How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis: Kevin Hassett

In other words you have no idea what created the crisis and are just spewing partisan crap out your ass, as usual.

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- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -

- Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist. -

- Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny. -

- But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. - Edmund Burke

Like I said, once the industry was deregulated,it was ripe for abuse.

Now everyone is calling for regulation including Gramm's buddy, John McCain.

Hassett's premise is ridiculous.

The Economy: McCain's Winning Issue

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Musical Interlude

An empiricist changes his opinion in light of contrary evidence. An ideologue retains his opinion despite contrary evidence.

I understand what you are saying and you are correct, but in a way they supported the sub-prime mortgage market through the back door. By buying up the securities of the companies that were providing the sub prime mortgages to the public they essentially were supporting/promoting/perpetuating the cycle. They provided the capital/credit support to these companies to continue their risky lending practices. If you didn't get a chance, you should check out that link a posted earlier. It does a pretty good job explaining the situation.

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Why? To protect morons who aren't smart enough to figure out how much they can afford to pay out based on how much they make?

Tell me, does Uncle Sugar change your dirty diapers too?

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- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -

- Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist. -

- Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny. -

- But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. - Edmund Burke

I didn't write the article but simply used the largest number provided as a question to how it lies at the root of the problem. I am making no defense of Fannie or Freddie but the problem is so much larger that pointing a finger solely at them is clearly for purposes of a red-herring.

The problem is clearly how we deregulated. If it wasn't we wouldn't be in the process of trying to re-regulate would we...

I read the article and it doesn't change much. Here is a slightly different version found on Economist View. There is no question that Fannie and Freddie played a part but the suggestion that legislation, if passed in 2006, aimed at one part of the problem would have stopped the slide by 2008 is a bit ludicrous.

I think if you keep digging you will find out everyone had a hand in the pot and thats my point. Here is the list of contributors. Obama took a little over $100k, thats nothing, it doesn't even pay for a newspaper add and so what, what does it mean that Obama took $126k in contributions from Fannie. Are you saying a Harvard Law grad would sell out his whole career and hide something over $126k. That is a fricken joke. Why dont you talk about the $285,000 Mccain has taken from the oil companies. Thats more than Obama, and the oil companies have hit record earnings for 8 straight quarters. Your argument is weak and frankly its stupid. You republicans are trying to say he was in the pocket of Fannie but $126k is not being in the pocket. He could make 5 times that with his Law degree.

Link for contributors

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008...d-freddie.html

Exactly, Thats why I get tired of hearing that Mccain wanted to pass a bill in late 2005. The damage was done and they could have passed any bill they wanted to and we would still be in the situation we are in today.

OK. I admit, Obama is a saint. There, I said it.

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ABC'S CHARLIE GIBSON: In each instance, when the Capital Gains rate was dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.

I totally agree Peter, this is a point I have tried to make but there have been about 100 of these posts on the crisis and I get tired of posting the same thing over and over, it gets old. It goes much deeper than Fannie or Freddie.

Look, I dont think any of them are saints and I have admitted on several posts that Dems are just as guilty on many of the issues we debate on this board. The more I research the 2 candidates the more I wish I had more choices for President but I feel that Obama was the new guy on the block and he made some good choices and some naive ones. We can pull the micro fiche out and look at Mccains early days in Politics and you will find much much worse than anything Obama has done to this point. I'm voting for inexperience because experience has taken us nowhere.

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac Failure: The Lies, the Cover Ups and the Making of a Disaster | Loan Modification & Home Loan News

I get really sick of hearing about how Democrats took all this money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two companies spend over $170 million lobbying in Washington over the past ten years. I guarantee that money went to both sides equally.

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They're not all running for President or advisors to the nominee...

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ABC'S CHARLIE GIBSON: In each instance, when the Capital Gains rate was dropped, revenues from the tax increased; the government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.

It seems there are others who agree:

Even if the 2006 effort to strengthen oversight had succeeded, it’s debatable whether it would have averted the subprime crisis. The extent of the problems was not yet fully known, and it’s a leap of faith to suggest that regulators granted expanded power would have noticed a deterioration in Fannie and Freddie’s loan portfolios soon enough and would have sounded an alarm.