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Obama vs. McCain -- 48 days to go. Don't believe the hype. (392 hits)

Don't believe the Hype.

Politics is a game of deception and hype. At the end of the day, our political leaders have to come to grips with reality, and the hard work of political leadership involves thoughtful collaboration and compromise to solve the issues of the day. The work of the President, particularly, is complex and quickly moves beyond the sound bytes of the campaign.

Here is the latest insight. How do we distinguish between substance and hype? Last week, the Republicans were filling arenas based on hype -- lipstick on pigs and pitbulls; reformers and mavericks; country first before pork barrel spending; Washington outsiders against the establishment.

This week, the REAL ECONOMY is unraveling -- Lehman Brothers bankruptcy; Merrill Lynch sold; AIG bailout; the stock market has dropped nearly 1,000 points; the bottom is falling out of everyone's future. This is substance. Check out the responses.

Obama is criticized for a long and thoughtful "two paragraph response" to the crisis. McCain and Palin continue to spin the hype.

So, who do you want to lead the nation out of this crisis -- including the challenge to face the health care crisis, job loss, and continuing decline of the housing market? A hip-shooting cliche' machine, or the smartest guy in the room?

Here is a clue: Is your annual income below or above $250,000? Listen to the answers that each candidate offers for those in your income bracket and you will begin to see the real answers versus the hype.

Posted By: Roger E Madison Jr
Wednesday, September 17th 2008 at 9:12PM
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I watched an interview Robin Roberts did with John McCain this morning. What I heard was a lot of rhetoric and one-liner sound bites. Although she kept trying to draw him into a substantive reflection on his positions, out came more rhetoric. IMHO, he definitely didn't read like the smartest person in the room.
Wednesday, September 17th 2008 at 9:27PM
Dr. S. Maxwell Hines

As the real impact of the poor leadership of the Republican Party settles in, let's hope the American voters begin to realize that their problems won't be solved by cliche's, but thoughtful leadership.
Wednesday, September 17th 2008 at 9:38PM
Roger E Madison Jr

Deeana,
I believe the origins of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were based on good intentions, and a primary goal of upward mobility in the USA -- homeownership. What is lost on most people is that these organizations were "government sponsored" -- in their creation, but publicly held and traded on the stock market like any public stock. As such, their actions and operations followed the same tendencies toward greed and profit that is seen elsewhere. What made their pending failure a crisis was that their intended purpose -- to create liquidity which facilitated more loans by banks -- and their ultimate actions diverged from the intended pupose when the foundation shifted to more and more risky parctices (sub prime, adjustale rat mortgages) were introduced into a de-regulated market.

What is interesting, is that Fredie Mac was created to "package secondary loans" as instruments to be traded all over the world. Again, think of this as "turbo-charging liquidity." The whole idea was to make more cash available t banks and mortgage brokers at the bottom of the pyramid. This is what ushered in very high risk loans to unqualified buyers. Add greed and profiteering, and the bottom crumbles when adjustable rates push shaky borrowers over the cliff.

At the core of this is your observation that "Homeownership is not a right! It is a privilege!" But it is the "dream" of every upwardly mobile American family. In my past, have used adjutable rate mortgage financing, and moved to fixed rates when the rates were low. I currently have a 5% fiixed rate.

When new instruments and entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are introduced to the marktplace, the complexity overwhelms most people who are unsophisticated and living from payday to payday. The underlying premise of the entire house of cards is a growing economy that enables buyers and consumers to enjoy progressively better lifestyles. When other factors combine to remove the security of a good job, while easy credit and predators loom nearby, the result is the current crisis. We cannot point a finger at one or two culprits. That has been the practice of John McCain. What Sercretary Paulson, Chariman Bernainke, and SEC Chairman Cox have done with the mess the could not prevent, is to convene leaders of congress to prpare a "comprehensive solution" that takes into account many of the factors necessary to stailize the financial markets. No one can ever anticipate nor predict the creativity of the greed that free market capitalism encourages. We can only police the crooks when they overplay their hands. That is what happened with the S&L crisis of the 80's, the Enron Energy scandal, and this recent crisis born of excesses in the housing market.

In the end, wiser heads must prevail, and we will recover until the next smart crook introduces another scheme that catches us by surprise. The alternative doesn't work any better. Ask the Russians and the Chinese about "government controlled markets." There is no less corruption, and even less prosperity for the masses.

Thanks for participating in the dialog.

Friday, September 19th 2008 at 10:34AM
Roger E Madison Jr

Here is the deal. The consumers didn't create the instruments that tricked them. Their wants may have exceeded their means, but they had a lot of help and deception. Further, left alone, the financial markets would collapse. The reality is that there needs to be a balancing act -- the principle of checks and balances that has been at the core of our nation. The Government is the necessary white knight to save our financial markets today. What we are debating is how much "regulation" there should be. Some would advocate that there should be no speed limits on our highways, and traffic cops are unnecesary government intervention. I suspect most don't agree. The same applies to the economy. We need some controls to ensure that "free markets" don't run amuck.

I am not saying capitalism is evil. I think it is the best option for managing economic activity -- compared with all other options. The double edged sword of our capitalist system is that it creates very wealthy people, and it has the potential for an attitude of "let'em eat cake" when it comes to those who are not wealthy. The role of the government in our system has been to create the middle class. The Federal Government has been the traffic cop.

We don't need absolute government control, nor an absence of government. Humans don't have the personal capacity to govern ourselves. That is why we create institutions to hel protect us from ourselves.

Friday, September 19th 2008 at 1:11PM
Roger E Madison Jr