Video: Shelby plays Geithner Watch
posted at 3:13 pm on March 22, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
That “heckuva job, Timmy” moment from last week may not last. The mood on Capitol Hill has darkened considerably since Tim Geithner admitted that he pushed Chris Dodd into enabling the AIG bonuses that set Democrats to screeching last week. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) told Fox News that Geithner needs “a 180-degree turn” soon, if Barack Obama wants him to stick around:
Citing Treasury’s role in recommending the removal of a provision to block bonus payouts by TARP recipients, Shelby said “there’s a lot of questions to be asked. I’m not feeling real good about Treasury’s role or the specific role of Tim Geithner at the moment.”
Shelby, who voted to confirm Geithner, said “if he keeps going down this road, I think that he won’t last long. I think he’s probably on shaky grounds now, at least with the Congress and a lot of the American people.”
Shelby added “he’s going to have to do a 180 degree turnaround I believe to be a successful secretary.”
The rollout of Geithner’s bag-of-slogans plan won’t help build confidence. When the President has to keep saying that he has complete confidence in a Cabinet official, that’s not exactly a confidence-builder, either.
Blowback
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getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:15 PM
But Treasury does not own those accounts so how could they make a run on them? And why would they immediately inject 150 billion into them to try and stem the bleedoff?
goat on March 22, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Not to mention that he voted for expanding SCHIPP by 300%!
This is what I mean about the Republicans being as corrupt as the Dems.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 5:18 PM
How is China holding our debt a weapon against them? Do you think they’d be foolish enough to be left holding an empty bag? Would you want to provoke a war with China?
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Democratic Proverb:
If the facts do not conform to the theory, they must be disposed of.
No, it’s re-phrased as “nuance”. As in ‘there are no terrorist incidents, only man-made disasters’. See? In one fell swoop, we will no longer have any terrorist incidents. Nothing to worry about. Now everyone put on your new Mao jackets. The price will be deducted from your next paycheck along with your union dues contribution. Now don’t you think everyone looks just swell in brown?
GarandFan on March 22, 2009 at 5:21 PM
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Another thing is money market accounts are real money not money on paper like stock values going up or down like hedge funds or mutual funds or even 401ks.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Soros and the “Democracy Alliance” of rich Dem donors
Wethal on March 22, 2009 at 5:22 PM
Thank you for that honesty.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Did I miss something? Are the Republicans suddenly in charge now? Of course there are corrupt Republicans but Dems have control now and have the responsibility to steer a course out of this mess.
msmveritas on March 22, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Geithner is going to be the poster felon of the filthy liar’s administration. Tax cheat, incompetent poltical appointee, clueless, worthless. He’s not long for riding in the filthy liar’s bus.
highhopes on March 22, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Finding the truth behind this disaster requires passwords to protected networks. Good luck with that.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Conservatives complaining about moderate Republicans voting irresponsibly is real shocking, huh? SCHIP is a Democratic program, by the way.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Have you forgotten the Bush years?
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 5:30 PM
The facts or those espousing them? Were I a public official in opposition to the myths being put forth by the filthy liar and his minions I would be hiring bodyguards. Demcrats have a habit of killing off dissent.
highhopes on March 22, 2009 at 5:31 PM
No passwords needed. The disaster starts and stops with the filthy liar in the White House and all the criminals in charge of government. We don’t need a password, we need a bloodless coup.
highhopes on March 22, 2009 at 5:32 PM
They ignore those last 8 years for some reason.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:33 PM
highhopes on March 22, 2009 at 5:32 PM
So, in fifty days he caused this disaster?
I don’t think so but if it makes you feel better…..
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Goat, please keep in mind that trolls are the enemy. Even while we engage in civil debate with them, you cannot change their minds or gain admissions of error or retractions on their part. They seek to spread misinformation and sow the seeds of discontent.
They are bullies who have justified their behavior by some private perceived grievance which may or may not be legitimate.
