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Throw the Bums Out!
For the last few days, I’ve been writing about risk and responsibility. Specifically, I’ve tried to point out that individual decision-making played at least some role in setting up this current financial crisis.
Some seem to think I’m saying that the borrowers are the primary problem in all this — but that’s not it. What I am trying to point out is that although lenders certainly own a big chunk of the responsibility, one cannot place all the blame on them.
There is, in fact, a third player in all of this that not only set the entire situation up, it’s now doing its very best, too, to deflect focus onto the lenders: our government. And it’s not just the executive branch; this third player, upon whom most of my ire is focused, includes Congress, too.
They’ve been asleep at the wheel, people, and the bus has gone off the road.
Me, I think we need a whole new set of drivers come November. Our Constitution is forcing a shift-change on the executive branch this year, but the incompetents in the legislative branch also need their licenses pulled.
We need to throw the bums out.
Cross-posted from Polimom Says…
9 Responses to “Throw the Bums Out!”
[...] Cross-posted to The Moderate Voice. [...]
I think your comment is interesting, Polimom . . . as it seems reflective of public opinion I suspect.
I have not commented on the economic crisis, as it is very unsettling. I suspect there is a lot of pent up frustration and anxiety out there.
The polls seem close now, but it may break out before the election. This has happened before, when the public makes a commitment to change, after some hesitation. I think of Reagan-Carter in 1980.
Thus, I think this favors Sen. Obama. Congress is another matter. They have been appalling. A lot of conservatives want to punish the Congressional GOP in particular for their piggish ways.
“In 2007, Wall Street's five biggest firms– Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley – paid a record $39 billion in bonuses to themselves.” ABC's Political Punch — I say no Bail Out!
AND
Sen. John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/us/politics/2…
More McCain Hypocrisy! I now understand why McCain who has been Chairman of the Commerce Committee for years says he knows very little about the economy, the one truth he has been honest about, because it has always been about Corp. first, only and last! And for those who think we will not have another Bush/Cheney Whitehouse if McCain gets elected, please be advised that McCain has 10 former Bush strategists and operatives working and advising him now. They are: Steve Schmitt, Tucker Eskew, Tracey Schmitt, Nicole Wallace, Mark Wallace, Stephen E. Biegun, W. Taylor Griffin, Matthew Scully, Greg Jenkins and Mary McDonald, which spells McCain-Bush all over again!
[...] some great thought on the subject: The Moderate Voice Time-Swampland Economists View Hullabaloo and as always – Memeorandum – for a great roundup of news [...]
The problem with Congress is that voters want to throw out the reps for other districts.
Image what is going to happen in the future when the Democrats are the only relevant political party, Instead of voting on issues, people will have to keep returning their current Senator or Congressman since power will come from seniority. If people get made at their Congressman in the coming one party state, voting him out of office means being represented by a freshman Congressman who will have to wait decades to get the earmarks and government spending.
In a situation where too many people who make $20,000 a year were given mortgages on houses costing $400,000 there is plenty of blame to go around. I think what Congress and voters should focus on accountability and economic justice. How many people who devised these schemes to make money on worthless securitized loans will walk away while taxpayers foot the bill? Home ownership is the strongest engine in economy has an it has made the US a titan in the world and we should do all that we can to protect that but I think we must learn from our mistakes and make sure someone gets fired. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Read the details of The French Revolution.
You will be utterly stunned at the identical political climate and triggers to exactly what is transpiring right now in American politics. The similarities are so stunning..even to the little details… that I had to read the link title twice to make sure I wasn't reading the front page of The New York Times..
The French Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_French_Revolution
Since I complained about your other post, I'd like to agree with you on this.
The Congress has failed to do it's job properly. Even more specifically, I blame the Senate Democrats.
I'm for dumping Harry Reid from his leadership position. I think the number two guy is the other Illinois Senator (I can't remember his name and don't have time to look it up) and he also has to go. And whoever the number three guy is: hasta la vista, baby!
If Obama wins, Nancy Pelosi has two years probation. If Obama loses, maybe she ought to resign as well.
I'm aware of the notion that Senate Republicans have done nothing but obstruct legislation. More than that, I agree it's true. But the Republican discipline has been awesome. Awesome. It's too bad they can't perform on policy like they do on politics.
There has been no effort to make a case for anything from Harry Reid. I presume he presumed the Democrats would just skate on through. I presume they all thought it.
They should have been out there, providing an alternative. A coherent argument in favor anything, anything, any old thing at all, would have been better than what we've gotten.
[...] Polimom says that we should throw the bums out of office and points out Congress’ failure to conduct their oversight responsibilities. That’s an excellent idea, of course. If only it could really happen. But given the tweedle-dee vs. tweedle-dum choices we have, real change is impossible. [...]