Cheney: Don’t Blame Us!

I think Cheney’s comments are supported by the historical record. It’s a fact that the Bush WH tried to reform Fannie and Freddie, and was blocked by Congress, largely by the Dems.
You could argue whether Bush was culpable in other ways, though. The worldwide nature of the crisis could be tied to America’s strength in the global economy. And you could also argue that Bush oversaw a monetary policy that many believe contributed to the housing bubble, though Greenspan denies that. Of course, you could also say that Greenspan bailed out when he saw the stormclouds on the horizon, and is now engaged in protecting his legacy.

Obviously, the Bush/Cheney admin never understood the concept of “the buck stops here”. They were at the helm when the collapse occurred; they controlled congress for six years and could have introduced control/oversight had they chosen to do so

No one in government admits wrongdoing or mistakes. Cheney’s arrogance is unparalleled so this shouldn’t shock anyone.

Obviously, the Bush/Cheney admin never understood the concept of “the buck stops here”. They were at the helm when the collapse occurred; they controlled congress for six years and could have introduced control/oversight had they chosen to do so
———————————–
J P Ewing ,
So we shall now continue to use your perfect logic as we moved forward then!
EVERYTHING that has occured since 12:00 Noon on Jan 20, 2009 is Obama’s fault and the blame stands squarely with him!

Cheney is on a mission to clear his name and shine up his legacy. Too bad the facts keep leaking about what really happened under the Bush administration.
Today it was the news that the International Red Cross in 2007 wrote in its confidential report that the US had in fact tortured its prisoners in the war on terror. No big surprise there, but good to know that the highest authority on the matter confirms that the Bush administration actually did commit war crimes.
Still, it is far from certain that this guy will ever see the world he committed crimes against and made less safe, through bars.

Yes, I agree. Mostly.
Hey Skip: Freddie and Fannie are propped up government agencies. Bear Stearns and Lehman were private entities. One of those classes includes the possibility of collapse and ceasing to exist, the other is a Frankenstein, or an evil phoenix
Most of the rest of you didn’t address the substance and just tossed ad hominem or spurious rejoinders. Get a clue.
The policies which led to the predatory lending began under Clinton, and when the problems coming from them became apparent Bush, McCain and others did try to reform the policies. But by that point, the Dems were in control of Congress and Dodd, Frank, and others–all on the political payroll of Fannie/Freddie–blocked it..
Bush/Cheney could have done more to promote the reforms they thought necessary, but they can’t be blamed for creating the conditions that brought about the melt-down, that was Clinton and Congressional Dems.

I thought we got rid of this guy? I only want to see him behind a set of bars. He is a nut.

I agree that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd bear major responsibility for the sub-prime mess that started this economic crisis. It disgusts me to watch Barney Frank blame everyone but himself, while Chris Dodd enjoys his special mortgage rates from the industry he was supposed to regulate.

More importantly Jake, is ABC going to do any investigative reporting that supports or refutes VP Cheney’s statements? Has ABC done any reporting one the Dodd /Frank cabal that prevented any type of increased oversight of Fannie and Freddie? How about Rahm Emmanuels role on the Board of Directors of Freddie? Oh, you didn’t know that? Gee, what do they teach in JSchool these days? There is SO much that could be exposed.
How about the wife of David Gregory (now MTP host) is the former General Counsel of Fannie Mae. All of these people are NOT in jail nor have they lost any of their income. Why not? THAT is the story.

JPT is asking whether others agree with Cheney’s comments to John King.
Did Obama inherited difficult circumstances? Yes, obviously.
Is the Bush administration to blame for creating those circumstances? To some extent, yes. Absolutely, no way. This is only so much hindsight, but the GOP ought to maintained reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie a higher political priority.
Is the financial mess global? Obviously.
Did the Bush administration try to deal with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac problem as early as 2001? Yes.
Were major reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac blocked by Democrats on the Hill, notably, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd? Yes.
Have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played a key role in the financial meltdown? Yes.
Is the notion that the mess is entirely attributable to the Bush administration mostly political hot air? Yes.
Do Americans care more about whether the mess is attributable to the Bush administration than what will work to get us out of the difficulties? Extremely doubtful.

