Main Street's Resentment Over Wall Street Bailout

Washington Post :

The bailout doesn't smell right to the people of Manassas Park, where the foreclosure signs are as common as azaleas. They know all about bad debt here. This is a terrain of oversize dreams, misjudgment, financial calamity -- and empty houses. "Foreclosure. Foreclosure. Foreclosure," said Ed Merkle, 58, as he pointed to the "for sale" signs lining his street.

But Merkle, a defense contractor, said he has lived within his means in an era of easy credit. He didn't take on a huge loan even when his bank encouraged him to dream bigger.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[gotalife]

Damn, Obama is attacking McCain like a Clinton.

Nice speech Obama.

Vote early and fire the gop.

[brooksidebeast]

I've never heard anything put more simply than when my daughter pointed out the other day...."It seems like Republicans like to support the big machines up and Democrats support the individual. Repubs feed the military machine, but won't take care of their veterans, they support the insurance companies and leave the sick and disabled to fend for themselves. Why, then, is it any surprise that they would give Wall Street a trillion dollars and tell the millions losing their houses that they reap what they sow?

[BradPittsburgh]

Yet Bill Clinton, elected in large part because of that recession (a la James Carville's "It's the economy, stupid"), was talking about deregulation before he was even inaugurated. The National Review reported that "Bill Clinton embraced at least one Reaganesque idea at the Little Rock economic summit" he held in December 1992: "banking deregulati­on."

The Glass-Steagall Act was, in fact, a primary target of the Clinton-era deregulation effort

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/deregulation-economic-crisis-2.html

[SanityNowPlease]

you can't hide from Phil Gramm

[Freedomscap]

I wouldn't disagree with that. You see, us Obama supporters, didn't vote for Hillary. Triangulation is one of the reasons why. We are liberals and progressives and proud of it.

[BronxBorn]

Well said Freedom.

[PumaAnn]

If you don't see O's triangulation tactics, then you do not get your blue ribbon.

[HypnoToad]

McCain & the GOP ..
How Did your Senator Vote?
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act.

53 Republican Senators plus one Democrat - AYE
44 Democrats no Republicans - NAY

Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly". 100's of bank WILL FAIL the FDIC does not have enough funds to cover the potential losses. of course Uncle Sam will have to add more capital to the bail out. "John McCain voted FOR the bank laws that led to the current credit crisis. John Mccain's economic advisor WROTE the law. 53 Republicans voted YES to the law. When you're in danger of losing your house, can you take a chance on more of the same from those who wrecked out economy?" http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00105

[GhiaccioPronto]

That vote took place May 6, 1999, that is not how the act become law

In Mega-Banks We Trust
October 27, 1999

Friday, October 22, 1999 should go down in history...­That was the day that White House and Senate negotiators worked out a final, late-night deal engineering the repeal of a critical Depression-era law, the Glass- Steagal Act, that for six decades has kept the banking, securities and insurance businesses separate from each other.

http://library.publicampaign.org/ouch/1999/10/ouch-33-mega-banks-we-trust

Thursday, November 4, 1999

The U.S. Senate voted 90-8 today to approve S. 900, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which will repeal the Depression-era barriers that separate banking, insurance and securities. Sen. Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking issued the following statement:

"I believe we have passed what will prove to be the most important banking bill in 60 years. It overturns the key provision of the Glass-Steagall act that divided the American financial system."

http://banking.senate.gov/prel99/1104grm.htm

Ayes: 90
Nays: 8
No Vote: 1

Nay CA Boxer, Barbara [D]
Nay NV Bryan, Richard [?]
Nay ND Dorgan, Byron [D]
Nay WI Feingold, Russell [D]
Nay IA Harkin, Thomas [D]
Nay MD Mikulski, Barbara [D]
Nay AL Shelby, Richard [R]
Nay MN Wellstone, Paul [D]

No Vote AZ McCain, John [R]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s1999-354&sort=vote

[GhiaccioPronto]

The Long Demise of Glass-Steagall

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/wallstreet/weill/demise.html

[lornejl]

I was a bit of a downer earlier, but then I found this, if any of you are feeling a bit low, this will lift your spirits...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLQI8X2R6Y

[Jessegirl]

Repubs only care about I*R*AQ...F­a*T Ca*TS...an­d Terr^Y Sc*H*i*avo.

[Chavez08]

That's not true!!!

...they didn't give a sh*t about T*rri Scha*avo.

[Jessegirl]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LHoney]

They don't care about Iraq either.

[WhyYouPDSing]

60,000 confirmed at Pa.lin rally:

"Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!" they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000.

[SanityNowPlease]

confirmed by Tucker Bounds

[PAposter]

Too Little, Too Late.

Smart Americans want a new beginning, not a continuation of Bush's failed philosophies.

It's over for Palin, both on the national level, and the local level. Alaskans have had enough or her too.

[Freedomscap]

The largest rally in Alaska, to date, was an anti Palin rally

[Freedomscap]

Link, please.

