The McCain campaign apparently has no clue as to how to respond the U.S. government's bailout of American Income Group, or even how to respond to this financial crisis currently taking place. First, here is this YouTube video of John McCain flip-flopping on whether he supports the government's bailout of AIG:
Looks like another John McCain flip-flop to add to the list.
Now here is Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin's response to the economy and the U.S government's bailing out of financial institutions. From YouTube:
Sarah Palin clearly states that she refuses to bail out Wall Street investment firms from going bankrupt due to this subprime mortgage mess. Palin claims that the regulatory system needs a complete overhaul--does this mean more government regulation of the financial system? Palin refuses to provide specific policy points on how the McCain / Palin administration will "clean up" Washington's "broken regulatory system." However, the prime policy point that we can expect from a McCain / Palin administration is that they will not bail out Wall Street firms from this financial crisis--even though John McCain has flip-flopped in his initial rejection, then support for the federal government's bailing out of AIG.
And finally, I found this YouTube video of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee saying that John McCain has always been against government regulations, believing that the markets "will correct itself." From YouTube:
It would appear that even Mike Huckabee agrees that there should be some government deregulation in response to this latest financial crisis and subprime mortgage mess. What we're seeing here is a McCain campaign that is caught in a paralysis. John McCain's record has been one of consistent government deregulation in the financial services industry. However, the unfolding financial crisis, the Lehman Brother's bankruptcy, and the federal government's bailout of AIG, clearly shows the need for increased federal regulation and oversight into the financial industry--a complete contradiction to McCain's belief in deregulation. Hence, the paralysis where the McCain campaign can't seem to get their message straight. We've got John McCain flip-flopping on the AIG bailout, Palin saying that a President McCain will not bail out Wall Street firms, and Huckabee explaining that McCain has always supported government deregulation of the business market. It appears to me that the McCain campaign is trying to change its PR-message of becoming the government reformer for cleaning up the subprime mess in the financial services industry, however the McCain campaign does not want the American public to know that a McCain administration's reform policy will mean more government deregulation in the financial markets.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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2 comments:
it's hard to object to the government's mass bailouts as similar debt-producing methods were put into action to bring the U.S. out of the Depression... our economy has been supported and driven by debt ever since
Hello Patrick:
And thank you for your comment. Wall Street is certainly responsible for the excessive greed in pushing, not just the subprime mortgage investment strategies, but also the constant hype for tacking debt after debt after debt on the American consumer--credit card debt, auto loan debt, home equity debt, subprime and ARM debt. And not only is the American consumer drowning in debt, but the U.S. government has been charging its national credit card to over $9 trillion dollars since 1980--with about $4 trillion charged by the Bush administration for the past seven years. Is it no wonder that all this debt is wreaking our economy? And now the day of reckoning is coming due, Wall Street is watching their House of Debt Cards crashing down, and they are asking the federal government to bail them out from the bad debt that American consumers can not pay, and the worthless promissory notes that the Street is stuck with. This debt-ridden, financial system is crashing down now.
Should the federal government bail out Wall Street? I don't particularly like the idea of the Fed bailing out Wall Street greed, but I also realize there has to be some type of government safety net to stabilize this crisis. But the government should not give Wall Street a blank check. There will need to be some serious government regulation and oversight on Wall Street to make sure this greed-driven mess doesn't happen again. Replace the wall between banks and investment firms. Regulate the hedge funds--they may be next in the crash. Wall Street CEOs should not profit from this bailout--strip the CEOs from their golden parachute, and let them fall to the earth. The federal government should also have some type of equity stake in these financial firms for taking on this bad debt. And finally, any Wall Street firm asking for a bail out should have their CEOs, and the board, fired. A new CEO and board should be selected by the shareholders. I doubt that these reforms will ever be enacted, due to Wall Street objections, increased lobbying activity on Congress, and a lame duck Bush administration.
Maybe we will get some of these reforms passed under a President Obama?
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