Obama Attacks McCain’s Response to Crisis on Wall Street

On Bloomberg Television this weekend, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank noted that, as a leader in the Senate Republican caucus, McCain did nothing for years to deliver reform in the face an impending credit crisis:
So here’s the record – 12 years of Republicans, including John McCain being a committee chairman for much of that period. Zero – zero enactment of any reform. Democrats take power, and in a year and a half, we have passed a bill that did everything the administration asked for, in terms of enhancing the regulatory structure.

I can’t believe that the McCain camp has NOTHING here; but then again this is an actual policy issue. Not a lipstick controversy.
Eight years of Republican mistakes have gotten us here, I pray to God this country elects Obama-Biden.
It’s time for Change.

Obama’s speech about regulatory reform last summer was both brilliant and under-reported. Look to see it reprised, although the difficulty of course is that his very effective ideas don’t boil down to a “drill, baby, drill” slogan.
It’s too late for McCain to get on the real reform bandwagon. He’s been obsessed with earmarks, which are basically a BIG NOTHING in the big scheme of things. Like all things McCain, it’s all cosmetic. No wonder he’s obsessed with lipstick…

MSNBC just had a great quote. “Barack Obama is the Democratic Dog Food they’re not buying. They walk up, take a sniff, but leave it in the bowl.”

“pass the buck”?

“Obama was the #2 recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the last 20 years, surpassed only by Dodd, with Kerry and Clinton on his heels.”

thank you Obama
But here’s the thing – this isn’t 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out.
In the midst of hate & personal attacks here & elsewhere you present leadership & solutions.
OBAMA/BIDEN

In 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed 1930′s legislation that had separated commercial and investment banks. Commercial banks, where people deposit their paychecks and do personal banking, have regulation. Investment banks didn’t have that “fettering” as Republicans saw it.
John McCain voted for Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Economist Robert Kuttner (among others) has criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis.[6] 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”

More on McCain’s chief financial adviser
Senator Phil Gramm led the Senate Banking Committee which sponsored the Act; he later joined UBS Warburg, at the time the investment banking arm of the largest Swiss bank.

If only America would actually pay attention to Obama instead of the lies and rumors from the McCain campaign.
Can’t wait to prove to McShame that we are smarter then he believes us to be.

“In front of eight American flags … “

“breaking news” 5 Alaskian lawmakers (republicans)file a lawsuit to stop Palin Investigation.

Please note solid blue state of WA now down to a virtual dead heat with Obama now leading by only 2.

Over this past year
one candidate argued for regulatory reform
one didn’t.
It’s as basic as they come if you can wade through all of this garbage coming from McCain supporters on here.
One candidate’s economic policies, platform and direction and reasoning were written by the man most responsible for the deregulation of the mortgage and energy speculation industries…Phil Gramm.
who in 2007 (yes within this last year) received 750,000 from the banking lobby to continue his long successful fight at not protecting America …for the wealthy and the banks who are now getting a bail out.
sounds just like the war …get us into a situation with no answer to get us out… and then argue the other side is wrong.
scum
throw these bums out.
and don’t listen to all the liars on here that are trying to spin it like it is 2003 and they are Cheney… it is 2008 and they are Mccain.
same team
same tactics
same outcome
9th year.

I watched Obama’s speech on CNN and he was on FIRE and the crowd was roaring!!! It was like the old Obama from the primaries was back or something.
I think this sparring with John McCain over the economy has re-invigorated Obama.
The speech was great and the Obama proposals are much more concrete compared to McCain’s.
Perhaps Obama could indeed win this thing…

Whenever Tucker Bounds or any other McCain surrogate is asked a direct question, they don’t answer it! They just go head long into an anti-Obama tirade.
When will they answer questions directly? How are McCain’s tax cuts to the wealthy going to help the middle class?
I just don’t see McCain as a regulator. Against earmarks, yes. Against deregulation, no. That is a core Republican principle.

According to OpenSecrets.org, Barack Obama was the second largest recipient of political contributions from recently bailed-out, quasi-government lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The first? Senator Chris “VIP Loans” Dodd (Dodd’s buddy Kent “I call the CEO when I want a loan” Conrad rounded out the top 15).
Isn’t it a bit disturbing that the man who could be our next President took tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from one of the biggest boondoggles in the history of American government?
and remember Jamie Gorelic She was in Clintons Cabinet While you r at it go back a rearch and see what memeber stop reulation of fannie mae and fredie mac

