Posted on 09/17/2008 6:25:07 AM PDT by blogsforthompson.com
Here is a new John McCain ad called, "Foundation." In the ad, McCain looks directly into the camera and vows to clean up Wall Street and Washington D.C., saying, "I've taken on tougher guys than this before" . . . .. (see video at link)
(Excerpt) Read more at blogsforjohnmccain.com ...
What is there “to take on” re: wall street? The problem with this latest meltdown is multiculturalism from the Clinton era, pressuring companies to give loans to EVERYONE so everyone can be equal.
McCain is making a big mistake here if he doesn’t blame who actually deserves to be blamed.
He should stop saying the problem is BOTH Republicans and Democrats.
I think that’s a good ad.
I am a portfolio manager for a hedge fund, so I’ve been watching this disaster from the inside. One of the problems President (hopefully) McCain is going to have to deal with is the fact that the CEOs of Wall Street firms really have no idea what their banks actually do on a day-to-day basis. The exotic derivatives and complex strategies are too complicated for the CEOs to understand, because most of them rose to prominence back when American-style options were considered exotic.
Are you really saying no Republicans are to blame?
Remember, McCain is playing to the electorate. Not FReepers or political junkies like most of us.
I agree. Wall Street has been slammed hard enough by a president who has never liked them, and piling on more punishment won't be good for the economy.
That's not to say that Wall Street doesn't have its problems, but punishing everybody isn't going to work.
Members of both parties ARE to blame, notably Robert Bennett, Tom Davis, and Kit Bond make the list of top 10 senators with contributions from Fannie and Freddie.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/07/top-senate-recipients-of-fanni.html
What’s more, it his statement “I’ve taken on tougher guys than this before” is untrue. The NVA could only kill your body. The temptation to compromise with liberals will kill your soul - witness CFR and immigration “reform.”
“Derivatives and complex strategies are” one more reason why there needs to be firewalls between investment banking and commercial banking.
BS..
The Subprime meltdown, in spite of all the talk radio talking spin, is a result of pure unadulterated greed, PERIOD. Loans were being made to anyone who could fog a mirror because everyone making them knew they could bundle them into CDO’s and sell them to the neverending demand for them on walls street.
GREED folks, greed. Trying to spin this into purely a partisan issue is stupid and will lose you votes.
The failure in all this was the LACK OF REGULATORY OVERSIGHT! Not too much!
The fundamental truth that Teddy Roosevelent pointed out long ago.. “Unfettered capitalism breeds corruption.”
I think the multiculturalism take is a good one. I also think the exotic derivative arguments is also a good one.
However, I think what trumps both of these is the ENDEMIC CORRUPTION in all phases of American (actually worldwide) society.
Backdating options? Sure no problem.
Failing to report income tax when you’re the house ways and means chairman? What of it?
Paying off your mistress from Federal Campaign funds? Prove it!
Falsely reporting income to increase your stock option pay day? Hey, everybody does it right?
Selling baby food and baby formula with lead and melamine (sp?) in them? Hey the olympics were a rousing success!
This is going on from the highest levels down to the lowest levels. In my state (NC) the governor took a boondoggle trip to Italy to increase tourism to NC (uh-huh) and here recently his wife got a 95% pay raise for her do-nothing job at NC State. And this is just on top of story after story after story of Wake County employees using State credit cards to finance trips to Vegas and buy Jet Ski’s. Think I’m making any of this up? I’m not.
We have many endemic problems including the ones you’ve named but as long as the culture of “Screw you - I’ve got mine” and unabashed corruption that is more typical of Mexico or some other 3rd world country - we’re basically screwed.
My $.02.
Concur.
The Bush Admin. wanted oversight of Fannie and Freddie as far back as 2003. Bush is a Republican and he wanted this. The Democrats did not want it.
See this FR thread for more info:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083520/posts
Good ad!!! It’s about damn time!!! Now, hit Obambi again and again and...
Yes, but the bigger issue isn’t commercial vs. investment banking. That really hasn’t been the issue. The real issue is that no one in the big powerhouses on Wall Street have any financial incentive to truly manage risk. Government is always there to backstop, and in the worst case, a CEO gets fired with a $20m severence package.
Bigger issue that needs to be solved in all of corporate America is the cronyism of boards of directors, something that largely went unaddressed with Sarbanes Oxley. Boards are all in the pockets of management and provide no true oversight. It is disgusting.
See this FR thread, in case you missed it yesterday. It’s a good one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2083520/posts
Maybe I need to watch it again (only saw it on Morning Joe without my glasses on!), but I felt that the “I’ve taken on tougher guys than this before,” seemed directed at Obama. Maybe that’s because I see a POW who was clever enough to survive being compared pictorially with an empty suit, but I felt it was an effective message.
AKA moral hazard.
“Unfettered capitalism breeds corruption”
Individual criminality is not capitalism. Think Enron. Criminals breed/practice/flaunt corruption. Capitalism has nothing to do with it. Identify the criminal. Identify the individual.
Yep, and the dirty little secret of Wall Street is that a lot of the people who run these huge banks are liberal Democrats.
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