Diane- Do you get that a person can value a role for government (larger than you personally would like) and still not be a Socialist? I agree every individual should be accountable for their own decisions, thus every American in a bad mortgage situation shares the blame, but then every capitalist involved in fraud, cheating, unethical behavior should also be accountable, no? Do you not believe in any consumer protections? Is the America you desire to live in one where we should just have a free for all and allow the weak, uneducated, and dumb to be taken advantage of? Do you not understand that financial entities needed to sell mortgages for their mortgage backed financial instruments and didn't care about anything other than their commissions and that had nothing to do with Barney Frank? Do you get the mess had many mothers and fathers of all political persuasions? So regardless of the facts, "you stand by your statement?" Do you understand that Americans used the growing equity in their homes, generated by the bubble, as income to buy goods and services? Do you understand that "income" no longer exists for many Americans and thus demand is down and employment is down? Do you get that as the stimulus money runs out and that states let go of teachers etc, unemployment will rise? Do you get that government income is down, i.e. taxes? Do you understand that the year over year change in to total government spending (local, state, and federal) per capita has dropped the greatest % amount in one year since the end of the Korean War? Do you get that not every poor person wants to be poor and get government assistance? Do you get that as America continues to lose its meritocracy that wealth shifts from the many to the few and the social fabric of the country you love gets shattered? Do you get that the Republican party wanted no part in improving the economy under Obama because their objective wasn't about helping America and Americans, it was about power and getting that Democrat out of the White House? I am not saying Frank is blameless, I am saying he is such a very small piece of the blame pie, anyone focused on him doesn't really care to know the cause, the effects, or the solutions. Sadly, they just want to vent hate.
Diane- I get you are a Republican. I get you dislike liberals. I take it you hate Obama for a whole host of reasons. Fair enough, those are your rights, but if you want to have any credibility you have got to stop repeating nonsense. Every president of my lifetime has pushed for affordable housing and home ownership including Ronald Reagan and George Bush! The facts are the vast majority (>85%) of non-conforming mortgages were sold by banks not covered under the act you like referring to. The crisis had many contributors including CAPITALISM . Repeating your Dodds/Frank mantra is childish. The bubble was aided by lots of things- low interests & easy credit, fraudulent underwriting, predatory lending, deregulation, shadow banking, innovative and complex financial instruments. Who profited more from poor people getting mortgages they couldn't afford the politicians or the bankers? (I'll give you a hint, they have mansions in the tri-state area of NJ/NY/CT.) Want to forward your cause and make America a better place (That's the goal isn't it?), stop blindly following an ideology and solicit input from more balanced sources. Don't allow yourself to be so easily manipulated.
MarkinMiami: It clearly is "the system's" fault that we have a growing segment of Americans who are unproductive and committing crimes. We have more incarcerated citizens than any other country in the world, so we are doing something seriously wrong. Feel free to offer your constructive recommendation on how we can address the problem.
BTW, I am not taking the position that this individual can blame someone else, even if his lot in life was, to a high degree, programmed in by our failure to make improvements to the system. He is personally responsible and will be held accountable.
As long as our system creates and leaves behind socioeconomic groups that do not see a way to succeed we will end up ultimately paying for our failures.
Blake- "We should be rebounding so much better than we are." Based on what? The jobs that left the country left prior to or were scheduled to before Obama became president. Housing bubble crashed. Bank liquidity crisis. Partisan politics and yes an obstructive Republican party! What is the text book recovery time for something like this? A decade? More? The schools are not the problem, the students are! We are graduating many foreign students through the same colleges but they are choosing the sciences and engineering. It's about drive and ambition. American kids, many from successful, affluent, Republican families (not exclusively) don't want to work hard in college. I thought the "libs" were the only ones to make excuses and blame the other guy. Ha.
My brother is a headhunter in Chicago and says the biggest problem they have is finding qualified candidates. He says their business has been up over 30% each of the last three years. The problem is that affluent Americans send their kids off to college and tell them to have a good time; it's the best years of their life. They study liberal arts or history or literature or some other generic degree. Many take a semester overseas to experience the world (a/k/a party time). We have a shortage of engineers, scientists, nurses, programmer, etc. Maybe if these kids put in as much effort at learning a marketable skill they wouldn't be unemployed. Arestorer is wrong, there are plenty of jobs, unless, of course, you are a construction worker. That is another story. Everytime I hear a Republican say the economy is terrible I just figure it is a campaign to get Romney elected. Unemployment is too high, corporate profits are fine, thank you very much.
fugitiveguy- "Excuses" really? Those look like excuses. Not what you want to believe so they are... inconvenient truths, huh? Lot's of neutral sites will explain it to you if you really care about your country and you want to be part of the solution. I know, it's easier to hate on Frank and company.
