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McCain ad: “Mum”

posted at 10:13 am on September 23, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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No, it’s not a commercial for the old deodorant, but instead a description of the reaction to the financial crisis by Barack Obama and leading Democrats. Team McCain want to make a case for leadership in the face of crisis:

In crisis, experience matters. McCain and his Congressional allies led. Tough rules on Wall Street. Stop CEO rip-offs. Protect your savings and pensions.

Obama and his liberal allies? Mum on the market crisis. Because no one knows what to do.

More taxes. No leadership. A risk your family can’t afford.

In one sense, Harry Reid really bails this commercial out of a weak argument. Barack Obama could have easily countered by arguing that acting rashly could be worse than waiting for a few days to gather more information before formulating a policy. Most Americans probably felt the same way, and would have at least understood the impulse to get more data before acting.

However, Reid gave that game away when he stated that Congress should just get out of the Bush administration’s way, since no one on Capitoll Hill knew what to do. He and Nancy Pelosi gave us a Brave Sir Robin Congress, one ready to adjourn at the first sign of trouble. That epitomized the entire credit-crisis issue, as politicians from both parties who gladly took credit for record home ownership suddenly began ducking the cameras when the loans on which that got built collapsed.

Obama has a lot less of the blame than other Democrats and some Republicans on the Hill for the credit meltdown. However, Obama never showed any leadership in attempting to solve the problem, leadership which McCain showed in 2005-6 with S190. Maybe future ads could be more specific to this point.


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Oops! They showed a Black crook! More charges of racism are coming in 3..2..1…

jgapinoy on September 23, 2008 at 10:16 AM

So will Biden agree with this ad? I love the top headlines on Drudge… Obama and Biden knocking each other. As the saying goes, let’s just stay out of their way.

CC

CapedConservative on September 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM

The “Change is coming” slogan just cracks me up. I know that one is annoying Obama.

lodge on September 23, 2008 at 10:17 AM

“However, Obama never showed any leadership in attempting to solve the problem, leadership which McCain showed in 2005-6 with S190. Maybe future ads could be more specific to this point.”

Let’s hope so. That’s what the public really needs to understand … that measures were put forth, by Republicans, to avert this crisis and the democrats killed it.

darwin on September 23, 2008 at 10:18 AM

Obama has a lot less of the blame than other Democrats and some Republicans on the Hill for the credit meltdown.

He was and is still the party in charge of the oversight committees created to stop this.
He still have not criticized any of his comrades who allowed this to happen on their watch.
We elect a president, we also elect his party…and his party sat and is still sitting on their hands.

right2bright on September 23, 2008 at 10:18 AM

Oops! They showed a Black crook! More charges of racism are coming in 3..2..1…

I was going to say the same thing. And, it was right before an elderly white woman I think…RACIST!

changer1701 on September 23, 2008 at 10:21 AM

If they let the Bush tax cuts lapse I’m going to have to get another job to pay my mortgage. Unfortunately when I bought a house by banker asked all kinds of little questions. Like: do I have a job, can I pay back the money, do I have enough for the down payments and closing costs? If only I was a drag on society I could of had all of you buy me a house.

Tommy_G on September 23, 2008 at 10:23 AM

Well I cast my absentee vote this morning and dropped it in the mail, so my part is done. It’s up to you now fellow Hotair-ers!

Meric1837 on September 23, 2008 at 10:23 AM

There’s still more educating to do. Most of the country thinks that whatever party is in charge of congress, even it’s by only one seat, ought to be able to pass any legislation they want.

All they see (with the help of the MSM) is that the Republicans were in charge.

MarkTheGreat on September 23, 2008 at 10:24 AM

Obama looks awful uppity in that ad. ;-0

Mr_Magoo on September 23, 2008 at 10:24 AM

Obama is in over his head and truly doesn’t have a clue about how to handle these types of situations. God help us if he is elected.

bopbottle on September 23, 2008 at 10:28 AM

That freeze frame of Barry with his snout up in the air looking so very superior makes me want to urp.

I really, really don’t want to have to look at that condescending mug for four years – not to mention the ruin of our nation if he is elected.

tru2tx on September 23, 2008 at 10:28 AM

Love that ending with the messiah’s uppity chin way up in the air.

