He kept us safe…

In many letters to editors, I have heard this sentiment expressed in defense of GWB’s miserable record as president:  “No terrorists have attacked us…he kept us safe.”  Well, 9/11 did occur when he was president.  Here is a small gallery of momentos of our safety with W.

Our fearless leader keeps cool, and keeps reading “My Pet Goat” as the attack plays out.  What decisiveness!

   

Our great leader was brilliant during the phony energy crisis manufactured by Enron (remember them?) that nearly bankrupted California.

Once again, Numero Uno was on the ball when Katrina hit, and his valiant lieutenant, Brownie, did a “helluva job.”  Oh well, it was an act of God…

       

WMD?  WMD?  Did somebody say something about weapons of mass destruction..?  Well, he kept us all safe, right?

Well, Bush isn’t the only great leader and visionary we had to guide us these last years.  Now we see the results.  I bet he  and his friends kept their money really safe!

Bailing Out

The talk in Congress about the financial mess is very interesting in the way it obscures some basic ideas.  People act as though this is strictly a practical matter, a non-partisan, non-political, time-to-stop-arguing, let’s fix it now! question of simple financial mechanics.  In other words, there’s no ideology, no politics involved – just not relevant.

Well, a few criticisms of the plan that I’ve heard, particularly the comments of a former Secretary of the Treasury and one excellent letter to the NYTimes today, make me think otherwise.  The basic question is this:  If the problem was brought on by speculating in sub-prime mortgages, why not prop up those mortgages?  Pour money into the bottom, not the top.  Subsidize Main Street, not Wall Street?  If we bail out financial service firms, and home prices continue to drop, the USA, that’s us, will be left holding the empty bag. 

Could it be that it is more efficient to pour money in the top, to stabilize the markets, to restore confidence, to unfreeze the credit realm, and thus benefit all Americans by making the economy function again.  Could it be that time is of the essence? 

Or could it be that guaranteeing mortgages would also send a salutary shock into the system that would achieve the same thing, but it offends so many, especially Paulson and GWB, because it is bypasses Wall Street?

One person said that bailing out Wall Street this way by pouring in money is like filling a leaky bucket.  The bad mortgages are what’s draining the bucket.

Meanwhile, check out this wonderful animated tour of the Subprime Mortgage Mess.

Are YOU experienced???

What a topsy-turvy few weeks in the news it’s been!  Let me mention my highlights:

Federal Government declares it will let Lehman fail to protect the principles of the free market.  Rep. Barney Frank declares Sept. 15 Free Market Day.  Sept. 16 Federal Government effectively nationalizes AIG.  This under a Republican president!

John (Keating Five) McCain, the Republican candidate, lambastes the “greed” of Wall Street and calls for more government regulation.  Experience, Oscar Wilde said, is the name so many of us give to our mistakes.  Has John learned from his?   He did recently say that he knew little about economics.  Time to hit those textbooks, John!

Republicans, whiter and richer than ever, have a convention at which they rail against the elite.

Does experience matter?  OF COURSE - Palin has none…ooops, it doesn’t REALLY matter!

David Brooks, at sixes and sevens over the nomination of an airhead evangelical for veep practically endorses Obama-Biden.  What other conclusion can you draw from his recent column?  He just can’t face the facts of it.  (Shocked, shocked!!! that Republicans would nominate such a person simply because she assures their rabid base of religious nuts.)

News reports say that the Fed bailout of AIG may actually be quite profitable for the taxpayer, as was the loan bailout of Mexico in the 90s.  They charge high interest rates, and they get to call the shots, having dumped the shareholders.  Why not do this more often a reporter asks?  “That would be socialism…”