Congratulations, Mr. President

[BluePhantom]

What would I have done? The auto bailout for sure. I would have reached across the aisle twice, the second time my hand was slapped away, I would have gone into the fighting mode. Instead of trying to reach out to the Republicans, the President should have concentrated on keeping the Democrats in line, using the Johnson arm twisting method, and got us a real Health Care System. He should have ended the Bush tax cuts. All of them.

And he should have then, and should now, hit hard on how the wealth of this nation is increasingly being taken at the top, with the people creating it getting a smaller share every day.

He needs to come out strong on the scientific evidence for the changing climate, and what it means to the citizens of this nation. And the preperations we need to make for the consequences that are already in the pipeline.

While he has emphasized the importance of education, he needs to hammer on the GOP on their lack of support for the education of our populace, at the very time that other industrial naitons are investing far more of their wealth into the education of their citizenry.

We need to drastically reduce the amount we spend on defense. There is no reason that we should be spending more than the next 14 nations combined on defense. Half that would be adaquete.

Social Security can easily be fixed in several ways. One, made the 6.2% that we pay apply to all income. Then the system is adaquetly funded forever.

A Universal Health Care system paid for through an income tax, would eliminate both Medicare and Mediaid. And save the nation a good deal of money. We have the example from all the other industrial nations. Less costly per individual with better results.

Increase the federal gas tax, and repair our Interstates. That wonderful system of highways should not be allowed to fall into the disrepair that is it's condition today.

Rebuild our nations electrical grid, using the same method that we did for the Interstate System. Users pay x amount per watt they put on the grid to the customer. And take that grid into the places where the wind, solar, and geo-thermal is plentiful.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

Well.............here's one thing I can say with complete confidence. Your odds of ever being elected to office on that platform is virtually zero so I suppose I have very little to worry about.

 

[BDBoop]

Yes. You have the Congress that he inherited.

But what would you do in the face of that? You can't just sit there for two years. You have to have a plan for how to circumvent them, or even use words and the public to make your case heard. What would you be trying to pass.

And thank you, you were on my short list of people I knew who would be up to the task.

Oh no worries. It's a great question actually. God forbid I defend Obama but I hear a lot of bitching from both sides yet it's pretty rare that I hear anyone offer an alternative plan. Well you have to address several things and with a Democratic Congress there's going to have to be a lot of give and take. My goals would be:

A) Create an environment in the United States that is conducive to the establishment and growth of business and industry. So you will need to provide:

I. Short term financial relief for business and industry
II. The ability to respond to changing circumstances
III. The freedom to maximize the use of natural resources​

B) Protects American business from foreign nations who refuse to provide an even playing field and give incentives for American consumers to buy American goods.

C) Protect the job security of the American worker and spur consumer spending.

I. By protecting the worker I mean minimizing job snatching by illegal immigrants and foreign outsourcing.​

D) Move towards energy independence by taking steps to have greater control over both supply and demand and open the door for greater competition between different forms of energy. At the same time we must restrict the same efforts by foreign nations and maintain their dependence on oil and the petrodollar.

E) Address questionable banking practices as well as government cronyism and corruption.

F) Address the financial insolvency of the states in order to allow for a reduction in state taxes and the ability of the states to invest in the development of their resources, infrastructure, and industry themselves.

G) Provide certainty for both industry and consumers in order to solidify confidence in the climate that has been created.




Ok....here's what I would propose (keeping in mind that Obamacare would not exist and I have to toss some bones to the Democrats too) and what what sections of the above they would address:


1) Reform (not completely eliminate) government regulations on business. Anything but the most essential regulations that deal directly with the public health would be gone. (A,C,D)

2) Reduce the corporate tax to a rate that is competitive with the rest of the world and overhaul the personal and corporate tax codes to close down loopholes and simplify it. (A, B, C, G)

3) Suspend the collective bargaining rights for public sector unions to provide long term financial relief for states and federal institutions. (E, F, G)

4) Allow the repatriation of foreign funds on the condition that a significant portion of it is invested in American business and expansion. (A)

5) Impose penalties on the imports of foreign nations that refuse to honor our free trade agreements and actually enforce them. (A, B, C)

6) Offer tax breaks for small businesses that hire and for major companies that build new manufacturing plants in the United States. (A, C, G)

7) Allow home and student loan refinancing for those who actually need it combined with banking regulations that prohibit bundling and generally playing roulette with money the banks don't have. (C, E)

8) Pull the business licenses of companies who hire illegal immigrants. (C, F)