DL
dummy,,,, Obama has lobbyists bundling for his campaign that took in over a million last yr… and the fundraisign dinner tonight in hollywood is $28 thousand a plate… try again,…you people are grasping at straws to find somethign to stick to mccain and you cant…Obama never ran against an opponent much less ran against one from another party… still today he sounds disconnected and aloof… hes got to do better than that

again
one candidate has argued for regulatory reform
one has spent 26 years arguing for it…and then hires the leading lobbyist for banking deregulation and the man who may be most responsible for this Phil Gramm (as he was getting paid by the banking lobby 750,000dollars to fight to deragulate this industry so as to open the doors to predatory lwenders…)
Yes…Mccain bares some of the responsibility… his leading economic advisor (you remember the guy that called us all…whiners) was the champion for these companies getting bailed out after they got HUGE bonuses a little over a year ago to buy their second and third homes…off the backs of this deregulation.
when it comes to this economy…who got us here…who has the best chance to get us out…(that actually has a different policy than the one WE ARE ACTUALLY LIVING ugh)
you can’t get more basic
Mccain campaign bad.
Obama Biden good.
basic
throw the bums out…and don’t listen to the liars who are trying everything to spinit like they have for 8 years.

again
one candidate has argued for regulatory reform
one has spent 26 years arguing for what we have… …and then hires the leading lobbyist for banking deregulation and the man who may be most responsible for this Phil Gramm (as he was getting paid by the banking lobby 750,000dollars to fight to deragulate this industry so as to open the doors to predatory lwenders…)
Yes…Mccain bares some of the responsibility… his leading economic advisor (you remember the guy that called us all…whiners) was the champion for these companies getting bailed out after they got HUGE bonuses a little over a year ago to buy their second and third homes…off the backs of this deregulation.
when it comes to this economy…who got us here…who has the best chance to get us out…(that actually has a different policy than the one WE ARE ACTUALLY LIVING ugh)
you can’t get more basic
Mccain campaign bad.
Obama Biden good.
basic
throw the bums out…and don’t listen to the liars who are trying everything to spinit like they have for 8 years.

“According to OpenSecrets.org, Barack Obama was the second largest recipient of political contributions from recently bailed-out, quasi-government lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. ”
Over the course of a 12 year career in politics, Obama has received about $110K in donations from employees of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and he received $4K from Fannie Mae’s PAC ($2K in 2004 & $2K in 2006)
Right wingers LOVE out of context stats, facts and quotes.
Because otherwise they would be stuck telling you the truth.
Which is McCain has NO plan for how to fix this mess but Obama has been talkign about his plan for months.

“Hey Sandy B — there were only 2,184 people there today because that was all the venue would hold. Tickets were gone in a matter of hours on Sun. Many more wanted in, but there wasn’t room. Try spinning something else, why don’t you?”
Another right wing lie NAILED!

very basic
one candidate who has the deregulation millionaires on his team
one candidate who has been giving speeches on how deregulation has to be reformed for a couple of years now…
don’t be fooled by the lies…
this mess is absolutely a direct result of McCain’s economic beliefs, policies and team.
and they are trying (as many on here are trying) to spin it otherwise.
throw these bums out.

John…If you think Obama is dirty, check out some of the McCain ads….

Ryan C
Im not a right winger but Obama will be the one nailed on election day the only hope he has is the debates and we all know how bad he is at them

staniam…typo had to repost…
but you can keep trying to throw a bunch of misinformation and spin up
Mccain was for this deregulation
he has hired the people who gave us and fought for this deregulation
that lobbied for this deregulation and the energy speculators…
one candidate has called for regulatory reform for a few years now.
Mccain proposes nothing new that Bush hasn’t promised or isn’t already implementing for the last 8 years.
how’d the last 8 years work for ya?
right down to the spin, lies, cover ups and manipulation.
throw these bums out.

Wayne W
Mccain didn’t take just contributions
he hired them to write his economic policies and platform.
by change…he must have meant the pen they were using.

“just leave… cease and desist and all you will not change one vote in this election.. Obama is already history… just deal with it!”
Truth hurts.
McCain reacts.
Obama leads.

All you guys can do is bring up all the old stuff about Obama: Muslum, Frank. Ayers,Wright…got anything NEW!!!?

Obama is right on!

Asking McCain to implement regulation is like asking a vegan to cook a steak. It is the antithesis of everything he believes in.
Part of the reason we ran into this mess is because for the last 8 years, the SEC, FDIC and Fed have been asleep at the wheel. This is a Bush Administration problem. He is so anti-regulation that he allowed the SEC to look the other way when banks got less than transparent.
The other part is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act that McCain voted for that allowed commercial banks to get into the investment game. This of course was a very bad idea as all of a sudden, the cornerstones of our financial sector were allowed to get into a very high risk gamble. Gramm wrote McCain’s economic policy for goodness sakes.
Blaming democrats for not implementing regulation is silly. There is *plenty* of regulation on the books. If the Bush Administration’s SEC had actually paid attention, this might have not happened. Had Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act not been passed, this definitely would not have happened.

Molly…you’d better look at Palin before you say Obama is radical…If lies where spine
and she were porcupine she’d have a full load!!!!

Who said it was ever old? Newvoter?
Those issues still persist and are not covered by the media. Is the Obama violating the Logan Act story old? That broke yesterday. And all Jack tapper can talk about is Palin.

best quote of the day:
Eight years of Republican mistakes have gotten us here, I pray to God this country elects Obama-Biden.
It’s time for Change.

