I’ll let the financial experts figure this one out. But, like you, I find it irritating that we are going to get stuck with the bill for financial greed and excesses by Wall Street. I hope the debate takes place tomorrow night (or at least soon thereafter). This is just the time we need to hear potential leaders talk about how the crisis came, whether or not regulations are appropriate, and what the way forward is.
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I’ve been catching up a bit from comments over the past few weeks. Oh, my! The post with over 200 comments has to be the most comments for the least amount written (in the original blog post) I’ve ever had in the 5+ years.
Some of the fun is fading from blogging. It’s been a good five year run. Let’s try it just a bit more.
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It’s almost play-off time, and two of my four teams (Angels, Red Sox . . . not the Cardinals or Rangers) are in. Part of me would like to see one of them face the Cubs in the World Series.
Yes. But part of you also has to be hoping that the Rays make it to the big dance as well. OK, maybe not, but that’s part of me. Actually “not in part but the whole.”
I’ve been blogging a lot about the financial situation in the last few weeks, so I won’t repeat my whole argument here. Suffice it to say that bailing these companies out is going to be bad news if we actually do it. It’s like putting a band-aid on a stab wound and then not going to the doctor to fix anything.
I’ll tell something we can do about this mess. Throw ALL the bums in Washington out. Every single one of them. Let’s have a clean sweep and give someone else a try.
But we won’t do it. We all complain about the government, but we continue to send the same incompetent politicians back every election cycle.
Nothing will change (even if the messiah is elected) unless we have the courage to start a mini revolution and make some much-needed changes in our government.
Washington held out their hand and held their noses when a few (and I really mean a few) corrupt mortgage brokers, realtors and Wall Streeters looted our U.S. home finance system. In the mid-1980’s - a few greedy land-barons did in our savings and loans. The common thread is greed and D.C. power.
Does it really mean anything to label someone “greedy”, as if that is some kind of a character flaw. We are all greedy! If you doubt that you are, then go to a third world country and compare what you have: You could sell all . . . but you won’t because you are greedy.
It is in our nature, programmed into us. We can’t be anything else! It is how we have survived as a species for so long and it is how we, as individuals, live from day to day. Being ungreedy can literally kill you.
Maybe the problem is that the rest of us are just covetous of what they have–I guess that is only natural, too. (Maybe these silly labels just don’t work, eh?)
There’s another common thread, though, KentF; living beyond one’s means is now considered an entitlement.
If the rich get to live in $500,000 homes, then I ought to be able to do so, too, no matter how vanishingly small my down payment will be…If the government doesn’t guarantee me that “right,” then it’s just being discriminatory against those of us who haven’t, in Dick Gephardt’s memorable phrase, “won at life’s lottery.”
If a recession is the price we have to pay to get some sobriety back in our collective thinking about “entitlement” and what it portends for our nation’s fiscal health, then perhaps it’s a price worth paying. We ought at least to debate that - instead of taking it as an article of faith that avoiding a recession is self-evidently just.
BTW, Mike, if you wanted to maintain the enjoyment of blogging, you should have started writing a blog that’s neither interesting nor charming. (Like qb’s!)
LOL,
qb
Angels/Cubs sounds okay. Angels/Dodgers sounds better, but only because the Dodgers are so much worse than the Cubs. Actually, Angels/anyone is okay with me.
(resisting urge to respond to first blog topic)…
GO ANGELS! We’re gonna win another World Series.
You are correct qb - that is the downfall of Freddie and Fannie. No or low downpayment on that $500k home, and stretch it out ove a 40 year mortgage if you can’t stomach the payment.
Might it not be a good idea to reward those that DO pay their bills, that DO buy a house within their income limits, that DO pay taxes and go to their workplace each and every day. Would it not be a better idea to actually call to accounting those that reach out beyond their means and insist on “rights” that are not guaranteed either by our Constitution and certainly not by our God. He has promised to take care of us, to see that what we need will be covered, but He certainly didn’t say He’d fill every want and desire we have, to the contrary.
As far as what Washington is going to do or not do in this crisis, we all know they will do that which gives them the highest approval or what will give them the most glory as they look to their next election cycle.
