Who Do Blame Most For The Recession?

[American Horse]

A recent poll on the O’Reilly Factor asked “Who do you blame most for the recession, Government, Wall Street, Greedy consumers?"

It’s a given that this was not a scientifically accurate poll, that most of the voters in the poll were audience members who watch the O’Reilly Factor show on FNC.

But, still they did not agree with Bill’s usual take on the issue.
He lays more blame on a Greedy Wall Street, and secondly mentions Government in the persons of Frank, Dodd, President Bush, and the SEC Chairman Chris Cox are the ones he directs his most heated rhetoric towards. He rarely mentions Greedy consumers.

The Results were announced Monday (23 March), and they were:
82% blamed Government
9 % blamed Wall Street
9 % blamed Greedy consumers

The purpose of the question is how then will those three groups rate here in culpability, and how will that compare with the FNC poll?

Once again, the question is: who do you blame the most?

 

[Againsheila]

I blame greedy CEOs.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I blame the greedy Wall St types and the CEO's, who unduly influenced the Cheney puppet named Bush Jr.

The country goes broke, nobody has any money, and what do they tell us to do? Go out and buy something.

Greed took over during the last administration. If it keeps up, we might not be the United States any longer, we'll be a loose confederation of countries, much like Europe.

 

[glockmail]

I blame the greedy Wall St types and the CEO's, ...

So vote then, idiot.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Only if it is a multiple vote. BOTH the Government and Wall St. are to blame.

 

[Life_Long_Dem!]

I blame greedy out of touch wall street and ceo's...on a story from Good Morning America the ceo of jp morgan stated that he doesnt understand the hatred towards corp america!? WOW how out of touch with reality are these people?

 

[PoliticalChic]

Once again, the question is: who do you blame the most?

The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of those who believe, follow or support Democrat/ liberal policies.

Here is the proof: if there had been no Freddie or Fannie, there would not be a mortgage meltdown.

If you believe that you should be given things, and cannot or will not delay gratification, then you are a lib, and are responsible for destroying trillions in earned and saved wealth.

But if you need a bit more obfuscation, if you feel that it's too complex to come down to politics, then Steve Malanga has an interesting article in the City Journal, suggesting that our obsession with owning real estate is a factor:
RealClearMarkets - Articles - Our Real Estate Obsession Endures

 

[midcan5]

Ronald Reagan, who began the decline of the middle class even though I doubt he would have wanted what voodoo economics became: greed.

http://www.counterpunch.org/sharon03262008.html


"The current financial panic is based on the knowledge that since the 1990s, Wall Street investment firms have orchestrated get-rich-quick schemes predicated on a model of betting using the odds of Russian Roulette, in which managers offer investors opportunities to make fast money in high risk transactions-through hedge funds, structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs) and other "innovative" derivative instruments such as Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs).

These investment schemes, which operate free of government regulation or oversight, have been described as a "shadow banking system," which operates in virtual secrecy, accountable to no one, based on mathematical models investors could not possibly understand and leveraged by borrowed money many times the actual money invested-at terms always skewed in favor of the short-term gains for managers."

How did we get here. – Political Pass

 

[Life_Long_Dem!]

In that same story on gma that jp morgans ceo says he doesnt understand the hatred these days for corp. america they expose how jp is using our tax dollars given to them in the bailout to buy bigger more luxurious planes and and bigger hangar with a flippin vegetable garden on the roof!!! and he wonders why main street hates corp. america? HELLO!

ABC News

 

[ABikerSailor]

Well......people DO tend to get a bit pissed when you rip them off.

 

[Ravi]

The government for failing to enforce the regulations on the books and for relaxing the rules to allow non-banks to engage in banking.

 

[sealybobo]

In that same story on gma that jp morgans ceo says he doesnt understand the hatred these days for corp. america they expose how jp is using our tax dollars given to them in the bailout to buy bigger more luxurious planes and and bigger hangar with a flippin vegetable garden on the roof!!! and he wonders why main street hates corp. america? HELLO!

ABC News

I'm just glad you guys realize that for the last 20 plus years, the politicians have been telling you that government is the problem. Now why would they rat themselves out this way? If they are protecting their masters, the rich bankers, then they don't mind taking the blame. Especially if they lose, they'll just go to work as a lobbyist for the boss who was pulling their strings to begin with.

Republicans like saying government is the problem, because it distracts you from the real problem, the rich and too powerful.

