Political Punch

Hi all... I am new to baynet too.Of course, I quit reading and posting on the some blogs & forums. I won't go into details becuase I am sure most of you know why...
it will take a little time to get use to this interface, but I think I can manage...

Once again people talk on this without knowing what they are talking about.yes freddie and fannie are to big .Yes they should be smaller so we don't have to worry about finacial meltdowns that we the people have to bail out for the sake of giving unqualified people morgatges they can't pay

HELLO?! Although I know my way around, I am no economic expert but I could see there was something wrong (the water was receding before the tsunami, I guess.). When I would bring this up to people they would tell me to enjoy the ride, how prices in Florida were just too low for too long. I thought maybe I was worrying for nothing but I guess that nagging doubt was right after all. Better to listen to your gut then a expert who's first solution is to buy more of the toxic debt nobody wants.

People were buying way over their head. Instead of a starter home, the young couple wanted the big house with a pool. It was hard NOT to sell a house. They got questionable loans & didn't seem to care about the penalties even after explained to them. But how can the same exact model house be going up $10,000 a month with no sign of hitting the brakes? It was a literal run away train. The builders were giddy buying up lots & completely filling in blocks of vacant land within weeks (I still have many vacant, never occupied homes around my home for 15 years with tall grass). Where were the jobs? All the out of town agents have since moved on to fertile ground. They come, conquer & leave their footprints with no consequences. What about the people who actually live here? With all the experts we hire, nobody can COUNT the number of building permits & figure in how much more or less roads, services, drainage, schools, etc. are going to be needed for this growth. These ivy league school grads are full of stale air instead of any new ideas.

Our next President should have a YEARLY review with objectives & consequences, like we all have. RESUMES do matter but only the accomplishes count. Everyone can ask, "What have you done for me lately?" It's about time the People of this great country get to say, "YOUR FIRED!" Let's push our agenda...not theirs.

After reading so much about this lady and watching a number of interviews with reputable channels such as CNN, I am flabbergasted. What are the Americans (at least Republican Party supporters) thinking? We don't even nominate people like Sarah palin for municipal council elections, let alone federal ones. haven't you learned electing one of this kind twice in a row.

Hey; does anyone remember the Republican( Taxpayers Bill of Rights) and do'nt say it was hijacked by the Dems because they had a Republican President and a Republican controled both the Senate and the Congress.

We love Sarah here in Alaska. She truly is a reformer and has gone against the corruption in the political establishment. While we will miss her, our loss is the nation's gain. She is a smart and articulate person. I have no doubt the nation will elect her as the next vice president. While the liberal left may criticize her for leading the Alaska National Guard, last I checked Sen. Obama has never led a military unit. Oops, I meant he had never led any unit. Please, him saying his leadership experience is leading his campaign. Everyone knows the campaign manager leads the campaign. I've never heard Sen McCain or Sarah say their leadership experience is leading their campaign. Sen Obama's lack of executive experience will never get him elected president. Lov'in it in Alaska.

Jake -

Palin is right that they are too expensive NOW and IN THE PAST.

Despite the fact that they are "private" we all know they are actually Government Chartered.

There has always been an implicit Federal Backing. Because of this, the risk that Fannie and Freddie represent raise the borrowing cost of the Federal Government.

$5 Trillion in shaky liabilities that you are implicitly on the hook for will mean something in Bond Markets.

With $8 Trillion in Financed Government Debt, a few basis points of risk premium because of exposure to Fannie and Freddie costs the taxpayers BILLIONS in additional borrowing costs.

Palin was correct either way. The neophytes who do not understand the Bond Markets would never get this fact...

Now you know.

Note that the "Heritage Foundation" is a hard-line right-wing propaganda organization, and not exactly a credible source of unbiased information.

Yeah, that Fannie Mae thing Palin said was just devastatingly stupid. No wonder they won't let her talk. The one time she does, she says something like that? Cripes, does "W" have a twin?

It just goes to show that the McCain campaign can't cram too many facts into someone's head too quickly.

Ahem....this from the Heritage Foundation, a more reliable source on economic history...

Fannie and Freddie were never private entities. Fannie is a relic of the New Deal and Freddie was chartered by Congress in 1970. When Fannie was partially privatized, and since Freddie’s inception, both entities have benefited from an implicit federal guarantee of their outstanding obligations. If they were just ‘private entities’ as Tapper claims, they never would have been able to establish a massive duopoly in the U.S. mortgage market. Only because of their ‘government sponsored entity’ status were they able to lower their borrowing costs below what real ‘private entities’ had to pay.

So sorry to break it to you sir. But the ONLY one confused on this issue is you. Gov. Palin was RIGHT. Thank you for once again contributing to the media's rush to judge Palin before actually ascertaining FACTS.

Wow,

Cramming for an economics final, a geography final, a history final, a political science final, a public relations final, a biological science final. A foreign relations final.

I almost feel sorry for her.
I said ALMOST.

"You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country's mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn't speak well for her, I'd say."

["The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help."]

Not sure why this statement was confusing, as I concur with Gov. Palin. But here, see if this helps: The fact is, these institutions became inefficient (too big) and now taxpayers are going to have to foot this humongous bill (too expensive).

