Whose Side Is the GOP On?
Missed in the wake of the titanic battle over the president’s budget has been the reaction to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s plan for a public-private partnership to clean up the toxic assets still sitting on the books of many of the nation’s largest banks.
The Financial Times reports:
The liberal backlash against President Barack Obama has begun with many prominent left-leaning economists in the US attacking the administration’s plans to bail out the banks. Paul Krugman describes the toxic asset purchase plan as “cash for trash.” Jeffrey Sachs calls it “a thinly veiled attempt to transfer hundreds of billions of US taxpayer funds to the commercial banks.” Robert Reich depicts Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, as a prisoner of Wall Street while Joe Stiglitz says the plan “amounts to robbery of the American people.”
Liberals’ criticisms are three-fold. First, the public-private partnership which Geithner has devised is a huge taxpayer subsidy and get-rich scheme for hedge funds and financial institutions, which reap almost all the rewards and bear virtually none of the risk. Second, they observe that the scheme is unduly complicated and nontransparent — the same faults which contributed to the financial meltdown.
And finally, the critics claim that it is an end-run around the Congress and the Constitutional requirement for the legislature to appropriate funds. (All of this is to be financed through and by the Fed and without Congressional approval.) As the Financial Times notes:
Most of Mr. Obama’s liberal critics argue he should have gone to Congress already and asked for a lot of money for bank recapitalisation. His defenders say that would be political suicide until the populist mood on Capitol Hill has died down.
Yes, constitutional government can be frightfully inconvenient.
So the question remains: why aren’t Republicans crying bloody murder? After all, they like to be the party of strict Constitutional interpretation. And they are supposedly opposed to the bailout culture. It would seem to be an issue tailor-made for them, yet they have remained rather quiet.
” Republicans should be defending free markets and crying bloody murder over Geithner’s bailout plans. Why aren’t they?”
Would it be because they are part of Wall Street and recipients of the bailout money?
“The Republicans would be well advised to join the Left on this one and start attacking the Geithner give-away plan. If they don’t, they will sacrifice their political soul and miss a golden opportunity to get back in the good graces of the American people.”
Excellent point. Opposing Geithner on this carries few risks. I can’t recall a Cabinet secretary who has garnered so much dislike so quickly and for so many valid reasons.
Bloody murder!!! There, you feel better now Jen? Please do spare us from the phony outrage from the left. Krugman was “all in” for Carter/Clinton mortgage give-away bonanza that created the “trash” in the first place.
They’re just not very smart.
Because most Republicans, being “moderates”, are afraid of their own shadow, and won’t take a stand on anything unless it is against Conservatives. I will admit though, agreeing with leftists does give me pause.
They are trying to figure out how to say it without the media and the President screeching ‘all they do is say no’ Vivo, what do you think about the bailouts? Do you join your fellow dems in outrage? or do you continue to worship while the ship sinks
Big government Republicans are subconsciously hostile toward smaller businesses. Moreover, elected officials of all political persuasions are innately inclined toward corporatism. They prefer to simplify the campaign donation process. It is far easier to get huge donations from large corporations than many mom and pops. Also, the larger entities are far more able to provide them with lucrative employment opportunities once they leave the public sector. It really is that simple.
Republicans have been handed a “slam dunk” by Obama-Geithner and are wasting the opportunity not only to regain stature in the eyes of the American people, they are not doing what is best for their country. If this is the best they can do, we may as well just cede the country to the far left!
I’m thinking they’re going to let the Dems implode without any help. By saying nothing they do not run the risk of the Dems rallying around the bad plan. And who knows… maybe they’ll release an alternate this week with the details of their alternative budget.
I should also add that many people mistakenly think that the term “moderate Republican” merely means these individuals are left of center regarding the cultural war issues. As matter of fact, we can indeed normally assume these so-called moderates are pro-abortion. But that’s only the half of it. They are also most assuredly inclined toward a corporatist national economy. Their whole lives usually revolve around large corporations and big government entities. They want to be able to sit down with a small handful of elites and work out a deal. Dealing with the hoi polloi is deemed less rewarding and more irritating.
Whether the Republicans add their voices to the far left critics is something I’ll let other decide. It seems to me there is enough that offends so I would encourage everyone to offer up better ideas.
Some of the more notable modern day robber barons / pirates work in the banking industry. It needs to be reregulated and support that is given to them now should be for specific purposes and have some strings attached. Of anyone, the banks should be familiar with issuing and complying with these types of arrangements.
To be fair, there are a lot of smart, honest people who work in banks and we go too far if we equate them with the risk-seeking, opportunistic behaviors of some of their infamous leaders (the article in Rolling Stone is worth checking out). A lot of people got into banking because they wanted to strengthen their communities, not because they wanted to do “higher math”.
Anyone who has held a mortgage during the last decade knew that Wall Street and Main Street were thinking about home ownership very differently. My mortgage has been sold to several companies I would NEVER do business with and the current holder’s closest office is about 1000 miles away. Can I get them to give me a payment book? No, they told me that I was old fashioned and my mortgage was just like my credit card bill now. Can I get them to update information with my insurers and send the bills directly to me? No, not unless I’d like to pay an administration fee. If I would never have gone to them with my business in the first place, I do not trust them to pay my taxes and insurance on time (and they didn’t–they’d love me to refinance at a higher rate).
It is difficult for the Republicans and any dissenters to get their point of view heard, BHO is clearly trying to control the media to a level that the Pravda comments, made by people on this board and others, have resonance. The type of change BHO is peddling, if implemented, will turn us into “nanny state”.
My fundamental difference with the President is I still believe the American people can do more to keep us moving forward that the government. I believe in equal opportunity not in equal outcomes. This President, as much as WJC, has been given so many opportunities to better himself. To paraphrase his own words, in the country that made his story possible, will that same story be possible for others?
They are called ‘moderates’, RINOs, or inside-the-beltway repubs, but they are old fashioned progressive repubs. This goes back thru Bush and past Teddy Roosevelt. They want government taking care of people. Conservatives have lost the repub party and it is time to move on.
If the Republicans are not attacking Secretary Geithner’s scheme because they don’t want to offed Wall Street, they had better think again. Wall Street is predominately Democrat! Read Ann Coulter’s latest column: the statistics show that the folks on Wall Street gave much more money in the last election to Obama and his party than to the GOP.
This President has only one goal: to expand the scope of government as much and as fast as possible. He is not going to trifle with little matters like the Constitution or the finite amount of American taxpayer money available. He will spend as much as he can, as fast as he can, with as few controls as Congress will allow. The Geithner plan just as much as the multi-trillion dollar budge fits right into that overall program. The electorate are skeptical of this massive spending and government growth – if only the Republicans would lead in another direction.
