George W. Bush called for a comprehensive overhaul of the housing finance industry on September 10, 2003, with a new agency under the Treasury Department to monitor and regulate Fannie Mae.

Republicans had controlling majorities of both the House and Senate from 2003 through 2006. A republican President was in the White House. Bills were introduced. Each was sent to committee, where nothing at all was done.

How can no meaningful action throughout the course of the 108th and 109th Congresses be entirely the fault of a disempowered democratic minority? It seems to me that somebody must not have been trying very hard.

http://uspolitics.about.com/od/usgovernment/l/bl_party_division_2.htm

Like or Dislike: 0  0

[...] And some other previous posts: Follow the Money! McCain Ad Hits Obama on Financial Crisis Financial Crisis a Democrat Scandal [...]

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Blame it on one party or the other…simply ridiculous cant either way. The problem lies in deregulating financial institutions during a period of extreme transformation of markets and technologies providing end user financial products. When one slices and dices ‘bad’ debt, packages it as a ‘sure’ thing, you still have junk in the end. Now we have a conservative republican administration ‘socializing’ free market bad debt for the American public to pay off for decades to come. Seems oxymoronic…but the only moron in the word are those that believe there is a fundamental difference between the Democrats and Republicans when it comes to Wall Street. Next time perhaps we should have enlightened regulatory controls in place before we ‘allow’ the Street to spit out garbage to engender wealth. Regardless of our politics we have all been pigs feeding at the ‘tranche’

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Songbird: Those are only facts in your mind.

I’ve examined nearly every poll that has been published the last few weeks and Obama only cracked 50% in one poll for a couple of days after his convention. His average overall has never done so:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html#polls

Besides, the only poll that matters is the one taken on election day and I’m getting a little tired of you people creating some reality in your minds and then screaming when the truth smacks you in the face.

Your Xenophobic comments toward Craig are out of step with your candidates own stated views that we need to embrace others from around the world.

Get with the program.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Play nice? I stated a few facts. Was my comment offensive to anyone?

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Woohoo! I’m one of Songbird’s under 45 Americans, and no…I do not support Governor-err, Senator Obama. Many people do, but it is not clear that it’s a majority. Were it clear, then the race wouldn’t be so tight. In fact, Obama SHOULD be way ahead in the polls given the state of the nation, Bush’s low approval ratings, seven years of war, mass media crush on Obama, and so forth, but he’s not. It’s neck and neck. That’s because Senator Obama cannot make a good decision. The first Presidential decision that someone makes is their VP pick, and instead of choosing Sen Clinton-who half of his party supported-he choose Senator Gaffe-o-matic Biden who had 1% of his own party’s support, and none of America’s. Now, we can distract and talk about Governor Palin, but the point here is that Senator OBAMA cannot pick a VP. Obama’s theme of HOPE and optimism is gone now as the man, his surrogates, and his campaign can’t say 5 words without making a distracting jibe at Senator McCain or Governor Palin. His theme of CHANGE has been tossed out the window with every new attack ad ala old school politics rather than the new type that he promised. Obama’s claimed to oppose the war, but voted to keep it going, then secretly asked the Iraqis to stall it ’til he could be elected so he could use it as a campaign issue. He made DOZENS of campaign promises in his acceptance speech, promised everything for everybody, and then has no way of paying for it. He wants to tax investors more despite the investment crisis. He wants to tax small business owners (most of whom make more than $250k and employ 50% of the nation) while at the same time demanding those same small business owners hire more people and pay more. His foreign policy is the same as Bush’s, and all he’s got left is his ability to use a teleprompter and his unwavering obedience and unquestioning partisanship of his supporters. This man could very well lose the election that Democrats have no excuse for losing, and it’s because he’s just a used car salesman, a snake oil doc, a spinmeister, an actor pretending to be President; a man who is no longer inevitable.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

Songbird,

I looked all over this blog and went through the list of authors twice.

Guess what?

Your name is not there.

You can play here if you play nice. However, while you are with us you would be wise to remember that you don’t set the rules.

In short, this is not your sandbox.

***

The “majority” of Americans want Obie to be President?

Really?

An “overwhelming majority” of people under 45 years old want Obie to be President?

Really?

Anyone under 45 is a future American?

Really now?

Finally, presidential elections in America are not decided based on the popular vote.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

McCain just held a $50k a plate din-din in Miami following his own Beverly Hills fundraiser a couple weeks ago. No biggie. Just don’t throw bricks in glass houses.

Craig, worry about your own country. And stop questioning American’s patriotism because they have a different opinion. Believe it or not, it is the majority of Americans who want Obama to be president. And more importantly, an overwhelming majority of people under 45 years old (yes, the Americans of the future) that want Obama to be president. Hopefully, the popular vote wins this election.

Like or Dislike: 0  0

According to the New York Times, Democrats blocked Bush’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reforms so low income people with bad credit could buy houses.
”These two entities -Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, and the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee.
http://strategicthought-charles77.blogspot.com/2008/09/democrats-blocked-bushs-fannie-mae-and.html

Like or Dislike: 0  0

It’s pretty clear from the Democrat party hacks who ran Fannie Mae and ran off with millions of dollars that it’s a Democrat problem. That and the top Fannie/Freddie contributions going to Democrats is enough for me.

It’s pretty clear that listening to Rush for a few hours is enough for you. You’re just regurgitating talking points on a complicated crisis that goes way beyond Freddie and Fannie. I’ll pay you the courtesy of assuming you’re not really this ignorant.

Like or Dislike: 0  0