There is usually a grain of truth in the bully’s attack which seems to give it credibility. You must understand what is going on. It is not about you, it is all about control. Criticisms and allegations are a projection of the bully’s failings. The bully is trying to project guilt, shame, and fear which are known tactics of control. It is how all abusers—sex abusers, child abusers, verbal abusers, etc.—gain control over their victims and silence them.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:36 PM
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:36 PM
That’s funny.LOL.
Nice rant but it is just civil debate.
It won’t hurt you. It might cause you to think.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:38 PM
Obama campaigned on having the temperament to handle the crisis effectively and implement a plan, which he also said he had. Repeatedly. Even on Superbowl Sunday and Thanksgiving Day on TVs across America. Did you forget that?
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:38 PM
I was not ranting. There is nothing civilized about you, or any other liar for that matter, either.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Nope, he is trying to play a difficult hand dealt to him by the previous administration.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:41 PM
No we dont ignore the Bush years, but the democratic congress had the most to do with this mess. Everytime I remember Barney Frank telling a congressional committee that Fannie and Freddie were ok (back 2004) it makes me sick! Not to mention the 90 million that some executives made before they retired at Fannie and Freddie!
Truly the corruption is widespread, and regrettably bipartisian. Absolute power corrupts absolutely….
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:41 PM
My theory is the controlling interests of those money market accounts, which are concealed, orchestrated the run to hasten our collapse. The only group that will gain from our collapse are the international bankers. We have no idea who or what they control, everything the banking families own are concealed via trusts in foreign countries. A very good example are the Rothschilds, they are quite likely, along with the Rockefellers, the richest families in the world, I’m talking Trillionaires. This is due primarily because they have controlling shares and interests in the largest banks in the world, the central banks, the IMF, the World bank, etc.
It is the secrecy and amount of the run that makes me seriously considering this.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 5:42 PM
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Then why are you outraged on the dems only?
There is plenty of blame to go around.
Include them all and be honest.
It is not a partisan disaster.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:43 PM
That is right chunderroad, Obambi got elected making these outrageous promises of “instant economic gratification”, rather than what will really work, which is going to be long messy and painful. Having been an adult in the eighties, unlike getalife, I remember what it is like to go through round after round of layoffs. What is going on now is still not as bad as it can get. These little entitlement babies are in for a culture shock, because Obambi doesn’t give a flip for them, and welfare won’t pay for many Starbucks lattes.
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:45 PM
Interesting theory. To be honest, I could not read anymore about it because it stinks too bad to stomach.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:46 PM
The previous administration did make him exploit the financial crisis and ignore it while he pushed through Democratic pet projects having nothing to do with jobs or the economy.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:47 PM
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:35 PM
I don’t blame Obama or Bush for creating it. Some of the programs that contributed to it started years before either man took office like the Community Reinvestment Act from the Carter years which was strengthened in the Clinton years. Bush was trying as early as 2003 to rein in Fannie and Freddie but was blocked by the Democrats. I do think some of Obama’s policies are possibly making the situation worse. Do you place no blame on Chris Dodd or Barney Frank who have been in charge of the committees charged with oversight of the system for the last 2+ years?
goat on March 22, 2009 at 5:47 PM
He told the country that he had the cards. Now we have to wait until April to see his pair of dueces. He’s pissing down our backs and trying to convince us that it is raining. I haven’t lived as long as I have and not learned how to spot a charlatan.
thomasaur on March 22, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Getalife,
I am mad because Obambi is just in la-la land with his social engineering programs that have NOTHING to do with any practical recovery. The stimulas is a piece of ****, that should not have been passed, and Obambi’s budget is even worse. Next we get nationalized healthcare. I have a sister dying of cancer, I hope that she goes before this is implemented, because she wont be treated under Obambi’s criteria! How do you think that feels, dude? (Sorry for the rant there, didnt mean to be uncivil)
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:48 PM
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Sorry about your sister but there is no health care plan yet.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 5:50 PM
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:36 PM
I know. Its the same reason you play with a top, to watch it spin.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 5:52 PM
That was my only point. Keep in mind maam that I am far from a liberal, I still consider myself a conservative but there is no way that I can stand by and defend the corrupt Republicans no more than I can defend the corrupt Democrats.
