Thoughts on Obama SO FAR?

[TSCURIOUS]

Back into this thread after being out of town-
All your comments were read and welcomed. It's what makes this a great country in that we can have these debates openly and freely.
He'll NEVER get re-elected, so we just have to deal with him for another couple years.
We need to send a message in the next elections - change the power and hoipe he doesn't screw it up anymore!
Peace!

[Ben]

Journalist John Pilger has an interesting take on Obama:

[yodajazz]

EXACTLY. Were the appropriate regulations in place, Joe Broke would not have been approved for such a loan, and there would have been no incentive to give him one in the first place.

I think the regulations have long been in place. Banks and financial houses were required to have cash reserves equal to a certain percerntage of their loans. Over a period of time the requirements were relaxed. I think that during Bush II some were not enforced, and direct permission was given that it was not nescessary to have cash reserves, to major players like Bears and Stearns.

Subprime crisis impact timeline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Lehman_Brothers_Times_Square_by_David_Shankbo ne.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Lehman_Brothers_Times_Square_by_David_Shankbone.jp g/220px-Lehman_Brothers_Times_Square_by_David_Shankbone.jp g"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/thumb/5/53/Lehman_Brothers_Times_Square_by_David_Shankbone.jp g/220px-Lehman_Brothers_Times_Square_by_David_Shankbone.jp g



2004: U.S. homeownership rate peaks with an all time high of 69.2 percent.[62]

• Following example of Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, many lenders adopt automated loan approvals that critics argued were not subjected to appropriate review and documentation according to good mortgage underwriting standards.[63] In 2007, 40% of all subprime loans resulted from automated underwriting.[64][65]Mortgage fraud by borrowers increases.[66]
• October:SEC effectively suspends net capital rule for five firms—Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley. Freed from government imposed limits on the debt they can assume, they levered up 20, 30 and even 40 to 1, buying massive amounts of mortgage-backed securities and other risky investments.[67]

One major point is the the Republican mantra that government regulation is only restricting business from making profits is proven wrong here.

[yodajazz]

As for Kramer, turn on your brain and leave it there.
If Obama was a communist( the biggest joke about BHO's presidency there is), he wouldn't have all these corporate giveaways to the healthcare industry and Wall Street investment banks.

And trust me, knowing someone as a youth does not make you...THEM.
I've had plenty of life 'mentors' as a teen who've lived totally different life experiences than me, but their lives weren't ever mine

Hey giovanni hotel..............so you say his mentor when he was young and the fact that he was a commie means nothing? Then how about Rev Wright and the racist phony religion called "black liberation theology" that the lying bastard claims he knows nothing about because he was deaf for 20 years?! Does he get a pass in your biased eyas there too!!! Wake up and see the truth!

I think that which you call a "racist phony religion" is called Christianity. It is my understanding that "Black Liberation Theology" is/was encouraging US Black to indentify with the stories of the children Israel, in the Bible. And in fact all Christians are taught the lessons Israel in the Bible. Taking Chirstianity to the gentiles was a major factor in making this happen.

I do believe that the Rev Wright was showing signs of an age related mental condition at the end. And I believe that is why he retired. But to say that Obama and others listened to racist theolgy for twenty years, is only wishful thinking for those who want to take power, and their sympathizers.

[yodajazz]

Banking regulations in the hands of immoral politicians. That's what the left is screaming for, strict government control of the economy. And when you have that, you will have your empty victory. Political capital.

One question: Politicians are immoral' in relation to whom; religious minsters, bank presidents, atheletes, or whom? And what about you? Have you ever been to a party, and excepted free refresments? Or have you ever paid a woman's way, in what we call a 'date', in anticipation of expected rewards?

I do believe that there needs to to be more reform, however to prevent undue influence of our legislators.

[hippifried]

Banking regulations in the hands of immoral politicians. That's what the left is screaming for, strict government control of the economy. And when you have that, you will have your empty victory. Political capital.

& you would put those regulations in the hands of whom?

Irrespective of what you might think of the government, there isn't anybody else, & I mean nobody, to look out for the interests of the general public. Who else is going to do it? You? Some Wall St banker or stock trader? Why don't we just turn the rules over to the hedge funds or insurance companies? I'm sure AIG would jump at the chance to take control. They were handling everything just fine until the government stepped in, right?

Get a grip.

[PomonaCA]

& you would put those regulations in the hands of whom?

Irrespective of what you might think of the government, there isn't anybody else, & I mean nobody, to look out for the interests of the general public. Who else is going to do it? You? Some Wall St banker or stock trader? Why don't we just turn the rules over to the hedge funds or insurance companies? I'm sure AIG would jump at the chance to take control. They were handling everything just fine until the government stepped in, right?

Get a grip.

The problem is both politicians and bankers are human and prone to the same shortcomings that the general public are prone to. The difference is that the government can enforce it's policy shortcomings with GUNS. Add in that society seems to be getting less honest and you can see what our problem is.

