Economic Woes?

[bolverk]

Source of Article

In spite of some of the obvious problems, it seems McCain was actually correct when he said, "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Of course Obama, being the progressive he is, took no time in attacking the statement. To bad many economists are more on the side of McCain's point of view then Obama's.

The funny thing is, neither candidate has as much market experience as President Bush, or the person Bush put in charge of the Treasury, Secretary Henry Paulson. And, the last quarter actually had a 3.3 percent growth rate, which was up from the growth rate of 0.9 percent in the previous quarter.

I think the weakness of the economy depends on which sector you are in. Right now, the financial sector is going through a major correction, which we will just have to ride out to its conclusion.

[The Big Dog]

The fiancial sector is being lined up to take it's medicine for the excesses of the mortgage industry, pure and simple. And it certainly has it coming considering the quality of many of the loans it guranteed in the go-go housing market. The bills for all that are beginning to come due.

Then lo and behold, Penny Pritzker's name surfaces again....

The Best Congress Fannie Could Buy

[subdjoe]

I heard one comment on the radio to the effect that all this is just the hangover from the frat party economic excesses of the past decade or two. All the big risk, big gain, short term stuff that has been going on.

[saunterelle]

Give me a break! The deregulation enacted by Republicans over the past 8 years is the primary cause of this mess!

[bolverk]

Really saunterelle, I say it is the sub-prime lending schemes. And we all know who had their hands in that.

[The Big Dog]

Sept 17, 2008 2:18:14 GMT -5 saunterelle said:

Give me a break! The deregulation enacted by Republicans over the past 8 years is the primary cause of this mess!

Horse apples. This entire mess was set in motion in the early 1990s when the entire "sub-prime" market was first opened. Read the linnk I posted above. The boards of Fannie and Freddie made the policies, largely in a regulatory vacuum. Regulation, in many cases, never existed to de-regulate, but I'll give you an "A" for getting in the typical "it's the Republican's fault" pitch.

BTW... nice to see you back in and pitching.

[bolverk]

saunterelle, just so you are aware of what law was used to deregulate the industry and who signed it, here is a link to the Depository Institutions Deregulation And Monetary Control Act of 1980. Wow, that isn't Reagan, Bush, or Bush in that picture now is it. And those are not Republicans standing around him, now are they.

I quote from The Evolution of the Subprime Mortgage Market which you would do well to read, "Many factors have contributed to the growth of subprime lending. Most fundamentally, it became legal. The ability to charge high rates and fees to borrowers was not possible until the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA) was adopted in 1980. It preempted state interest rate caps. The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act (AMTPA) in 1982 permitted the use of variable interest rates and balloon payments."

Yep, before you point fingers at Republicans, and blame people who were not even in office at the time, you should do a bit of research. Like I have been saying all along, the Democrats are most responsible for our subprime lending meltdown, and it is a Democrat for President who has one of the chief engineers of the schemes on his payroll. Penny Pritzker, subprime guru.

[bolverk]

Oh yeah, and you might want to read How Congress Helped Create the Subprime Mess. Please note, both the Congress of 1980 and 1982 were controlled by the Democrats.

[bolverk]

Sept 17, 2008 2:18:14 GMT -5 saunterelle said:

Give me a break! The deregulation enacted by Republicans over the past 8 years is the primary cause of this mess!

If you are going to fault the Republicans in Congress, make sure you fault them for their inaction to fix a problem created by a Democratically controlled 96th United States Congress of 1980, with a 277 to 158 majority in the house and 58 to 42 in the Senate, and the Democratically controlled 97th United States Congress of 1982, with a 244 to 191 majority in the house but a minority in the Senate of 53 to 46.

Of course, the Republican Controlled Congress under Bush was a narrow majority that ranged from 10 to 12 members, unlike the 96th and 97th Congress, which had majorities in the range of 53 to 119 members. So, in reality it was a bi-partisan mistake, not a Republican issue, as you claim. And, the reality is that the Republicans have never had the majority that the Democrats had, ever in modern history. So, to blame the Republicans for anything is really just a fairy tale put forth by the Democrats to gain control again.

So, my conclusion, after looking at the history is this. The subprime lending scheme was put forth by Democrats, perpetuated by Democrats and continued through a bipartisan inaction to fix the problems created by Democrats. History proves me right.

[mrroqout]

Nice work on the links and research Bolverk.

And now...........Saunterelle will go MIA again until the sting subsides

[bolverk]

The Make up of the House of Representatives since 1960 by Congress Number

Congress #	Democrats	Republicans	Majority	Amount	Rate	President
86	283	153	Democrats	130	64.91%	Eisenhower
87	263	174	Democrats	89	60.18%	Kennedy
88	259	176	Democrats	83	59.54%	Johnson
89	295	140	Democrats	155	67.82%	Johnson
90	247	187	Democrats	60	56.91%	Johnson
91	234	192	Democrats	42	54.93%	Nixon
92	255	180	Democrats	75	58.62%	Nixon
93	245	187	Democrats	58	56.71%	Nixon
94	291	144	Democrats	147	66.90%	Ford
95	292	143	Democrats	149	67.13%	Carter
96	277	158	Democrats	119	63.68%	Carter
97	244	191	Democrats	53	56.09%	Reagan
98	272	163	Democrats	109	62.53%	Reagan
99	253	182	Democrats	71	58.16%	Reagan
100	258	177	Democrats	81	59.31%	Reagan
101	261	174	Democrats	87	60.00%	Bush
102	270	164	Democrats	106	62.21%	Bush
103	258	176	Democrats	82	59.45%	Clinton
104	204	230	Republicans	26	53.00%	Clinton
105	206	228	Republicans	22	52.53%	Clinton
106	211	223	Republicans	12	51.38%	Clinton
107	210	222	Republicans	12	51.39%	Bush
108	207	227	Republicans	20	52.30%	Bush
109	202	230	Republicans	28	53.24%	Bush
110	235	199	Democrats	36	54.15%	Bush

I put this table up to remind saunterelle and Mink, when they talk about the thin majority they have, just how big of a majority they had and for how long. The Democrats where at the wheel when they drove us to where we are. The thin majorities the Republicans have had is nothing to judge them by, as Mink and saunterelle are kind enough to remind us during this congress.

So, the next time one of us hears that the Republicans are responsible for our problems, we only have to point out that most of our current problems stem from a time when the Democrats had broad majorities in the House of Representatives.

I can include the Senate, if you would all like to see it as well.

[bolverk]

Sept 17, 2008 14:24:25 GMT -5 mrroqout said:

Nice work on the links and research Bolverk.

And now...........Saunterelle will go MIA again until the sting subsides

Thank you sir.