If we don’t stand with The Truth, no matter how hard it may go against what we’ve been conditioned to believe, we are truly doomed.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 5:53 PM
if a republican says something its gospel. If a democrat says something, he’s a filthy liar. Its attitudes like that that have caused the gop to be crushed in the last 2 elections. Listen to Rush sometimes, he thinks he is never wrong. The extreme rightwingers have only one view, theirs. They only debate if you agree with them. Disagree and you are lying scum. But, it is what it is. The gop is losing voters and don’t seem to care. Reading threads like this is all the evidence any sane person needs to see why Obama and the Democrats won. Goopers think talking tough will win followers but all it does is chase away independent and moderates. They’ve lost the 18 -29 year old vote,african-americans and hispanic-americans. But keep on being rabid, it must make you feel good.
athensboy on March 22, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Amen, that stimulus was not generated by anyone who was seriously interested in recovery. What’s coming in the Budget is the nail in the coffin.
msmveritas on March 22, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Thank God for that! Right now she is getting a good treatment under private insurance, including some experimental stuff. My point is that under a national plan, we wouldnt have caught it as soon as we did. She has had an additional 12 months that she would not have had if she would have had to wait for appointments /tests which happens under a nationalized plan. How do I know? My bro in law her husband is from England and his best friend just died after having to navigate THEIR national health care system. Early detection is the key.
Whew, way off subject, sorry for that guys….
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:54 PM
getalife’s thinking:
Don’t waste your time trying to reason with this moron. She/he/it will never sway and is simply a robot, parroting socialist talking points. There is no wiggle room with her/him/it.
Conservative_SAHM on March 22, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Do you ever have an intelligent point?
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Same goes for athensboy. Maybe when he’s “athensman” he’ll be more sensible.
Conservative_SAHM on March 22, 2009 at 5:57 PM
LOL. You can see my attention drifting. I actually have to pick up a bottle of wine before the shop closes, but catlady and thomasaur, Obama infuriates me, too. I cried often right after the election, and I’m saddened now to see it really is as bad as I thought.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:59 PM
athensboy,
I see a lot of discussion on these boards with a variety of different viewpoints, which I think is the purpose. How can one truly know what you believe if you can not clearly delineate it?
As for voracity of opinions stated, that is true on some liberal boards I review, so it seems to be human nature.
Being mad makes no one feel good, but does allow people to vent here rather than go home and proverbially “kick the dog”.
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 5:59 PM
This seems to be more along the lines of what was published last week, that the Republicans are supposed to be sounding the alarm: Get Geithner.
I frankly don’t see how that helps the country. It’s obvious that Obama chose this plan. Bush gave him a clear option of choosing the second TARP payment. He had made his choice back then. Geithner was obviously selected to implement it.
AnninCA on March 22, 2009 at 6:02 PM
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 5:59 PM
Go get that wine and have a drink with me!
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Conservative_SAHM on March 22, 2009 at 5:57 PM
I blame both parties and the reason I am a proud Independent.
It is refreshing to read some honesty like this:
A voice of reason on this blog.
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 6:03 PM
Hey Dick.
I emailed your office after you tacked over a $100 million in pork in the spending bill. Now’s not the time to play tough, after you’ve been playing footsie with the dems on spending our money.
I won’t be voting for you. I’ll write myself in if you’re on the next ballot.