Jobs Jobs Jobs…. When everyone tries to pin this on sub prime, when are you all going to realize that during the Bush administration this country lost hundreds of thousands of jobs!?!?! The Bush administration can point all they want, but the bottom line is they let jobs leave this country in record numbers, and that is what caused this… starting back in 2001 and on….

“Freddie and Fannie are propped up government agencies. Bear Stearns and Lehman were private entities. One of those classes includes the possibility of collapse and ceasing to exist, the other is a Frankenstein, or an evil phoenix.”
This is like the old Right-wing argument the all the many failings in our public schools are caused by the teachers union when right-wingers openly admit that they dislike both public schools and the teachers union.
If after the storm the Frankensteins are left standing and relatively stable while the private entities were allowed to commit financial suicide in an orgy of greed and almost dragged the rest of the market down with them, who better served us?

Fannie and Freddie Mac may have been the match that lit the fire but it was the lack of gov’t oversight and the hubris of the banks that piled up the flammable materials that turned a spark into a raging inferno. This crisis was a long time building up.
From 2001-2007 all the economic levers of Gov’t were all controlled by the GOP. The had the White House, both houses of Congress, apointed the Sec’y Treasury, SEC chairman and Fed Board Chairman. Even after January 2007 the GOP stilled controlled the executive depts who were charged with financial oversight.How much influence did Dodd, Frank & Waters have over policy and anforcement as compared to the Treasury Dept, Fed & SEC? Very little I believe.

The economy was doing quite well until the Democrats took over the House and Senate in 2006. After that everything went down hill. It does not take a Rocket Scientist to see that connection.

The economey is fundumentally sound:…George Bush2008/ Barrack Obama/2009
next question please
I will place a tax on health care benefits:..John McCain2008 /Barrack Obama 2009
next question please
No difference republicians or democrats, thje truth is in thier own word\ ABC CBS NBC GUILTY of Baised propoganda

It’s true that key Democrats opposed the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, which would have established a single, independent regulatory body with jurisdiction over Fannie and Freddie – a move that the Government Accountability Office had recommended in a 2004 report. Current House Banking Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts opposed legislation to reorganize oversight in 2000 (when Clinton was still president), 2003 and 2004, saying of the 2000 legislation that concern about Fannie and Freddie was “overblown.” Just last summer, Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd called a Bush proposal for an independent agency to regulate the two entities “ill-advised.”
But saying that Democrats killed the 2005 bill “while Mr. Obama was notably silent” oversimplifies things considerably. The bill made it out of committee in the Senate but was never brought up for consideration. At that time, Republicans had a majority in the Senate and controlled the agenda. Democrats never got the chance to vote against it or to mount a filibuster to block it.

The fact is we are all to blame. Government and the people. Admit it, it feels good to think that everyone can own their home. Unfortunately not everyone can. This was brought on because it felt good to think that people could call a home their own. It is the problem when you allow emotion to govern. As far as the parties go, all of them are guilty. While the Republicans and administration admit, and has evidence to, being concerned about the lack of good credit practice, I would imagine the political implications were too great, thus they didn’t have the courage to stand up.
Unfortunately, thats the trappings of democracy and politics. Who, 3 or 4 years ago, would have supported a politician wanting to crack down on home ownership because of bad loan practices? It would have been political suicide back then. So in the end, we are all guilty of it. The people are just as guilty because we would have made it unpopular to be responsible.

Dodd and Frank??? The man has some gall to blame Dodd and Frank when it was his buddy corrupt Republican Phil Graham who led the charge to repeal all of the Depression-era regulation of banks and securities which led to this mess. And Bush’s SEC which reversed the remaining rules, and Bush’s comptroller of the currency who did as effective a job as his director of FEMA or his AG. (Was there even a grown-up professional anywhere in that administration?)
The only Depression-era regulation that the Republicans did not repeal was the one granting immunity to bank directors and execs – so that they can take their $100 million in bonuses and walk away without fear of being sued to oblivion for gross malfeasance.
Bush was the most Socialist president we’ve ever had – socializing all risk, while privatizing profit.

everyone has an opinon and it doesn’t count for much; so here’s mine. Before this president’s term is up we might wish Geo Bush back.