John Doe on September 23, 2008 at 10:28 AM

OT: Check out Ben Stein’s column explaining the financial mess and how it goes from being a 250 Billion dollar problem to a bottomless pit in the trillions. Scary, Govt. may have to step in and tell the speculators their contracts must change and they can’t make but x-amount.

jp on September 23, 2008 at 10:29 AM

However, Obama never showed any leadership in attempting to solve the problem, leadership which McCain showed in 2005-6 with S190. Maybe future ads could be more specific to this point.

You don’t really need that for a 30 second spot though–too much detail. You want to hit the leadership point home and fast. Now, with longer ads, McCain should most definitely bring out how he tried to correct this problem in 2005-6 and how his efforts were derailed by Dodd, Obama, and others in the Democratic Party.

And yes, that was a very effective visual image to end on with Obama and the Mussolini jutting chin look.

Matt Helm on September 23, 2008 at 10:29 AM

That ad was totally racist. Did you notice how the White House was whiter when Mccain was in the ad?

Racist Racist Racist!

cmptrnerd on September 23, 2008 at 10:29 AM

The ad also appears to make Obama look darker than he really is. This is rascist….and I know it when I see it.

John Doe on September 23, 2008 at 10:31 AM

Harry Reid summed it up perfectly (without even realizing it):

“We don’t know what to do”

This also means:

“We didn’t know what we were doing”
“The banking lobbyists said it was OK”
“We had hearings but didn’t understand the subject, or the answers to our questions (we didn’t understand them, either)”
“Hey, did I mention the war in Iraq is lost?”
“Nancy, can you stand in front of me again? These questions are just too hard for me.”

We are so screwed that…well..there just isn’t a word to describe it.

As a pragmatic solution, the US should nationalize the oil fields currently banned from exploration, conduct emergency oil field development, put that oil up for foreign sale only, and use the profit to pay off the debt. Once that is done, sell the rights to the oil fields.

God, did I just say that? But it’s a hell of alot better than what we’re doing now.

BobMbx on September 23, 2008 at 10:33 AM

Oops! They showed a Black crook! More charges of racism are coming in 3..2..1…

jgapinoy on September 23, 2008 at 10:16 AM

I wonder if that isn’t the plan.

If McCain attacks on financial reform, and Obama hits back with “You racist!”…

To someone not paying close attention, it seems like the Obama camp is admitting to all the attacks and trying to change the subject.

Crying “Racist!” won’t win Obama any votes, unless McCain steps way over the line.

ClintACK on September 23, 2008 at 10:33 AM

Hillary Clinton tried Experience. Mccain is trying Leadership. In wonder if it will stick.

Hope the Ridiculous One will get a drubbing during the debates.

promachus on September 23, 2008 at 10:33 AM

A cynic would point out that firing Cox and hiring Cuomo aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring leadership ideas, but hey, I doubt 80% of the populace understands the subtext of these soundbites anyway, so go for it.

I do really hate how elections always seem to devolve into making the least worst choice.

Quisp on September 23, 2008 at 10:34 AM

McCain needs to blame democrats often and leave conservatives alone. They were the ones that got us into this financial mess. Connect Obama to Dodd, Schumer, and Barney Frank. Explain how they were all involved in this deterioration of our financial system.
Yesterday McCain did a great speech about the economy and this crisis. He needs to do that often. Also, make the argument in a familiar tone. One thing that worked for Huckabee and against Romney is that Huck explained things in layman’s terms. Romney, very intelligent on the economy, sometimes would go into expert tones and I get lost. McCain needs to follow Huck in language. He will get people’s attention and understanding of this mess.

jencab on September 23, 2008 at 10:36 AM

Mum on the Financial crisis?

As a lifelong Christian conservative I can clearly state that Mum is code word for Muslim.

Not only is this ad Racist but Mccain is trying to bring up Obama’s Muslim upbringing in the same ad!

