Firms beingquestioned include Merrill Lynch & Co., First Union (now Wachovia), Lehman Bros., Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and the CIBC World Markets unit of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, according to the House source.
In order to win in elections you must hold your base and cut into the traditional votes of the other side. The independents (the largest group of voters) swing toward the winner for the same reasons if you stay in the center and scare them about the dangers of the other side. America is a country in the right center - with a few passionate minorities that matter a lot only in primaries.
The political results of the Republican base being very angry about investment losses and accounting fraud and the questionable standards used in the board rooms, among auditors, poor services by security firms, bond rating services, general corruption on wall street, leaving investors exposed and feeling they have been done in by Washington's bribes and shakedowns, these passions will backfire on Republican candidates with a history of pro-business, deregulation, free market, big corporations, this classical Republican ideology is now becoming far less popular. There will be defections as in California and New England of their middle class base, loss of enthusiasm for supporting Republicans in Florida and the middle west, and serious losses in the off year elections - most likely the loss of the house of Representatives and loss in the Senate and among Governors. Even if there is a war it may not help all that much.
wiredbrain.com
The fact that is not really Bush's fault (but he has failed to respond) the investors are angry about how the market works doesn't matter or get him off the hook. Public mood reflects on the Administration, whatever - Clinton gained a lot from the market boom regardless of his role (which was positive using rational fiscal policies based on the Budget Acts negotiated by Bush 41 - including tough rules and tax increases) and his Secretary of the Treasury Mr. Rubin sensible fiscal policies - Now Bush 43 has run away budgets, loose rules, PAUL H. O'NEILL and Chaney who are not very useful on calming the markets. His economics team has been useless or worse. Tax cuts is not a policy.
Some 100 million investors--about half of all adult Americans--can relate to that. They're the new Investor Class that has emerged over the past decade. Predominantly middle-class, suburban baby boomers, they bought into the idea that stocks could only make them richer. They exulted during the long bull market of the 1990s. But they've lost $5 trillion, or 30%, of their stock wealth since the spring of 2000, when the dot-com implosion launched the second-worst bear market since World War II. It wasn't Monopoly money: It was earmarked for retirement, for college tuition, for medical bills.
The Democratic message is "we are for you" THEY are for THEM. With Democrats you make money and the economy booms because we are the real conservatives, prudent, cautious, believe in old values of honesty, tight rules and enforcement, while they are greedy, ideological, radicals, spend thrifts, and promote values that underline the Enron scandal.
Democrats are for law and order - traditional accounting public and private
Democrats are for old style values (tradition values) - good government and reform - Campaign reform, on Wall Street and the board rooms -
Republicans are corrupt - sunk in campaign money, too tight with the crooks, wild ideological believers out of the main stream
You can see how this will cut into Republican base - who have successfully tagged the Democrats as tax and spend - and dangerous liberals and an ideological labor party - now the left can capture some of this ground back.
The question is "Are you better off than in 2000?" And who do you trust to expand the economy? Who do you trust to clean up the mess in business and politics? (Health, Social Security, Education, environment, and other important issues)
The Republicans still have more trust in running wars and defense - but if things get messy this could backfire quickly. JFK got to the right on weapons and aggressiveness and so could some Democrats - or John McCain - |