Don’t mistake truffles for dog food, although the untrained eye does make that error sometimes. Obama is the best mind in the election, the one who has the most aptitude to lead, the best grasp of policy, the steadiest temperament. You can’t get better. The country faces hard days ahead if our economy, our education, and our energy problems are botched. So choose carefully. You wouldn’t want the surgeon that mangled your surgery last time to do more surgery, and you wouldn’t want a surgeon who didn’t do well in school and has worked long but is out of date.
We need and deserve the finest, or we’ll be a poorer and second rate nation. Fortunately, Obama is the very best. Nothing but the best for America.

“28K for a dinner for Obama with that big nose girl? who is out of touch now?? that is more than some people’s salary for a year.”
Yeah I mean last week McCain had Stephen Baldwin at his Hollywood shindig.
STEPHEN BALDWIN!

Yes, of course everyone in the financial world knows how we got here.
Only John McCain doesn’t understand, because McCain doesn’t do economics or finance, he just gazes at his navel while his lobbyist advisors give him the company line.
And McCain obviously has no clue what to do. He obviously has never heard of Credit Default Swaps that brought down Lehman and threaten AIG. McCain’s economic advisor Phil Gramm helped write the bill that deregulated the financial industry and turned Credit Default Swaps into what Warren Buffet has called one of the “financial weapons of mass destruction”. These swaps grew from $900 billion in 2001 to what now is a $50 trillion shadow waiting to collapse on the global financial world. For you numbers people, $50 trillion is 2 times the value of all the listed companies on all U.S. stock markets. Hence this is not a small problem, and something a hockey mom is not likely to be familiar with. If Carly Fiorina says Palin isn’t qualified to run HP, I’ll take her word for it. She certainly isn’t qualified to reform or run our economy.
Of course the Republicans dont want to talk much about this because it was the Republicans controlling Congress from 1994 to 2006 that deregulated the banking and finance industries to the extent that the finance companies ran wild under lax Republican regulation, sprouting the Collateralized Debt Obligations that began defaulting in early 2007 and continue till this day, decimating the mortgage/banking industry.
And now this month the CDO contagion has spread to Credit Default Swaps which, thanks to Phil Gramm’s bill from the Republican controlled congress deregulated the walls separating insurance/banking/securities markets. So now the securities brokerages and insurance companies get drawn into the cesspool of Republican regulatory mismanagement (and banks get whacked again).
So, all you GOP lawmakers – and especially Phil Gramm – please stand up and take a bow for destabilizing the global financial world. Heckuva job!
So what is McCain’s big idea for us to do? He calls for the Washington DC stock answer “LETS FORM A COMMISSION” – talk about naive!
Thanks, but no thanks John McCain!

We’re partying like it’s 1929. Wall Street near collapse ….record jobs loses, and it’s just a slow down. I don’t mean tolaugh but HAAAAAAAAAAAA

Leave it to Obama, all he does is play on people’s emotions. How he thinks taxing the economy more will fix things is beyond me!!!!

Concerned IL
thank you… DL and BHrandon are troublemker left wing anti white extemists that need to be dealt with,, not to mention that the undecideds and the workign class people havealready shifted towards mccain.. we dont have room in this country for black liberation theology black panthers etc etc just go to liberia or somethign you are that insignificant!

Sarah Palin is “just the an average American” Really….I quess lying about everything is the new norm.

“Mccain is not bushes 3rd term.. hes already conviced the country that he isnt”
From Sept 8th poll that had McCain with a big lead over Obama.
But here’s one fact from the poll that might give McCain some pause — the Bush number is largely unchanged.
In this poll, 63% of voters expressed concern that that McCain would pursue policies that are too similar to what George W. Bush has pursued. In the previous survey, conducted from Aug. 30-31, 64% expressed that concern; in the Aug. 21-23 survey, 66% said so.

Dl
Im not at the library and frankly it is against the law to copy and paste from a poltical site directly on to a news site trying to make somethign news…looks like you need an FCC investigation of your own…

Ryan C
no I came up with that myself because you are annoying and it illegal to post Obama propaganda on a news site period!

Alphabet City? Sorry I don’t watch Sesame Street anymore.

staniam
I haven’t copied a single thing that I didn’t write myself.
duh
see the smart guys are on this side.
but thanks if you think what I write is so smart that an every day “comment” must be copied and pasted.

Linda it is a Prince Song you southern tailor trash germweed

stabniam
seriously
all my own thoughts
even the catchy little
same team
same tactics
same outcome
9th year.
all me.
smart people understand that Mccain hires the guy who lobbied for this mess…to write his economic policy
he hired the guy who was the president of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq…to be his Sr. Forweign Policy advisor…the guy who lobbied for us to go into the war.
he hired the guy who wrote the enron loophole.
and the list goes on
smart people realize if he hired all these people to run his campaign and our country…
this road is going to get worse…not better.

DL
youre lying and you know it and we know it because you arent that smart!