Clearly Mccain is getting help from Rove in these ads.

cmptrnerd on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

When this whole financial mess comes up during the debates, I am seriously hoping that B.O. is going to bumbling and stumbling all over the landscape trying to explain where he stands, while McCain will calmly and intelligently discuss the issue and offer some viable solutions.

pilamaye on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

jp on September 23, 2008 at 10:29 AM

Where is Ben Stein’s article?

tru2tx on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

S. 190 [109th]: Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005

Sponsor:
Sen. Charles Hagel [R-NE]

Cosponsors
Sen. Elizabeth Dole [R-NC]
Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
Sen. John Sununu [R-NH]

Summary:

1/26/2005–Introduced.
Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 – Amends the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 to establish: (1) in lieu of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an independent Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Agency which shall have authority over the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac); and (2) the Federal Housing Enterprise Board.
Sets forth operating, administrative, and regulatory provisions of the Agency, including provisions respecting: (1) assessment authority; (2) authority to limit nonmission-related assets; (3) minimum and critical capital levels; (4) risk-based capital test; (5) capital classifications and undercapitalized enterprises; (6) enforcement actions and penalties; (7) golden parachutes; and (8) reporting.
Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to establish the Federal Home Loan Bank Finance Corporation. Transfers the functions of the Office of Finance of the Federal Home Loan Banks to such Corporation.
Excludes the Federal Home Loan Banks from certain securities reporting requirements.
Abolishes the Federal Housing Finance Board.

If only…

Yakko77 on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

Ask yourself one question.

Where are the Congressional investigations into all this bank mismanagement and the failure of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac?

Isn’t this de facto proof that Democrats are involved up to their necks? Since when has this Congress shied away from holding hearings on anything that could be pinned on the Republicans?

That’s your ad right there.

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 10:39 AM

Racist. Sexist and ageist too.

maynila on September 23, 2008 at 10:40 AM

Not bad, but McCain needs to be more specific. He said in his speech in Green Bay that he tried to reform Fannie and Freddie in 2005, but the Democrats refused to let it come for a vote.

That needs to be made into an ad, something like “Three years ago, I believed that the reckless lending practices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would lead to bankruptcy, and I tried to reform them from the Senate, but was blocked by the Democrats. Now we need a President with the vision and foresight to reform the mortgage industry for the benefit of all Americans.”

This would not be a “negative” ad, but would show McCain’s own foresight in anticipating future problems, as opposed to Obama’s focus on criticizing the past.

Steve Z on September 23, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Also mum on those connections to Bill Ayers, Tom Ayers and Beradine Dorhn.

Mr. Joe on September 23, 2008 at 10:47 AM

“In delivering hope and change, I hope we can change the way we change hope forever, which would be a permanent change we call all hope for.”

And this from Mr. Brilliance.

I could make a better man of out of banana. Anyone who even slightly considers voting for Mr. Needs-his-pants-Changed, is a complete idiot.

NoDonkey on September 23, 2008 at 10:48 AM

Libby Dole just blasted the Democrat members of the committee during the Paulson hearing (Federal Intervention in Markets) this morning. She recounted the number of times she and other Republican senators had tried to reign in Fannie and Freddie. Good stuff.

capitano on September 23, 2008 at 10:50 AM

Unfortunately when I bought a house by banker asked all kinds of little questions. Like: do I have a job, can I pay back the money, do I have enough for the down payments and closing costs? If only I was a drag on society I could of had all of you buy me a house.

Tommy_G on September 23, 2008 at 10:23 AM

It seems to me, the crisis is just as much the fault of stupid “homeowners” as the unscrupulous banks through which they received their loans. But to assess the blame or even part of the blame on the “homeowner” would require the Dems to hold the individual responsible for thier actions. Which goes against their desire to make everyone feel like victims willing to give control of their lives to the gov’t.

Zaire67 on September 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM

Isn’t this de facto proof that Democrats are involved up to their necks? Since when has this Congress shied away from holding hearings on anything that could be pinned on the Republicans?

That’s your ad right there.

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 10:39 AM

Excellent point.

I think they have a backlog of impeachment hearings that need to be attended to first.

fogw on September 23, 2008 at 10:55 AM

However, Reid gave that game away when he stated that Congress should just get out of the Bush administration’s way, since no one on Capitoll Hill knew what to do. He and Nancy Pelosi gave us a Brave Sir Robin Congress, one ready to adjourn at the first sign of trouble

We all saw how Pelosi and Reid handled a still unresolved ENERGY CRISIS. Why should we expect them to act responsible in a financial crisis?

