the solution. It seemed as if Congress listened. Despite arm twisting and a surprising level of Congressional support for a Bailout, in a vote that was too close, the Bailout was defeated and the patient flatlined. But if you thought that was the end of the matter, you’d be wrong!
Let’s Blame Barney Frank, Chris Dodd & Bill Clinton
October 1, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Congress, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Frank Salvato, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes | 1 Comment
-By Frank Salvato
Now I know how Elvis Presley felt when he shot his television! Watching Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) pontificate about how they are going to save the country in it’s time of financial crisis made me nauseous. How is it that these two charlatans can fain concern when they are among the principles responsible for getting the taxpayers into this mess?
By now even the most intellectually stunted among us understands that the first casualty of politics is honesty. No matter how superficial or how serious the matter, inside the beltway spin doctors take the facts, carve out anything that points to their client’s guilt or responsibility in any given matter and then figure out how to package it so they can level a charge of irresponsibility and ineptness at their opponents or opposing colleagues. Kool-Aid drinking political sycophants glom on to these talking points and suddenly the innocent are the guilty and the inept and responsible are pointing fingers of blame.
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Nancy Pelosi — Cretin
September 30, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments
Audio of Karl Rove revealing Nancy Pelosi’s underhanded, lying, lack of leadership in the bailout.
Republicans Predicted Fannie/Freddie Troubles YEARS Ago
September 27, 2008 | Filed Under Budget, Congress, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments