The Economy: McCain's Winning Issue

[The Paperboy]

Really? McCain's winning issue is the economy?

YouTube - Mccain "Don't know much" - Musicvideo

YouTube - McCain doesn't know anything about the economy or Iraq

YouTube - McCain on Economy: "not an expert on .. this stuff"

YouTube - McCain on Economy: "you all know it better than I do"

(So therefore I am better at the economy then John McCain )


YouTube - McCain: "I don't believe we're headed into a recession."

YouTube - McCain: "I Would Imagine That We Are" In A Recession
YouTube - McCain: "Of course I Believe that We're in a Recession"

Fucking whoops huh?

YouTube - John McCain Sheds Light on the Economy

YouTube - Mccain is Dumb. He does not understand economics 101 !

Interest rates were ZERO? W-T-F! Do you know what happens if the Interest rates were ZERO?

If anyone can believe he is best for the economy after watching all those videos, then they are delusional.

The campaign is entering a period of time when sound bite snippets, rhetoric and silliness as above won't cut it. The public have tuned it out. Facts will be what matter. The facts on the current economic situation are piling up fast and it's not good for Democrats. I know the economy is historically a "Democratic" issue but my prediction is that this situation blows up in Obama's face and it blows up big.

My only concern is whether the McCain campaign can present the case effectively.

But what the hell do I know.

 

[AllieBaba]

Do you want to actually include the part of that article where it talks about the person who wrote it is an advisor for the McCain campaign? Oh wait, I just did that. Nevermind.

I know. We should wait for Obama's advisors, who are the ones who made all the money (along with Obama) on this mess to tell us how it was all caused by the Bush admin.

You do notice they have been painfully and nervously silent, don't you?

 

[The Paperboy]

McCain ad misrepresents Obama's tax plan. Again.
Summary
The McCain-Palin campaign has released a new ad that once again distorts Obama's tax plans.
FactCheck.org: There He Goes Again

Obama has no credibility on his tax plan as every time he could have voted for lower taxes he didn't but did vote for higher taxes when he had a chance. Why should we believe he'd change now with Pelosi and Reid beating him like drum. Besides how can you give 95% of tax filers a tax decrease when 40% don't pay one red cent to begin with. LOL! I'll give Obama this: He's one helluva salesmen.

 

[Modbert]

The campaign is entering a period of time when sound bite snippets, rhetoric and silliness as above won't cut it. The public have tuned it out. Facts will be what matter. The facts on the current economic situation are piling up fast and it's not good for Democrats. I know the economy is historically a "Democratic" issue but my prediction is that this situation blows up in Obama's face and it blows up big.

My only concern is whether the McCain campaign can present the case effectively.

But what the hell do I know.

Sound bite snippets?

THESE ARE FACTS! These are what he said, mostly from his own dumb mouth.

Is that not enough fact for you? What else more prove do you need? Him with a sign saying how proudly ignorant he is of the economy?

 

[The Paperboy]

I know. We should wait for Obama's advisors, who are the ones who made all the money (along with Obama) on this mess to tell us how it was all caused by the Bush admin.

You do notice they have been painfully and nervously silent, don't you?

I'm telling ya the Democrats are sh*ting bricks right now and praying that the American people are as dumb as they think they are. If the McCain campaign gets the truth out this election is over.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Actually, even though Slick Willie mighta dipped his dick skinners into the till every now and again, skimming off the top as it were, he still left us WITH A GOVERNMENT THAT WAS FLUSH!

However........

When the idiots of the Texas Mafia showed up at 1600 Penn. Ave, they saw what had gone on before, and decided that they wouldn't skim, they would divert.

Which, is why, the housing crisis, mortgage mess, and bank failures came about. Remember when everyone was hollering about "free money".

Newsflash.....ain't no such thing.

 

[The Paperboy]

Sound bite snippets?

THESE ARE FACTS! These are what he said, mostly from his own dumb mouth.

Is that not enough fact for you? What else more prove do you need? Him with a sign saying how proudly ignorant he is of the economy?

I'm not nearly as concerned by what people SAY (that can easily be taken out of context) as what they DO. Both McCain and Obama are often misquoted and taken out of context. Part of the game.

Here is what I consider a fact:

1. Jim Johnson walked away from Fannie Mae with 25 million.
2. Jim Johnson was on the Obama team.
3. Jim Johnson had to resign from Obama team due to allegations he received a sweetheart deal from Countrywide.
4. Franklin Raines walked away from Fannie Mae with 90 million.
5. Obama campaign sought advice from Raines on Housing Market.
6. Obama received the 2nd most contributions from Fannie Mae while in the Senate and he did this within a very short time.
7. Obama's national finance director, Penny Pritzker, was involved in a failed savings and loan due to writing thousands of home loans that people could not afford.
8. Two years ago McCain co-sponsored a loan to create a regulatroy oversight committee for Fannie Me. It was stopped by Democrats along party lines.
9. Johnson, Raines and Pritzker are Democrats.

