Back in 1999, Senator Phil Gramm, John McCain's campaign financial advisor, sponsored legislation that destroyed the firewall between the financial institutions and the investment firms. This, as we now know, was a huge mistake and led to much of the nightmare that we are now experiencing. This legislation was passed by a Republican controlled Congress, and unfortunately signed by President Bill Clinton. If McCain becomes president of this country, we can count on more of the same deregulation and corporate greed-feeding policies that brought this country to the brink of financial collapse.
Deregulation has long been the tune sung by Republicans, especially Reagan and George W. The idea being that if everyone is looking the other way, then the greedy Wall Street types can get away with murder, destroy companies for profit and send jobs overseas. "Greed is good," we heard in the movie Wall Street by the slimey Gordon Gecko played by Michael Douglas, and the Republicans have done all they could to feed that insatiable greed that real life Wall Street has had. But it has finally come to roost and laid a enormous egg of debt, right at the feet of us taxpayers. And it will be sitting there for our children and their children's children.
I don't like what greed has done to this country. McCain and his 7-10 homes and 13 cars. Who in heaven's name needs that many homes and cars? Obama has one home and one car. That is someone I can relate to and who I feel that I can trust to look out for the middle class workers. A man who helped the steelworkers on the southside of Chicago, who had lost their jobs when the steel mills were shut down. That's a man who understands the workers and their needs.
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Comments: 18
Gramm's gutting of Glass-Steagall was a big help to the present crisis. Some of that New Deal stuff looks good in retrospect. :)
It doesn't say much for McCain's judgement that he chooses Gramm for his financial advisor and Sarah Palin for his vice president.
Three of our Managers/Directors went to India and Malaysia last week. Hmmmm...wonder why?
Obama / Biden '08: Bring the jobs home to the US. Pay a fair wage for a fair day's work.
Green industry jobs, tech jobs!
Boo-YAH!
Enjoy. More of McSame.
Wilka
This time around, many in the public sector will be the victims of corporate and individual greed, and our lives are impacted in ways we cannot control. The elected president will inherit a dire financial situation, and neither candidate is a superhero that can save us. One reason is that this problem is systemic. Yes, I agree that McCain and Gramm may have precipitated the financial firewall, but did we, the public sector, participate in the decision making as well. President Clinton thought it was a good idea. Why don't we blame him? We can blame the government for not instructing us to use less debt and save more. But the ultimate student is us. We are the "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." We need to take individual responsibility and say, "I'll find a better job, and cut up my credit card, and save more!" I can't wait for the Central Bank to fix MY problem.
I will not get bent out of shape about who did what to whom. I will pray for our leaders, and support their good decisions, not immoral ones. No matter who gets into the White House in 2009, a tough road lies ahead for him, just as FDR was left with fixing the "irrational exuberance of the 1920s."
Looking back, it was hard to experience the layoff. It turned out to be a crucial point in our lives as we understood what Proverbs 22:7 says, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." We turned our financial live around 15 years ago, and vowed never to borrow money, and get on a program to pay off debt to become debt-free. We have financial peace that few people can understand. I am not interwoven with credit filled debt ridden lives of some consumers.
I do appreciate personally the hardship that many families are going through now as I counsel many financially distressed families. There is a silver lining to this economic turmoil. You are in control of your own destiny. This is the time to have a strong faith. God blessed me in so many ways, and continues to do so. He is wiser than any of us put together.
If you receive a big tax refund every year (more than $500) from IRS, then change your W-4 at your payroll department. Increase in allowance number (like changing from married-2 to Married-4), you'll take home $33/week more if your income tax bracket is 25%. That a lot of french fries..
During the election season, one of the big lies repeated endlessly by the rightwing wind machine was that the mortgage crisis was a recent event related to Freddie mac and fannie mae.
In fact, the roots of the problem lie far deeper, in the "free market fundamentalism" of the Reagan regime.