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Wall Street Delivers
Sometimes, the fates deliver.
This past weekend, they delivered a worsening of America's financial crisis, which is the direct result of rightwing economic policies of deregulating Wall Street. Some Democrats colluded in these policies, but their essence was Republican ideology. Under George W. Bush, misguided theories of deregulation were entangled with corruption and incompetence in enforcing the scant regulation that remained. The result was subprime and its spawn.
This weekend, Bush's Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, ran out of tricks. He belatedly grasped that even the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury can't socialize all of Wall Street's losses. No bailout for Lehman Brothers, the administration declared, in a high-stakes game of chicken. And nobody stepped forward to buy the venerable firm absent a government guarantee.
It remains to be seen whether these chickens will come home to roost politically. That, of course, is up to Barack Obama.
This morning, he was pretty decent on Good Morning America. His hosts wanted to talk mainly about Sarah Palin and negative advertising, but Obama managed to say that "[w]e are in a very serious time right now," citing Wall Street and the deepening housing crash, and adding, "if you agree with what's happened over the last eight years"--meaning McCain and Palin--"it's pretty hard to represent yourself as an agent of change." He further declared, "you would be hard pressed to explain to me what John McCain's economic vision is about how he's going to get the economy on track."
Not bad, but what's the aversion to connecting the Wall Street meltdown and the Main Street fallout directly to Republican ideology? Incredibly, the campaign sent the press an email this morning containing the line, as a direct quote from Obama:
"Eight years of policies that have shredded consumer protections, loosened oversight and regulation, and encouraged outsized bonuses to CEOs while ignoring middle-class Americans have brought us to the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for these problems, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to."
Dear me, you don't fault Senator McCain? You're running against the man. He voted for these policies. He would continue them as president.
How many more gifts from the gods does the Obama campaign need?
Robert Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, has just published Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency (Chelsea Green). He is blogging daily about the election and the economic crisis at www.obamaschallenge.com.
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Well we don't know all of the names of the 21st Century Robber Barons, but will within the next few years.
Vote McCain let the Robber Barons continue, and history repeats it's self.
Vote Obama and get a chance to right the boat, and even the field, just a bit.
Under George W. Bush, misguided theories abounded.
In every area of governance.
public safety
infrastructure
education
foreign policy
economics
science
ecology
health care
And the list goes on......................
The sad thing is deregulation advanced during the Reagan, Clinton, and Bush administrations.
Perhaps part of Obama's obsequiousness is that he has accepted establishment politics and establishment rules. His whole campaign is predicated on making himself so milquetoast, so vanilla, and so acceptable to the powers that be, that they can trust him with their continued rule while he appears invisible to the American public. As opposed to this anti-populism, McCain and Palin have played up their reform and maverick images, where the Republicans have become the populist party. It's an incredible twist, but one Democrats should be familiar with at it has happened in so many elections.
I understand his comments about not blaming the man but blaming his policies. I think it was a very civil way of saying "I'm not questioning your honor (because he is a POW) but I will question your judgment. He has to be careful not to attack his honor because of his POW status but he needs to plainly explain how his judgment is flawed.
I think it was an excellent of doing it.
the "chickens have come home to roost" and couldn't have picked a better time.
This morning, he was pretty decent on Good Morning America. His hosts wanted to talk mainly about Sarah Palin and negative advertising, but Obama managed to say that "[w]e are in a very serious time right now,"
Smart move O.
"Not bad, but what's the aversion to connecting the Wall Street meltdown and the Main Street fallout directly to Republican ideology?"
Because it's also been Democratic Party ideology for a long time.
"...Ronald Reagan led a movement that came to power in 1980 proclaiming faith in free markets and mistrust of government. That conservative philosophy has dominated America for the past 28 years.
Even after taxpayers had to rescue deregulated savings and loans, or S&Ls, with a $200 billion bailout in the late 1980s, the push to loosen regulation paused only briefly.
In 1999, President Clinton signed the Financial Services Modernization Act, which tore down Glass-Steagall's reforms by removing the walls separating banks, securities firms and insurers."
more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/52559.html
Yes, it's mutually owned by both parties at this point.
All I know is that when dems are in office, I have money, when pubbies are, I don't
Congress shares in this mess by virtue of programs and pressures to raise home ownership rates among people who, just a few years ago, would have been sent to credit counseling and/or told to come back later when they were in a position to assume the financial burdens of home ownership ... taxes, insurance, maintenance, and employment disruptions.
As often happens in politics, good intentions can bring unintended consequences --- and I also blame the lenders for being too "creative" in advancing this idea (because it helped them look good short term), and the regulators for not being on alert and blowing the whistle, and the executive branch for not letting them do that job in spite of what Congress was doing to pour gasoline on the fire.
Can we please look candidly at the various contributing factors at work here? Or is it sufficient to assume that if Bush had not been in the White House we'd still be basking in the sunlight behind our respective picket fences, grilling our burgers, and watching our 401k plans move steadily along?
I come to this point by virtue of having a number of real estate investments myself, by knowing a healthy handful of real estate agents who were aghast at the erosion of lending standards, and a couple of mortgage brokers to boot. (Some of the above are seriously in a career transition now).
What nobody seems to understand is NOTHING WILL CHANGE.
The guys that caused this have already banked millions, or billions.
The companies will fail and disappear, but the only losers will be the customers and the investors.
The "executives" that commanded (demanded) huge salaries and bonuses for their expertise will just pop up in other companies.
I just saw that a former Ford exec was hired to be the new CEO of some company. What were they thinking?
For the platinum Rolex set, nothing changes but the name on the paycheck.
Will there a meeting in the public square about the condition in this country.
i am pretty angry right now.
You bring the tar, I'll bring the feathers, somebody bring the rail.
How can we all just sit back and do nothing. we need to go out there and let our voice be heard.
we need to stand up for our family and our country.
Let us tell the truth, Some Americans would rather see the USA economy ca-lapse rather than voting for a Black man. That is a Crime against America. The polls are what they are because of small minded Americans who cant see how the world has change.
My wife told me for McCain to have Sarah Palin for VP is unethical.
To americans, let McBush win the election and you will see what it is like to live in Haiti. you have no idea.
you will see if religion or race will put food on the table. common sense tells only the best one who can see a new direction for America.
Ignorance is a Sin
The economy is in shambles -- and McCain is clueless about economics. Obama should now use some of Romney's primary speeches pointing out McCain's weaknesses in economics.
"Our economy remains sound. Our problem is that investment bankers are whiners."
Phil Gramm,
Secret economic advisor to John "Country First" McCain
The crisis on Wall Street is the culmination of eight years of Republican mismanagement of the economy. Obama can now make the economy the focus of his campaign against four more years of Republicans. He is in a much stronger position here than McCain.
What can McCain say: "We Republicans caused this catastrophe. Therefore vote Republican" -- that would not get him many votes.
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