I’m one that believes we should have term limits and no reelection; President and Senators 6 years, House Members 2 years with one reelection. Maybe they’d get down to OUR business and not so much THEIR business and personal glory. Oh, I know. I can just hear all the “but…” - nevertheless, it CAN be done if we so desire. But it’s a struggle to get people to vote every four years - can you imagine if it were only once every 6 years? Oh, well. I still can dream on.
I would love to see the Cubs vs. Red Sox in the World Series. I am a Cubs fan, and if have to pick an AL team it would be the Red Sox. There are so many similarities between these two clubs. I hope the Cubs will get their’s just like the Sox did a few years ago.
Did I read that correctly? Were you saying you’re a Red Sox fan? How dare you!
I hope you don’t quit blogging just yet! I love keeping up with “events from home” through your faithful blogging!
Jeff and Kathy, I’m with you. Current political/leadership status…boo!!! We need something radically different. And it’s not on either ticket this year.
If you want to know how the crisis came–listen to the conservative radio talk “shows”. The very people who are clammering for more oversight are the very ones who took millions of dollars from Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and resisted the efforts of President Bush and conservative congressman to institute more oversight. Where we are today was predicted by those who wanted to do something. Check out how many times over the last decade that liberal congressman blocked reform. Also, find out which current presidental candidate is the third highest taker of funds from Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac.[Hint-he has been in Congress the shortest time of any takers of such funds]
Don’t quit blogging:)
Where is the outrage?
By Garrison Keillor
Sep. 24, 2008 | It’s just human nature that some calamities register in the brain and others don’t. The train engineer texting at the throttle (”HOW R U? C U L8R”) and missing the red light and 25 people die in the crash — oh God, that is way too real. Everyone has had a moment of supreme stupidity that came close to killing somebody. Even atheists say a little prayer now and then: Dear God, I am an idiot, thank you for protecting my children.
On the other hand, the federal bailout of the financial market (YAWN) is a calamity that people accept as if it were just one more hurricane. An air of crisis, the secretary of the Treasury striding down a hall at the Capitol with minions in his wake, solemn-faced congressmen at the microphones. Something must be done, harrumph harrumph. The Current Occupant pops out of the cuckoo clock and reads a few lines off a piece of paper, pronouncing all the words correctly. And the newscaster looks into the camera and says, “Etaoin shrdlu qwertyuiop.” Where is the outrage?
Poor Larry Craig got a truckload of moral condemnation for tapping his wingtips in the men’s john, but his party proposes to spend 5 percent of the GDP to buy up bad loans made by men who walk away with their fortunes intact while retirees see their 401K go pffffffff like a defunct air mattress, and it’s business as usual. Mr. McCain is a lifelong deregulator and believer in letting brokers and bankers do as they please — remember Lincoln Savings and Loan and his intervention with federal regulators on behalf of his friend Charles Keating, who then went to prison? Remember Neil Bush, the brother of the C.O., who, as a director of Silverado S&L, bestowed enormous loans on his friends without telling fellow directors that the friends were friends and who, when the loans failed, paid a small fine and went skipping off to other things? Mr. McCain now decries greed on Wall Street and suggests a commission be formed to look into the problem. This is like Casanova coming out for chastity.
Confident men took leave of common sense and bet on the idea of perpetual profit in the real estate market and crashed. But it wasn’t their money. It was your money they were messing with. And that’s why you need government regulators. Gimlet-eyed men with steel-rim glasses and crepe-soled shoes who check the numbers and have the power to say, “This is a scam and a hustle and either you cease and desist or you spend a few years in a minimum-security federal facility playing backgammon.”
The Republican Party used to specialize in gimlet-eyed, steel-rim, crepe-soled common sense and then it was taken over by crooked preachers who demand we trust them because they’re packing a Bible and God sent them on a mission to enact lower taxes, less government. Except when things crash, and then government has to pick up the pieces.
Some say the tab might come to a trillion dollars. Nobody knows. And Mr. McCain has not one moment of doubt or regret. He switches from First Deregulation Church to Our Lady of Strict Vigilance like you might go from decaf to latte. Where is the straight talk? Does the man have no conscience?
It wasn’t their money they were playing with. It was yours. Where were the cops?
