Obama Vs Reagan

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Who pushed these mortgages? Not Bush...

New York Times, 1999

...Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region --

will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans

. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under

increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people

and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits. ...

... at least one study indicates that

18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market. ...

Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk

, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But

the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn

, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

---You are correct...(not Bush on this one) Phil Gramm (R-Texas) is responsible for much of that legislation... and it passed through a GOP Congress in 1999 with a margin that any veto by the President would have been over-ridden.... read the latest Time magazine about this. Home loans to the poor (urged by Clinton ) have not been the problem.... loans to speculators (such as those expensive Florida condos) and other expensive homes with little to nothing down is the BIG problem.

Thanks for posting..

PS: Phil Gramm's wife was on the Board of directors of Enron.... see a pattern...?... He dropped his re-election bid after Enron hit the fan..... and then decided he wasn't really a Texan and left the state for NY and Wall Street.

---Even Tom Delay (the House GOP leader in 1999, now discredited) can be thrown under the bus on this one as well.

---** Wake up, what you want to be true, just isn't. **-----

Edited February 25, 2009 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[oldguystudent]

Can't we just throw the both of them in an MTV Death Match and be done with all this?

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Can't we just throw the both of them in an MTV Death Match and be done with all this?

Gramm vs. Bush..? .... I will have to root for Bush over that sleaze-bag.

Gramm to start with was McCain's financial advisor in his 2008 campaign but he soon fired him once he realized what a problem he was.

Edited February 25, 2009 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

So we reward Clinton super extra-trillion bonus points for happening to be in office during the internet boom?

--The Dow ( 20? high profile stocks) contains only one stock that can be considered internet related...Microsoft....and at the beginning of the Clinton administration it was not one of the Dow stocks but was added much later (near the end of Clinton term ) as some other one was removed ( as a result of a merger I think) --- so the internet boom had little effect on that number.

---Why did the internet boom happen.??? ...because it had been a government communication system and was put into the public domain by a bill sponsored and urged on by Sen. Al Gore. .................( no he never said he invented the internet despite what the radio crazies claim** .. he mentioned creating it with his legislation in an interview with Wolf Blitzer). .... I am sure when he did it he never realized what a big deal it would become.

**Another example of distorted facts by Demo-haters. The radio crazies (Rush for example) are making a fortune doing this, it is not about truth.....also maybe they are too ignorant (Rush has one hour of college credit, dancing, he flunked the rest) or too lazy to check the facts.

Edited February 25, 2009 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[GreenMachine]

also maybe they are too ignorant (Rush has one hour of college credit, dancing, he flunked the rest) or too lazy to check the facts.

lot of people on here with degrees and multiple degrees that wouldn't be considered the sharpest knife in the drawer. Rush was smart enough to put himself in position to become a multi multi millionaire.

[yyz28]

We can sit here and play the blame game all we want. Democrats spend too much as a rule and usually support higher taxes and lower government. Republicans, historically, were fiscally conservative, wanted lower taxes and a smaller Government. ...but for the recent past, the Republicans in power have abandoned the Conservative principals of smaller government, lower taxes and less spending. Just because the party went away from these principals doesn't mean many people still believe in them and want them promoted again. Who's at falut for this mess? Both parties, no doubt. ...but the party in power is not making the right moves to fix the problem, and that is why this debate rages.

History is clear, however. Increasing random and make-work spending and increasing taxes on the investor class will lead to a longer recession/depression. Cutting taxes and growing the military will shorten a recession/depression.

Mr. Obama has now signed into law a package that will cause the deficit this year to be 1 trillion dollars and then has the balls to go on TV last night and blame the Deficit on George Bush!?

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

lot of people on here with degrees and multiple degrees that wouldn't be considered the sharpest knife in the drawer. Rush was smart enough to put himself in position to become a multi multi millionaire.

--A lot of liars and dishonest people get rich.. unfortunately.

[GreenMachine]

--A lot of liars and dishonest people get rich.. unfortunately.

agree, just like a lot of honest, hard working people become rich as well.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

agree, just like a lot of honest, hard working people become rich as well.

Fortunately that is true.

[hickoryhouse]

--A lot of liars and dishonest people get rich.. unfortunately.

I see you have an axe to grind with Rush Limbaugh, does that mean that you dislike the lying and dishonest liberal talking heads as well? Or are the people out there like Al Franken, and Bill Maher good honest upstanding people?