RyanC
Im not a right winger and I am not using someone elses screen name to post unlike you! I dont need to do that … you are just wrong and need to leave before you are humiliated!

funny staniam is the best and the brightest…lol …no fact just insults
and no staniam
again we don’t have to copy and paste because we actually know the issues…well
but I gotta go
even though it’s been kind of like watching a fish flop around on a dry dock as you spin…facts on who did what and what their policies are…
if you start using those…in your comments
well then you probably would become an Obama supporter.

If Obama loses this election it won’t be a reflection on the democrates.We will have fought hard for our beliefs and our commitment to a better America.This election will be a reflection of what America really stands for and apparently we will have got it wrong. Ater 8 years of lies, 4.000 dead Americans, an economy in the toilet,an insane foreign policy. Well who’d of thought Americans would like being beaten down day after day.

Can’t blame Obama for hitting McCain on his weakest issue and after such a blatant gaffe as JMac made yesterday. Obama’s campaign is bound to hit on a strategy that undercuts Palin’s celebrity.

Hey Obama – if history taught us anything The governemnt needs to step aside and let the economy grow.
Stop the mandates on Companies, stop the pushing of them oversea dems with your mandates
The President has no control over the economy except for one thing which you Obama are against that is lower taxes as needed!!
Obama your buddy Barney Frank and Pelosi have started this slow down!!

Obama and his Lib cronies create problems – McCain anf the Republicans solve the problems.
Hedge funds started and ran by Liberal Finacier George Soros

Concerned
yea I have been dealing with Ryanc and DL since Hillary thoroughly trashed Obama in the PA debate… Obama sounded apathetic even today in his stump speech… he even messed up some words readign the teleprompter! perish the thought.. these people are scared… I havent made my decision yet but these small minded creeps arent going to influence me! they got away with the De, Rules and bylaws savign them in the primaries but in the GE that doesnt apply the constition does and we expect better from a constitutional law professor

How many people attended the Sara Palin rally the day before?

I didn’t see anything NEW in Obama’s plan.
He is just a blatant opportunist.

The President has no control over the economy? You are kidding right?
The President is the head of the Executive branch of the US Federal Government. That includes such wonderful departments as the Securities and Exchange Commission (the guys who are supposed to regulate), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the guys who were supposed to be watching for questionable banking activity) and the Federal Reserve (the guys who can directly control interest rates).
The President has *immense* power when regards to the economy.

Stanium: Worried about the draft? The war is a non-issue? What dream world do you live in. Tell that to the families who have troops over in Iraq and Afghanistan. I lived through the Vietnam war…another foreign policy nightmare.

Why does anyone care what the McCain camp’s response is? I swear, it’s like a Mad-Lib. Totally predictable. I could code up a McCain Response Generator in 20 minutes.

That idiot McBush couldnt find his way out of a soaking wet paper bag much less solve ANY crisis the sheeple are facing. Anyone with a single ounce of common sense KNOWS this so why peopel are still back McBush is beyond me!
Jiff

geevil
yep.. it is a fac that Obama tried to tell Leahman brothers what they should do last year because he had a vested interest in it seeing that they worked on his campaign…..I guess that the seemingly Obamabots on here today are just depressed stock brokers who got too greedy!

geevill, I’m pretty sure that the fact that McCain actually voted for the bill that caused this mess, had the author of the bill that caused this mess write his economic platform and has the same principals of deregulation that the Bush Administration does is a larger smoking gun.
The fact is there is *plenty* of regulation on the books. The Bush Administration failed to actually *execute* the laws. The SEC, under Bush, totally dropped the ball.
McCain holds the *exact* same view of regulation that Bush does. He can’t be trusted to fix this problem. That’s like asking a vegetarian to cook a steak.

johntx
but Obama and mccain hold the exact same views on the lehman brothers investment banking thing

It’s been asked of all the erudite Obama supporters, but still no answer. For all this talk about deregulation, what specific regulation was removed that caused the current Wall Street problems? What specific regulation should have been imposed to prevent it? And, what would the pro/con analysis be to doing so? Bad regulation doesn’t help either — Obama doesn’t offer specifics because he knows you have to pull people with various perspectives together to fully understand cause/effect and consequences of changes. (Hmm, maybe a committee, or a commission would help).

staniam, really? Because the Financial Times seems to think differently.
Obama has called for increased regulation and actually executing the laws we have. McCain has complained about golden parachutes which have absolutely nothing to do with this crisis.

johntx
a well known wall st journal reporter said they were one and the same plans

Obama leaves out of course that McCain is right. 100% Correct. 95% of working Americans are employed, 90% of Americans pay their mortgatges on time, and GDP is solid. Banks and the economy are not the same thing, neither is the Dow Jones and the economy the same thing. McCain is right. The fundamentals of the economy are sound. One could argue that getting rid of institutions that leant money for nothing, on nothing, to people who could pay nothing is a good thing for the US economy.