[RedSt8r]

http://news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080921/NEWS0107/80921022

[WLA]

100% off-topic.

[deaconblue43]

So it's official..­...the repugs were jealous of Obama and wanted a celebrity of their own. How cute.....t­hey just want to be loved.

[BradPittsburgh]

Even more damaging, in light of today's economic crisis, was the sweeping deregulation of the banking and financial services industries that took place in the 1990s. What makes this enterprise particularly confounding is not only the fact that it took place under a Democratic president with support from a majority of Democrats in Congress, but that it followed so closely on the heels of the savings and loan crisis, which ought to have served as a cautionary tale on the dangers of deregulation in the banking sector.

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/deregulation-economic-crisis-2.html

[SanityNowPlease]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm-Leach-Bliley_Act

you can't hide by distorting the facts

[HypnoToad]

McCain & the GOP ..
How Did your Senator Vote?
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act.

53 Republican Senators plus one Democrat - AYE
44 Democrats no Republicans - NAY

Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly". 100's of bank WILL FAIL the FDIC does not have enough funds to cover the potential losses. of course Uncle Sam will have to add more capital to the bail out. "John McCain voted FOR the bank laws that led to the current credit crisis. John Mccain's economic advisor WROTE the law. 53 Republicans voted YES to the law. When you're in danger of losing your house, can you take a chance on more of the same from those who wrecked out economy?" http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00105

[BradPittsburgh]

Democrats from Carter to Clinton helped roll back the government's regulatory power, but as the economic crisis deepens, "regulation" is no longer such a dir*ty word.

Hart got a Senate building named after him, but his warnings about the thr*eat of unbridled corporate power and consolidation went unheeded. Instead, the rush to deregulation began, first in the transportation sector. Efforts begun under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford came to fruition under Jimmy Carter, who hired deregulation guru Alfred E. Kahn to head the Civil Aeronautics Board, the widely loa*thed agency responsible for regulating the airline industry. Senator Ted Kennedy and his then aide, future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, embraced deregulation as a consumer issue, and with their support, Kahn quickly worked his way out of a job: The 1978 Airline Deregulation Act dissolved the CAB and removed most regulation of commercial airlines. Carter also signed into law bills deregulating the railroads and the trucking industry.

[HypnoToad]

McCain & the GOP ..
How Did your Senator Vote?
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act.

53 Republican Senators plus one Democrat - AYE
44 Democrats no Republicans - NAY

Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly". 100's of bank WILL FAIL the FDIC does not have enough funds to cover the potential losses. of course Uncle Sam will have to add more capital to the bail out. "John McCain voted FOR the bank laws that led to the current credit crisis. John Mccain's economic advisor WROTE the law. 53 Republicans voted YES to the law. When you're in danger of losing your house, can you take a chance on more of the same from those who wrecked out economy?" http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00105

[Freedomscap]

Question: what is Reagonimics?

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.­" - Abraham Lincoln, November 21, 1864

The last honest Republican. EVER!

[BradPittsburgh]

Democrats from Carter to Clinton helped roll back the government's regulatory power, but as the economic crisis deepens, "regulation" is no longer such a dirty word.

Hart got a Senate building named after him, but his warnings about the threat of unbridled corporate power and consolidation went unheeded. Instead, the rush to deregulation began, first in the transportation sector. Efforts begun under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford came to fruition under Jimmy Carter, who hired deregulation guru Alfred E. Kahn to head the Civil Aeronautics Board, the widely loathed agency responsible for regulating the airline industry. Senator Ted Kennedy and his then aide, future Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, embraced deregulation as a consumer issue, and with their support, Kahn quickly worked his way out of a job: The 1978 Airline Deregulation Act dissolved the CAB and removed most regulation of commercial airlines. Carter also signed into law bills deregulating the railroads and the trucking industry.

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/deregulation-economic-crisis.html

[Jessegirl]

Lots of schools around the country are an utter dis*grace.
Mabey they can throw in a few dollars towards A_mericas finer investment- the children.

How many new schools have been built in I*ra*q?

[RedSt8r]

From 7/5/04

The U.S. Department of Education says total spending was actually $9,354 per student in 2001-02. Given the pace of increases in previous years, this year's per-pupil spending undoubtedly approached if not exceeded $10,000.

http://www.parapundit.com/archives/002215.html

The problem with the schools is not a lack of funding.

[OutOfContext]

$2,325 each.

And you can even use your credit card!

[MourningDude]

Hyper-regulation or de-regulation of private companies is debatable. There is a fine line there. But what isn't and never should have been debatable is that the quasi-government entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should have had strong federal oversight, with clearly demarcated limits on investment practices.

Republicans decried the way Fannie and Freddie were allowed to play fast and loose with their investment portfolio for years. The CEO's had a financial incentive to take on risky investments with a higher return in order to drive up their stock prices and bring home large bonuses for themselves.