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

I see you have an axe to grind with Rush Limbaugh, does that mean that you dislike the lying and dishonest liberal talking heads as well? Or are the people out there like Al Franken, and Bill Maher good honest upstanding people?

---One liar does not justify another.... Maher is a flake .... Franken is a bit different and a whole lot more educated. He is not the same as Rush at all but definitely a liberal. ... I don't even consider myself one.... Bush might have been a financial liberal despite his claims... he spent a whole lot more than he took in and our financial situation is largely his fault. I can't and don't spend like that so I guess that makes me a conservative...I liked the fact that budgets were balanced before Bush took office and that we actually had some surpluses to pay down the debt (if allowed by Congress at the time) .

I understand that you don't like your heros criticized but sorry --- it is deserved... note our ecomonic conditions and who was in office and who did what. As for moral issues.. Clinton was a rat. You can at least be honest in your statements and recognize whose fault this mess is mostly.. Don't be so blind to what has happened.

Edited February 25, 2009 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[Guest JohnDenver]

Mr. Obama has now signed into law a package that will cause the deficit this year to be 1 trillion dollars and then has the balls to go on TV last night and blame the Deficit on George Bush!?

I thought of you last night, when Obama said "95% of *working* Americans will get a tax decrease."

I believe the line of thinking was, he wouldn't have had to spend this money if the previous Administration had gave a damn and watched what was happening with their laisse-faire economy.

If anyone needs a good read, here is one: Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: The Boom Will Not Bust and Why Property Values Will Continue to Climb Through the End of the Decade - And How to Profit From Them

Some great reviews:

“An invaluable book . . . Today’s real estate markets are booming and Lereah makes a convincing case for why the real estate expansion will continue into the next decade. This book should prove to be a truly practical guide for any household looking to create wealth in real estate.” —DEWEY DAANE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

“An important book, whether you agree with the author (as I do) that housing will remain an excellent investment or are convinced that home prices are poised for a plunge, David Lereah lays out a compelling vision of housing as a continuing positive investment—and how you can profit from real estate if you already own the home you live in, are looking to move from rental housing to an owner-occupied home, or want to use real estate as an investment.” —DAVID BERSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FANNIE MAE

[yyz28]

I thought of you last night, when Obama said "95% of *working* Americans will get a tax decrease."

I believe the line of thinking was, he wouldn't have had to spend this money if the previous Administration had gave a damn and watched what was happening with their laisse-faire economy.

If anyone needs a good read, here is one: Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: The Boom Will Not Bust and Why Property Values Will Continue to Climb Through the End of the Decade - And How to Profit From Them

Some great reviews:

“An invaluable book . . . Today’s real estate markets are booming and Lereah makes a convincing case for why the real estate expansion will continue into the next decade. This book should prove to be a truly practical guide for any household looking to create wealth in real estate.” —DEWEY DAANE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

“An important book, whether you agree with the author (as I do) that housing will remain an excellent investment or are convinced that home prices are poised for a plunge, David Lereah lays out a compelling vision of housing as a continuing positive investment—and how you can profit from real estate if you already own the home you live in, are looking to move from rental housing to an owner-occupied home, or want to use real estate as an investment.” —DAVID BERSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, FANNIE MAE

I thougt of you too... so let's examine...

Unemployment is roughtly 7%. That means 93% of the people in this country are "Working Americans". Take 95% of them. ...now you've got 88.35%. The bottom 50% of people (which represents 33.35% of the 88.35% shown here) only pay 2% of the entire federal income tax burden in this country. Add to that the fact that unlike during the campagin he said 95% of Working Americans would get a tax CUT and now he's saying 95% of working americans will simply not see their taxes increase.

...what isn't being discussed is the gap between the $73,000 limit on the tax cut in the Stimulus (only individuals making that or less) vs the $125K individual income that is now going to see it's taxes go up.

Someone making $125K may be well off, but they aren't rich.

You can twist and spin it all you want. Bush left a $455 dollar deficit in 2008, which included the first half of TARP, and by all expectations, as a DIRECT RESULT OF SIGNING THIS BILL INTO LAW, which will NOT help stimulate the economy, we'll have a Trillion dollar deficit on our hands by the end of this year (and in the end it will be higher as a result of killing the Bush tax cuts which, history has shown, increased revenue to the treasury). I'm disgusted with the Deficit left by Bush. ...but spending another Trillion on top of the federal budget has NEVER WORKED in the history of this country.