“This was brought on because it felt good to think that people could call a home their own.”
So who do you think the American people are going to find more at fault? The Democrats for trying to structure mortgages so that lower income folks could call one home their own, or the Republicans for deregulating the banking industry so that the super wealthy could own many many many more homes?

All he wanted to do was help his friends at Haliburton get rich. Is that a crime?

Why is this criminal still walking free amongst us? Throw him in jail and throw the key away already!!

Posted by: Mack | Mar 16, 2009 11:35:17 AM
So did Clinton.
Watch this.
Name four companies who can do what Halliburton does.

Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.
So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.
A top GOP House aide agreed.
“C’mon, he writes housing and banking laws and his boyfriend is a top exec at a firm that stands to gain from those laws?” “No media ever takes note? Imagine what would happen if Frank’s political affiliation was R instead of D?
Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank’s relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie.
Both Frank and Moses assured the Wall Street Journal in 1992 that they took pains to avoid any conflicts of interest. Critics, however, remain skeptical.
“It’s absolutely a conflict,” said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. “He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane?

People
The securitization of MBS’s, specifically the sub-prime mortages, is what caused the current mess.
Cheney had nothing to do with that.
Andrew Cuomo is more at fault than Cheney.
A LOT more culpable.

“The economy was doing quite well until the Democrats took over the House and Senate in 2006. After that everything went down hill. It does not take a Rocket Scientist to see that connection.”
Um, I switched from black shoes to brown in 2006, and everything went down hill from there. I see the connection, but if I were a rocket scientist, I might not.

Oversimplification is easy.

Cheney needs to disappear. He is mean evil crook!!! And smart enough to stay legal so far. His opinions are worth nothing!!! He operated covert underground activities/operations very similar to a prior mafia organizations. I was totally shocked to discover all he was involved in. People should be scared of him, and never allow him to serve the public.

This is absolutely absurd. His party was in power for 8 years and presided over a financial meltdown which was fully in place when Obama took over. There is absolutely no other way to read the facts. The Bush administration must shoulder the major portion of the blame for the current situation. Whatever he inherited from Clinton, he failed to remedy it; he failed to prevent it; he failed to warn us about it; he failed even even to notice it. Cheney is a master of spin but this post defies common sense.

This might be the rest of Cheney’s economic message.
And who is bearing the brunt of the economic collapse that the Bush administration did not cause? It is the wealthy who have seen their fortunes decline just as the middle class and others have. And Obama wants to raise their taxes?!?! What the wealthy need is a tax DECREASE so they can trickle down more to the lower classes. Obama should even consider a TAX HOLIDAY for the wealthy. That way even more would trickle down to those who look up. Eventually, the free market will fix everything, most everyone will find jobs again, we’ll all be happy, and before you know it the wealthy will have their fortunes restored. God bless the United States of America and conservative republicans who have done such a great job that Obama threatens to ruin!

The facts aren’t very confusing:
————–
Sen. John McCain’s 2006 demand for regulatory action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have prevented current financial crisis, as show in the letter shown in full text below.
McCain’s letter — signed by nineteen other senators — said that it was “…vitally important that Congress take the necessary steps to ensure that [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]…operate in a safe and sound manner.[and]..More importantly, Congress must ensure that the American taxpayer is protected in the event that either…should fail.”
Sen. Obama did not sign the letter, nor did any other Democrat.
The letter is on U. S. Senate stationary and dated May 5, 2006.
One part of the letter is in bold: [Full Letter Below]
With the fiscal challenges facing us today (deficits, entitlements, pensions and flood insurance), Congress must ask itself who would actually pay this debt if Fannie or Freddie could not?
Immediately following in the next paragraph is this;
Substantial testimony calling for improved regulation of GSEs (government sponsored enterprises) has been provided to the Senate by the Treasury, Federal Reserve, HUD, GAO, CBO and others.
For years Democrats have told us criticisms of Fannie and Freddie’s embrace of subprime mortgages made to people with bad or no credit history was “racist.”
Yet look at all the agencies and oversight groups who called attention years back to the reckless practices the two GSEs were engaged in. It wasn’t “racist” to call “wrong” on Fannie and Freddie’s high risk mortgage practices while giving huge “performance” bonuses to their top executives.

