Believing the lie

Quick... who is responsible for the financial crisis?

If you said "Republicans who fought regulation," then, congratulations. Not to you,but congratulations to the Democrats and mainstream media for getting you to believe the lie.

Kathleen McKinley does a great job of debunking the lie that Republicans are to blame.

The Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets.org reported on how much money members of Congress had received from Fanny and Freddy since 1989. Their report on September 11 said that Maxine Waters had indeed receive $15,000 from Fannie and Freddie (and, as Michael Moore pointed out, so did Chris Dodd and Barney Frank). In fact current members of Congress received a total of $4.8 million from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with Democrats collecting 57 percent of that.

Unless you consider Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Maxine Waters, and other Democrats to be Republicans.

What happens in the Wells Fargo boardroom...

Any other business?



Mr. Chairman, I have one final item.



The chair recognizes Howard Atkins.



Dick, it's no secret that we're hurting...



You can say that again.



Damn, Bob, you're someone to talk.



As I was saying, we're hurting. A year ago, our stock was over $33 a share. And, less than 5 months ago, we were nearly $40 a share. We're barely 1/3 of that today.



Well, you're Chief Financial Officer, Howard. What are you suggesting?

Solving the financial crisis

I know how to solve the financial crisis in this country. Hire Rebecca Paul. No, really. Okay, for those of you who don't know who Rebecca Paul is, she started up the Illinois Lottery. Then was hired away by Florida to start up the Florida Lottery. Then Georgia hired her away to start ... you guessed it ... the Georgia Lottery. Then Tennessee came calling, and hired her to start up the Tennessee Lottery. She used to be a Republican, then her husband died, and she hooked up with a Democrat in the Tennessee state legislature. So I guess she's a Democrat now. Sort of like Theresa Heinz Kerry. Except Rebecca Paul actually did something. Anyway, hire her away from Tennessee to start up the United States Lottery. Run it like the lotteries she's set up in Illinois, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. That means that half the money goes into the winner's pot, 15% is used to run the lottery, and the other 35% goes to the treasury. And lots of money will go into the lottery. Poor people put big bucks into the lottery all the time. So that'll mean that Obama won't need to raise taxes on the rich. Or on plumbers from Ohio. And conservatives like me will get to watch poor people funding the government. Sure, babies will go hungry, and crack dealers might find a crimp in their business, but that's the price of success. And the best part? When some poor person wins and becomes a zillionaire, he'll end up in a higher tax bracket and learn to hate Democrats. There'll be more rich Republicans (not rich White Republicans, but we've got enough of those already). And the poor Democrats will pay for it. It's a win-win situation.

Yakko's Bailout

And now, Yakko Warner explains the bailout...



The U.S. economy's tanked. It's beyond me
Why nobody knows who's to blame.
When Washington's involved, the markets will devolve;
The reason is always the same.



In '94, sub-prime mortgages were five
Percent of all housing loans, but,
The number then went up to 20 percent
Due to a perceived housing glut.



In '99 Clinton, with impeachment defended,
Told Fannie Mae, "You must give loans
To those that don't qualify, 'cause I must mollify
All those that kept me afloat."



Franklin Raines took over Fannie Mae's books over
Judgment that was good and true.
The books he did cook, and 'twas millions he took
Before away to retirement he flew.



Freddie Mac, also, backed loans that were awful
But banks went along for the ride
With creative accounting while debts were amounting
To billions they tried hard to hide.



Freddie and Fannie gave thousands in money
To those overseeing this mess.
To Chris Dodd, John Kerry, Obama. Yes, very
Suspicious, to put it the best.



And now, Lordy Mama, advising Obama
Is none other than Franklin Raines.
With speeches a-plenty, but meaning that's empty,
Barack's "change" sounds more like "the same."



In 2008, the strain couldn't wait
And Freddie and Fannie both fell.
The government leapt in, took over and stepped in
A hand basket heading to hell.



"The upcoming debate, well, you know it can wait,"
Said John McCain. "Let's all go back
To D.C. and huddle, and fix all this muddle."
But the train was too far off the tracks.



The debate, it went on, and though nobody won,
The Congress could not pass a bill.
Pelosi's speech tanked it, although Barney Frank went
"Don't blame us on Capitol Hill."



The Republicans cast blame, the Democrats did same,
And nobody knows what event
Will help with this crisis, though Obama's advisors
Say "Show up and then vote 'present.'"



The market dropped hundreds, the pols, they do blunders
Of bills that will just make it worse.
The good news is one day, it will all be okay,
And history will write the last verse.

Obama says he's just like George Bush

Did you catch what Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said today?

The Washington Post said:

Accusing President Bush of "my way or the highway intransigence," Sen. Barack Obama outlined four principles that he said a financial bailout package must address, asserting it was "wholly unreasonable" for taxpayers to accept the White House's call for legislation with no strings attached.

MSNBC reported:

"Yesterday, the President said that Congress should pass this proposal to ease the crisis on Wall Street without significant changes or improvements," the Illinois senator told reporters, arguing that everyone has a stake in solving the crisis to protect the jobs and the life savings of millions. "Given that fact, the President's stubborn inflexibility is both unacceptable and disturbingly familiar. This is not the time for my-way-or-the-highway intransigence from anybody involved."

The New York Times said:

"The president's stubborn inflexibility is both unacceptable and disturbingly familiar," Mr. Obama said, referring to Mr. Bush's comments in recent days that Congress approve the administration's bailout plan as presented. "This is not the time for my way or the highway."

So, those different news sources ... plus others ... all reported that Sen. Obama called President Bush stubborn and inflexible for demanding his way.

But did you read the entire reports?

Obama laid out "four principles" for a bailout package.

What if those four principles aren't met?

Washington Post:

But when pressed about how he would vote if the final package did not include any of the four provisions he offered, Obama said, "If the plan that emerges does not address the principles that I discussed, I will strongly recommend to Secretary Paulson that he go back to the drawing board and find an approach that does address them. This goes back to my original point. ... This is not one of those circumstances where the president can come out and simply say, you do it my way or nothing's going to happen."

MSNBC:

The senator said negotiations over the next few days would be difficult but did not answer directly whether he would vote against the bill if it did not contain the measures he had laid out, at first saying only that it was important to deal with this emergency situation in the right way to avoid future problems. Later, he added, "If the plan that emerges does not address the principles that I've discussed then I will strongly recommend to Sec. Paulson that he go back the drawing board and find an approach that does address them."

New York Times:

If those four objectives are not met, Mr. Obama told reporters at a news conference here, he would recommend that federal and congressional negotiators "go back to the drawing board" to restructure the bailout plan.

Did you catch that?

Bush is "stubborn" and "inflexible" if his goals aren't met.

But Obama will send the plan "back to the drawing board" if his goals aren't met.

Obama just said he's like George Bush.

And he already said we don't need another four years of George Bush.

We darn sure don't need four years of Barack Obama.