What we are seeing is the stuff of a novel, the public corruption of an American war hero. It is painful. First, there was his exploitation of a symbolic woman, an eager zealot who is so far out of her depth that it isn’t funny anymore. Anyone with a heart has to hurt for how Mr. McCain has made a fool of her. Never mind the persistent cheesiness of his attack ads. And now this chasm of debt and loss and the gentleman pretends to be shocked. He was there. He turned out the lights. He sent the regulators home.
Mr. McCain seems willing to say anything, do anything, to get to the White House so he can go to war with Iran. If he needs to recline naked in Macy’s window, he would do that, or eat live chickens, or claim to be a reformer. Obviously you can fool a lot of people for awhile and maybe he can stretch it out until mid-November. But the truth is marching on. A few true conservatives are leading a charge against the bailout. Good for them. But how about admitting that their cowboy economic philosophy was at fault here?
Keillor’s a funny guy, but he’s in over his head when it comes to politics. His condescension toward a very capable, bright, accomplished - and yes, down-to-earth - woman, Governor Palin, is beneath contempt.
qb expects Keillor to lean far to the left - that’s predictable enough, and probably harmless as far as it goes - but is he really as mean-spirited as the last two paragraphs indicate? qb didn’t think so, but now he’s not so sure.
It’s also rather humorous - a riot, really - to hear a leftist suddenly express concern for the self-evident fact that so-called “government money” is actually the citizens’ money. Where was that razor-sharp insight when Obama laid out his plan to squeeze us for even more money to fuel his cynical, redistributionist agenda?
qb
qb,
It’s not just ultra-liberals who are coming to the conclusion that McCain has gotten Palin in over her head, for example:
Kathleen Parker
http://tinyurl.com/5yob4s
Rod Dreher
http://tinyurl.com/3u578k
Boy, it’s easy to see where this discussion is going. I would just note it’s equally easy to be brilliant in hindsight and to point fingers and lay blame with the benefit of said hindsight. Both parties will blame the other; the truth is both bear their fair share of responsibility. Keillor can accuse McCain, but it’s an incredible stretch to pin it on any one person. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken money from Fannie, Freddie and their ilk, have turned blind eyes or just plain not understood what was happening and have had opportunities to speak out. That works for all of us, though. I work in an industry where we’ve been able to see some of the excesses first hand. We’ve talked about them over the past couple of years, but you won’t find any letters from me to newspapers or elected officials warning of what we saw. Could have, should have, didn’t–probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway, but my conscience would be clear.
Recrimination is fairly close to a total waste of time at this point anyway. What’s the scope of the problem? What is the best way to fix it? What happens if we don’t fix it? Can we fix it in a way that the solution isn’t worse than the problem? It would be nice to think we have representatives in Washington who could work together in dangerous times to find pragmatic, effective solutions. Perhaps it will still happen. I hope so. Once again we are reminded, though–earthly kingdoms will fail. During this time of stress, may our citizenship in a heavenly kingdom be a light to those around us. If we don’t have economic solutions, may we be evidence of spiritual answers.
Wall Street is to blame for this mess but so is everyone of us who ran up credit debt that we knew we could not pay for.
—-
It does not matter what American League team plays in the World Series this year. When it is all said and done we’ll be singing “Hey Chicago, what did you say, the Cubs are gonna win today! Go Cubs go, go Cubs go…”
-Rex
I find it funny that when people express indignation toward the taxpayers footing the bill for Wall Street’s foolishness, they say it like poor people are giving money to rich people. I’m not a proponent of the bailout as I understand it (though I’m hardly qualified to make a judgement). But, can we not for a second acknowledge that the vast majority of this money being handed to these corporations actually came from them and their shareholders in the first place. I’m not saying any of this is good but let’s at least recognize who has skin in the game.
wow - well said oldguy!
What’s wrong with the Red Sox, Amy:)
I think the bad economy will effect how Christians spend their time and money. Giving may go down and effect missions. We need to remember that God does come first. We need to remember that no matter how bad the economy gets that God is in control. As scripture says, “I have never seen the righteous forsaken….needing bread.” God always provides and gives his people what they need. I have seen it in my life so many times. It is my hope and prayer that we as believers will continue to put God first and live committedly during this time economic depressions.
