Congressional Democrats Bankrupted the Nation

[cobra de capell]

Congressional Democrats Bankrupted the Nation
By JB Williams Wednesday, January 28, 2009

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/7992

A good history for documentation - posted below is part of the article about the current situation, the article starts from 1916.....
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The End
In April 2001, before the events of 9/11 and just after entering the White House, President Bush began signaling warnings to members of congress that both Fannie and Freddie were headed into deep treacherous waters which could cause “strong repercussions in financial markets.”

In early 2003, the Bush White House upgraded its warnings to “a systemic risk that could extend well beyond just the housing markets.”

On September 10, 2003, Bush Treasury Secretary John Snow testified in congress that something had to be done to confront the growing storm at Fannie and Freddie. Democrat Barney Frank, now Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, reacted by saying “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are NOT in a crisis...” completely rejecting Bush administration calls for reform.

Frank went on to say that Fannie and Freddie should do even more to get low-income families into homes. “The more people, in my opinion, exaggerate the threat of safety and soundness, the more people conjure up the possibility of more 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, and even if there were a problem, the federal government doesn’t bail them out, but the more pressure there is there, then the less, I think we see, in affordable housing.” Said Democrat Frank

Congressional Democrats then killed the 2003 bill put forth by Republicans, intended to head off financial crisis.

Snip.....
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This is well documented, but not well known.

We've been screwed and we know who did it. Isn't there a crime here? If not, why not?

[VRM]

I continue to get a laugh out of the GOP efforts to absolve themselves of their own responsibility for this mess.

So which bill was it?

HR2803? Nope - stuck in committee.

HR2117? Nope - stuck in committee.

HR3071? Nope - stuck in committee.

S1508? Nope - stuck in committee.

S 1656? Nope - stuck in committee...Oh wait! This is related to 1508, and was introduced by one of those evil Dems!

Maybe I misread 2003 and it was really S190 from 2005. Well, no - that was introduced by Hagel, but then shut down by GOP lobby group DCI.

So which bill got killed by the DNC?

Subprime loans have been around a lot longer than either of us, and they will never go away despite this mess.
Fannie and Freddie did not bundle the bad loans in with the good and sell them as low risk assets. The unregulated banks, thanks to the GOP and Clinton, did. Even Greenspan has said that this is what has caused the mess.

No crime was committed because none of it was against the law. The bankers made their money and then just passed the responsibility for the bad loans on to somebody else - and those somebodies are all the taxpayers who are now bailing out the banks and the homeowners who tried (and succeeded it looks like) to get something for nothing..

[cobra de capell]

Sometimes when I post specific responses feel like I just stepped in a pile of poop - not an event that I look forward to in life.

[VRM]

Originally Posted by cobra de capell

Sometimes when I post specific responses feel like I just stepped in a pile of poop - not an event that I look forward to in life.

Sometimes your specific responses make me feel like I stepped in poop with you.

[Jamo]

You're both dancin in sh!t.

[VRM]

Originally Posted by Jamo

You're both dancin in sh!t.

Well, yeah...but look what it does for our pedicures!

[cobra de capell]

I'll bet that you actually get pedicures.

Anyway, even if the bill was killed in Committee - the fact remains that The Bush Administration pointed out problems in 2003 with the democrats killing any effort to rain in the housing agencies.

Go here for a NY Times article on this subject from 2003...

New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...gewanted=print

Perhaps you will consider commenting specifically on this article - I'd be interested in your take on it - afterall, it's from your favorite newspaper.

We've been screwed by the democrats and government in general.

[VRM]

Nope - never had a pedicure - I'll keep things trimmed with my teeth, and spit the bits at whomever is irritating me.

Anyway...

Barney Frank (and a few other dems) needs to be tarred and feathered. He is (they are) obviously not smart enough to realise what kind of trouble you can get into by writing loans like the type that they were pushing.

I do give the Bush administration credit for trying to get this done, even though multiple bills suggesting that had already been submitted. His GOP Congress let him down by not letting any of the multiple bills leave committee. Fannie VP Hollis McLoughlin (lots of GOP campaign contributions over the years, and only 2 Dems; and Chris Dodd (no introduction needed) and Jim Cooper (of the oversight committee)) hired GOP lobbyist Rick Davis (later head honcho of McCains campaign) and Doug Goodyear (later dropped out of running RNC Convention in disgrace). Their job would be to help keep other GOP members from allowing the bill to get to the floor. This made sure that the multiple versions of the bill stayed dead.

So some of the DNC can take the blame for not having a clue, and some of the GOP can take the blame for having a clue, but deliberately doing nothing about it.