They don’t speak out against it because republicans have long ago ceased being for the free market. That’s why they backed all of Bush’s big spending plans and helped increased the size of government drastically. Instead of getting us a more free market health care system, they did jack all and now we’re going to get the US version of britain’s national health service rammed down our throats by Obama. Thanks alot, republicans! Way to go! You screwed things up so bad under Bush that now Obama has free reign to enact any crazy socialist scheme he wants because he’s just continuing what Bush and Congress did in the last 8 years. What a bunch of pussies.
What’s more important, the Constitution or earmarks? The deafening silence will give you the answer.
Republicans, especially in Congress, are weak and cowardly. They will never do the right or necessary thing. It’s not that Mike Pence and Eric Cantor aren’t good men; they are. But there’s something about Congress that makes them ineffectual and always appear like beggars. The next great figure in the GOP will come from a governor’s chair or the military.
Forget help from Congress. There isn’t going to be any. And if Tedisco loses in NY this week it will be a hundred times worse.
From the article:
“Republicans err when they abandon conservative free market principles for partisan concerns. The party of free market capitalism, limited government and personal responsibility disregards those ideals at its own peril.”
True dat!
America is a very conservative country: twice as many Americans self-describe themselves as conservatives than as liberals. There is a deep well of conservatism waiting and eager to be tapped by a new Ronald Reagan.
The Republican Party made a major error in selecting John McCain as its candidate. If people wanted a liberal, they’d want the real thing — not a fake “bi-partisan” dud. [I greatly admire McCain's bravery as a P.O.W. But he has absolutely zero executive experience, and it must be admitted that he coasted into his Senate job based entirely on his P.O.W. status; he's never had to meeet a payroll, and he's never been an executive officer of a State -- or even of a village.]
A candidate who unabashedly stands up for conservative values — which are the values that made America great — would get the votes of those conservative voters.
Instead, voters were given a choice of 0bama, a Hugo Chavez-style Leftist — and a wishy-washy pretend conservative in John McCain. The election has taken America down the wrong path; the path of Euroweenie nanny-statism. 0bama and the DemocRats will certainly destroy one of the basic reasons for America’s influence in the world: our overwhelming military superiority. The number one goal of Leftists is the dismantling of America’s great military machine.
0bama’s plan to gut our military, by putting half the expense into his Brownshirts 2.0 version of an organization, which will be directly at odds with our military’s Constitutional mission, is just one of 0bama’s many plans to destroy what has made America a truly great nation.
But what else should anyone expect, coming from a far-Leftist who has absolutely zero executive experience, and who is eager to take the steps that will absolutely cause harm to our country? Being a “community organizer” [ie: a common rabble-rouser] is an insufficient experience for running the [formerly] best run country in the world; The Nazi puppet and convicted felon George Soros has shown conclusively that a relatively small amount of money, placed into the right pockets, can change the course of history. The great American system has now been gamed. And it’s all downhill from here.
Given the huge majorities that the Democrats hold in Congress and the Senate, what do you expect from Republicans? There is not much they can do or say about these matters. Furthermore, I think it is in their interests to patiently watch this president and his party implode. It will happen. This is going to be a weak recovery followed by inflation. It’s on him.
The Republican Party no longer represents economic conservatives. I view them as the enemy more so than Democrats, because at least Democrats are honest about what they support. Any energy we spend supporting or voting for Republicans is a waste, the destruction of our country is occurring so quickly that normal democratic means will not work. We have no political leadership, (except Ron Paul).
Republicans are getting out of the democrats’ way – this will pave the way to a huge electoral victory in 2010, and prevents Obama from playing his tired but useful victim card.
The Wussypants Republicans couldn’t find their butts with a 100 man hunting party! The Republicans in Washington are Democrats of 15 years ago (before DemonRats became open socialists). Michael Steele has proven to be another under gunned moderate disaster.
Remember the 3 R’s! Rid the Republicans of RINOs! This was discussed this week on Angry White Dude.
http://angrywhitedude.com/?p=1388
Oh, I forgot to mention that only a fool could not see the growing anger among conservatives. Surely Republicans in Washington know about the tea parties taking place in over 300 cities! When have conservatives EVER protested? This is a first! We are witnessing the dawn of a great change in this country. Conservatives will vote out RINOs and hold the conservatives elected in their place to a very high standard. We have simply had enough!
AWD
Republicans are equivocating about who to alienate, wall street or main street. They don’t realize they don’t get money from Wall street and George Soros who rules the Dems. Cash goes to normally wild spending Democrats. And Republicans don’t have blacks, are losing hispanics and half of the moderates. They’re afraid.
If Republicans would put their Values campaign on the front burner, everything else would fall into place. They’re afraid.
If they could get together on what they should do and be as a solidified group, they’d have the strength they need to attract people who are looking for a definitive set of principled canidates that fill a voter need. But, they’re afraid.
We need a fiscally conservative Repub and I agree that the RINOS need to GTFO. The middle-rode wussies who call themselves ‘repubs’ are just as bad as the whacko libs. Time for a good scrubbing of the Pub party.
Big Government corrupts everyone, eventually the people. I now doubt the majority of the public would ever accept an effort by courageous politicians to restore the Founder’s Constitution with it’s strict prohibition on rent-seeking. Could we ever get such justices on the US Supreme Court? With the public so addicted to special favors from politicians, I doubt it. We are heading the way of the Roman Republic – oblivion.
Because, my dear Jennifer…Republicans have no outlet for ideas. They get whipsawed by the entrenched media.
Because the information stream has become an arm of the furthest left reaches of the Democratic Party, Republicans now flinch every time an issue needs airing. If you get a buzzsaw across the skin every time you open your mouth, it might make you a bit hesitant to speak out. Once bitten, twice shy as it were.
And, at the moment…the Old MacDonald Theory of budgeting (here a trillion, there a trillion, everywhere a trillion trillion) seems to be generating its severing of a few fingers…you won’t find many brave souls in the GOP wading in to grab the logger’s equipment.
Nope…sometimes nothing…is a real cool hand.
The GOP is spineless at the moment. It needs more of its members with teeth to take charge, ie Jeff Flake & Jim DeMint, etc. Unfort. with RINO Boehner in there running the show in the House and McConnel running the show in the Senate, we could very well be waiting a loooooooong time for principled men who understand and value liberty to lead the way.
If Republicans speak out, the opposition will be quickly pigeonholed as “Republican opposition” by the MSM and the many Dem voices will be silenced. It you want to stop this, you have to let the Dems themselves take the lead in slaughtering themselves.
They say nothing due to their own survival tactics. Once on the dole always on the dole.
Politicians are all crooks. You do do not voluntarily leave the scam of a life time.
cfbleachers: Suppose you’re right and the Reps are gun-shy now from the attacks of the left-leaning MSM. Fine. But what about the non-MSM? There are literally thousands of conservative outlets on the internet: Townhall, Right Wing News, PJ, American Thinker, Conservative Grapevine – just to name a few.
On television we have Fox News. On the radio, we have hundreds of pundits who could interview these folks, giving them a very large national audience.
