Bush’s Speech On The Economy

What a monkey that guy is. Duh, OK George...should we PANIC and RUSH to a HASTY decision about a colossally important retooling of our very nation in order to facilitate your hand puppet (McCain) getting back his numbers in the polls? Your BLACKMAIL and FEARMONGERING are falling on deaf ears..

Nope. Nada..... *yawn*

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me..

OMG- Steve Clemons is right on the money. This only an emergency because a controllable situation grew out of control. Now some huge omnibus of a bill with all kinds of loopholes and unforeseen consequences will be rushed through both houses of congress.

The fact that the situation now requires this kind of drastic action and the requisite expansion of power again given over to the executive tells me that this is a president incapable of taking the small steps necessary to provide stability --- one who waits until the whole shebang blows up in his face and then hammers the rest of us with the need for accountability . Congress, Paulson and the Fed also have let this thing mushroom out of control.
We have known for at least a year that free-flowing credit was going to end up costing us bigtime--- but now its an emergency that must be settled by Friday! Why?? For years we were told that homeownership was the bedrock of our prosperity- in tough times we were urged to go shopping. The American people are now in a situation of mass extortion --- we are the ones who will pay for our own government's inaction.

Congress once again is being forced into a vote BEFORE a critical election that has the potential to effect every American's way of life and standard of living.

If you lit a match, but neglected to call the fire dept or use the fire extinguisher on the wall until your entire house was burning-- whose fault would it be?

Yes, Americans have been living beyond their means, but our leadership should be encouraging saving and modesty in spending habits. Unfortunately, we no longer make anything-- we only consume. And we are the biggest market for products made in China and the third world where labor and environmental conditions are abysmal and product safety laws are weak or nonexistent.

Why has so much money been invested overseas-- but so little in our own country??? Why are we not urged to invest wisely, conserve resources and live within our means? Easy credit has turned out to be a deal with the devil, and another legacy of the Bush administration that the next generation's prosperity will be handicapped with.

I already said all that needed to be said, last night right after the speech. There was nothing new or interesting in it.

There's no need to rush to approve this bailout plan and the fact is there is no need for any kind of bailout. It's certainly not an obligation of any kind and not to be expected or even demanded.

K., easy credit has been around long before Dubya came to Washington.

And though too many people deny it, responsibility for the situation of distressed borrowers lies primarily and almost exclusively with _them_, not the lenders. The talk we hear from the Democrats about wanting to bail out homeowners to keep them in their homes is not just threatened moral hazard, but a moral outrage (and transparent loser-vote-buying). Trying to rationalize or justify it by saying that it ought to be done if executives in the financial institutions will be helped by the bailout is not a valid argument. And it certainly doesn't erase the wrongfulness of federal support for squatters. For those who have forgotten or rejected morality,

TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT.

And though too many people deny it, responsibility for the situation of distressed borrowers lies primarily and almost exclusively with _them_, not the lenders.

Lenders are supposed to analyze the finances of people they are lending to. They're supposed to be reasonably sure they'll make the money back.

It's not the job of lenders -- or _government_ -- to be other people's _parents._

Where the lenders are first and foremost the object of suspicion is where they may have actually committed fraud (misrepresenting the nature or terms of the loans they were offering, say), and as I wondered about a few weeks ago, now we have learned that the FBI is starting to investigate these firms. (As I also openly advised the execs -- plead guilty now, hope for a Bush pardon in January if you cooperate.)

I suppose deliberate negligence skirts the line between the worse fraud and the side of the line (85%+ of cases, at least, I bet) where the borrowers are at fault.

I'm actually glad you wrote, Chris. Because I had you in mind as early as last night. It has to do with how I suspected Bush might approach this economic situation vs. how he approached something else. Bush said nothing new and it was, if anything, a disappointing speech. But at least when stating disaster lies ahead if we don't act, he didn't refer to a mushroom cloud this time. [grin]

I'll leave readers with this -- poor Mr. Paulson. (Look at that comment timeline!)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122229650055473...

DLS- Yes that's true-- but it has been the prevalent economic condition of the last 8 years. And I noticed a huge difference in the mortage loan we took out in 1990 and the one we signed up for in 2004- both in interest rates and in loan requirements.
Even the loan terms themselves have become almost too complex to comprehend- that should have been a red flag in itself.

We're Like a balloon filling up with too much air- then panicking when its about to bust.

It's not the job of lenders -- or _government_ -- to be other people's _parents._

No it's not. But if the lenders want to lend to people with no money, then we should let them go out of business when they don't get that money back.

If taxpayers are going to essentially guarantee their loans because these companies are so damn big, then they should be forced to make good loans.

DLS- W didn't say the words, but the effect was just the same--what a legacy this guy will have!

It's not the job of lenders -- or _government_ -- to be other people's _parents._

True-- but the minimum trust level that should exist between consumers, lenders and the government has been violated. A certain amount of confidence has to exist in the markets or people will stuff their mattresses!

I've got to side with ChrisWWW on this. If a friend comes to me asking for money, and I happen to have the information at my fingertips (say, for the purposes of this analogy, other friends who have lent them money) that that person is unlikely to pay me back, yet I insist on lending to them anyway, aren't I then the idiot who made a bad loan? In other words, of course the borrowers have some culpability, but the lenders do too, yet only one of these groups is getting a bailout.

Nobody comes out with clean hands after this.