Time to reign them in!!!

 

[American Horse]

Only if it is a multiple vote. BOTH the Government and Wall St. are to blame.

Sorry about that ABS, I considered that, but decided to drive the poll to coincide with the categories in the FNC poll. My own thinking was that they all played their roll but it would not have happened without the driving force of just one which had the most weight, so.....that was a second reason to limit to three choices.

 

[Caskey100]

I blame everyone. The government for being lax on regulations and allowing buisness to get itself in the hole. I blame business for taking advantages of the lax regulations and trying to get as much profit as possible at the expense of a healthy economy. I then also blame the consumer for spending credit outside their means and generally just acting stupid.

Everyone seems to be at fault with this mess.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Well........a lot of people got sucked into the "free money" myth of flipping houses and making investments.

A culture of greed is what we had from 2000-2008.

 

[sealybobo]

I blame everyone. The government for being lax on regulations and allowing buisness to get itself in the hole. I blame business for taking advantages of the lax regulations and trying to get as much profit as possible at the expense of a healthy economy. I then also blame the consumer for spending credit outside their means and generally just acting stupid.

Everyone seems to be at fault with this mess.

I don't blame the consumers who had jobs but then the corporations sent those jobs overseas. But I do blame the GOP for passing tax breaks to companies that moved overseas.

I don't blame anyone who lost their job in the last 8 years.

If you didn't lose your job, consider yourself lucky.

 

[Truthmatters]

Government that deregulated the market and then refused to police it caused this.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I voted for "Government," but more specifically the Federal Reserve is the main perpetrator.

 

[Zoom-boing]

In that same story on gma that jp morgans ceo says he doesnt understand the hatred these days for corp. america they expose how jp is using our tax dollars given to them in the bailout to buy bigger more luxurious planes and and bigger hangar with a flippin vegetable garden on the roof!!! and he wonders why main street hates corp. america? HELLO!

ABC News

I saw this the other night on Lou Dobbs. He seemed a bit miffed that people were angry at jpm because they were buying American planes and even though they took the bailout money, they didn't need it. If they didn't need it, why didn't they give it back and buy American planes on jpm's dime.

Wall Street and Government are bedfellows; they both deserve blame.

 

[American Horse]

In that same story on gma that jp morgans ceo says he doesnt understand the hatred these days for corp. america they expose how jp is using our tax dollars given to them in the bailout to buy bigger more luxurious planes and and bigger hangar with a flippin vegetable garden on the roof!!! and he wonders why main street hates corp. america? HELLO!

ABC News

I saw this the other night on Lou Dobbs. He seemed a bit miffed that people were angry at jpm because they were buying American planes and even though they took the bailout money, they didn't need it. If they didn't need it, why didn't they give it back and buy American planes on jpm's dime.

Wall Street and Government are bedfellows; they both deserve blame.

Believe it or not, it was forced on them.
I first read this in the WSJ, but this article partly explains it.....
"Paulson plan unfair to healthy banks"
One size fits all. That is the reasoning behind Treasury's plan to invest money in a number of large banks by purchasing preferred shares.

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs have to feel that they have been sacrificed on Henry Paulson's bank bailout altar. Healthy financial companies are being told that they must take on the burden of new debt, whether they want it or not. Whether they need it or not.

The new program will put $250 billion in cash directly into banks and Treasury will get an equity piece. The agency is using preferred shares so that current holders of common stock are not diluted.

The plan has one very deep flaw. JP Morgan has to take on $25 billion which is the same amount as its much weaker rival Citigroup. The market certainly views the risk presented by the two companies differently. Since the beginning of the year JPM shares are flat. Citi is off more than 45%.

A look at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley is also a study in contrast. Goldman is down less than 50% since January 1. Even with a huge rally in its shares yesterday, Morgan has fallen nearly 70% during the same period. Paulson is force feeding $10 billion into each institution, although one is almost certainly healthier than the other.

Treasury would make the argument that time is short. It may only have a few days to restore confidence in the banking system. Cutting the healthy cattle out from the herd would take too much time.

But, that reasoning is feeble-minded. Money raised by JPM has put its capital position, based on its Tier 1 ratio, at over 8%. The market expects more write-offs at Citigroup than it expects at JP Morgan."

READ ON.....

I can think of some less democratic (and less constitutional) reasons for this; can't you?