So, fine. If they can’t get their voices heard through the MSM, use other media. They probably won’t change any liberal hearts, but at least the conservative population would be able to see that our Republican congress isn’t asleep at the helm.
As long as the RINO’s believe they can not offend for fear of losing “moderate” MSM support they will remain opposed or neutral on the gathering storm of tea parties.
Thank you Moogie #30, I agree 100%.
I have come to the conclusion that our “elected” representatives (both Republican and Democrat) no more represent us than King George III or his parliament did in the late 18th century.
Our present Congress is a sham and an illusion of a republic when actually we are ruled by elitists and olagarcs. The only thing our members of Congress lack are titles of nobility.
The will of the public is constantly circumvented (abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, taxes). Like the EU, our government knows what’s best and does all it can to ram things, the public doesn’t like or want, down its throats. There are those who ride and there are those who are ridden.
Washington did not fight for the form of government that currently exist in the US. The men who died on Normandy Beach did not give up their lives for us to be ruled by snarky girlie men from George Town.
Another revolution will be the only thing to set things right. But, I’m afraid we lack the courage to bring it about.
#32 Pops: “snarky girlie men from George Town” !!!!!!!!!!!! Best line I’ve read all day. I’ll add “smarmy” to that description.
Get real, guys. There isn’t much Republicans can do to stop this train. They don’t have the votes. Let me repeat this: they don’t have the votes. If not understood, use hammer to cranium, and repeat as needed: THEY DON’T HAVE THE VOTES.
Even if all Republicans were on board with the opposition to this endless sea of red ink, sans Senators Collins, Snowe, and Specter (who are not real Republicans anyway), it wouldn’t amount to a piss hole in the desert. Hell, even the two dozen blue dog Democrats make no difference.
I don’t think the author of this article truly grasps the mathematics of the political landscape at this moment. It’s almost as if Ms. Rubin is taunting the Republicans rather than dealing with reality.
The Dhimmicraps are going to hang themselves, by stages the 2010 and 2012 elections will reverse things quite well. My only hope is that the damage in the interim will not be so bad that we cannot eventually reverse it.
This is gonna be Dhimmi Carter II on steroids.
Could it be they’ve realised free markets don’t work, never have, never will. Communism doesn’t work either.
What works? Small communities of interdependent human beings. Sadly there are too many of us to live like that now. Like the Dinosaurs and Neanderthals we have run up an evolutionary dead end.
Maybe we should all become Buddhists. That way at least we get another try.
SO at last it has come about- the true alliance between the twin poles of populism- time was, the only people who bandied about the terms “oligarchy” and “corporatism” were the hard-core leftists. But now we increasingly hear conservatives realizing that free markets and large corporations are actually enemies, not friends, and that the relationship of government power and corporate power has become a incestuous, mutually rewarding one.
This isn’t about socialism vs capitalism any more- that battle was won long ago- this is about whether we have a government that represents freedom and is responsive to the people or to the special interests and moneyed class.
Moogie, the warriors in the fight for truth to be regained in our information stream are indeed out there (and here) every day.
But, let’s not be misled. We have allowed our information stream to be gang raped for 40 years. In this land of ours there is a pervasive distortion so rampant, so ingrained, so malignant…that the avenues you mentioned are but a grain of sand in an ocean of lies and distortion.
The GOP is not blameless in this mess. They are, collectively…among the worst statesmen and public speakers ever assembled in any generation. They can’t articulate an idea, inspire or motivate…and as the “loyal opposition” they are weak-kneed, limp-wristed and faint hearted.
However, Moogie…given their myriad of flaws, blemishes and warts…they still are playing a rigged game. They are successfully marginalized in the places where the VAST majority of our countryment FIRST get their “basic” information. And, if the “facts” are distorted, polluted with half-truths and outright lies…then, it would take all star skills to overcome the situation where the “fix” is in for the leftists. And with Little League skills, ….sitting on the bench and letting the other team strike themselves out…is the better solution.
Again, sometimes….SOMETIMES….nothing, is a real cool hand.
My opinion is that most of Congress–Democrats AND Republicans–have intellects roughly equivalent to that of a rutabaga! If brain power was fissionable material, most of ‘em couldn’t blow their own nose.
Research shows that members of Congress tend to become more liberal the longer they stay in office. With this being the case, conservatives are screwed no matter what. I say it’s time to rev up the call for term limits. Maybe if a position in Congress, especially the Senate, wasn’t a life time appointment politicians would have incentive to do what was in the best interest of their constituents, instead of their re-election campaigns. I’d also like to see the 17th amendment repealed because it would bring Senators much closer to the people they represent.
Imagine a Congress without Barney, no Ted and Boehner too..eee…heee…
Another problem is that the Democrats’ base is made up of the young, the poor and the very rich. What these groups have in common is that they have nothing at stake in the system other than what the government can do for them. Not a good thing.
The Real Crime in the Bailout — Naked CDS Deals
by Cenk Uygur
The size of our national economy this year is roughly $15 trillion. The size of the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) market is $64 trillion. The whole world GDP is about $56 trillion. How could the CDS market be larger than the world GDP combined? That doesn’t make any sense.
The minute I read that many months ago, I realized that there was something unreal going on in the CDS market. By “unreal” I mean something that is given value even though it is not attached to real assets. And the more I researched, the more I realized that was true.
Cenk Uygur’s diary :: ::
CDS are basically supposed to be insurance on a group of assets. So, if you have a collection of mortgages, loans and other assets, and you would like to insure their value, you get a CDS. This makes sense since some of these underlying assets turned out to be quite risky.
What doesn’t make sense is for the insurance market to be many times larger than the value of all of the underlying assets combined. Well, it turns out there is a reason for that. It’s called the “naked” CDS. These deals are not attached to any underlying asset. They are not collateralized. They are not attached to anything of real value. They are simply bets. As in wagers. As in gambling.
For example, one bank will bet another bank that a group of mortgages will go under, and the other one will say they won’t. Neither one owns the mortgage; they’re just “insuring” it in theory. The reality is they are gambling – pure and simple. Now, the numbers make sense. The CDS market got to be so large because people were making bets in ways that were not attached to the value of the underlying assets at all. So, they were free to bet as much as they liked.
And, of course, the more money they bet, the more money they made. And if they ever lost those bets, they knew didn’t have the money to pay it anyway. So, they had all the incentive in the world to keep multiplying their bets.
So far, this is crazy enough, but here comes the really crazy part – the American taxpayer is now paying off these bets. The people who bet that the housing bubble wouldn’t burst or that the assets would retain their value, well, they lost – but they don’t have the money to pay off all of these theoretical bets since they never put any collateral down on them. So, they’re turning to the government and saying they’re out of money. And we’re paying them. That’s insane.
It’s one thing to pay off mortgages that went bad. It’s another to pay off insurance for a collection of bad debts. But it’s another thing all together just to pay off gambling debts that otherwise have nothing to do with the economy. We, as the taxpayers, would have to be utter fools to provide the money for these inane bets. And, of course, that’s exactly what we’re doing now.
