Banking Crisis

[Uncle Bill]

No one has commented on the piece. It was about responsibility the CEO's of these companys failed to take and the peril we face if they remain in charge. Placing blame on one party or another is futile at this point. There is plenty of culpability for both parties. We need now to move on and fix the problem instead of pointing fingers. Here is the link:http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02132009/watch.html

You just don't get it do you COTTS...or whatever your name is. No sane person is going to G-A-S what Bill Moyers or any of those communist sympathizers have to say on Public TV. Same goes for your other idols in the socialist camp. So take your link and stick it where someone might care, and all your toadies can commisurate with each other.

Man O man, this bashing is fun. Just think, only 3+ years left. Gotta admit, DOING the arse kicking is lots more fun than being on the other end the past 8 years.

UB...just PO'd because Obama only gave Sodak 30 pieces of the pie, and Henry in the Peoples Republic of Minnesooooota got 335. Does that even us up now Henry????

[DarrinGreene]

Maybe the democrats should talk about their manipulation of banks with “Fair Housing Accessibility” legislation and how “home ownership is an American right”

Sad truth is banks were making the loans the Gooberment required them to make by law.


Now how did that affect the banking business? Oh yeah...pretty much caused the failure...now why do the Dems get a free pass on this one? I forget.....

Simple, sandwich a Republican President in the middle for two terms and now one remembers the actions of the previous Democraps who started the landslide in the first place.

There are far more factors than the Community Reinvestment Act and the Financial Streamling legislation (Clinton) to consdier though, not the least of which is 911. Shame of it is that 911 could have been prevented by a Democrat too...

And now we're going to close Gitmo and let the terrorists go free...

[Franco]

Good or bad, that is why we have the Sarbaines-Oxley Act. If corporate CEO's, Brokerage Houses or any corporate officers of publicly trade companies are falsifying the books, that law is there to protect consumers/investors. Their saleries and bonuses are set by the board of directors and that infomation is available to investors. Don't like the upside of their potential salery, then don't buy any stock in it.

What we have is the destructive policy of those in DC with nothing constructive to do other than to buy votes. Our Congressmen buy votes via handling out entitlements. Point being, our financial mess is due to the idoits running our county and not the smart, creative and schrewed CEO's with vision.

The former CEO of Freddie/Fannie did steal, lie and basically hid under the sheets with Barney Frank. They both should be prosecuted!

[Marvin S]

At no time and in no place did I agree with the stimulus (stimulus 1) as proposed and enacted by the Bush administration. I didn’t agree with his passage of prescription drugs. I didn’t agree with his border policy.

Like you, I did not agree with prescription drugs, but you have to join or be hung out to dry when you have no insurance. The stimulus & mexicanization are just Bush's moderate side showing, & is is no better than his Dad. Rockefeller Republicans are somewhat elitist just a little less so than Roosevelt Democrats.

I loved his hard line with the UN and his appointment of John Bolton. I was completely on board with his invasion of Iraq. I was completely on board with his invasion of Afghanistan. I am completely on board with the debt that is needed when the nation engages in and wages war.

I believe that to be an investment for the future of our offspring. Notice that with Iraq working well there is no longer any mention in the mainstream media. Just criticism for the corruption in Afghanistan.

As far as no bid contracts go, I believe all administrations have used them. I believe the current administration will use them as well. I have no problem with them.

I would like to hear from someone who has a workable idea. These large companies that have the skills in place to do any job are not a dime a dozen & if you check their public records, they are not exactly waxing fat.

Now as to banking rules for home ownership, if you ask me, derivative type products like interest only shouldn’t be allowed, even balloon payments shouldn’t be allowed. Home mortgages should be conventional loans only. But anyone that reads this that knows anything about finance will say rules like that limit the average homeowner/buyer to an onerous set of restrictions that are not fair to them and limit their options. In addition a strict set of criteria should be applied to the ability to pay the mortgage back. If Frank and Dodd were doing their job those rules and restrictions would be in place.

It was a failure of the parties in power, mainly the D's, who failed to have policies in place to deal with the problem. Fairy Tale Financing!!!