Cheney is abslutely correct in his analysis. This is all the fault of the failed Obama \ Biden policies of the past. Socialism is dead, but the current president is wrecking the economy to bring it back. President Bush left America a great economy that brought wealth and good times to all Americans. Obama has squandered that great legacy with his destructive tax the rich policies. Everything was fine when the little people knew their place.

‘AMERICA, YOUR SPENDING SPREE IS OVER!!!’
Maggie, you’re not serious, are you? Obama is going quadruple the deficit and double the national debt in five years.
You would do well to educate yourself before you say stuff like this.

Posted by: Wm. | Mar 16, 2009 12:01:16 PM
Shifted it to no regulation? Nonsense.
Prove that.
Bush wanted to create an oversight board to watch Fannie and Freddie.
Guess who insulted that?

We can read and hear all the “Bush is to blame” comments.
Query? Where did the CASH come from to support the Clinton’s PARTNERSHIPS WHILE THE ADULTUROUS Bill sat in the White House? Speaking engagements? HUH?
I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn that is for sale real cheap.
Can any of you find Bush getting SPEAKING FEES (?) now that he is out of office?
Look at the financial relationships of Dodd & Frank for real thievery!

Posted by: GDI | Mar 16, 2009 12:02:00 PM
Actually, that’s not true. it was an imagined surplus, but nevermind.
But geez, if you didn’t like Bush’s deficits, you’re going to hate Obama’s plans.

Shocker! Cheney not taking blame for anything. Would you expect anything different. Hell I think he blamed the guy he shot in the face!!!!!!!

FOR ALL YOU DEMOCRAT BASHERS…Do you really want to put here in writing your complete ignorance?? To blame DEMOCRATS for the current situation polarizes you from the public at large that realizes that too many are to blame, Dem and Rep. Perhaps you should recognize the fact that when one is President, the “Buck stops here” is never more appropriate.
The give any credence to a man that twisted the US Law of Executive Privilege so he could sidestep laws is Detestable!!!!!

Bush’s deficit is a result of stupidity, and failed predictions of iraq and economy one after another.(go to check bush’s promises in 2000, none is realized.)
Obama’s deficit is an urgency to help stablize confidence by creating jobs; stablize financial Market by inject cash; which by the way is what FDR did in the Old days.
Anyone in their right mind would see Bush Administration is very imcompetent.

The financial crisis is the culmination of multiple events, mistakes, and misdeeds over many years and several administrations. I assume that one party is more to blame than another, but which party would be difficult to define with precision, given the complexity and historical roots of our national financial problems.
In four years, we can better assess the validity of actions being undertaken now.

“Todd, name ONE Democrat who wanted GSe reform between 1999 and 2007 and then name ONE Republican who opposed GSE reform betwen 1999 and 2007.
Go ahead. I’ll wait.”
I guess we’ll never officially know since the Republicans never had the guts to bring a bill to the floor for a vote.

Posted by: Marvin McConoughey | Mar 16, 2009 12:12:57 PM
When did a stimulus package ever help?
Ever?
History is a good teacher. it will teach you that they don’t work.
Golly- this stimulus bill spends only $107 billion this year!
WHY? Don’t we need those jobs this year???
And of that $107 billion, only a tiny amount actually goes to jobs!
WHY??
Most of the money is spent next year.
WHY?
Because it’s a re-election year.
This is more of a Democrat re-election stimulus than an economic stimulus.
Again- please learn the facts.