AIG was the epicenter for the naked CDS. If you care about this topic at all and want to understand how everything went down, you must read this excellent articleby Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone. As he explains, AIG started this madness and never had the money to back up their bets.
But what really drives me crazy is that I never hear anyone in government talk about this. I’ve never heard Tim Geithner or Ben Bernanke or any congressman or senator talk about what we should do with the naked CDS. They talk about all of the assets and obligations as if they are all the same. But some of the debts are based on underlying assets and some are not. Is that not an enormous distinction?
The only person who used to be in government who has raised this issue recently is Eliot Spitzer. He said what I have been wondering for a long time now – do we even have to pay these things? Since they are simply gambling wins, if the counterparties who won the bets don’t get paid, nothing really happens. They didn’t really actually have anything on the line, so it’s not like they are going to suffer heavy losses. They are only going to suffer theoretical losses on money that never existed.
Why is Tim Geithner still paying off these debts? If he doesn’t understand this phenomenon, he should be fired immediately. If he does understand it, and he thinks it is the obligation of the US taxpayer to pay off the gambling binges of the large financial institutions in the country, then I would seriously question his judgment, to say the least.
The argument they trot out every time is that we must have these financial institutions survive. I don’t think that’s true, but even if I did believe that, it would be important to shore up the real assets. But under no scenario is it important to pay off debts on imagined assets.
At the very least, can we please have this conversation? I would love for Tim Geithner or anyone else in the administration or Congress to explain why they think these naked CDS must be paid off. Can someone please ask them the question already, before more of our money is funneled over to the “counterparties” who won these bets?
You’re all wrong. All of you. They say nothing, because they have no better plan. If they open their mouths to criticize, they better have something else to offer. They are in reaction mode, because one cannot possibly anticipate the insanity that comes out of this administration. It takes time to come up with something else, or even just to evaluate what’s being done.
They have to take their time, because they’d be trying to defuse a bomb. Slow and careful is the way. If they speak up too soon, they can get hit by this. The guys on the other side know how to play hardball poiltics.
Personally, I’d have Ron Paul take the lead on this one, because he has a solid following, and he’s the only trained economist in Congress. Makes it hard to vilify him, or even to argue with him.
7. David: I greatly appreciate your point. The only thing I would add is that the “successful” politicos, i.e. the ones who get elected, are the ones who cater to the Big Troughs. That is what provides the mechanism to filter out the ones who prefer to cater to the Mom and Pops.
34. fred:
“This is gonna be Dhimmi Carter II on steroids.”
~
Well, thanks for cheerin’ me up, fred. I had the barrel in my mouth and everything and you brought me right out of my dismal state of mind. *pinch*
You’re absolutely right. If the Republicans still had principles instead of donation accounts to feed, this is a no-brainer. After voting Republican most of the time, I think it’s time to cut them loose and just start some new party or join the Libertarian Party. (Tea Parties in San Francisco on April 1st and 15th!)
That the author claims the Democrats are opposing Geithner is laughable. The opportunistic freeloading, extortionist Congress are interested in protecting their own personal power and money. Let’s start by regulating our government, the largest, most mismanaged and most unprofitable employer in the USA. Term limits of no more than 8 years, along with a major cut in the perks and benefit packages for anyone in public office. Full disclosure of all the compensation, perks, benefits, etc. each and every one of these elected officials gets. Most of the registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents that I know do not support Geithner or the lunacy being passed off as STOP GAP MEASURES. So stop with the crap about who is standing up or not standing up for anything. This new bunch of thugs and thieves is into renaming, redefining and rewriting criminal definitions. STOP GAP MEASURES used to be bribes and payoffs. Geithner is a mess and the author knows it. Geithner’s not even good bait to use in your article. Turn the spotlight on the slugs under the rocks, now there’s bait.
I liked the post from centerfieldbleachers(?) We are playing in a fixed game. The fix is in the press and electronic media. The truth is rarely reported . If X happens, then Y is reported . If Z happens then it simply ignored . If any event has a potential negative value for damaging Dems then it is spun or twisted so the significance is warped. If a Republican makes a statement he gets clobbered by distortion or demonizing comparisons . The public perception is being shaped and formed from the moment we pick up the morning paper , boot up the computer or turn on the car radio . The liberal media has been following this dream since Marshal Mc Luhan invented the phrase ” the media is the message” back in the early 60′s. His advocacy has created the mess we now find ourselves in. The only truth that exists is what communications/political/financial empires allow to exist. In other words , filtered BS.
To expect the Republican Party to overcome this stacked struggle and elect good conservatives who will stand up to those evil liberals is rather hopelessly naive .The peoples anger will wane or be dissuaded or distracted by some media concocted circus that when 2010 rolls around the issue will be something entirely favorable to the Democrats .
Putting your faith in men or governments is nonsense.Find some other place to invest your energy and expectation ,men and politics will always disappoint .
They’re not speaking out because (a) they don’t believe it in the first place, and (b) they’d look silly after selling out under Bush and Denis Hastert for so long. Do tell, Ms. Rubin, what Republican with a national profile will stand up with credibility for a balanced budget? Who will castigate Obama and Pelosi for doing what the GOP did for 8 years?
I could take any 10 reasonable democratic and republican parents that work and get a better result than we’ll get with the crowd in office now.
Ummmm…Obama=Blacklist?
The only option is to take back the people’s house (The White House for the brain dead.) It has been sold to the highest bidder and is now at the mercy of the dimwits that put them there.
You have options. At this point in time we are still free to act (the window is closing though…)
* Attend any Tea Party within driving distance of your house.
* Call/write/protest any media outlets in your area that don’t cover the aforementioned Tea Party.
* Call/write any and all elected officials in your area. They are supposed to represent YOU remember.
The time for wringing of hands is OVER. We have been sold down the river by ALL elected officials. What would our forefathers have done in this instance? Would they continue to let Obama and his ilk run what has been built into the ground?
Is it already too late? I, for one, am done worrying. It’s time to find your voice if you have one. It’s time to remember who they were elected to represent.
“Another problem is that the Democrats’ base is made up of the young, the poor and the very rich. What these groups have in common is that they have nothing at stake in the system other than what the government can do for them. Not a good thing.” Blaze @39
The rich don’t want those pesky entrepreneurs messing up their monopolies. Large corporations are net destroyers of jobs and entrepreneurs and small businesses are net creators of jobs. Fewer jobs means a lot more competition for the few the large companies post, which they like because they get their pick of the litter and they get to lower their costs.
The young and the poor are not served well by the Democrats’ oligarchical corporatist state.
Take it from someone who spent a decade of his life on the Marxist Left, and who got to know these socialist/Marxist/progressive intellectuals and important activists very well: deep down, their are elitists. Some comrades are more equal than others. They believe they should be the natural leaders of the rest of us, and in real socialist countries these people got the best of everything. As the nomenklatura, they feel entitled to it.
