Posted on 09/22/2008 12:22:43 AM PDT by Zakeet
For many years the President and his Administration have not only warned of the systemic consequences of financial turmoil at a housing government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) but also put forward thoughtful plans to reduce the risk that either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac would encounter such difficulties. President Bush publicly called for GSE reform 17 times in 2008 alone before Congress acted.
Unfortunately, these warnings went unheeded, as the President's repeated attempts to reform the supervision of these entities were thwarted by the legislative maneuvering of those who emphatically denied there were problems.
The White House released this list of attempts by President Bush to reform Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac since he took office in 2001.
Unfortunately, Congress did not act on the president's warnings:
If six months ago you would have told me that Freepers would be singing the praises of the Government NAtionalizing Industry and buying out people’s bad investments I would have said that you were out of your mind.
But there you have it, some are singing the praises of government socialist economic actions that would make FDR Blush.
“I introduced two of the leaders here today — they call those people Fannie May and Freddie Mac, as well as the federal home loan banks, will increase their commitment to minority markets by more than $440 billion.”
GWB June-2002
For the 3rd or 4th time, I am not an economist. I don't know if there was an alternative answer. All I know is that there are smaller companies that cannot make their payrolls because of the failure of these bigger, dishonest entities. This failure is bigger than just Lehman, Fannie & Freddie and AIG. There are a whole host of others that they are taking down with them.
Caveat emptor
AGAIN, I am not an economist. I don’t know if there was a viable alternative. What I DO know is that smaller companies lost their operating capital when these companies failed. This would not be a simple recession but more like a depression.
With COOKED BOOKS?!
There are some who see it in black and white and STILL don’t get it.
“You misunderstand. Smaller companies invested money with these rigged, failed companies. It isn’t just the biggies going down. Smaller companies who thought their investments safe also lost their capital. They believed the cooked books”
I get it. You have my sympathies, but not my willingess to float any small company that lost everything.
If you have a product or service to sell, declare bankruptcy and sell it again. Maybe you were an innocent victim, but you are screwed just the same. Lesson: Don’t trust your money to just anyone.
Good luck
Yes, inaction may have brought on tough times for you and I. However, this action, in spending over a TRILLION DOLLARS will bring tough times for our children, grand children and great grandchildren.
As for me, I would prefer we have reality and do the tough times now as opposed to saddling future generations with a TRILLION DOLLARS of debt.
Actually what I think they want is the guilty brought up on charges. Lying and cheating is illegal.
Bush could sh!t the bed, and some on here would gladly sleep in it and claim it doesn’t stink. Well, the turd in the bed is socialism, and just because it came out of someone you may have thought conservative doesn’t make it any less unpleasant.
The GOP was every bit as complicit in this farce as the other party.
It was the GOP departure from conservatism starting in 2000 that caused this, in my opinion. Until voters throw the bums out the economic engine is sputtering.
And they will have to work hard to pay that Trillion Dollars back simply so that you would not have to deal with economic hardship today?
Wow!
You Get IT!
Thanks for bringing some objective and rational thought to the discussion.
“As for me, I would prefer we have reality and do the tough times now as opposed to saddling future generations with a TRILLION DOLLARS of debt.”
I agree with you. At this point we aren’t going to pay that debt back, and neither will our children. The pain will only come when the market for US government debt starts to believe that it won’t be paid back and demand higher, even much higher interest rates. That may even start today, it may not.
Our politicians (including GOP politicians) will not do anything but attempt to keep the status quo intact. The markets, as distorted as they are now, still will rule. It will just be uglier than if we took responsibility for our actions.
“Actually what I think they want is the guilty brought up on charges. Lying and cheating is illegal.”
Depends who’s lying, and who they are cheating whether they are brought up on charges. A lack of a political backlash will mean that nobody is held accountable.
It’s a good time to be a swiss banker, though. That’s where the money will be going.
“Thanks for bringing some objective and rational thought to the discussion.”
I did nothing but agree with you. I’m following your lead - so kudos to you. Keep going and don’t stop. No matter how bad it is, a return to the conservative political and fiscal principles is the way out.
“Not only did democrats not act on these warnings but Barack Obama put one of the major Sub-Prime Slime (Pritzer) on his campaign as finance chairperson.”
Pritzer and/or her family also own the Hyatt - you know, at least one of which the ‘coming-together breakfast’ w I’manutjob will be held.
She also is a bundler for NObama
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/bundlers.php?id=N00009638
and also oversees the Pritzker family’s non-hotel real estate interests and chairs its TransUnion LLC credit bureau
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2086352/posts
I don’t like the bailout. There had to be another way but I don’t know what it is. All I know is that we are staring at a catastrophic failure courtesy of the Dems. See post 40.
See post 40. There needs to be a verbal LOUD backlash.
My mom and dad went through the Depression and taught me to live in a fiscally conservative manner. And in 1989 when the oil field crashed and I was out of work with a wife in law school in NYC, a mortgage and baby on the way I drove a cab in Texas for 18 hours a day to pay for her school and the mortgage. I ate Ramen noodles and peanut butter and never turned on the heat in my house.
We made it without the Government stepping in to help and I will make it again without a handout from the government.
People today are soft and it is not just the people that are soft but the American corporation that seeks to use my tax dollars to correct their mistakes.
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