Leftist MSM Brainwashing Successful ...

Paulina
Explain to me again why we are not supposed to blame Bush for the current crisis?

Keira at 11:09pm March 25
um, um...because he 'kept us safe'?? ;) Of course he's to blame! Numb nut!

Paulina at 11:10pm March 25
no no no you are not allowed to blame him.

Paulina at 11:11pm March 25
I'm reading republican blogs - and all I can say is wow!

Keira at 11:11pm March 25
of course not, it's unpatriotic to do so, but it's ok to hope Obama fails...talk about double standards!

Keira at 11:12pm March 25
they're delusional!!! they have more pettiness in them than my 5 y/o nephew!!!

Paulina at 11:16pm March 25
It's so hard for me to reconcile what's going on - I don't understand how the very people who were at the helm can criticize the one trying to fix the mess. And with such hatred - you should read some of these blogs. Why are the so desperate for him to fail???? Why so harsh?

Keira at 11:46pm March 25
they're still bitter about the kick in the ass they got! They're champions at distorting things to their advantage, but I think the people see thru that BS! And no one gives a damn when they come crying to the media "obama doesn't listen to us". Blah!

Susan at 7:44am March 26
Maybe if you've been in a coma for the past 8 years you can get away with it.

Matt at 8:48am March 26
Keep on having fun slapping Bush around. As bad as he may have been, the fact is BHO's economic plans are going to make things much worse. He is planning to take our debt from 5% GDP to a hair under 30%, and in 2019 it will be 80% of GDP!!! Think about that! On what planet is this smart? Where in history has this worked before? Can anyone name ... an economically prosperous nation with such incredible levels of government debt? What country has ever taxed itself into prosperity??? And where's this money going to come from? Oh yeah, we'll just borrow it from foreign governments like China, who will gladly buy our treasuries. Whoops, their hinting that they're not going to buy them anymore. Want to see where our country is headed? Look at the UK, California, NY and Michigan. When the president of the EU says our policies are like a "road to hell", it's time to wake up!

Ed at 10:32am March 26
I can't explain it in a tiny post, but maybe M. Jay Wells can ...

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=310173877357981#

2003 ......
"The New York Times reports that the [Bush] administration recommended "the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago," calling for new supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the Treasury Department. Reportedly, congressional Democrats "fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing."

Treasury Secretary John Snow testifies that Congress should enact "legislation to create a new federal agency to regulate and supervise the financial activities of our housing-related government-sponsored enterprises" and set prudent and appropriate minimum capital adequacy requirements, says a White House release.

But Rep. Frank replied: "I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis" ...

Ed at 11:37am March 26
In the sense that Bush did not use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to fight for the the reforms he obviously supported, then, yes, in that regard, we can say it is Bush's fault -- He did not have the backbone, resolve and wherewithal to stand up to the obstructionists and vested interests on Capital Hill ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/business/new-agency-proposed-to-oversee-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae.html

Alex at 11:44am March 26
Talk the talk, but walk the walk?
Oxley (R., Ohio) pulled the bill before a vote because of opposition from the Bush Administration. The GOP had control of both houses of Congress in 2003.

Oxley pulls bill under fire from Bush
Squabble over powers of Treasury over Fannie, Freddie...
By David Weidner, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last update: 7:29 p.m. EDT Oct. 7, 2003NEW YORK (CBS.MW) — Strong opposition by the Bush administration forced a top Republican congressman to delay a vote on a bill that would create a new regulator for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Both Oxley and the administration support a proposal to remove regulatory oversight of the GSEs from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Oxley’s bill would maintain HUD’s oversight of new products designed to encourage home ownership.
Assistant Treasury Secretary Wayne Abernathy, speaking before the Institute of International Bankers in New York, said the Treasury Department would not have enough power u...

Ed at 1:20pm March 26
The previous post actually reinforces my point. Simply asking to pull an ill-conceived bill does not not discount the Bush Admin's attempt (albeit seemingly feeble) at "real" reform. It wasn't just a turf "squabble." Giving or retaining Fannie & Freddie oversight to HUD would not have solved anything--it's like the fox guarding the hen-house! HUD programs (& the CRA) actually encouraged the reckless lending!!!!! I know it's lengthy, but try and actually read the IBD post/link I reference. It's funny how the politicians have skillfully re-directed the blame and anger from themselves and their pet GSEs that do their bidding to the "the rich", or "Wall Street," an easy target because apparently those fatcats have been brilliantly keeping me from my money, and yours too!!! I've got any idea! Why not borrow and steal and tax even more my from us and future generations (it is not really ours anyway; we just work for it) to clean up the mess they created in the first place.

