Stifling my effort at demonizing McCain and Bush …

Brian points out:

… 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. …

Two links he had me check out:

Still, the current under-regulation of GREED in the USA started in earnest with Reagan. Continued under Democrat Jimmy Carter. Slowed somewhat under Clinton. And, most to blame, are the two Bush administrations.

… Who’s most likely to fix it now?

McCain?

I think not.

Must be the sites I visit. I NEVER see a good comment for John McCain online.

Here’s a typical attack on him, supposedly by a private citizen.

Slightly more balanced is another private citizen’s video comparing the two lead candidates for President in the face of the current economic crisis.

One more bit of propaganda for Obama: Economists Support Obama Over McCain By More Than 2 to 1

James Quinn is senior director of strategic planning, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He posted a very gloomy projection on Prudent Bear:

The 6,000 sq ft McMansion buying, BMW leasing, $5 Starbucks latte drinking, granite countertop upgrading, home equity borrowing days are coming to an end. …

… the tremendous prosperity that began during the Reagan years of the early 1980’s has been a false prosperity built upon easy credit. …

I have been accused by many of my friends and family as someone who sees the glass as half empty. I disagree with their assessment. I see the glass as it is. I find myself scratching my head trying to figure out why a society that always saved for a rainy day, consistently saving between 8% and 11% of their disposable income, now has a negative savings rate. …

In the past, the USA could have grown economically out of this kind of debt. That time is over.

… the gathering storm has arrived. It will be long, painful and destructive. Those who prepared for the storm by not taking on excessive debt and living above their means, will ride it out unscathed. Those who built their house on sand by leveraging up and living the “good” life, will see their house swept out to sea. The storm will pass and we will rebuild. Our country is resilient. …

There has been and will be resistance to the inevitable deep recession that is coming. The American consumer is not cutting back willingly. They are being dragged kicking and screaming towards the joys of frugality. The “material generation” needs to dematerialize. My biggest concern is that our politician leaders and their cronies running our government will continue to try and reverse the normal capitalistic course of recession and expansion. Companies need to fail, housing needs to find its bottom based on supply, demand and price. Those who gambled must be allowed to lose and suffer the consequences. …

It’s worth reading the entire impassioned post: The Great Consumer Crash of 2009

The USA must leave Iraq as soon as possible, whether they want to or not. The war has already cost each household about $20,000. From the graph above, it’s obvious families cannot afford this war.

Why anyone would want to vote for McCain — who wants to stay in Iraq for as long as it takes — is beyond me.

Obama may also be unable to soften the economic blow, but at least there is a chance with him.

Let’s say you believe the War on Iraq was justified. And that U.S. security has been improved by the occupation.

How much are you willing to pay to secure your safety?

… Stiglitz, former chief economist of the World Bank and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has stated the total costs of the Iraq War on the US economy will be three trillion dollars in a moderate scenario, and possibly more in the most recent published study, published in March 2008. Stiglitz has stated: “The figure we arrive at is more than $3 trillion. Our calculations are based on conservative assumptions. They are conceptually simple, even if occasionally technically complicated. A $3 trillion figure for the total cost strikes us as judicious, and probably errs on the low side. Needless to say, this number represents the cost only to the United States. It does not reflect the enormous cost to the rest of the world, or to Iraq.” …

Wikipedia

Via an excellent 60 Minutes TV investigative report.

related – The cold price of hot blood – Salon

I’m not a goofy enough peacenik to believe that the USA should have done nothing after 9-11. Sadam Hussein was a modest threat. I’m not 100% against the invasion, even.

But it should have been a one-time military strike. Disabling the Iraqui airforce. Removing Sadam from power.

Perhaps 3-4wks tops. A fixed budget.

… However, the real reason for the Iraq invasion was for the USA oil industry to gain more control over the second largest proven reserves in the World. That hasn’t really worked out for them.