Okaaaaay.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Okaaaaay.....
214
Fri, 09-19-2008 - 11:22pm

Crazy:


 


http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/mccain-on-banking-and-health/


 


September 19, 2008,  7:24 pm
McCain on banking and health


OK, a correspondent directs me to John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries. You might want to be seated before reading this.


Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:



Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.


So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!>>>

Sopal


Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-19-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 12:34am

*** Oh, PULEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! stop saying that the Middle Class doesn't pay TAXES!!!!!!!!! They certainly do pay taxes! They pay STATE taxes, they pay SALES taxes, they pay TAXES on their utility bills, they pay school tax if they own a home, they pay property tax if they own a home, they pay County tax even if they live in an apartment, many areas have a right to work tax. If they don't have any dependent children they usually DON'T get much back at all from the government when they file their taxes. I know, my son makes less than 30,000 and before he was able to claim my grandson on his taxes, he got back LESS than 1,000. more like 700 back.

Um...hello?...Anyone home? Obama isn't planning on giving on giving a SALES tax break, is he? Pretty obviously I was referring to INCOME tax.

*** No, I will NOT vote for McCain/Palin. I happen to think she is a radical Bible banger, and McCain is too much like BUSH.

And I think Obama in an inexperienced, elitist neophyte with a pocket full of socialist programs that he wants to pay for on the backs of people with modest means and small business.

*** Furthermore why should people who barely get by have to pay MORE tax just so the wealthy don't.

Why should someone who works hard to provide for their family, have to give them less because they have to pay for your health insurance?

*** I have never seen so much greed and selfishness, and justifications and self centeredness, Jesus would really be PROUD!

I know, it's appalling...imagine how selfish and greedy and self-centered it is to take money away from someone who worked hard so that you can have it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-19-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 12:35am
Except that the Dems have oversight of those financial institutions.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-19-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 12:36am
True enough...there's more than enough blame to spread around.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 12:49am

If what you say is true (and I'd like some documentation as such) that Fannie and Freddie are headed by the Democrats, then you'd have thought that those in charge of Congress and the presidency would have pursued the passage of that bill no matter what.

Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-28-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 1:22am

JUST CAN'T WAIT TO GET THAT NATIONALIZED HEALTH CARE


Oh yes .. this is going to be so wonderful. What a thrill. But ... the people demand that the government take care of them, and the politicians are only thrilled to respond if it means they can keep their precious positions of power.

Three stores came our way in just the last two days. The first was of a woman in Britain who was diagnosed with a small melanoma – skin cancer. Just a small spot. Problem was, it took her a few months to see a specialist to get it removed. By then it had spread and now she's going through the chemotherapy thing. May not survive. My own experience in this country – you know, the country with the hideous health care system – was somewhat different.

The lady what cuts my hairs told me she saw a spot on my noggin that she didn't like. Within one hour I was being looked at by a specialist. But then again, we don't have that wonderful national health care scheme they have in the UK.

Then there a story I saw last night on Fox News. This time it is Canada. You know how much liberals love to brag about Canada. Preliminary tests show that this young teenage girl has a budding tumor in her brain. She's now waiting for an MRI. Can't get an appointment for five weeks. Then, after the MRI, it is going to take another four to five months to get an appointment with a specialist to read the MRI an recommend a course of action. In the meantime this girl is suffering blackouts and cannot go to school. We just don't know what we're missing down here without this wonderful Canadian health care system looking over us.


Back to the UK. Another woman diagnosed with cancer. Her problem isn't a wait. Her problem is that she just flat can't get the operation. They're telling her that at 61 she's just too old. The health care services she seeks will be better spent on someone with longer to live.

But you folks pay no attention to these stores. Rationing won't happen here. There will be no months-long waits to have a melanoma removed. You'll be able to get an MRI within hours, or at least by the next day, if needed. After all .. this is the U.S. government we're talking about. A model of efficiency. Our national health care is just going to be paradise on earth. If you don't believe me you just go check out the emergency room of your local charity hospital. Look at all of the people there waiting to be treated for something that a spoonful of cough medicine or a squirt of Neosporin could cure. That ought to convince you.


http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html


By the way, both the UK and Canada are moving to privatize parts of their state-run health care systems!


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2003
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 1:47am
Alicia, perhaps you could ask your husband about my thoughts. Since there is proof that some of the papers contained lies about the applicant, written in by the broker. Why isn't that considered fraud? It doesn't make sense to me. Thanks!

