~~snip~~
As the great Robert Novak reported in October 2007, “…the former Goldman Sachs CEO does not act or sound much like a conservative Republican to the GOP remnant at the Treasury. “It’s not in Hank Paulson’s DNA,” one official told me. Is he loyal to Bush? “Hank is for Hank,” he replied.”
Secretary Paulson had said that it might take 10-20 years to hold the assets before they achieved their appropriate value. Only the federal government had the patience, America was told, to manage these assets correctly! The federal government can’t even keep the same tax incentives in place for 2 years in a row. Congress often changes its mind and so do administrations. Why should we believe this is going to work?
~~snip~~
After the meeting in the White House with the Presidential candidates, it was reported falsely that there was - before the meeting - a basic deal. Those reports were obviously contrived so the Democrats could say Sen. John McCain blew it up by coming back. There was no deal. The reports of the early deal were just as truthful as when Rep. Barnie Frank said a few years ago that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were solid and we didn’t need reforms nor did we need to worry. He was wrong then too.
What was not initially reported is that everyone spoke at the meeting. When it was McCain’s turn last, everyone anticipated him reaching across the aisle so he could claim he was a peace-maker and got a deal, no matter how bad it was for conservatives or American in general.
All the reports I heard said that the meeting broke down with loud yelling and that McCain never really said much during the whole meeting. That is true, but what he did say was that the “...House Republicans are right on this one.”
All heck broke loose! The Democrats expected him to be political; not principled. How could he disappoint them? But McCain did disappoint: the Democrats, not the Republicans.
~~snip~~
OK, I haven’t really discussed the President’s role in all of this. Understand: he is very smart; one of the wittiest, most likeable people you could ever be around. He suffers from a couple of problems. One is that he speaks like a Texan and, as Jeff Foxworthy says, “When people hear you have a southern accent, they immediately deduct 50 IQ points from how smart they think you are.”
President Bush just believes his friends would not ever manipulate him (at least he doesn’t until they write a book and prove that they would and did.) He believes what Sec. Paulson and his minions have told him. But it should be noted that after the President’s address on television, there were a number of us — led by Rep. Thad McCotter who believed we should be entitled to a Republican response.
So, there you have it. Pray for our nation. May God help us all.
~~end~~
Bush was rolled by Paulson and he and the Democrats just screwed us all.
Pray that the House Republicans continue standing on principle! Hang tough guys. Our freedom depends upon it!!
I think you may have nailed it, Jim.
So the plan all along was just to INFLATE for 10-20 years. Your distressed house valued at $150K today, $100K under water is just held and inflated up to the "break-even" value. BS!