Thread: The Blame Game

The Blame Game
-Cal Thomas

When Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the floor of the House on Monday to blame Republicans for the financial turmoil and charge them with a laissez-fare attitude toward regulation, it seemed like a calculated effort to shift attention and accountability from what Democrats have done to create the current conditions. Fortunately, we have YouTube so Democrats can run from their records, but they can't hide.

At a 2004 hearing of the Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, then-Chairman Rep. Richard Baker, Louisiana Republican, predicted the collapse of Fannie Mae if nothing was done. Baker called for more regulation, something Democrats claim Republicans never wanted. In an editorial Tuesday, The New York Times got it wrong when it accused Republicans of engaging in "free markets-above-all ideology." That just isn't true. President Bush was calling for more oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in his first year as president, though he also praised efforts to expand minority home ownership at a time when bad credit risks were straining the system.

Rep. Maxine Waters, California Democrat, said in a Sept. 25, 2003 hearing of the House Committee on Financial Services, "We do not have a crisis at Fannie Mae and in particular Freddie Mac under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines." It was Raines who took close to $100 million in "compensation" from Fannie Mae during his tenure as its chief executive officer. In the 2004 hearing, Rep. William Lacy Clay, Missouri Democrat, called the investigation that found illegal activity at Fannie Mae a "lynching," an incendiary word, as both Clay and Raines are African American. Watch this eight-minute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs and see who wanted to fix the problem and who did not.

There was something fishy about the Democrats' concern that the bailout process would be drawn out. Democrats and the Bush administration wanted to rush a bill through to avert further damage to Wall Street. As Rush Limbaugh noted on his Tuesday radio program, Democratic leaders claimed President Bush "rushed" the United States into war with Iraq, though Bush spent months building his case with Congress and the United Nations, both of which approved military action against Saddam Hussein.

Now, noted Limbaugh, Democratic leaders want to rush through a "rescue" bill to "bailout" those who made wrong decisions and now want to escape accountability. It is a good point. Many noted economists are opposed to the bailout plan, as are significant numbers of the American people, and even a substantial number of House Democrats. Never has "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you," sounded emptier. If there is such urgency in avoiding financial Armageddon, does the Rosh Hashanah holiday necessitate that non-Jewish members stop working toward a reasonable compromise? Would they quit for Christmas if another war broke out?

Before Democrats and some in the left-wing media add this fiasco to their list of indictments against Republicans, they might consider what Bill Clinton said on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Sept. 25. About his party's reluctance to place more restrictions on Fannie and Freddie, Clinton said, "I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress, or by me when I was president, to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

As for the claim by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank that the Republicans are to blame, The Wall Street Journal correctly noted in a Sept. 10 editorial, "(Frank's) record is close to perfect as a stalwart opponent of reforming the two companies, going back more than a decade. The first concerted push to rein in Fan and Fred in Congress came as far back as 1992, and Mr. Frank was right there, standing athwart. But things really picked up this decade, and Barney was there at every turn."

This mess has afforded conservative Republicans an opportunity to ask the public to throw out the Democratic majority and start over with a chastened and hopefully wiser Republican Party in the majority. But that will take leadership, a commodity that seems in short supply, like bulls on Wall Street.
http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThoma ... ?page=full

Rpoy Beck says in his blog that for some strange reason the committees with the two highest per centages in opposition were the Hispanic Caucus and the Immigrastion Caucus and says he is puzzled by the overlap

If nothing else does, this fiasco proves the idea that only the rhetoric is different.

We have to be willing to put aside any alliance to the Republican Party, turn off Rush, etc., and think about this.

I do believe the President took to the airways to warn of impending disaster if quick action wasn't taken - right?

Watch this video and then again say it's all the Democrat's fault.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLUbb2DUYGk

It can't be explained away that 'he wanted these companies reigned in' - then when proof is right there he did nothing of the sort - we hear 'well, he did call for more minority ownership'.

He did a lot more than simply calling for more minority homeownership.


This, like most of the destructive actions by our government has been a true bi-partisan effort. They have worked, each in his own way, to get this into place and reach the desired goal.

Then they both come to the cameras and blame the other and we buy it, because there seems to be no where else to go other than siding with 'our party'.


This is a charade, nothing else.

nntrixie wrote:

We have to be willing to put aside any alliance to the Republican Party, turn off Rush, etc., and think about this

?????????

I for one think Rush made some excellent points. So are we supposed to put our heads in the sand vice listening to all sides of this fiasco? Personally, I choose to remain informed by listening to all sides of the issue. We're intelligent people and can make our own judgements based on the information we receive.

Both parties are guilty as hell from one time or another. I loved the statement a radio person said. Democrats do the robbing and Republicans drive the get away car. That's why there's not all that much difference in either Presidential hopeful on any important issue except the war. Whatever the the next phase is, they will get what they want with either party. They SAY America first and sing the praises of open borders, free trade and world market. This nation is sinking like a rock and they both expect us to bail out the world in one form or another. They SAY they are listening to the people, but once again, they don't hear......not on the bail out, not on English as the official language, not on illegal immigration, not on anything. We have a bunch of idiots who know nothing about the economy making economic decisions based on information from the wolves who killed the chickens. It's like asking prisoners to design the prison and leaving them soley in charge of building it. It's as insane as giving a bonus to a CEO of a FAILED company. As insane as saying our economy is based on debt.....then it's based on NOTHING! I swear it defies all common sense and logic.

Might as well go pee in the ocean and see how long it takes for the water level to rise.

They don't want to point fingers because practically the whole lot of them have a part in it.

crazybird wrote:

Might as well go pee in the ocean and see how long it takes for the water level to rise.

mw

I'm sorry. Yes, watch everything, listen to everything and make up your mind.

Anytime, however, something as big as this is put in terms of party politics, that person has lost all creditibility with me.

You bet the Democrats had a hand - a big hand. You also have to admit the Republicans had just as big a hand.

This President demanded loans for illegals - yes, he meant illegals.

He worked overtime to get them here, to keep them here and to give them loans.

I am convinced we are in the shape in this country that we are because of party loyalty. We have followed that line for so long, the two parties have a stranglehold and they do not have to offer us choices - just look at what the have served up for us this year.

If we continue to talk label or party rather than issues, we are truly going to loose.



[/quote]

mw......it was a line I was told once that manages to hit home alot. I had to DO something that was out of my control and not in my power to change anyway. I had tried to help as much as I could and it was for nothing. So I was told to go to the ocean (I lived in Florida then)....pee in the ocean and wait to see how much the water would rise. I was ready to go too........then it dawned on me what the lesson was. It's about as helpful as a tire gauge and a light bulb and thinking it's going to fix global changes. Gives you something to do after you've done all you can.