“Obama has called for increased regulation and actually executing the laws we have. McCain has complained about golden parachutes which have absolutely nothing to do with this crisis.”?
ABC News’ Lisa Chinn and Jennifer Parker report: Republican ticket mates John McCain and Sarah Palin Monday blasted corporate executives who leave their company with a “golden parachute” and pledged to “stop multimillion dollar payouts” to CEOs, seeming to forget their own top economic adviser Carly Fiorina walked away with $45 million, including a $21.4 million severance package when she was dismissed by Hewlett Packard in 2005.

What has the Rep’s been saying all the time in the past 25 years. To many over sights on Business (bad for business). Well what has the American people gotten for the Rep ideology of NO over sight. Food, Water and Toys being poisoned. Bridges falling down and killing people. Now we have a Global falling economy.
Rep’s need to take accountable for the mess they have made. McCain know this, why do you think he changed it to help the people. But lets look at his voting record, not one Bill that he wrote or supported helps the middle class. But his recond shows that he sure does love Big business and people with money. Rep party, big Business and lobbyists go hand and hand and it isn’t for the middle class people.

“The President has no control over the economy? You are kidding right?
The President is the head of the Executive branch of the US Federal Government. That includes such wonderful departments as the Securities and Exchange Commission (the guys who are supposed to regulate), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the guys who were supposed to be watching for questionable banking activity) and the Federal Reserve (the guys who can directly control interest rates).”
The President has *immense* power when regards to the economy.
——————————
Sorry, John. The Federal Reserve is an INDEPENDENT entity, with no reporting relationship to the Predsident or anyone else.
It’s OK. Nobama probably also thinks the Federal Reserve reports to the POTUS.

Jake,
Here is something that will go very well into your post “Cracking the Palin code”. She claimed that Alaska supplies 20% of the US domestic oil and gas. The story got 4 Pinocchio on WashPost, but like the Bridge to Nowhere, she is still pedaling it. A pattern seems to be emerging indeed.

“The Federal Reserve is an INDEPENDENT entity, with no reporting relationship to the Predsident or anyone else.”
The President appoints the board hence the President has a direct influence over that board.

tjp8, the Federal Reserve Board chairman is appointed by the President of the United States.

And actually, I will say that the Fed has been doing a reasonable job.
The SEC on the other hand has been doing a miserable job.
This financial crisis on Wall Street has as much to do with Bush’s anti-regulation policies as it has to do with the bill that allowed Commercial Banks to get into the investment world – a bill McCain supported and authored by the guy who wrote McCain’s economic policy.

TJP
Obama really isnt control of his machine. Chris Matthews just asked “where is Obamas passion?” which is the truth the guy acts liek his fate is independant over everyone else… put that in your pot pipe and smoke it DL!

McCain says the fundamentals of the economy are the American worker.
By that measure, the fundamentals of the economy were strong during the Great Depression.
Seriously. This guy does *not* understand economics. Palin got a D in macroeconomics, so we’ve got no help there. McCain’s advisers wrote the bill that caused the financial crisis.
Even Greenspan, a McCain supporter, says McCain’s economic plan isn’t sensible.

Concerned
yea Obama became a US senator soley to run for president! People can say that he has accomplishments in the senate but its not without help

This election has brought out the absolute worst in this country. To some McCain and Palin can do no wrong even though the evidence says otherwise. This country, founded over 200 years ago only afforded black Americans the right to vote when Obama was 4 years old (1965). That is paramount in understanding what this campaign is faced with.

Obama: He is good at running for offices other than the one he just won. Ask Illinois. They are used to it.

Obama’s plan for EVERYTHING is more spending.
Does anyone take this guy seriously any more????

I’ve noticed a parallel in the last two weeks to earlier in the Democratic primaries when, after Obama blew in as a “surprise” candidate, Hillary Clinton started to gain momentum again – she would look to issues, he would look to her and attack in any way he could. Now, Hillary’s gone so he’s after McCain and Palin. Instead of offering solutions of how he could try to bring people together, he grows more divisive by the day – it’s ALL the Republicans’ fault (let’s just ignore the fact the Democrats have had control of Congress for two years), if you disagree with him or question him, you just don’t want a black man for president, he’s the only REAL change candidate. Give me a break. This man will attack, intimidate, lie and do anything else he can (look at how he’s blamed his own staff for his “mistakes” over and over again) so he can become president. He doesn’t care about us; he cares about him. If you choose to vote for him and he is elected, let’s just see how long he is grateful for your support – and God help those of us who didn’t support him.

According to a new survey of 523 economists who are U.S. citizens and members of the American Economic Association, 66% support Obama, 28% support McCain and 6% want someone else.