These are facts. Feel free to dispute them.

 

[The Paperboy]

Actually, even though Slick Willie mighta dipped his dick skinners into the till every now and again, skimming off the top as it were, he still left us WITH A GOVERNMENT THAT WAS FLUSH!

However........

When the idiots of the Texas Mafia showed up at 1600 Penn. Ave, they saw what had gone on before, and decided that they wouldn't skim, they would divert.

Which, is why, the housing crisis, mortgage mess, and bank failures came about. Remember when everyone was hollering about "free money".

Newsflash.....ain't no such thing.

Oh yeah and we had a little minor problem occur on September 11th, 2001 and a small little bubble burst in Silicon Valley but of course those were both Bush's fault too.

By the way what policy was it that Clinton implemented to create such a great economy or is it possible he was simply riding the wave created by the Reagan Tsunami?

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Monica for keeping Bill distracted so he didn't muck things up.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Oh yeah and we had a little minor problem occur on September 11th, 2001 and a small little bubble burst in Silicon Valley but of course those were both Bush's fault too.

By the way what policy was it that Clinton implemented to create such a great economy or is it possible he was simply riding the wave created by the Reagan Tsunami?

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Monica for keeping Bill distracted so he didn't muck things up.

Question......are you ignorant or just stupid?

 

[jillian]

Oh yeah and we had a little minor problem occur on September 11th, 2001 and a small little bubble burst in Silicon Valley but of course those were both Bush's fault too.

By the way what policy was it that Clinton implemented to create such a great economy or is it possible he was simply riding the wave created by the Reagan Tsunami?

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Monica for keeping Bill distracted so he didn't muck things up.

September 11 was 7 years ago... has nothing to do with Bush's incompetence.

And you are aware there was a president in between Reagan and Clinton, right??? The other Bush who left us with a recession....

Bummer that Baby Bush didn't have his own Monica... but thankfully, he's taken more vacation than any president in history.

 

[jillian]

Question......are you ignorant or just stupid?

That's a rhetorical question, right?

 

[user_name_guest]

was it stupid to not have tougher regulations in place? yep. what is even stupider is giving the banks 700 billion to cover their mistakes. the cause is bad, the solution worse.

i hate our politicians

The dems wants to keep the people (who can't afford one) to stay in the house by giving them compensation. They are basically rewarding people who don't belong in the suburbs.

 

[metaverse]

We have just been through a business cycle in which the wage of the typical worker and the typical working family fell. This is the first time that has ever happened."

corporations have orchestrated this to have occured this way.

 

[sealybobo]

Really? McCain's winning issue is the economy?

YouTube - Mccain "Don't know much" - Musicvideo

YouTube - McCain doesn't know anything about the economy or Iraq

YouTube - McCain on Economy: "not an expert on .. this stuff"

YouTube - McCain on Economy: "you all know it better than I do"

(So therefore I am better at the economy then John McCain )


YouTube - McCain: "I don't believe we're headed into a recession."

YouTube - McCain: "I Would Imagine That We Are" In A Recession
YouTube - McCain: "Of course I Believe that We're in a Recession"

Fucking whoops huh?

YouTube - John McCain Sheds Light on the Economy

YouTube - Mccain is Dumb. He does not understand economics 101 !

Interest rates were ZERO? W-T-F! Do you know what happens if the Interest rates were ZERO?

If anyone can believe he is best for the economy after watching all those videos, then they are delusional.

Someone showed me that Carter passed a law that made banks give loans to poor people. They say that law led us to this mess. But then I talked to some people at work and they said:

1. How many people were the banks forced to sign out of the 2 million foreclosures. Thousands?
2. That law didn't give the GOP the red light to predatory lend. They abused that law if anything.

 

[The Paperboy]

That's a rhetorical question, right?

What's rhetorical mean?

Signed,

Stupid and Ignorant.

 

[Diuretic]

Believe it or not I think McCain now has the upper hand on the economy. He just needs to make his case to the American people. A good place to start is this excellent article:

How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis:

Commentary by Kevin Hassett

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The financial crisis of the past year has provided a number of surprising twists and turns, and from Bear Stearns Cos. to American International Group Inc., ambiguity has been a big part of the story.

Why did Bear Stearns fail, and how does that relate to AIG? It all seems so complex.

But really, it isn't. Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Fannie and Freddie did this by becoming a key enabler of the mortgage crisis. They fueled Wall Street's efforts to securitize subprime loans by becoming the primary customer of all AAA-rated subprime-mortgage pools. In addition, they held an enormous portfolio of mortgages themselves.

The article finishes with this note:

Oh, and there is one little footnote to the story that's worth keeping in mind while Democrats point fingers between now and Nov. 4: Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess.

Full story here

McCain hasn't got a bloody clue about what to do. He's sitting there shitting himself that someone is going to ask him. He's going to say, "deregulate" and "cut taxes". So I reckon he should win the election. He deserves to deal with the economic disaster he helped create. If he has only "deregulate" and "cut taxes" then that's it, game over.

