Realty Check

The Democrats may have gained a majority in Congress, but they did not gain sufficient power to affect legislation the Republicans opposed. The policies that led to our economic chaos were those of the Republican party. They are also the politics of greed.

The Bush tenure has been called "the best time in history to be rich." We should all be looking very carefully at who has been profiting over the last eight years and how. It would also be good to take a look at how John McCain fits into the picture.

"You're a two bit pirate Gecko!"

wow,i have been waiting for months for someone to bring this up. its rather stupid that the obama campaign wonders why democrats aren't beating the crap out of republicans on the issues---just look to our congress. they have been as responsible if not more than GW for the problems we face today in many regards. good posting.

I over heard someone at work say that these companies are being bailed out by the taxpayers because people could not afford to pay their mortgages. Yes they may not have been able to pay their mortgages, but what about the banks and mortgage companies that made the deal to these people they knew couldn't afford to make the payments. Are they not responsible?
Your right - it comes down to one word - GREED. I don't necessarliy feel sorry for these folks losing their jobs, especially if they were duped into investing heavliy into their own companies stock - bad choice my friends. ANyone worth their salt in investments will tell you to diversify. But your money loving CEO's and other company officials sold you a fish and you bought-regardless that it stank.
So while people may have bought above their means, lets not forget who made it all possible - the 6.5 year in control republican congress and administration!

Nice blog Vicki!

Although the specifics can't be allotted to either party, there's been a trend for decades to insure questionable ventures -- housing to unlikely buyers, flood insurance to people who live in flood zones, etc. Of course, I could go on.

When someone/something assumes the role of insurer, you can bet there will come a time when that entity will get stuck.

Is there a greater good when the government becomes an insurance company? Maybe sometimes but, as a rule, it's a loaded gas can near a fire.

Whatever -- now every one of us will pay. For the mortgage mess, for the hurricane mess, etc. Nothing is free and you cannot make a silk purse out of a pig's ear!

For me, the defining line of this decade was by the government character in the movie Syriana who said "Corruption makes the world work".The 1980s were about greed. The Bush era has been about greed pumped up with lies and corruption. Industry polices written by the corporate giants, no regulation, everything done in the name of profit. Bush gave us Enron, Arthur Anderson and capitalism on steroids. Greed, selfishness and deceit have ben allowed to run rampant by this administration. Bush/McCain and the GOP must go. They got us in this mess. As McCain said they are divorced from any understanding and care about what faces the average American. They only care about themselves and their rich loyalists. People should be clear on that.

Ok, yeah, it's all going to hell. Greed. The usual suspects. Left screaming at right; right screaming at left. Chains rattling. Doors Creaking!
Piggy banks breaking! BoogeyMan at the back door!

BOO!!

Here's the thing: if you've been around awhile, you've seen this before. In 1974, the economic chickens of a long war without raising taxes to pay for it came a roostin'. Oh what shall we do?

We stayed home. We watched TV with friends on Saturday night with lots of snacks. We played in the parks. We rode our bikes. We went to free concerts. We staged free concerts. Our Dad's worked on the cars of our friends. Our friends painted the houses of our Dad's. We slowed down.

It was drab. It was glorious.

Because we couldn't afford anything else, WE made do.

America only changes when her back is against the wall and now is such a time. WE took out the loans. WE bought the SUVs. WE voted for the (insert your favorite demon here)s!

It can be terrible for the ambitious social mavenrs to have to dance to a folk singer instead of a rock band, or listen to a recording instead of going to an opera, or cook with neighbors instead of being served by strangers

But it can also be the best times of your life. Your choice.

Greed is good. It drives us to make better products more efficiently and creates jobs. The bad part is the fed artificially manipulating interests rates and, in doing so, creating malinvestments that are sure to come back and bite us. This manipulating creates a period of economic prosperity, but, as we are finding out, this prosperity is false and propped up by an almost insurmountable debt. The purely Keynesian approach has failed at least in part. The other negative effect of greed is where companies buy the politicians' favor in making laws. This distorts the free market allowing one sector to have greater advantage over another. I believe Ron Paul is the only politician that was articulating these facts.

Bush said himself at a black tie dinner in his first term with all the GOP corporate fatcats:
"When I look out at you I see what some call the Elite. I look out here and see my Constituency."
Greenspan says we are on track for a once every 50 year or once every century ecnomic debacle. Selfish. greed, arrogance and lies have ruled for the last 8 years and that ethic has permeated our culture. There will be a big price to pay for that. But for God's sake don't elect a McCain who will keep the scam going.

hopesprings52 - I believe both the dems and reps are complicit in the "scam" as you call it. Vote Nader, Paul, etc. if you want real change in the right direction. All we need is someone who isn't purchased by big business.

Greed does NOT drive us to make better products more efficiently, nor does it create jobs. It drives those who are greedy to manipulate stocks, to downsize the workforce, to send jobs overseas, and to cheapen the quality of goods and services. Greed is NOT what Adam Smith had in mind....

Joel - Your post is misguided. If people have no desire to acquire wealth and the incentive is not there to do so, then they will just do enough to get by. Mediocre work and mediocre products and no real job creation unless of course we go to a communist approach to job creation. The greed you speak of is the one where there is no accountability for wrong doing, CEOs, politicians in bed with big business, regulations that drive corporations oversees.

What got us there is ignorance and apathy on the part of the American voter. We could have had presidential contenders who knew more about domestic issues, foreign policy, monetary policy, and the Constitution by supporting Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich. But instead the voters chose to have a traditional dog and pony show this election season.