I don’t have a lot of time to write this because I’ve been spending all of my time looking for a job the last four months and am still somewhat desperately trying to do so. My eleven year old daughter depends on it. I’m not one of the people who are even counted in the 600,000+ people who’ve lost their jobs in the last nine months in this country as I am a consultant…a profession I took up after I was laid off after 23 years at the sam e company. I didn’t withstand the last round of downsizing. I will tell you that jobs are very hard to come by, even in the Information Technology profession right now, especially if you are a female over a certain age. But I will persevere. I don’t believe in ceilings either.
In the meantime, given that I am spending less time in an office right now, I’ve spent more time observing radio, TV, and the internet. I am incredulous that Americans are falling once again for being manipulated by emotional pleas rather than going by the facts in choosing someone to sit in the Oval Office.
Yesterday, as my 401k fell another few percentage points to hit a 20% drop in the last year, I heard John McCain say the the American economy is basically sound. John McCain and his super-wealthy friends and lobbyist advisors may think the economy is sound, but the proof is not out there for most Americans. Does Mr. McCain think we are going to continue to buy whatever he tells us as the truth? We have gone down that road twice with Republican ads and manipulations during the last eight years. I hope that we have learned something.
Even my 84-year-old mother who has never voted for a Democrat ever in her life is going to vote for Barack Obama. She started to be swayed by McCain’s choie of Sarah Palin until she found out how thin Ms. Palin’s qualifications were and how much she twisted the truth. The Republican Party has become seriously out of touch given the take-over by people in major corporations who just want more and more and more money for their pockets…”

Ryan,
Is that all you got?

I got plenty tjp
The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil.
“A regulatory structure set up for banks in the 1930s needed to change because the nature of business had changed,” the Illinois senator running for president said in a New York economic speech. “But by the time [it] was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework.”
Gramm’s role in the swift and dramatic recent restructuring of the nation’s investment houses and practices didn’t stop there.
A year after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed the old regulations, Swiss Bank UBS gobbled up brokerage house Paine Weber. Two years later, Gramm settled in as a vice chairman of UBS’s new investment banking arm.
Later, he became a major player in its government affairs operation. According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006.
During those years, the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages.
For his work, Gramm and two other lobbyists collected $750,000 in fees from UBS’s American subsidiary. In the past year, UBS has written down more than $18 billion in exposure to subprime loans and other risky securities and is considering cutting as many as 8,000 jobs.

tjb8, the DOW was up today because they believe AIG is going to receive a bailout by “big government”.
Maybe you should consider altering your statement.

Let’s face the facts here. Deregulation caused this mess. The Republican’s platform is based on deregulation. John McCain has said over and over over the past 26 years that he is against regulation.
And you want to put this person in charge of implementing regulation that is so obviously necessary to keep financial companies from committing wholesale fraud?

Ryan,
Hmm…I think you can do better.
Point #1: Barack Obama makes alot of “claims”
Point #2: While you are fixated on Phil Gramm (I suppose he was the focus of talking points you received in today’s Obama-Gram (nice pun!) – Nice break from Sarah Palin obsession), it is still not clear to me how Gramm is to blame for Freddie Mac, Freddie Mae, Lehman, 400+ slide in market, etc. Are you telling me that Gramm is responsible for allowing people with poor judgement to enter into mortgages which they could not pay? Is he accountable for their bad decisions? If so, then we perhaps we can begin a dialogue.

After a see-saw session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 11,059.02) caught a late-day boost from Bloomberg’s afternoon report that the Federal Reserve may offer a loan package to AIG. The Dow added 142 points, or 1.3%, and reclaimed the 11,000 level in the process.

“Palin said in one of her latest stump speeches that corporate CEO pay was too high.
So no taxes but there will be mandated levels on pay? How is that capitalist?”
Its not. An income cap is communist.
That’s what happens when you try to appeal to an audience using emotional buttons vs knowing what you are talking about.

The whole CEO pay thing is an easy target.Odd that Republicans of all people should focus on it.
CEO pay reflects how difficult it is to find a good CEO. They just aren’t that common and it costs a fortune to find them and hire them.
No one is going to cap pay on CEOs. No one is going to limit the ability for CEOs to negotiate golden parachutes. That’s insane. You’re talking about limiting employment contracts for private companies for goodness sakes.

CARLY FIORINA (McCain economic advisor)
“I don’t think John McCain can run a major corporation.”
If McCain’s own economic advisor doesn’t have faith in him should the American people?
Vote OBAMA.

“And in the midst of a financial crisis when he calls mcCain out of touch–BO’s friends fork over $28,000 each just to spend time with The One.”
McCain just held a $70K a plate dinner in Hollywood with the STEPHEN BALDWIN!
“Guess they will be laughing at us poor bitter small town hicks.”
The McCain campaign sure is. Every time you gullibly accept their lies.

Austan Goolsbee (Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business) is Obama’s economic adviser.
I don’t think Frank Raines works for Obama and trying to tie Obama to Fannie Mae seems like a smear.

I will say that McCain understands technology though – he did invent the Blackberry after all.

One would think that John McCain’s years as a POW would have psychologically damaged him. However, looking at this campaign it would appear that his loss to George W. Bush in 2000 is what REALLY sent him over the edge. Poor John, after he loses this campaign he is going to become just another old bitter man rocking on his 5/7/10/? front porches.