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:04 PM
100 million? Pure peanuts compared to some……
Still good point! If the GOP wants to reclaim credibility, they have start cleaning their houses…
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Sorry, you totally undermine your credibility on that point because you have made statements like this:
You’re not interested in truth you’re just interested in hanging this whole thing on the Bush administration. Anyone who understands what led to this crisis knows that is complete bullsh!t. There is blame to go around but that takes us nowhere towards getting out of the mess.
msmveritas on March 22, 2009 at 6:12 PM
getalife on March 22, 2009 at 6:03 PM
I also blame both parties for corrupt overspending. The difference in the two parties is that when the Republicans uncover corruption they force that person out of office and the Democrats promote their corrupt members to powerful committee chairs. Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Charlie Rangel, Diane Feinstein and John Murtha come to mind.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 6:13 PM
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Where in Al. are you?
goat on March 22, 2009 at 6:17 PM
BAHAHAHA.
getalife- you haven’t the slightest clue what was in that bill.
Your only asset is endless free time. It sure ain’t comprehension.
Chuck Schick on March 22, 2009 at 6:17 PM
Auburn
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Sure it is. A partisan Democrat disaster. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here spinning like a top.
Del Dolemonte on March 22, 2009 at 6:21 PM
ok, so I am confused here? Is this guy Shelby a pork barrel legislator and deserving of contempt or not?
Still it does not excuse that absolute ineffectiveness of Geithner. As I have said previously, any finance manager worth his salt knows what bonuses are to be paid, and Geithner knew, he just badly misjudged the political fall out.
catlady on March 22, 2009 at 6:21 PM
getalife, you have changed your original talking points. Previously, you never admitted your blame for your President and your own party, only the Rep. party. There are MANY Conservatives on this site (myself included) who are holding those within our our own party accountable for their votes on legislation. If you look closely, there are many. You’ve been labeled as a partisan hack because your posts and behavior to this point have warranted it. Honestly, it is refreshing to see you admit that your President and your party deserve their rightful blame in this mess. It really wasn’t that painful, was it?
Remember, Obama has been campaigning for this gig since he was elected to the Senate. He wanted this job and now he has it. It’s his. He won (remember, he told you that). He owns it and he owns the havoc that will be generated from these horrible policies – him and the Congress that voted for those policies as well as the people who campaigned on his behalf knowing full well he was a socialist. The only people who won’t own it are those in Congress who were brave enough to vote against them and the citizens that didn’t sip the Koolaid.
Conservative_SAHM on March 22, 2009 at 6:25 PM
I’ve had respect for Shelby, but with the economic tsunami heading our way via Obambi and the dems, he should never have jumped on board the spending bill in addition to tossing in $104 million for Alabama.
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:27 PM
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:20 PM
I thought so. Richard Shelby is not perfect but he is still better than most. I am not as anti-earmark as some here since some are not bad and are a way to bring some of that taxpayer money back to their states. I just want them to be inserted openly and not airdropped in in conference committee.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 6:28 PM
They both need to get a set, i.e., man up, or maybe we can get them together and they can go pick out drapes…
TXUS on March 22, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Adding the pork into the bill at a time like this was opportunistic and completely out of line with his constituents wishes. He knows better.
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:32 PM
AubieJon on March 22, 2009 at 6:32 PM
I would say it really depends on what those earmarks were for. I know what you are saying though. Do you know what they were for? Do they create jobs, improve infrastructure or are they for studying something stupid like the snail darter? Plus I understand this bill has been hanging around for quite some time.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 6:40 PM
You don’t think period. You simply parrot the filthy liar’s talking points as if they are original thoughts. The really sad part is that you probably really think that you’ve thought all that crap up on your own and you are a bright and rising star in the filthy liar’s realm.
highhopes on March 22, 2009 at 6:40 PM
She doesn’t have any “original talking points”, just spin. And when caught in a lie, she simply changes the subject as if nothing happened. Saul Alinsky (and his disciples O’bama and the Clintons) would be proud of her.
Del Dolemonte on March 22, 2009 at 6:54 PM
Who would be stupid enough to take a job in the bed crapping Obama Administration?
Your boss is incompetent and will throw you under the bus the moment you become inconvenient.
Your fellow administration personnel are jackass juvenile delinquents in permanent campaign mode. None of them (like your boss) have ever held a real job.