First question for Obama at fridays debate: “Do you think your party should have supported S-190 that might have averted the current financial crisis”?

Two years, and 600+ oversite hearings by Pelosi to bring down the Bush administration and not one look at the fiscal responsibilities under their “leadership”. Meanwhile, Jefferson’s frozen cash has yet to thaw while the man still has a job.

Rovin on September 23, 2008 at 10:57 AM

jp on September 23, 2008 at 10:29 AM

Where is Ben Stein’s article?

tru2tx on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

http://finance.yahoo.com/print/expert/article/yourlife/109609

let me be the first right-wing nut, given that high level finance and paticularly Investment Bankers tend to be Democrat….to Officially “Question the Timing” of this debacle

jp on September 23, 2008 at 11:00 AM

Libby Dole just blasted the Democrat members of the committee during the Paulson hearing (Federal Intervention in Markets) this morning. She recounted the number of times she and other Republican senators had tried to reign in Fannie and Freddie. Good stuff.

capitano on September 23, 2008 at 10:50 AM

she is in a nasty election against a marxist dem/idiot in NC. she could lose

jp on September 23, 2008 at 11:01 AM

Well I cast my absentee vote this morning and dropped it in the mail, so my part is done.

You’re only voting once?

/acorn

saint kansas on September 23, 2008 at 11:05 AM

A cynic would point out that firing Cox and hiring Cuomo aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring leadership ideas, but hey, I doubt 80% of the populace understands the subtext of these soundbites anyway, so go for it.

I do really hate how elections always seem to devolve into making the least worst choice.

Quisp on September 23, 2008 at 10:34 AM

You noticed that too, huh? I’m still having a bit of trouble with the concept of Joe Lieberman with his batting helmet on, taking warmup swings in the on deck circle right up till Palin was selected.

a capella on September 23, 2008 at 11:07 AM

Nice ad. “Mum” indeed, and “dumb” to be sure.

This ad has some real substance, and isn’t a personal attack which plays better to independants (IMHO).

Hening on September 23, 2008 at 11:08 AM

McCain needs to beat the drum of his 2005 co-sponsoring of the FM/FM reform bill for the next couple of weeks. This crisis is so complicated to even the politically aware person, that it is a simple message that can beat through the noise and confusion:

I saw this coming back in 2005 and tried to stop it, but Sen. Obama and the Democrats blocked the reform legislation that would have avoided this crisis.

There. Is that so hard? None of this crap villifying corporate greed, or firing Chris Cox, just a simple message that shows you were on the right side of the issue, and your opponent was on the wrong side. Over and over. Find every opportunity to work that into the debate on Friday even if foreign policy is the topic. He’d still be 3-4 points ahead if he’d been making this pitch for the last 10 days.

Dudley Smith on September 23, 2008 at 11:08 AM

Since when has this Congress shied away from holding hearings on anything that could be pinned on the Republicans?

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 10:39 AM

That, or the pinnacle of the People’s business: steroid use in professional baseball.

Kafir on September 23, 2008 at 11:09 AM

My wife has a ph’d in accounting (!) and thinks this crisis is “Bush’s fault” because she doesn’t like him and it happened on his watch.

It isn’t of course, but it did – and the resulting information mismatch is confusing a lot of people. So I couldn’t agree more with your comment that:

Obama has a lot less of the blame than other Democrats and some Republicans on the Hill for the credit meltdown. However, Obama never showed any leadership in attempting to solve the problem, leadership which McCain showed in 2005-6 with S190. Maybe future ads could be more specific to this point.

Perhaps something like this:

Today’s credit crunch has been a long time coming. Three years ago the risk was so large and so obvious that John McCain thought he could get corrective action through even a Democrat controlled Congress and co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.

This failed to pass because leading democrats on the finance committee wanted to take the money, not action. Christopher Dodd, Democrat, took $165,400; Barack Obama, Democrat, took $126,349; John Kerry, Democrat, took $111,000.

I’m John McCain, and I approved this ad – and, by the way, people who work for Freddie and Fannie gave my campaign a total of $21,550, but I didn’t take one cent from the companies or their political action committees.


a bit long, but you get the idea.

