The U.S. may have to borrow an extra $700 billion to $1 trillion to fund the biggest rescue of the financial system since the Great Depression, according to Barclays Capital Inc.’s Michael Pond.
Federal takeovers of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and American International Group Inc.; the central bank’s expansion of lending to financial firms; and a slowing economy will add $455 billion to the Treasury’s borrowing needs, the New York-based interest-rate strategist estimated. …
U.S. Debt May Grow $1 Trillion on Rescue, Barclays’ Pond Says
What more can the Republicans do wrong before voters are convinced the Democrats are worth a try?
Rick McCharles 
Yup, I can’t wait for those fiscally responsible Democrats to get back in. Then we’ll have the Social Security nightmare cleaned up (has either candidate even mentioned it?). And (this is a special bonus) we’ll also see extra carbon taxes to win the war against Global Warming.
Yup, chopbox. This.
This type of pointless partisan bickering is why the problems will never get solved. *Both* parties are to blame here. the core issues go back 40 years over numerous administrations. Neither candidate is even discussing solutions to this mess.
The Bush administration has been a disaster, but to think that an unfettered democratic congress is going to be good for the economy is naive.
Which was the governing party for several years prior to the Great Depression? I bet you can guess!
I would like to point out the following, taken from this IBD article:
*** Begin quote ***
But the fact is, President Bush in 2003 tried desperately to stop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from metastasizing into the problem they have since become.
Here’s the lead of a New York Times story on Sept. 11, 2003: “The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.”
Bush tried to act. Who stopped him? Congress, especially Democrats with their deep financial and patronage ties to the two government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie and Freddie.
“These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Rep. Barney Frank, then ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. “The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”
It’s pretty clear who was on the right side of that debate.
As for presidential contender John McCain, just two years after Bush’s plan, McCain also called for badly needed reforms to prevent a crisis like the one we’re now in.
“If Congress does not act,” McCain said in 2005, “American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole.”
Sounds like McCain was spot on.
But his warnings, too, were ignored by Congress.
*** end quote ***
and lest anybody think that it’s JUST the Democrats who have screwed up, recall that Lawrence Summers, back when he was Clinton’s Treasury Secretary, tried to get Congress to end Freddie and Fannie’s special status – including the implicit government-backing of their loan portfolio – and Congress howled.
Why? Because these guys were getting paid BIG from Freddie and Fannie. Here’s another quote from the IBD story linked above:
*** Begin Quote ***
The Clinton White House used Fannie and Freddie as a patronage job bank. Former executives and board members read like a who’s who of the Clinton-era Democratic Party, including Franklin Raines, Jamie Gorelick, Jim Johnson and current Rep. Rahm Emanuel.
Collectively, they and others made well more than $100 million from Fannie and Freddie, whose books were cooked Enron-style during the late 1990s and early 2000s to ensure executives got their massive bonuses.
They got the bonuses. You get the bill.
*** End Quote ***
Follow the money.
Embedding the link doesn’t work. Here is the link to the first IBD story:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=306632135350949&kw=Uncommon,Knowledge
and here is the link to the second:
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=307241242284619