BlogHer - Moving our economy forward - Comments

Maverick's carried Loaded Guns!!!!!

gncox — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:29:51 -0500

I have read and watched as this political mess has gotten completely out of control. I am ashamed to be a Republican or to even know a Democrat. What I am proud of is my belief in America and what it once stood for. I think I have that in common with those that have thrown down their Democratic political titles and affiliations and understand that there is just right and wrong.

Believe me when I say I am not particularly thrilled with John McCain. I do believe that Sarah Palin is the real deal and can communicate with and understand the majority of people of this nation. Obama on the other hand scares me to death or I wouldn't be setting here on the side of the road on a wireless modem. So lets forget our voter registration for a little bit. If you are employed by a specific group with a vested interest just say so. I just need to vent before my 54 years cause me to clutch my chest and wreck.

You cannot raise taxes on people who make over $200,000.00 per year. It is an immpossibility as these are the very people that set the prices that everyone pays for goods and services. I know, I am one of them, taxation by proxy is not a solution and just gets past on.
I agree Bush is not Einstien, but the first five years was pretty good. The last two with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Franks, and Cris Dodd has been a castastrophe. If I remember correctly everybody got mad because we couldn't find WMD's(weapons of mass destruction) in Iraq. I think we have found the WMD's holding a seat in a leadership position in Congress.
The US Government cannot provide everything to everybody all the time. There is a thing called personal responsibility and the time has come to call the markers in. Everyone is lining up according to what they are promised, there is no promise land on this earth. The poor will get poorer and more dependant.

History should tell us a great deal and I think we all should make a great demand or lose the very thing this countries foundation is based on. If John McCain is to become the next President of the United States, the gloves are going to have to come off and when he reaches across the isle, he should be stepping on some republicans to crack a few democrats. Hats off to those on both sides of the isle who voted against that terrible bailout bill.

More historical data

Mom to Gio — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 15:59:49 -0500

I read a fascinating and enlightening explanation of the debacle on Wall Street with historical context.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/a-nation-of-village-idiot_b_1273...

I remember wondering how it was that so many people were making so much money early on in the sub-prime markets and when the bill would come due.

Interesting group and they

miteegirl — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:48:30 -0500

Interesting group and they complement each other well. I'm especially impressed that he's got Buffett on his team, especially since he is so conservative when it comes to the market yet has such a long track record of seeing complex effects and implications of legislation on market movement. I've long been a fan of Warren Buffett and haven't seen anyone to match him on prudent and confident long term financial decision-making.

It's also intriguing to see Volcker on the team, since this is familiar territory for him. His experience with ending stagflation in the Carter years is reassuring.

Good on Obama for including Paul O'Neill. Talk about a maverick who spoke truth to power and paid the price. He predicted our current budget deficit. It must be a bitter "I told you so" to Bush.

I'm not as big a fan of Rubin and Summers, especially since I suspect they had a role in leaning on Clinton to pass Gramm-Leach-Biliey. However, I do like that Obama pulled them in for two reasons: 1) that he isn't looking for "yes" men/women around a table...I can imagine Rubin and Buffett/Volcker having different points of view about the amount of regulation needed for effective financial markets, 2) they both have relationships with the U.S.' financial peers in foreign countries and the International Monetery Fund needed to get assistance to get through this thing. I can see the necessity and yet, ugh, Rubin.

Laura Tyson is also not afraid to counter Rubin and Summers, has been quite critical of the deficit and REALLY seems to have a handle on how the market changes affect the average American instead of being solely concerned about investors and the global economy. SHE is a breath of fresh air. I love that she is on there.

Thanks, Lara. This tells me a lot about Obama's management style in dealing with crisis. Bring in a room full of smart, experienced people who don't necessarily agree with you or each other. Get the whole picture as well as listen to the pro's and con's from people who aren't afraid to disagree with each other. There is real bipartisan representation in that room, both politically and in their approach to financial strategies. Nice.

Republicans took control of

Leplusjeune — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:04:48 -0500

Republicans took control of both the house and Senate in 1994. The Clinton years didn't show a surplus until 1998 - four years later. You could say it was the first two years of the Clinton administration with a Democrat controlled House but the House had been a Democrat majority for the 40 years prior to that, too...with the last surplus being 1969. You'd think if it was because of all the good efforts of the Democrat controlled Congresses we'd have seen surpluses for decades. We didn't.

Put it this way, the only thing that stands out as different during the Clinton years was that Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years. Admittedly, a few things could have happened to produce that surplus. Republican reigned in spending. The largest tax increase ever from the early years of the Clinton administration could have produced more revenue. A combination of the two? Or, was it that capital gains taxes were higher and intake was higher because of the dot com bubble? It's never as simple as the charts make it out to be.

