Tuesday, December 14, 2010
On Blaming the Republicans Solely For the Financial Meltdown Part 2
Look, folks, I'm not in any way attempting to say that there's equal culpability here. The financial meltdown DID occur under a Republican administration. It also occurred under a Republican FED chairman (Alan Greenspan) and a Republican heading the SEC (Christopher Cox). The Republicans absolutely DO deserve more of the blame................................................................................................I'm just saying here that they don't deserve ALL of the blame. a) The policy of this more relaxed lending started under the Clinton administration. b) Barney Frank, once the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and, yes, ultimately the chairman of it has himself admitted that "Yes, I was late in seeing it, no question." And c) Fannie and Freddie were themselves heavily populated with Democrats; Franklin Raines, Jim Johnson, and Jamie Gorelick (all of whom President Obama has either sought advice from or courted for his administration)...........................................................................................................Oh, and to all of those who happen to think that Mr. Frank has gotten a raw deal in this analysis, this. In 2000, Mr. Frank said that concerns about Fannie and Freddie were "overblown" and that there was "no federal liability whatsoever". In 2002, he said that "I do not regard Fannie and Freddie as problems" and that he regarded them as "great assets". In 2003, he said that there was "no federal guarantee to Fannie and Freddie's obligations". In 2004, he said that Fannie and Freddie were "no real threat to the treasury". Add to this the fact that Mr. Frank received $40,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie and Freddie and even had a romantic relationship with one of its executives and, yeah, it really does sounds to me like Mr. Frank may have at least some explaining to do.
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From a 8/28/2010 post on my blog...
Rep. Frank warned of the potential danger of a deregulated subprime lending market, but "House Republicans blocked any efforts to legislate against it" and "Alan Greenspan refused to use congressional authority he'd been given in 1994 to regulate it". [end excerpt from my blog]
The Democrats you mention are DINOs. It's tragic, but the Democratic Party has been infected by the same disease that swallowed the Republican Party whole -- namely Reaganomics (also known as "Supply Side Economics).
I place 100 percent of the blame on the Republicans for spreading this disease. They forced some of the Democrats to buy into their plutocratic ideology when they (the Democrats) realized they couldn't retake the presidencey (post Reagan) because they were receiving a minority of the campaign cash.
That's how we got "New Democrat" Bill Clinton. A "New Democrat" is a Democrat that has turned away from the New Deal economic policies and embraced Reagan's supply side/deregulation BS. I don't blame Republicans, I blame Supply Side Economics and the ideology of deregulation... also known as Reaganomics.
I brought up Reaganomics in another thread on your blog and your response was to claim that you've never "defended Reagan's overall economic policy". That's nice, but I wasn't claiming that you had -- I was pointing out what the problem is.
I don't think you even understand what the problem is... proof of that is this post, where you attempt to spread the blame around equally to both parties instead of identifying the underlying cause.
Well,thats settle's the issue.When an excerpt is posted on WD's blog its like reading People magazine...you know its true.WD would never be anything but bipartiasn.The republicans "forced" some democrates....was that at gun point,or under threat of an ass beating.That twink Barney Frank was up to his eyeballs in the F&F mess,it happened while he was at the helm.You cant rewrite history on that point.He's been trying to dodge this for 5 years and damn near lost his seat this past election.
I said nothing about "forcing"... I said "infected".
I don't know what a "twink" is, although I suspect it's an anti-gay slur. Right-wing hate and lies about "rewriting history"... typical Rusty.
Not typical but unexpected are his nice words about my blog. I didn't know that People Magazine was so highly regarded. I don't read it. But apparently Rusty believes whatever they say is the God's honest truth... and the same can be said of by blog?? I don't know why he's buttering me up -- but I don't buy it.
If Rusty had actually read my blog he would have seen that it says that Barney Frank was not "up to his eyeballs in the F&F mess", nor did it happen "while he was at the helm". Disputing these lies isn't "rewriting history".
Well then,I gather the quotes about the soundness of F&F Will attributed to Barney Frank were actually made by someone else.Perhaps they were made by Barneys boyfriend who ran a gay escort service out of Barneys basement and who was also growing pot at ole Barn's summer cottage....yea,thats more then likely the reason Barney was clueless about F&F,he claims he did'nt know what his boyfriend was doing either.I guess it boils down that either Barney Frank is a liar or he's got his head up his ass...among other things.
wd, of course you blame the Republicans completely. You're a hard-core partisan and that's essentially what hard-core partisans do - totally blame the other guys. Nothing at all surprising here. But, please, read my comments more carefully. I DO NOT spread the blame around equally. I said in fact that the Republicans are MORE culpable. My only point is that, like the nonpartisan professor said, there's definitely enough blame to go around here. Yes, there are problems with supply side economics. No question. But there was certainly more to this than simply that. The Democrats (and, yes, probably a lot of Republicans, too) wanted to create a culture in which every person could buy and own a home. It was a ridiculous notion and we're definitely paying for it now - BIG TIME. And, really, Barney Frank HIMSELF, wd, has admitted that he was too late in seeing the problem. The dude himself disagrees with you here. I mean, come on, that definitely puts you on shaky ground, I think.
I think you need to read my comment more carefully. It says Rep. Frank WARNED of the potential danger of a deregulated subprime lending market, but "House Republicans BLOCKED any efforts to legislate against it".
Rep. Frank has never "admitted that he was too late in seeing the problem". I'm sorry, but you've got your facts completely wrong.
I believe that what Mr. Frank has admitted was that he was reluctant to admit that Fannie and Freddie were doomed. He thought they could be saved, but he was wrong. What doomed them was Republican sabotage -- sabotage by deregulation that Rep. Frank WARNED of.
BTW I am NOT a "hardcore partisan". I blame the ideology of trickle down and deregulation. I pointed out in my prior comment that Bill Clinton bought into (at least) the deregulation nonsense. He signed the legislation that lead to the financial meltdown.
As for my prior use of the term "equally" in regards to how you wish to assign blame -- forgive me, I misspoke. I meant to condemn your partisan attack on both parties instead of the failed ideology.
If either of us is a "hardcore partisan" I would say it is you. You're extremely hardcore in defending your "moderate independent" positions. This, I think, explains your extreme hatred of Keith Olbermann. He's a high profile and convenient target. Attacking him lends credence to your moderation.
I also have serious problem with your use of the term "relaxed lending"... it's another way of saying that Clinton deregulated the banks (which is true), except it shifts the blame from those making the loans to those receiving the loans.
As I said in my comment to "Part 1"... to suggest that because the party that has none of the power in these transactions (the person applying for the loan) is to blame because the party that has all the power (the bank) didn't do their due diligence -- is beyond ridiculous.
.....and WD said...Will,please make Rusty stop,please Will make him stop....come on Will,Rusty is making me cry...make him stop Will or I'm gonna tell mommy.
Gee, if WD's blog is "People" I oughta at least be good for "Us Weekly"...
He actually does have a point, Russ. Mr. Frank's sexual preference is immaterial here. It's his integrity (or lack of) and judgment (or lack of) that are being called into question......Though, yes, the fact that he was having an affair with an executive from one of these agencies is something that clearly represents a conflict of interest.
Will,Barney Frank is a walking joke...he's won re-election only because he brings pork to his liberal district and he damn near got beat this year.I dont care if he's gay,straight,black,white or purple.The fact is he's a liar and he's really not the sharpest knife in the drawer.Lets see how well he does in the minority.
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