9) Secure the border and deport illegal immigrants. (C, F)

10) Embark on aggressive drilling and conservation. (A, B, C, D)

11) Invest in the development and implementation of supplemental sources of alternate energy (wind, geothermal, tidal, etc), nuclear energy (especially), and ease restrictions on the production of primary and alternate sources of fossil fuels including shale oil. (A, B, C, D, G)

12) Make members of Congress subject to insider trading laws and strengthen laws against government corruption that include real jail time instead of censures. (E, F)


Now some of that addresses short-term issues and some of it addresses long term issues. The real problems are debt and housing. We address debt by limiting our spending and creating an environment where domestic production can go into overdrive with the goal of ensuring that our exports exceed our imports. We address housing by addressing unemployment, wages, predatory lending (which is in part tied to government regulations), and corruption.

To get all that to pass a Democratic Congress I would need heavy pressure from the American people and I would have to compromise and give them some gifts here and there.

There ya go. There's the Phantom Plan.

"E" would be so difficult, if not impossible. How do you see implementation taking place?

 

[BDBoop]

What would I have done? The auto bailout for sure. I would have reached across the aisle twice, the second time my hand was slapped away, I would have gone into the fighting mode. Instead of trying to reach out to the Republicans, the President should have concentrated on keeping the Democrats in line, using the Johnson arm twisting method, and got us a real Health Care System. He should have ended the Bush tax cuts. All of them.

And he should have then, and should now, hit hard on how the wealth of this nation is increasingly being taken at the top, with the people creating it getting a smaller share every day.

He needs to come out strong on the scientific evidence for the changing climate, and what it means to the citizens of this nation. And the preperations we need to make for the consequences that are already in the pipeline.

While he has emphasized the importance of education, he needs to hammer on the GOP on their lack of support for the education of our populace, at the very time that other industrial naitons are investing far more of their wealth into the education of their citizenry.

We need to drastically reduce the amount we spend on defense. There is no reason that we should be spending more than the next 14 nations combined on defense. Half that would be adaquete.

Social Security can easily be fixed in several ways. One, made the 6.2% that we pay apply to all income. Then the system is adaquetly funded forever.

A Universal Health Care system paid for through an income tax, would eliminate both Medicare and Mediaid. And save the nation a good deal of money. We have the example from all the other industrial nations. Less costly per individual with better results.

Increase the federal gas tax, and repair our Interstates. That wonderful system of highways should not be allowed to fall into the disrepair that is it's condition today.

Rebuild our nations electrical grid, using the same method that we did for the Interstate System. Users pay x amount per watt they put on the grid to the customer. And take that grid into the places where the wind, solar, and geo-thermal is plentiful.

Just a few things off the top of my head.

Well.............here's one thing I can say with complete confidence. Your odds of ever being elected to office on that platform is virtually zero so I suppose I have very little to worry about.

/spank

Let's behave, okay?

 

[LogikAndReazon]

Indeed...........congratulations on going further than any socialist community organizer with radical associates can ever be expected to climb..................

Who said occupiers, homosexuals , single welfare mothers, marxist professors, and the ghetto didnt have a voice......

 

[BDBoop]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

 

[BluePhantom]

This is to Blue:

I just speed-read your response and am about to read it again.

What would be your #1 priority coming into office? I know the first thing Obama signed was the LLFPA, and the first big thing he went for was the ACA. What would be yours?

The first thing I would have done is to attack the economic problems facing this nation. The LLFPA can wait (not that I am making a statement for or against it) but it's not as pressing as the economy. The ACA; same thing. That was a disaster and it took us from bad to worse because it created massive uncertainty in business and industry and terrified the hell out of people. No one is going to build a massive production plant with those kinds of tax implications hanging over their heads. No they will wait until it goes to the Supreme Court. If it's thrown out, they will build their plant. If it's upheld they will still build their plant...in Taiwan. he addressed those things when he did because he saw a rare opportunity to get those things passed with a minimal amount of concession to the Republicans. The economy suffered as a result.

So the first thing I would have gone after would have been points 1 & 2 but honestly, I don't think those things would do it alone. I mean we have a massive problem that exists on many levels and there's no simple solution. The fix has to be multi-faceted, considerate of both short and long term needs, etc so you really have to do a combination of a lot of things.

 

[Leweman]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

If this is true, then why do any of us bother discussing issues on here or anywhere else? It is pointless (not that it isn't anyway)

 

[Lovebears65]

It's January 20th, 2009. You have just been sworn in as President of the USA.

