We all know the housing crisis put us in this mess were currently in. Loaning money to people would really couldn't pay it back was a cancer waiting to eat this economy alive. Republicans repeatedly missed the signs and important details that allowed this nonsense to turn into what it has...a full scale disaster.
It's now about time we got some educated and qualified people involved to get it straightened out. Senator Chris Dodd, who heads up the banking committee and is now a major player in two big areas: solving the housing foreclosure and financial crises and putting together an overhaul of the U.S. health care system. Additionally, Sen. Conrad will be right by his side to help him with the healthcare overhaul. If there was ever more qualified persons to lead us in these important issues at critical times this is our dream-team.
Now I know that there are some of you who will cry foul and bring up the Senate Ethics Committee investigation, but really folks, give me a break. Like the rest of the free world, they were just trying to get the best mortgage deal each could find. Yes, Countrywide did them some favors that they probably should not have, but are you really going to hang a man for missing one little detail that only amounted to 1% of his loan package? For goodness sakes, Sen. Conrad donated the 1% or $10,500.00 to a good charity that will do many good things with the money. Poor Sen. Dodd got a residence loan on two properties when you're only allowed to live in one place, but so what? I mean, wouldn't you trust your accountant, who you trust to do your tax returns, even after making a simple mistake with his own finances to solve your own financial mess? I know for a fact, I have made many mistakes that have cost me some money, and I have never read any of my mortgage documents either, so I for one, forgive them.
I fully trust them with the $1.5 trillion dollar pricetag on the healthcare overhaul plan, and if they make another meaningless error, I sure all of you will jump up and down, screaming like lunatics about the simple 1%, or $15 billion dollars in question.
Yes, Senators Dodd and Conrad are the men for the job, end of story.
Erik Almy
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So, Erik, you think that only the Democrats can get this economic mess “straightened out.”
Let’s look at where they are looking for health care: France. “France claims it long ago achieved much of what today's U.S. health-care overhaul is seeking: It covers everyone, and provides what supporters say is high-quality care. But soaring costs are pushing the system into crisis. The result: As Congress fights over whether America should be more like France, the French government is trying to borrow U.S. tactics.” - The Wall Street Journal.
Now let‘s look at wealth distribution, one of Democrat Obama’s goals: “According to IRS data, the top half of tax return filers already pays 97 percent of total income tax collected. The other half, earning less than about $16 per hour, pays the remaining 3 percent. The top 10 percent, earning in excess of $100,000 per annum, contributes more than 70 percent of income tax revenues. Many small Chapter S Corporations, which employ millions, fall into this last category. The self-serving definitions of "middle class" and "rich" established by the administration are intended to distort the picture of taxpayer equity. The upper 10 percent of earners are responsible for the creation, investment and ongoing operation of most small businesses, which are the lifeblood of our economy.” - The Daily News Tribune, Waltham, Mass.
And I leave you with one final quote:
“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” - Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005.
Jim Ashley
Jashley41@comcast.net
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Wow. It’s amazing the effectiveness of the liberal media spin. You actually believe that Bush and the evil Republicans are the reason we are currently in the worst financial situation since the Great Depression. You also apparently believe that the tax and spend Democrats are the people to fix the mess we are in and fix health care. It was actually your Democratic friends who got us in to this mess.
The near Depression we are currently in was not created in eight years but owes it’s roots to the Clinton administration. Does that name ring a bell? Bill Clinton and the Democrats in Congress used the media and shame tactics against the Republicans in the mid-90’s to get laws passed opening up and pushing mortgages for low income families. These consisted of interest only loans, loans to individuals with poor or incomplete credit, and mortgages with zero down payments. Many of these are what we now refer to as “subprime mortgages”. Of course the Republicans and the banks and institutions that were to offer these loans initially fought against this knowing that it would lead to problems down the road, but they were quickly labeled as “elitists” and “out of touch”.
Now we find ourselves with the same people who got us in our financial mess trying to “fix” health care. God help us all.