AFCHIEF/fugitiveguy- What percentage of the non-conforming mortgage market did Fannie Mae have? Oops. <20%. They were late to the game. The "shadow banks" who were not impacted by the same regulations and the derivative financial instruments that were developed by packaging these crappy mortgages caused the liquidity crisis. Blame the Dems if you want, and they certainly get a piece of the blame pie, but they did not cause this problem. Follow the money. Who made the profits? The folks selling bonds, CDO's, CDS's, etc. You guys keep on repeating the same misinformation. It won't change reality, although you just might convince some more lazy, uneducated folks to repeat your propaganda. By the way, we have done nothing to stop this from happening again. It is going to be costly to all of us to watch another anti-regulation president drive us closer to anarchy.
LOL, people who allow wishful thinking to drive their conclusions are destined to be wrong way too often. I am confident it will be a close race. I am confident both candidates will say something silly somewhere along the way. I am confident many misleading points will be communicated. I am confident plenty of hate will be spewed by both ends of the political spectrum. I am confident a sizeable group of Americans will hate Obama no matter what he does. I am confident Republicans and Democrats in congress will continue to undermine each other at the expense of the American people. I am confident taxes will go up, But, no, I am not confident Mitt Romney is strong enough to get elected as President.
Thatcher- My words speak for themselves. Did they sound partisan? The presidency will be bought... by the next president's team. I may have a preference but I didn't predict who would be the next president.
I have never voted all R or all D. I'm sure I get accused of being an L on this board because I trash the "blame Obama for everything" crowd. You know, the ignorant comments such as... the one made above by AFCHIEF. I am open to facts and ideas from both parties.
Back to AFCHIEF- Really. Is that the best you have got? We are talking about a politician here. All politicians- left/right, black/white, male/female, young/old, spin, twist, parse, and outright lie. If you have a score card that reveals that Obama is at one end of the bell curve, please share. Considering the scale is relative and Romney and Clinton are on there, I personally think it is a fool's task.
BigE 10 months, 3 weeks ago
Rhetorical Letters
Diane- Do you get that a person can value a role for government (larger than you personally would like) and still not be a Socialist? I agree every individual should be accountable for their own decisions, thus every American in a bad mortgage situation shares the blame, but then every capitalist involved in fraud, cheating, unethical behavior should also be accountable, no? Do you not believe in any consumer protections? Is the America you desire to live in one where we should just have a free for all and allow the weak, uneducated, and dumb to be taken advantage of? Do you not understand that financial entities needed to sell mortgages for their mortgage backed financial instruments and didn't care about anything other than their commissions and that had nothing to do with Barney Frank? Do you get the mess had many mothers and fathers of all political persuasions? So regardless of the facts, "you stand by your statement?" Do you understand that Americans used the growing equity in their homes, generated by the bubble, as income to buy goods and services? Do you understand that "income" no longer exists for many Americans and thus demand is down and employment is down? Do you get that as the stimulus money runs out and that states let go of teachers etc, unemployment will rise? Do you get that government income is down, i.e. taxes? Do you understand that the year over year change in to total government spending (local, state, and federal) per capita has dropped the greatest % amount in one year since the end of the Korean War? Do you get that not every poor person wants to be poor and get government assistance? Do you get that as America continues to lose its meritocracy that wealth shifts from the many to the few and the social fabric of the country you love gets shattered? Do you get that the Republican party wanted no part in improving the economy under Obama because their objective wasn't about helping America and Americans, it was about power and getting that Democrat out of the White House? I am not saying Frank is blameless, I am saying he is such a very small piece of the blame pie, anyone focused on him doesn't really care to know the cause, the effects, or the solutions. Sadly, they just want to vent hate.
BigE 10 months, 3 weeks ago
Rhetorical Letters
Diane- I get you are a Republican. I get you dislike liberals. I take it you hate Obama for a whole host of reasons. Fair enough, those are your rights, but if you want to have any credibility you have got to stop repeating nonsense. Every president of my lifetime has pushed for affordable housing and home ownership including Ronald Reagan and George Bush! The facts are the vast majority (>85%) of non-conforming mortgages were sold by banks not covered under the act you like referring to. The crisis had many contributors including CAPITALISM . Repeating your Dodds/Frank mantra is childish. The bubble was aided by lots of things- low interests & easy credit, fraudulent underwriting, predatory lending, deregulation, shadow banking, innovative and complex financial instruments. Who profited more from poor people getting mortgages they couldn't afford the politicians or the bankers? (I'll give you a hint, they have mansions in the tri-state area of NJ/NY/CT.) Want to forward your cause and make America a better place (That's the goal isn't it?), stop blindly following an ideology and solicit input from more balanced sources. Don't allow yourself to be so easily manipulated.