Gee whiz, ABC, is this the best news you can dig up on the candidates? I think this is lame compared to the "lipstick on a pig" comment by Obama today.

Forgive me, but isn't that sorta like the pot calling the kettle black? [hey, the audience standing behind me just roared with laughter, like the folks behind Obama today, so I guess they knew exactly what I REALLY meant!] -- winkie, wink

Palin is an awful strange character. She attends a church that speaks in tongues, believes Jews are being punished via terrorism, and that all gays can be turned straight. Not the mainstream.

Wow - I didn't realize I stumbled on a hard core liberal Web site. I thought the fact that this was on ABC News would have implied it to be somewhat balanced. I happen to be pretty middle of the road. For starters, I like all 4 candidates and am glad we actually finally have some people of character to choose from. That said I think Tapper's distortion of Palin's comments is pretty extreme. Saying that it has gotten too expensive for taxpayers doesn't imply a misunderstanding of how they operate...nor does it imply she doesn't support the bailout. I support the bailout because the alternative is disastrous...but I'll quickly follow it by saying that the bailout is too expensive - or at least way too risky - for taxpayers and we shouldn't have ever been in the position for a bailout to be required in the first place. The economy at large has become way too dependent on these entities and way too much is at risk. And I'm quite certain I'm nowhere near as stupid as some people on here will have you believe Governor Palin is.

Palin's comments about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac show a complete lack of understanding of the mortgage markets of the United States. Yes, Americans should care about economic literacy of their leaders. If this isn't a valid criticism of Palin I don't know what is.

Oh my God! I've come to the conclusion America IS that stupid. If they buy the Palin lies and the McCain.."I'm a maverick and I'm going to change Washington"..then why didn't he stand up to the GOP about his real VP choice. Why? Because McCain wanted Lieberman, who speaking from someone who lives in CT. and didn't vote for Joe., Lieberman is a traitor to the party period, and is out for himself just like McCain. McCain's experience has been running for President for the past 10 years, MISSING 4 MONTHS of votes in Congress, and changes his opinion about his beliefs like the weather changes. Joe Lieberman will not make another election in CT., like the last by tricking people. If the media were doing their job and investigating Palin's and McCain's behavior there wouldn't be a surge in the election. If Republican DE-regulations weren't taken away from media ownership, we wouldn't have had this Banking crime wrecking Home values in America, The GOP did that and the GOP allowed their buddies to go free for stealing period. More regulation is needed over Banking, not less..More regulation is needed in media too to stop making America stupid! . The GOP wants "less Government" to protect their own greedy buddies. Do people want more of the same. Will a person vote for "anyone" just because they run Republican? . We need a real Government that isn't more of the same. Bush and Sara Palin are the same...except Bush really hates America, Palin uses it. Don't buy the lies, go with change. Go with Obama, he's the only REAL TRUTHFUL chance we have, really!! If America elects McCain, God help us all. There will be a depression and the GOP will blame that on the Democrats too and since the media dumbing down of America has been so successful, it'll work too. America IS that dumb to allow the party that raped us financially to get another go at it. Shame on media for not stepping up, with some REAL investigations of this new comer or having the sense to push Obama instead of the same old crap. Stand up, ask the questins, Palin has NO RIGHT to privacy if she's in public "proudly showing off her pregnant daughter"...shame on her.A party w/ values would have NOT chosen this woman and her pregnant daughter as Leaders of the America people. What happen to the party w. values anyway? This white Mom isn't voing for more of the same. I just wish the rest of the Moms had a brain..McCain called his ex wife the "C" word, is that who you want to dictate what your daughter can and can't do? Do you want a fanatic like Sara Palin in the whote house when McCain dies as he will of cancer> He's had it 4 times, and he's 70, wake up people, until they do..God help us..God help us if the GOP uses the stupidity "some American white women" or a "hockey or soccer Mom to decide who is President next... You can like her but that doesn't make Palin qualified!

Palin has no idea what is going on in the real world. She's been out on the frontier for too long. She doesn't realize that we're bailing out Fannie and Freddie. Who knows what she's thinking, ala Dan Quayle. As for the bailout, it wouldn't be necessary if not for the deregulation imposed by the Republicans (Phil Gramm, McCains economic advisor).

THE WISDOM OF POGO and PALIN

PALIN (Tapper): "The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers."

POGO (from the comics of yester-year): "We have met the enemy! and they are us."

Well, Freddie and Fannie were certainly too big and precariously positioned to avoid the onslaught domino effects in the housing market.

When Freddie and Fannie don't have the cash to backup the demands of their lender customers, then who's left to pick up the tab? Both Freddie and Fannie gathered too many clients in a Cinderella world painted by their lobbyists. The taxpayers are the end users in this arrangement, so guess what?

Can we let 'em sink? No -- Too many banks across the US are financially dependent on them. We can't endanger the stable mortgages held by responsible lenders. Do we send them to Federal receivership? Yes. Save what's left of both, bolster the business, trim the fat and re-invent under scrutiny.

Yep -- Too Big and too expensive for the taxpayer. We have met the enemy, and they are us.

Jake -- Give it up. You ran this yesterday. The realities of what we have stepped in aren't going to change overnight. And Pogo and Palin are on the same page.