The corrupt incompetents in the Democrat Congress will call you to the Capitol to publicly humiliate you for something stupid they actually did.
The pay sucks.
Anyone stupid enough to take this job is too stupid to take this job.
NoDonkey on March 22, 2009 at 7:04 PM
Regardless of when this mess started, we’re all in agreement that we face tough times with a President who lies, doesn’t have a clue about basic economics etc.
I’ve always been a tough cookie and a survivor and one my few talents is learning to make do when the crap hits the fan. Am I scared about the financial crisis coming down the pike? Hell yes. I lived thru the Jimmy Carter years and I think this mess we’re facing is going to pale in comparison.
My neighbor said it best today, people like the above mentioned are nothing more than mindless cult followers with nothing in their brains except what your leader has fed them.
When your songs for your IPods go from 99 cents to $10 bucks, and your XBox’s cost $2,000 bucks, and some whack job flies a 747 up your ass, please come back and tell us how well your leader is doing.
I wouldn’t spit on any you, you’re shameless fools.
Keep American Clean, Keep America Safe.
Please don’t feed the trolls. We are better than that.
Knucklehead on March 22, 2009 at 7:07 PM
getalife or athensboy:
How does it feel to be one of those beautiful people…? Or Nowhere Man?
Sorry to defame the Beatles this way, especially since you guys (or whatevers) likely are more into Sir Elton’s ballads. Or even that Cumbaya thing, perhaps.
But don’t stop commenting here… and “Don’t stop believin’”. You’re just too target-rich.
TXUS on March 22, 2009 at 7:09 PM
Perhaps if you weren’t supporting the offshoring of American jobs, he would have more gainful employment.
Much like Reaganites and Thatcherites.
Keep American clean and safe by allowing US citizens to put their talents to work in their chosen profession.
sethstorm on March 22, 2009 at 7:13 PM
So are those who aid and abet the Third World, the Republicans.
sethstorm on March 22, 2009 at 7:14 PM
Seth, you and getalife are proof that the one thing America does not offshore is public humiliation.
Chuck Schick on March 22, 2009 at 7:25 PM
And in your case, cleaning out toilets after your leader has had a bad case of diarrhea.
Knucklehead on March 22, 2009 at 7:27 PM
That’s in any country.
If you were serious about it, you’d think of how some of those folks are dislocated from their preferred professions outside of HA.
No, they aren’t your joke professions to preempt you on that.
sethstorm on March 22, 2009 at 7:27 PM
And what drives those jobs and companies overseas? Could it be business unfriendly tax and regulation regimes here? I am leaving California because it is not business friendly and overly friendly to those that don’t work and illegal immigrants with my tax money. That is just simple economics and common sense. You can’t force a company to stay where it can’t make a profit and grow. Oh I almost forgot socialists don’t like profit and think it should all be confiscated by the government to be redistributed.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Which cult do I follow? I can’t stand Obama, but I also can’t stand the Republicans that ruled for 6 years, not if I’m going to be consistent with the truth.
You criticize me for following the truth, yet you expose yourself for being a Republican at all costs. It’s unfortunate, I would like to think that fellow conservatives actually apply some independent thought as opposed to following establishment orders.
Obama the socialist inherited a Depression that was started by the Federal Reserve when it chose to drop the interest rates to expand the flow of credit and expand the already existing bubble that was caused by the dotcom bubble. The dotcom bubble never fully deflated and a real correction was not allowed to occur because Bush did not want it to happen. Now I understand Bush’s position (he was still wrong), he’s a politician and was hoping to avoid political fallout, but Greenspan’s motives I really question.
Now, you can sit idly by and avoid the truth, but that’s on you, but there is no need to call me a cult member since I didn’t vote for Obama. I actually supported Palin. The only reason I did is because she was obviously seen as a threat by the Democrat/Republican establishment. Any time that happens it’s usually a good thing.