BigE 11 months, 1 week ago
S.P. Man Faces Charges in Vehicle Break-ins
MarkinMiami: It clearly is "the system's" fault that we have a growing segment of Americans who are unproductive and committing crimes. We have more incarcerated citizens than any other country in the world, so we are doing something seriously wrong. Feel free to offer your constructive recommendation on how we can address the problem.
BTW, I am not taking the position that this individual can blame someone else, even if his lot in life was, to a high degree, programmed in by our failure to make improvements to the system. He is personally responsible and will be held accountable.
As long as our system creates and leaves behind socioeconomic groups that do not see a way to succeed we will end up ultimately paying for our failures.
BigE 12 months ago
New Debt Crisis Is Here to Stay
Blake- "We should be rebounding so much better than we are." Based on what? The jobs that left the country left prior to or were scheduled to before Obama became president. Housing bubble crashed. Bank liquidity crisis. Partisan politics and yes an obstructive Republican party! What is the text book recovery time for something like this? A decade? More? The schools are not the problem, the students are! We are graduating many foreign students through the same colleges but they are choosing the sciences and engineering. It's about drive and ambition. American kids, many from successful, affluent, Republican families (not exclusively) don't want to work hard in college. I thought the "libs" were the only ones to make excuses and blame the other guy. Ha.
BigE 12 months ago
New Debt Crisis Is Here to Stay
My brother is a headhunter in Chicago and says the biggest problem they have is finding qualified candidates. He says their business has been up over 30% each of the last three years. The problem is that affluent Americans send their kids off to college and tell them to have a good time; it's the best years of their life. They study liberal arts or history or literature or some other generic degree. Many take a semester overseas to experience the world (a/k/a party time). We have a shortage of engineers, scientists, nurses, programmer, etc. Maybe if these kids put in as much effort at learning a marketable skill they wouldn't be unemployed. Arestorer is wrong, there are plenty of jobs, unless, of course, you are a construction worker. That is another story. Everytime I hear a Republican say the economy is terrible I just figure it is a campaign to get Romney elected. Unemployment is too high, corporate profits are fine, thank you very much.
BigE 1 year ago
Debt Is Killing This Country
fugitiveguy- "Excuses" really? Those look like excuses. Not what you want to believe so they are... inconvenient truths, huh? Lot's of neutral sites will explain it to you if you really care about your country and you want to be part of the solution. I know, it's easier to hate on Frank and company.
BigE 1 year ago
Debt Is Killing This Country
AFCHIEF/fugitiveguy- What percentage of the non-conforming mortgage market did Fannie Mae have? Oops. <20%. They were late to the game. The "shadow banks" who were not impacted by the same regulations and the derivative financial instruments that were developed by packaging these crappy mortgages caused the liquidity crisis. Blame the Dems if you want, and they certainly get a piece of the blame pie, but they did not cause this problem. Follow the money. Who made the profits? The folks selling bonds, CDO's, CDS's, etc. You guys keep on repeating the same misinformation. It won't change reality, although you just might convince some more lazy, uneducated folks to repeat your propaganda. By the way, we have done nothing to stop this from happening again. It is going to be costly to all of us to watch another anti-regulation president drive us closer to anarchy.
BigE 1 year ago
Will Obama Dump Joe for Hillary?
LOL, people who allow wishful thinking to drive their conclusions are destined to be wrong way too often. I am confident it will be a close race. I am confident both candidates will say something silly somewhere along the way. I am confident many misleading points will be communicated. I am confident plenty of hate will be spewed by both ends of the political spectrum. I am confident a sizeable group of Americans will hate Obama no matter what he does. I am confident Republicans and Democrats in congress will continue to undermine each other at the expense of the American people. I am confident taxes will go up, But, no, I am not confident Mitt Romney is strong enough to get elected as President.
BigE 1 year ago
Will Obama Dump Joe for Hillary?
Thatcher- My words speak for themselves. Did they sound partisan? The presidency will be bought... by the next president's team. I may have a preference but I didn't predict who would be the next president.
I have never voted all R or all D. I'm sure I get accused of being an L on this board because I trash the "blame Obama for everything" crowd. You know, the ignorant comments such as... the one made above by AFCHIEF. I am open to facts and ideas from both parties.
Back to AFCHIEF- Really. Is that the best you have got? We are talking about a politician here. All politicians- left/right, black/white, male/female, young/old, spin, twist, parse, and outright lie. If you have a score card that reveals that Obama is at one end of the bell curve, please share. Considering the scale is relative and Romney and Clinton are on there, I personally think it is a fool's task.
BigE 1 year ago
Will Obama Dump Joe for Hillary?
GC- Mitt is going the other direction. If he doesn't pick a "true" conservative the suicidal wing of the party goes nuts!