3 Responses to “What Just Happened?”

John says:
October 4, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Democrats didn’t gain control of both houses of congress until 2006. That means the Republicans were the majority party and dictated the agenda. Now, since 2006, the Democrats have to answer for. Unfortunately, in the world of politics, if it happens on your watch (whether its good or bad) then you own it.
***HG says***
I did forget to add in my last response that John McCain sponsored a bill in 2005 that would have brought Fannie and Freddie under control, because all the politicians knew those organizations were out of control, and would sink the economy. When the Republicans and Democrats were asked how they would vote for the bill to reign in Freddie and Fannie, 100% of the Republicans said they would vote for the bill, and 100% of the democrats said they would vote against it. The democrats then blocked the bill from being officially voted on so the bill was dead, even though the democrats were in the minority. After the Democrats regained the majority, the Republicans resubmitted a similar bill to reign in Freddie and Fannie, but once again the Democrats killed the bill. Those are the facts. Make up your own mind as to who you want to blame.
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john says:
October 4, 2008 at 4:33 pm
What happened?
Who controlled 2/3 branches of government in 2003 and 2004? Republicans.
If this was such a problem, why didn’t the Republicans who controlled the executive AND legislative branches (and maybe a slim edge in the judicial branch) do more?
Why not mention the fact that Rick Davis, McCain’s top campaign advisor, was getting checks from Freddie and Fannie up to last month and was lobbying for them in 2003?
Who cares anyway? According to Phil Gramm this is all in our minds. It is a mental recession.
***HG says***
Thank you for your thoughtful insight. As a counter point I’d like to add, the Democrats have controlled congress for the past several years, and have been overseeing Freddie and Fannie while they crashed our financial and mortgage markets. The Democrats also blocked Republican efforts to fix the problem with those two institutions, as you can see in the video they said there was no problem, despite the fact they were in the minority in 2004.
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Craig says:
October 4, 2008 at 7:48 am
I Love it, keep it coming!
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