Posted by: Skip | Mar 16, 2009 12:15:26 PM
Skip
Democrats voted it down in committee in party-line votes, Dodd and Schumer threatened filibusters and there weren’t enough Republicans for cloture.
Obama counts so heavily on guys like you- people who work so hard to avoid the truth. his contempt for your intellect is well placed.

Funny how supporters of last adm. are already looking for a way to criticize about spending and earmarks.didn’t have a problem with well over twice the earmarks in previous adm. not to mention close to half of the pork in this budget is Rep. pork. Need somthing done and i believe it will help. 3 Republicans put their 2 cents into the package, all three got (mostly) what they submited and voted for it.Better than standing there goin’.NO, NOPE huh-uh.no way.

“Democrats voted it down in committee in party-line votes, Dodd and Schumer threatened filibusters and there weren’t enough Republicans for cloture.”
But why didn’t they bring it to the floor and make it official? I think a much better explanation is that the Republicans were supposed to represent hands off government and many were opposed to regulation on principle alone. If they had brought it to the floor for a vote they would have had to show their hand. When the democrats actually passed regulations on Freddie and Frannie in May ’07 many Republicans voted against them.

Dr. John
Could you tell me the reason why no Republican would come within miles of Bush/Cheney last election season???
Do you have a clue?

So its obvious that the ‘shift the blame away from Bear Sterns, Lehman Bros, Merrill Lynch and other who actually collapsed to Freddie and Frannie who are still here’ strategy runs all the way to the top.
Posted by: Skip | Mar 16, 2009 9:53:10 AM
=============================
I would do more research. Fannie/Freddie were brought into government control over the summer. They were one of the primers of the economic collapse. The takeover by the government signalled that the bad loans repackaged into aaa securities had finally come to a head.
2008 deficit cost of all private companies combined: $180 billion
2008 deficit cost of Fannie/Freddie: $240 billion

I love how Bushies keep trying to say that they tried to fix Fannie and Freddie. That bill didn’t make it out of committee, while republicans were in power. Yeah, McCain “sponsored” it, but he did nothing to move it forward, just stamped his name on it. The bill was in 2005, when republicans had a healthy majority. The real reason it didn’t get out of committee is because Republicans voted against it… dems had nothing to do with that failure.
Posted by: Kieran | Mar 16, 2009 12:26:55 PM
=================================
In committee S190 went to a party line vote; republicans for it democrats against. Democrats ALWAYS threated a fillibuster of GSE regulation.
Fannie/Freddie was a top 20 lobbyist after the committee vote spending $200 million in the ensuing years to lobby key republicans and democrats to ensure a floor vote wouldn’t make it.

At least Obama is tryin’. It may take awhile, he’s gotta get on this “TRAIN WRECK’ that’s was still flyin’ down the track when he took office THIS year. You don’t just run up to anything close to the size of this total multi year,republican AND democratic created (mostly GOP)and go “WHOOOOO” and expect it to turn around for you. It takes a lot of time. Until people (mostly Americans)and the greedy banks all start to realize that if you can’t afford an item just to leave it at the store or car lot.The bank loaned me money (100%) for my home WHILE LAYED OFF and right at one year at a job.I still make any and all payments on time, problem is i’ll be makin’ payments for people who had to arogantly “KEEP UP WITH THE JONES’” when they COULD NOT AFFORD TO. Who still drive around in $30K autos while takin’ hand outs to keep up their delinquent mortgages.

“When the democrats actually passed regulations on Freddie and Frannie in May ’07 many Republicans voted against them.”
What regulations, Skip?
In August of 2007 Dodd wanted more degregulation of GSE’s and he called Bush’s desire for oversight “inane.”

DR JOHN
Bush Kept us safe? I believe 911 Happened On his Watch, while He was In Fl Reading to Elemantary Kids how did he Keep us safe? Alot of People Died that Day

Posted by: ANGIE IN PA | Mar 16, 2009 12:44:12 PM
Why you search “4 Aug 1998 pdb”?
You will learn that Clinton was the guy who was warned about hijackings.
Then search “Oplan Bojinka”
Don’t lecture me about 9-11. I lost three patients there that day.