I really do not know which is worse, though a court might see it a bit differently.

[Sharroll Celby]

With a GOP President from 2000-2008, and a GOP-controlled Congress from 1994 - 2008, I expected a lot better leadership in the way this country was run. Sadly, I didnt get any.

[cobra de capell]

Originally Posted by Sharroll Celby

With a GOP President from 2000-2008, and a GOP-controlled Congress from 1994 - 2008, I expected a lot better leadership in the way this country was run. Sadly, I didnt get any.

Actually, the Demobulbs took back control of the Congress on January 4, 2007.

Republicans get about a C+ prior to that happening.

[Sharroll Celby]

You're right. I knew the approximate dates, and should have posted accordingly.

[VRM]

Dang! If only the GOP had that extra year in Congress - they would have straightened up their act in those last few months!

I think there are a few good and honest people in the GOP, but they never seem to be the ones calling the shots. There needs to be a serious house-cleaning before the GOP gets my vote again.

[cobra de capell]

The GOP is not looking for the nutwing vote.

Interesting trivia.....

Rahm Emanuel, served on the board of directors of the federal mortgage firm Freddie Mac at a time when scandal was brewing at the troubled agency and the board failed to spot "red flags," according to government reports reviewed by ABCNews.com.

[VRM]

The GOP needs every vote they can get, but I suppose they are satisfied with the gullible people whom they can convince that they are doing a heckuva job.

You forgot to mention FD Raines - another guy who needs to be tarred and feathered.

[cobra de capell]

Here's How your boy plans to pay for part of his health plan...

Senators slam plan for wounded vets to use private insurance

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/...nce/index.html

I'm speechless.

[vegasmike]

All I can is this. Take a look at the top tem cities with respect to uemployment and the last time those cities had a Republican mayor. I'll dig it up and post it if I can still find it.

[vegasmike]

OK - That didn't take too long, but it was poverty, not unemployment, my mistake, but it still doesn't lessen the impact.


Interesting information on Poverty in the Cities.



City, State, % of People Below the Poverty Level

1. Detroit , MI
32.5%

2. Buffalo , NY
29.9%

3. Cincinnati , OH
27.8%

4. Cleveland , OH
27.0%

5. Miami , FL
26.9%

5. St. Louis , MO
26.8%

7. El Paso , TX
26.4%

8. Milwaukee , WI
26.2%

9. Philadelphia , PA
25.1%

10. Newark , NJ
24.2%


U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey, August 2007


What do the top ten cities (over 250,000) with the highest poverty rate all have in common?


Detroit, MI (1st on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;

Buffalo, NY (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954;

Cincinnati , OH (3rd)...since 1984;

Cleveland , OH (4 th)...since 1989;

Miami , FL (5th) has never had a Republican mayor;

St. Louis , MO (6th)....since 1949;

El Paso , TX (7th) has never had a Republican mayor;

Milwaukee , WI (8th)...since 1908;

Philadelphia , PA (9th)...since 1952;

Newark , NJ (10th)...since 1907.

Einstein once said, 'The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results..'

It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats---yet they are still poor...

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You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away peoples initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln

[VRM]

Vegasmike,
In 2003 8 out of 10 states with the highest levels of poverty all had GOP governors currently serving, or finishing up their term.

1 Louisiana GOP
2 Mississippi GOP
3 New Mexico GOP
4 West Virginia DNC
5 Kentucky DNC
6 Alabama GOP
7 Texas GOP
8 Oklahoma GOP
9 Arkansas GOP
10 Arizona GOP

The next 15 states with the highest levels had 8 GOP governors to 7 DNC - statistically it is close enough to 50-50 to call it that.

The 10 states with the lowest poverty levels had 3 GOP governors to the DNCs 6. And again - all were either currently serving or finishing their term in 2003.

41 Vermont DNC
42 Wyoming GOP
43 Massachusetts GOP
44 Virginia DNC
45 Delaware DNC
46 New Jersey DNC
47 Maryland DNC
48 Connecticut GOP
49 Minnesota Independent
50 New Hampshire DNC

It is also interesting to note that wealth redistribution is happening on a state level - my state (MA) gets back about 82 cents for every dollar we send to the IRS. Pretty much all the 'red states' take more than they pay in. Nevada is a big exception to this - they are the only solid red state in a big group of blue states at the top of the payer states (49th - just behind New Jersey on the list of payer states).

I'm guessing that you are from Nevada - kinda sucks that we keep having to pay for those slacker states doesn't it?

Oh, and the quote you listed is not Lincoln, though that does not change the fact that it is a good one. It was some pastor but I forget his name.

Steve