But the rest of us will help with aid to America, just giving back. We could probably help with reconstruction as well, the much despised Europe would be glad to return the favour of post-WWII construction. Leave the UK out of it though, they were on their own after WWII so perhaps Germany will pick up most of the tab.

 

[OohRah Mama]

I know. We should wait for Obama's advisors, who are the ones who made all the money (along with Obama) on this mess to tell us how it was all caused by the Bush admin.

You do notice they have been painfully and nervously silent, don't you?

Wait a second...Oh. My. Gawd. He was serious, wasn't he?

Wow.

 

[Toro]

First, the economy is not a winning issue for the Republicans. The voters blame the Republicans for this mess. Only a delusional and ideological partisan hack would believe otherwise, which perfectly describes Hassett.

This happened for a multitude of reasons, of which the GSEs played their part. But it was due primarily to a poor regulation architecture - i.e. the lack of one fought tooth and nail by the investment industry, the mortgage industry, the homebuilding industry and the Republican Party.

Here's an example.

The Securities and Exchange Commission can blame itself for the current crisis. That is the allegation being made by a former SEC official, Lee Pickard, who says a rule change in 2004 led to the failure of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch.


Making matters worse, according to Mr. Pickard, who helped write the original rule in 1975 as director of the SEC's trading and markets division, is a move by the SEC this month to further erode the restraints on surviving broker-dealers by withdrawing requirements that they maintain a certain level of rating from the ratings agencies.


"They constructed a mechanism that simply didn't work," Mr. Pickard said. "The proof is in the pudding — three of the five broker-dealers have blown up."


The so-called net capital rule was created in 1975 to allow the SEC to oversee broker-dealers, or companies that trade securities for customers as well as their own accounts. It requires that firms value all of their tradable assets at market prices, and then it applies a haircut, or a discount, to account for the assets' market risk. So equities, for example, have a haircut of 15%, while a 30-year Treasury bill, because it is less risky, has a 6% haircut.


The net capital rule also requires that broker dealers limit their debt-to-net capital ratio to 12-to-1, although they must issue an early warning if they begin approaching this limit, and are forced to stop trading if they exceed it, so broker dealers often keep their debt-to-net capital ratios much lower.

http://www.nysun.com/business/ex-sec-official-blames-agency-for-blow-up/86130/

In other words, the SEC - appointed by Republicans - allowed the brokers to increase their leverage from 12-15:1 debt to equity to 30-40:1.

Why? Because Wall Street pays itself on revenues. Wall Street pays itself about 50% of revenues. The more leverage you can take on, the more revenues you can generate and the more you can pay yourself.

When I came out of MBA ten years ago, the starting salary for an associate straight out of B-school at a top-tier firm was $125-$150,000. In 2006, it was $325-$350,000. 350,000 fucking dollars! To 28 year olds with 3 years work experience to work 100 hours a week punching numbers into a spreadsheet and photocopy documents.

Wall Street poured tens of millions of dollars into Washington to grease the wheels of their enormously lucrative scheme. Yes, the Democrats share some of the blame, but if you are looking to pin the blame on any one party, blame the GOP because they are the ones who did everything they could to stop any additional oversight or regulation that might put an end to this madness.

I am pro-market and pro-business, and nominally a Republican I guess, but this is a failure of orthodoxy as much as anything. And that orthodoxy squarely resides in the Republican Party.

What a joke Washington and our financial system has become.

 

[Ame®icano]

Sorry if offtopic, but I got a question. Does anyone knows did Obama's S.1181 amendment for limiting CEO pay was passed or not?

 

[Caligirl]

Believe it or not I think McCain now has the upper hand on the economy. He just needs to make his case to the American people. A good place to start is this excellent article:

How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis:

Commentary by Kevin Hassett

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The financial crisis of the past year has provided a number of surprising twists and turns, and from Bear Stearns Cos. to American International Group Inc., ambiguity has been a big part of the story.

Why did Bear Stearns fail, and how does that relate to AIG? It all seems so complex.

But really, it isn't. Enough cards on this table have been turned over that the story is now clear. The economic history books will describe this episode in simple and understandable terms: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exploded, and many bystanders were injured in the blast, some fatally.

Fannie and Freddie did this by becoming a key enabler of the mortgage crisis. They fueled Wall Street's efforts to securitize subprime loans by becoming the primary customer of all AAA-rated subprime-mortgage pools. In addition, they held an enormous portfolio of mortgages themselves.

The article finishes with this note:

Oh, and there is one little footnote to the story that's worth keeping in mind while Democrats point fingers between now and Nov. 4: Senator John McCain was one of the three cosponsors of S.190, the bill that would have averted this mess.

Full story here

I slept on it last night, and decided it wasn't the democrats or the republican's fault. Both sides wanted to do something about it for years but the moderates in the middle wouldn't let them. And since everyone (even the moderates) has obviously flung themselves to one side or the other by now, there's really no other answer but that this mess is my responsibility. Solely and absolutely.

I am terribly sorry.