As it stands, we are over $600Bil. into it. If you want to start trying to add up the LOST billions that were thrown at all kinds of pets over there which none of the responsible people add to the over-all price tag , then you can certainly throw a TRILLION in the mix. Services paid for several times, and never recieved, arms, CASH, and equipment just lost that never gets tallied in to “running costs”.It goes on rediculously.

Oh by the way Fannie/Freddie partially went under because China pulled out their money. 1/5 of China’s US investments were in Fannie/Freddie debt but they pulled out the majority over the summer.

2008 deficit cost of all private companies combined: $180 billion
2008 deficit cost of Fannie/Freddie: $240 billion
Well yes, Fannie and Freddie are two of the largest companies in the entire world. They might be as big all of the private firms combined. That’s why these figures are as close as they are.
Posted by: Skip | Mar 16, 2009 12:52:01 PM
====================
All the power to you for whatever justification makes you feel better about keeping on your blinders on regarding democrats huge hand in the economic mess.
I guess lecturing Roger Clemens and worrying about 7 legally fired AGs was more important for democrats once they got in control.

Bush/Cheney Kept us safe
He Ignored the Warnings
He Failed to get Bin Laden
He went after Saddam Hussein who Had NOTHING TO DO WITH 911
He Ignored Afghanistan Pakistan where the True Terriost are oh yes Bush was a Real Hero!LOL

“What regulations, Skip?”
HR 1427, a bill that if you read the text was specifically designed to regulate Freddie and Frannie and which passed the House in May and then died in committee in the Senate just like S 109 did. Who controlled the committees in the Senate?
The Republicans. Although now right-wingers want to say that the Republicans really wanted to regulate Freddie and Frannie they made no actual effort to do so besides Bush just saying he thought they should.
Posted by: Skip | Mar 16, 2009 1:03:19 PM
==========================
Wrong again. Democrats were in control in 2007 and Dodd was the banking committee head.
Looks like he was more concerned with his campaign contributions.

Posted by: KR | Mar 16, 2009 1:09:11 PM
================
Good post. Yeah the democrats exploitation of the war for political gain was disgusting.
It’s amazing how many people have no recollection or memory with sensational media. There is all this outrage against Rush for “wanting Obama to fail.” I’m not a Rush fan but what a joke.
Democrats wanted Bush to fail, and specifically liberals were saying they wanted the war effort to fail and the surge to fail. They did everything they could to try to make it fail.
You have democratic lawmakers putting soldiers at risk trying to make the war fail and they have the nerve to act outraged at a MEDIA COMMENTOR for wanting socialist policies to fail? They can fool their IQ deficient voting bloc but people with a memory more than 1 week know different.

Posted by: drjohn – “please learn the facts”. So your “facts” are that ONLY the Obama administration and 2 years of a Democratic Congress have been responsible for our economic situation? Come on, you must agree politics and economics are never that black and white.
For example, remember the Republican head of the Senate Banking Committee, Phil Gramm? In 2001 he stated: “Some people look at subprime lending and see evil. I look at subprime lending and I see the American dream in action.” From 1999 to 2001, Gramm pushed laws and promoted policies that he says unshackled banking and Wall Street from needless restraints.
Michael D. Donovan, a former S.E.C. lawyer, says Gramm was the architect, advocate and the most knowledgeable person in Congress on deregulation of the financial market. “To me, Phil Gramm is the single most important reason for the current financial crisis.”
Few in Congress have a PhD in Economics like Phil Gramm – for decades America has relied of the advice of Wall Street smart guys, including Clinton administration officials, FED chairman Alan Greenspan and Arthur Levitt, head of the SEC, who all recommended legislation exempting many kinds of derivatives from federal oversight.
Americans blithely enjoyed the artificial prosperity bubble until reality arrived. Now it’s time to make corrections.