Paul Murphy on September 23, 2008 at 11:14 AM

McCain should have linked Obama to Reid’s stupid statement about not knowing what to do more strongly. Obama is part of the party that doesn’t have a clue what to do. While McCain was working on a plan. That was said but not very strongly. Link Obama with Reid. Two peas in a pod.

Obama and the Democratic leadership–as chickens with their heads cut off–Reid–”what do we do, I’m so confused?” Pelosi–”It’s not our fault, is it?” Obama–”help! this is like the depression” Biden–”aaaaaaa we’re all going to die!”

McCain strong and steady leadership in times of crisis–”America is going to be fine, we will get through this with transparency and accountabilty”… Sarah Palin looking strong and confident in the background.

petunia on September 23, 2008 at 11:24 AM

Libby Dole just blasted the Democrat members of the committee during the Paulson hearing (Federal Intervention in Markets) this morning. She recounted the number of times she and other Republican senators had tried to reign in Fannie and Freddie. Good stuff.

capitano on September 23, 2008 at 10:50 AM
she is in a nasty election against a marxist dem/idiot in NC. she could lose

jp on September 23, 2008 at 11:01 AM

Thanx for this jp. I’ve been waiting to hear from Mrs. Dole. Another fine Republican woman that cracked that glass ceiling. Maybe she’ll win now. I’d like to see Mrs. Palin and her in a few photo-ops.

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 11:31 AM

Paul Murphy on September 23, 2008 at 11:14 AM

I have several friends that have PhDs and they are all the same. Products of academia. BDS is rampant. They are so entrenched in their ideology that reason, rationality and common sense have no place. They say the craziest stuff that has no basis in fact and when I challenge them, they just shup up and change the subject. I’m like, if you didn’t want to really talk about the issue, why did you bring it up?

None have accounting degrees though. Does your wife’s accounting knowledge/expertise encompass banking, securities, loans, stocks, etc.? I’m curious b/c it seems very simplistic of her to say such a thing if she has knowledge about the markets.

JAM on September 23, 2008 at 11:32 AM

Today’s credit crunch has been a long time coming. Three years ago the risk was so large and so obvious that John McCain thought he could get corrective action through even a Democrat controlled Congress and co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.

This failed to pass because leading democrats on the finance committee wanted to take the money, not action. Christopher Dodd, Democrat, took $165,400; Barack Obama, Democrat, took $126,349; John Kerry, Democrat, took $111,000.

I’m John McCain, and I approved this ad – and, by the way, people who work for Freddie and Fannie gave my campaign a total of $21,550, but I didn’t take one cent from the companies or their political action committees

Good work Paul Murphy

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 11:33 AM

When this whole financial mess comes up during the debates, I am seriously hoping that B.O. is going to bumbling and stumbling all over the landscape trying to explain where he stands, while McCain will calmly and intelligently discuss the issue and offer some viable solutions.

pilamaye on September 23, 2008 at 10:37 AM

You mean like this? :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F-PMY72luY“>

nyrofan on September 23, 2008 at 11:34 AM

Oops the commercial showed a white woman with two black men, racism cubed charges to follow!

eaglewingz08 on September 23, 2008 at 11:37 AM

Unfortunately when I bought a house by banker asked all kinds of little questions. Like: do I have a job, can I pay back the money, do I have enough for the down payments and closing costs? If only I was a drag on society I could of had all of you buy me a house.

Tommy_G on September 23, 2008 at 10:23 AM

It seems to me, the crisis is just as much the fault of stupid “homeowners” as the unscrupulous banks through which they received their loans. But to assess the blame or even part of the blame on the “homeowner” would require the Dems to hold the individual responsible for thier actions. Which goes against their desire to make everyone feel like victims willing to give control of their lives to the gov’t.

Zaire67 on September 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM

Okay I’m saying this again. To blame homeowners is like blaming someone for using lead paint, asbestos or buying a Pinto in the 70s. The banks were pushing defective dangerous products. And they made millions doing it.

Sophisticated buyers and honest banks didn’t get caught in the traps. But like Tommy G said his bank asked the appropriate questions. What if Tommy didn’t know any better and his banker sold him on a loan that caused him to refinace in a year or two so the broker got to bilk him again?