You have inherited a disaster. Keep in mind that you are whatever candidate you voted for, and you have the House and Senate he had on that date.

Hopefully you know enough about what was going on at that time that I don't need to refresh your memory. Unemployment was 7.8%, the big banks had just come undone, and the auto industry was one step from the tank.

What would you do.

This should help refresh your memory.

Banking Collapse of 2008: Three weeks that changed the world | Business | The Observer

He did not inherit anything . He asked for the job, campaigned for it and spent a lot of money to get it. He promised us the world and he lied. Case close loser

 

[BDBoop]

It's January 20th, 2009. You have just been sworn in as President of the USA.

You have inherited a disaster. Keep in mind that you are whatever candidate you voted for, and you have the House and Senate he had on that date.

Hopefully you know enough about what was going on at that time that I don't need to refresh your memory. Unemployment was 7.8%, the big banks had just come undone, and the auto industry was one step from the tank.

What would you do.

This should help refresh your memory.

Banking Collapse of 2008: Three weeks that changed the world | Business | The Observer

He did not inherit anything . He asked for the job, campaigned for it and spent a lot of money to get it. He promised us the world and he lied. Case close loser

Your record is stuck.

 

[Amelia]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

I don't get your "the thing about it is".

In 2009, it was obvious what the situation was. The country was in panic over the economy. And what does Obama do? ACA.

That's not the only thing he did, but that's what he spent his political capital on. If he had put his actions where his mouth was and where the national angst was (he SAID he got the intensity of the economic crisis and the concern people had about jobs) then he might have followed-through on the theoretically good economic programs he put into place.

HAMP for example might not have been the incredible dud that it was.

He could have led on infrastructure instead of just paying lip service to it with photo ops at bridges.

The multiplier his stimulus was supposed to have had might have happened if he had paid attention to it. We might have had that summer of recovery.

Instead we had the year of paralysis waiting to see how much new regulation Obama intended for us.


And the stimulus fizzled out.




If Obama's priorities were correct -- if Obama actually paid attention to what he said he understood -- then we could have had a solid and undeniable recovery and Republicans would be in the corner whimpering because of his great successes on the domestic front.



And if Republicans priorities were correct then we should be a shoe-in for the presidency in 2012.

But Republicans also keep paying lip service to things the country cares about (jobs, jobs, jobs) while pursuing their own social agendas.




However in 2008, if a Republican had been in the presidency and the Democrats had both houses of congress, then the agendas wouldn't have been pursuable. Not by the Democrats. Not by the Republicans. The ideologies would have been kept in check and we would have had to focus on the economy.

 

[BDBoop]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

I don't get your "the thing about it is".

In 2009, it was obvious what the situation was. The country was in panic over the economy. And what does Obama do? ACA.

That's not the only thing he did, but that's what he spent his political capital on. If he had put his actions where his mouth was and where the national angst was (he SAID he got the intensity of the economic crisis and the concern people had about jobs) then he might have followed-through on the theoretically good economic programs he put into place.

HAMP for example might not have been the incredible dud that it was.

He could have led on infrastructure instead of just paying lip service to it with photo ops at bridges.

The multiplier his stimulus was supposed to have had might have happened if he had paid attention to it. We might have had that summer of recovery.

Instead we had the year of paralysis waiting to see how much new regulation Obama intended for us.


And the stimulus fizzled out.




If Obama's priorities were correct -- if Obama actually paid attention to what he said he understood -- then Republicans could be in the corner whimpering because of his great successes on the domestic front.



And if Republicans priorities were correct then we should be a shoe-in for the presidency in 2012.

But Republicans keep paying lip service to things the country cares about (jobs, jobs, jobs) while pursuing their own social agendas.




However in 2008, if a Republican had been in the presidency and the Democrats had both houses of congress, then the agendas wouldn't have been pursuable. Not by the Democrats. Not by the Republicans. The ideologies would have been kept in check and we would have had to focus on the economy.

I'm saying the President doesn't have the luxury of operating in a vacuum, AND he only knew a portion of how things work in the Oval Office. He doesn't know who owes what to who, what politics are in place, what would prevent him from doing his job, etc.

 

[BluePhantom]

"E" would be so difficult, if not impossible. How do you see implementation taking place?

yes it would. There is always going to be some corruption and cronyism going on. Crooks find ways to get around laws, you know. The imposition of real consequences would go a long way. It's so easy for a politician to essentially embezzle taxpayer funds and launder it through a corporate grant that it's going to happen. Let me give you an example:

Politician A maneuvers a government loan to Company B of $X million

Politician A set up Charity A (his personal foundation)

Company B contributes $x million to Politician A's campaign fund and $x million to Charity A

Politician A spends 20% of his campaign fund on a failed re-election bid and retires. Before closing his campaign fund he donates the remaining 80% to Charity A. He then takes a new job as chairman of Charity A.

