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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dale Baker who wrote (105305)	3/2/2009 9:48:19 AM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 540835

It's stunning how so many have come to the conclusion that nothing illegal took place when no investigation has ever been conducted. Are we going to close the book on the transfer of trillions of taxpayer dollars, by relying on the investigative talent of a 60 minutes television show producer? When the Enron debacle happened every media outlet and politician wanted to toss the scum in jail and get indictments. We heard stories after stories of how the lifesavings of people were wiped out, and how the company destroyed the lives and fortunes of thousands of people. Obama and company are now spending literally trillions of taxpayer dollars, without investigating or even demanding the resignation of one CEO's who cost generations a fortune. Where are the stories of Citibank shareholders who lost their life savings? Where are the nightly stories of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders being wiped out? When the history of these days is written, if no investigation is conducted(as appears to be the path we're on), that will be the most astonishing part of this “crisis” future generations will perplex over.

To: Dale Baker who wrote (105305)	3/2/2009 8:12:49 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 540835

>>When I look at the deregulation for Glass-Steagall, the swaps markets, agency ratings on securitizations and the leverage limits that were allowed, I have no doubt we need specific tough legislation on all those points.<< Dale - Repealing Glass-Steagall was clearly a bad idea. A lot of people want to blame the real estate bubble for our current calamity. The fact is that the number of foreclosures we've had could never have brought the entire financial industry to its knees without all the credit default swaps and other derivatives from mortgage backed securities, coupled with changes in leverage requirements and the merging of investment banks and commercial banks. With the mortgage default rates we've had, there would have been some slight damage, but nothing even remotely like what we're seeing now. I realize I'm not saying anything that hasn't been said here before. I'm just tired of people saying that we don't need more regulation and that imprudent home buyers are to mostly blame for the present situation. - Allen

To: Dale Baker who wrote (105305)	3/2/2009 8:22:58 PM
From: quehubo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 540835

Yes those are good points. At the end of the day there appears to be much discretion on how much, when and to whom the existing regulations apply. Where were all the internal controls from all these companies? Either way I stand by my bearish pessimism. Consumer behavior has changed for the foreseeable future. There will be no recovery in global economic on the back of American consumers. The best thing Obama can do for the well being of the nation is to recognize this. He needs to figure out how to put all these recently laid off workers into something not related to Finance, commercial or residential construction or retail. People who have jobs will need many years to reduce debt and raise savings for retirement. People who have no jobs wont spend much at all.