[speechlesstx]

The president said he expects "to be held accountable" for jobs, which I expect voters to do this fall. Except, Obama really doesn't expect to be held accountable because it's all Bush's fault.

"They're going remember the policies that got us into this mess as well," Obama said, referring to the previous Republican administration. "And they sure as heck don't want to go back to those."

a) Doesn't anyone see the irony in the president saying he expects to be held accountable while blaming Bush?

b) Will the voters blame Bush?

[NeedKarma]

He's not blaming Bush, he's blaming the policies.

[spitvenom]

I just blame both parties. The republicans for being arrogant idiots. And the dems for being spineless punks. It is pointless to pick a side cause they both rape us with no Vaseline.

[tomder55]

It must be Bush's fault . Jimmy Buffet says so .
FOXNews.com - Jimmy Buffett Organizes Gulf Benefit, Blames Bush for Spill
Munchin’ on pot cakes, Watchin’ the banks break,
All of those beaches.covered with oil.
Blew out an oil well ,fired a general
Illegals flooding American soil.
Wasted away again in Obamaville ..Searching for some credit for all those saved jobs .
Some people claim that Barak is to blame...but he knows... it’s George Bush’s fault.

[speechlesstx]

He's not blaming Bush, he's blaming the policies.

No, he's blaming Bush.

Obama campaigns against Bush -- again

[NeedKarma]

Just because you point to a conservative blog opinion piece doesn't make it so. In your first post he clearly speaks to policies not the person.

[speechlesstx]

Just because you point to a conservative blog opinion piece doesn't make it so. In your first post he clearly speaks to policies not the person.

Who's policies are they? Bush. Who then gets the credit, or the blame? Bush. Quit deflecting and answer my questions.

a) Doesn't anyone see the irony in the president saying he expects to be held accountable while blaming Bush?

b) Will the voters blame Bush?

[NeedKarma]

Who's policies are they?

Republican. Geez, you're a little slow today.

[speechlesstx]

Republican. Geez, you're a little slow today.

No, you're just a pain in the...

[excon]

a) Doesn't anyone see the irony in the president saying he expects to be held accountable while blaming Bush?

Hello Steve:

Accountability is like pregnant. You either ARE, or you AREN'T. You can only BE accountable for what YOU do. To pretend you're accountable for what somebody else did, isn't being accountable at all. It's being disingenuous. Plus, To BE accountable for what YOU did, and at the same time deflect the accountability of others, isn't being accountable either. It too, is being disingenuous. That is what you would prefer Obama do.

The TRUTH is that the policies of George W. Bush, Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and most especially, Ronald Reagan, caused the financial meltdown that we just experienced. I know. You only want me to look back a year and a half. I ain't going to. Bummer for you. Pretending that history only goes back to the last election is ALSO disingenuous, and not real smart either. It also doesn't bode well for our future. It IS true, that if you don't know history, you're bound to repeat it.

excon

[NeedKarma]

No, you're just a pain in the .....

Someone has to call you out every once in a while.

[Catsmine]

Hello Steve:

Accountability is like pregnant. You either ARE, or you AREN'T. You can only BE accountable for what YOU do. To pretend you're accountable for what somebody else did, isn't being accountable at all. It's being disingenuous. Plus, To BE accountable for what YOU did, and at the same time deflect the accountability of others, isn't being accountable either. It too, is being disingenuous. That is what you would prefer Obama do.

The TRUTH is that the policies of George W. Bush, Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and most especially, Ronald Reagan, caused the financial meltdown that we just experienced. I know. You only want me to look back a year and a half. I ain't gonna. Bummer for you. Pretending that history only goes back to the last election is ALSO disingenuous, and not real smart either. It also doesn't bode well for our future. It IS true, that if you don't know history, you're bound to repeat it.

excon

Look a little farther. To, say, 1930.

[tomder55]

Hello Steve:

Accountability is like pregnant. You either ARE, or you AREN'T. You can only BE accountable for what YOU do. To pretend you're accountable for what somebody else did, isn't being accountable at all. It's being disingenuous. Plus, To BE accountable for what YOU did, and at the same time deflect the accountability of others, isn't being accountable either. It too, is being disingenuous. That is what you would prefer Obama do.

The TRUTH is that the policies of George W. Bush, Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton, and most especially, Ronald Reagan, caused the financial meltdown that we just experienced. I know. You only want me to look back a year and a half. I ain't gonna. Bummer for you. Pretending that history only goes back to the last election is ALSO disingenuous, and not real smart either. It also doesn't bode well for our future. It IS true, that if you don't know history, you're bound to repeat it.

excon

Interesting observations given that Congress just passed a 2300+page Barney's Frank /Chris Dudd "comprehensive " (I'm really getting sick of that word ) Financial Reform Bill. .

Only in America could you have the 2 Congressmen primarily responsible for the economic mess we're in author the legislation that is supposed to get us out of the mess they helped create !

[excon]

Hello tom:

In order to explode an atomic bomb, you need to set off a conventional explosive first... Blaming Barney Frank and Chris Dodd is like blaming an A-Bomb attack on the conventional explosives that started it. You miss the BIGGER picture.