Also, the National debt still went up over a trillion dollars during the Clinton years. I think some people hear about the Clinton surplus, especially when they talk about "squandering the surplus", and think we paid off all our bills and set money aside somewhere. Oh, no, no, no. Not at all. We may have spent less than we took in for a few years but we surely didn't pay our overdue bills. Imagine running your credit cards to the max and then realizing you've put too much on credit so you decide it's time to live within your means and only pay cash for everything you buy. Only you leave that large credit card balance out there and decide never to pay the bill.

LePlusJeune

www.remodelle.net

And, yes, that sounds like

Mescher — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:50:34 -0500

And, yes, that sounds like Washington as usual. That is some kind of change they are talking about!

Current Advisors

Laracolvin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:05:14 -0500

Hi, all. I just found this on Politico. It's the list of Obama's participants/advisors who were present or participated by phone in the meeting today in Florida.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13606.html

Notions of Identity

You're mitee-right

RightistWrongs.com — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:50:57 -0500

This is a great forum. I love a good debate. It's when I learn the most. When you put out your opinions (based on what you think is well-known-fact) then someone tells you exactly where you're wrong, and they cite the source so you can see for yourself.

Tina Righter

www.RightistWrongs.com

But don't miss the point (your point)

RightistWrongs.com — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:41:18 -0500

But that was your point, no? Your point above was that a republican controlled house's effects will be seen years after. My point was the house & senate were democratic majority before Clinton (102nd) and when he first became pres (103rd). Their effects were seen after - all the years of positive progress.

Also every year of Clinton's terms, the deficit was decreased (and then the surplus increased) by about $50 billion (I think I said .5 above, as if its not confusing enough, huh?). So every year, we spent less than we made. No other pres' terms achieved such continuous progress. it was continuous improvement, every year. Those were good times in the economy. We need it again.

Tina Righter

www.RightistWrongs.com

So damn proud

miteegirl — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:34:10 -0500

Can I just say how proud I am of this Blogher dialogue right now?

Seriously.

The amazing research, the citations of sources, the civility, the respect for each others' opinions...it is outrageously heartening to read. Top notch.

Earlier today, I was walking and wondering why we--as citizens--often treat politics like we treat sports. We have "our team", we don't want to hear anything bad about "our team", we sometimes act foolish in our efforts to demonstrate our loyalty and take it far, FAR too personally.

But politics is not equal to sports. It is much more complex. It demands allegiance to issues and facts, not people and parties. And the issues and parties can change and realign.

Patriotism is not a bumper sticker or a t-shirt. It is having the courage to stand and listen to others who may not agree with you. To want to fight hard for the whole truth and not just what is easiest to hear.

Someone asked earlier, "where are the patriots?"

I say, "You are the ones you've been waiting for."

Ban lobbyists.

miteegirl — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:31:08 -0500

That would be a very hard pill to swallow. But I don't believe that corporations should have more representation than private citizens, which is the case right now.

Banning lobbyists, taking the money of lobbyists out of campaigns and day-to-day congressional activities. That would be a start.

Right now, anyone who calls the United States a democracy or even a Republic is wrong.

We have a plutocracy, a corporatocracy, an oligarchy. A government run by corporations and the very wealthy. This is not representative of the majority of the American people. And this is not what we claim to be striving for.

I'm not criticizing the free market or wealth. I'm criticizing unlimited power. A real representative democracy relies on checks and balances on power and information.

Fact checking

miteegirl — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:17:08 -0500

The gold standard for fact checking is three independent sources.

You've got WaPo. That's one. Find me two more separate sources and we can talk about Raines :)

There should be an award...

miteegirl — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:14:15 -0500

Honestly. I'm gone for, what? 3-4 hours? And I come back to this masterpiece?

YOU. ARE. AWESOME.

Oh, thank you.

Tacomamama — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:48:17 -0500

Scared me.

Tacoma Mama

Is it mis-information?

Leplusjeune — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:47:27 -0500

The Washington Post referred to Raines as an Obama economic advisor three times this year and the neither the Obama campaign or Raines ever asked for a correction - not until the McCain campaign began quoting the WaPO this week, that is.

LePlusJeune - proud Independent

www.remodelle.net

Got it

Denise — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:45:55 -0500

Lots of links tend to get flagged as spam. Sorry about that! :-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Moving our economy forward

Nancy Pfotenhauer — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:43:56 -0500

Over recent days and weeks, America has been shocked by a continued, unfolding crisis involving some of the biggest names in the U.S. financial sector: Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and now AIG. Americans are rightly concerned about our economy and the impact that this Wall Street-bred crisis will have on Main Streets across the country, especially with so many of us accepting the realities of close to $4-a-gallon gasoline, as well as higher prices on food and other items. What’s clear is that the next president must implement a plan that will guarantee Americans a far greater measure of financial security than what we currently have. That means creating more and better-paying jobs, keeping fuel prices down and increasing domestic energy production, protecting Americans’ valued investments, and, of course, keeping the tax burden as low as possible. Those are all goals that would be met by implementing John McCain’s proposed policies and initiatives, which I would like to summarize here, today.