Considering that I have been in the military 12 years, deployed in the GWOT, and a historian of war and insurgencies, the answer I have for you is not one you want to hear.
Vietnam was 10 years and over 50k killed. Korea had over 40k dead in 4 years, and the nation lost hundreds of thousands in WW2 in 4 years.
============
Congrats
You have passed the “republican test”
To justify the lost servicemen with past wars is pathetic.
Save your “you cant handle the truth” moment sir.
I have been in the military for 22 years now seeing action in kosovo and supporting gwot as well so it is because of what I have seen that give me reason to say this war was a farce from the beginning. Do you realize that this war began because of a stupid president. not 911. I can still recall the day he came on tv conjuring up this axis of evil crap.
we now know who the “asses of evil” are!!!!

Good article. The Bush Administration does not bare all the responsiblities to the economy. The Democrats have alot to do with this. The problem with the Bush Adm. is that they didn’t have the balls to tackle the Democrats.

Posted by: KR | Mar 16, 2009 1:22:25 PM – OK, you might want to google “NY Times Deregulator Looks Back”. Read the article and come back to post another comment.
Of course Freddie and Fannie were part of the problem. But the point of my post was that toxic sludge created by deregulation contributed to the Banking mess, supported by both Republicans and Democrats.

The old saying goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words” but in this case to millions and millions of Americans the picture is worth a billion words, and that picture is a dumbfounded George Bush on the TV trying to explain why he needed billions of dollars to save the banks or we were headed to the next great depression when for 8 years he had assured us that government needed to get out of the way of big business. You guys and Cheney might as well keep at it because even if you go 24/7 for the rest of your natural lives there won’t be enough words to offset that picture.

Simple challenge to utopian liberals:
Name one, just one, socialist or communist nation past or present which has had anywhere near the success of american capitalism while maintaining relative freedom for its people.
If you deflect to “they didn’t do it right” articulate exactly what was done wrong and how without force it would be done differently this time.
Until then you are beating a dead horse and meeting Einstein’s definition of insanity.

Posted by: KR | Mar 16, 2009 1:48:48 PM
“The bigger question is now, who can fix it? I wouldn’t hesitate to say our government cannot, they are already too tainted with self political interest.”
Phil Gramm’s wife Wendy was chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1989 to 1993 – she approved rules exempting derivatives from regulation. After Wendy Gramm left (landing on the Board of Directors for her buddies at ENRON), some in Congress proposed regulating the spreading derivative risks – they thought it made our system prone to cascading failures. Nothing happened.
Alan Greenspan said that he was “in a state of shocked disbelief” that “the self-interest” of Wall Street bankers hadn’t prevented this mess. The results of laissez-faire policies and “tainted self political interest” over the past 2 Presidencies have come to roost.
Whether we like it or not, the pendulum is swinging toward strengthening Federal regulations for a wide range of government, from the FDA to the SEC. Finger pointing and howling about the evils of “Big Government” won’t prevent this swing – IMO, the most useful intervention will be tracking those new regulations – I love the power of the internet; let’s hope the new regulations take advantage of its transparency. Google “wired radical transparency”.

“Name one, just one, socialist or communist nation past or present which has had anywhere near the success of american capitalism while maintaining relative freedom for its people.”
Your whole argument is based on a GOP talking point that equates any kind of government intervention with socialism. This is not what socialism is. Hence, your entire post is without merit.
PS. Throwing in Einstein to try and sound smart/legitimize your post didn’t work either.

Bush/Cheney left such a mess that it will become reminder of their legacy right through both the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.

A thief that authorized “Scooter” to out a CIA operative is credible. The Rat should go back into his hole…you know the one he hid in for 6 years, didn’t want to be seen because thieves operate like that.

“out a CIA operative is credible.”
I love this one. Someone who parked her car at the CIA, walked in to work everday for 2 years, was somehow “outted”. Thats classic.
Also, is there anyone in the world who thinks embassies are not full of spies? That’s a primary mission of embassies, they all do it. Now had she been a field agent and not worked IN the embassy, it might be a little more serious. Then, after all this “outting” nonsense, she goes on the cover of magazines. Not exactly the behavior of someone who feared for their life after being “outted”.
Funny stuff. Some of you will beleive anything the pundits feed you huh?