JohnTX,
Remember Jim Johnson? He was originally part of Obama’s VP search team. He was ex-Fannie exec who walked off with millions. Frank Raines is a contributor and advisor to The One.
Ryan,
I did not know Gramm had such authority back when he was in Congress. Apparently he was very powerful.
Krista,
My mistake for calling Obama a socialist. He just believes that income re-distribution is “neighborly” (as stated in interview with Bill O’Reilly)

Why do Republicans keep referring to Obama as The Messiah and The One? Don’t you realize that’s blasphemy?

Senaters Dodd and Obama were the recepients of the largest campaign contributions from “Fannie and Freddie”. I quess that explains Frank Raines position as advisor to the Obama campaign. They were graced as the two largest recepients of contributions from Lehman Brothers. Now maybe I am being cynical but I agree that there needs to be an investigation into the dealings between Wall Street and congress. I’m sure none of the network news orgs will look into these ties or report them, but at least you brought it up jpt.

To BHO’s 6-point economic plan (he really memorized them well!), I say “Duh?!” These are all elementary! But just wondering how he is going to pay for Health care, etc. “Read my lips: No new taxes” sound familiar? He is the most tax and spend Liberal there is! Or is he a liar afterall! lol!

johnTX, Don’t you remember “THE day when the seas began to recede and earth began to heal”?
How about “when a light would shine from the heavens and a voice would call out to you to vote Obama?”
How about when HE said he would bring God’s kingdom here to earth?

John McCain invented the Blackberry.
I wonder why he isn’t running on that platform.

“But just wondering how he is going to pay for Health care, etc.”
Through a variety of cost saving measures such as record modernization(a few things McCain supports as well) coupled with revenue from tax increases on the wealthy and us no longer fighting in Iraq.
Plan has a projected cost of $60B a year.

Ryan, Frank Raines walked away with OVER 100 MILLION DOLLARS. With that much money I could imagine a person who improves his golf game and has people calling him to be “friend”.
Wasn’t he APPOINTED by Clinton to head Fannie Mae?

Is it Possible:
WE ARE FACING A TRICKLE UP AFFECT.
NO MIDDLE CLASS MONEY, NO UPPER CLASS WEALTH
NO JOBS FOR THE BOTTOM OF THE ECONOMY WILL NOT SUPPORT THE TOP OF THE ECONOMY
TRICKLE UP AFFECT is real
TRICLE DOWN AFFECT FAILED.

FROM REAGAN TO BUSH I AND BUSH II
TRICKLE DOWN AFFECT DOES NOT WORK:
LOBBY THAT.
FOOLS ON WALLSTREET

Ryan,
You and “The One” have some things in common – I can see why you are such an ardent supporter:
- Both of you believe “right-wingers” and Republicans “lie” (let’s not let facts get in the way)
- Both of you agree the Republicans are responsible for everything that is “wrong”
Granted, I’ll admit that McCain-Palin ticket have not always been above board in stating “the truth”, but I don’t always blindly believe that anything a Democrat (or even The One) is a lie.
John, referring to Barack as “The One” is not blasphemous (I did not refer to him as “The Messiah”). But he (Obama) does give the appearance within some speeches that he is seeking to be a “savior” for us and he is uniquely qualify to lead us from the “famine and pestilence” picture he likes to paint of America.

Johntx,
Wow! So you will be dancing in the street should BHO raise your taxes! Way to go, John – I guess you are another tax and spend Liberal! Spoken like a true elitist who has lotsa money!

Beckie, I wouldn’t mind my taxes going back to what they were during the Clinton-era. I am far more worried about finding employees because our education system is so poor and our colleges are full of foreigners who are going back to their own countries rather than staying here.
I have the long term view. We go in cycles. We tax for 8 years and then we get a Republican in and drop taxes and eventually we get another democrat in and we raise taxes.
Taking a hit on my own checkbook for the next 8 years is nothing compared to taking a hit for the next 16 years because our economy goes into the tank.
Am I a tax and spend liberal? I personally prefer taxing and spending to not taxing and still spending. Even Greenspan says that McCain’s economic plan doesn’t hold water.

johnTX , Please note that while Bush cut the tax rates, the amount of revenue this generated was 20% higher than under Clinton’s best year.
The Bush tax cuts also eliminated the poorest 10 million people from having to pay any tax.
Therefore eliminating the Bush tax cuts would mean you want to increase taxes on our poorest people.