 Rose

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-19-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 2:23am

http://www.wsj.com/article/SB122091796187012529.html?mod=most_emailed_day

http://mpinkeyes.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/barney-frank-and-chuck-schumers-role-the-fannie-mae-failure/

http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/09/10/the-people-responsible-for-fannie-mae-and-freddie-.aspx

http://www.newsmax.com/reagan/fannie_mae_freddie_mac_/2008/09/18/132237.html

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs-and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

I urge my colleagues to support swift action on this GSE reform legislation.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=109-s20060525-16&bill=s109-190

This bill never became law. This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven't passed are cleared from the books.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-190

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

''I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,'' Mr. Watt said.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-16-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 8:59am

"Ironic? Obama wants to raise taxes and spend billions on socialist programs on the backs of a VERY small segment of the population. The Treasury is taking historic steps to protect the economy in a, hopefully one time event. I don't see the irony."

Hopefully a one time event???? What about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - seems we are already past the 'one time event'. We are headed towards socialism without Obama taking office at the current rate. Interesting how different ideologies view the same situation. I am not convinced that this will 'save the economy' - I don't know what would - but this may be just another nail in the coffin.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 9:32am

Actually, the bill died when the DEMOCRATS threatened to fillibuster.

"Lending money to people who probably won't pay it back isn't good business.

If you wrap crummy loans in a clever package, they're still crummy loans.

Your typical Wal-Mart shopper understands this. But the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street and in Washington evidently didn't.

There are a lot of people to blame for the subprime mortgage crisis.

The Federal Reserve Board under Chairman Alan Greenspan (1987-2006) pursued what seems in hindsight clearly to have been way too loose a monetary policy. Banks were awash with money to lend and got careless in how they lent it.

Ostensibly to aid the poor and working class, the Clinton administration and Congress encouraged lenders to give mortgages to bad credit risks. The combination of easy money and the expansion of the number of borrowers unable to repay their loans sent housing prices through the roof, creating the bubble whose bursting has led to this crisis.

Congress in 1999 repealed the law that established a bright line between commercial and investment banks. This meant bad investments by banks could jeopardize depositors.

Wall Street created "derivatives" that multiplied profits in good times, but also multiplied risk if there were defaults.

Most important was corruption and mismanagement at the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac), which together controlled 90 percent of the secondary mortgage market.

Once your bank has lent you money to buy a house, it can't lend the money again until you pay it back. But if your bank sells your mortgage, it can make another loan right away. Without the secondary market, most of the funds for home mortgages would dry up.

Fannie and Freddie went broke because they bought billions of dollars worth of subprime mortgages, on which borrowers defaulted when the housing bubble popped. Fannie bought most of its bad mortgages from Countrywide Financial, whose CEO, Angelo Mozilo, gave sweetheart loans to senior executives of Fannie Mae.

Fannie and Freddie cooked their books so senior executives would be paid millions of dollars in bonuses to which they were not entitled. Inadequate regulation kept the book-cooking from being discovered until the crisis had become a catastrophe.

President Bush proposed regulatory reforms in 2003, but Congress took no action. In 2005, John McCain and three other GOP senators proposed a strong reform bill. It died when Democrats threatened a filibuster. Democrats opposed reform in part because they feared it would mean fewer loans to poor people.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not facing any kind of financial crisis," Rep. Barney Frank (D., Mass.) told the New York Times when the Bush bill was introduced. "The more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Democrats and some Republicans opposed reform in part because Fannie and Freddie were very good at greasing palms. Fannie has spent $170 million on lobbying since 1998 and $19.3 million on political contributions since 1990.

The principal recipient of Fannie Mae's largesse was Sen. Chris Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. No. 2 was Barack Obama.

Mr. Dodd was also the second largest recipient in the Senate of contributions from Countrywide's political action committee and its employees, and the recipient of a home loan from Countrywide at well below market rates. The No. 1 senator on Countrywide's list? Barack Obama.

Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines was forced to resign in December, 2004, because of "accounting irregularities." The Washington Post reported July 16 that the Obama campaign has called Mr. Raines "seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters."

Mr. Obama appointed Mr. Raines' predecessor, James Johnson, as head of his vice presidential search committee until he also was implicated in "accounting irregularities," and it was revealed he'd received cut-rate loans from Countrywide.

Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker, head of Mr. Obama's finance committee, chaired the now-defunct Superior bank when it began to cook the books to conceal losses from subprime mortgages. The holding company her family owned collected $200 million in dividends on phony profits.

The trouble with crony capitalism isn't capitalism. It's the cronies." -Jack Kelly

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080920/COLUMNIST14/809200351/-1/NEWS01

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2008
In reply to: sopall1953
Sun, 09-21-2008 - 10:00am
Is that the best you can do? At least he tried. He was outnumbered. Your guy just allowed his palm to be greased. My choice is the better one. You can't win this one.

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