This is interesting -- especially in light of Pelosi's blaming of the Republicans for the current economic crisis.
See also Thomas Sowell's new column. Hard for me to know how seriously to take the whole thing. Is the sky falling or isn't it?
Weston at 2
1 week ago
8 comments:
It is super hard to know. Super hard. It would suck if the non-bailout people are wrong (and we have a serious economic meltdown) and it would suck if the bailout people are right (and we throw a HUGE chunk of money uselessly at a problem). I wish I knew what to think. These are crazy times.
Funny- Obama said today that those people who voted against the bailout need to 'step up' or something... but he ran down to prep for the debate and told his fellow senators to give me a call if you need me...
that's really stepping up if you ask me. Dems could have passed it if they wanted, I think they want the economy to remain in this uncertain state so 40% or whatever didn't go for it. Obama is for some reason benefiting from it right now and going up in the polls. WHY?? All of those people lying or being completely dumb about the looming threat in that youtube video are Obama's buddies and advisers. So it makes alot of sense to trust him and his corrupt friends to fix the problem they've been hiding and profiting off of.
But clearly, it's Bush's fault. Bush lied, people died, and anything bad thing that happens for the next 100 years on this planet are his fault.
frustrating doesn't begin to explain the situation.
I'm not sure how this is Obama's fault. But I don't know that I want to hear the explanation.
What about how McCain "paused" his campaign to help...but kept running ads...and giving stump speeches...
I say that this is a situation that our country has gotten in to because of greed and maybe even too much deregulation (not blaming a party...). I just don't know what the best way out is.
most people don't want to hear anything negative about Obama. it's true, the guy's bullet proof.
I don't disagree that there's plenty of blame to go around, gluttony is all over the place. But the concept of free homes and giving loans to people with no money was, i think, largely one supported by dems and their supporters.
McCain's move was most likely political, to look like he's working for the people. I don't really care. At least he's willing to get in there and try instead of just stand around and watch from a distance, bossing people around and giving speeches about how we need to work together.
sorry Court, you didn't want to hear an answer.......sorry everyone.
Newt Gingrich, who I think is a genius, mentioned something about an accounting problem called the "mark to market" law or process currently imposed on companies. If the administration made some immediate changes to that function of business accounting, it would at least stop the bleeding and possibly prevent a huge bailout being necessary, according to Newt. There are some other short term bandaids and maybe some fixes that won't cost the tax payer so much and reward corruption. Why don't they try out those things first before using so much tax payer money? Wouldn't it be great if we could trust our government to do the right thing for us? I don't like this rush for the 700 billion. Maybe someone can explain what the "mark to market" stuff is about.
Here's a link to Newt's solution. Makes me think there are better ideas and solutions out there than the bailout, or at least to compliment a smaller bailout...
http://newt.org/tabid/102/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3755/Default.aspx
Christian (and all reading),
I love you. But I'm just trying to be fair. I'm trying to give both candidates a chance and also be realistic about both. I know Obama has plenty of flaws. So does McCain. I'm not convinced about how to vote. Maybe events over the next couple weeks will help me figure it all out.
Newt's explanation is pretty good. The whole mark-to-market requirement was the regulators' attempt to "fix" balance sheets that failed to show the decline in value of assets, leading investors to believe the company was worth more than it really was. The current problem seems to be significantly an unintended consequence of the last "fix." Hence, my belief that the problem is not necessarily too little regulation, but perhaps too much.
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