Now, I don’t know if I’ll support her again, she needs to hone down here philosophy and learn how to communicate it better as well before I consider her again. Besides, she’s been making trips to DC to attend establishment events, that’s a bad sign.
The only way we are going to take this country back is if we hold all politicians accountable. If not, the Republicans will never win again, and we WILL have all out socialism, if not an all out dictatorship via Venezuela.
You need to wake up man, wake up and think as a free person. I supported Bush twice and was major Clinton hater, that was before I realized they weren’t that far apart.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 7:50 PM
I would leave the trolls alone. It is like the AIG bonus. We are worrying about deck chairs on the Titanic.
Starlink on March 22, 2009 at 7:53 PM
You mean the sort of deregulation like the community reinvestment act (CRA)? The kind of deregulation that allowed ACORN and the sitting Prez to sue Citibank to force it to make more bad loans?
Maybe you mean the sort of deregulation that allowed Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno to say that the govt would look at specific govt mandated loan target parameters to the underserviced as a determining factor in future bank M&A activity….
moxie_neanderthal on March 22, 2009 at 7:56 PM
I was pretty much of the opposite frame of mind. When I was 18, I attended Clinton’s inauguration and had a front row seat. It was my first election. and I voted for him twice. I still respected him even through the Lewinsky scandal, although I deplore sexual harassment in the workplace and hold Bill Clinton responsible for making it acceptable up till it cost him everything.
The Democrats were very bitter that George W. Bush used morality to usher the GOP back into power. I think they had it out for him from the get go.
While I never hated Bush on a partisan level, I originally opposed the Iraq war. It was only after I studied more about the events leading up to it, US history and saw what our troops have accomplished there, that I came around and also respected Bush more. I think he was a fine President, though not one of our best. I think America was lucky to have him instead of Gore and Kerry.
Now that this economic crisis has occurred, I see more what kind of President Clinton was in the end. The Clinton administration pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working and middle class families.
Clinton policies created the housing bubble. Clinton appointees lobbied Congress against regulation and oversight, embezzled money and cooked their books to earn bonuses. Democrats sat on both the Senate and House banking committees and blocked necessary legislation. They filibustered in the Senate to prevent legislation that would have prevented or decreased the impact of the financial crisis.
Bush failed to successfully reform the GSEs, and his appointments at the SEC and Treasury failed the American people. The SEC was more to blame for overturning the net capital rule and failing to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Thanks for posting that link, Wethal. It is a succinct summary of the Left’s machine, which has loads of money, influence, and a horrid agenda for America. Seizing power is the game, and too many Dem voters don’t realize that they are pawns for movers and shakers who are playing them.
onlineanalyst on March 22, 2009 at 8:21 PM
All in all, I hold Clinton more responsible for the current mess, since periodic recessions are natural in even the healthiest economy. But the recession timed with an artificially created housing bubble that everyone chose to ignore and let get out of hand. Now we have President Milli Vanilli fidding while Rome burns.
chunderroad on March 22, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Obama the socialist inherited a Depression that was started by the Federal Reserve when it chose to drop the interest rates to expand the flow of credit and expand the already existing bubble that was caused by the dotcom bubble. The dotcom bubble never fully deflated and a real correction was not allowed to occur because Bush did not want it to happen. Now I understand Bush’s position (he was still wrong), he’s a politician and was hoping to avoid political fallout, but Greenspan’s motives I really question.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 7:50 PM
I think you and I are among the very few that connect the dotcom bubble to the housing bubble. It was very obvious here in California if you paid close attention. Those that made boatloads of money during the dotcom boom bailed out of the silicon valley and went into realestate and thus inflated that market here big time. Both bubbles burst here first and then the deflation hit the rest of the country. Those that still had money moved it into commodities, oil, and drove those prices up till it burst as well. Its all connected.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 8:25 PM
With the spendulus, which he got over virtually unanimous R opposition, he took ownership of this economy.