Charity A invests the money received from Company B, gives a portion of it to charity so it looks good and pays Politician A a handsome salary for the rest of his crooked sniveling life.

Well shit like that happens all the time. There's a reason why all these politicians have their personal charity foundations. They are essentially drawing salary off taxpayer money that has been laundered through government loans and grants, independent business, and their charitable foundations.

There's a reason why Obama wants $1 billion in his war chest. He'll use $500 million for his campaign and the rest will end up in the Barack Obama Foundation where he will draw salary and it's protected from taxation. And it's not just Obama....they all do that; Republican and Democrat alike.

How hard is it to clamp down on shit like that? Not very. Changing the laws on what happens with a politician's campaign funds upon retirement is a quick and powerful first step.

 

[BDBoop]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

I don't get your "the thing about it is".

In 2009, it was obvious what the situation was. The country was in panic over the economy. And what does Obama do? ACA.

That's not the only thing he did, but that's what he spent his political capital on. If he had put his actions where his mouth was and where the national angst was (he SAID he got the intensity of the economic crisis and the concern people had about jobs) then he might have followed-through on the theoretically good economic programs he put into place.

HAMP for example might not have been the incredible dud that it was.

He could have led on infrastructure instead of just paying lip service to it with photo ops at bridges.

The multiplier his stimulus was supposed to have had might have happened if he had paid attention to it. We might have had that summer of recovery.

Instead we had the year of paralysis waiting to see how much new regulation Obama intended for us.


And the stimulus fizzled out.




If Obama's priorities were correct -- if Obama actually paid attention to what he said he understood -- then we could have had a solid and undeniable recovery and Republicans would be in the corner whimpering because of his great successes on the domestic front.



And if Republicans priorities were correct then we should be a shoe-in for the presidency in 2012.

But Republicans also keep paying lip service to things the country cares about (jobs, jobs, jobs) while pursuing their own social agendas.




However in 2008, if a Republican had been in the presidency and the Democrats had both houses of congress, then the agendas wouldn't have been pursuable. Not by the Democrats. Not by the Republicans. The ideologies would have been kept in check and we would have had to focus on the economy.

And actually, we're both off-topic because what I am hoping to see is what OldRocks and Blue did. Not an attack on the man who did land in the office, but what YOU would have done differently.

 

[GHook93]

LOL, you need a refresher!
(1) Faux unemployment has gone "down" because more people than ever are considered "Not Part of the Work Force!" Obama needs everyone to leave the work force that way his unemployment number will be 0%
(2) True Unemployment is between 15-20% crisis level.
(3) Underemployment is at crisis level, one just needs to see all the recent college graduates working at fast food joynts to see this is a huge issue.
(4) African American Unemployment is at record levels!
(5) Hispanic unemployment is so high that we have seen a trouble in Hispanic Illegal immigration and in fact both legal and illegal Mexicans immigrants are leaving for Mexico in droves.
(6) College graduates obtaining a job is at record lows!
People under the poverty level is at ALL TIME RECORD HIGHS!
(7) Foreclosures are still at record levels.
(8) The Food Stamp President label is true. More Americans are on food stamps, welfare, social security disability and section 8 than ever in history.
(9) $14 trillion in national debt
(10) $2.5T in a budget deficit, with Obama proposing a $4T deficit (we take in $2.2 and he wanted to spend $6T), to which every member in Congress from both parties rejected, I have never seen such bipartisanship.
(11) Gas prices at record highs
(12) Utilities prices at record highs
(13) Inflation on Food at record highs
(14) Health insurance costs and premiums shooting up at record pace and this is even before Obaminationcare kicks in in 2014
(15) Tunisa, Egypt, Libya and soon to be Jordan, all falling to Islamofacism!


Oh yea, the Auto Industry bailout was started under Bush, but glad you only take credit for the good and not the bad!

It's January 20th, 2009. You have just been sworn in as President of the USA.

You have inherited a disaster. Keep in mind that you are whatever candidate you voted for, and you have the House and Senate he had on that date.

Hopefully you know enough about what was going on at that time that I don't need to refresh your memory. Unemployment was 7.8%, the big banks had just come undone, and the auto industry was one step from the tank.

What would you do.

This should help refresh your memory.