False Solutions and Real Problems

False Solutions and Real Problems by Thomas Sowell on National Review Online: "our present economic crisis has developed out of politicians providing solutions to problems that did not exist — and, as a result, producing a problem whose existence is all too real and all too painful.

What was the problem that didn’t exist? It was a national problem of unaffordable housing."

Finally, Hugo Chavez and I agree on something ...

Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama ignoramus | Reuters: "Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama was at best an 'ignoramus' for saying the socialist leader exported terrorism and obstructed progress in Latin America."

Obama worked with terrorist

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=57231

Does Obama know Osama's dead?

Does Obama know Osama's dead?: "As national security guru Angelo Codevilla argues persuasively in the March issue of The American Spectator, 'Osama bin Elvis' is dead and has been for the last seven years.
(Column continues below)


For starters, no reputable person has seen him alive since October 2001 when he was interviewed by Al Jazeera. The audio and videotapes that he has allegedly made in the years since have convinced no one but the CIA.
More intriguing, the genuine Osama never took credit for 9/11. 'I stress that I have not carried out this act,' he told Al Jazeera on Sept. 16, 2001. A month later, he would credit himself only with 'incitement.'"

A little similar ?

From Russia, with ... Love?

Pat Dollard | Young Americans | Blog Archive » Putin Warns The US Against Socialism

All I can say is, wow. Putin, at the World Economic Forum ...

Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise “excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence”.

“In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute,” Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.”[Snip.]

Sounding more like Barry Goldwater than the former head of the KGB, Putin said, “Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.”

Putin also echoed the words of conservative maverick Ron Paul when he said, “we must assess the real situation and write off all hopeless debts and ‘bad’ assets. True, this will be an extremely painful and unpleasant process. Far from everyone can accept such measures, fearing for their capitalization, bonuses, or reputation. However, we would ‘conserve’ and prolong the crisis, unless we clean up our balance sheets.”

Hat tip, American Thinker blog ...

US retail sales in unexpected jump - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Hey, did anybody hear this economic report last week? Maybe we won't be needing that "stimulus." Maybe Obama may not have to save us from Armageddon after all. I think this somewhat positive economic trend was under-reported and downplayed.

US retail sales in unexpected jump - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

"There has been a slight glimmer of economic hope in the US, with an unexpected jump in retail sales.
Sales jumped 1 per cent last month. Most economists had been forecasting a drop of the same amount.
The increase followed six straight months of falling sales and has been put down to heavy post-Christmas discounting.
Petrol sales also increased strongly as a result of falling prices at the pump.
Individual retailers have reported a drop in sales over January, and many have been forced to sack workers to stay profitable.
Separate figures show new claims for jobless benefits have fallen slightly, but still remain above 600,000."

A trillion here, a trillion there ...

FrontPage Magazine: "At the cost of more than $800 billion, the just -passed stimulus bill stands as the largest single outlay item in history. So great is the amount involved that it exceeds the GDP of even such economies as Australia, Saudi Arabia and Argentina."

50 De-Stimulating Facts

50 De-Stimulating Facts by Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson on National Review Online: Chapter and verse on a bad bill.

By Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson"

VARIOUS LEFT-WINGERY
Summary:
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”

POORLY DESIGNED TAX RELIEF

Summary:
$15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
$145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
$83 billion for the earned income credit

STIMULUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT
Summary:
$150 million for the Smithsonian
$34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
$500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
$44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
$350 million for Agriculture Department computers
$88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building
$448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids
$450 million for NASA (carve-out for “climate-research missions”)
$600 million for NOAA (carve-out for “climate modeling”)
$1 billion for the Census Bureau

INCOME TRANSFERS
Summary:
$89 billion for Medicaid
$30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
$20 billion for food stamps

PURE PORK
Summary:
$4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
$850 million for Amtrak
$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
$1.7 billion for the National Park System
$55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
$7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
$150 million for agricultural-commodity purchases
$150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”

RENEWABLE WASTE
Summary:
$2 billion for renewable-energy research ($400 million for global-warming research)
$2 billion for a “clean coal” power plant in Illinois
$6.2 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program
$3.5 billion for energy-efficiency and conservation block grants
$3.4 billion for the State Energy Program
$200 million for state and local electric-transport projects
$300 million for energy-efficient-appliance rebate programs
$400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
$1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
$1.5 billion for green-technology loan guarantees
$8 billion for innovative-technology loan-guarantee program
$2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
$4.5 billion for electricity grid