It just seems like yesterday that Sykes was crowing about how the stock market was on the verge of breaking the 14,000 barrier. He was putting all the credit on George Bush's economic policies and the big tax breaks for the rich.
Today, after the Dow Jones has dropped more than 800 points in the last three days, and is opening at 10,600, even Sykes has to admit that the economy is falling apart. Somehow, he fails to see the relation between the economy now and Bush's policies.
Could it be because McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time? Could it be that McCain has morphed his economic policy to be the mirror image of Bush's?
Of course, we can't expect that type of intellectual honesty from Sykes. That's why we are here.
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Sorry, but the current economic problem started way before Bush. It starterd in the Carter years and has been getting worse and worse with each administration and congress. there is much blameto go around, including the Democrats, especially Barney Frank, Chuck Schummer and others.
ReplyDeleteNo party is innocent, so please read some history and stop making the simplistic kool aide drinking line of "It's Bush's fault"
The subprime mortgage crisis and Wall Street meltdown have nothing to do with Jimmy Carter. If any group of people is "drinking kool aide", it is those who persist in defending this administration in the light of dismal and dangerous failings on virtually every front.
ReplyDeleteThe banking industry with regard to Wall Street was deregulated in 1999 thanks in no small part to John McCain, who boasted that he was a deregulator, until about two weeks ago, when he metaporphisized into a regulator.
Subsequently, two years ago, banks and their credit card wings lobbied and got passed toughened bankruptcy laws so that they could increase charge card rates to 30% on cardholders and the cardholders had no way to obtain relief. Actually, if Dan had said Joe Biden was a major player in this fiasco, he would have been correct.
Mortgages were also used as money making products by the banks. Comsumers were given low teaser rate loans which quickly escalated to 9% to 13%. This was pure greed on the part of banks and wall street, who joined hands and raked in money hand over fist for years.
Of course our President didn't have his eye on that particular ball since:
A. Raping the consumer and taxpayer is page one of the administration handbook. See Blackwater...and...
B. We had our eye off the ball looking for those darned elusive weapons of mass destruction in Iraq...and...
C. Bush wasn't smart enough to see what was happening anyway, if he had wanted to intervene before, you know, everything went to hell.
Now, after the profits have been taken, the yachts upsized, the cash stashed, the inevitable happened, everything crashed. Now we are asked to "bail out" Wall Street to the tune of 700 billion because, I guess, if we don't everything will be bad, as opposed to how wonderful everything is today. That is Bush's idea, Dan, and it is a bad one, unless it calls for all the cash made in the past five years to be returned, all the yachts sold, all the mansions liquidated.
You see, Bush doesn't believe that rich folk should be held "personally responsible" for their actions, only poor folk should.
So if John Q. Citizen sees his home interest rate change from a reasonable 7% to a rate of 13% which is supported by no economic mandate...if he sees his credit card balance increase from 6% to 30% with no economic underpining reason, and then he goes bankrupt, why John Q. Citizen was "irresponsible".
If the fat Wall Street cat who made windfall profits for years off of numerous "John Q. Citizens" suddenly sees his house of cards fall, mortgages become worthless, home values plummet, and fat Wall Street cat doesn't have liquidity to play his Wall Street games, then HE needs John Q. Citizen to come bail him out in the form of 700 billion in tax relief.
As I finish writing this, Belling is on his radio show making a case for Bush as one of the greatest Presidents in history.
And Dan, you say we are drinking the kool aide?
-Soft Words and Broad Swords-
One final point. It may be argued that Bush was a friend of taxpayers because he cut taxes. It may be argued thus, but it is not true.
ReplyDeleteA tax cut without a balanced budget is NOT a tax cut, it is a tax deferment.
All the Bush tax cuts have done is defered payment of our taxes to our children, plus interest. Add to that the cost of the Iraq war, which add to the budget deficit, which means our children will pay for that too. (Um, not to mention the lost of American lives and Iraqi civilian lives, the loss of American goodwill throughout the world, and the little tidbit about America now being documented as a nation which condones torture)
Now add the cost of bailing out AIG and other firms, which, since the budget is not balanced, will be paid by our children.
But we are not done yet. Add to that a 700 billion dollar bailout of firms and individuals who have been greedily raping the consumer for years, and it doesn't take a financial genius to determine that the Bush administration will be the most disasterous for future generations in history.
Of course, Belling has no children to worry about. His focus, like Bush's, is gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, now now now. What does he care if the next generation has to pay for the Bush tax cuts and economic policies? For Belling, there is no next generation.
The rest of us, fellow citizens, have to have a somewhat broader perspective.
-S and B-