Banking Collapse of 2008: Three weeks that changed the world | Business | The Observer

 

[BluePhantom]

/spank

Let's behave, okay?

Ok ok... But...you know....no one's ever going to get elected by saying "....and I will raise the price of a gallon of gas...." ya know?

 

[BDBoop]

LOL, you need a refresher!
(1) Faux unemployment has gone "down" because more people than ever are considered "Not Part of the Work Force!" Obama needs everyone to leave the work force that way his unemployment number will be 0%
(2) True Unemployment is between 15-20% crisis level.
(3) Underemployment is at crisis level, one just needs to see all the recent college graduates working at fast food joynts to see this is a huge issue.
(4) African American Unemployment is at record levels!
(5) Hispanic unemployment is so high that we have seen a trouble in Hispanic Illegal immigration and in fact both legal and illegal Mexicans immigrants are leaving for Mexico in droves.
(6) College graduates obtaining a job is at record lows!
People under the poverty level is at ALL TIME RECORD HIGHS!
(7) Foreclosures are still at record levels.
(8) The Food Stamp President label is true. More Americans are on food stamps, welfare, social security disability and section 8 than ever in history.
(9) $14 trillion in national debt
(10) $2.5T in a budget deficit, with Obama proposing a $4T deficit (we take in $2.2 and he wanted to spend $6T), to which every member in Congress from both parties rejected, I have never seen such bipartisanship.
(11) Gas prices at record highs
(12) Utilities prices at record highs
(13) Inflation on Food at record highs
(14) Health insurance costs and premiums shooting up at record pace and this is even before Obaminationcare kicks in in 2014
(15) Tunisa, Egypt, Libya and soon to be Jordan, all falling to Islamofacism!


Oh yea, the Auto Industry bailout was started under Bush, but glad you only take credit for the good and not the bad!

It's January 20th, 2009. You have just been sworn in as President of the USA.

You have inherited a disaster. Keep in mind that you are whatever candidate you voted for, and you have the House and Senate he had on that date.

Hopefully you know enough about what was going on at that time that I don't need to refresh your memory. Unemployment was 7.8%, the big banks had just come undone, and the auto industry was one step from the tank.

What would you do.

This should help refresh your memory.

Banking Collapse of 2008: Three weeks that changed the world | Business | The Observer

GHook. What would you do. January 20, 2009. Same situation, same players. What would you do.

 

[Katzndogz]

The correct answer is not figure out ways to make it worse.

 

[BDBoop]

The correct answer is not figure out ways to make it worse.

How would you have done so.

 

[BluePhantom]

Focused like a laser on the economy, I hope.

Stimulus applied correctly, workable solution for auto industry, attention to those hurt in the mortgage crisis with follow-through I hope.

Not saying "I get how much the nation is concerned about jobs" and then 2 seconds later following my own agenda which suggested that I didn't get it at all.




Communicate regularly and try to inspire confidence. Try to avoid the perils of both insularity and excessive exposure.

The thing about that is? I don't think any President knows going in what the actual situation is. I really don't. Prior presidents can tell you, but until you occupy the "buck stops here" chair, you don't know all the intricacies of what takes place behind closed doors in Washington. And I'm betting even the most educated of the educated on politics in America only know 40-50% of said intricacies.

I think that's a fair and accurate point. Guantanamo is probably a great example of that. During the campaign Obama said he would close it and I seem to recall Bush saying at the time that once Obama was in office he wouldn't do that. Right after his inauguration I believe Obama reiterated that he would close it and guess what....it's still open. So it seems that Bush's prophecy came true and the obvious implication was that as soon as Obama got more detailed and sensitive information he recognized the need for it and changed his mind.

So yeah...I think you are probably correct there.

 

[GHook93]

Ah, but you must remember, he has been President all of two minutes now, so it is all his fault, and has absolutely nothing to do with the policies put in place by the previous administration.

Policies like:
(1) the Community Reinvestment Act,
(2) Propelling China in the WTO,
(3) NAFTA,
(4) GLB,
(5) Making student loan nondischargable and federalizing student loans which both skyrocketed college tuition to unaffordable levels and
(6) the winner - giving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac the power they never had before, to create a secondary mortgage market, where loan originators could originate toxic loans and immediately sell them at no rish to FM/FM at a nice profit (Note: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have produced the largest loses of any company in World history 5 years in a row starting in 2007 and sure to add to the trend in 2012)!

Oh wait all those snowballing events where starting under Clinton (yet ignored by Bush)! The bad policies choices you mentioned were of the Democrats doing!