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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cirrus who wrote (51867)	10/16/2008 2:41:19 PM
From: ms.smartest.person	Respond to of 224686

Direct U.S. stake in banks has many precedents WASHINGTON - For all the thorny free-market issues raised, the big U.S. intervention in banks does have precedents - from wholesale wartime takeovers of entire industries to the seizing of hundreds of failed savings and loans in the 1980s. Most nationalizations have been temporary, but some endure, like Amtrak. Over the past century, the government has taken stakes in banks, railways, steel mills, coal mines and foreclosed homes. President Bush's announcement on Tuesday that the government would directly invest up to $250 billion in the nation's top financial institutions was the latest step in increasingly bold efforts by the U.S. and other powers to prop up a financial system near collapse. It was presented as a last-resort intervention. But already this year, the Federal Reserve had taken a $85 billion stake in failing insurer American International Group, which it later upped by $37.8 billion. And it provided a $29 billion loan to JPMorgan Chase & Co. as part of its purchase of investment bank Bear Stearns. Also, the government took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pledging up to $200 billion to back their assets. During World War I, the government nationalized railroads, telegraph lines and the Smith & Wesson Company. During World War II, it seized railroads, coal mines, Midwest trucking operators and many other companies. As the war dragged on, President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 even briefly seized the Montgomery Ward department-store chain for defying a labor agreement. Not all takeover efforts go through. President Truman tried to nationalize the steel industry in 1952 to avert a strike he claimed would hurt Korean War efforts. But the move was blocked by the Supreme Court, holding that he failed to cite any legislative authority. Administration officials emphasize that the recent bank interventions are temporary and argue that they are in the national interest - even if seemingly at odds with hallowed private-enterprise principles. -The Associated Press timesrepublican.com

To: cirrus who wrote (51867)	10/16/2008 2:51:11 PM
From: Neeka	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224686

Congress is responsible for the financial mess we're in. When the Democratic party took control of Congress in 2006 the dow was above 11000. Look where it is now. Congress is entirely responsible.

To: cirrus who wrote (51867)	10/16/2008 3:25:56 PM
From: Ann Corrigan	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224686

Grassroots poster gets Obama: >Arrogant Obama by People1776, 10/16/08 14:52 ET now that he has a lead in the polls, Obama no longer felt the need to fake respect for John McCain, he scoffed and laughed all night during the debate...this reveals several things, 1)The guy is just plain immature, 2)He lies when its convenient and will change his tune on many other things the minute he is elected, 3) The disrespect he showed McCain is the exact attitude he and his wife have toward this country...they think it is an abject failure and wish to change it at its very core, not love and correct, hate and change.<