As an example, Obama supporter Frank Raines was cricitized by government regulators for using such crazy accounting tricks to maximize the bottom line that they were "off the page". In a private company like Enron, this was shocking. For a quasi-government entity like Fannie, it's inexcusable.

Republicans tried to put on the brakes in 2005 and 2006, by laying out a clear line to limit Fannie and Freddie from buying up risky, high yield investments. It was this role of Fannie and Freddie as the buyer of last resort for risky loans that enabled so many bad lender to keep pushing their own limits of propriety. But Dems opposed it on a party line vote, saying that such regulation would "hurt the companies' ability to carry out their mission to increase affordable housing."

Is anyone fooled by Dems' crocodile tears now? No.

[lizr]

Now you are going to blame the De ms for de regulation?

very entertaining li ar s you R eps are.

But not worth taking seriously, sorry.

[Freedomscap]

These folks have an unmitigated gall to not tell the truth regarding anything -- I don't even understand how they have a family life.

[Freedomscap]

OK, that's one. If you want to count Fannie and Freddie as separate entities, OK, that's two.

[ThunderclapNewman]

Unattributed C&P is called plagiarism, MorningDump.

[MourningDude]

I wrote that myself, thanks.

[HypnoToad]

McCain & the GOP ..
How Did your Senator Vote?
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act.

53 Republican Senators plus one Democrat - AYE
44 Democrats no Republicans - NAY

Economist Robert Kuttner has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. Economists Robert Ekelund and Mark Thornton have made similar criticisms, arguing that while "in a world regulated by a gold standard, 100% reserve banking, and no FDIC deposit insurance" the Financial Services Modernization Act would have made "perfect sense" as a legitimate act of deregulation, under the present fiat monetary system it "amounts to corporate welfare for financial institutions and a moral hazard that will make taxpayers pay dearly". 100's of bank WILL FAIL the FDIC does not have enough funds to cover the potential losses. of course Uncle Sam will have to add more capital to the bail out. "John McCain voted FOR the bank laws that led to the current credit crisis. John Mccain's economic advisor WROTE the law. 53 Republicans voted YES to the law. When you're in danger of losing your house, can you take a chance on more of the same from those who wrecked out economy?" http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00105

[Chavez08]

Now that the blame can be squarely placed on both parties, do you still villainize the Dems more even though they are trying to do something, after the collapse, for regular people or do you believe the Republicans are right in bailing out only key corporations?

[PumaAnn]

I sure don't. It's got both party's fingerprints.

I fully agree with Mac. It's cronyism, it is about WA, and it needs to stop.

I'm not sure how much he can really do to turn this around in 4 years. That's all he's got. but I do believe that he knows. He absolutely knows.

And so does Pal.

Same thing in Alaska.

So I do believe their mission. And it's the right one.

How effective?

I'm not sure, but i think that's the ONLY way to go to straighten out this mess.

[OkieMon]

how f*ascists handle your hard-earned tax money.....­want health care? way too expensive.­...want child programs? way too expensive.­...want green energey? way too expansive and will destroy economy...­.money for an oil grab in the middle east? no problem-here's 3 trillion..­..money to bail out corrupt and greedy corporations? no problem-here's 3 trillion..­..anybody other than rich s.o.b.s that vote repub are simply in*sane...­..........­..

[TN]

It's not that they don't care, they just don't get it.

[LHoney]

Are you kidding me????????? THEY DON'T CARE!!!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!! Republicans care about themselves and their rich friends, Democrats care about everyone!

[ThankGodforAtheists]

So, do you bailout the investment bankers that took on too much risk OR do you bailout homebuyers that took on too much risk OR a combination of both OR neither?

If you don't bailout the larger banks we could be headed to a depression because of the shrinking credit market. But at the same time there needs to be a relief value, (refinancings? change in bankruptsy laws?) for homeowners in desparate straights.

Whatever the fix, foreign banks should NOT be included. Does anyone here believe that a foreign government would bailout a US bank if it made bad loans in their country? The country of origin should determine if these banks are worthy of assistance.

[starboymikey]

So, do you bailout the investment bankers that took on too much risk OR do you bailout homebuyers that took on too much risk OR a combination of both OR neither?
__________­__________­__________­__________­__________­_____

These are crucial questions, which is one reason I'm so suspicious of the Bushies trying to railroad this thing through Congress in panic mode. It's just another case of "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Obama's got this one mostly right: at a minimum we need to have total oversight by Congress, a cap on executive bonuses (just for the companies we bail out) and no bailouts of foreign banks with American taxpayer money.

The issue of help for homeowners is crucial, but should probably be part of a different bill, just because it would turn this into a football, with Republicans accusing Democrats of "playing politics with America's future." If you move that part into a separate bill and Republicans try to block it, the onus of not wanting to help ordinary Americans will be on them.

[Jessegirl]

Billions for I>r_aq.
Billions for F_at Cat*s.

But RE#pubs just can't stand the thought of spending some on "real folks".
It's a waste of time for them.

[LHoney]

Ironic since this money belongs to "real folks" who actually pay their taxes!!!!!!!