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Obama and the Economy:
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The only way they can hope to make higher payments is to have a higher income. Do they? Maybe, but maybe not. Or, if they do have a higher income, they've also got more debt, with more monthly payments, because that's just the nature of the current American middle class financial mindset: "Age-old standards of banking prudence got thrown out the window. In their place came harsh new regulations requiring banks not only to lend to uncreditworthy borrowers, but to do so on the basis of race. These well-intended rules were supercharged in the early 1990s by President Clinton. GOP members of Congress in 1992, Clinton pushed extensive changes to the rules requiring lenders to make questionable loans. [...] Failure to comply meant your bank might not be allowed to expand lending, add new branches or merge with other companies. Banks were given a so-called "CRA rating" that graded how diverse their lending portfolio was. [...] In the name of diversity, banks began making huge numbers of loans that they previously would not have. They opened branches in poor areas to lift their CRA ratings. Meanwhile, Congress gave Fannie and Freddie the go-ahead to finance it all by buying loans from banks, then repackaging and securitizing them for resale on the open market. That's how the contagion began. With those changes, the subprime market took off. From a mere $35 billion in loans in 1994, it soared to $1 trillion by 2008." |
Wait just a doggone minute here! The law that started this subprime mortgage snowball was passed by a Democrat-controlled Congress, and signed into law by Democrat President Jimmy Carter? Yep.
And extended by Democrat President Bill Clinton? Yep again.
So, now how do you feel about electing a Democrat to "clean it up?"
But wait, there's more!
"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." |
What about Barack Obama and the Economy?
But wait -- Barack Obama's a relative newcomer to the political realm. What involvement could he possibly have in this? I'm so glad you asked!
"As they grew, heavily involved in "community development," giving money to local housing rights groups and "empowering" the groups, such as ACORN, for whom Barack Obama once worked in Chicago. Warning signals were everywhere. Yet at every turn, Democrats in Congress halted attempts to stop the madness. It happened in 1992, again in 2000, in 2003 and in 2005. It may happen this year, too. an estimated $140 million on lobbying Washington. They contributed millions topoliticians, mostly Democrats, including Senator Chris Dodd (No. 1 recipient) and Barack Obama (No. 3 recipient, despite only three years in office). 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."
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So, while you watch those TV clips of Nancy Pelosi, Barney Franks, and Barack Obama blaming the Republicans for the Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac debacle, just remember that they pocketed nearly $175,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie and Freddie.
And remember that every time the Republicans tried to reign in Fannie and Freddie, it was a Democrat-controlled Congress that stopped them. For the past two years, while the country has experienced the largest foreclosure crisis in its history, we've had . . . yes, you guessed it . . . a Democrat-controlled Congress.
It's time to throw the bums out! Each and every one of them. We don't need more of the same from the Democrats. That's what created this mess. That's not change we can believe in!
It's time for some Straight Talk, and some real Washington reform.
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