And just so you guys know, Obama would raise my taxes. I am part of the 5% that he would raise taxes on.
And you know what? The only people in my bracket who complain about tax increases are ones who are overextended, hold a short term view of the economy and/or are greedy.
I worry about finding educated employees. If an extra $50,000 from me can bring me just a few more educated employees, then I’m more than willing to pay it. If it means the price for healthcare for employees goes down, then by all means take my money (do you have any idea how much healthcare costs a company?).
I’m a fiscal conservative. I have a hard time voting for a Democrat, but McCain’s economic platform is disastrous. The man simply does not understand economics. Not only that, but the Republicans have taken the idea of deregulation, which I support for many things, to such an extreme that it has become an ideology. Deregulating telecom? Awesome. Deregulating banks? Are you freaking kidding me?
The GOP likes to pretend that taxes kill jobs. The truth is that California, which has some of the highest taxes in the nation, is also the powerhouse of our nation. The same is true of New York. Excess taxes are a problem, but Obama is not talking about some radical tax plan. His tax increases basically bring us back to Clinton-era levels.
Obama/Biden ’08

Davei n lv, of course the economy is not a zero sum game. We all create value. And of course government handouts aren’t the be all and end all.
However, the idea that government never creates value is ridiculous. Government grants have created or helped create most of our major industries. Without our education system, we’d be a third world nation. So don’t imply that the government can only hurt the economy. It just isn’t true.

That’s right JohnTX. And the bottom-up approach that Obama favors actually helps small and local businesses because it helps people like me (middle class, hardworking, family, mom) spend money at local businesses. Under the current system, I can’t afford to spend on anything. And ABC keeps censoring my reference to the NY times article by Bob Herbert. But people NEED to look it up and really see what this means to the average family – hardworking family and not one that relies on handouts). McCain’s tax plan will send millions onto the uninsured rolls. Beckie, do you get employer paid benefits – do you even know how much more in taxes you will be paying? Do you have a family that depends on that? I do. I know what those benefits cost and I know the taxes on it will bury me. The credit McCain proposes ($5000 per family for insurance – are you KIDDING ME?) won’t go an inch to providing that to my family. So, maybe I’ll take the family to Ireland (my husband is from there so we can get European citizenship) and actually survive. And people like JohnTX will lose more qualified workers

NEWS FLASH:
AMERICAN TAXPAYERS WILL BAIL OUT AIG:
TRICKLE UP AFFECT:
85 BILLION TO AIG, PAID WITH AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS.
WHEN WILL THE TRICKLE DOWN AFFECT GET TO WORKING PEOPLE.
ASK THE REPUBLICANS.
TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH
IF A PLANT HAD A SYSTEM THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW WATER TO GET TO ITS ROOTS, IT WOULD DIE

“Please note that while Bush cut the tax rates, the amount of revenue this generated was 20% higher than under Clinton’s best year.”
Yes if you don’t count for inflation and a declining value of the dollar. If you do, we just hit 2000′s revenue level in 2007.
“The Bush tax cuts also eliminated the poorest 10 million people from having to pay any tax.
Therefore eliminating the Bush tax cuts would mean you want to increase taxes on our poorest people.”
Except the only Bush Tax cut Obama is for repealing in the one for the highest income tax bracket.

“So, how many of the “working class” folk Obama purports to represent can afford $28.50 for dinner, let alone $28,500?”
Hmmmm what did McCain do last night when the Dow dropped 500 points….
McCain plans to end the day at a private fundraiser at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami. Donors will pay as much as $50,000 to have dinner with the Arizona senator.

The United States House Committee on Financial Services (or House Banking Committee) oversees the entire financial services industry, including the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries. The Committee also oversees the work of the Federal Reserve, the United States Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other financial services regulators. It is chaired by Barney Frank (D-MA).

McCain economics = Phil Gramm economics
The fundamentals of the economy are
strong.
There is no crisis on Wall Street.
We are not in an economic downturn.
It is all in your hesd.
The economy is not in a depression.
We are in a “mental depression”.
SOLUTION:
Stop being a nation of whiners.

Just because Obama wants to increase taxes on the wealthy and give the middle and lower income a cut and some credits does NOT make a socialist government. Nor will the US become a socialist country.
For now, so that the plenty of people who are losing their houses or struggling to pay their bills, the tax returns they get are a lifeline to allow them to crawl out of the huge hole the disastrous economic policies of Bush and overspending on the Iraq war that is now going into the trillions dug them into.
Once the economy stabilises, of course then policies can be readjusted. A socialist country means having the state own all the companies and whatnot. I don’t see that happening.

Obama is attemptint to recreat history. This whole mess is the result of the deregluation in the Clinton Administration which and the subprime loan market. Democrates pressured banks to make loan completely devoid of sound lending practices. After these risky loans were made, they sold them in the secondary market. Democrates blocked legislation proposed by John McCain in 2005. John McCain said
If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
– John McCain, May 25, 2006
Obama failed to see there was a problem so who is out of touch!!!

McCain now wants more regulations on the market. The Double Talk Express keeps lurching down the road.
In 1999, McCain supported the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which removed the walls between banking, investment and insurance companies that were established after the Great Depression.
In March of this year, he told the Wall Street Journal, “I’m always for less regulation. I’d like to see a lot of the unnecessary government regulations elminated.”
In the wake of Enron’s collapse, he voted for Sarbanes-Oxley but in 2007, he said that he “regretted his vote.”
Is this man capable of sustaining a consistent position on anything but warmongering? He regularly seems to assume that Americans will just lap up whatever he says at the moment.