A lot of people were told they qualified for more and that everyone did loans this way today that those fixed rates loans were for stupid people. If you are financially literate you should have known the difference but banks were not looking for sophisticated people.

I think the dishonest bankers shouldn’t get a penny and the victims (homeowners in trouble now) should get the bailout.

Maybe the answer is going to be class action lawsuits because obiviously no one is looking at what was really going on in the lending industry. It was corruption at the highest levels down to the loan officers. Every incentive was to bilk people out of thousands by driving prices up and monthly payments stupidly low. Having a built in incentive to refinance by having payments low which meant the banks would get to charge points and fees all over again. It was quite a racket.

petunia on September 23, 2008 at 11:40 AM

Do you all know about this from Citizenwells blog?

Philip J Berg lawsuit, Obama, Fox News, Media, PA, Jeff Schreiber, September 24, 2008, Obama response

Obama has until Wednesday, September 24, 2008 to respond to the Philip J Berg lawsuit that states Obama is not qualified to be president.

Jeff Schreiber, a law student, writer and blog host was in Media PA for a McCain Palin rally and mentioned the lawsuit deadline to a Fox News reporter. Here is what happened:

“After attending a McCain-Palin rally in Media, PA (photos and story coming later), I hunted down Fox News Channel’s Carl Cameron and asked him whether he know about Philip Berg’s suit.

He did not.

He originally thought I was referring to some state-level action regarding ballots. When I told him it was a federal suit and that ANSWERS FROM BARACK OBAMA AND THE DNC ARE DUE ON WEDNESDAY, he made a phone call and referred someone to this site.

So, to those from Fox News currently checking here, all of the materials and links for the Berg suit is located on the right-hand side of this page, under the “BERG v. OBAMA @ AMERICA’S RIGHT” header.
Read more here:
http://www.americasright.com/

——————————————————————————–

Possibly related posts: (automatically

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 11:41 AM

I REALLY think McCain COULD make something of this little gaffe, too … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjzb61wfyN0
Apparently, this actually WAS his committee, in the ‘in the tank’ sort of nuance, of course.

Arrogant SOB/liar !!
ARRGGHH !

pambi on September 23, 2008 at 11:46 AM

***This would not be a “negative” ad, but would show McCain’s own foresight in anticipating future problems, as opposed to Obama’s focus on criticizing the past.
Steve Z on September 23, 2008 at 10:44 AM

This is what McCain needs to hammer home in the debate on Friday night. In 2004, more than 62 million people watched the debate. And people are going to be scared. Hell, I know people who are cashing out their entire investment portfolios because they’re convinced the Dow is going to drop to 8,000. I actually seriously considered doing it myself.

McCain needs to show leadership and earn trust on Friday. That means no goofy ads, no cheap shots at liberal media bias, and no gotchas with The One. McCain needs to push home HARD the fact that he saw trouble at Fannie and Freddie three years ago and desperately tried to reform it, but the Democrats shot him down. And then go into his maverick shtick and talking about how he and Palin are going to go in, kick ass, and take names.

You make the Fannie and Freddie guys and unnamed “Wall Street fatcats” the villains. It’s populist shtick, but it probably does fit here to a degree.

Outlander on September 23, 2008 at 11:48 AM

Okay I’m saying this again. To blame homeowners is like blaming someone for using lead paint, asbestos or buying a Pinto in the 70s. The banks were pushing defective dangerous products. And they made millions doing it.

Not an exact correlation. People were unaware that the paint they were using contained lead…or that asbestos caused acute and chronic problems or that Pintos were defective.

Anyone that ‘bought’ a house with an interest only loan or a mortgage with a huge balloon payment tacked on to the end had the danger spelled out to them in black and white. There are uses for such loan products in certain situations, but people lead with their hearts instead of their heads and lost big time. That’s life…being foolish gets you hurt.

Lenders weren’t generally this ‘creative’ with loans until the 1990’s when ‘red-lining’ became an issue. There were certain income levels and credit ratings that just could not get a home loan…largely because this demographic had a higher rate of default. When the goverment stepped in and threatened investigations and penalties for this business practice, banks found ways to get loans to people that really could not afford what they were buying.

