SEIU Members Launch New TV Ad on Gordon Smith's Role in Digging Our Economic Hole

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Chaser October 29, 2008 7:05 am (Pacific time)

Friend Ruark, actually the congressional record is quite clear that Chuck Schumer was the individual who pushed for the vote to repeal the G-S Act because he opined that it was hurting (marginalizing) revenue for his pals on Wall street where by the way he was getting the majority of his PAC contributions as a New York senator. The vote had a huge majority pass rate, but when you go back to the Carter Cabal with the 21% interest rate he had when the American voter removed him, possibly this was the time period certain variables were put into play to get us here. As I am sure you are aware of the current analysis by a major university study that FDR's economic policies most likely caused the depression to last [possibly] seven years longer than it should have (need source link?), so maybe this mess we're in had it's roots in FDR's policies which the democrats are once again determined to follow. I frankly see this all began in 1999, but we must avoid anymore government bailouts, we will be far better off if we let the market correct itself on it's own with minimum govt. intrusion. By the way one year ago today, Obama made a promise. He pledged to accept public financing and to work with the Republican nominee to ensure that they both operated within those limits. Then it became clear to Sen. Obama and his campaign that he was going to be able to raise on his own far more cash than he would get with public financing. So Obama went back on his word. Can we trust him?

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Henry Ruark October 28, 2008 12:18 pm (Pacific time)

Chaser: Sorry if we lost Schumer; we need alla good men we can get. Re interpretation, Gramm still gets consequential blame for his part, as Clinton does for Rubin-forced sig making him complicit. Ain't it great fun to rewrite history as we see it, with new interp. not necessarily any stronger than that of skilled, trained, professional-rep. at stake historians ? Re rest, agree in large degree which is unusual, but no apologies ! Except for "spread the wealth" which you continue to distort; what's needed is surely NOT "snatch-and-pass around", but dramatic radical change in system, long overdue and now on way as "revolution" you describe. Stay tuned for Op Eds !! Can hardly wait to see it happen, on way ever since Reagan bought that curve on the napkin from Laffer. We subsuming too much space here, suggest ID to Editor for direct dialog, warmly welcomed when you are ready.

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Chaser October 27, 2008 10:16 pm (Pacific time)

Friend Ruark. Maybe it got misplaced in cyberspace somewhere but I stated exactly what Sen. Schumer said (and Clinton) re: the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act which Schumer helped organize and praised it's demise to a very high degree. The vote for it's repeal was by a huge majority. My below posts are accurate, though they may be in conflict with uninformed ideological interpretations (which is predictable), they are correct as to the historical record. Regardless of what happens on 11/4, the historical record will become more knowledgeable to the public as they observe what happens in the next 6 to 9 months. My guess is that the far left (not the Chomsky-orientated by the way) are not going to like the future, for in the end the U.S. Constitution will still have at least five Justices that can keep things in check as Americans become acquainted with facts rather than meaningless distractions, misinformation and propagada. So regardless who wins on 11/4, in 2010, there will be a revolution of staggering dimensions that will allow Americans to truely pursue life, liberty and happiness unencumbered by those who want to "spread the wealth." I really hope Obama wins for we need a revolution to begin, and I believe he will be the one to light the fuse for the "change" we need to get back to just who and what America is.

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Henry Ruark October 27, 2008 8:34 pm (Pacific time)

Friend Chaser: You cite Schumer but neglect to state what he stated, so yrs meaningless there. Fact is Sen. Gramm sneaked in his dirty work covertly, and is deeply responsible for what has become extremely serious consequences. Re Paulson powers, Dems did NOT write that mess, nor is it possible to avoid the extreme irony of Bush et al seeking desperately for government bailout after 40 years of neocon flimflam about how desperately bad policy that reflects. Re "Democratic-controlled" Congress, vote margin barely there NOW, but wait until Nov. 4, when will almost surely be filibuster-proof. Here's wise man to guide your further understandings: "...free enterprise, [is] a term that refers, in practice, to a system of public subsidy and private profit, with massive government intervention in the economy to maintain a welfare state for the rich." : Noam Chomsky. FYI he's famous cognitive scientist, linguist, and most quoted writer currently active in many complex areas.