I love this country, and it really make me sad to see people are divided over the things happened in the past.

No matter how Cheney and the rightwingers want to spin the facts, Fannie and Freddie did not precipitate the financial crisis. Fannie and Freddie where NEVER allowed to guarantee sub-prime loans. They did invest in sub-prime mortgage backed bonds AFTER the bonds had been given top-tier credit ratings by the credit rating agencies(S&P, Moody’s, Fitch). Now in hindsight we know the credit agencies where derelict in giving these financial instruments AAA-top-tier ratings and if they had been given a lower and proper rating Fannie and Freddie would not have invested in them.

The spins and twists on this blog are giving me a HEADACHE! Argh!
Who want to be responsible for the mess? The GOP? The Dems? Clinton? Bush? 62 day old President Obama?
Regardless what opponents are saying, greed is the cause here!
It’s not Clinton for wanting lenders to remove their “unbalanced” loaning and rating systems so more people could “afford” homes. Absurd! His central reason was to have people buy reasonable homes they could afford; not some fancy brokerage, underwriter, and mortgage financier to get together and figure out a fancy way to make more money off of eager, less informed consumers. Greed and unethical business practices that skated under the radar as legal because the bad mortgages were quickly wrapped up with good products and services and sold as derivatives, and high-yielding bonds, and foreign treasury debt notes and bonds! Greed! These unethical and risky products were created by Wall Streeters, packaged up, and sent around the world! Now look at the “bleep” we’re in!
Stop trying to say Clinton did this! That’s a twist to a lie! He only wanted responsible and balanced lending: and federal aid to those persons who wanted a home, diligently were trying but could not reach a threshold. He never told lenders “well, you should just lend without looking for income at all” If he did, as a responsible business person, I would look at that as bizarre! No, GREED caused the banking industry to “twist” and create these dangerous packages.
And since John McCain and Bush knew, they should have pursued the SEC and the federal regulations allowing these bad products to be packaged and resold before it got out of hand. Even still, McCain’s letter to Fannie and Freddie was only to help insure some heavy investors who already knew the housing market was in decline at the time when he submitted the letters. They wanted to protect their elite constituents investments against the threat of a housing collapse, not the correct the problems for the American people. This is why the letter is dated in May 2006. The housing bubble had already begin to burst.
Too late now, it’s time to cleanup another GOP mess. I guess we can blame this on to much Congressional alcohol?

It seems those who do not have the time or capacity to research issues for themselves just keep posting the same old TEN year old newspaper article over and over. What’s the point? No matter, the facts will remain the same. NO amount of Republican spin will trick anyone, who takes the time to look first-hand into the financial crsis! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac DID NOT cause the financial crisis. Once a person stops listening to the propaganda, one can think for themselves. TRY IT!

“Please Ryan, this was nothing more than political grandstanding.”
Yes how dare Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame complain about their treatment by the Bush administration!
After all all they did was reveal the undercover status of one to undermine the intelligence report of another.
At least hide the bib when you’re gonna do that on the Bush admin.

Trying to blame the financial crisis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is just more pure rightwing malarkey from Cheney. Cheney is a sleezo well known for taking extreme liberties with the truth! The fact of the matter is FM & FM got caught-up in the housing downturn, just like the rest of the investors, brokers, insurers and banks. The only real issue with FM & FM was that they where too thinly capitalized to withstand the massive deflation of the housing bubble. FM & FM DID NOT EVER GUARANTEE SUB-PRIME LOANS. The rightwingers have been spinning for months trying to dupe people into thinking FM & FM are at the core of the problem…THET ARE NOT! They think we won’t take the time to check the facts and they will just “put one over on us” for their political gain! FM & FM did invest in “bad paper” bonds after they had been incorrectly rated as top-flight investments. Many other banks, hedge funds, and other investors also invested in what turned out,in retrospect, to be risky instruments.