Now the same people who screwed this up are going to be in charge. Amazing….

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 11:57 AM

I’m John McCain and I approve this message. However, I am also the same guy who made a total ass out of myself and said that Chris Cox “betrayed the public trust” and should be fired with the stuff hit the fan last week. The Wall Street Journal and George Will wrote columns aghast at my shallowness and lack of basic understanding of the economy after my comments. In fact, George Will said Obama may be inexperienced but since I can only see things in a good vs evil way, I probably can never be trusted to make the right decisions regarding the best solutions to crisis like these. I said I would fire Chris Cox and put in Mario Cuomo’s son as his replacement. So the argument about how even conservatives should vote for me to get better judges is also bullcrap and is proven null and void….I would have bad judgement with judges too as demonstrated by my “fire Chris Cox and replace him with Cuomo” comment that I made LAST WEEK. Look up George Will if you dont believe me.

I’m John McCain, I lied to get the nomination and will be as bad a Barack Obama and I approve this message.

Roger Waters on September 23, 2008 at 12:35 PM

John McCain thought he could get corrective action through even a Democrat controlled Congress and co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005.

The Republicans controlled congress in 2005.
Though it was the Democrats who were instrumental in blocking the bill. They voted 100% against.

MarkTheGreat on September 23, 2008 at 12:41 PM

Add Henry Paulson to the list of decapitants and stake up his head right next to Cox’s. Maybe the rest of Paulson’s body parts should be sent back to Goldman-Sachs from whence they came. Neither one did their jobs and now Paulson wants a blank check for all without legal repercussion…are you kiddin me??
By the way Mr. Waters, not even George Will understands George Will means…that’s how come he’s been writing in circles for decades to look and see “what he meant by that”.

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 12:48 PM

Gracie, I understand what George Will means. Me thinks maybe George Will’s comment flew over your head. no? yes?

I THINK SOOOO!!!

Roger Waters on September 23, 2008 at 12:50 PM

Good for you, Mr. Waters, but Mr. Will will not do or say anything to help get us out of this mess. Congress needs a shakedown and shakeout and the Secretaries of this and the Secretaries of that can go with them. And I can’t wait for Mrs. Clinton to open her mouth about what to do when her old man enabled those who could never afford homes to get them anyway. Wall Street did this because it could and no one stood in the way. And now we are screwed…all of us…

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 1:08 PM

Anyone that ‘bought’ a house with an interest only loan or a mortgage with a huge balloon payment tacked on to the end had the danger spelled out to them in black and white. There are uses for such loan products in certain situations, but people lead with their hearts instead of their heads and lost big time. That’s life…being foolish gets you hurt.

Lenders weren’t generally this ‘creative’ with loans until the 1990’s when ‘red-lining’ became an issue. There were certain income levels and credit ratings that just could not get a home loan…largely because this demographic had a higher rate of default. When the goverment stepped in and threatened investigations and penalties for this business practice, banks found ways to get loans to people that really could not afford what they were buying.

Now the same people who screwed this up are going to be in charge. Amazing….

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Okay but I know loan officers personally who thought these loans were the best thing and there wasn’t any REAL danger. Because they believed the price of homes would always go up.

There is very little education to becoming a loan officer. And underwriters are suposed to check for mistakes etc.

These loans were defective. It shouldn’t be up the home buyer to say you don’t have hard enough requirements. Most of them trusted their loan officers to give them advice.

For instance, I know a certain loan officer who had the designation CMP (If I remember right) after her name. And according to her that was the highest level obtainable. CMP stands for Certified Mortgage Planner. She certainly considered herself the best in the business. She knew everything. She got HERSELF a no interest-negative am loan. And she push those kind of loans hard and made lots of money with those loans. When the payment became too much she would refinance people.

She told people she was giving them the most up to date and best financial advice available. (We planned to relocate for awhile and she was a client of my husband’s.) She said she could approve us for an outrageously high construction loan with little twists and turns about subdividing some property we considered, etc. We didn’t go through with it. But I know what she was pushing and how she truly believed that what she was telling people was true. It propably would have been a disaster. And we came pretty close to doing it–closer than I really want to admit.