Now on to war: I was adamantly against installing that dictator Aristide in Haiti by Clinton. I was and am ambivalent to Clinton’s actions in Serbia/Kosovo. As an action to show and demonstrate solidarity with our allies it had a place. But in all honesty, I didn’t really care very much about what was happening there. I chuckled at the bombing of the aspirin factory. I was on board with Clinton bombing Iraq although if Bush one had finished the job, none of this would have been necessary.

Clinton says - if he had been in charge we wouldn't be facing the issues we are today. Like Carter, he just can't shut up. They had their chance & muffed it.

An overview of a few things I believe as a citizen of the United States, how our nation should be run and how we should use our power.

I think you will find many like yourself, we just need a party that will articulate that message.

[Vicki Worthington]

Throwing $500, $600, $1000 at each and every taxpayer (or not) in the US didn't fix the problem. Keeping $8 each month more of your paycheck won't either. Ditto throwing several billion/trillion at the banking industry under the auspices of TARP didn't put liquidity back into the banking system.

Bottom line, Americans are overspent, overtaxed, and overwhelmed! Continuing to live beyond our means is what got us into this mess! It starts with the "little guy" who overuses his charge card, transfers outstanding balances to a new card, runs up the first card again, and the treadmill continues. It goes all the way to Wall Street and the whiz kids who thought the bad stuff would never rise to the surface.

It starts with the expectation that you "deserve" to "own" a house even though you don't have the wherewithall to make the payments. Sure some folks lost jobs unexpectedly which threw them into a tailspin, but even those people were overextended.

Whatever happened to having to have 20% down--that's 20% of the price of the house--to qualify for a home loan? Whatever happened to minimum incomes to qualify even for a Federally subsidized home loan? What happened to maintaining safe ratios of debt to income? Nothing changed except the desire of builders to keep building in an over-saturated market; bankers belief that credit is easy and should let the money flow; and activists beliefs that poor people should be given what they can't afford because other people who can afford it have things they want--entitlement.

You are entitled to the right to pursue your dreams. You, me or anyone else is not entitled to have them conferred just because we want them!

More spending? I think that will put a bandaid on an arterial bleed! We need to shore up our resolve, work through the hard times--not spend through them--and return to the values that set this country apart from all others--personal ingenuity and a work ethic! We need to maintain 6 months expenses in the bank or other source as readily available cash in the event of adversity. We need to live within our means. We need to work for a living, not expect it to be handed to us.

[Uncle Bill]

Comes now the truly sad news, Vicki. Even if you DID do all you say, keeping your own house in order, as many RTFers did I'm sure....we are still gonna get clobbered. The printing of all the $$$$$$ needed to pay for those that didn't give a damn about where it all was leading, and I place the politicians at the head of that list, the money you have saved is soon to become as devalued as your real estate.

That's the part that chaps my rear so badly. I considered myself rather frugal, but my losses via my investments will be minimal compared to what my money will be able to buy shortly. Just look at what is happening:


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDEe0Ai6lTM)

God help us all. I recall my Dad telling me about his folks going through the Germany devaluation...incredulous stories of wheelborrows full of money to buy basic groceries. We are just into the beginning of the real hurt of what our government is doing to kill this democracy. The sheeple of the nation have brought it to it's knees, and I don't think it will be returning to anything like it's prior self in my lifetime.

UB

[Franco]

UB, not only is that video compelling, watch the one under it by Peter Schiff!

Obomonomics is financial suicide.

[Bob Gutermuth]

UB I have some of the German inflation money from after WWI. Its scary to see notes for 1 Billion Reichmarks and think that a wheelbarrow full of them wouldn't buy a loaf of bread.

[Vicki Worthington]

UB, I couldn't agree more.

I guess my rather lengthy point is that since fiscally responsible people didn't get us into this mess, perhaps the non-fiscally responsible should get us out--absent any taxpayer dollars!

My investments are a scarry sight. I hate to contemplate how old I will now have to be to retire. It may be safe to say they will simply cart me from my office on a gurney as retirement is now impossible.

[Goose]

Eventually the government will take your IRA, SEP, 401, 403 or whatever retirement plan you have. They'll replace your money with an IOU similar to social security and promise you an income stream when you retire. You won't have a choice.

Extreme leftist-progressives don't think it's fair that you have money saved for retirement when the less fortunate among us don't. It's only fair you give up some of yours for them. Obama says we need to spread the wealth around. That includes your retirement plan.