Free Republic

Many monumental errors and misjudgments contributed to the acute financial turmoil in which we now find ourselves. How did we get here? Let's review: In order to curry congressional support after their accounting scandals in 2003 and 2004, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac committed to increased financing of "affordable housing." Fannie and Freddie retained the support of many in Congress, particularly Democrats, and they were allowed to continue unrestrained In 2005, the Senate Banking Committee, then under Republican control, adopted a strong reform bill, introduced by Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole, John Sununu and Chuck Hagel, and supported by then chairman...

The collection of ne’er do wells, clueless dolts, political hacks, and oh, let’s just be blunt and call them what they are — total Idiots — expands into an ever larger circle. While the Republic burns due to the unsavory combination of incompetence, ideological rigidity, and crony capitalism, the fools and assclowns seem ever more determined to avoid any personal responsibility for the damages they have wrought. Instead, they flail about blindly, blaming everything and everyone — except their own horrific negligence. This is financial incompetence writ on a scale grander than anything seen for centuries. As a nation, our...

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Altar boy. Avid runner. Ambitious student. Thomas Herbstritt boasted about grandson Jeremy Herbstritt's life and accomplishments like a typical proud grandparent. But for the 77-year-old grandfather, it was simple acts of kindness that stood out above all the memories of his grandchild, one of the 32 slain in the massacre Monday at Virginia Tech University.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A prestigious Chinese university has fired one of its deans days after he complained about being sidelined for bold remarks on academic freedom and berated the country's higher education woes on the Internet. Zhang Ming, dean of political sciences at Renmin University of China, posted articles detailing a row with his superior and attacking the "bureaucratization of Chinese colleges" on his well-read blog last week. ...... "Universities have become an officialdom ... The over-intervention and manipulation of academia by power definitely fetters its growth," Zhang was quoted as saying.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A brothel in Germany hopes to capitalize on the growing number of retirees by offering them a 50 percent discount for sex in the afternoon. The "Pascha" in the western city of Cologne has introduced reduced rates for sex sessions for clients aged 66 and above -- provided they can prove they are old enough.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has recalled its ambassador in El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked with sex toys lying nearby in the yard of his official residence, Israeli media reports said on Monday.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank the early 1990s, wants to make a comeback in the business that made him famous. His timing, for once, couldn't be better. Leeson, 40, told Bloomberg on March 2 that he is contemplating a return to full-time trading turning his back on his recent career as an author, marketer for an Irish soccer club and motivational speaker. For now, Leeson says he might only play with his own money, but you never know. "You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me to manage their money,"...

Prices disconnected from fundamentals. House prices are far beyond any historically known relationship to rents or salaries. Rents are less than half of mortgage payments. Salaries cannot cover mortgages except in the very short term, by using adjustable interest-only loans. Interest rates going back up. When rates go from 5% to 7%, that's a 40% increase in the amount of interest a buyer has to pay. House prices must drop proportionately to compensate.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the United States is still a superpower. But it's a superpower facing competition from beyond its borders as well as internal difficulties. Its lower and middle classes are turning out to be the losers of globalization. There are essentially three exclusive characteristics whose simultaneous development have served as the foundations of the United States's success up until now -- and they only appear in this particular combination in America. They are not only the country's biggest strengths, but also its greatest weaknesses. It's worth scrutinizing them more closely.

Darlene Hilker is an unusual woman. It is not because she was caught up in domestic violence; that's a common crime. Nor is it because she was the abuser; research increasingly reveals that men are often victims of domestic violence. She is unusual because, on a judge's order, the Florida woman became one of the first to be enrolled in the Women Who Batter intervention program run by Domestic Abuse Shelter Homes. The 26-week program is being watched as a potential model for use nationwide.

NEW YORK - Don’t be surprised if the minimum payment on your credit card suddenly goes up. Under pressure from federal regulators, credit card issuers are raising the minimum payments consumers must make on their monthly bills. In the long run, it’s good for consumers because it means they’ll pay down their balances faster, so they’ll pay less in interest. But in the short run, consumers already struggling to keep up with minimum payments on several cards could feel squeezed. “It’s a little like a diet,” said Greg McBride, a financial analyst with Bankrate.com in North Palm Beach, Fla. “To...

LONDON (CBS.MW) - Most voter polls have consistently put President Bush and Senator John Kerry in a near tie in presidential race, but some projections that use economic-based models say it's Bush in November. An Economy.com model gives Bush 373 electoral college votes, well ahead of the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. Kerry lands only 10 states, according to the model -- Illinois and California are the only two outside a handful of East Coast states.

Penn State Republicans Greet Dave Matthews Band Concertgoers, Friday October 1st About six o’clock Friday evening, over thirty Republicans greeted concertgoers at the entrance of the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State. While the Young Republicans from Penn State held down the corner at University Drive drawing cheers and jeers from the passing traffic, a few of us strung out along the walk to the main entrance of the center. I had with me my battle scared Bush/Cheney sign from the September engagement with Teresa admires and the Mothers Opposed to Bush (MOB) thugs at Swab Auditorium. Some people in...

Upon seeing a four by eight foot Bush/Cheney sign being carried toward campus, I decided to go to a Penn State rally for Teresa Thursday night (9/16). College Republicans were there to greet her. They were nice enough to give me a Bush/Cheney sign that I held for those waiting in line to see. One guy passed me and said, “You have to be brave”; if you knew liberal Penn State, you would know what he meant. Since the college republicans were in front of the auditorium and I was near a side entrance, I got to greet Teresa with...