Freddie and Fanny primed the pump. But, it's what the BANKS did, with those TRILLIONS of $$'s that caused the meltdown.

excon

[speechlesstx]

So ex, you still can't acknowledge Democrats telling us there wasn't anything wrong with Fannie and Freddie when Bush warned them something like 17 times of impending disaster. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, issued one of those warnings in 2003:

"these estimates suggest that the reduction in conforming mortgage interest rates stemming from the GSEs falls well short of their funding advantage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that only about half of the total subsidy provided to the GSEs gets passed on to homebuyers. What happens to the rest of the subsidy? The outcome is exactly what one would expect with a private company—it goes to executive compensation and to shareholder profits.

This situation raises concerns over fairness, but in my view, the larger issue for the policymaking and regulatory community is that the subsidy creates a source of systemic risk for our financial system. This risk arises because the subsidy has allowed the GSEs to become gigantic. From 1995 to 2002, the debt issued by the housing GSEs more than tripled. As of the end of 2002, their total reported debt was $2.2 trillion. To put this in perspective, the privately held debt of the federal government is $3.2 trillion. If recent trends continue, GSE debt will soon exceed the privately held debt of the federal government...

The available information suggests that the housing GSEs place a high priority on risk management. To date, their efforts appear to have been largely successful. However, policymakers must not be complacent. In our complex and dynamic financial system, even small errors can damage an institution’s financial health. And the size and complexity of the assets and operations of the GSEs mean that it is hard even for the companies themselves to keep track of their own situations. What is worrisome is that investors might accept lack of transparency in financial information because they are assured by the implicit public guarantee...

The enormous size of the mortgage-backed securities market means that any problems at the GSEs matter for the financial system as a whole. This risk is a systemic issue also because the debt obligations of the housing GSEs are widely held by other financial institutions. The importance of GSE debt in the portfolios of other financial entities means that even a small mistake in GSE risk management could have ripple effects throughout the financial system.

There is no way to fully eliminate the underlying risk. It is possible, however, to reduce the risk by ensuring that the housing GSEs are overseen by an effective regulator. The current regulators do not have the tools, or the stature, to deal effectively with the current size, complexity, and importance of the housing GSEs.

The Administration believes that legislation to reform GSE regulation should empower the new regulator with sufficient strength and credibility to reduce systemic risk. A key issue is providing appropriate resources and tools. Inadequate reforms could conceivably increase systemic risk. The appearance of greater oversight without the reality would be a step in the wrong direction."

Sounds like Bush was warning of the need for more oversight to lessen the risk and avoid a systemic collapse of the financial system early on to me. So how did Democrats respond?

Maxine Waters: Through nearly a dozen hearings, we were frankly trying to fix something that wasn’t broke. Mr. Chairman, we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and particularly at Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Franklin Raines.

Gregory Meeks: … I’m just pi$$ed off at OFHEO [the regulators trying to warn Congress of insolvency at the GSEs], because if it wasn’t for you, I don’t think we’d be here in the first place. … There’s been nothing that indicated that’s wrong with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac has come up on its own … The question that then comes up is the competence that your agency has with reference to deciding and regulating these GSEs.

Lacy Clay: This hearing is about the political lynching of Franklin Raines.

Barney Frank: I don’t see anything in this report that raises safety and soundness problems.

Obama himself "voted present" on this issue in 2005, and as this article shows, "the Clinton administration ruled that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could satisfy their affordable housing obligations by purchasing subprime mortgages."

Obama and the Deemocrats don't ant to be accountable for anything, unless you're talking about Biden congratulating Obama for winning the war in Iraq.

[excon]

So ex, you still can't acknowledge Democrats telling .

Hello again, Steve:

I DID say they primed the pump. That's acknowledging their complicity. But, YOU, however, are just as stuck on the right wing talking points as you accuse me of being... You refuse to blame the banks... Damned if I know why.

excon

[speechlesstx]

Someone has to call you out every once in a while.

Right back at you big fella.

[speechlesstx]

I DID say they primed the pump. That's acknowledging their complicity.

And I was still working on my post when you did. You still blame Bush policies though I showed Bush tried to change those policies while Democrats barked there was nothing wrong, so what's the difference?

[excon]

Hello again, Steve:

You're still talking about the conventional explosive. Bush babbling on about Barney Frank is tantamount to whistling while Rome burned.

30 years of bank deregulation is what caused the nuclear bomb that was dropped on us, and I didn't hear Bush say squat about that... You either.

excon

[tomder55]

Freddie and Fanny primed the pump. But, it's what the BANKS did, with those TRILLIONS of $$'s that caused the meltdown

You mean like Countrywide ? Or more importantly the Chair of the Senate Banking Committee who got special deals from Countrywide ?(90 percent of loans originated by Countrywide, the largest subprime lender, were either sold to Fannie Mae or backed by Ginnie Mae... all under the direct oversight of Dudd )
The truth is that Fannie and Freddie's exposure was greater than all the major Wall Street players combined. And now they're insolvent, with taxpayers potentially on the hook for as much as $1 trillion.

It doesn't even interest you that 2 of the primary architects of the previously flawed regulatory system are the ones the Dems called upon to create more flawed regulations ? (”No one will know until this is actually in place how it works.” Lawmakers guide Dodd-Frank bill for Wall Street reform into homestretch )

Mortgages were offered to unqualifed borrowers before the "crisis " ,and you will look hard and long through the bill ,and still not see any change to that . Banks will still be required to loan by a quota system.

Further ,Fannie and Freddie will be exempt from any new impositions.How is it that they constructed over 2000 pages of law and didn't address Fannie or Freddie at all ?