Let’s start by talking about what’s on everyone’s minds right now: The outright mess created by some of Wall Street’s biggest players and the poor management and casino culture evident there. The end result of this recklessness has been the threatening of millions of Americans’ retirement investments, savings, and insurance policies, which in hindsight looks frustratingly predictable. Two years ago, John McCain was warning that we were in trouble in this area, specifically with regard to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While his warnings then went unheeded, the need for reform is now clear, and that reform needs to comprise three elements:

First, transparency with regard to investments needs to be greatly increased. Derivatives and mortgage-backed securities are complicated financial instruments, and it is essential that going forward, no one is able to use them to hide bad investments that no prudent investor would make. Ensuring that risks cannot simply be kept “off the books” and “out of sight, out of mind” is critical.

Second, making sure that oversight means oversight — and that responsibility for conducting it is not spread between countless agencies that have failed, collectively, to do their jobs, while engaging in turf warfare. In pursuing reform, the emphasis needs to be on ensuring we have the best federal agencies to do the job right — not that we have a dozen of them doing it, and badly.

Third, instituting comprehensive regulations to protect Americans who trust financial institutions with the hard-earned money they plan to use in retirement, or to pay for their children or grandchildren’s college. In addition to ensuring constant access to the books and accounts of our banks and financial institutions, John McCain plans to reduce the amount of debt and risk banks can take on, and take steps to prevent the kind of wild speculation that has contributed to the current crisis.

These are sound, comprehensive, and pragmatic steps that need to be taken — though, of course, the future strength of our economy, job growth, and prosperity for American families depends on far more than implementing just these reforms.

It’s also essential, if we aim to promote job growth and across-the-board prosperity, that we keep taxes low for working families and for small businesses, and keep spending in check so that we are not setting Americans up for tax increases in the future. Barack Obama’s economic proposals are problematic with regard to both of these points. On one hand, he wants to vastly increase federal spending by hundreds of billions over just one four-year term. On the other, he wants to raise taxes — and not just on the “very wealthy,” either, as he often claims. Small-business owners, many of whom bring in just over $250,000 and file under the personal income tax schedule, would be hit by Obama’s tax increases. Paying more in taxes will harm their ability to hire more workers, pay employees more, and offer them better benefits. With so many Americans hurting and concerned about the need for more and better jobs, hammering small businesses is exactly the wrong thing to do; yet it is exactly what Barack Obama implicitly pledges to do. By contrast, John McCain will cut their (and other Americans’) taxes, and keep spending in check while eliminating the most egregious wastes of taxpayer money — something Americans can all agree is a priority.

Another issue of great urgency right now is making sure Americans have access to affordable and high-quality health care. John McCain knows the escalating costs of health insurance year-after-year, on top of the sting of expensive grocery and energy bills, have been a tremendous burden for families. That is why he wants to put patients first, giving them control of health care dollars that are portable from one job to the next. He will provide a $5,000 refundable health care tax credit – effectively, cash – for families so they can either choose their employer-sponsored plan or shop around for a new one. This also helps small businesses that are being squeezed by health care bills to create new jobs, instead of cutting benefits and employees from the payroll. Insurance companies will compete for each and every plan they sell, resulting in a greater array of affordable, better quality options. There is also no reason why families cannot have the ability to buy insurance across state lines. Barack Obama wants to insert a government bureaucracy in health care decisions, limit families’ choices, and will do nothing to address the stunning increases in health care costs Americans face.

Energy also is a critical issue where America’s economic health is concerned, and John McCain also will take a comprehensive approach to overcoming our energy challenges. Critically, he has selected an energy expert — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — as his running mate and she is well-placed to help him implement and execute his “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, known as the Lexington Project. Pursuing this project will allow America to take steps to keep energy costs at bay and achieve energy independence. Three elements comprise this plan: allowing for more offshore oil exploration; pushing for the construction of more nuclear power plants and the development of clean, inexpensive nuclear power; and aggressively pursuing the development of more alternative, green energy (such as wind and solar) and more energy-efficient, green technology.

Barack Obama, unfortunately, opposes virtually every component of this project. He even dismissed the value in offering a $300 million prize to the innovator who succeeds in developing a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost, and power to leapfrog commercially available plug-in hybrids and electric cars. That’s something that has real potential to help break our country’s dependence on oil and reduce the amount we spend on fuel, which together with reforming Wall Street, spurring job growth and promoting prosperity, are critical challenges to meet head on, and without delay. That’s something that John McCain understands, and is committed to — and that is why I believe he, together with Gov. Palin as his second-in-command, is best-placed to lead and move our economy forward.

Nancy Pfotenhauer is a senior policy adviser on domestic issues for the John McCain presidential Campaign.