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Chaser October 27, 2008 2:28 pm (Pacific time)

Mr. Ruark thank you for your opinion but please allow me to provide you with a congressional record that explains more fully what you have overlooked. Senator Obama, has been on the campaign trail taking aim at someone who has been retired from the Senate since November 30, 2002 — Philip Gramm of Texas. Sen. Obama called Mr. Gramm, "the architect in the U.S. Senate of the de-regulatory steps that helped cause this mess." It sent me scrambling for Senator Schumer's remarks back in 1999 on the passage of the conference report of S. 900, the legislation known as Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which repealed some of the regulations known as the Glass-Steagall Act.

Already the Democrat-controlled Congress is using Mr. Bush's request for $700 billion in authority and near-dictatorial powers for Secretary Paulson as a pretext to add more regulations, taking the opposite of what one might call the Gramm-Clinton-Early Schumer approach. Maybe all the out-of-work people on Wall Street can go work for the government as regulators. The only question is what little will be left for them to regulate by the time Mr. Schumer and the rest of the politicians are done.

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Henry Ruark October 27, 2008 1:32 pm (Pacific time)

Chaser et al: You want it "short and sweet"? Here it is: "Adam Smith argued that in serving their own interests individuals were led "as if by an invisible hand" to serve the interests of society as a whole. But once again we see that only with the right rewards can these interests actually be joined." "See with own eyes" in "Realign the Interests of Wall Street", by Joseph Stiglitz, in Harpers, Nov. 08, pp.16-17; one of six similar in their special report;just to bring you up to date. If you have any dissent, send it to Joe Stiglitz ! He can file it with his Nobel citation.

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Henry Ruark October 27, 2008 11:33 am (Pacific time)

Chaser: Yours does well to outline same old line from same old sources with same old failed conclusions. "Laissez-faire" has died, is rotting corpse, killed by neocon policies ever since Reagan days, as reported by those authoritative economists living in this century. You offer no objective proofs, relying solely on obviously biased personal political philosophy. You blithely ignore historical fact, distorting it to satisfy what YOU see it as demanded for your purposes here. What caused sub-prime disaster was removal of Glass-Steagall Act, New Deal-motivated, by covert action contrived by then Sen. Gramm. Point-for-point rebuttal useless, so seek out your obvious quarrel-contact with Nobel Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz, cited here multiple times on these very same points still put forth by 19th Century-bound non-realists. AND enjoy Nov. 4, too !!

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Millison October 27, 2008 10:05 am (Pacific time)

This may be a game changer: "A 2001 Chicago Public Radio audiotape of Barack Obama surfaced and in it the Presidential candidate laments that the Supreme Court under former Chief Justice Earl Warren did not go far enough in its civil rights rulings. Obama said that the Supreme Court should have decided that government should have redistributed the wealth to African-Americans"... http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2008/10/october-surprise-1-obama-in-his-own.html

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Chaser October 25, 2008 8:24 am (Pacific time)

Mr. Ruark if you equate "Laissez-Faire" to mean that "the state minimizes their intervention in the economy?" Then yes! Look what happened when certain elected officials (see below post for partial list)) demanded that the mortgage industry abandon sound business principals and start issuing subprime loans. During the late 1990’s, Congress, guided by “socially irresponsible” visions, wanted to extend the American Dream to more people. To achieve this goal, the government unleashed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – as well as Community Reinvestment Act and Department of Housing and Urban Development regulations – to divert more money toward housing. In so doing, a housing bubble was all but inevitable. Certainly, flaws in the private sector significantly heightened the risk (and ultimate cost) of the housing bubble. Poorly structured securitization left banks with “no skin in the game” when they extended mortgages. This, along with poorly executed ratings from the ratings agencies is problematic and needs to be addressed. But, it was the government that created the incentives to over-invest in the housing sector in the first place. Without the government incentives, the housing bubble would not have developed. Government policies encouraged investment dollars to be allocated toward less productive projects that will not increase worker productivity. Without productivity growth, there is no income growth. Remember it is ultimately people who create wealth, not government. The way forward takes time. Due to the excessive build-up of unproductive homes, we must go through the process of readjusting our capital stock toward more productive uses. Because real resources were used to build these homes, money that could have been allocated toward projects that would have increased workers incomes and our national wealth, have been wasted. Luckily, we have already experienced much of the re-adjustment pain, although there is more to come. Oil prices have been dropping as well, which should offset some of the pain as the affordability of food and gas should improve. Learning from history requires a thoughtful analysis of what actually happened, not endlessly parroting a politically convenient slogan(s). The current economic crisis is not a repudiation of free markets, nor is it a repudiation of deregulation. Such an “explanation” is simply socialistic mantra to deceive the public by blaming the wrong people. We will be "unlucky", however, if we take the wrong lessons from our recent history. The housing crisis did not occur due to deregulation or a failure of the market. What has failed is a regulatory structure that promoted “socially irresponsible” visions above common sense. Time and time again, history has shown us that chasing the economic dream of a central planner ends with a crisis (think socialism and communism; though their proponents never give up and will always engage in using distraction techniques, usually by using brief sound bite slogans). The housing bubble is simply another example, and there are more on the horizon unfortunately.

