Stupid Politicians And The Stupid Things They Stupidly Do
October 6, 2008
The following is a guest blog from Kev. The plummeting stock market has clearly put him in a cranky mood. Enjoy.
For a myriad of reasons, I was not in favor of last week’s $700 billion government bailout of the financial industry. I was not in favor of the government’s bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last month. In case you can’t tell, I’m not in favor of bailouts of any kind. In high school, a friend once offered to bail me out of detention. I told him no way.
Regarding the recent $700 billion bailout, what bugged me most is how Congress, after initially voting it down, did an about face in large part to how the stock market plummeted immediately afterward. The Senate took the plan, revised it, passed it, gave it back to the House, and the House happily signed off on it.
Why did this bug me? Because the stock market was going to go down whether the bailout passed or failed.
When they didn’t pass it, the market went down. When they did pass it, of course, it went down. Today, the Dow is down more than 400 points as of this writing. It’s under 10,000 for the first time in four years. For those who have no clue what these numbers mean: the market is sucking right now. It will likely get worse before it gets better.
The fact Bush, Obama and McCain were all in favor of the bailout gives me a headache because it appears no leader — current, past or present — has a clue how to get us out of this mess. Let me see if I have this straight:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-chartered finance firms founded decades ago to boost the housing market by purchasing mortgages from banks, thus freeing up financial institutions to hand out other home loans. Under the Clinton administration, in an effort to make it easier for low-income and minority families to own homes, they began easing the credit requirements on loans they would purchase from banks and other lenders. In short, they began buying up subprime mortgages. Lots of them.
Clinton, to his credit (although he doesn’t put any blame on his own shoulders) told ABC News last month that Democrats have been, for years now, “resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was President to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac” (video here — relevant section is at the 2:45 mark).
One of the efforts Clinton is referring to is the hearing on Capital Hill in 2004 to investigate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s bookkeeping. Republicans worried about what would happen if Fannie Mae failed. They wanted stricter regulations. Democrats maintained it wasn’t needed. It’s edited by someone who is very pro-Republican, but here is a YouTube video that nicely summarizes what went down.
Why were Democrats resistant? Well, one reason is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have contributed heavily to the campaigns of the lawmakers who support them. Some of these are Republican, but most are Democrat. One of them is Barack Obama, who, according to the Federal Election Commission, is the second largest recipient of contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 1989 despite the fact he was not elected to the Senate until November 2004.
By 2007, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owned or guaranteed nearly half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market. As we all know, the subprime mortgage mess eventually blew up in everyone’s faces. It had a domino effect on the economy. Eventually, the government — both Republicans and Democrats — chose to bailout Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And now, the government’s trying to bail out the rest of the financial industry.
Of course, none of it’s helping the stock market one bit. My shrinking 401k account is proof.
I don’t like Clinton for opening up the can of worms in the first place. I don’t like Bush for being unable to push regulations through, and for being so gung-ho about this $700 billion bailout. I don’t like Obama for being in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s back pocket, and for being so gung-ho about this $700 billion bailout. And I don’t like McCain for being unable to get anyone on board with his proposal two years to again try to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and for being so gung-ho about this $700 billion bailout.
And I definitely don’t like how Obama seems to be successfully placing 100% of the blame for our current economic troubles on Republicans. There is plenty of blame for both sides to go around.
Obama’s padded wallet (thanks to Fannie and Freddie) might make him sit taller, but it doesn’t put him beyond reproach.
My head hurts.
Yeah! I don’t have anything else to add at this time.
They’re not placing blame 100% on the Republicans - they’ve single out Bush all by his lonesome. This cracks me up beyond all reasonable thought, since Bush ain’t got enough brains to blow himself up with, but he masterminded all the ills America has befallen these past 8 years. And of course, we have to completely ignore the fact that (just like they state point blank it was going to be a while before we see the effects of the bailout), the economy as a whole really does not react on the drop of a dime and all of this crap is reverberations from the economic policies of administrations dating back to Carter. Oh, oh, oh, we also have to completely ignore the fact that the economy, JUST LIKE THE ENVIRONMENT, is not only cyclic but self-correcting. So the more they meddle, the more significant the correction is going to be.
I have to snort at all the bone heads who believe that the Great Depression was suffered only by Americans, or who believe that all the money floating around from The Roaring 20s was apparently sucked up into a big vacuum or eaten by the sock-monster residing in the dryer…. The GD was GLOBAL. The same amount of money was still THERE, it was significantly devalued and just not circulating. DUH. And now…. read the headlines: Bailout in America. Bailout in Germany. Bailout in France.
Gee, I WONDER WHERE THIS IS GOING? Buncha friggin morons.
PS: Love the post, Kev, IT’S SO AWESOME. I tell ya, buddy, you can come guest post at my place any time you want. Can I have your babies? ROFL
What kills me, too, is the fact that the Dems are all blaming Bush and pointing all fingers in his direction like it’s some great conspiracy he has contrived, and completely ignoring the fact that he DID try to stop the downward spiral before it got so bad a bailout was necessary - and now look. I still don’t think a bailout is necessary, but apparently the majority of D.C. does because now look where we’re at. The economy’s still stalling, the DOW is still crashing, and people are even more p-i-s-s-e-d-o-f-f.
And anyone who thinks B. Hussein Obama is the one to correct the problem is going to be sadly mistaken when they find themselves living in a refrigerator box on the side of the street after he’s taxed the crap out of them and taken away their freedom of speech, just to add insult to injury. I say, anybody who can take an honest look at Cuba and Venezuela and says to themselves “That looks like a fun way to live” - then be my guest and vote for him. Because that’s what the good old U.S. of A is going to look like once it’s no longer the “USA” and is the “United Socialist Republic of America”. But hey, “USRA” has a nice ring to it, right???
