Comments on: Fred’s Op Ed

By: zonmoy

zonmoy — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:23:48 +0000

problem with obama is that he was bought and paid for by the malfactors with wealth from before the very first day that the mainstream media started singing his praises, the ones they havent bought the mainstream media wont touch with a ten foot pole except maybe to bring down the politician the malfactors have told them to set up to take a dive in the election.

By: rgl

rgl — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 03:52:47 +0000

I believe Mr Pohl was referring to the real world and a president more recent than Carter.

“Community Reinvestment” required that the lenders operate in a manner consistent with safe and sound operation, which is not consistent with what created the current economic mess.

As for your three other points, I have worked for a poor man although not for any great pay , redistribution of wealth has worked after a fashion for as long as there have been modern government, and some control over our lives seems necessary for civil society and the burden of government on personal freedoms in Canada* does not seem to be as onerous as opponents perceive it to be.

rgl (red tory)

*the United States appears to have less imposition on personal freedoms, without obviously increasing effective freedom

By: Neil in Chicago

Neil in Chicago — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 01:47:29 +0000

sorry
I had high hopes, and tried and tried to keep them.
When Obama’s first appointment was the reptilian Rahm Emanuel, I said, “He’s reaching out to the Hilary-ites! Great!”
When he appointed his economics guys, and I checked their bios (Summers: “tax cuts for the rich” over and over; Geithner: “Kissinger Associates”, Treasury Department International Affairs division), the strongest language I used was “uh-oh” and “huh?”
But he has sold us out on every significant issue. There never was an Obama Health Care Bill, just vague gestures for congress to Do Something. Single-payer proponents were physically excluded.
And on and on.
And now, a couple of weeks ago, for the first time ever, he strong-armed Congress. In order to get the Democrats to pass a Republican tax bill.

Sorry, he’s working for the financiers who originally financed his campaign. For the people who voted for him, he’s a Quisling.

My worst fears are being realized. Obama is in position to do damage the Republicans can’t. He was elected, in significant part, by motivating demographics who wouldn’t otherwise have voted at all. He has the potential to convince them that they wasted their time, and there really isn’t any point in voting against the plutocrats’ outright puppets. And he’s doing it.
If a generation of potential voters, who might actually vote their and their communities’ own interests, are convinced not to bother again, that’s another spike in the coffin of the Republic.

By: Stefan Jones

Stefan Jones — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:46:11 +0000

Oh, fooey.

The Community Reinvestment Act is a convenient scapegoat. Massive deregulation (under presidents of both parties) and shameless, unethical behavior by banks and mortgage brokers and ratings agencies and investment firms turned a workable system into a ruinous bubble.

Go look up the 2004 Republican National Platform. There’s a big section praising the rise in minority “homeownership” and touting zero-down-payment loans as a way to make even more people homeowners.

By: Kat

Kat — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:08:38 +0000

How can you blame the economic crisis on a past Republican president when it was Democrat Jimmy Carter who put all of this into motion (via “Community Reinvestment”)? Let’s not be intellectually dishonest here.

Ever gotten a job from a poor man? I haven’t.

Think redistribution of wealth works? Look at modern Europe, the former USSR and China. Cuba’s economy is a shambles and Venezuela’s is headed that way because of government control of the economy. North Korea’s population is living in the dark.

Do you really want to give government such total control over your lives and fortunes?

By: Rob Hansen

Rob Hansen — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:51:52 +0000

While I’d love to see Obama use the White House as a bully pulpit, or even revive the ‘fireside chats’, I don’t think that’s who he is. By nature, he’s a conciliator and even after two years of snubs from Republicans I don’t see that changing, alas.