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| Peter Wallison: Prognosticator | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 21 2008, 10:52 AM (126 Views) | |
| Dwayne | Dec 21 2008, 10:52 AM Post #1 |
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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In making the case that the current problems in the financial world can be laid almost entirely at the feet of democrats, I cited an 1999 New York Times article about how Fannie Mae was easing credit requirements to encourage home ownership amongst minorities and the poor. In that article, Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute said the following, ''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us." He followed that with, "If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'' In 1999, Peter Wallison correctly predicted exactly what would happen, yet he's still not the go-to-guy by the media when they want answers to the history and causes of this crisis. I think it has everything to do with politics and the political loyalties of journalists. Anything that casts aspersions on democrats and their pet political projects in general must be downplayed and swept under the carpet. That's why we're just now learning that Barack Obama is, in fact, a 'Chicago politician' and with that may come all that phrase implies. Sorry, but I digressed. Peter Wallison got this right even before the system had a chance to really get started. I really encourage everyone to read the 1999 NYT article. Anyways, the only reason I bring this up is because I've come across two items by Peter Wallison, which if you really wish to be informed on this subject, must be watched or listened to. The first is a 25 minute speech Mr. Wallison gave at Reason's 40th anniversary on November 14th and 15th of 2008: http://reason.tv/video/show/626.html The other is a September 14th, 2008 interview of Peter Wallison on C-Span: http://www.q-and-a.org/Program/?ProgramID=1197 Sarcasm alert... This man obviously is a prophetic, an erudite and an astute observer of government and economics, so I can't understand why he wasn't tapped to head team Obama's economic team. Me thinks I know that answer, but maybe someone has a better one. |
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| STC | Dec 21 2008, 07:11 PM Post #2 |
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Commodore
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^^^ Umm... weren't the Republicans in power from 2000-2008? Or were they a bit impotent in that time period?
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| Franko | Dec 22 2008, 12:57 AM Post #3 |
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Shower Moderator
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In our British/Canadian parliamentry systems that would certainly be a strong case, but in the US structure things work a little differently. Plus I guess that some of these policies were operating under the momentum of the Clinton years; but although I don't completely exonerate the republicans and the Bush administration from these problems, there have been several democrats that have admitted that their party and it's policies contributed greatly to this "over-extension". However, the financial markets weren't exactly ringing alarm bells while all this was going on, so there have been a lot of parties involved on this joyride over the last few years. I'm certain Dwayne and maybe Dan will elaborate more on this; economics isn't my strong forte. |
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| Dwayne | Dec 22 2008, 01:05 AM Post #4 |
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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Well, the gist of STC's comments aren't economics, but policy and who brought it about. The NYT article and all others are very clear. These programs were an effort to increase the number of poor and minority homeowners. While you can find republicans that were guilted into supporting these initiatives, the actual initiative was started by democrats. Edited by Dwayne, Dec 22 2008, 08:02 AM.
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| RTW | Dec 22 2008, 07:53 AM Post #5 |
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Vice Admiral
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*sigh* Having you been purposely avoiding learning about this issue or is your "innocent" question a bit of fishing on your part? Timeline of crisis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPSDnGMzIdo&NR (Note who raised red flags in both 2001 and 2003) 2004 Hearings on Fannie Mae http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs& BANK AFFIRMATIVE ACTION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivmL-lXNy64 |
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| Dwayne | Dec 22 2008, 08:10 AM Post #6 |
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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^^^ Considering the number of Obama supporters who had no clue the democrats have been running congress for the past two years, it would not surprise me one bit that a person from another nation wouldn't know that either. And then the way the media distorts the roles and responsibilities of the US government, it's no surprise that someone like STC wouldn't have a clue that it's possible for the US legislative branch to be run by a different party than the US executive branch. |
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| Dwayne | Dec 22 2008, 09:47 PM Post #7 |
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Profanity deleted by Hoss
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Just to further reiterate the point, here's a FoxNews article telling about the White House push back against a hit piece the NYT ran over the weekend...
This FoxNews talks about how in 1999 the NYT had reported on what Peter Wallison had said. Edited by Dwayne, Dec 23 2008, 08:52 AM.
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