To the young and the poor in this country: Do you really want to align your interests with these kinds of people?
You’ll see. I was a young person during the 1970′s. I know what it was like to look for work during this period of stagflation. After I got out of the Army, I knew what it was like trying to find any kind of job while I was in college, part-time during the school year, and full-time during the summer. Jobs were scarce. Inflation was high. After we got Carter out of office, and after the first two years of Reagan’s first term, the economy took off with fantastic job creation and the growth carried on through until recently, with a couple of very mild recessions before this current one.
CONGRESSMAN DON MANZULLO has vigorously opposed Geithner in committee.
#40 CAUTION,
I would be curious to know who were the financial institutions AND IN WHICH COUNTRIES DID THEY RESIDE that were the “winners” in the credit default swaps betting. That we should feel obligated to bail out the losers in the game says something about who the winners are. They must be very powerful and they must have us over a barrel.
Pops, #32: Another revolution will be the only thing to set things right. But, I’m afraid we lack the courage to bring it about.
Perhaps because even a revolution is a roll of the dice at best. One die represents whether or not it would actually succeed at dislodging the old order. The other die represents whether or not the new order would turn out to be any better than the old. Always keep in mind that the original American Revolution was something of a historical outlier; when it comes to revolutionary leaders, Oliver Cromwell, Max Robespierre and Vladimir Ulyanov are much closer to the historical norm than George Washington.
Who cares about this stuff? Isn’t it time for another post about guns or Ann Coulter? How about this one . . . “Michelle Obama is Sooo ugly . . . . ” or maybe “Rush Limbaugh is NOT a dick and here’s why!” That’s where the real Pajama Medians come to life.
Wait, wait, better yet . . . “Obama uses (GASP!) a teleprompter!” (Of course you all now that Bush used on, too. You just couldn’t tell because he couldn’t read.
Don’t take my word for it, take #41 Malvo’s latest blast from the trunk . . . “You’re all wrong. All of you.”
Kinda harsh, Malvo. Are you a libtard?
37. cfbleachers
You definitely have your “mind right.”
37. cfbleachers on the impotence of Republican leaders/politics . . . “Again, sometimes….SOMETIMES….nothing, is a real cool hand.”
Well, it’s come down to that has it? The bluff. A tough play . . . one that must be artfully handled. It takes courage. It takes knowledge. And it takes confidence and a persuasive demeanor. You got John “If it lasts more than four hours call a doctor” Boehner holding up a 19-page Republican “budget” and Eric Cantor skipping major policy moments to go to a Britney Spears concert . . . without his daughter! (What do you make of that, folks?)
I’ll give you this . . . you got the “nothing ” part down pat. Now if you can just morph Mitch McConnell into Paul Newman, you’re in.
Personally, I like you chances on that.
Come on, Ms. Rubin…the GOP has yet to really get into its internal purges, no ones’ hand is firmly on the rudder as of yet, but you expect these boobs to have point-by-point refutations and counter-proposals to bills that they likely haven’t even read yet?
If they went too far out front in opposition, they might find their future course of action hamstrung by their past rhetoric,(the “Read my lips…” thing leaps to mind).
So their disapproval without specifics is tactically a smart move, and strategically pretty canny also.
If the electorate chose the Alleged Hawaiian and his pals Senator GReid and Speaker Pigugly, then the smart thing to do politically is to take their hands off the controls and let the ensuing crash belong ENTIRELY to the Gang of Three.
It’s an ugly fact that the GOP is willing to let the Dems drive us off the economic cliff with no more than some politely worded protests and muted sounds of concern, but no more ugly than how the Democrats were willing to play politics with the GWOT.
I think the problem is laid out very well. It’s the GOP’s favoritism to the investor/business class that provides their contradictions. The investors like Geithner’s plan. And after spending a few weeks trying to judge Obama by the stock market score card now the GOP is off balance. All of a sudden they are going to reject the wisdom of this class they completely put on a pedestal?
When Republicans start steadfastly promoting free markets and free people, they might win a few elections. Maybe they are smart enough to realize that this plan may die on its own are saving their powder for a larger battle on the budget or health care (I know, in my dreams).
6. nosinin:
“Vivo, what do you think about the bailouts? Do you join your fellow dems in outrage? or do you continue to worship while the ship sinks”
I don’t like the bailouts. I think the big banks and AIG should have been left to declare bankruptcy, sell what they can and pay their investors. The bailout money should’ve been given to solid banks, small responsible banks so that they could help responsible homeowners refinance their mortgages. It’s the Legislative Branch’s turn to fix things now. Senators and Congressmen: earn your salaries and respect now!
There are chapters in Ayn Rand’s books “Capitalism – the Unknown Ideal” and “The Virtue of Selfishness” which describe the problem with modern conservatism better than anything else I’ve ever read – in particular, “Conservatism – An Obituary” in “Capitalism.” A sample:
It is generally understood that those who support the “conservatives” expect them to uphold the system which has been camouflaged by the loose term of “the American way of life.” The moral treason of the “conservative” leaders lies in the fact that they do not have the courage to admit that the American way of life was capitalism, that THAT was the politico-economic system born and established in the United States, the system which, in one brief century, achieved a level of freedom, of progress, of prosperity, of human happiness, unmatched in all the other systems and centuries combined – and that THAT is the system which they are now allowing to perish by silent default.
If the “conservatives” do not stand for capitalism, they stand for and are nothing; they have no goal, no direction, no political principles, no social ideals, no intellectual values, no leadership to offer anyone.
…..
Not daring to challenge the morality of altruism, the “conservatives” have been struggling to evade the issue of morality or to bypass it. This has cost them their confidence, their courage, and their cause. Observe the guilty evasiveness, the apologetic timidity, the peculiarly non-intellectual, non-philosophical attitude projected by most “conservatives” in their speeches and in their writings. No man, and no movement, can succeed without moral certainty – without a full, rational conviction of the moral rightness of one’s cause.
This was written in 1960. I find it just incredible to go back and read the writing of Ayn Rand today and to realize just how insightful and prophetic she really was. It’s a pity that she’s only really associated with “Atlas Shrugged” because its sheer size and often wooden style of prose can be off-putting for people. But to read “Capitalism” and “The Virtue of Selfishness” is to read perhaps some of the most relevant words of our times, despite them being decades old.
people we have a problem. wall street/ congress/ corruption/ mainstreet/ i heard recently on a local radio talk show about free/reduced lunch in washington state from a politician familar with the specifics at the local level in seattle claim that the schools were sending out the invitations for the program and allowing all comers to partake of the government largess for their kids in the forme of free/reduced lunch. this helped the school to obtain more fed funding as it inflated the numbers by having the extra kids in the program. by extra i mean all those kids sighned up by their parents that were not qualified income wise to be on free lunch. the increase and percentages spoke for themselves. the point being is i remember my mother filling out the forms in the olden days; i’m 50 this year; and they had the income allowances on the form you signed and sent in. this is rich people showing up for free cheese. if anyone would accept the challenge to go to beitsimcha.com,search to messiah 2005,click on sermon/audio, there is a message given called the harbinger,mp3 audio,by jonathan cahn.i promise you that if you listen to the 1st one,about 9min, you will be amazed at how it ties into this article above. i heard about it on prophecyinthenews.com
Republican’s had better figure out how to lead, follow, or get out of the way. Here in California, in the central valley, we’re setting up a tea-party on tax day and the GOP has been instructed not to show up. I’ve never been a big “third-party” supporter, but I really feel that the GOP just can’t get it’s act straight at this point. Conservatives just don’t have a place to go to anymore.
