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The 3 A.M. CallBack to Article »
The next president will likely have to deal with some major financial emergencies. Barack Obama seems well informed. John McCain, on the other hand, scares me.
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19.
EDITORS' SELECTIONS (what's this?)
September 29, 2008 7:12 am
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Krugman calls it a "shame" that Obama "didn’t show more leadership in the debate over the bailout bill, choosing instead to leave the issue in the hands of Congressional Democrats" -but Obama isn't running for the position of majority whip or Speaker of the House. He's running for President -- and I think he did exactly what a President should do -- he kept informed on a daily basis, talking to the relevant cabinet officials and Congressional leadership, he very quickly and clearly enunciated a set of four conditions he wanted included in the bill -- and then he backed off and let Congress do its job of crafting the details. I will be very happy next January to have President who respects the powers and duties of Congress and the limits on the Executive Branch.
— AMarshall, California
Recommend Recommended by 543 Readers
117.
EDITORS' SELECTIONS (what's this?)
September 29, 2008 10:37 am
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Phil Gramm, one of Senator McCain's most trusted advisors, co-authored the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act, repealing Glass-Steagall. Senator Gramm said at the time "We are here today to repeal Glass-Steagall because we have learned that government is not the answer. We have learned that freedom and competition are the answers. We have learned that we promote economic growth and we promote stability by having competition and freedom." He further goes on to state "I am proud to be here because this is an important bill; it is a deregulatory bill. I believe that that is the wave of the future, and I am awfully proud to have been a part of making it a reality." Later Senator Gramm went on to support a bill he was largely responsible for, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which, according to David Leonardt in this newspaper, "unleashed the derivatives market and paved the way for banks to become more aggressive about investing in mortgages."Senator McCain voted for the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act and he has always been in support of de-regulation, which is at the core of our current financial problems. No thanks.
— Jordan Davies, Vermont
Recommend Recommended by 84 Readers
156.
EDITORS' SELECTIONS (what's this?)
September 29, 2008 12:06 pm
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If we eliminate capital gains, reduce corporate tax rates and let markets work, there will be no 3am calls, just the opening bell.
— Peterson, Westchester
Recommend Recommended by 14 Readers
192.
EDITORS' SELECTIONS (what's this?)
September 29, 2008 1:08 pm
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The economic disaster that is on going on today, should be no surprise to anyone, and from a historic point of view, this was predictable. All great empires eventually collapse. It’s not a matter of if; it’s only a matter of when. In the last century we saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, British, Japanese, Ottoman and Spanish empires. In the antiquity there were the Roman, Byzantine, Egyptian, Mayan and Chinese empires. While some collapsed through war, others fell through neglect. When it was neglect, it was due to the exploitation of those who were least likely to defend themselves. The wealthier classes extracted from the lower, until there was no more to give.When Ronald Reagan was running for President back in 1980, I was a believer in “trickle down economics.” I fell for that line, hook-line-and-sinker, but when Ronald Reagan fired the aircraft controllers, I knew that his new vision for American didn’t include working class, blue collar union workers like myself. From then on, things got worse for the American working class, through union busting and the exportation of high wage manufacturing jobs.While this is certainly not the end of the United States, it should be a wake up call. Sub-prime loans were used to exploit those who could not afford to pay them back. This set the wheels in motion for a giant pyramid scheme that was decades in the making.To get a basic understanding of what led up to this debacle, I suggest you read “Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein. While it’s not the end all book of economics, it does provide insight to the history of the free market principles of Milton Friedman and the Money Culture that lead to the recent economic crisis.I’m not an authority on economics, but I do follow economic issues frequently and have a good foundation of the basics to at least allow me plan my family’s future. But as much as I follow the market and economic issues, it’s not enough, because even the smartest people in finance, do not seem to understand why this crisis happened.
— Larry Dwyer, Queen, NY
Recommend Recommended by 31 Readers
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