He may yet turn a recession into a depression.
edshepp on March 22, 2009 at 8:36 PM
I guess the party is over. Barry has been thrown under the bus by his closest friends in the MSM:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20325.html
ChicagoBlues on March 22, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Sixty years of failed Liberal policies,
and the Lefty’s are still spending!
Now the failure has come home to roost,
and those trillion dollar little chickens
are leaving a stink!!!!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on March 22, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Let me ask one simple question……….
……… no one doubts that one of the original “domino’s” in this disaster was the Community Reinvestment Act, a Social Engineering Project put forth by the Democrats under Jimmy Carter, given Federal Regulatory Force under Bill Clinton, and protected from exaserbating this problem by Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Maxine Waters, Franklin Raines, et al.
After Trillions have been thrown at the problem, the Community Reinvestment Act still exists, thus a cause of the problem hasn’t been fixed………….
My question……….
………… Would you favor a repeal of the Community Reinvestment Act in order to stabilize our financial institutions and start to repair the damage on solid ground?
Simple question……….
………….. should be a simple answer, “Yes” or “No”.
Seven Percent Solution on March 22, 2009 at 8:53 PM
Thanks for your thoughtful response.
The more I study the history of central banks the more I begin to think they do this purposely. They inflate economies, then deflate them via tightening the credit, when all is cheap again they buy up assets penny on the dollar. Just look at the TARP money, they used alot of it to buy up smaller banks, consolidating their power even more.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 8:53 PM
That money would have been better off back to the people and let us bail out our mortagge companies ourselves by giving us more of our money to pay our commitments to them. Instead WE are being bypassed and the companies are being bailed out, written down and everything else, then they cut jobs, lay more of us off and downwards we go. The only R word I am thinking of is Reciprocate! Then, what had to be done, was nail the credit card companies that had the 35% interest rates and who kept sending credit card apps to our teenagers. Now its all sideways. Whats going to happen now is no money will be available to repair the real problem because they used all the countries money to reward and bailout idiots. The American People have been left out of it except being the provider for the money to do all of this bailing. Well, there’s no more money. Another fix won’t be able to happen which leads me to believe that the USA will be broke beyond saving itself now, jobs won’t be recovered, people won;t be able to put in taxes to fund any of it any more, and then what? Sure print more money. You cant do that forever. No more bailing. Its got to be given back to us so we can buy things or we are screwed! Walmart isnt going to hire us all. A depression is not out of the question.
johnnyU on March 22, 2009 at 8:55 PM
Yes. Repeal it ASAP. Such programs encourage bad lending practices and encourage risky behaviour. Most government guarantees do. But I disagree that it is the genesis of the problem. It is part of the problem but the Jenfidel in the room is the Federal Reserves to set price controls via interest rates.
If you think I’m a liberal your way off. I just don’t tow the Republican line like most here do.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 8:57 PM
OIC! Bush and the republicans deregulated Fannie/Freddie which in turn stuck our banks with all of those TOXIC ASSETTS which mostly are loans made to people [mostly black and ILLEGAL Aliens] with no credit, no money down, and never made a single payment. I guess the republicans were working to assist them …
Yes, please let’s do forget how The Banking Queen told America how Fannie/Freddie were the most solvent financial institutions in America, and forget that democrats have been in charge of regulating these groups for over 2 years now.
Let’s also forget how the democrats are in charge of the mob movement [thanks to terrorist A-bomb-eh's favorite social group] to kill executives who may get a bonus.
Yepers! It is all Bush-Hitlers fault. /sarc
Coming next: Democrats lied, innocents died.
DannoJyd on March 22, 2009 at 9:34 PM
You must have mistaken me for a Democrat.
Yes, for the most part the Democrats did protect Fannie/Freddie. That goes to my point above that states that government guarantees suck due to the reasons exemplified by the Fannie/Freddie fiasco. They guaranteed loans, the banks gave loans to anyone, the banks sold the loans to FF and FF sold them to hedge funds.