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Henry Ruark October 24, 2008 6:45 pm (Pacific time)

Sally: Ninety-percenter voted that high rate right with Bush. Chaser: Do believe you chasing the usual chimera seared into those who still believe in laissez faire. Don't trip over own toes...

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Sally October 24, 2008 12:11 pm (Pacific time)

I just can't see how Smith can win, or even Erickson, but they probably will. What is a 90 percenter?

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Chaser October 24, 2008 8:15 am (Pacific time)

My earlier post (below) I provided what was happening in the Illinois real estate market. In this post it is the recent situation on a national level. My assertion is that to be optimistic about our current financial situation is better that dwelling on the negative. Think self-fulfilling prophecies. I really haven't thought about impeachment, but prosecuting people like Sen. Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank would be a good start. Once again, I am convinced one our energy program concentrates on developing independence we will be back in a big way. Existing home sales rise sharply in September reuters ^ | Oct 24, 2008 | reuters The pace of existing home sales in the United States rose sharply in September to a 5.18 million-unit annual rate to log the first year-over-year increase in sales in nearly three years, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters were expecting home resales to rise to a 4.93 million-unit pace, from the 4.91 million rate set in August. The September increase was the largest monthly rise in sales since a 5.6 percent increase reported for July 2003. The inventory of existing homes for sale fell 1.6 percent to 4.27 million or 9.9 months' supply at the current pace. The median national home price declined 9.0 percent from a year ago to $191,600. (Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...

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Henry Ruark October 23, 2008 3:03 pm (Pacific time)

Sallie et al: Must agree, he looks pretty sheepish when pictured with others of same group. Could be he feels peas now running right out of the pod. This is plainly "opinion" and is informed not only by focused observation of that famed ad but from long-public record on votes: 90 percenter. Use own mind to evaluate, and we will all do all right.

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Sallie October 23, 2008 1:05 pm (Pacific time)

Gordon Smith, is like a slave owner. He benefits from cheap labor that exploits people who are desperate and who have few options. His clean and wholesome look is disarming and shouldn't fool you. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

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Henry Ruark October 23, 2008 1:02 pm (Pacific time)

Chaser: As in all misinformation, the trick is in what you do NOT state. You emphasize "experience"but we've had 40 years of our own experience with one group, right ? It is that group and its policies that brought us from huge national surplus to even huger national deficits, with trillions wasted on needless war --and OVER 4,000 DEAD !! Want to pursue that true issue still further ? Yrs re foreclosure rate tries to mollify monstrous situation via manipulation of numbers - meaningless to millions now about to lose homes due to that "experience" you wave so blithely. It is time for rational change and clean-up, followed by indictment and punishment of those whose "experience" got us where we painfully find ourselves NOW. How do you stand on impeachment, sir ? NOW, SOON or NEVER ? That's experience we cannot allow to go unpunished, right ? And there's nothing "left" after that, RIGHT ?

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Chaser October 23, 2008 11:07 am (Pacific time)

There is a lot of misleading information out there that is being put out by all political parties. Sometimes to put these bits of misleading information into perspective we need to look at info like that below. For our nation to be secure we need to be prosperous and to be prosperous we need to be secure. Part and parcel of understanding that idea is to get accurate information. I suggest being optimistic is going to help us much more than dwelling on the negative. "1 in 510 Illinois homes in foreclosure (So 99.8% are not) Chicago Tribune ^ | 10/23/08 | Staff One in 510 homes in Illinois were in some stage of foreclosure in September, a slight improvement from August but almost 24 percent higher than in a year earlier (think how irrelevant that 24% of 2% is over a year period!), according to data by RealtyTrac." As these subprime loans start to finish forclosing (loans that never should have been made) the economy will improve, but it will take off when we gain more energy independence. It should be clear to even the most casual observer as to who wants us to achieve energy independence. Who has the best experience to help that energy development?

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