The presidium of the GOP is constituted from the lackeys of the globalist plutocracy;their brief is to implement globalization,beggar the middle class, and replace the population with docile,underpaid, third world immigrant losers. They want to recreate a mexico in the US: an impotent, underpaid, dwindling middle class,a purely formal democracy,defended by manipulated “progressive intellectuals” whose relativism, and multiculturalism facilitates the profitable marketing of globalized cultural rot. Greed separated from ethical and patriotic constraints,increases profits.However,unlike the leftwing plutocrats,whose goals they share, they (correctly) understand that Islam has replaced communism as the biggest threat to the globalized whoring of the world,hence they believe in destroying it through warfare. To do this they pose as patriots,bringing out the bloody shirt of 9/11 to deceive real conservatives into defending them from militant Islam. But softly, lest a vigorous defense weaken the democrats.This is why the Bush administration,refused to respond to leftist attacks,and concert its defense with conservative activists;they DID NOT want to weaken democrats whose votes they would need to legalize an illegal invasion through “immigration Reform”,which was Bush’s top priority. Has anyone ever noticed that no matter what republican we elect,the culture, education,and famiily continue to break down? The GOP DOES not care;there’s money to be made from destroying families,idiot schools, promoting MTV,and sexualizing children.Globalized greed,facilitated by multiculturalism and diversity,and profitable domestic cultural impoverishment ,are the two links of agreement that bind the Republican and Democrat parties.A REAL militant,ideologically committed conservative party hostile to globalist capitalism is what patriots need to form to save the republic.
I agree with VIVO, the very first comment. The new administration is quite clear that they believe in a free market. And if they model themselves after Bill Clinton’s recovery of the 90′s, we will once again be a robust economy.
Taking bad assets from the banks was a good idea for the venture capitalist, but not so good for the government, but at least these are tangible toxic assets, and not something that will go up in a puff of smoke like most the previous administration’s economy.
65. acj:
I agree with VIVO, the very first comment. The new administration is quite clear that they believe in a free market.
What the hell are you talking about? What particular aspects of the behavior of the new administration do you believe to be an indication of their belief in free markets?
And if they model themselves after Bill Clinton’s recovery of the 90’s, we will once again be a robust economy.
The growth of the 90′s was not the result of any of Clinton’s policies. It was a result of the tech boom, initially stimulated a decade earlier by Reagan’s marginal tax rate cuts which fueled risk taking and investment in the private sector.
It was the innovation of entrepreneurial individuals like Bill Gates and Jerry Yang which caused the economic boom. The private sector was able to flourish despite Clinton’s tax hikes, not because of them. Other factors included: welfare reform and the lowering of the capital gains tax in 1998 (both sponsored by the GOP controlled Congress) and the fact that Republicans in Congress were responsible for putting the brakes on spending during the Clinton years.
The Obama administration is hell bent on reversing welfare reform and in spending more taxpayers money than every other US President combined from Washington to Bush. I’d be interested to hear you explanation of how he’s going to recreate the boom of the Clinton years, which wasn’t even the work of Clinton.
acj….If you believe Obama is for a free market economy you have no idea of what that concept is. Obama is AGAINST everything that a free market entails. As for your assertion that if “they” model themselves after Bill Clinton we’ll have a robust economy? You truly show why people have attached the term libtard to Democrats. No wonder Obama was allowed to drive the US into the tank in such a short time by his own party. Can’t wait to see how Obama is welcomed at the G20. We’ll see if they buy your “robust economy” argument.
66JASON and 67 Thinking person. Obama is the American version of Hugo Chavez,minus his testicles;Vivo’s role here, and that of the litard bloggers infesting this website, iis to shake PJM public’s confidence, by endlessly repeating lies,telling us that black is white,that slavery is freedom,that Michelle Obama is beautiful, and that Obama believes in the free market. Obam is a marxoid street thug,run by a left-wing plutocrat: Goerge Soros.Angela Merkel,German prime minister,and The eu. president have both condemned the Ohole’s economic”plans”.
#66&68,GENTLEMEN; ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VIVO IS THAT HE THINKS THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE CASTRO ON HUMAN RIGHTS GROUNDS,DO SO BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS WERE MEMBERS OF BATISTA’S MAFIA,AND THAT CUBANS HAVE NO HUMAN RIGHTS:PLEASE READ HENRY GOMEZ ARTICLES AND MY COMMENTS.THE CREAURE IS WORTHLESS
The GOP is on the same side it always was: the big money. They used you to break up the regulatory agencies, then looted everything and dropped you poor trusting extras. Face the grim facts: you’ve been used and abandoned.
“I’d have Ron Paul take the lead on this one, because he has a solid following, and he’s the only trained economist in Congress.” Marc Malone
I agree with your general point of view so this is just a nit pick: Dr. Paul is a medical doctor, not a “trained economist.” His knowledge of economics, which is moderately good, is based on reading Mises, Hayek, Rand, et al.
Speaking of Rand, Jason, I often find people touting her as “prophetic.” I agree she was brilliant and insightful, but what she wrote about was not in the nature of prophecy because it was happening then (to a lesser degree), and had happened massively in Europe and the Soviet Union.
She drew on direct experience; all the ideas Progressives push now have been around a long time. Dewey and others were developing them around the turn of the 20th century and TR, Wilson, Hoover, and FDR and many others put them into practice long before she published her first non-fiction works and novels.
FRED
#50
Its really fine to hear from one whose life path mimics mine almost exactly (I was Air Force, not Army). Moreso, to hear a voice of reason in the wilderness. It is my fervent prayer that the youth of this country, who so blindly follow “the One”, will wake up to the fact that they have been sold a bill of goods. It can’t happen soon enough. Keep the faith……..
S.M.
It took a while, but the Republican Party has returned to what they were before Reagan took it over as a vehicle for his Conservative Movement, a bunch of self serving professional polititions. They won’t let another Conservative takeover happen again because there’s no money in being a Conservative politician. The few true Conservatives left in the Republican Party are out numbered and don’t stand a chance of making a difference.
The GOP is voiceless. There is no single, strong voice for the rudderless party. They lost the election by refusing to use the words “socialism” and “Chicago Machine” and “incompetent” against opponents who were audaciously hiding the truth and brazenly using Alinsky’s Rule for Radicals, dirty street-fighting ,strategies. The RNC still thinks that Limbaugh is “ugly”.