You say "if the previous Administration had gave a damn and watched what was happening with their laisse-faire economy" yet you ignore the historical truth of what is going on here. You refuse to admit that the Fed and Congress' policies to Banks, Fannie and Freddie are at the root of all this, despite the fact it has been documented as true. You refuse to admit that the history of this type of situation dictates less government spending (and when spending IS done, it should be focused and with the private sector) and broad tax cuts solve this type of problem, and inflationary spending and ever increasing taxes on ANYONE (yeah, even the rich) make it worse.

The market, left to its own devices will ALWAYS be more efficient than government, and individuals with more dollars in their hands spend more efficiently than Government.

[hickoryhouse]

---One liar does not justify another.... Maher is a flake .... Franken is a bit different and a whole lot more educated. He is not the same as Rush at all but definitely a liberal. ... I don't even consider myself one.... Bush might have been a financial liberal despite his claims... he spent a whole lot more than he took in and our financial situation is largely his fault. I can't and don't spend like that so I guess that makes me a conservative...I liked the fact that budgets were balanced before Bush took office and that we actually had some surpluses to pay down the debt (if allowed by Congress at the time) .

I understand that you don't like your heros criticized but sorry --- it is deserved... note our ecomonic conditions and who was in office and who did what. As for moral issues.. Clinton was a rat. You can at least be honest in your statements and recognize whose fault this mess is mostly.. Don't be so blind to what has happened.

First, let me say that by no means is the Rush Limbaugh a hero of mine. He is entertainment as are the other gentlemen I mentioned. I was just making sure that we were being "Fair and Balanced"

As far as not being blind to what happened, well the truth of the matter is that this crisis is not the making of one person, one party, one event, or one bad decision. Unfortunately it is the result of a collaboration of bad decisions on both sides of the aisle. The problem with playing the blame game is that nothing gets accomplished andno one comes out the better for it. Bush did a great many things that I despise, but he also did a few that i applaud. I am sure that we can say the same about most presidents in the history of our country. The blind hatred of Bush, and now Obama on the other side is silly and in my opinion is destructive to the forward progress that this country should be making.

I firmly believe that the method being taken at the moment to try and guide us out of this financial situation is the wrong one. That doesn't mean that I don't think it can work, hopefully it will. I just think that we could have found a better way out of this than by spending almost $800 Billion, and then OBama gets in office and does the same thing, spends another $800 billion and now we are talking about another $410 BILLION, it has to stop somewhere, this is beyond rediculous. There is something to be said for the market.

[Cr1028]

With the "blank check" program in full swing in Washington DC these days, I thought I'd look at the last time the nation was in a real economic downturn and check to see who led us out and how he did it...You do recall Ronald Reagan, right? Well let's see...

1980 Reagan takes office with inflation in the double digits, unemployment higher than today's level, the top income tax rate approaching 70% and average mortgage rates at 14.7%...so what did Reagan do? Well he took four steps:

1) He reduced (REDUCED) the top income tax rate to 28%...with the second tier at 15% (I believe these were the only two brackets);

2) He drasticly reduced government spending;

3) Inflation was cut in half; and

4) he de-regulated (got government out of areas where private industry should function).

IT WORKED! The US entered the greatest period wealth building in the history of the world that lasted from 1980 to 2007!

Although I agree with Hannity on some things, he's got a little too much of a man-crush on Reagan for my liking. Reagan did not reduce inflation. His name was Paul Volcker and he did it by tightening the money supply with high (very unpopular) interest rates.

[eulessismore]

It really just seems too early to judge the Obama administration. There are some similarities between the early terms of both Obama and Reagan; mainly a bad economy and lots of criticism for a president who comes into office after it's already bad and, strangely enough, Paul Volcker as part of both administrations. Both resorted to deficit spending as the hope for turning the economy around.

Honestly, it will take a while for economic recovery to take hold; the problem is, nobody knows how long. I'd like for Obama to a more optimistic tone in his speeches; I still think economics is tied to a mass psychology of sorts, but recent politicians have found something to like in talking about how bad things are.

Inevitably, things will get better; and there's something to be said for positive talk.

[Rudy]

--Gore did not invent the internet (he never said he did)

Actually, I heard the soundbite where he stated that he "took the iniative and created the internet." It was kinda funny.

But its too soon to compare obama and Reagan. We need to see how bad things will get under obama before we can accurately compare the two.