Well said preacherman. Along that thread, two different missionaries in different parts of the world have mentioned to me that staple food prices have sky-rocketed since the US has started embracing ethanol as a method to save the planet. I haven’t heard hardly any mention of how we are effectively stepping on the back of the third world to save the planet for ourselves. Point being, the income that missions were seeing is already not going as far as it was. Now is not the time to cut your giving to these efforts. If anything we need to increase them.
qb,
Have you heard Palin in any of her 3 interviews… I want to think that she is bright, but she is clearly not able to articulate a position, or to withstand tough questions.
I am a democrat (now), and I was embarrassed for Sarah Palin, especially on her interview with Katie Couric.
I’m with Rex….
Go Cubs Go.
Eamus Catuli
By the way, if you look at 3rd order wins for the Pythagenport, the Angels are the 6th best team in the AL. In other words, they are a statistical anomoly and are probably the worst team in the playoffs. But who knows…
I have a comment awaiting moderating that points out that it isn’t just ultra-liberals who think that McCain has gotten Palin in over her head. I linked to Rod Dreher’s beliefnet blog and the article by Kathleen Parker that is appearing everywhere today. I won’t include the links this time in hopes of avoiding the spam filter.
I never watch TV interviews with the media, whether it’s “my guy” or “the other guy.” I don’t watch TV debates, either. Since I became eligible to vote and voted for the first time (Reagan, in 1980), I have become increasingly convinced that those events are unserious. As a general rule, they tell us more about the medium (and the celebrity doing the interview or the moderating) than they do about the candidate(s). So I can’t stomach watching them.
I’ve been watching Gov. Palin for quite a while now, since long before McCain picked her for VP. My dream tickets, among the early candidates, were Thompson/Palin or Romney/Palin. I’ll have to settle for McCain/Palin, I guess.
qb
I think you should watch the interviews. She is clearly unable to answer simple questions. Whether that is because she is ignorant, or because she differs dramatically with the McCain party line, is to be seen. I’d like to think its the latter, but I’m afraid its the former.
I guess being the governor of Alaska doesn’t require much. Fooled all those rubes didn’t she? Tip O’Neil referred to Ronald Reagan as an “amiable dunce”. In the end, I think history will prove O’Neil wrong as well as those critics of Gov. Palin.
I am sad to say that I haven’t heard either of the candidates during the debate so far addressing the question of what initiated the economic meltdown - and therefore how to apply a solution that will resolve it.
Both seem to be on board with a bail-out - though with different conditions attached to it - and both seem to be evasive to Jim Lehrer’s question about how profoundly a slowed economy will affect the first weeks and months in office of the new President.
I am very disappointed.
In a manner of speaking, I’m glad there are such low expectations about Gov. Palin and the upcoming debate. I’ve a feeling she has a surprise awaiting her naysayers, Sen. Biden and her previous inept interviewers, all three of ‘em.
Dittos, K. Being “misunderestimated” is a really great place.
The expectations surrounding BHO, on the other hand, were sky high, and qb’s not altogether sure he has been able to deliver. The emperor’s court is walking alongside, marveling sycophantically at his fabulous clothes, but…
qb
With all the talk about Palin I guess none of the peole on this blog caught the Biden quote that when the stock market crashed in Oct 1929 FDR got on TV and calmed the nation. Only problem is TV was experimental at the time and FDR didn’t take office until 1932. So, looking at Justins comment I guess Biden is just … not smart?
The national debt is up to nine TRILLION dollars at this point. That’s also a lot of billions.
cigi,
Do I need to criticize either side every time I make a point? Biden says ridiculous things all the time. Everyone knows about it. Its not news.
That’ being said, misstatements are one thing. Not being able to put together a coherent sentence when asked a question, a question mind you that she be able to be answered by a VP candidate with more than an “I’ll get back to you”.
Her interview was so ridiculous that SNL actually used long verbatim quotes in their sketch. And it was funny.
I really wish that people would be intellectually honest, on both sides of this. Pretending that things are different than they are is unbecoming of anyone.
I heard Palin spoke of how “hard” Katie Couric was on her during the interview . . . Life is hard. And so is being the VP. If she can’t handle an interview, what hope do we have that she can handle the position? I have no hope that the republican ticket can help me at all. Quite the contrary.
Belinda,
You have no room to criticize Palin. If there’s anyone more opinionated, and less knowledgable, and more prone to talking points, its you.
“I have no hope that the republican ticket can help me at all.”
What is it that you need help with? I’d reference JFK, but it seems too cliche now.