Truthfully, this article is a little low-bar for ABC. I understand it is a blog and all, but there really are no facts explaining the market forces that the article pretends to attack. Instead it is full of rhetoric under false pretenses. Can the average American truly understand our monetary policy? Not if you keep filling their head with this blame-game schtuff!

Max - Good post. I mention Paul and Nader. You mention Paul and Kucinich. Antipodal candidates who all have one thing in common: They want what is best for our country.

It seems like the people in America have been fooled by salesmen and their soundbites. The medicine men who sold us this bill of goods have taken their money and run.

They sold the folks,including congressmen, on corrupt ideas (deregulation, complicated products) that could never work for everyone, . They took, and spent, such a big cut of the money stream that kept the scheme going that they starved it.

They could deduct the cost of experts, media, cars, advertising, golf trips for congressmen, high commissions, bogus accounting, high salaries, bonuses, etc.

The victims have paid for everything. Now everyone is expected to donate to save the businesses, and maybe the whole corrupt system. The apologists are trying to minimise our notion of the damage, but the effect will be the same.

This has been going on for a long time, and STILL no one seems to know the extent of the damage. Are there no smart people out there?

POP QUIZ: Exactly where is the investigation and the evidence regarding the investigation of the Enron affair? Anyone?

Republicans are all about big business and greed. The Democratic congress hasn't had the time nor the power (Dumbya would veto any attempt at good) to fix the problems of this corrupt, immoral, hypocritical administration.

I'm jealous!!! When my company went bankrupt, I got fired. These robber barons get $121 million golden parachutes! The free market system is good for many things... including waste, greed and corruption!!!!!

Cliff Hodnett wrote:
>
>     America voted for change in 2006, and we got it.
>     Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to
>     work with what's handed to him.

With one exception all of President Bush's vetos have come since 2007. This means that for six full years (2000-2006) the Republican Congress and Republican President had full control to pass anything and everything they wanted.

Bills that were passed by a Democratic Congress and vetoed by Bush included support for children's health care, support for veterans, stem cell research, efforts to improve the intelligence agencies and funding of education.  Thankfully the Democratic Congress had the guts to override his veto on important matters such as medicare reform.

Today many (most?) of our biggest problems, including the sub-prime mortgage crisis that threatens to create the worst global crisis since the Great Depression, have their roots in reduced government oversight and regulation that date back long before 2007. 
-Mark Famer

1. July 19 , 2006 : Vetoed H.R. 810 , Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 , a bill to ease restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research . Override attempt failed in House, 235- 193 (286 needed).

2. May 1 , 2007 : Vetoed H.R. 1591 , U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 . Override attempt failed in House, 222-203 (284 needed). A later version of the bill that excluded certain aspects of the initial legislation that the President disapproved of, H.R. 2206 , was enacted as Pub.L. 110-28  with the President's approval.

3. June 20 , 2007 : Vetoed S. 5 , Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 .

4. October 3 , 2007 : Vetoed H.R. 976 , Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007  ("SCHIP"). Override attempt failed in House, 273-156 (286 votes needed).

5. November 2 , 2007 : Vetoed H.R. 1495 , Water Resources Development Act of 2007 . Overridden by House, 361-54 (277 votes needed). Overridden by Senate, 79-14 (62 needed), and enacted as Pub.L. 110-114 over President's veto.

6. November 13 , 2007 : Vetoed H.R. 3043 , Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2008 . Override attempt failed in House, 277- 141 (279 votes needed).

7. December 12 , 2007 : Vetoed H.R. 3963 , Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 . [18]  Override attempt failed in House, 260-152 (275 votes needed).

8. December 28 , 2007 : Pocket Vetoed H.R. 1585 , National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 [19] . A later version of the bill that changed a minor provision of which the President disapproved was quickly passed by Congress ( H.R. 4986 ) and was enacted with the President's approval as Pub.L. 110-181  on 28 January   2008 .

9. March 8 , 2008 : Vetoed H.R. 2082 , Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 . [20] [21]  Override attempt failed in House, 225- 188.

10. May 21 , 2008 : Vetoed H.R. 2419 , 2007 U.S. Farm Bill . [22] [23]   Overridden by House, 316-108 (283 votes needed). Overridden by Senate, 82-13 (64 votes needed). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-234 over the President's veto. Due to a clerical error, this act was repealed by Pub.L. 110-246 .

11. 18 June   2008 : Vetoed H.R. 6421 , 2007 U.S. Farm Bill , re-passed by Congress to correct a clerical error in HR 2419. [24]  Overridden by House, 317-109 (284 votes required). Overridden by Senate, 80-14 (63 votes needed). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-246 over the President's veto.

12. July 15 , 2008 : Vetoed H.R. 6331 , Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act . [25]  Overriden by House, 383-41 (283 votes required.) Overriden by Senate, 70-26 (64 votes required). Enacted as Pub.L. 110-275 over the President's veto.

You really have to be stupid to buy this Republican crap. The Republicans screw up everything and all they do is blame the democrats. The Democrats are lame ducks. They can't even stop Bush's vetos without Republican help. This economy was screwed BEFORE the Democrats gained any control. Put the blame where the blame belongs. Yes the Republicans spend, spend, spend and spend! Most Americans know what the Republicans have done and how stupid some of them are. I am voting for Obama because we NEED CHANGE. And we need someone in Office that is intelligent and not STUPID. No more Republicans LIARS. The Republican's CONTROLLED, BOTH THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE FOR MANY YEARS AND LOOK AT THE MESS THEY HAVE MADE TO THIS NATION.

"We should all be looking very carefully at who has been profiting over the last eight years and how."

Right on the money, Joel. Sadly, few have the moral courage to "look very carefully".

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/the-ghost-in-the-machines-the-mystery-of-the-wtc-hard-drive-recoveries/