Democrats are worse than Republicans, but to ignore the mess the Republicans created when they were in power is not cool. To forget history is to repeat it.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 9:38 PM
Not at all as far as you being a ‘d’, but I, at least, have recognised that it has been, and remains, key democrats who pushed us to this point. They have used race baiting tactics to saddle us all with TOXIC Assetts, they now are pushing a mob movement via ACORN to def3elct the accountability issue [nice nazi tactic], and no where do I see Bush being the cause of this.
Bush may wear brown shirts, but he isn’t one of those lice. I have many disagreements
problemswith W, but this issue certainly isn’t one of them.DannoJyd on March 22, 2009 at 9:53 PM
I agree with the distraction tactics, the real outrage should be the bailouts themselves, they have shown themselves to not have worked.
As I’ve said, I don’t like either party, but the Democrats are more dangerous precisely because of such mob tactics and the willingness to implement socialism despite the costs and that we are only at the beginning of a depression.
Republicans are simply too weak to offer anything substantive.
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 10:00 PM
True_King on March 22, 2009 at 9:38 PM
I understand your points. Bush as as early as 2003 pushed for more regulation of FMFM and it was blocked by Democrats like Dodd and Frank. The sad part is we are left with an incompetent Pres. and Treasury Sec. to get to the bottom of it and solve it.
I agree the Community Reinvestment Act needs to be repealed and ACORN put under Federal RICO charges along with being shut down entirely.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Shelby is a pig.
This man is one of the Repubs responsible for 40% of the earmarks in the Porkulus budget.
Shelby has absolutely no credibility whatsoever and Ed, you should know that.
Shouldn’t you?
pabarge on March 22, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Hmm, I find it interesting that the Obots disappeared when we started pointing all the Democrat’s malfeasence in this mess.
goat on March 22, 2009 at 10:14 PM
I concur, but my point is, and will remain, that as long as no one is held accountable for the mess they created nothing constructive will, or can, be done to fix the mess.
Republicans can, and should, start in on the democrats concerning holding real hearings. The democrats should cheer the motion as they love their investigations. They started ver 300 in the 2007-2008 cycle alone!
Where is the accountability!!!
DannoJyd on March 22, 2009 at 10:18 PM
However there are businesses that play by the rules, do well, and the community thanks them.
Explain why National Cash Register is still in Ohio, specifically Dayton. Some would consider the place business hostile, but they’ve managed to stay.
sethstorm on March 23, 2009 at 12:29 AM
What?!?!? Is Shelby through ‘vetting’ his earmarks, already?
Lil Timmy will be around until the teleprompter kid decides he has outlived his usefulness. Then, even Lassie won’t be able to save Timmy.
Gohawgs on March 23, 2009 at 1:23 AM
And Geithner does not seem to have done a good job persuading his fellow finance ministers. One British official, who came to the United States with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to prepare for next month’s G-20 meeting in London, said it was “unbelievably difficult” to deal with the Obama administration. “There is nobody there. You cannot imagine how difficult it is,” one cabinet secretary told the London Times, apparently referring to Geithner’s Treasury department. Officials from another G-20 nation, speaking off the record, also complained about the lack of response they received from Treasury.
One friend recently compared Geithner to Dean Rusk, who served as secretary of state under John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. A colorless bureaucrat who rose within the ranks of the foreign policy establishment, Rusk failed to raise questions about American intervention in Vietnam. Instead, he became a stalwart proponent of the war even as the prospects of success plummeted. But if Geithner’s recent missteps are any indication, the Treasury secretary could also turn out to be Obama’s George McClellan, who served dismally as Lincoln’s general-in-chief during the first year of the Civil War and almost cost the Union the war.
- John B. Judis
KentAllard on March 23, 2009 at 4:12 AM
What you failed to note is Sen. Shelby was one of 10 Republicans who voted for Timmy, so maybe he should have expressed these doubts about him BEFORE he voted to confirm him.
JeffinSac on March 23, 2009 at 10:52 AM
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