Quote of the Day - 9.30.08

| Tue Sep. 30, 2008 1:06 PM PDT

QUOTE OF THE DAY....From Barack Obama, speaking in Nevada today about the financial crisis:

For the rest of today and as long as it takes, I will continue to reach out to leaders in both parties and do whatever I can to help pass a rescue plan. To the Democrats and Republicans who opposed this plan yesterday, I say — step up to the plate and do what's right for this country. And to all Americans, I say this — if I am President of the United States, this rescue plan will not be the end of what we do to strengthen this economy — it will only be the beginning.

Good. That's what he should be saying. Is it politically risky to take a more active role in congressional negotiations — and with it, possibly more responsibility for an unpopular bailout? Maybe slightly. But if you want to be president of the United States, that's what you need to do. And you need to do it for real, not just for the cameras.

The rest of the speech isn't bad either. It could stand to have a little bit punchier explanation of what's going on, but overall, not bad at all.

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Comments

To the Democrats and Republicans who opposed this plan yesterday, I say ? step up to the plate and do what's right for this country. And to all Americans, I say this ? if I am President of the United States, this rescue plan will not be the end of what we do to strengthen this economy ? it will only be the beginning.

Bolding mine. This rescue plan should be tied to some lead weights, and sunk in the Marianas Trench.

Dear Sen. Obama: if you insist on equating support with THIS rescue plan with doing "what's right for this country," then up yours.

To the Democrats and Republicans who opposed this plan yesterday, I say ? step up to the plate and do what's right for this country. And to all Americans, I say this ? if I am President of the United States, this rescue plan will not be the end of what we do to strengthen this economy ? it will only be the beginning.

Bolding mine. This rescue plan should be tied to some lead weights, and sunk in the Marianas Trench.

Dear Sen. Obama: if you insist on equating support with THIS rescue plan with doing "what's right for this country," then up yours.

I agree. Obama has actually had good timing on this. He looks much better letting the process work when it is working and then coming in to clean up the mess than McCain does trying to command the process. He did not think he had to do something personally when it looked like a deal was in place but now the situation is different and their is definitely a vacuum to be filled. It is the right thing to do.

To the Democrats and Republicans who opposed this plan yesterday, I say — step up to the plate and do what's right for this country. And to all Americans, I say this — if I am President of the United States, this rescue plan will not be the end of what we do to strengthen this economy — it will only be the beginning.

Bolding mine. This rescue plan should be tied to some lead weights, and sunk in the Marianas Trench.

Dear Sen. Obama: if you insist on equating support with THIS rescue plan with doing "what's right for this country," then up yours.

I sent Obama an e-mail today asking him work harder and get more Democrats in the House to vote for the bailout plan. Looks like he read it.

Oh, my, what s surprise. The David Broder of the blogosphere and Barack (FISA stab in the back) Obama are urging us to approve this beyond awful giveaway to Wall Street. Next they'll be supporting adding the Republican Stody Group's capital gains tax suspemsion to the bill to pick up more Rethugs. Unless we can come up with a better bill with at least some (not necessarily all) things such as nationalization, bankruptcy reform, real limits on executive compensation, a new economic stimulous, financial reregulation, protection for homeowners, the hell with it. I'm sure the oh, so serious Kevin and Barack will tell me how irresponsible I am. Considering where these responsible serious have led us, I can live with that. BTW, anyone else happily notice that Kevin is whacked on his Chicken Little act in less Broderists blogs such as Greenwald and Yglesias?

Quote of the day, my arse?

It's just bullshyte codswallop, boilerplate, eyewash.

Where's the PLAN? the one that helps the deserving, penalizes the malefactors, and sets up machinery to prevent it happening again?

Or is that too much to ask?

Franklin Roosevelt had it easy in 1933 compared to what Obama will face in 2009. Back then, most Americans weren't up to their eyeballs in debt, they knew how to grow their own food, make their own clothes, we had a functioning railroad system to transport goods and people, we hadn't yet pumped most of our oil out of the ground...

Why would anyone want to be president next year?

Notice, too: He's picked up the "rescue" rhetoric?

Niiiiice
/snark

Poll I've seen says about 80% think something needs to be done, but only 45% favored the plan before Congress. (I'm not sure in what camp the whiners on this thread belong.) Seems like Congress more or less (less than 80% because Republicans are ignoramuses) mirrors that.