The White House has been taken over by the REDS, the Alinsky Brigade, the followers of the dreams of Obama’s communist Daddy. But the GOP mumbles and stumbles and crumbles. There is no fire in the belly of the RNC, no sense of betrayal of principles, no raising of the hairs on the back of the neck at the blatant lies, at the crazy rush to tear down the Constitution and the institutions that created America’s greatness.
A unified Right will bring the bastards down, but don’t expect any help from the Geriatric Old Party.
69. deguello:
Sounds like you are a blood-thirsty Cuban living in the 40′s and 50′s with no redeeming qualities. A dog with foaming rabies that can only bite himself.
@ 67 “Obama is AGAINST everything that a free market entails.”
—————————–
For example?…In what manner?…
If you only listen to right wing B.S, Rush Limbaugh, then you will never know what is really going on with the Obama administration.
Reagan? He wrote the book on fake money. He had a market crash, recession, and started the largest American debt escalation in history.
It is the republican’s that cannot handle capitalism-the greed factor is so great that they destroy its core.
Obama wants to save capitalism and make it work-So far he is saying that a bunch of incompetents have been running the show!
And George Bush was an idiot!
The GOP is either wealthy and you need tax breaks, or so one sided and gullible that you agree with propaganda. This is the base. This is the core.
How smart is it to have “right to life” if you don’t believe in welfare?
How smart is it to want to deregulate banks? (R-Phil Graham)
How smart is it to have a war with a country that never attacked us?
How smart is it to give tax breaks to the wealthy and then rack up 3 trillion dollars in debt?
How smart is it to have our healthcare system be free enterprise when it is based on a system largely on active participants?
The GOP stands for GREEDY OLD PEOPLE and GULLIBLE ON PROPAGANDA
The current crop of Republicans in Washington, D. C. are silent because they are spineless. Even the handful of conservatives in the party have shown themselves to be too spineless to step up and lead.
“Why aren’t they?”
Please. Not worth an article. Like asking human beings lie.
Oops
Post #80 should read: “Like asking WHY human beings lie?”
Further: Quoting from above:
“If they don’t, they will sacrifice their political soul …”
COME ON! That happened when they nominated GWB 10 years ago.
# 74 above is correct.
This nation got the gubmint it deserves. We are living in the Fall of The American Empire. It is crumbling and unless we are willing to get out there and compete with the Chinese as they are taking over Africa and S America we are toast. You can’t fight a heavily armed no holds bard opponent with the Marquis of Queensbury rules. Dead men walking is what we are.
acj,
Oh, boy, another propagandist of the fifth Reich.
Your answers:
-Conservatives believe in welfare – when it is needed.
-Repeal of Glass-Steagall passed in Nov, 1999 by a vote of 91-9 in the Senate and Clinton eagerly signe dit into law. This was the climactic moment when the financial crappola was loosed upon us all. Can you say “bipartsian?”
-Kosovo? Somolia, anyone? Pot, kettle;kettle, pot?
-Uh, three trillion bad; nine trillion apocalyptic.
-or on age (Medicare A,B,D)?
Please, please think before you post. Oh, and if you must post, please do so on your own time – and get that large pepperoni to table 12, pronto!
83. donttreadonme:
—————–
Easy to blame Clinton and pretend the Bush II Administration never happened, isn’t it?
75 VIVO: Whatever else I may be:I don’t defend mass murderers,Castro lickspittle!
1. vivo:
“The Republicans would be well advised to join the Left on this one and start attacking the Geithner give-away plan. If they don’t, they will sacrifice their political soul and miss a golden opportunity to get back in the good graces of the American people.”
_________________________________________
Spoken like a true RACIAL SOCIALST KNOW NOTHING LEFTIST WHO WANTS BIG GOVT. AS HIS LIFE LONG NANNY .
WITH MASSIVE GIVE AWAYS COMES HIGHER TAXES , GDP HUGE PROBLEMS , MORE REGLUATION , INFLATION ….
D-INFLATION AND SHRINKING DOLLAR AND A HIGHER INTEREST RATED YOU SCREW BALL .IT DOES NOT MEAN MORE JOBS .
Reagan and devout Conservatives won by the most Votes ever when he ran on FAR LESSER GOVT . LOWER TAXES AND GETTING OUT OF WAY OF BUSINESS’S AND INDIVIDUALS PERSONAL LIVES ….. YOU FAR LEFTIST WANT TO TOTALLY CONTROL WOMB TO TOMB .
WE ALSO SAW THE WAY YOU FAR LEFTIST SABOTAGED BUSH ON THE IRAQ WAR FOR 5 YEARS EVERY STEP THE WAY AND”SICKLY ” WANTED AMERICA TO LOSE .
The GOP is on my side . . . doing everything they can to look like whipped puppies, kowtowing to a gas bag like El Tubbo, offering an “alternative budget” that doesn’t have any numbers in it (“No, no, no, we’re putting numbers in it right now. You’ll get plenty of numbers!”) and of course, bending over in preparation for the populist skewering that Al Franken’s is packing for his trip to DC.
The fun has just begun. Trust me, we’re not done toying with your misery. We have a lot more pokes to keep you focused on your oozing navels.
Thanks, GOP. I appreciate all your help in assuring a growing majority come 2010.
Congratulations, Lisa. You’ve finally noticed why many conservatives could not bring ourselves to vote for McCain — as I recall, you were cheerleading the effort a year ago to rouse the faithful on his behalf.
The essential problem is philosophical unity: conservatism doesn’t have it. Conservatism is not a cohesive philosophy the same way liberalism is. Liberalism’s charter is to bring cosmic justice to the world, and no less. Heaven on earth today, and don’t get in the way. This gives them an unlimited appetite for power; there is no logical stopping point. Nothing is outside of politics. Every institution — from the Constitution and the rule of law, to private property, the free market, the church, marriage, and the family — is an obstacle preventing liberals from grabbing all the power they crave. All institutions are under attack, at all times.
It never occurs to them that they do not have the knowledge, wisdom, or goodness to be God.
The term “conservative” applies to all those who oppose the liberal agenda, no matter what they believe, even if they only care about defending a single one from among all the institutions under assault. Each besieged institution has its own cadre of defenders. The church and the family are defended by the religious right. The libertarians and small businessmen defend private property and the free market. Big business fights regulation. Law & order conservatives defend the rule of law. Traditional conservatives defend the Constitution. And so forth. Most care very much about their pet institution, and care little about the pet institutions of their informal allies.
This causes two problems. The first problem is that each conservative faction feels no loyalty to the other factions. The libertarians don’t care for the religious right’s agenda, and are openly hostile to it. The strong national defense crowd doesn’t necessarily care if there are tariffs or over-regulation. The big business types don’t care about school choice (they can afford private schools for their own kids.)
