6 Comments Add your own

• 1. Joe  |  September 19th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

  McCain:

  In early 1995, after Republicans had taken control of Congress, Mr. McCain promoted a moratorium on federal regulations of all kinds. He was quoted as saying that excessive regulations were “destroying the American family, the American dream” and voters “want these regulations stopped.” The moratorium measure was unsuccessful.
  “I’m always for less regulation,” he told The Wall Street Journal last March, “but I am aware of the view that there is a need for government oversight” in situations like the subprime lending crisis, the problem that has cascaded through Wall Street this year. He concluded, “but I am fundamentally a deregulator.”
  Later that month, he gave a speech on the housing crisis in which he called for less regulation, saying, “Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital.”

  McCain had Phil Gramm as his top financial advisor on the campaign.
  Phil Gramm… the one who pushed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act in 2000. This prohibited any regulation on any swaps including Credit Default Swaps. Gramm was responsible for taking down the banking regulation (repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act) that was in place since the Great Depresion. This allowed commercial banks and investment banks and everything else to combine. This all lead to today’s problems started.

  THAT is who he took/takes his economic policy advice from??

  Remember what McCain said…
  “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.”
  And…
  ” “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” McCain said. “I’ve got Greenspan’s book.””

  National Association of Home Builders regarding S.190, the McCain co-sponsored bill that you tout as his foreseeing disaster.

  Legislation reforming the regulatory oversight of the housing GSEs was considered by the 109th Congress, but ultimately died due to policy differences between the House and Senate reform packages, in many key areas, most notably: affordable housing requirements, portfolio limits, and program/product approval. NAHB supported the House-passed bill H.R. 1461, which was a balanced bill that included many of NAHB’s priorities in key areas and did not include several adverse provisions sought by those seeking to restrict GSE activities. In contrast, the Senate bill, S. 190, contained many restrictive provisions that could harm the nation’s housing finance system, including: restrictions on asset holdings, discretion to raise minimum capital, burdensome program approval process, and a regulatory structure tilted away from housing. In addition, S. 190 did not require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set aside monies to fund affordable housing initiatives, as provided in the House-passed bill.

  By the way, the House passed a BIPARTISAN bill that easily passed. McCain, Bush and the Republicans didn’t like that so that is why McCain co-sponsored S.190.

  “H.R. 1461 cleared the House floor by a vote of 331 to 90 following numerous proposed amendments and over the objections of the White House, which sought stronger limits on the growth of Fannie and Freddie’s mortgage portfolios.”

  Now… on to Obama.
  He sent a letter to Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke – March 2007

  I urge you immediately to convene a homeownership preservation summit with leading mortgage lenders, investors, loan servicing organizations, consumer advocates, federal regulators and housing-related agencies to assess options for private sector responses to the challenge.
  We cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes.
  And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly.
  Working together, the relevant private sector entities and regulators may be best positioned for quick and targeted responses to mitigate the danger. Rampant foreclosures are in nobody’s interest, and I believe this is a case where all responsible industry players can share the objective of eliminating deceptive or abusive practices, preserving homeownership, and stabilizing housing markets.
  …
  Nevertheless, a consortium of industry-related service providers and public interest advocates may be able to bring quick and efficient relief to millions of at-risk homeowners and neighborhoods, even before Congress has had an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy. Please don’t let this opportunity pass us by.

  Heck… even in March 2008 he was talking about this and laid out 6 principles for overhauling banking regulation.

  Democrat Barack Obama said the government must overhaul the rules governing banks and other financial institutions in the wake of a collapse in the subprime mortgage market that has shaken confidence in the U.S. economy.

  McCain does NOT have the ideas, policies or foresight to guide this country thru this crisis. This current situation has just proved to a LOT of people that the Republican economic policies just don’t work and John McCain is following the same exact course.

• 2. Joe  |  September 19th, 2008 at 3:53 pm

  Politifact.org
  <blockquotePolitiFact.com (Sept. 17): We give McCain some credit for weighing in on problems surrounding Fannie Mae, even though he got involved after a comprehensive government report issued a loud alarm to anyone watching. However, his attempts to depict those efforts as some sort of early warning that could have lessened the current credit crisis just don’t wash. All McCain was talking about then was the potential fallout of accounting troubles in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He didn’t say anything about a freewheeling climate among creditors that had major financial institutions becoming badly leveraged on bad loans. We rule his claim Barely True.

• 3. Eric T  |  September 19th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

  Joe- Wall St. will suffer with Obama.

  “Obama’s Plan calls for Nearly Doubling The Capital Gains Tax Rate And More Than Doubling The Dividend Tax Rate.”

  http://www.gop.com/news/newsread.aspx?guid=a0b47e3f-db96-4356-863c-f2149cefb6c1

  Joe- Main St. will suffer under Obama as well.