The declining morality of our civilization that is the problem. It's not strictly the banks or the politicians or society. It's a lack of integrity in all 3.

A society governed solely by laws is a poor society. A society government by a static sense of right and wrong and laws is a better society.

What we've developed in the west is a tacit belief that if it's not illegal, it's OK. As we can see, taking and making bad loans is not illegal, so people think it's OK.... and in the case of the borrowers, they are being told that they are the VICTIMS of "predatory lenders" when in fact they are just as guilty.

The government role here is a necessary evil but if I have to chose, I'd take reckless business over reckless government anyday.

[trish]

Me too, that's why we need responsible banking laws to check reckless banking practices. You can always "fire" your representatives; it's not so easy to fire the greedy and the reckless working on Wall Street.

[Mizredhead]

He's an idiotic moron!
Piece of shit!
Apolegetic Socialist!
Embarassed he's the president of this GREAT COUNTRY.
Yes - I purposely used the small p!

Can I tell you how I REALLY feel?

WHY do 56% of Americans think he is doing a horrible job ? Its a CBS poll.

Freaking Communist that needs to be shipped to Siberia ASAP .

Oh and his wife stays in $2500.00 a nite hotel rooms in europe to go shopping. Thats his economic stimulus . How about a cow poker up the ass.

[hippifried]

The problem is both politicians and bankers are human and prone to the same shortcomings that the general public are prone to. The difference is that the government can enforce it's policy shortcomings with GUNS. Add in that society seems to be getting less honest and you can see what our problem is.

The honesty ratio is the same as it's always been. When you turn a bunch of people loose with unlimited money & no rules, they crash the system every time. The government is under constant scrutiny, & we have the opportunity to turn the whole thing inside out every 2 years. We don't have to trust the government. It's a fishbowl, & anybody can look. When was the last time you had a say in, or a peek at, what your banker or even your 401K was doing? The problem? The problem is that we keep turning a bunch of compulsive gamblers loose with other people's money.

The declining morality of our civilization that is the problem. It's not strictly the banks or the politicians or society. It's a lack of integrity in all 3.

Everybody likes to talk a bunch of morality, but what is it? As far as I can figure, morality is nothing more than adherence to the universal code of human interaction, AKA the principle or ethic of reciprosity, AKA the "golden rule". Everything else is arbitrary. But we're innundated with religious, philosophical, & ideological bullshit that just confuses the issue. As far as I'm concerned, morality is a real simple concept, & I actually agree with your statement to an extent. But there's so much confusion that I don't know exactly what you're talking about.

A society governed solely by laws is a poor society. A society government by a static sense of right and wrong and laws is a better society.

Agreed, & again, it all comes back to reciprocity. We don't stress the concept enough.

What we've developed in the west is a tacit belief that if it's not illegal, it's OK. As we can see, taking and making bad loans is not illegal, so people think it's OK.... and in the case of the borrowers, they are being told that they are the VICTIMS of "predatory lenders" when in fact they are just as guilty.

Everybody's playing the hedge. Inflation favors the long term borrower, unless the income source dries up. ARMs are a hedge against that, in favor of the lender. If you're late on a payment, your rate goes up & so does your payment. Sub-prime teasers are predatory because the lender knows full well that the rate the loan was based on is temporary, & that the chances are good that the borrower is going to get into trouble as soon as the payment goes up. A few percentage points can double the payment on a 30 year loan. The initial lender doesn't care because they're going to palm it off on somebody else as quick as possible, & the borrowers don't understand the potential pitfalls. We gripe about the ignorant borrowers, & that's ok, but can you figure compound interest? Most people can't, & don't have one of those specialty calculators that the realtors & car salesmen carry around in their pockets.

I fail to see the difference between some guy going down to the payday lender to keep his lights from going out & the banker that goes to the discount window or LIBOR to balance out their overnights & hang onto their AAA rating. Well... The obvious difference is the margin of course, but it's the same principle. Short term borrowing covers the lag time between money out & money in. It's a shuffle game & it works if you're careful. Credit cards & equity lines work the same way. It's easy to get into trouble though. This is what got all those banks, non-banks, & wannabe banks into trouble. They were over leveraged & constantly borrowing on the overnights through LIBOR. Investment banks couldn't borrow from the Fed if they'd wanted to, & none of them wanted to get audited. These guys had already blown through your money & were just living on a borrowed dime. It got completely out of hand, they all knew it, & nobody cared because the money was roling in on a right now basis. It's all about the dailies anymore.

The government role here is a necessary evil but if I have to chose, I'd take reckless business over reckless government anyday.

No way. The money industry has crashe twice in as many decades, & that crashes everything else. There's no self restraint at all because these guys don't really have any skin in the game. None of it's their money. If any of them were personally responsible for their actions, there wouldn't be any of this recklessness. The most reckless things the government has done, other than starting wars to misdirect attention, was to lift the regulations. It doesn't work. There's over 300 million people here, & you can't govern by ideology. Everybody has their own.