I wish progressive Democrats had written a plan, but I've read accounts of a press conference that anti-this-plan, progressive Democrats gave, and I'm damned if I could figure out what they were proposing or how they thought it fixed this problem. And I really like Fazio, Kaptur, et al.

Wish folks would get real.

The rest of the speech isn't bad either.

the thing is bush's history shows that talk is cheap. what is he actually doing besides huffing and puffing? where is the clear explanation that the man in the street can understand? what makes us believe he isn't lying this time like all the other times? in other words where is the actual leadership?

I don't understand why it's so hard to pass a simple bill with only two provisions: re-capitalize banks in exchange for equity and allow judges to adjust terms of mortgages so people can stay in their homes & continue paying something for them. That's all that needs to be done. It's responsible & the democrats can pass it w/o the republicans.

The republicans don't want mortgage assistance in any bill because they & their buddies want to pick up repo houses for pennies on the dollar once the defaults start occurring en masse. That much should be obvious.

But they aren't needed to pass a responsible bill. And until there's a bill that is as simple as what I've written above I'll keep writing my congresscritter (Lloyd Doggett) to encourage him to vote NO (which he did the first time.)

I wish the people going on about a "giveaway to Wall Street" knew what they were talking about. Wall Street deserves to be punished. (I've had a long career in both the public and private sectors related to, and located close-by Wall Street, and think populist opposition to bailing out millionaires is eminently justified.) But to quote, or paraphrase Donald Kohn, "Do you really want to throw millions of people out of work to teach a few Wall Street bankers a lesson?" (McDonalds, for chrissakies can no longer extend credit to its franchises, and ther are a thousand similar Main Street stories.) Do the bailout now. The international experience is that these sorts of crises always end up on the public sector balance sheet. Alwayws. No exceptions. Because there's no alternative. (And always involve recessions: The game now is to keep this to a "normal" recession rather than the deep downturns Finland, Norway and Sweden experienced during their early 1990s banking meltdowns.) Do the punishment and reorganization later.

"It could stand to have a little bit punchier explanation of what's going on, but overall, not bad at all."

While I agree with that, I also immediately see the catch there: Obama is constantly accused of sounding "professorial" and this would have certainly opened him up to that criticism.

Which sorta tells you how hopeless political discourse is.

"re-regulate the industry along the lines of Glass-Steagall" but what happened shortly after this de-regulation?
It is a leap of faith that any one citizen must have in their government. However, due to the escalation of the 'Newt Gingrich' style of politics, which has dummied down the nation by dividing, will be the demise of our country.

We need to get to the root of this problem!

We cannot trust the government to tell us the truth. This is the reason we will not get out of this easily; because we cannot understand how we got here. We export financial services. That is what American exports and the American people cannot understand that.

Thus, it is hard to listen, especially when we are so uninformed and uneducated in the financial services export leader our economy has transforned into. We must begin to understand the true 'value' of a dollar. We need to get back to the basics.

If we are sold on the fact that this is a 'sub-prime' mortgage-related Securities then we will never get to the root of the real truth.

Bailout Begins With Healthcare in America

In 1999, the 'Largest Bankruptcy case' in the history of Western Tennessee Bankruptcy Court in Memphis, Tennessee was filed. (Not Nashville, where HCA is located)

In 2000, in Dublin Ohio, FBI raided offices of the largest private financial lender to 'failing healthcare companies'.

NCFE, National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc., the 'LARGEST' private financial lender to 'failing healthcare companies'.
Federal Prosecutors state, "no one has heard of ". I wonder why?

Federal Prosecutors in Columbus, Ohio proclaim this case is "larger than Enron that no one has heard of ".

Currently, there are two people yet to go to trial in the NCFE larger than Enron case: the CEO, scheduled this coming week, and last, the ex-Executive> The ex-executive will go last?
This ex-executive was a prior employee of Richard Rainwater, the oilman.

And we want to place the financial crisis to 'low-income housing'?

"Why would anyone want to be president next year?"

Posted by: Speed on 09/30/08

Really neat cuff links and no extra charge for a pillow on the airplane?

Palin is ditzy as heck. I'm sorry, she's plain out freaky. She dodges, just like Olbermann says she does and can't seem to provide a single straight answer so JUST LIKE McCain of late (and Bush) - she is all lies. She head in the partisan clouds BS, never gives an honest answer, it's all pie in sky bullshit.

She is like the second coming of Ann Coulter.

Howard Fineman didn't like her either, and frankly - it's more of the same of Bush style politics. On this, I think Fineman is very good balanced meter.

oops, sorry, posted in the wrong area.

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