  OBAMA’S PLEDGE CONTRADICTS HIS VOTING RECORD

  Obama Voted In Favor Of The Democrats’ FY 2009 Budget, Which Would Raise Tax Rates For Americans Earning $42,000 Or More:

  Obama Voted Twice In Favor Of The Democrats’ FY 2009 Budget Resolution. (S. Con. Res. 70, CQ Vote #85: Adopted 51-44: R 2-43; D 47-1; I 2-0, 3/14/08, Obama Voted Yea; S. Con. Res. 70, CQ Vote #142: Adopted 48-45: R 2-44; D 44- 1; I 2-0, 6/4/08, Obama Voted Yea)

  The Democrats’ Budget Would Raise Taxes On Individuals Earning Approximately $42,000 Or More. “The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income, or any couple making less than $83,000. The $32,000 figure is approximately the taxable income of a single person making $41,500 per year, after all deductions and exclusions.” (FactCheck.org, “The $32,000 Question,” http://www.factcheck.org, 7/11/08)

  NOTE: The Democrats’ Budget Raised Tax Rates On The 25, 28, 33 And 35 Percent Brackets. For 2008, The 25 Percent Bracket Begins At The Taxable Income Level Of $32,550, Which Is The Figure After All Deductions And Exclusions Are Subtracted From Total Earnings. (”2008 Individual Income Tax Rates, Standard Deductions, Personal Exemptions, And Filing Thresholds,” http://www.taxpolicycenter.org, 11/4/07; Andrew Taylor, “Presidential Hopefuls To Vote On Budget,” The Associated Press, 3/13/08)

• 4. Eric T  |  September 19th, 2008 at 7:31 pm

  Joe- Is todays stock market advance, a short squeeze, or the market heading back to 14,000?
  Who knows??

  What I do know is Many on Main St. need a bail out from these outrageous energy costs, in reality many people can no longer pay their bills, and with record high heating bills coming around the corner. We need a president that is going to do what is right for the people of this country once in while, give us a season too, not just always worried about whats right for OPEC or some crybaby capitalists that can’t handle risk. Or some overpaid CEO that can’t run a business.

  John McCain has the solution-

  John McCain Will Commit Our Country To Expanding Domestic Oil Exploration. The current federal moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf stands in the way of energy exploration and production. John McCain believes it is time for the federal government to lift these restrictions and to put our own reserves to use. There is no easier or more direct way to prove to the world that we will no longer be subject to the whims of others than to expand our production capabilities. We have trillions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves in the U.S. at a time we are exporting hundreds of billions of dollars a year overseas to buy energy. This is the largest transfer of wealth in the history of mankind. We should keep more of our dollars here in the U.S., lessen our foreign dependency, increase our domestic supplies, and reduce our trade deficit - 41% of which is due to oil imports. John McCain proposes to cooperate with the states and the Department of Defense in the decisions to develop these resources.

  John McCain Believes In Promoting And Expanding The Use Of Our Domestic Supplies Of Natural Gas. When people are hurting, and struggling to afford gasoline, food, and other necessities, common sense requires that we draw upon America’s own vast reserves of oil and natural gas. Within the United States we have tremendous reserves of natural gas. The Outer Continental Shelf alone contains 77 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. It is time that we capitalize on these significant resources and build the infrastructure needed to transport this important component of electricity generation and transportation fuel around the country.

• 5. Joe  |  September 19th, 2008 at 10:00 pm

  For cryin’ out loud Eric… Obama is NOT going to raise taxes on those making just $42,000. Read something other than gop.com man.

  We’ve already reported on at least three other ads, in both Spanish and English, from Sen. John McCain’s campaign that distort his rival’s tax policy. The ads claim that, for example, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would raise taxes “on the sale of your home” and that he has a “history of raising taxes” and that he wanted to raise taxes on “families” making just $42,000 a year.
  Claims like these have led us to say that McCain’s campaign is engaging in a “pattern of deceit” when it comes to describing Obama’s tax plan. This most recent ad fits right into the template.
  …
  We spoke with Len Berman, director of the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, which has produced one of the most authoritative analyses of the two candidates’ tax plans. When we asked him if Obama’s claim that he would “cut taxes for 95 percent of all working families” was true, Berman told FactCheck.org that it was “consistent with our estimates.” Overall, the TPC found that Obama’s plan would produce a tax cut for 81.3 percent of all households, and a cut for 95.5 percent of all households with children.

  Under Obama’s plan, the TPC estimates that people (or couples) making between $37,595 and $66,354 a year would see an average savings of $1,118 on their taxes.

  Under McCain’s plan, on the other hand, those same individuals would save $325 on average — $793 less than the average savings under Obama’s plan.

  that claim of raising taxes on just $42k has been well debunked. And not just from factcheck.org. dammit man… do some research on that.

  As for Cap gains… if you are making over $250k, then yes… you will pay more. Me and you will see DECREASE in our taxes.
  Everyone who has done analysis on the tax plans has come to the same conclusion.

  Going to bed now… will debate the second part of your post later. For now… you really need to read about the tax policies and projections. And don’t just go to gop.com for cryin’ out loud.

• 6. congressive  |  September 24th, 2008 at 7:03 pm

  McCain CUTS AND RUNS from the debate.

  As David Letterman said by way of the Drudge Report: “What are you going to do if you’re elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We’ve got a guy like that now!”

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