Eric Fuller
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Actually, Eric, former president Bush did try to push reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but was constantly blocked by the Democrats led by Barney Frank, who was having a relationship with a Fannie Mae executive at the time. Frank also received more than forty thousand dollars in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.
David B Smith
LaFayette GA
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I agree 100% with you Erik, the Democrats will have to fix everything from now on. Lord knows the Republicans aren't going to lift a finger to help; they have more important things to do like gripe everyday about losing the election. They are like Moses wandering in the promised land with no leader in sight or like a lost ball in high weeds. Enough said.
Gary Dixon
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Mr. Almy, I for one am already taxed up to my eyeballs. I'm already paying for rich bankers to get bailouts. I'm already paying to help bail people out who were bad at managing their money, and living beyond their means. I don't want to pay for health care reform. I pay for my own health insurance through my job. I took the initiative to find a job with benefits. In conclusion to your statement; not any one party can fix this "mess". It will require both parties to use an understanding, work together, and set politics aside for the better of the people.
Mr. Ashley, do you realize your sources were a conservative news paper, a group of conservative journalist, and an extremist conservative pastor? That's not a good way to drive your point home.
Distributing the wealth is a socialist idea. Everyone being treated the same is a socialist idea.
We are all our own person with our own needs (Some with special needs). We all work hard for our wages. Why should we be all be treated the exact same? Why should I pay for welfare to those who choose to abuse a system, and not take advantage of the same opportunities that I was offered?
Welcome to communist America.
Lee Gilliam
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The Democrats have lost their mind.
Josh Reddick
jreddick28@comcast.net
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I am disgusted as everyone else with Congressional "leadership", but if you read Mr. Almy's comments a second time they really are just tongue in cheek.
We are in what could become an epic battle for control of the institutions and traditions of our country and we should calmly and methodically understand what the "leadership" is trying to do to us. We should avoid being misled by individuals who would purposely bait us into hysterical rants to make us look foolish and in turn make them look calm and reasonable.
C. L. Miller
Hamilton County
semperdad@netzero.net
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I have to make a confession. Whenever I see a title to an opinion piece that begins with "Only blah blah can fix ya ya" my attention is drawn immediately to it. It's a character flaw.
As I read down through this I couldn't believe what I was seeing, until I got to the bottom and saw who the commentator was. Mr. Almay, from what he's opined in the past, is merely being sarcastic about all of this concerning Senators Dodd and Conrad being the only ones who can clean up the mess we have in government at the federal level.
Actually, neither party is the end all to be all ... not with their current makeup of individuals.
Over the years I've been accused of being a lot of things. I've been accused of being a NASCAR aficionado, an ultra conservative, a neo-con. Why, just yesterday a candidate accused me of being "hard corps" and unyielding.
However, the older I get, and the more I observe, the more I come to believe that I'm really a political moderate. I could care less what most others do as long as their activities don't interfere with me, mine, or the rights of others. If someone wants to stand around flailing their fists at the air, they're welcome to do so. Their right to act in that manner stops at the end of my nose, any point at which it will affect others, or when they begin to reach for my wallet. Our current congress and federal administration have done exactly that. But they haven't just reached for my wallet, they've reached for the wallets of my grandchildren and great grandchildren ... who have yet to earn even their first dollar.
Sarcasm is a very effective method to use when we want to cause others to think. Obviously Mr. Almay has accomplished that end, and with significant pucker power in the process. He neglected to remind us that we need to become more aware at the local level as well, aware and active.
Thomas Jefferson once stated that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. He was right, you know.
Royce E. Burrage, Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
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Republicans and Democrats alike are responsible for the mess we're in. Both parties have betrayed America. There were laws in place since the Great Depression that were dismantled by the Republican majority Congress that Clinton signed into law. Had those protections been left in place, much of our economic meltdown may have been avoided. How can anyone continue to defend either side? Our elected officials are bought and paid for by special interest and could care less about you or me. Let's point the finger at them instead of each other.
David Blancett
Chattanooga TN