The second problem is that, while the Democratic Party is the liberal party, there is no “conservative” party. The Republican Party is the party of big business, pure and simple. You know someone by his non-negotiables, and there simply aren’t very many things a Republican won’t negotiate away at the first sign of trouble with the Democrats. This was never more clear than when the Democrats and Republicans locked arms and pushed for the very unpopular immigration “reform.” It fits nicely with both agendas — it promises the Democrats future clients, and dangles cheap labor before big business. When the Republican-leaning voters raised a stink, their reward for voting twice for Bush was to be dismissed as a bunch of bigots. This is what conservatives have to deal with: a party leadership that always seems to find common ground with liberals and some reason to forget the folks who actually vote for them.
So, Lisa, please don’t act perplexed when Republicans refuse to act like conservatives. They’re not conservatives. They just talk that way once every two years, to enlist the kind words of commentators such as yourself. At the moment, it is in big business’ best interests to turn at least socialist enough to accept taxpayer money. So once again, they have found common cause with liberals and left their allies, and the country, in the lurch.
If Republicans can’t bring themselves to defend this country’s cherished institutions, we might as well find out now. Perhaps the Democrats will overreach again. Perhaps the frog in boiling water analogy is applicable to the situation. Now that socialism has quit creeping and started galloping, it’s time perhaps to see reality. If this doesn’t do it, we’re so screwed.
Sorry, Jennifer. Had a brain convulsion. For some reason, I thought you were Lisa Fabrizio.
Pat J,
Are you really this stupid? Normally, my rapier-like wit would skewer you a “new one,” but I honestly am just concerned for your well-being. For the last time, please read this carefully: The crisis (the financial Ebola virus) evolved over the last four administrations. Dangerous as it was, it was still contained “in the lab.” (that last bit was metaphor). What set it loose upon us all was the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act in Nov 1999 by BOTH parties. Clinton signed it into law, but to be fair, Bush (I or II) would have done the same thing. Once the “lab doors” were blown open, JP Morgan’s circa 1994 invention of the CDS metastacized due to the increased securitization the new financial juggernauts foisted on us all. Did this sink in? This isn’t elves vs. dwarves anymore, Frodo, OK. The orcs are at the gates, and we better loosen the longbows before we are eaten. (another metaphor, you imbecile).
86. ReConUSMC:
“WE ALSO SAW THE WAY YOU FAR LEFTIST SABOTAGED BUSH ON THE IRAQ WAR FOR 5 YEARS EVERY STEP THE WAY”
You mean that stupid war? The billions wasted on nothing? The fodder for Bush to write a $7M book? Thousands of dead? The fancy training camp for terrorists? The legacy of hate? Thousands of physically and mentally handicapped veterans?
Be my guest.
Don’t tread on me,
Clinton had some pretty important bills he wanted in that package filled with PORK. It was Christmas Eve and Phil Graham (R) sneaked in his deregulation bill, at the last minute. Remember, Clinton had republicans to please and contend with, and they strung him up and gutted him with no hidden fees. Repulicans love deregulation-democrats love regulation. DOOOH!
One more thing, I love this country, my ancester’s fought and died for freedom. Freedom. We are one big community. Taking care that our basic needs are met, without crushing someone eles, is well, that Christian ethic; love one another, and avoid all the deadly sins…greed, vanity, pride, violence, hatred.
When republicans claim they have the religion down pat, and exploit it as being one and part of their party, they have a long way to fall when they start a war, run huge debt, and hate so many groups of people-gays, African Americans, hispanics, Muslims. And then watch as American’s suffer an economic down turn with out telling them. So let’s see GOP?
GOSPEL OF PLAGIARISM.
Republicans love DEREGULATION
Democrats love REGULATION
The train was never de-railed during the Bush administration (eight years)
Bernanke did his thesis paper on “The Great Depression” he was obsessed about the Great Depression, and what? He never saw the similarities during those years he was in charge?
Bush did everything possible to drive this country into economic collapse? Tell me wasn’t there a plan here? Disaster broke before they could get out…the dam busted loose before they could run away.
There is proof of this every step of the way.
2005, AIG, investigations forced CEO Hank Greenberg, a major Republican donor, and Bush family friend, to resign for price fixing. Knock knock, Hello?
Major Republican donors: Bank of America, Wachovia, Citigroup, J.P Morgan, all big with the Republican Party…don’t ask don’t tell.
So give me friggen break.
GOP stands for GOT OFF PAYING. Screw and chew!
I agree that Republicans are sitting this out in order to kick some butt in 2010. But, the damage that is being done would take at least a generation to repair and Republicans sitting on the sidelines is not the way to minimize the damage to our free markets and our liberty. They need a wake up call, but alas, they are also just politicians.
Between 1995 and 2000, Gramm was the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. During that time he spearheaded efforts to pass banking deregulation laws, including the landmark Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, which removed Depression-era laws separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities.
Graham was scam! He put his bill in with a 10,000 page pile for Clinton to sign.
Hey, we got the depression AGAIN.
Big Republican donors are J.P. Morgan, Wachovia, Bank Of America and Citigroup-And don’t you find it coincidental that the crap hit the fan just before someone eles was going to take office?
which side of the bread do you want buttered?
Oh, and Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer, not an informer of the truth!
Propaganda.
91. vivo:
86. ReConUSMC:
“WE ALSO SAW THE WAY YOU FAR LEFTIST SABOTAGED BUSH ON THE IRAQ WAR FOR 5 YEARS EVERY STEP THE WAY”
You mean that stupid war?
_________________________________________________
There are no sane wars for coward … pacifist ….socialist anti American Liberals like you unless it is against this countries values Capitalism and Conservatives .
Yet You Jerkssay you believe in human rights ? Lie ……. those in Iraq are very human ….. who lived under the 5th worst Bloody Thug in this past Century .More people are Murdered in 6 Cities in America than have been killed in Iraq .
it is Al Quada who suicided bombed the local there you joke of a man !
Your nothing more than a Move on ,org and Media matters talking point use–less mouth piece much like a puppet .
I think the Founding Fathers knew it was an experiment when they instituted it. Heck it was worth a try. It changed the world for a while. Many good things were accomplished because of freedom that likely would not have been otherwise. But its over now. We have proved ourselves unworthy of the gift those great men bequeathed to us. Conservatives, too individualistic to ban together to fight the assembled leftist hoards have lost the game. I’d say battle but we never put up enough of a fight to call it that. Our great capitalists, as is their wont, decided that they had to have the egg INSIDE the goose as well and killed it. Now our Republic is gone and the earth will not see such again in many lifetimes and likely never again.
Man is SO bent. His institutions even worse.
90. donttreadonme:
——————-
Ashh you must be referring to the The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Notice that first name. Gramm as in Phil “Americans are a bunch of whiners” Gramm. Which means we can thank former McCain advisor Phil Gramm in part for the mess we are in. A Republican and therefore practically the father of the financial crisis we now find ourselves in.
I won’t even bother with the other points acj mentioned. That would only insult your intelligence further, snakeflagger.