I put myself in the place of someone who had only a high school education and had a lot of equity in a house and wanted to move up… I can imagine the kind of things she might have recommended. And she would have thought she was getting people into a great deal that would increase their networth.

OH by the way. To get that CMP designation? She apparently had to take some siminar offered by some lender about how to market their loans and she became, magically, qualified to give people financial advice by virtue of some bogus letters after her name. In her mind she was qualified. She won awards and was honored nationally… As far as I know she didn’t have any real college education.

This system was the most corrupt. Those loans were dangerous and risky and people didn’t have any grasp of what they were getting themselves into.

petunia on September 23, 2008 at 1:10 PM

Change. Hope. Change. Hope.

Sure.

I hope this nation will change the leadership in Congress so that we can get work done for America.

madmonkphotog on September 23, 2008 at 1:10 PM

started way back with Carter and forcing banks to make loans to people not credit worthy. Republicans didnt stop it…didnt want to be called racist or something. Liberalism is at fault here. So, we have to fix it now. What they are trying to do is the right approach in my view. The RTC fixed the S&L mess and the govt actually made money…the same would happen here.

My point was that McCain is as bad as Obama on these issues. No difference.

Roger Waters on September 23, 2008 at 1:12 PM

This is a good ad. It took Obama a week to figure out his position on the single largest economic crisis our nation has experienced in decades. That demonstrates a profound lack of readiness and leadership.

Loxodonta on September 23, 2008 at 1:21 PM

I agree with you Mr. Waters…and the both of them will have to come to the same solutions in how to grow us out of the 1 Trillion $ deficit: We can’t cut taxes and we can’t spend so much…brilliant Huh? Perhaps if we “grow” our own energy resources we won’t have to send all our moolah to the Middle East, Russia and Africa and everywhere else. Maybe Mrs. Palin can give us a leg up on that.
Thanx for you perspective. We need proactivity and vigilence big time henceforth.

gracie on September 23, 2008 at 1:23 PM

Ed:

You are absolutely correct on this.

I was talking to someone about this earlier today and we both noted that Obama has done and said nothing about dealing with the credit crisis in the past.

The Democrats were too busy worrying about civil liberties for terrorists, too busy trying to lose the war in Iraq to even take note of the disaster right here under their noses. And it will be the same with social security too. The checks will have to start bouncing before they admit there is a problem. Obama certainly has not dealt with either problem in a straightforward way.

Terrye on September 23, 2008 at 1:57 PM

Y’know, this Obama/Biden thing reminds me of when Starscream came back to life and he was pissed and grinding to kill Galvatron. The Autobots just stepped out of the way.

That’s what we should do.

And yes, I’m an 80’s geek. :-P

Black Adam on September 23, 2008 at 2:22 PM

This system was the most corrupt. Those loans were dangerous and risky and people didn’t have any grasp of what they were getting themselves into.

petunia on September 23, 2008 at 1:10 PM

Regardless, it’s impossible to create laws to prevent people from being foolish or stupid. At some point adults, and that’s who these people were, have to take responsiblity for themselves.

It’s not the job of the state to prevent ignorant people from losing their money. I happen to like playing Blackjack and usually walk away with money…because I walk away. We could ban gambling because some people can’t seem to walk away, but what about my rights?

I like easy store credit because I can get an item for no interest and I pay the balance before the interest comes due. Should we make that illegal because many people get stuck with a fat charge because they didn’t read the fine print like I did? No…

If I wanted to ‘purchase’ a house with an interest only loan for 4-6 years and then sell because I knew I’d be moving on instead of paying twice as much per month renting, should I be made to pay more because some poor sap thinks that paying 30 years on the same terms will actually net him the house?

I don’t want the government to be responsible for me….at all. ‘Protecting’ people from their own ignorance is a losing proposition that only makes everyone else miserable.

Asher on September 23, 2008 at 3:31 PM

…Change is Coming…

MAV you magnificent bastard !

RocketmanBob on September 23, 2008 at 4:07 PM

Outlander on September 23, 2008 at 11:48 AM

It’s my secret hope/desire that McCain uses S109 and it’s defeat on a Dem partly line vote as an OFFENSIVE THERMONUCLEAR STRIKE during the upcoming debate with Obama.

electric-rascal on September 24, 2008 at 12:10 AM

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