Oh yeah -
Erin :: That’s how I feel sometimes. My head starts to spin after a while. “Agreed and ’nuff said.”
Angie :: I’m in agreement with you. The more they stick their muddy fingers in the problem, the worse it’s going to get. Like you said - cyclical. It doesn’t help that half the people trying to “help” are benefitting from the problem in the first place. Makes you wonder who you can trust anymore.
And…hate to break it to you, but Kev’s already promised me his babies. I’d be willing to bet he could squeeze out a guest post for you one of these days, though.
@Erin: I take it “yeah!” means you liked it? If yes, thank you. If no, it was all Allison’s idea.
@Angie: Glad you liked it! And I would love to write a guest blog for you sometime. Just let me know a general topic you’d like me to tackle and I’ll see what I can come up with. As far as having
yourmy babies, I’m afraid Angi is correct. I’ve already promised her that she can have my babies.@Angi: How many kids did we say? Three to five?
Kev :: I thought it was five to three???
Kev :: Also…….hopefully you won’t be having anybody’s babies, even mine….
See that’s the beauty of it: What(ever) floats my boat at any given time I happen to click NEW POST. Could be politics, jokes, stories about my babies (which I already have a herd of, BTW), or just whatever psychological diarrhea happens to ooze out due to lack of sphincter control. I don’t sit and think this crap up ahead of time. I just gooooooooo with the floooooooooooooooooow of my twisted and warped imagination! LOL
And I thought a family was 2.3 kids? I’m still trying to figure out that 0.3 thing, unless they’re saying each family is entitled to a hermaphrodite or something.
@Angi: Wait, I thought it was 17??
Kev :: Well at one point it was 32, also, but then I told you the only way I would agree to that is if we could split the difference. Then you told me that was scientifically and physically impossible, so I said no dice.
Okay, in that case, how about ten? It’s a nice, round number.
Kev :: If you can have half of them.
I’m afraid we both lack the necessary equipment required for me to have half of them.
How about ten, but I let you have total say in naming child 6 through 10?
@kev: I was quite ashamed of Bush and McCain for pulling a stunt like this. It’s all fine and good if the government notices that institutions are in trouble or trafficking in bad loans and it wants to let the people know about it. But government regulation and bailouts never fixes anything.
The free market just works. It’s the only system that is able to handle the whims and fickleness of human nature. Capitalism is the only economic system that is self-correcting, that rewards hard work, and that allows the have-nots to become one of the haves (all it takes it hard work–that’s the American dream people!). Try doing the latter with Socialism or that other scourge of the earth, Communism. What we don’t need is a bunch of politics-driven, vote-buying bailouts and programs jacking up everything for everyone.
@angi: A big amen, sista! In addition to Cuba and Venezuela, maybe those folks should do a study on the Socialist regime that was Nazi Germany, or the Soviet Union. Heck, we don’t even have to look beyond our own decade. We have China!
Socialism and to a larger extent Communism both put government in charge. The government says “This is the fairest way, dear citizens. We will make sure everyone gets their fair share. We will make sure you, who bust your humps in a mine gets the same as a guy serving up burgers in a restaurant. Leave it to us, your government. We will watch over every thing for you” Yes, yes, but my question would be “who watches the watchmen?”
Kev :: How about three or four or five, and I let you name two of them (with veto privileges, of course).
Josh :: No joke - Germany, Soviet Union, China…the list goes on. Ask the people living there if they’re happy. Is it a big shock people are trying to illegally cross our borders to get IN to our country? I have a feeling, before too long under B. Hussein Obama’s reign, blue blood Americans will be scrambling to get OUT.
And exactly - who watches the watchmen? Another thing to think about, with that way of life, what motivation is there for anyone to succeed at anything they do? Who needs to strive for a better way of life, who needs to work hard to be successful at a career, who needs to be anything but lazy and wait around for their government check each month? Obama wants to cut taxes for 95% of Americans but fails to tell us that that includes the people that don’t pay taxes in the first place - free money for them. America is currently the land of opportunity - for EVERYONE - but that won’t last long under a Socialist/Communist government. Never has, never will.
Yes, only soft-headed liberals buy Obama’s line that it’s all the fault of the Bushies. Who was minding the store in the 1990s when all of this began to snowball? Clinton and the Democrats. It’s very amusing.
If I lose my job, I will sign up to be a Reconciliation Auditor. I want to liquidate the people who caused this.
Marvin :: I think we’d ALL like that job right about now.
Okay, I guess I can live with three-to-five children. But if you get veto naming privileges on the two kids I get to name, do I get veto privileges on the kids YOU name??
Kev :: Nope.
How is that fair?
Kev :: Have you ever heard the phrase, “Life’s not fair and then you die…”?
So, your plan is to unfairly give me no real say in the naming of our children, and then I die?
I don’t like this plan.
Kev :: I’m sure we can find some names we agree on. How does Tiffany strike you?
Why, that’s my favorite girl’s name. How do you like Sylvester for a boy?
Kev :: LOVE it. See?? We agree.
What do you think of Brittany and Dominic?
Kev :: PERFECT. Hating your own children is highly underrated these days.
Agreed!
And for the last one, I’m torn between Superfly and Bobby Jo. Do you have a preference?
Kev :: How about SuperBob?
I like how you think. Perfect.
Yep. Word, bro.
McCain *holds nose*/Palin *fluffs hair, checks lipstick* ‘08
Wow. When you cranky blog, you don’t mess around.
I know that I like to blame George W. for everything, but I’m not stupid; I know one person couldn’t possibly. I just say that to irk people. lol
This was a very good, thought provoking post, Kev. Kudos!